Bell Jar Analysis

Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel â€Å"The Bell Jar† employs many of the same confessional techniques and themes of her poetic work. While the novel is confessional, it is also provides sociological commentary (and insight) into the processes of medical treatment and the social ostracization and victimization of the mentally ill.A basic technique used in the novel, by Plath, is to present a seemingly â€Å"normal† world and then, by way of internal monologue and character development, allow the reader to glimpse a highly studied and carefully described portrayal of the way that mental illness impacts both society and the individual.By expressing a personal encounter with metal illness, Plath, through the character of Esther, presents a ‘case study† in clinical depression and bipolar disorder without resorting to clinical diagnoses or psychological language or theories. Instead, her literary interpretation of mental illness functions to expan d the clinical understanding of mental disorders by providing cognitive insight into the experienced phenomena of mental illness.The opening line of the novel: â€Å"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer the electrocuted the Rosenbergs† (Plath, 1) reveals the novel’s essential theme and conflict: that of the individual who stands â€Å"outside looking in† with regard to their society: it is a theme of psychological rather than physical exile, though Esther identifies, via the powerful verb â€Å"electrocuted,† with the physical suffering of the Rosenbergs who were tried and executed for espionage and treason.Because the central conflict in â€Å"the Bell Jar† is internal, Plath constructs a dynamic and multi-faceted character whose preoccupations range from fashion, to dating, to the themes of great literature and to the essential meanings of life and death. Throughout the novel more is shown than told; that is, Plath refrains from divulging in formation about Esther directly; instead, she constructs scenes which transmit the internal character conflicts through symbolism and metaphor. A clinical diagnosis of Esther's mental illness can be made by deeply exploring the literary techniques of the novel.The novel's plot is relatively simple: a young, ambitious, and very talented woman wins a summer internship as a big-time New York magazine. While in New York, the young woman, Esther, suffers a series of unpleasant and often dangerous situations, begins to feel sense of hypocrisy and unhappiness in herself and in the world of glamour-publishing and seems to rebel against this hypocrisy (and sexism) by quitting her internship and throwing her expensive wardrobe out of her hotel window.Then, after returning to the suburbs to live with her mother, and failing to begin both her hoped-for novel and her college thesis, Esther begins to act increasingly erratically and self-destructively, severing her relationships and losing touch with her own creativity and ambition, until she is referred to a psychiatrist. Esther, however, is not psychologically unstable due to weakness or deformation: this is clear from the novel’s portrayal of her as a bright and shining and talented â€Å"golden girl† who wins poetry prizes and scholarships and is dating a medical student and writing term papers on Joyce.After being treated with electroshock therapy, Esther's condition and crisis become more and more severe until she attempts suicide, is â€Å"saved,† and sent to a mental hospital where she again receives electroshock therapy. The novel fails to provide any concrete resolution to Esther's crisis, and in doing so, avoids making any determination about the benefits of Esther's clinical diagnoses and treatment.However, the emotional arc of the narrative can certainly be said to move toward the positivistic and there are potentialities and capacities that are reinstated into Esther's character after her treatment. To fully understand the process of Esther's breakdown (and apply a clinical diagnosis), the reader must read deeply into the novel and consider deeply the relationships of the characters and the cross-ties adn relationships which fluctuate, not to the rhythms of a traditional novel's story-arc, but to the weird rhythms of Esther's own mental illness.In fact, the narrative is structured very similarly to a poem in that metaphorical and symbolic expression convey the essential dynamics of the story's themes at a far more attenuated level than the conventional storytelling elements of plot, conflict, and resolution. Of the latter, Plath conspicuously avoids classical execution; for example, â€Å"The Bell Jar† posits no clear antagonist, no externalized central conflict, and refrains from set-closure at its climax. This is a way by which the clinical diagnosis