Seriousness (noun; adjective: serious ) is an attitude of gravity , solemnity , persistence, and earnestness toward something considered to be of importance. Some notable philosophers and commentators have criticised excessive seriousness, while others have praised it. Seriousness is often contrasted with comedy , as in the seriocomedy . In the theory of humor, one must have a sense of humor and a sense of seriousness to distinguish what is supposed to be taken literally or not, or of being important or not. Otherwise, it may also be contrasted with a sense of play . How children learn a sense of seriousness to form values and differentiate between the serious and that which is not is studied in developmental psychology and educational psychology . There is a distinction between the degree of seriousness of various crimes in sentencing under the law , and also in law enforcement . There is a positive correlation with the degree of seriousness of a crime and viewer ratings of news coverage. What is or is not considered serious varies widely with different cultures .
35-425: Sometimes fields studying degrees of seriousness overlap, such as developmental psychology studies of development of the sense of degrees of seriousness as it relates to transgressions, which has overlap with criminology and the seriousness of crimes. Some use "seriousness" as a term of praise for scholarship or in literary review. 19th century poet , cultural critic , and literary critic , Matthew Arnold said that
70-460: A felony who are known as felons ). Depending on the jurisdiction, examples of misdemeanors may include: petty theft , prostitution , public intoxication , simple assault , disorderly conduct , trespass , shoplifting , vandalism , reckless driving , indecent exposure , forcible touching , and possession of cannabis for personal use. In the United States, even if a criminal charge for
105-587: A prison . Jurisdictions such as Massachusetts are a notable exception; the maximum punishment of some misdemeanors there is up to 2.5 years. People who are convicted of misdemeanors are often punished with probation , community service , short jail term, or part-time incarceration such as a sentence that may be served on the weekends. The United States Constitution provides that the President may be impeached and subsequently removed from office if found guilty by Congress for "high crimes and misdemeanors". As used in
140-517: A career as a poet, they can be helpful as training, and for giving the student several years of time focused on their writing. Lyrical poets who write sacred poetry (" hymnographers ") differ from the usual image of poets in a number of ways. A hymnographer such as Isaac Watts who wrote 700 poems in his lifetime, may have their lyrics sung by millions of people every Sunday morning, but are not always included in anthologies of poetry . Because hymns are perceived of as " worship " rather than "poetry",
175-592: A continuation of patronage of poets by royalty. Many poets, however, had other sources of income, including Italians like Dante Aligheri , Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch 's works in a pharmacist's guild and William Shakespeare 's work in the theater. In the Romantic period and onwards, many poets were independent writers who made their living through their work, often supplemented by income from other occupations or from family. This included poets such as William Wordsworth and Robert Burns . Poets such as Virgil in
210-569: A crime is a major factor in considerations of the allocation of scarce law enforcement funds. The meaning and measurement of seriousness is a major concern in public policy considerations. A quantitative scoring system called the "seriousness score" has been developed for use in allocating law enforcement resources and sentencing. As to England and Wales, see section 143 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 . Degrees of seriousness are used in medicine to make decisions about care. Seriousness
245-425: A harsher sentence. An example is the penalty imposed for vandalism , which is a fine not exceeding S$ 2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years, and also corporal punishment of not less than three strokes and not more than eight strokes with the use of a cane . Depending on the jurisdiction, several classes of misdemeanors may exist. The forms of punishment can vary widely between those classes. For example,
280-428: A misdemeanor, but be charged as a felony when committed in front of a minor . Misdemeanors usually do not result in the restriction of civil rights, but may result in loss of privileges, such as professional licenses, public offices, or public employment. Such effects are known as the collateral consequences of criminal charges . This is more common when the misdemeanor is related to the privilege in question (such as
315-453: A poet is essentially one of communication, expressing ideas either in a literal sense (such as communicating about a specific event or place) or metaphorically . Poets have existed since prehistory , in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and periods. Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed over time, resulting in countless poets as diverse as
350-479: A well established poet, was banished from Rome by the first Augustus for one of his poems. During the High Middle Ages , troubadors were an important class of poets. They came from a variety of backgrounds, often living and traveling in many different places and were looked upon as actors or musicians as much as poets. Some were under patronage, but many traveled extensively. The Renaissance period saw
385-534: Is always to be taken, and solemnity , sobriety , and puritanism with its hostility to social pleasures and indulgences are the only acceptable attitudes. Perry Miller , "the master of American intellectual history", wrote of excessive seriousness of the Puritans , "simple humanity cries at last for some relief from the interminable high seriousness of the Puritan code." Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre called
