Symbolism in English Literature

Archetypal figures present in Chaucer’s â€Å"The Miller’s Tale† By Jose Luis Guerrero Cervantes According to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, an archetype is a symbolic formula that begins to work wherever there are no conscious ideas present. They are innate universal psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic themes of human life emerge[1]. The archetype is experienced in projections, powerful affect images, symbols, moods, and behavior patterns such as rituals, ceremonials and love. Jung[2] compared the archetype, the pre-formed tendency to create images, to a dry river bed. Rain gives form and direction to the flow, we name the river, but it is never a thing located in any place, it is a form but never the same, it is always changing but it is still a river. Following this analogy, the archetype would be the dry river bed that motivates and modifies our conscious understanding of ourselves and the world (the water of the river) from which emotions, attitudes and ideas arise. It is possible to track the use of archetypes in universal literature, according to Joseph Campbell[3], from the origins of human civilization. Archetypes help Chaucer to his main purpose when writing The Canterbury Tales: to reflect on the personal concerns and solutions of the evolving medieval society of his time. Characters with strong archetypal features has an automatically and unconsciously effect in the reader’s mind, allowing his mind to recognize experiences, emotions, and typical patterns of behavior, establishing a â€Å"dialog† or â€Å"unconscious link† between the reader and the text. The purpose of the present essay will be to identify such archetypal characters and situations and their impact in the reader’s psyche. [4] It is possible to recognize in Nicholas’ behavior elements that match with the archetype of the â€Å"Trickster†. In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal that plays tricks or, otherwise, disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior[5]. In modern literature, the classical figure of the trickster survives as a character not necessarily supernatural or divine, but as a clever, mischievous man or creature, who tries to survive the dangers and challenges of the world using trickery and deceit as defense. For example, many typical fairy tales present kings who want to find the best man for his daughter by setting a trial to obtain the hand of his daughter. Brave knights are not able to overcome the trial until a poor and simple peasant comes. Armed only with his wits and cleverness, instead of fighting, he evades or fools the obstacles between him and the desired object. This way, the most unlikely candidate passes the trials and receives the reward. One example of this character in English Literature is Shakespeare’s Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice who, in order to marry Portia, must pass a trial set by Portia’s father. In this case, Nicholas is described similarly to this archetype: This lad was known as Nicholas the Gallant, And making love in secret was his talent, For he was very close and sly, and took Advantage of his meek and girlish look[6]. Nicholas is characterized as somebody whose main attributes are not physical strength or economic power, but cleverness in managing the weak points of people for his own benefit (expressed in the words â€Å"talent†, â€Å"sly†, â€Å"took advantage†) hidden under a humble figure (expressed in the word â€Å"meek†). Here it is possible to identify the breaking of conventional behavior that it is proper of the classical tradition when it is said that Nicholas makes love â€Å"in secret†. In addition, in order to gain Alison, he must figure out a trick, otherwise, both might die if caught together. Alison’s behavior, on the other hand, shows characteristics that matches with the â€Å"Anima† archetype developed at the level of â€Å"Eve†. The Anima and Animus, in Carl Jung's school of analytical psychology, are the unconscious or true inner self of an individual, as opposed to the outer aspect of personality. In the unconscious part of men’s mind, it finds expression in a feminine inner personality. Anima, in contrast, is in the unconscious of women and it is expressed as a masculine inner personality. It can be identified as the totality of the unconscious feminine psychological qualities that a male possesses; or the masculine ones possessed by the female. The positive anima qualities of a man are tenderness, patience, consideration, kindness and compassion; then the negative anima qualities of a man are vanity, moodiness, bitchiness, and easily hurt feelings[7]. Jung believed anima development has four distinct levels, which he named Eve, Helen, Mary, and Sophia. Eve level is named for the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. It deals with the emergence of a male's object of desire, yet simultaneously generalizes all females as evil and powerless. This means that when an object of desires arises, the archetype shows an opposite behavior from that she had shown previously[8]. In the preliminary description of Alison, Chaucer describes Alison (with ecstasy and accuracy) this way: She was a fair young wife, her body as slender As any weasel’s, and as soft and tender; She used to wear a girdle of striped silk; Her apron was as white as morning milk Over her loins, all gusseted and pleated. White was her smock; embroidery repeated Its pattern on the collar, front and back, Inside and out; it was of silk, and black. The tapes and ribbons of her milky mutch Were made to march her collar to a touch; She wore a broad silk fillet, rather high, And certainly she had a lecherous eye. And she had plucked her eyebrows into bows, Slenderly arched they were, and black as sloes; And a more truly blissful sight to see She as than blossom on a cherry-tree, [†¦] Her mouth was sweet as mead or honey –say A hoard of apples lying in the hay. Skittish she was, and jolly as a colt, Tall as a mast and upright as a bolt Out of bow. [†¦] She was a daisy, O a lollypop For any nobleman to take to bed Or some good man of yeoman stock to wed. [9] Everything in her is lovely. Chaucer centers his attention on the physical description and little is said about her character. However, the adjectives â€Å"skittish†, â€Å"jolly†, â€Å"tall† and â€Å"upright† describe her as someone irreproachable in any sense. After she falls in love with Alison, all the marvelous image of Alison disappears when she decides to play a cruel joke to Absalon: Absalon started wiping his mounth dry. Dark was the night as pitch, as black as coal, And at the window out she put her hole, And Absalon, so fortune framed the farce, Put up his mouth and kissed her naked arse Most savorously before he knew of this. [10] As it can be observed, Alison’s attitude changes dramatically after meeting Nicholas (the object of desire). This desire unleashes those feelings that are the negative counterpart of the male â€Å"Animus†. â€Å"Eve† development of â€Å"Anima† helps to generalize all women as evil, and Alison attitude towards Absalon reinforces this belief. John represents the archetypal of â€Å"The Child† in the developed degree of â€Å"The abandoned†. In Jungian psychology, it refers to an instinctual pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience (Jung referred to this as â€Å"the collective unconscious†), and present in the individual unconscious. We were all children at one time and we can remember the freedom of being a child, the unconditional love we received from our parents, the spontaneous laughter, how we innocently accepted things as they were and let our imaginations run wild. All those experiences left a mark in the unconscious and arise under certain conditions. In this case, the condition is the fear of losing Alison what makes this feeling to arise[11]. The Abandoned (Orphaned) Child archetype can easily be seen in characters like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz or Oliver in Oliver Twist. The fear of losing a caretaker and the feeling of vulnerability makes the character to proceed in a blind, precipitously way. Jealous he was and kept her in the cage, For he was old and she was wild and young; He thought himself quite likely to be stung. It is possible to notice here that John’s fear for losing Alison makes him to keep her out of the sight of the rest, â€Å"in the cage†. Nicholas takes advantage of this fear and uses it to deceive him in a childish way. ‘This world’ he said, ‘in just about and hour, Shall all be drowned, it’s such a hideous shower, And all mankind, with total loss of life’. The carpenter exclaimed, ‘Alas, my wife! My little Alison! Is she to drown? ’ And in his grief he very near fell down. As it was explained before, innocence is a mark of our childhood, and here innocence is incarnated by John. Absalon represents the archetype of the â€Å"Shadow†. In Jungian psychology, the shadow or â€Å"shadow aspect† is a part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts. It is a link to the most primitive animal instincts, which are superseded during early childhood by the conscious mind. According to Jung, the shadow, in being instinctive and irrational, is prone to project: turning a personal inferiority into a perceived moral deficiency in someone else. It is the link to the most primitive animal instincts that are superseded during early childhood by the conscious mind, like the survival instinct. Absalon plans his vengeance for the cruel joke played on him and reacts in a even more violent way than his aggressors: Said Absalon, all set to make a launch, ‘Speak, pretty bird, I know not where thou art! ’ This Nicholas at once let fly a fart As loud as if it were a thunder-clap. He was near blinded by the blast, poor chap, But his iron was ready; with a thump He mote him in the middle of the rump. This way, Absalon fulfills his vengeance by recalling his most instinctive, irrational feelings. In the situations present in the tale it is also possible to identify two archetypal situations: â€Å"The Task† and â€Å"The love Triangle†. â€Å"The Task† is that situation in which a character is required to perform a task that will restore balance. It is commonly found n literature in the situations like to save a kingdom, to win the fair lady, the identification of the hero so he may reassume his rightful position, etc[12]. Examples of this archetypal situation in English literature are when Arthur pulls Excalibur from the stone or when Beowulf slays Grendel. In this case, the task set for Nicholas is to consume his union with Alison using his cleverness to deceive his husband who has her â€Å"in a cage†. The reader is not told about the plan, so the reader and the fooled characters go hand-in-hand in the discovery and the development of the plan, holding the attention of the reader. The â€Å"love triangle† works in a similar way than â€Å"The task†, however the task appeals to the â€Å"logos† of the reader, while the â€Å"love triangle† appeals to the â€Å"ethos†. In addition, â€Å"the love triangle† works as the counterpart of the â€Å"Requited Love†, which is used to enhance the nobler feelings of human nature: sacrifice, loyalty, friendship, fidelity, etc. The â€Å"love triangle† enhances rivalry, fight, deceit, infidelity, etc[13]. It is possible to observe how the love triangle made Nicholas to figure out an ingenious trick to have sex with the John’s wife (infidelity), the showing of the darkest side of pure Alison, the wrath of easygoing Absalon, and the showing of the dumbest side of John. It is possible to conclude, after all this analysis that â€Å"The Miller’s Tale†, as the whole Canterbury Tales, explores the nature of human being life and behavior of the people of his time, making the reader to do an introspective view of his own life. The characters of â€Å"The Miller’s tale† are very likely to common people, functioning as a mirror in which society can see itself. The empathy that Chaucer is able to establish between the characters, their situations and the readers is possible because he appeals to those universal characteristics that human beings seem to share beyond race, distance, culture and time. These pre-figured behavior, or archetype, causes an unconscious reaction on the reader, putting them in the same, Jung would say, â€Å"psychogenetic frequency†. Therefore, it possible to explain why the Canterbury Tales is a universal piece of work: because it will never lose validity. It appeals to values and characteristics that do not seem to change in time, since it is possible to identify them in the universal literature of all times. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brunel, Pierre. Companion to Literary Myths, Heroes and Archetypes. New York. Routledge. 1992. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Translated by Nevill Coghill. Penguin. London. Penguin. 2003. Franz, Marie-Louise von. Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales. Toronto. Inner City. 1997. Herz, Sarah K. , and Donald R. Gallo. From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges Between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. 2nd ed. Westport. Greenwood. 2005. Holman, C. Hugh, and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature. 6th ed. New York. Macmillan. 1992. Johnson, Terry D. , and Daphne R. Louis. Bringing It All Together. Portsmouth. Heinemann. 1997. Joseph Campbell. The hero with a thousand faces. California. New World Library. 2003. Jung, C. G. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton. Bollingen. 1981. Jung, C. G. â€Å"Phenomenology of the Self† in The Portable Jung. New York. Penguin. 1976. Stevens, Anthony. â€Å"The archetypes† in The Handbook of Jungian Psychology. Renos. Papadopoulos. 2006. ———————– [1] Anthony Stevens. â€Å"The archetypes† in The Handbook of Jungian Psychology. Renos. Papadopoulos. 2006. p. 20. [2] C. G. Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. , Princeton. Bollingen. 1981. p. 9. [3] Joseph Campbell. The hero with a thousand faces. California. New World Library. 2003. p. 23. [4] C. G. Jung. â€Å"Phenomenology of the Self† in The Portable Jung. New York. Penguin. 1976. p. 147 [5] C. G. Jung. Op. cit. p. 18 [6]Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales. Translated by Nevill Coghill. Penguin. London: Penguin. 2003. p. 89. [7] C. G. Jung. Op. cit. 19. [8]. Idem. p. 20. [9] Geoffrey Chaucer. Op. cit. 90. [10] Ibid. p. 103. [11] C. G. Jung. Op. cit. p. 29. [12] Marie-Louise von Franz. Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales. Toronto: Inner City, 1997. p. 107. [13] Ibid. p. 89.