of Esther's diagnosis can be made.Her initial relationships portrayed in the novel include a â€Å"mentorâ⠂¬  in New York, the editor Jaycee, an â€Å"older sister† friend named Doreen, a fiancee named Buddy, and a literary mentor and benefactress named Philomena Guinea who was is a wealthy, famous novelist. Each of the relationships reflects an aspect of the healthy personality: ambitious, creative, socially engaged, and creative. Also, Esther's erotic drive, while never posited in the novel as â€Å"resolvable† decreases until she is able to view sex as only an oppressive act against women.As Esther's plight worsens, each of the relationships is severed. The clinical diagnosis which seems most applicable to Esther Greenwood would be that of clinical depression and a bipolar personality. Interestingly enough, bipolar disorder is often associated with creative minds and artists. read at one level, â€Å"The Bell Jar† describes the plight of the artistic mind in modern society as well as the plight of the artistic mind gripped by clinical mental illness.The key to s eparating where the individualist, the artist and rebel lies in Esther Greenwood and where the â€Å"madwoman,† the victim of a clinical mental illness lies is to apply rigorous methodology to the explication of the novel as a piece of literature. One such scene, which is representative of this technique used throughout â€Å"The Bell Jar,† is the scene when Esther, having traveled to new York upon winning an internship at a famous fashion magazine, throws her expensive wardrobe out of her hotel window.â€Å"The wind made an effort, but failed, and a batlike shadow sank toward the roof garden of the opposite penthouse† (Plath, 90). Such compressed and highly symbolic language forwards both character development (Esther is mentally unstable) as well as foreshadowing with the bat representing death and Esther’s ultimate plunge into attempted suicide. There is no gaiety in the scene, which if in evidence would suggest a triumphant rejection of the superficia lities described in the novel about the fashion-district of New York and Esther’s experiences there.Instead, a sens of doom pervades, along with a sense of self-destruction and psychological instability: â€Å"Piece by piece, I fed my wardrobe to the night wind, and flutteringly, like a loved one’s ashes, the gray scraps were ferried off, to settle here, there, exactly where I would never know, in the dark hart of New York. † (Plath 91). This single scene stands as emblematic of Esther’s (and Plath’s) essential plight: that of the bipolar personality and the track toward attempted suicide.The scene also represents the symptomatic progression of full-blown bipolar personality disorder which is characterized by depressive episodes and suicidal obsessions. The combination of high-achievement, goal-setting, ambition, creativity, task-setting, and personal expression with an equally profound sense of purposelessness, meaninglessness, lack of energy, lac k of sex drive, and plummeting self identity and a plummeting sense of self-esteem are compressed brilliantly into the above-described scene. By explicating the symbolism deeply, the bipolar disorder is easily uncovered.The feelings Esther has of not being able to connect with her life, of not comprehending her society or valuing her interpersonal relationships are aspects of the acute depressive crisis which marks the depressive â€Å"extreme† of the bipolar disorder. The novel describes how an acute depressive episode can lead to suicide even when treatment is being administered. The treatment which would seem most applicable for Esther Greenwood by modern diagnostic processes is not that which is provided for her in the novel: electroshock therapy.Rather, what is indicated is that Esther should be treated with psycho therapy, primarily, with perhaps the inclusion of certain, limited medication. The inclusion of family-centered therapy, social rhythm therapy, and cognitive therapy along with medication would provide the best hope for Esther's clinical recovery. However, the process of metal disorder described in the novel is mush wider, much more comprehensive than even modern therapies would seem to be an adequate redress for — although even a slight improvement in prognosis would probably have saved Esther from suicide.In order to restore and strengthen hern creative gifts and reinstate her standing in society, the clinical treatments might at least give Esther an impetus toward a healthy rather than self-destructive life. So carefully designed is Esther’s portrayal in â€Å"The Bell Jar,† that the reader stands an ever-increasing chance of identifying as deeply with Esther’s plight as Esther herself seems to identify with the plight of the Rosenbergs.In other words, the