http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/authors/340/iulia-o-basu-zharku Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:02:17 -0400 Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:02:17 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1679/effects-of-collectivistic-and-individualistic-cultures-on-imagination-inflation-in-eastern-and-western-cultures By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Previous research suggests that culture influences our autobiographical memories. This study sought to determine if the collectivism/individualism dimension of culture influences the process of imagination inflation. Forty college students were given an Life Events Inventory (LEI) with individualistic and collectivistic events, and had to rate their confidence that each event happened or not in their childhood. Afterwards, they were asked to imagine a set of predetermined individualistic and collectivistic events and a week later they rated their confidence on a new LEI. Participants showed imagination... Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:30 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1679/effects-of-collectivistic-and-individualistic-cultures-on-imagination-inflation-in-eastern-and-western-cultures http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/383/chinese-women-and-christianity-in-the-late-imperial-era By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Christianity has not gained a large number of adepts in China, if compared, for example, with Japan. But Christianity in China, in the late Imperial Era, had a number of particularities. Moreover, Christianity sometimes influenced Chinese women’s lives but only in conjunction with other cultural elements and only if we take into consideration the broader context of the situation. Other times it did not influence women’s lives at all. Thus, this paper will focus on the context in which Christianity found itself in China, the way it adapted to Chinese culture, and the significance it... Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:56 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/383/chinese-women-and-christianity-in-the-late-imperial-era http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/381/gender-specific-language-of-the-major-prophets-in-the-hebrew-bible-the-case-of-the-first-and-second-isaiah By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Prophecy is one of the most important institutions in the Hebrew Bible. The prophet is regarded as the voice of the Lord, bringing God’s will and commandments to the people who often forget to follow the rigors of the Law. The prophets have, also, designated roles. Some are advisors to the king (in the way Samuel advises Saul and Nathan advises David), sometimes even admonishing the monarch. Others are mendicants, unattached to a specific court and living off of what people give them. They travel extensively, prophesize the word of God, and they also perform symbolic actions (Elijah and... Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/381/gender-specific-language-of-the-major-prophets-in-the-hebrew-bible-the-case-of-the-first-and-second-isaiah http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/378/byzantine-and-russian-influences-in-andrei-rublevs-art By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Andrei Rublev (c. 1360-1430) is a mysterious figure, whose biography is not well known, although he is historically considered the best-known painter of Russian icons and frescoes. Early in his life he joined the Trinity-Sergei Lavra Monastery, becoming the pupil of Prokhor of Gorodets before moving to Andronikov Monastery, near Moscow, where he also died.[1] In 1405, along with Prokhor of Gorodets, Rublev worked with Theophanes the Greek at the frescoes of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, and some of these, namely the Annunciation, Nativity, Baptism of Christ, Transfiguration... Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/378/byzantine-and-russian-influences-in-andrei-rublevs-art http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1660/the-reign-of-peter-the-great By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Those reforms that had the greatest impact on the structure of society were the increase of taxation, the setting up of the Synod, the Westernization of the country and people, the bringing in of foreign experts, and the introduction of state service. Along with these, the method Peter the Great used in dealing with his rivals and enemies speaks to the same issue. The introduction of heavy taxation fell more on the shoulders of the peasants and serfs, which contributed to the aggravation of their already precarious situation: “Peter the Great’s tax legislation thus led to the final... Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:08 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1660/the-reign-of-peter-the-great http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/374/the-1905-russian-revolution-through-the-eyes-of-vladimir-nabokov-in-speak-memory By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Many of the causes that determined the 1905 Russian Revolution are presented in Nabokov’s novel. One of these is industrialization, which occurred at a rapid pace: “In the early years of this century, a travel agency on Nevski Avenue displayed a three-foot-long model of an oak-brown international sleeping car.... One could make out the blue upholstery inside, the embossed leather lining of the compartment walls, their polished panels, inset mirrors, tulip-shaped reading lamps, and other maddening details. Spacious windows alternated with narrower ones... and some of these were of frosted... Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:01 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/374/the-1905-russian-revolution-through-the-eyes-of-vladimir-nabokov-in-speak-memory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/372/slavery-and-religion-in-the-antebellum-south By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - For many decades, scholars have debated the importance of religion in helping slaves cope with the horrible experience of slavery in the antebellum South. However, the way they treated the subject differs and the conclusions they reached are varied. From the early 1920s through the 1960s, the accent was put on the variety of religious traditions and rituals of the antebellum Southern slaves, but without them receiving the credit for these traditions, which were considered as being adaptations of European beliefs and rituals. Later on, in the 1970s and 1980s these traditions are considered as actually... Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:26 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/372/slavery-and-religion-in-the-antebellum-south http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/370/solving-health-issues-in-ethiopia-with-religion By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Ethiopia’s population of 76 million makes it the 3rd most populous African country.[1] The most numerous ethnicities are the Omoro (40% of the population), the Amhara and Tigre, who together constitute 32% of the Ethiopian population.[2] Out of the 76 million people, 61% are Christian (51% Orthodox), and 33% Muslim.[3] Another, more recent estimation, puts the number of Orthodox Christians at 71% of the population.[4] In the 4th century, Christianity was introduced, via Egypt, and accordingly, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is Coptic[5] in orientation (claiming that Jesus had only one divine... Sun, 23 Jan 2011 08:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/370/solving-health-issues-in-ethiopia-with-religion http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/367/the-influence-of-religion-on-health By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Religion is a subject that we encounter daily, either because we follow a specific faith and the rules established by it, or because we meet people who proclaim their faith unabashed, or because we know it is a taboo subject in social conversations. It is probably better to ask someone how much they earn, or about their health history, then to ask them to what religion they practice. Religion is considered too personal a subject. In scientific discourse it is only recently that religion has received any special attention. Previously considered as outside of the sphere of research for the perceived... Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:01 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/367/the-influence-of-religion-on-health http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/365/exploring-time-in-folktales-analyzing-youth-without-age-and-life-without-death-and-where-there-is-no-death By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - The theme of time is found in many folktales, from all over the world. Thus, one of the earliest versions known is a Japanese tale, “Urashima the Fisherman,” that comes down to us from the Account of the Province of Tango, dating from 713 A.D. Urashima follows a goddess to an island where they live happily until he starts missing his family, but when he comes back to his village, 300 years had already past by and he cannot go back to his wife either (Tatar, 66-68). Similarly, “L’Ile de la félicité,” a French tale by Countess Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy... Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/365/exploring-time-in-folktales-analyzing-youth-without-age-and-life-without-death-and-where-there-is-no-death http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/363/the-poetry-of-yevgheny-yevtushenko By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Nabokov’s own family and upbringing is a testimony of this cosmopolitan life: he travels all over Europe before he is even able to realize the difference between one country or another (except for the fact that they speak different languages), he learns English even before he learns Russian, and has governesses that are foreign (English, French) and that speak only their own language. And, indeed, although this added to the social separation of the aristocracy form the rest of Russia’s population, it did have a beneficial effect on Russian culture, giving it a boost forward, in line... Mon, 17 Jan 2011 08:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/363/the-poetry-of-yevgheny-yevtushenko http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/361/comparing-marriage-in-fitchers-bird-by-the-brothers-grimm-and-margaret-atwoods-bluebeards-egg By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - This can be seen from the first paragraphs of the stories: while the three sisters have to go with the sorcerer against their wishes, because his magical powers make them jump into his basket (Brothers Grimm 148), Sally, the protagonist of Atwood’s Bluebeard’s Egg, marries Edward--a cardiologist--because she chooses him from many other options: “Why did she choose him (or, to be precise, as she tries to be with herself and sometimes is even out loud, hunt him down), when it’s clear to everyone she had other options?” (Atwood 158). Sally did even more than choose Edward... Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:32 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/361/comparing-marriage-in-fitchers-bird-by-the-brothers-grimm-and-margaret-atwoods-bluebeards-egg http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/359/beauty-and-the-beast-and-the-tigers-bride-to-be-or-not-to-be-a-beast By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Madame de Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast and Angela Carter's The Tiger's Bride delve into the nature of men and women and the relationships between them by exploring and analyzing the motifs of wildness and civilization. Thus, women are presented as the civilizing agent in the relationship with men, who succumb to their "beastliness," giving way to their animalistic, wild side in Madame de Beaumont’s Beauty and the Beast, while in Angela Carter’s The Tiger’s Bride, the reverse is true—women are the ones who open up to the beast in them in relationship with men, instead... Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:56 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/359/beauty-and-the-beast-and-the-tigers-bride-to-be-or-not-to-be-a-beast http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/354/the-great-gatsbys-relation-to-and-importance-as-a-work-of-art By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - F. Scott Fitzgerald, as quoted by Matthew Bruccoli, recognized the importance of his own novel and its artistic achievements: “Gatsby was far from perfect in many ways but all in all it contains such prose as has never been written in America before. […] the lyric quality of Gatsby, its esthetic soundness” (Brucolli 221). “Its symbolism, allusion, indirection, irony, ambiguity, and mythical dimensions” (Eble 34), are eternal, transcending times and eras. And indeed, when Fitzgerald says, “I feel I have an enormous power in me now. This book will be a consciously... Thu, 06 Jan 2011 09:31 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/354/the-great-gatsbys-relation-to-and-importance-as-a-work-of-art