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#1732856092485420-428: Is an important factor relating to crime. One standard for measurement is the degree to which a crime affects others or society. A felony is generally considered to be a crime of "high seriousness", while a misdemeanor is not. In criminal law the degree of seriousness is considered when meting out punishment to fit the crime, and in considering to what extent overcrowded prison facilities will be used. Seriousness of
455-411: Is considered a crime of lesser seriousness, and a felony one of greater seriousness. The maximum punishment for a misdemeanor is less than that for a felony under the principle that the punishment should fit the crime. One standard for measurement is the degree to which a crime affects others or society. Measurements of the degree of seriousness of a crime have been developed. In the United States,
490-415: Is considered serious varies widely across cultures and is studied in sociology , cultural anthropology , and criminology ; being of the wrong religious faith may be considered a serious crime in some cultures; smoking marijuana may be a serious crime in some cultures and not others; homosexuality a serious crime in some cultures; and prostitution is a serious crime in some cultures. Perception of seriousness
525-421: Is measured in assessing varying cultural perceptions on health risks. Poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry . Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker , songwriter , writer , or author ) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or written ), or they may also perform their art to an audience . The work of
560-447: Is related to the effects of delaying or not having medical care. In an emergency hospital, the triage nurse must evaluate levels of seriousness of medical emergencies and rank them to determine order of care. Seriousness of illness is used to make decisions as to whether to perform invasive procedures such as surgery. There is a positive correlation between the degree of seriousness of a crime and viewer ratings of news coverage. What
595-470: Is studied as it relates to how children develop an ability to distinguish levels of seriousness as it relates to transgressions and expenditure of time; for example, a child must learn to distinguish between levels of seriousness in admonitions such as between "don't fidget" and "don't forget to look both ways when crossing the street", which have the same linguistic and normative structure, but different levels of seriousness. The degree of seriousness of crimes
630-471: Is stupidity sent to college." Epigramist , poet, and playwright Oscar Wilde said that "life is too important to be taken seriously." In a play on words, novelist Samuel Butler indicated that the central serious conviction in life is that nothing should be taken with too much seriousness, "the one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously." In some ascetic or puritan religious sects, an attitude of seriousness
665-497: Is supposed to be taken literally or not. An even more keen sense is needed when humor is used to make a serious point. Psychologists have studied how humor is intended to be taken as having seriousness, as when court jesters used humor to convey serious information. Conversely, when humor is not intended to be taken seriously, bad taste in humor may cross a line after which it is taken seriously, though not intended. In Developmental psychology and educational psychology , seriousness
700-564: The Aeneid and John Milton in Paradise Lost invoked the aid of a Muse . Poets held an important position in pre-Islamic Arabic society with the poet or sha'ir filling the role of historian, soothsayer and propagandist. Words in praise of the tribe ( qit'ah ) and lampoons denigrating other tribes ( hija' ) seem to have been some of the most popular forms of early poetry. The sha'ir represented an individual tribe's prestige and importance in
735-1084: The Arabian Peninsula , and mock battles in poetry or zajal would stand in lieu of real wars. 'Ukaz, a market town not far from Mecca , would play host to a regular poetry festival where the craft of the sha'irs would be exhibited. Poets of earlier times were often well read and highly educated people while others were to a large extent self-educated. A few poets such as John Gower and John Milton were able to write poetry in more than one language. Some Portuguese poets, as Francisco de Sá de Miranda , wrote not only in Portuguese but also in Spanish. Jan Kochanowski wrote in Polish and in Latin, France Prešeren and Karel Hynek Mácha wrote some poems in German, although they were poets of Slovenian and Czech respectively. Adam Mickiewicz ,
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#1732856092485770-462: The literature that (since the advent of writing systems) they have produced. The civilization of Sumer figures prominently in the history of early poetry, and The Epic of Gilgamesh , a widely read epic poem, was written in the Third Dynasty of Ur c. 2100 BC; copies of the poem continued to be published and written until c. 600 to 150 BC. However, as it arises from an oral tradition ,
805-448: The "spirit of seriousness" the belief that there is an objective and independent goodness in things for people to discover, and that this belief leads to bad faith . He argued that people forget that values are not absolute, but are contingent and subjectively determined. In Sartre’s words, "the spirit of seriousness has two characteristics: it considers values as transcendent givens , independent of human subjectivity, and it transfers