last thing which is intimated in the novel is that Esther bears any personal responsibility for her mental illness or the social stigmas that are attache d to it. In fact, I personally do not belive that there was anything Esther could have done or should have done to â€Å"prevent† her collapse. From rape to institutionalized chauvinism and the â€Å"saint-whore† syndrome, Esther experiences a multitude of the sociological injuries borne against women in America.She also, as a poet, stands for the sociological persecution of artists and the cultural misunderstanding of their sensitivities. Throughout the novel, Esther’s internal dialogue and descriptions of situations stands in bold contrast to the mundane and often mean or ignorant dialogue and observations of the novel’s minor characters. In addition to these deeper, more socially and politically inspired themes, â€Å" The Bell Jar† captures intimate details of middle-class adolescence: the struggle to succeed, the position often social outcast, and the cruelties and injustices of love and eroticism.This is why The Bell Jar is such an important novel: because it places an intimately personal, yet universal, protagonist in the grip of what modern psychology and modern psychiatry understand as a clinical mental illness. Rather than approach the topic clinically, Plath approaches the theme poetically and confessionally and draws the reader into a closes identification with Esther Greenwood. The result is that the alert reader, even one who is familiar with the clinical processes of bipolar disorder, will recognize a personal plight beneath the level which is clinically descriptive.The reader's identification with Esther then takes the form of first hope, then skepticism, about the clinical treatments (and practitioners) which are engaged ostensibly in working for Esther's recovery. Whether one reads the central theme of The Bell Jar as one of individuality and the alienation from modern society or as a literary portrayal of a clinically defined mental disorder, the conclusion that individuals who suffer from mental illness ar e both victimized and stigmatized in modern society is clear.My personal feeling is that Esther Greenwood is far more of a universal character than many would like to belive and that her portrayal in The Bell Jar indicates both the destructive influence of mental illness and the destructive influence of modern society which is revealed to be both widespread and institutionalized. References Plath, Sylvia The Bell Jar Bantam Books New York NY 1971.

Analysis of Troy: Film Essay

The story takes place in the fertile, eastern lands bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and kept by the gods. Within the cradle of ancient civilization empires are built, wars fought, alliances forged, and heroes born. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, has united most of Greece’s kingdoms under his rule and now advances his army upon the nation of Thessaly, hoping to include it in his collection of ever-growing conquests. King Triopas bargains with Agamemnon to each let one of their best fighters decide who wins the battle rather than engaging in open war. Triopas calls upon the giant Boagrius while Agamemnon calls to Achilles, but the legendary warrior is nowhere to be found. A messenger boy is sent to fetch him and Agamemnon curses the stubborn nature of the fiercest warrior Greece has ever seen. A half-god and blessed with incomparable strength and skill, Achilles lives to fight but he refuses to associate with Agamemnon, preferring instead to seek his own destiny and be immortalized in history. Achilles easily defeats Boagrius, sealing Agamemnon’s control over the nation, and calls out if there is anyone else worthy enough to fight him. Meanwhile, Princes Hector and Paris of Troy feast in the banquet hall of King Menelaus of Sparta as honored guests and peace ambassadors to their home nation. However, young Paris sneaks away to be with Menelaus’ beautiful wife, Helen whom he loves dearly. He convinces her to come back with him to Troy, stowing her away on his brother’s ship. When Hector finds out he is clearly angry but it is too late to return to Sparta with Helen and seek pardon. Finding Helen gone, Menelaus vows revenge on Troy and seeks the approval of his brother, Agamemnon, who is only too happy to oblige, though Agamemnon’s decision comes mostly from his desire to sack Troy. Odysseus, king of Ithaca and under command of Agamemnon, goes to convince Achilles to accompany them in the conquest of Troy. He finds him sparring with his young cousin, Patroclus who is more than eager to join in the fighting. But Achilles refuses to go, despite Odysseus’ assurance that this war will go down into history. Achilles later seeks advice from his