Pioneers, oh pioneers

How does the setting underline the main conflict and the meaning for characterization? Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Setting 2 2. 1 Dominica 3 2. 2 Dr Cox's house 4 2. 3 Ramage's house 5 2. 4 Comparison Imperial Road and Market Street 7 3. Conclusion 8 4. Bibliography 10 5. Honesty Statement 11 This seminar paper analyses the different functions of the setting in Jean Rhys's short story â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers. † The author Jean Rhys was born in 1890 and brought up in Roseau, Dominica (Rhys 1981: 10).Her father was Welsh and her mother Creole (Rhys 1981 :6), so she grew up etween two worlds. Savory underlines that this is manifested in her divided attitude towards cultural identities (1998: 35). Rhys was an author of novels, short stories and an autobiographical fragment which is called â€Å"Smile Please†. But not only this book is autobiographical. Jean Rhys had almost always some autobiographical aspects in her stories. To her friend David Plante, who lat er became the ghostwriter of her autobiography, she said: â€Å"l can't make things up, I can't invent.I have no imagination. I can't invent character. I don't think I know what character is. I Just write about what happened† (1983: 52). In â€Å"Pioneers, Oh Pioneers†, which was originally published under the name â€Å"Dear Darling Mr Ramage† in The Times and later became a part of the story collection â€Å"Sleep It Off Lady' (Rhys 1976), the reader will also find some autobiographical aspects. The female child protagonist Rosalie is â€Å"aged 9† (Rhys 1970: 12)1 and â€Å"her father is the local doctor† (Hooper 2005:122).In 1899 Rhys was the same age and her father also had â€Å"decided to become a doctor† (Rhys 1981 : 68). Malcolm and Malcolm point out that Ramage â€Å"is neither white nor black† Just like Jean Rhys was. In her family she was the one with the palest skin (Rhys 1981). Do you consider yourself a West Indian? â €  She shrugged. â€Å"It was such a long time ago when I left. † â€Å"So you don't think of yourself as a West Indian writer? † Again, she shrugged, but said nothing. â€Å"What about English? Do you consider yourself an English writer? † â€Å"No! I'm not! I'm not!I'm not even English (Plante 1983:44). Jean Rhys seemed nowhere to be fit. To come to terms with this experiences, Rhys uses the character Mr Ramage in â€Å"Pioneer, Oh, Pioneers†. She adopts his eccentricity, but apart from that, she â€Å"gives im a rather different story' (Hooper 2005: 122). All references from the short story are from: Rhys, Jean. â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers. † Sleep it Off Lady. London: Penguin Books, 1979, 11-21. The following analysis will start with a short definition of the term setting and a closer investigation of the general setting in the short story.Furthermore, this seminar paper is aimed to show the link between nature and the emotional state of the main character Mr Ramage. Besides, the main issue of the story, namely the cultural clash between the black and the white insulars, will be analyzed. To get a general nderstanding of the main topic of this seminar paper, namely the setting of the short story â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers†, the definition of Michael J. Toolan is to be considered. He points out that â€Å"We like, in our reading of narratives, to know where we are, and look for clear spatiotemporal indications of Just where and when a thing happened. (1988: 102). In answer to the question of the point in time during which the action of the plot takes place, the reader finds out that â€Å"It was still the nineteenth century, November 1899†³ (11). According to Malcolm and Malcolm this date indicates he inability of Ramage to fit in the community of the island population. It symbolizes the situation of Ramage being caught between two cultures (1996: 85). He is neither Creole, nor a proper English man, b ecause he is trying more and more to disassociate himself from England, for example by marrying Isla. Her given name, Isla, the Spanish for Island, may suggest that Ramage has embraced the island itself† (Hooper 2005: 124). The date 1899 also implies that the action occurs at the time of colonialism. To have an overview of the history of the society living there at that time, the reader may onsider that the West Indies were discovered as a place where tobacco and sugar grew very well and one might earn money by planting there and shipping the goods apart. For this reason thousands of people from Africa were departed to the West Indies to work there as slaves.Although in 1899 slavery was already abolished, racial segregation was still present. â€Å"[T]he majority of Dominica's population is of African descent, mainly speaking French Creole and of the Catholic faith. † (Savory 2009: 2) but the minority of white people, mostly from Europe, who believed in the Anglican Chu rch, was still the dominating class. They urged the black people to adapt to their culture and rules (Smith 1974: 5-6). Besides telling the reader that the story is set in the time of colonialism, the date fulfils another function.November 1899 is the turning point between two seasons, two years and two centuries. As Malcolm and Malcolm point out it â€Å"adds to the sense of uncertainty and displacement† (1996: 85). The question of where the action takes place is more difficult to answer, but it will be discussed in the chapter â€Å"Dominica† of the seminar paper. Particular places of action re â€Å"Spanish Castle†, the â€Å"yellow- hot Market Street† (1 1), â€Å"the Imperial Road† (14fO and Cox's house. In the following chapters, those places will be analyzed in more detail. 2. Dominica Dominica plays an important role in the analysis of the setting, since it is probably the place where the entire plot takes place and it is furthermore the is land that accommodates the most important houses such as Ramage's Spanish Castle or Dr Cox's house. â€Å"Dominica is part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, in a strip of islands known as the West Indies. It is situated between the French islands of Guadeloupe to he North and Martinique to the South. † (Kamyab 2009: 3). Other islands of the Lesser Antilles are Barbados and Trinidad (Brockhaus Weltatlas 1993: 255). arries Isla Harrington and at the end his wife is said to have stayed with relatives from Guadeloupe. As all these islands are directly mentioned, the reader can conclude that the location where the action takes place is a Caribbean island as well. Savory points out that Rosalie and Irene are â€Å"clearly in Roseau, Dominica in 1899† (2009:100). One fact which proves that Savory's statement is very likely to be true is the reoccurring motive of the â€Å"Imperial Road†. Along this new Imperial Road† (13) Ramage looks for a place to li ve. He finds his new home, a mansion called â€Å"Spanish Castle†.Another fact that may lead to the impression that Dominica is the place where the action takes place, is the â€Å"West Indian newspaper† (Rhys 1976: 12) which is mentioned in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers†: â€Å"the Dominica Herald and Leeward Islands Gazette†. First of all, the newspaper is named after Dominica, therefore the reader may conclude that this is the place where the story occurs. Furthermore, an article published in this fictional newspaper mentions the Imperial Road and defines ts idea as made â€Å"to attract young Englishmen with capital who would buy and develop properties in the interior† (19).The real Imperial Road had a similar concept. The administrator of Dominica at the period from 1899 to 1905, Henry Hesketh Bell, developed the idea of this concept. Bell was a fine publicist and attracted a number of new venturers on Crown Lands opened up by the Imperial Road , thirty on his own estimation, who together had invested about E40,OOO by the end of 1904 (Bell Papers (12. x. 1904)). In September 1900, while on leave in London, Bell wrote a long letter to The Times nder the title â€Å"Planting in Dominica,† extolling the virtues of the island and seeking young men.He received many replies, three planters returning with him to Dominica later that year (Hulme 2000:29). The house of the Cox family is described as one room which is: â€Å"C†¦ ] full of rockingchairs, a mahogany table, palm leafs fans, a tigerskin rug, family photographs, views of Bettws-y-Coed and a large picture of wounded soldiers in the snow, Napoleon's Retreat from MOSCOW' (Rhys 1979: 12). Furthermore, the fact that the two girls had to â€Å"go upstairs to bed† (13) leads to the conclusion that this house is not a simple one in the Caribbean.The financial situation of the Cox's is never directly mentioned in the text, but looking at the fact that they life in a house where, for example, timber-made chairs, belong to the furniture, the reader can come to the conclusion that the Cox's are a family that is well off. Here Rhys uses the setting to promote an â€Å"indirect characterization† (Toolan 1988: 104). To give some information about Dr Cox's character, a description of his desktop is used. â€Å"The Times weekly edition, the Cornhill Magazine, the Lancet and a West Indian newspaper, the Dominican Herald and Leeward Islands Gazette†(12), are to be found there.This indicates that Dr Cox is a man of vast reading and therefore well-educated. Objects like this â€Å"handled or props are two pictures. The first one is a picture of Bettws-y-Coed, this tells the reader that the Cox's have a British origin (http://www. betws-y-coed. com 2013). The second one with the historical Napoleonic background, implies that they are a family which is interested in culture and history. The house of the Cox family is situated near the ce ntre of the city, close to the Market Street, which is part of Irene's and Rosalie's way back home (11).The description of Dr Cox â€Å"sitting in an armchair with a hree- legged table by his side. On the table there were his pipe[†¦ ]. Also a Times weekly edition He was not to be spoken to (12) has also a biographical aspect. The place where Rhys's father used to sit is described in a similar way: a round table with a green- shaded reading lamp, the latest Times weekly edition a fortnight old, his pipe rack, and a large armchair where he sat reading and we weren't allowed to disturb him or speak to him (Rhys 1981: 68 f. ).Ramage's home is the place where the function of the setting, namely to underline the character traits, is most recognizable. Rhys focuses on â€Å"male exploitation of women, on women's resistance to and collusion with that exploitation, on marginalizes exiled fgures from the Third world, on class antagonisms and conflicts† (Malcolm ; Malcolm 1996: 1 1). But in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† the protagonist is a â€Å"male outsider† (Malcolm ; Malcolm 1996: 82). The character Ramage is also not completely invented. The real Ramage was a well-known fgure in Dominica.His attempt to dig a hole to reach China stands in parody of Chamberlain and Bell's modernizing efforts: much digging to no ultimate purpose, and with moral laxity, madness, and death Hulme 2000: 10) The main intention of the fictional Ramage in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† is to find peace: â€Å"Peace, that's what I am after. † (14) but the only way to find it is: † to pay for it' You'll be very much alone. † (14). But this does not bother Ramage much. He prefers being alone and is considered to be â€Å"very unsociable† (12). He does not follow any â€Å"invitations to dances, tennis parties and moonlight picnics† (1 2f).Furthermore he does not seem to be interested in religion very much, for he never goes to ch urch (13). The setting of the Imperial Road underlines this antisocial attitude. Only made â€Å"to attract young Englishmen† the Imperial Road is a very isolated place to live at. The closes neighbor of Ramage is the owner of Twickenham, Mr Eliot (14). In the beginning, Ramage appeals to the inhabitants of Dominica, whether they are black or white. He is â€Å"followed about by an admiring crowd of little Negro boys† (12) and regarded as â€Å"a gentleman† (12) by Miss Lambton. â€Å"Ramage appears made to fit in. † (Malcolm & Malcolm 1996: 88).It is conspicuous that Rhys uses the setting to create a link between the outward appearance of Ramage and the one of his house, the â€Å"Spanish Castle†. At the when it came to looks â€Å"(12), wearing his â€Å"tropical kit, white suit, red cummerbund, solar topee† (12). His eventual home, the Spanish Castle, is said to be â€Å"beautiful but not prosperous† (14). As the story continues, things change. Ramage is now â€Å"burnt a deep brown, his hair fell to his shoulders, his beard to his chest. † (16). With only â€Å"wearing sandals a leather belt, on one side which hung a cutlass, on the other a large pouch. (16), he attracts the attention of the other inhabitants of the island. 