840-530: The Constitution, the term misdemeanor refers broadly to criminal acts as opposed to employing the felony-misdemeanor distinction used in modern criminal codes. The definition of what constitutes "high crimes and misdemeanors" for purposes of impeachment is left to the judgment of Congress. In Singapore , defendants found guilty of misdemeanors are generally given a jail sentence for a number of months, but with certain specific crimes, suspects are sentenced to
875-689: The UK the substance of the original distinction remains, only slightly altered): in the Commonwealth nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, the crimes are divided into summary offences and indictable offences . The Republic of Ireland , a former member of the Commonwealth, also uses these divisions. In some jurisdictions, those who are convicted of a misdemeanor are known as misdemeanants (as contrasted with those convicted of
910-441: The defendant's conduct is normally a misdemeanor, sometimes a repeat offender will be charged with a felony offense. For example, the first time a person commits certain crimes, such as spousal assault, it is normally a misdemeanor, but the second time it may become a felony. Other misdemeanors may be upgraded to felonies based on context. For example, in some jurisdictions the crime of indecent exposure might normally be classified as
945-745: The federal and some state governments in the United States divide misdemeanors into several classes, with certain classes punishable by jail time and others carrying only a fine. In New York law, a Class A Misdemeanor, which among other things includes the sex crime of forcible touching, carries a maximum sentence of one year of imprisonment, while a Class B Misdemeanor "shall not exceed three months". For example, Virginia has four classes of misdemeanors, with Class 1 and Class 2 misdemeanors being punishable by twelve-month and six-month jail sentences, respectively, and Class 3 and Class 4 misdemeanors being non-jail offenses payable by fines. New York has three classes of misdemeanors: A, B, and Unclassified. In
980-469: The federal government generally considers a crime punishable with incarceration for not more than one year, or lesser penalty, to be a misdemeanor. All other crimes are considered felonies. Many US states also employ the same or a similar distinction. The distinction between felonies and misdemeanors has been abolished by several common law jurisdictions, notably the UK and Australia. These jurisdictions have generally adopted some other classification (in
1015-495: The greatest poet of Polish language, wrote a Latin ode for emperor Napoleon III . Another example is Jerzy Pietrkiewicz , a Polish poet. When he moved to Great Britain, he ceased to write poetry in Polish, but started writing a novel in English. He also translated poetry into English. Many universities offer degrees in creative writing though these only came into existence in the 20th century. While these courses are not necessary for
1050-405: The loss of a taxi driver's license after a conviction for reckless driving ), or when the misdemeanor is deemed to involve moral turpitude —and in general is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In the United States, misdemeanors are typically crimes with a maximum punishment of 12 months of incarceration , typically in a local jail . This contrasts with felons, who are typically incarcerated in
1085-465: The most important criteria used to judge the value of a poem were "high truth" and "high seriousness". Many have expressed an attitude of disdain toward taking things too seriously, as opposed to viewing things with an attitude of humor. Poet, playwright, and philosopher Joseph Addison said that being serious is dull, "we are growing serious, and let me tell you, that's the next step to being dull." Political satirist P.J. O'Rourke said that "Seriousness
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1120-520: The poet is unknown. The Story of Sinuhe was a popular narrative poem from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt , written c. 1750 BC, about an ancient Egyptian man named Sinuhe , who flees his country and lives in a foreign land until his return, shortly before his death. The Story of Sinuhe was one of several popular narrative poems in Ancient Egyptian . Scholars have conjectured that Story of Sinuhe
1155-426: The quality of ‘desirable’ from the ontological structure of things to their simple material constitution." Seriousness is sometimes contrasted with the comical in humor . In the performing arts and literature , the seriocomedy is a genre which blends seriousness with the comical, drama with comedy . In the theory of humor , one must have a sense of humor and a sense of seriousness to distinguish what
1190-792: The term "artistic kenosis" is sometimes used to describe the hymnographer's success in "emptying out" the instinct to succeed as a poet. A singer in the pew might have several of Watts's stanzas memorized, without ever knowing his name or thinking of him as a poet. Misdemeanor A misdemeanor ( American English , spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies , but theoretically more so than administrative infractions (also known as minor, petty, or summary offences ) and regulatory offences . Typically, misdemeanors are punished with prison time of no longer than one year, monetary fines, or community service . A misdemeanor
1225-487: Was actually written by an Ancient Egyptian man named Sinuhe, describing his life in the poem; therefore, Sinuhe is conjectured to be a real person. In Ancient Rome , professional poets were generally sponsored by patrons , including nobility and military officials. For instance, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas , friend to Caesar Augustus , was an important patron for the Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil . Ovid ,
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