mother,  the sea nymph Thetis who is gathering shells to make a new necklace for him. She tells him that if he chooses to stay home he will find a wife, raise a family, and die old and loved. If he goes to Troy, he will find his eternal glory and history will remember his name for thousands of years. However, should he go to Troy, he is doomed to die and will never return. Meanwhile, Hector and Paris return to Troy with Helen, greeted warmly by their fellow Trojans. The city is guarded by a high, thick wall that has remained impenetrable since its founding. They meet their father, King Priam who welcomes Helen and praises her beauty. Hector is reunited with his wife, Andromache and his infant son. Achilles decides to join Agamemnon’s campaign against Troy but brings his own warriors, the Myrmidons, led by Eudorus. Patroclus accompanies them as well. The Myrmidons prove to be faster rowers than the Greeks and arrive on the shores of Troy before anyone else, though Achilles tells Patroclus to stay and watch the ship. They take the beach with ease and sack the Temple of Apollo where priestess and cousin of Hector and Paris, Briseis is taken captive. In a defiant move, Achilles decapitates the statue of Apollo. Prince Hector leads an offensive to keep the Greeks at bay and runs into the temple where Achilles confronts him but refuses to fight him. Achilles explains that their fight would be suited best in front of an audience and he allows Hector to leave. Briseis is brought to Achilles’ hut as his prize. She berates him for killing priests of Apollo before he is summoned to see Agamemnon who is preparing to celebrate the victory. There, tensions rise as Achilles and the king argue over claims to the victory. Agamemnon goes further by bringing in Briseis, claiming her as his own spoil of war, which drives Achilles into a rage. He threatens to fight for her but she angrily interjects, saying that no one else will die for her. Achilles stays his blade, to the surprise of Agamemnon. Achilles vows that Agamemnon will one day fall under his sword. That night, Priam seeks the advice of his advisors and elders with his sons in attendance, discussing how best to defend against the Greeks. Paris  offers an alternative to bloodshed; he will fight Menelaus for Helen’s hand. The winner will take her home and the loser will burn before nightfall. Later, Priam speaks with Paris in a courtyard and admits that, in all the wars hes fought for power or land, a war fought for love makes more sense. He gives Paris the Sword of Troy, forged at its founding and containing the history of their nation. He explains that as long as a Trojan wields it there is hope for their people. Hector goes to see his wife and son. She fears for his life and can’t imagine living on without him. He comforts her before getting up to see his brother. In the halls, he sees a cloaked figure and gives pursuit to find that it’s Helen trying to leave the city. She is remorseful for being the sole reason so many Trojan men died that day but Hector tells her that returning to Menelaus will not end the war and that she is a princess of Troy now. Helen returns to Paris. The next day, Agamemnon’s army marches for Troy while Achilles, still seething over his loss of Briseis, watches from a nearby hill with his men. Hector and Paris ride out to meet Agamemnon and Menelaus before battle. Agamemnon demands that the Trojans return Helen to his brother and submit to his rule. Hector bravely rebuffs but Paris offers to fight Menelaus one-on-one, hoping that will settle the dispute. While Agamemnon could care less about returning Helen to his brother, he allows Menelaus the opportunity to issue revenge. The two begin their fight and Menelaus is clearly stronger. Paris is wounded and disarmed but, before Menelaus can deliver a death blow, ducks away and crawls back to his brother. Stunned at his cowardice, Menelaus demands the fight to continue but Hector defends his brother and drives his sword through Menelaus, killing him. Enraged, Agamemnon charges forward with his army. Watching from his hilltop, Achilles can’t help but curse under his breath at Agamemnon’s inability to keep his ranks in formation. Hector proves to be the more able warrior and overpowers the Greeks with his tactics. One of the strongest Greek warriors, Ajax is felled by Hector. Odysseus advises Agamemnon to fall back before he loses his entire army and the Greeks  retreat to the beach where their archers provide defense. With Menelaus dead, the main reason for the assault on Troy is gone and Agamemnon struggles to think of a way to rally the troops to his cause. Odysseus suggests that Agamemnon put his reservations aside and enlist Achilles to fight again. Outside, Briseis is tossed around between Greek