5 Spanish castle is now â€Å"unkempt deserted [†¦ ]. The grass on the lawn had grown very igh and the verandah hadn't been swept for days† (17). Rhys uses the setting to underline the change in Ramage's life. He doesn't care about how he looks like anymore and seems desperate, because he seems to be unable to catch up with the society on the island. He simply wants to find peace. He isolates himself from the island population and tries to go native, but fails. Ramage's public appearance as naked, with long hair and deep brown skin, seems to indicate a serious, if flawed, attempt to go native. Ramage looks – with the exception of the beard – Just like de pictions of the real natives of Dominica† (Hooper 2005: 125). Ramage may try to leave his British origin behind and to identify himself as a fixed part of the island. His whole struggle with trying to live a quiet life is reflected in the appearance of his estate. By marrying Isla, Ramage splits himself off from the English society and puts down roots on Dominica.But the people who live on the island do not except this marriage. He is said to be â€Å"lost to white society' (15) now. Resulting from his interracial marriage, the island population assume that he rejects the idea of the natural superiority of the British race (Wende 2012: 229). When Mrs Ramage disappears, rumors are spread that Ramage might have killed her. An article published in the Gazette calls him a â€Å"beastly murder[er]† (19). Toolan points out that there is a causal or analogical relation between the setting on the one hand and characters and events on the other hand (1988: 104).Dr Cox, who seem s to be the only friend of Ramage, is not able to see the danger signals. When he visits his friend, the last time before Ramage kills himself, he gives the impression to be okay. The â€Å"nasty beastly horrible Ramage. â€Å"(11) was now â€Å"wearing one of his linen suits, lean and pressed, and his hair and beard were trimmed. † (17). He says that he feels â€Å"splendid† (17) but his garden tells the truth. Here the setting, in this case the garden, gives some information about the feelings of the male main protagonist.As already mentioned above, the garden is â€Å"unkempt and deserted The grass on the lawn had grown very high and the verandah hadn't been swept for days. † (17). Deep inside he also feels â€Å"unkempt and deserted† (17) because the people throw stones at his house (18), think that he killed his wife (19) and do not accept his new way of dressing 16) and his marriage with Isla (15). That fthe servants have all walked out† (17 ) shows that everyone left Ramage and he is all alone now, as Dr Cox predicted it before. Although he said at the beginning that he had no problem with being alone (14), he is hapless now.Nobody seems to understand him and therefore he is not able to find the only thing he was after: â€Å"Peace† (14). Neither fitting into black nor white society, Ramage decides to commit suicide. On the day of his funeral â€Å"it was dream. 6 The comparison of the Imperial Road and the Market Street is used to clarify the function of the etting to underline the racial segregation. â€Å"In Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers,†the two contrasting worlds meet physically on Market Street in the form of black and white women there† (Malcolm ; Malcolm 1996: 85). Rhys illustrates the complex hierarchy of race and class (Davis 2005) in her short story.She does this by using the setting. Like Davis points out, on Market Street â€Å"the black women were barefooted, wore gaily striped turbans and highwaisted dresses† (Rhys 1976: 1 1), while Afro-French Madame Menzies maintained the dignity of her old-fashioned riding habit, and British Mr. Ramage lived out an imperialist antasy in his â€Å"tropical kit, white suit, red cummerbund, solar topee† (12). These different perspectives are linked through the consciousness of the young protagonist who rejects the reductive, hegemonic vision of colonial society (Davis 2005).When Ramage arrives on the island, he is looking for an estate and he tells Dr Cox that he â€Å"was told that there were several places going along this new Imperial Road [†¦ ]† (13). But Dr Cox is not convinced of this plan. ANon't last. † (13), he says. But Ramage still decides to buy an estate located at this lonely road. He acquires Spanish Castle, â€Å"one of the older properties† (14). The nearest estate is the one of Mr Eliot. It was used to be called â€Å"Malgr © Tout†, but now it is called â€Å"Twickenha m† (14) after a London suburb.Wende points out that this renaming represents the British sovereignty (2012: 227). In contrast to the young men, like â€Å"young Errington, young Kellaway, who had bought estates along the Imperial Road and worked hard C†¦ ]† (14) but failed and had to sell their land after only a few time had passed, Ramage does not want to gain prosperity. The only thing he wants to find is peace (14). In one way this can be interpreted as a â€Å"desired escape from Britain† (Hooper 2005: 124). The loud and crowded Market Street corresponds to the lonely Imperial Road.The Imperial Road seems to be a place built up by white people to separate themselves from the black society. It is a place where people who want to live in another country, but do not want to integrate, live. They rather want to stay among people of the same origin. This is to be noticed by the fact that there are no black people to be found on the Imperial Road. Only rich wh ite people live there. The Market Street is the place where black as well as white people meet. As already mentioned above: â€Å"[T]he few white women carried parasols. The black women were barefoot, wore gaily striped turbans and highwaisted dresses. (11) Though they are humans, all people Rosalie watches on Market Street are only part of the setting (as well as 7 the admiring negro crowd). They are used to underline the contrast between black and white on the island, and are not important as characters for the story. They are only props, as Chatman defines (1993: 63). The white women do not seem to enjoy the weather. Their appearance is much darker than the one of the black women, who barefooted, but Mrs Menzies also passes by riding, she is therefore in the physical osition to look down on other people.This underlines the clear distance between the colonialists and the people who are colonialized. Even though slavery was abolished by this time, hierarchical structures were stil l present (Wende 2012: 237). In â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† the white society seems to be very hostile to acts or people who do not fit in their idea of life. Not only the Market Street shows the racial segregation, but also the description of the two cemeteries. On the one hand, there is â€Å"the Catholic cemetery, where all day the candles burnt almost invisible in the unlight.When night came they twinkled like fireflies. The graves were covered with flowers- some real, some red of yellow paper or little gold cut-outs. † (21). This cemetery is the one where mostly black people were buried. Just like their clothes, their cemetery is described in a more colorful way. Whereas â€Å"the Anglican cemetery, which was not very far away, down the hill, was deserted and silent. † (21). Just like the people, the cemeteries have some point where they seem to be alike, for they both are places where people are buried, but they have significant differences.When eferring to the people this could be interpreted as the black people are more kindly (bright) and the white are more dismissive (grey). 3. Conclusion An impoverished stranger comes from off the island, usually from ‘home', and courts and marries a local woman who, in narrative terms, is seen to represent the island itself. That story is fundamental to Rhys's work. [†¦ ] It is the story of Mr. Ramage, in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh Pioneers. † And, crucially, it is the story of Rhys herself (Hulme 2000: 20). In Jean Rhys's short story the setting fulfills several functions.One the one hand, it is sed to determine the place where the action takes place. As already mentioned above, the place where the entire plot takes place and where the houses which are directly mentioned, such as Ramage's Spanish Castle or Dr Cox's house, are to be found, is Dominica. On the other hand, the setting is used to characterize acting people in an indirec way. For example, it is never said that the Cox f amily is a rich one. Only the description of one room in their house with chairs made of timber and a tigerskin rug leads the reader to the conclusion that they are a family which is well off.Furthermore, the setting tells the reader important character traits of 8 Dr Cox. The description of his desktop with a lot of newspapers implies that he is intelligent and a prestigious man. Another function of the setting in â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers† is to point out the racial segregation, that was still present on Dominica in 1899. Although the differences were never mentioned explicitly, it becomes clear that there is a huge discrepancy between black and white people, as the setting implies. For example, when Ramage marries Isla, he is â€Å"lost to white society' (15).In their eyes, the way Ramage lives does ot match their ideas of a hierarchy everyone has to stick to. They want a clear separation of colonialists and the people who are colonialized. As Malcolm and Malcolm point out â€Å"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneer†, deals with the cultural clash between those two groups (1996: 83). The white people outrank the black islanders. This is already got to know. The white women Mrs Menzies does not only feel like she is in a higher position, she actually really is, because she rides past the black people on her horse. Furthermore Malcolm and Malcolm emphasize that even the date emphasizes the clash.Peter Hulme sees in Jean Rhys's short story ‘Pioneers, Oh Pioneers' not only a foreshadowing of the life of the inexperienced settler, but a critique of precisely the sorts of imperial road-building ambitions that were promoted by politicians and administrators such as Chamberlain and Hesketh Bell.