soldiers, having been given to them by Agamemnon. Before she can be cruelly branded, Achilles steps in and takes her back to his hut. He gives her a wet cloth to clean with and some food. When she questions why he fights and defies the gods, he shows her a more reflective side to his nature and explains that the gods are jealous of men for their short, mortal lives. As such, everything is more beautiful. Priam consults with his advisors again while Paris laments over his cowardice. Helen assures him that, though Menelaus was a strong warrior, she hated her life with him. She’d rather have someone to love and grow old with than to see him die on the battlefield. Hector advises his father that the Greeks underestimated Trojan strength and that they should not do the same. However, General Glaucus wants to strike preemptively and High Priest Archeptolemus claims Troy is favored by the gods, citing bird omens. Despite Hector’s warnings to keep behind their walls, Priam favors his advisors and issues an attack before daybreak. As Achilles sleeps that night, Briseis takes a dagger and holds it to his throat. Without opening his eyes, he encourages her to kill him but she hesitates. They realize their feelings for each other and make love. Achilles decides that he’s had enough of war and offers to take Briseis away from Troy. Afterwards, he speaks with Eudorus and tells him that they will go home. Hearing this, Patroclus is devastated, having hoped to take part in battle. Achilles returns to his hut. Just as dawn approaches, the Trojan army, led by Hector, set up on the dunes and sent hundreds of lit arrows into the sand. The Greeks awake in time to see large balls of hay being rolled down the hill towards camp, ignited in huge fireballs by the torched arrows. Banging their shields to intimidate, the Trojans advance towards the Greek camp. Suddenly, Achilles appears in his armor and rallies the troops to fight. Achilles fights his way towards Hector and the two engage in combat. Greeks and Trojans alike surround them, edging them on, until Hector slits Achilles’ throat with a swift thrust of the sword. Achilles falls, gasping for breath, while the Myrmidons look on in horror. But when Hector removes his helmet, he discovers that the man he wounded is not Achilles; its Patroclus. Hector, repentant but resolute, drives his sword into the boy’s chest to finish him. He addresses Odysseus and tells him they’ve fought enough that day. Before leaving, Odysseus tells Hector that Patroclus was Achilles’ cousin. The Myrmidons return to camp as Achilles emerges from his tent. Seeing them battle-worn, he asks why they disobeyed him. Eudorus laments that Patroclus disguised himself in Achilles’ armor, even moved like him, and fell under Hector. Achilles is outraged and attacks Eudorus. Briseis tries to stop him but he throws her to the ground. Hector returns to his wife. He admits that he killed a boy who was much too young and feels that his actions will have severe repercussions. He shows his wife a hidden passage under Troy that she can take civilians through to get to the mountains should he die and the walls be breached. Though she is upset to have to consider this, she heeds his advice. Achilles puts his cousin on a funeral pyre and sets it alight. Agamemnon watches and says, â€Å"That boy may have just saved the war for us,† knowing that the rage of Achilles will not wane until he’s had revenge. Meanwhile, Helen watches as Paris practices his archery in preparation for battle, hitting his target time and again. The following morning, Achilles sets off to enact vengeance upon Hector. Briseis begs him not to go, but he ignores her. He rides to the gates of Troy and calls for Hector who dresses in his armor and says goodbye to his wife. He meets Achilles outside alone. Achilles throws down his helmet so that Hector can see his face. Though Hector tries to reason, Achilles is bent on bloodlust. As they begin to fight, Priam and Paris watch while Helen  comforts Andromache who can’t bring herself to look. Achilles overpowers Hector by driving his spear into his chest before finishing him with his sword. He then ties Hector’s legs together behind his chariot and drags him away, back to the beach. When he returns to his hut, Briseis cries out and asks when the killing will stop before leaving. That night, Achilles is visited by a stranger in a cloak. The stranger kisses Achilles’ hand before revealing himself as none other than King Priam. Having stealthily entered the Greek camp unnoticed, Priam begs for his son’s body back to be given a proper burial. He tells Achilles that, while Hector killed his cousin, he did not know who it was and he asks Achilles how many cousins and brothers he’s killed in his time. Despite being enemies, he asks for respect. Achilles relents. He weeps over Hector’s body, promising to meet him in the next life, before giving him to Priam. When Briseis comes forward, Achilles allows her to go home and apologizes for hurting her. He gives Priam his word that the Greeks will not attack Troy for 12 days to allot for proper mourning. When Agamemnon hears of Achilles’ secret treaty with Priam, he becomes incensed. But Odysseus, who notices the sculpture of a horse a fellow soldier has made for his son, proposes a plan, putting the 12 days of mourning to their advantage. After 12 days, the Trojans discover that the beach has been abandoned and various bodies lie in the sand. They appear to have been taken by disease and, where the heart of the camp once was, a large wooden horse has been erected. Upon seeing this, Priam is advised that the horse was left as a gift to the god Poseidon and is encouraged to bring it back to Troy. Paris, who is suspicious, urges his father to burn the horse, but Priam brings the horse into the city where its revered as a sign of the end of the war. A Trojan scout, hiking through the cliffs outside the city, comes upon a cove apart from the main beach and discovers the Greek armada hiding there. However, he is killed by arrow before he can warn the rest of Troy. Meanwhile, the whole city celebrates into the night. Once everything has  quieted down, the horse opens and Achilles, Odysseus, and a mass of Greek soldiers emerge from inside and open Troy’s gates where the rest of the Greek army has gathered. They quickly infiltrate the city, pillaging and burning homes and killing any Trojan who stands in their way while a tearful Priam can only watch. Soldiers of Troy attempt to defend the royal palace, but fail. As Priam prays before the statue of Apollo and asks why he’s been forsaken, Agamemnon comes up behind him and stabs him in the back. Achilles, meanwhile, searches the city for Briseis. Paris and Andromache lead surviving civilians down to the secret passage where Paris gives a young boy, Aeneas (a progenitor of the Romans), the Sword of Troy, reciting what his father told him. He then returns with his bow and arrow to help fight. Briseis is praying before a statue of Apollo when she is grabbed from behind by Agamemnon. Achilles sees this and runs to her aid. Agamemnon tells Briseis his intent to take her back to Greece as his slave before she takes a concealed knife and fatally stabs him in the neck. His guards accost her but Achilles kills them. As he is helping her up, Paris arrives and shoots an arrow through Achilles’ heel. Standing up to face Paris, despite Briseis’ cries, Achilles is shot again through the chest. He removes the arrow only to be shot again and again, each time removing the arrow. He finally collapses and tells Briseis that she was his peace in a lifetime of war and urges her to escape. Briseis goes with Paris and they leave as the Greeks arrive at the palace to find Achilles dead, seemingly taken by a single shot to the heel (thus perpetuating the myth surrounding his death). Achilles’ body is burned honorably on a funeral pyre within the ruins of Troy the following day as Odysseus watches and exalts, â€Å"If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles.† Conclusion: The movie Troy ended with Odysseus burning Achilles in a funeral pyre. Achilles died at the end of the Trojan War and is a hero after saving Briseis. Analysis: Based on what I’ve research, Troy is an adaptation of the poem written by Homer it is also known as The Iliad and The screenplay was written by David Benioff and stars who were Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Brian Cox, Diane Kruger and Rose Byrne. The Importance of this film is in regards to the City of Troy, the alliances of the Greeks, and the reason behind the war itself. It was made to capture the imagination of Homer and his poems. The actors were chosen and represented through his eyes, yet embellished a great deal for entertainment purposes. Which it was enjoyable to watch, I found it somewhat inaccurate with questions unanswered. While there may also be evidence to support much of what Homer wrote about, the movie in itself creates a different illusion. The time, places, and people were either out of date nor not even involved in some cases. However, the actors portrayed what Homer described perfectly. Achilles was very strong and considered immortal, Hector was the bravest and modest leader of Troy under the Rule of Priam. Helen was extremely magnificently beautiful while Paris was naà ¯ve and weak. All of the characters involved had important roles whose actions were caused of many important events. However, if you relate back to Homer and back of what historians have discovered, the movie wasn’t accurate representation.