VISC 1004-01 Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

VISC 1004-01 Final - Essay Example ree films was developed in different historical moments, all the films present the same social biases, whether it is the biases related to the relationship between the rich and the poor or the biases related to the intimate relationship between individuals of two different races. However, in all the films, the female gender seems to suffer the most social prejudices, since their choice of happiness is rarely appreciated by the people in their lives, whether their families or their friends. The Far from Heaven (2002) is a film that was developed in the 21st century, telling of the story of a love relationship that eventually becomes disapproved by the society. Cathy Whitaker is a rich woman who happens to be living in a marriage that has no happiness and no sexual fulfillment, until she comes to learn very late that her husband, Frank, was also a gay (Haynes, n.p.). In the course of her stressed life, Cathy Whitaker happens to come across Raymond Deagan, who is the son of her former gardener who is already dead (Haynes, n.p.). Due to the unfulfilling marriage that Cathy Whitaker lives in, she develops passionate feelings towards Raymond, which eventually turns into love feelings that see both establish an intimate relationship. However, considering that Cathy Whitaker is a rich woman who is courting Raymond; a black and poor man, the society applies its social biases and prejudices against the black race and against the relationship between the rich and the poor, to ev entually separate the two. Three white boys abuses Raymond’s daughter, causing Raymond to decide never to engage with a white woman again (Haynes, n.p.). The whole neighborhood is also spreading word about the unethical relationship between Cathy Whitaker, a married woman, and a black poor man, causing Cathy Whitaker to be the laughing stock of the whole neighborhood. The same script is repeated in the film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), where Emmi, a German widow in her 60s gets engaged with a

De young museum ( San Francisco ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

De young museum ( San Francisco ) - Essay Example When the building was initially constructed, there were lacking tools and equipment that could be used for construction. The museum is an amalgamation of past and present designs and architectural excellence. This paper contains description of the museum’s construction and relevant details. De Young Museum (San Francisco) The M.H De Young memorial museum is the complete name of a fine arts museum situated in San Francisco but it is commonly known and called â€Å"De Young Museum†. This museum is located in the famous golden gate park of San Francisco. Initially the museum was housed in a fine arts building having the Egyptian style structure. The old museum occupied the area of approximately 1, 40000 square feet where as the new building occupies the area of about 292,000 square feet. De young museum was founded in 1895 and since then it is the hub of the cultural fabric of the city of San Francisco. Fine arts museum was an outgrowth of an exposition that took place in San Francisco in 1894. Different sorts of construction material were used to construct a splendid building of all times. Copper, wood, steel and glass were so beautifully used to merge the outlook of museum with surroundings of golden Green Park. Effort was made to complement the old hazardous building of the museum. Italian porphyry stone is used on the lobby floor of the museum. Fabric ceilings and wood flooring were used for designing the interior. The building was decorated with the images of hathor, commonly known as cow goddess. Museum was badly damaged by the earthquake in 1906 and it was closed for public. Concrete ornaments and large quantity of steel was used in museum’s construction (M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, et al. 184). De young memorial museum is great specimen of construction, engineering and architecture. Construction of such a building in those times without use of modern machinery was only possible by labor force and use of skills by the construction co mpanies. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum (Old Building) The M.H De Young memorial museum is the complete name of a fine arts museum situated in San Francisco but it is commonly known and called â€Å"De Young Museum†. The museum is the result of California midwinter international exhibition held in 1894. After the exhibition the museum was first opened for the public in 1895. The midwinter fair used to operate from January to July during that era. The exhibition of 1894 was held in the same golden gate park where the museum is situated now. De young was editor and proprietor of the San Francisco chronicle. The San Francisco exhibition was the idea of De young that resulted in the construction of great fine arts museum at golden gate park (M.H. De Young Memorial Museum 64). The M. H. De Young Memorial Museum in 1895 Since then the museum faced natural disinters and renovation of the museum is still a continuous process. The earthquake of 1906 badly damaged the fine arts buildin g and after words the building was demolished and reopened in 1929 in a Spanish style structure. The building was again declared a hazard as the ornaments decorated in the building began to fall in 1949. In 1972, De young fine arts museum was created as a separate entity. The museum aging faced a devastating earthquake in 1989 and building was again demolished and once again constructed at the same place in 2005. Since then

Home Security alarm system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Home Security alarm system - Research Paper Example We are required to research home alarm systems available in the market, investigate and understand conditions that may results in activating an alarm, develop a smarter home alarm system using digital technology, draw a circuit diagram (preferably using computer software) that will assist in building the circuit, develop a test strategy to demonstrate the operation of your circuit, produce a team written technical report, reflect on process from start to finish in regards to the alarm circuit, in an individual written exercise. For all the requirement we need to use our math, science and problem solving skills to solve the problem. We approach the problem by designing the new simple circuit using BOOELEAN algebra to do all tree such as logic expression, truth table and logic circuit. We build our circuit use our circuit diagram to demonstrate the operation of our circuit to the supervisor. Once the circuit is operated successfully, we decide to compile a report clearly explaining the steps taken to approach this problem, the final design of the circuit of home security alarm system and the diagram we used as part of the process as well as verifying our calculation and finding through the MATLAB programing software. As part of our investigation, we discuss our plan of action prior to attending a digital electronic work of home alarm system and discuss how our team would proceed with the information and details already available to us. The aims of the report include the research, analysis, design and construction of the alarm circuit. The other issue is to come up with a detailed description of the system hereby designed. The project aims at discovering possibilities putting in place home security as well as a wide research, observed from already existing designs. Research of alarms in the marketplace which perform different tasks is also analysed. Schematic and block diagrams showing the functionality of the design work

Financial Markets after Enron and WorldCom Collapse Assignment - 3

Financial Markets after Enron and WorldCom Collapse - Assignment Example This necessitated legal, social and financial reforms. One such legislation, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has meant that public companies spend additional millions for compliance, (Roy and Walter, 56). The NYSE also proposed a new governance proposal, which focused on eliminating conflicts of interest. The financial markets with time recovered with fears of the costs of regulation and financial intermediation being passed on to consumers. Government efforts to clean up the mess began with the state of the Union address on 29th January 2002 by then-President George Bush on the impact of corporate failures on markets and society. Enforcement agencies were formed by the SEC, Justice Department and Congress in an effort to punish offenders. Several were indicted and jailed. Billions of out of court settlements were reached compensating investors albeit minimally. The financial crisis of 2008 emanated from a mix of bad political, financial, corporate and economic decisions. Though it may take time for effects of decisions to manifest, the private sector greed for short-term profit is responsible for escalating the financial crisis. The ensuing events were set in motion by three related factors. First off, there were large inflows of foreign funds into the United States following the Asian financial crisis of the late 90s and the debt crisis in Russia. Availability of credit led to a boom in the construction industry, most of which was debt financed. Further, a noble liberal political idea that encouraged and pressured banks to help poor people transform into homeowners began during the Clinton administration. This led to the creation of numerous sub-prime loans to borrowers with poor creditability, with no down payments, and no verification of assets and liabilities setting them up  for defaults, (Michael, 253). This was fuelled in part by the greed of lenders, bankers and related financial institutions.