American History Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

American History - Research Paper Example Clayton Holbert’s mother and grandmother were freed in this way but later captured by â€Å"what they called ‘nigger traders’† and sold them back into slavery (p. 287). The Holbert family experienced the end of slavery like so many others: they were free, but had no way to earn a living, no place to go, and no education. The Holberts stayed on with their former master and eventually bought a small farm nearby (pp. 288-289). The concept of freedom for these families only meant that they were no longer owned by someone; they continued to live their lives in familiar places doing what they had always done. Looking back on their slavery experiences, both Holmes and Holbert remember their former lives with some nostalgia. Clayton Holbert comments, â€Å"People were more friendly than they are now. They have almost lost respect for each other† (p. 286). Joseph Holmes comments, â€Å"in dose days white folks wuz white folks an black folks wuz black folks† (p. 7). Admittedly, both of them were children at the end of the Civil War, and both had lived a vast majority of their years as free men. The difficulties and hard living which happened to them and their families after the war affected how they felt about slavery, and when white people and black people mixed together freely the black people were exposed to many more hateful whites than when they were segregated. Reading these interviews gives us an interesting perspective on what freed slaves felt and thought, both about their freedom and about their lives afterward. Everybody remembers their lives through the filters of time. These two men did not remember being mistreated by their masters, and so they have few bad memories of their former lives. For them the transition from slavery to freedom made little difference in how they eventually led their

Two topices you can choice (The finance of public transportation or Essay

Two topices you can choice (The finance of public transportation or The implementation of recycling programs) about ubran studies - Essay Example What the core problem is that a society in which a recycling program is considered ineffective; actually lacks experience, for these programs provide better and better results with proper development with time. What happens with a common household ‘dustbin’ or a ‘garbage-can’, as most people would refer it to, is that after being filled to its brim it starts to spill the waste out, evidently due to the limited space it has for the purpose of storing garbage. But space doesn’t matter nowadays, does it? One can clearly incinerate the garbage and use the dustbin for collecting more garbage and then incinerate that too, but would the ‘effects’ of that burning garbage be healthy for the environment? Of course most people don’t tend to care about it and consider using their resources to better purposes than caring about the environment, but would the ‘cost’ of constantly burning that garbage, the ‘energy’ used in clearing the bin and the transportation of that garbage be so minor to be easily sacrificed? Our planet is the metaphorical ‘dust bin’ and clearly we (humans) have polluted it for long, but it is only now that emphasis is being laid on the preservation of our resources and our environment; reflecting that our environmental condition has reached a critical point. The latest effort to preserve what’s left of our once rich environment and to clean what we have messed up, includes recycling; the reprocessing of materials to save fresh raw materials, energy and save the environment from numerous pollutants. Recycling programs are methods or ways we adopt which consequently help us recycle. To address the issue of their implementation in urban areas we must first consider the importance and the need of recycling programs in urban areas. Developed cities tend to be more artificial with respect to the natural environment and the more different they are the more harm they cause. Take a big metropolitan

Agency theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Agency theory - Essay Example At this stage, agency theory is superseded by what is called stakeholder theory. The same not having been clearly defined, modern scholars advocate the theory called â€Å"enlightened stakeholder theory† which seeks to remove the shortcomings in the traditional stakeholder theory so that managers who could take shelter under the traditional stakeholder theory and avoid accountability, are now compelled to show performance for value maximisation in the long run. This is sought to be achieved by active participation of agents/managers through proper motivation and communication with a scorecard on hand. Thus the enlightened theory would go a long way in plugging the loopholes in the corporate governance occurring in spite legislations like Cadbury report, Greenbury report in the U.K. and SOX Act in the U.S.A. Corporate Governance is a much-discussed issue of public importance, of late. One aspect of the issue is the corporate ownership and control which this proposal deals with. In the discussion here, the word ‘corporate’ is loosely described as firm, company, corporation etc, which all refer to public-owned companies listed in stock exchanges. Share-holder activism all over the global corporate environment has given rise to the study of corporate ownership and control and their impact on the performance of the corporates. By 1990 Corporate Governance had become a household name in the United States of America when a California based pension fund company â€Å"California Public Employees Retirement System’’ (CalPERS) that had invested members’ funds in the shares of leading companies, pioneered by questioning those listed companies’ practice of buying back shares from the share holders at higher prices which meant draining of companies’ c apital and in turn reduction in value of shares held by them. This was soon followed suit by many contemporary companies representing widely dispersed shareholders around the world