TV ratings Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TV ratings - Coursework Example For example, if channel CBS shows Criminal Minds at 10pm and has a rating of 25 then, according to Nielson, 25% of the household audience is watching the program. In addition, an individual needs to find the market share of a program as it is the estimate percentage of the number of households who have television and are watching the program. For example, if channel ABS airs the program Dance with the stars at 8.00pm and has a market share of 40 this means that 40% of the people watching TV at that particular time are watching the same program. Moreover, to have spot trends in the market help Media Managers identify audience problems. For example, if channel fox airs master chef at 7.00am, which has weak ratings, then there is a possibility that the ratings could recover after some time. This is because the program may be aired at a time when the target audience is not available. Lastly, tracking numbers of people helps to know if people are watching the program. The Nielson report captures viewers of all age groups. However, it may be difficult to know the actual numbers between women and men ages, as much as these numbers matter most to advertisers. The result is that the audience splits due to the gender and age groups, therefore the number of people watching certain programs reduce significantly (Beville, 9). The target audience for most of the top ten programs attracts young families. This is because programs such as modern family, is a family program and the parents together with the kids can watch the program that is suitable for all family viewing. In addition, programs like criminal minds and the big-bang theory allows all members of the family to watch. 18-49 years is the target age of most of the top 10 programs. I feel the target audience for the top 10 shows attracts families because, the programs are friendly to everyone in the family and parents do not have to censor worst scenes,

The Ed Sullivan Show Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

The Ed Sullivan Show - Assignment Example Bob Dylan’s song ‘Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues’ was viewed as potentially controversial and unacceptable song to the John Birch Society therefore it was pulled out by CBS Television. Dylan’s motivations to appear on the show could be seen as political and playing this song was considered to mock the extreme right wing that was viewed as anti-Communist organization and its policies were compared to those of Hitler. Mike Jagger’s insistence that he said â€Å"mmmmm† instead of â€Å"time† in his song that was subject to censorship in Ed Sullivan’s show suggests that performers surely felt subdued to the pressures of censorship but at the same time they wanted to maintain a status quo amongst their followers who appreciated and accepted their songs. Despite of CBS’s attempt to censor some of the lyrics of The Door’s the band went on including them in their song assisted them in affirming the provoking nature of their music and their band. This helped the band build reputation of being a notorious band who later achieved greater success. Inglis states that context and consequences in terms of individual acts of censorship are related to each other. The relation between context and consequences with regards to censorship is based upon the evaluation of context in which the censorship occurs that is out of blasphemy, sexual contents etc. Moreover, this relation is also established within the prospect of censorship of on the basis of consequences that would be noted as a result of imposition of censorship. By calling controversial groups to perform in the show, Sullivan considered controversies as a motivation to make his show successful. Rolling stones and other popular groups greatly marked their mixed impressions on public and therefore audiences wanted to know every update of such groups. This was an ultimate motivation or Ed Sullivan show for allowing

2000 Trade Agreement with China and the Damage it has caused to the Research Paper

2000 Trade Agreement with China and the Damage it has caused to the United States - Research Paper Example This agreement came as a result to the current conceding to China of permanent ordinary trade relations position by the United States Congress, paving the way for China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization. Given that the United States has long complained in relation to the huge trade shortage with China, this agreement should develop the bilateral trade balance in support of the United States. All the same, many long-standing trade concerns between China and the United States remain unsettled to the present. Identification and description: Historical Event The identification of the event concerning trade between the two nations stems for several years of long-term business. It is worth to mention that the two nations have been doing business transactions before the implementation of the trade agreements in the year 2000. Notably, these two nations have been benefiting from each other through various ways while doing business (Jialin, 2003). However, with reference to different statistics of the two nations, there is some understanding that China has had various benefits while causing some damages on the economy of the United States in the end. The understanding of this concern is well demonstrated throughout the entire discussion thoroughly. The main issue of concern is the different measures of the bilateral trade inequity by the two nations. ... In that case, distorting the bilateral trade equilibrium, and puff up the U.S. trade shortage with China (Ransom, 2001). A comparable aspect is the weight of capital flow. The majority of Chinese export goods to the United States are manufactured by outward-processing organizations. Nearly all returns accumulate to the United States and other foreign owners of such firms, whilst China gets only an insignificant manufacturing fee. Taking into consideration such aspects, the United States trade imbalance with China is considerably smaller compared to the official data suggestions (Horn & Mavroidis, 2001). In its implication, there is no reason to make the whole issue a captive in the United States domestic partisan effort and consequently poison U.S. and China political connections. One of the international trade agreements is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and is also the foundation through which other trade agreements and frameworks have been formed for instance, t he â€Å"General Agreement on Trade in Services† abbreviated as GATS. The agreement established major principles to monitor business and trade operations among the member countries. The important principle is that of non-discrimination for foreign goods within the member countries. GATT also reduced trade barriers and tariffs to international trade including importation quotas and bringing equality (Jialin, 2003). The other principle harmonized the standards of goods and services internationally thus establishing a regulatory ceiling for trade operations. Very soon, the global economy was closely integrated thanks to technological changes and the invention of the internet (Murray & Raynolds, 2007). Later in 1995 the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established by the member

Medieval University Essay Example for Free

Medieval University Essay Everything that is going on around us was developed in some point during history. We can assume that all ideas had to come from some prior idea. As students of history, it is in our ability to wonder what cultural and social constructions are still present today from the any other time in historical period. What particular concepts still exist within the world or specifically the United States? An idea that is still very present in America is the university. When did the idea of schools first come into full importance? What was taught and when did the concept expand into colleges and universities? The first universities were commenced in Paris during the Early Middle Ages. This is where the first concepts of higher learning were instituted and based off. In chapter seven of Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence Volume 1, the book explains the history of colleges and universities, they were simpler than modern schools but took hold of what general is taught today. In Europe during the medieval period, most education was handled in the small schools, where they taught Latin to male children. Students who would go to become clergymen were taught more advance subjects in cathedral schools. When the schooling community grew too large, colleges were set in place for student housing. Most modern university or college has housing for students. Student housing was strict and much regulated in the middle ages. These students, most of them, were to go on and become part of the clergy. Those who ran the colleges wanted to keep watch of the behavior being displayed by students of their institution. Compared to the rules of most residence halls in American universities, these restrictions seem preposterous. Rules included no one shall have loud shoes or clothing by which scandal might be generated in any way also no fellow shall presume to sleep outside of the house in town, and if he did so for reason, he shall take pains to submit his excise to the bearer of the roll†¦ also no women of any sort shall eat in the private rooms. If anyone violates this rule, he shall pay assessed penalty, namely, sixpence. You can see how important the curriculum was important during college in medieval life. There was no trace of extra activities and such like there are today. Clubs and leagues are western concepts that came later. Residence halls now are still very strict but some can be lenient towards student desires. Then learning was the highest priority. In source 11, a description of student life in Paris during the Middle Ages is explained more clearly. It says, Almost all the students at Paris, foreigners and natives, did absolutely nothing except learn or hear something new. Clearly now, the college of the university is not just the resident halls. Colleges are considered an institution in which a liberal arts degree can be acquired. The difference between a college and a university is that a college just presents a set of degrees in specific areas while a university is a collection of colleges. Content and teaching styles varied during the middle ages, as they do now. Degrees for teaching were given out to people who could right acquire them, Believing that the chancellor often either granted the right teach to unqualified parties or simply sold licenses outright, they began to require that prospective teachers pass an examination set by the university besides getting the chancellors approval. Many of these instructors had their own style teaching. In source five of the chapter sevens content, one teacher lays out his expectations like how modern day professors give out syllabi, he says, All writings belonging to this class are to be read with full freedom to criticize, and with no obligation to accept unquestioningly; otherwise the way would be blocked to all discussion, and posterity be deprived of the excellent intellectual exercise of debating difficult questions of language and presentation. The content of school was not very far off from what most places teach today. James Hannam of the University of Cambridge says, A great deal of the business of natural philosophy, mathematics and medicine during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period took place in the setting of the universities What almost all universities had in common was that they were self governing corporations that were supported by both church and state. Their major purpose was to train men to be lawyers, theologians and physicians but they were also  increasingly used by the gentry to educate their sons in the cultural skills necessary for courtly life. Some universities like the University of Bologna specialized in certain categories of learning. The University of Bologna would be considered a law school. The university is historically notable for its teaching of canon and civil law; indeed, it was set up in large part with the aim of studying the Digest, a central text in Roman law, which had been rediscovered in Italy in 1070, and the university was central in the development of medieval Roman law. says universities Wikipedia page. The differences between universities of the middle Ages in Europe and modern day universities in America are quite apparent but their similarities suggest that some customs were brought to the west. These universities like Cambridge, Bologna, Paris, and Oxford are the models of what higher education is today. They are what came before what we have today. That is why it is important to study history as a whole thus we can see what aspects are being used in society today. [ 1 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 147. [ 2 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 158-9. [ 3 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 166. [ 4 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 147. [ 5 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 160 [ 6 ]. http://www. hps. cam. ac. uk/research/memu. html [ 7 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/University_of_Bologna.

The Most Effective Antibiotic On Bacteria Biology Essay

The Most Effective Antibiotic On Bacteria Biology Essay Before bacteria can multiply and cause symptoms our immune system can usually destroy them. We have special white blood cells that attack harmful bacteria. Even if symptoms do occur, our immune system can usually cope and fight off the infection. There are occasions, however, when it is all too much and our bodies need some help from antibiotics. The first antibiotic was penicillin. Such penicillin-related antibiotics as ampicillin, amoxicillin and benzylpenicilllin are widely used today to treat a variety of infections these antibiotics have been around for a long time. There are several different types of modern antibiotics and they are only available with a doctors prescription in industrialized countries. An antibiotic is given for the treatment of an infection caused by bacteria. They target only bacteria they do not attack other organisms, such as fungi or viruses. If you have an infection it is important to know whether it is caused by bacteria, and not a virus or fungus. Most upper respiratory tract infections, such as the common cold and sore throats are generally caused by viruses antibiotics do not work against viruses. Antibiotics are overused or used incorrectly there is a chance that the bacteria will become resistant the antibiotic becomes less effective against that type of bacterium. A broad-spectrum antibiotic can be used to treat a wide range of infections. A narrow-spectrum antibiotic is only effective against a few types of bacteria. There are antibiotics that attack aerobic bacteria, while others work against anaerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria need oxygen, while anaerobic bacteria dont. Antibiotics may be given beforehand, to prevent infection, as might be the case before surgery. This is called prophylactic use of antibiotics. They are commonly used before bowel and orthopedic surgery. Bacteria The word bacteria is the plural of bacterium. Grammatically the headline should just say What are bacteria? The incorrect usage has been included in the headline to remind readers that it is wrong and hopefully help correct an increasingly common mistake in the English language. Bacteria are tiny living beings (microorganisms) they are neither plants nor animals they belong to a group all by themselves. Bacteria are tiny single-cell microorganisms, usually a few micrometers in length that normally exist together in millions. A gram of soil typically contains about 40 million bacterial cells. A milliliter of fresh water usually holds about one million bacterial cells. Planet Earth is estimated to hold at least 5 nonillion bacteria. Scientists say that much of Earths biomass is made up of bacteria. 5 nonillion = 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (or 51030) (Nonillion = 30 zeros in USA English. In British English it equals 54 zeros. This text uses the American meaning) Bacterial cell walls Bacterial cell walls consist of layer of peptidoglycan which is made up of many parallel polysaccharide chains with short peptide cross-linkage forming an enormous molecule with net-like structure. However, there are two different types of bacterial cell wall, which can be distinguished by Gram staining, a staining technique developed by Christian Gram in 1984 and still in use today. Before staining, bacteria are colorless. The cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria have a thick layer of peptidoglycan containing chemicals such as teichoic acid within their net-like structure. The crystal violet in the stain binds to the teichoic acid and resists decolouring in the rest of the process, leaving the positive purple/blue color. The cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria have a thinner layer of peptidoglycan with ni teichoic acid between the two layers of membranes and then an outer membrane-like layer made up of lipopolisaccharides. Any crystal violet which does not bind is readily decolourised and replaced with red safranine in the Gram stain. So cells appear red. PROBLEM STATEMENT Which antibiotic is the most effective on bacteria? APPARATUS 200 ml of micropipette, conical flask, forceps, 100 ml beaker MATERIALS Petri dish, sample of E.coli and staphylococcus, 3 different types of antibiotic which are carbenicilin, streptomycin and tetracycline, distilled water, Dettol handwash, 75 % of ethanol, agar, tissue paper VARIABLES Fixed variable : volume of bacteria Manipulated variable : types of antibiotic Responding variable : area of inhibition zone HYPOTHESIS The most effective antibiotic to inhibit bacteria growth is ampicillin PROCEDURE First of all, wash out hands with the soap or handwash. The working area is sprayed thoroughly with the disinfectant spray. It is left for at least 10 minutes, and wiped with a paper towel. An agar plate seeded with is prepared. The petri dish is labeled on the base at the edge out of name, the date and type of bacterium it is inoculated with by usng permanent marker pen. After finishing marking the petri dish, the Esterichia coli bacteria is poured by using micropipette into the petri dish on the marked labeling and distribute it evenly. The agar is taken out from 60 ÃÅ'Ã…  C oven. The mouth of the conical flask containing the agar is warmed in the flame to prevent any different bacteria from surrounding grow inside it. The agar is left for 10 minutes for it to solidify before putting the sterile disc dip into three different antibiotics. The forceps are flamed and used them to pick up disc or Mast ring. It is dip into the antibiotic solution and is placed firmly in the centre of the agar. The dish is taped securely with two pieces of adhesive tape and kept it upside down at room temperature for 24 hours. Step 1 until steps 7 are repeated by using another type of bacteria which is staphylococcus. Our hands are washed with soap or handwash and the bench is cleaned again using the 75 % of ethanol. After the incubation, the plate should be looked at carefully but do not open it. Where bacteria have grown the plate will look opaque, but where the antibiotics have inhibited growth, clear zones called inhibition zones will be seen. The diameter of the inhibition zones is measured in milimetres and the information is used to decide which antibiotic is most effective at inhibiting the growth of the bacterium. The data is collected from other members of the class who used the other bacterial cultures. PRECAUTIONS When carrying out the experiment, we should work very closed to the Bunsen burner to prevent any impurities in each apparatus that is used. Do not seal completely the upper and lower part of petri dish. Both petri dishes contain different bacteria need to be inverted to prevent the water vapour from forming at the upper site of the agar. It might affected or overshadow the inhibition zones that are formed inside the dish. Make sure our hands are constantly being wash with disinfectant before touching any apparatus. Before using any apparatus, they should be sterile to prevent any unwanted impurities to grow in the petri dish. Do not open the petri dish after incubation to prevent from infection. RESULTS Antibiotic Diameter of inhibition area/ cm Inhibition area / cm ² E. Coli Staphylococcus E.Coli Staphylococcus Tetracyclin 2.6 3.0 5.3 7.0 Streptomycin 1.6 2.0 8.0 3.1 Carbenicillin 1.5 3.5 4.9 9.6 Ampicillin 3.6 3.8 10.2 11.3 Control 0 0 0 0 Explanation of the data Table above shows the area of inhibition zone of the bacteria growth on two different bacteria. Four types of antibiotics are used to be investigated which is the most effective on a particular bacteria. They are tetracycline, streptomycin, carbenicillin and ampicillin. Whereas two types of bacteria are used which are staphylococcus and Esterichia Coli. For E.coli, ampicilin showed the greatest inhibition area of bacteria growth with 10.2 cm ². Another antibiotic that showed the closest reading is streptomycin. Tetacyclin and carbenicilin showed 5.3 cm ² and 4.9 cm ² respectively. This result clearly shown that ampicilin is the most effective antibiotic to inhibit the growth of E.coli. Besides that, E.coli is a gram negative bacteria. The cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria have a thinner layer of peptidoglycan with no teichoic acid between the two layers of membranes and then an outer membrane-like layer made up of lipopolisaccharides. In addition to that, Staphylococcus also had a higher inhibition zone of bacteria on ampicilin. Other bacterias have no effect as great as ampicilin which can be consider as a strong antibiotic. Staphy is a gram positive bacteria. The cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria have a thick layer of peptidoglycan containing chemicals such as teichoic acid within their net-like structure. The crystal violet in the stain binds to the teichoic acid and resists decolouring in the rest of the process, leaving the positive purple/blue color. That is why ampicilin is said to be the most effective antibiotic on both bacterias. Limitations There are some limitations that cannot be avoided when carrying out the experiment. The first one was every apparatus that we used had been sterile by the laboratory assistant. Thus we had to wash our hands thoroughly before touching anything. We even could not talk during the preparation. The problem was we carried out the experiment on the labs table, instead of using the cupboard fume to maintain the sterile apparatus. Thus, there might be some of the apparatus that we were using had been contaminated. This condition might affect the reliability of the experiment hence the expected results might not get at the end of the experiment. Besides that, we had to wash our hands by using the dettol hand soap before we start and end the experiment. We had to remove all the impurities and bacteria and that was the purpose of washing hand. The problem rose as we did not know whether we had washed our hand to the maximum cleanliness. Consequently, all the apparatus and materials that we used might be affected by our hand. This is done so that there are no infections or contaminations on the agar that might give problems later. Sources of error There are some sources of error when carrying out this experiment. Firstly, we prepared the experiment at room temperature. It was supposed to carry out in sterile medium to prevent anything from affecting during the preparation of bacteria and antibiotics. Next, the major problem that could be seen during the experiment was most of the groups could not be able to solidify their agar to the maximum hardness. Consequently, when inverting the petri dish, all its contents would be messy inside the petri dish and the disc had mixed to one another. Thus, the antibiotics on each disc also had mixed that could affected the whole result. To overcome this problem, students should let the agar solidify before inverting the petri dish. Another problem was some of the groups do not invert their petri dish before keeping it inside the incubator. This would cause the water vapour to form at the upper part of the petri dish. It would also affect the growth of the bacteria in agar. Fourth, the layer of agar inside the petri dish was too thin that caused it fell to the bottom when inverting it. Besides ruining the shape of the agar and the position of the discs in the agar, the thin layer of agar also inhibits the growth of bacteria because it lacked of nutrients. To prevent this, the layer of agar should be half of the petri dish. Further work To get more reliable and accurate result, this experiment should be repeated by varying the temperature to investigate the activity of antibiotic on bacteria. This means that increase the temperature would cause the antibiotic to act more rapidly compared to the temperature that we used before. Thus we do not have to wait for 24 hours to see the inhibition zone. This manipulated variable also do not waste the time consuming for the experiment. Moreover, as the antibiotic shows more faster effect, thus the bacteria and antibiotic should be put in separately different petri dish to prevent it from overlapping. CONCLUSION The most effective antibiotic is ampicilin. The hypothesis is aceepted. Words = 2200

The Death Penalty Essay -- Capital Punishment Essays

The Death Penalty in the United States is still intact, but in other Nations it has been abolished. These countries abolished it because they thought it to inhumane and cruel. One hundred and thirty-six nations have abolished the death penalty. Now in this essay I will tell the reasons some states and countries still have the death penalty and why some do not, also some cases of people getting sentenced to it when they were really innocent. The first thing I am going to talk about is the states and countries that still have the death penalty. In the United States the death penalty is still held as a sentence for many reasons like; most Americans still support the death penalty, the eye-for-an eye mentality still holds firm in the conservative heartland, and the leaders still believe that it is effective against a violent crime. I think the only thing they don't think about when they approve of the penalty is the innocent people that get â€Å"proven guilty† are not really guilty and they are put to death for something they didn't even do. In the case of Kobe Bryant, he was proven guilty for sexually assaulting a 19 year old girl in his home town of Eagle, Colorado. He even admitted that he had committed adultery but they still proved guilty even though he didn't do it. He was sentenced to maximum sentence to life in prison. In the state of Texas, they have prosecuted four times more inmates than in any one single state. Only thirty-six of the fifty states still have the death penalty and those states include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connetticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana,. Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Miss... ... Each year there are about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed. From 1976 to 1995 there were a total of 314 people put on death row in the U.S. 179 of them were put to death using lethal injection, 123 were put to death using electrocution, 9 were put to death in a gas chamber, 2 were hung, and 1 was put to death using the firing squad. The death penalty is the worst form of punishment gave in the United Sates. Once the jury has convicted a criminal, they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment phase.   Different forms of the death penalty are more reasonable than others. In the 1920's people decided that lethal gas, or the gas chamber, was more reasonable than the electric chair. Is the death penalty just or unjust? Well one of the "Ten Commandments" states, " Thou shalt not kill." Wouldn't this mean that the death penalty is murder?

Sodium :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life could not exist without compounds of sodium. These compounds hold water in body tissues, and a severe deficiency of sodium can cause death. Blood contains sodium compounds in solution. Sodium compounds are used in industry in the manufacture of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, in metallurgy, in sodium vapor lamps, and in the production of hundreds of every day products. One of the most common sodium compounds is table salt, or sodium chloride. In its pure form sodium is a silver-white, soft and waxy metallic element. It is the sixth most abundant element on Earth and occurs in more that trace amounts in the stars and sun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The secret that led to low-cost production was learned in 1789, when the French chemist Nicolas Leblanc discovered how to make soda out of common salt. The compound called soda is sodium carbonate. Crude sodium carbonate is called soda ash. The carbonate also combines with water in crystals known as washing soda, or sal soda. Soda is used in manufacturing soap, glass, dyestuffs, and explosives and as the basis for making other sodium compounds. Other sodium compounds, with some of their uses, are: baking soda(sodium bicarbonate), an ingredient of baking powder; borax (sodium borate), a food preservative; and caustic soda, or lye (sodium hydroxide), used in soapmaking. Some properties of sodium are: Symbol Na, Atomic Number 11, Atomic Weight 22.9898, Boiling Point 1,621.2 F, and Melting Point 208.06 F.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sodium belongs to the group of elements known as alkali metals. It is never found uncombined in nature and was first isolated by the English scientist Sir Humphry Davy in 1807. Lighter than water, pure sodium can be cut with a knife at room temperature and is brittle at low temperatures. It conducts heat and electricity easily and exhibits a photoelectric effect, that is, it emits electrons when exposed to light. In its pure form, sodium oxidizes

Business Law Essay

As courts decide cases involving the Internet and new kinds of issues not addressed previously, what role, if any, does precedent play? What role should it play? What difficulties could arise? A court would first look to see if any applicable statutes apply to the situation. Beyond that, the court would consider whether or not there are any earlier relevant court decisions applicable to the case. The court might find a similar case, though one not involving the Internet, and extend its application to the Internet. Through this process, existing law can be extended to apply to new situations. Difficulties can arise if courts extend the application of an existing law to a new area where there are crucial differences that make the application of the old law improper. The Jurisdiction of the Court% Steve often purchases office supplies from Supplymax. a company with stores in many states, but none in Steve home state of Missouri. Supplymax does, however, maintain a distribution center in Kansas City. Missouri. Supplymax does not advertise in Missouri except that it places a few advertisements in national magazines. Some of which are sold in Missouri. Steve has an agreement with their store in Chicago. and Steve will often contact the Chicago store and have them hold items for him to pick up when he is on one of his frequent business trips to Chicago. Last year. Steve purchased eight chairs from Supplymax to use with his Conference table at his business. At a recent meeting with his local sales staff. One of the chairs collapsed injuring Steve. Steve has sued Supplyimax in state court in his hometown of St Louis. Supplymax does not want to have this case heard in Si. Louis. Or anywhere in Missouri for that matter. But if it must be in Missouri. Supplymax demands that the case be heard in Kansas City. Discuss the issues and likely outcome of his situation. Supplymax probably meets the minimum contacts requirement with the state of Missouri. Given its distribution center and advertising in national publication that reaches Missouri. Thus Missouri would have personal jurisdiction. Because the lawsuit arises out of events in St. Louis and there are witnesses from St. Louis. Proper venue would be in St. Louis. If the amount in controversy were more than $75,000, Supplymax could transfer the case to federal court.

Are Leaders Born or Made Essay

People have debated whether leaders are born or made for centuries. However, I am absolutely convinced that good leaders are made than born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. â€Å"Good leaders can develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training and experience† (Jago, 1982). To inspire workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things a leader must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their laurels. Definition of Leadership Before we get started, let’s define and understand about leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills. In the field of organizational learning, leadership entered the discussion as a proxy for the organization. Initial concepts of leadership in organizational learning were based on the notion of the dominant coalition. Organizational learning theorists had suggested that the senior management team, or dominant coalition, was in fact the organization level of organizational learning. Moreover, leadership has been described as the â€Å"process of social influence in which one person enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. According to Ken â€Å"SKC† Ogbonnia, â€Å"effective leadership is the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or society goal. Charismatic Leaders are made but not born. However, there are many well-educated and motivated people who lack of the knowledge to lead others. So they don’t assume leadership positions, or if they do, they don’t do very well in them. Thus, to become a made leader, we need to know about the characteristic of a leader for us to learn and explore from there. Having charisma is an important quality to any successful leader, that’s all highly successful people must develop to maximize their success in leadership roles, as well as use it to gain a great advantage over their competition. Charisma can be explained as an indefinable personal magnetism that helps draw people to you, and makes them want to cooperate and work with you to accomplish your dreams. To increase your own level of charisma, you must first be confidence in your own vision. If you have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, then you need to focus on setting goal for yourself, and make plan to achieve them without delay. The clearer you are about your purpose, and how you are planning to achieve it, will naturally to attract others to help and support you in any way they can. However, some say charismatic is born but not made. Yes, it’s. But without the born charisma, you can also increase the level of you charisma by talking and interaction with other, certain interactions and rewards increase starting relationships, such as a Celebrity using a Charming Introduction will instantly have a new friend. Charisma skill-building requires friends and relationships to progress. Personality and Physical Build Besides, the personality is also an important element to become a made leader, great leaders must have the ability to project themselves, to communicate with subordinates in order to accomplish a task by teamwork. The dictionary definition of personality is the collection of emotional and behavioural traits that characterize a person. That is, your personality is how you present yourself to the world. It is how others see you. Is that important for leadership effectiveness? I think so. Your public persona is the catalyst for enrolling followers. For example, you might be typically dominant, or perhaps you’re always a friendly person, or even someone who takes very few risks. These examples are personality traits. You may also simply improve your personality by your appearance such as dress up and make up well as the appearance oneself always the first impression they given to other. Aside of personality, physical build is also a trait of characteristic for being a leader, this can be made and improved by one self. For example, the children now are mostly taller and stronger than their parents because of the better knowledegement care. Talent, skills and knowledge Beyond the personal traits of a leader, leadership talent, skills and knowledge someone must master if they want to be a leader. Leadership talent is those innate traits that a person is born with but which they need to work on to develop their potentiality, Leadership skills are learned behaviours that a person practices and hones over time. And leadership knowledge is acquired learning about the methods, strategies, successes and failures of other leaders in business and in different walks of life. The traits include intelligence, creativity, diplomacy, persuasiveness, and organizational ability. The difference of the three is an intrinsic character of the leader and the latter two are learned. And an effective leader combines all three: harnessing mixture of their natural characteristic, their learned replicable behaviors, and their mental data and learning into their own unique way to expressing themselves as a leader. Knowing well of the managerial function Besides, knowing well of the managerial function is also a must for a made leader. From day-to-day operating, they should be able to learn about planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling in order to lead their subordinates in an effective way. Planning refers to anticipate the opportunity, problems and conditions and choosing from among the alternative of future courses or actions. That includes forecasting, programming, scheduling and etc. The organization functions consist of developing the organization, delegating authority and establishing relations. Staffing is about planning the organization with suitable personnel constitutes the staffing function. Direction function involves managing people and work through the means of motivation, proper leadership, effective communication and coordination. Controlling function enables management to ensure the achievement is in accordance with the established plans. Communication skill Moreover, to be a made leader, we should train ourselves to make effective communication thru experience. The communication skill can definitely be improved if you have the desire to do it, a smart leader must always the â€Å"30 seconds message† which transmitting the most important message within the shortest time. Effective communication is more than just being able to speak and write. A leader’s communication must move people to work toward the goal the leader has chosen. Besides that, a leader has to be able to motivate everyone to contribute. Each of us have different â€Å"button†, a great leader should knows how to push to right button on everyone to make them really want to do their best to achieve the leader’s goal. This is definitely not born because leader could press the right buttons on everyone through understanding their personality. Honesty and Integrity, Forward looking, Independence and Innovation. In addition, the characteristic of a leader is also consisted by honesty and integrity, forward looking, independence and innovation. Once should not even be considered to become a leader without having demonstrated the honesty, integrity and trustworthiness to have and maintain a position of public trust. At all levels, individuals with integrity and honesty show moral courage by doing the right thing even when it is not popular or by expressing dissent when actions or pending decisions would violate organizational and/or constitutional values, laws, and regulations. In addition, they confront unethical behavior in others. Furthermore, the honestly and integrity is about following rules and regulation, this is made as we have no choice but have to follow the rules and regulation of the organization. As a great leader, we always need to be forward-looking toward any issue or problem. When people do not consider their leader forward-looking, that leader is usually suffering from one of two possible problems which are the leader doesn’t have a forward-looking vision and the leader is unwilling or scared to share the vision with others. The forward-looking attitude can be influenced by those people who are surrounding us with positive-minded, this can be made but not born. Last but not least, a great leader is also an innovator. Innovation is about making new tools, products and process, bring forth something â€Å"new† which allows human being to accomplish something they were not able to accomplish previously. We can be innovation through study, research, discuss and deliberated from past experience. Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep on moving. Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep on moving. Leader is made because a person becomes a leader through life and work experiences, through mentors and personal reflection. Leader takes time to develop and they were made just like anything else, through hard work. If you are given a chance, you practice, you can also be a leader.

Charles Murray Essay

The New Right came from the work of the American Sociologist Charles Murray who viewed welfare payments has causing lone parenthood which in turn created an underclass. Charles Murray visited the UK in 1989 and said it has a developing underclass. Murray said: â€Å"the underclass are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents† Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects certain groups of people. ‘When I use the term ‘underclass’ I am indeed focusing on a certain type of poor person defined not by his condition, for example, long-term unemployment, but by his deplorable behaviour in response to that condition, for example, unwilling to take jobs that are available to him.’ This shows how members of the underclass define themselves as different by their own behaviour. Murray singles out three forms of behaviour that define underclass status: * Parenting behaviour * Criminal behaviour * Labour market behaviour Specifically, it is illegitimate births to young women, habitual crime and particularly violent crime, and the refusal of young working class men to enter employment that determines the existence of an underclass. ‘If illegitimate births are the leading indicator of an underclass and violent crime a proxy measure of its development, the definitive proof that an underclass has arrived is that large numbers of young, healthy, low-income males choose not to take jobs. (The young idle rich are a separate problem).’ (Murray, 1990) Since, in his analysis, it is the poor themselves that are to blame for their poverty, because they either choose to act in a certain way, or are conditioned to do so by over-generous government welfare, the policy solutions that flow from this analysis are, not surprisingly, aimed at changing the behaviour of the poor. The alternative, improving the effectiveness of the welfare programmes, is not considered. Indeed for New Right theorists, the welf are state is a major part of the problem. What such theorists would seek is the dismantling of the welfare state, and a situation set up that would make it dysfunctional for individuals to act in deviant ways. David Marsland Sociologist David Marsland has adopted the new right approach and does not believe that poverty is as bad as others are making out. He claims that groups such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation purposely confuse poverty with inequality and completely exaggerates the extent of poverty. He argues that there is only absolute poverty and that relative does not exist. Marsland is very critical about universal benefits and services such as health care, education and child benefits. He believes that people who are on low income are results of the state being too generous in their benefits and services rather than the individual’s inadequacy to work (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). A quote from Marsland : â€Å"the expectation that society, the state, the government, â€Å"they†, will look after our problems tricks us into abdicating from self-reliance and social responsibly† (Marsland 1989). However, Marsland has been criticised by Bill Jordan who says that he is wrong to b lame the culture of dependency to universal welfare provision. He argues that selectively means testing benefits can trap people in a life of poverty. It often turns out that people are better off on benefits than they would be in work. It also can exclude the individual from the rest of society and make them feel ashamed and embarrassed that they receive benefits. Also, if education and health care are private then people with disability and unskilled workers may not be able to afford or find work. Jordan also claims that societies that rely upon means-tested benefits and private health care, tend to develop a large underclass, who have little chance of escaping from poverty; this is the case in countries such as America. Jordan states that poverty is a result of societies being too harsh. He argues that the only way to break the cycle of poverty is by universal benefits that are at a high enough standard so people can afford to work and get back up on their feet (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). Despite this, the New Right approach has been influential across Western countries, and the Conservative party is in power in Britain today.

Mental Health and Psychotropic Drugs Essay

In the last thirty years, the number of patients diagnosed with depression has doubled. (doubled from what? What percentage) The sharp increase in these diagnoses is due to the fact that the medical community has blurred the distinction between everyday unhappiness and clinical depression. (what percentage or numbers are you getting the 40% from? The use of Psychotropic medication in depressed patients has increased in the United States by more than 40 percent over the last decade. (you have a website but what is the website for? ) (http://find. galegroup. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/ovrc/retrieve. do? subjectParam=Local) The bulk of the increase can be accounted for by the aggressive use of SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) in patients. It is the class of drugs that includes Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. The question is: Are more Americans clinically depressed now than in the past, or has medical science started to treat the far more common experience of â€Å"everyday unhappiness† is this a quote from someone or from you? with medication, thereby increasing the number of drug prescriptions? A Psychoactive drug or Psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain functions, resulting in perception, mood, consciousness, and behavior. These drugs may be used recreationally to purposefully alter one’s consciousness, as entheogens for ritual or spiritual purposes, as a tool for studying or augmenting the mind or therapeutically as medication. (www. Wikipedia. org ). (Is this whole paragraph a quote? If so, it needs to be centered and in quotation marks. ) For example: On January 22,2008, acclaimed Australian actor, Heath Ledger, died from an accidental overdose of six types of prescribed painkillers and sedatives. Ellen Borakone, spokesperson for the New York Medical Examiner’s office, said the cause of death was â€Å"acute intoxication by combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam [Valium], temazepam [Restoril], alprazolam [Xanax] and doxylamine. Valium, Restoril and Xanax are benzodiazepines or tranquilizers/sedatives. The U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) launched an investigation into how Mr. Ledger acquired the prescription drugs that killed him. (Why did you use this example? The usage of this example is in a incorrect location of the essay) A year earlier, on February

Poverty in India Essay

With 44 percent (44%) of the global outsourcing market in the off shore sector for software and other business process currently being hosted by India, it has fast gained global recognition as the premier global destination for business process outsourcing.   With generated revenues totaling over US$ 17.2 billion and employment related to outsourcing at 1.05 million as of March 2005, India has greatly increased its economic output and per capita GDP.   This economic growth of India has been heralded as one of the most amazing success stories of the 20th century.   The growth rates that India has been posting over the past five years have made it one of the reasons why investments have risen in the area. The problem is that even with the robust economic growth of India the schism between the rich and the poor continues to grow.   Outsourcing, while creating a boon for the Indian economy, has also intensified that gap by creating new social classes and spawning new cultural changes.   Therefore, because of the weak economic fundamentals of the Indian Economy, instead of narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, it is instead widened and fewer jobs are created thus leading to more widespread poverty. The greatest problem that these poor fundamentals present to society however is the widening of social divisions that are already existent in society.   In the Indian model the social rifts that are created deal with the differences from within the family unit in relation to the outside society.   The creation and birth of a new type of middle class society which is predominantly comprised of members of the youth sector is creating a class that is being socially and culturally alienated from the rest of society, particularly in the traditionally conservative Indian society. New work habits and consumer patterns have created a new class that enjoys the more expensive and extravagant lifestyle that is supported by the relatively high wages that receive as compared with the rest of Indian society.   There is very little time to spend in the household where more solid and fundamental values are instilled and nurtured and instead the constant exposure to western society has resulted in a degradation of whatever morals were created or instilled in the first place.   For others, the pressure of keeping the job and maintaining the accustomed lifestyle isolates them from other members of society in their efforts to generate more income. In India where the economic disparity was historically at lower levels, the introduction of higher paying jobs as a result of business process outsourcing has increased the rift between social and economic classes as well.   The newly emancipated and empowered women as well as the new rich employees of outsourcing firms are now experiencing things that their parents could never have enjoyed in their lifetimes such as televisions, ipods, cars and cellular phones.   The rift would not be so great however were the opportunity available equally to all sectors of society.    As it is however, only those with certain qualifications and training are allowed those opportunities and this has created a new resentment for those who have gained so much in so little time. While this has certainly generated more income for the Indian government to utilize in other social welfare projects, the income from taxes is not spent on decreasing the economic divide that exists but has actually been spent on infrastructure projects in IT designed to drum up more business and thus increasing the social gap even more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another reason for the widespread poverty in India lies in the failure of the government to enact programs to ensure that the economic developments that benefit certain sectors of society also trickle down to the masses.   The Indian Planning Commission has estimated that as of the year 2004 and 2005 nearly 27.5% of the Indian population was living below the poverty lines. Nearly 75% of all those living below the poverty line are located in the rural areas of India.   This shows that while most of the developed cities in India are beginning to grow, the rural areas of India are not able to benefit from this economic development.   With over 836 million citizens living on less than US$ 0.50 cents, it seems that the poverty problems of India are more rooted on the poor economic structure than anything else. Another reason for this is because of the different social, religious and economic groups that are in India.     The fact that the caste system was encouraged until the early 20th century has also added to the poverty rate in India because of the special rights and privileges that were given to others.   Coupled with the lack of property rights, since the right to property is not constitutionally declared in India, these barriers effectively prevent those from the lower economic classes of India from entering the middle class. There are a number of other reasons that can be cited as the cause for poverty in India.   Most of these theories are based on the poor economic fundamentals that were established during the British Regime and during the resulting political turmoil that resulted immediately after the transfer of power in 1947.   Be that as it may, such poor fundamentals have also given birth to other economic problems such as the growing divide between the different economic classes in India. The recent economic growth of India due to its growing role as a major player in the outsourcing industry has indeed granted a number of benefits to Indians but at the same time it has served to increase poverty in certain areas because of the failure of the government to ensure a more equitable distribution of income among the masses.   Lack of government infrastructure projects and rampant corruption remain to be the deterrents for India’s true economic growth.   Until India is able to address these problems, poverty will remain to be synonymous with the Indian Economic system for years to come.    References: Agrawal, A. N.: Indian Economy. Problems of Development and Planning. 18th edition, New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Limited 2002 Ahluwalia, Isher Judge: New Economic Policies. Reform of Public Sector Enterprises and Privatisation in India. mimeo, February 2004, paper presented for the Conference on Economic Liberalisation in South Asia at the Australia Singh, Ajit Kumar: Social Consequences of New Economic Policies. With Particular Reference to Levels of Living of Working Class Population. In: EPW, February 13, 1993, p. 279 – 285 Sridhan, E.: Economic Liberalisation and India’s Political Economy: Towards a Paradigm Synthesis. In: The JCCP, vol. XXXI, no. 3, November 1993, pp. 1 – 31 A overview and critical discussion on theoretical explanations of the Indian political economy Varadarajan, P.; Bharadwaj, S.; Thirunarayana, P.: Executives attitudes toward consumerism and marketing – an exploration of theoretical and empirical linkages in an industrializing country. In: Journal of Business Research, 1994, vol. 29, no 2, pp 83-100