Improving Organisational Performance Assignment - 1

Improving Organisational Performance - Assignment Example 6 Highly Skilled/Specialist Staff †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Recent Organizational Change†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Business Strategy Adopted†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Challenges, Weakness, Quality and Culture †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Proposals†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 List of Figures Figure 1. Key component of performance management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Figure 2. Porter’s Force of Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Figure 3. Consistency†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..14-15 Introduction High Performance management is about translating strategic plans to concrete actions. This is the constant challenge in all organization, corporation, and industries that are seeking to sc ale up profits and widen business operation. Experts posit that an effective organizational management ensures the consistency of effective direction of employees work to make their performance consistent to company’s vision, mission and objectives to meet organizational needs (Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2012). It is an approach to encourage innovative efforts and inspire workers’ initiatives to yield high performance It motivates everyone to be engaging as human resource capital for a company. Purpose This paper aims to correlate performance management (PM) to two business organizations based in United Kingdom. It will also explore some evidences pertaining to some difficulties, challenges, and it’s anent implications. Moreover, the paper will attempt to balance proposals inspired by evidences upholding the significance of performance management to human resource management (HRM). Purcell and Hutchinson (2007) explained that this is because the relationship of PM systems to organizational performance is importantly bridged by employees’ behavior and their separate perspectives. In an attempt to advance PM, both in theory and praxis, as discussion is further deepen with concerns on motivation from their expectations, goals and standard company controls. Specifically, the study aims to complete the following: a. Explore, contrast, and critically evaluate, a business case using performance management standards in two organizations; b. Explore using research evidence, practical difficulties, challenges, and implications of PM within two organization; c. Use research evidences to develop balanced proposals that relates to practical challenges that can be effectively managed in short or strategic terms; d. Demonstrate awareness about potential limitations of your proposals. The organizations: UK SMEs Recent development in the European market depicted the completion of internal market amid improved socio-economic and policy-based environ. Ec onomists in UK perceived that the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) can only thrive by removing the trade barriers and by the institutionalization of structures that can better market relations (Braun, 2012). SMEs are those small and middle businesses partaking in the manufacturing, wholesale, retail, hotel, restaurants, real estate lease management and the like. An

Letter to editor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter to editor - Essay Example I had talked with fellow students who graduated months ago but still jobless as of now as there are no decent job offers. I am afraid the same situation will prevail in Denver by the time I will also graduate. I am sure many natives of Denver will agree with my assessment that our economy is not doing as well as it should. Statistics from May 2009 showed 225,000 people in Denver (Harden 1) who were out of a job and slim prospects of ever finding one. The number of jobless people had gone down a little bit to 195,700 this month and the man’s face sitting in the chair at an employment office exemplified feelings of hopelessness and disbelief felt by people who are in despair at not finding any decent jobs. The man in the suit from the Bureau of Economic Statistics standing nearby is also grossly out of touch with the reality on the ground. Employment numbers and economic data showing a modest recovery are useless and meaningless to a lot of people who are still looking for work until now. My intended audience is the people of Denver who are unemployed and probably desperately looking for a job. The target readership could include people who still have jobs today but are worried about how the economy will turn out as the recovery seems very weak and in danger of falling back into a recession (a double-dip recession feared by economists). Readers from surrounding areas of Denver and perhaps the entire state of Colorado also comprise the corollary readership audience. The Denver Post is one of the leading regional papers and will be read by people from many neighboring states like Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming or even as far away as Idaho and Texas. People in these states know the real economic situation in terms of employment rates and will certainly agree with my sentiments about how our leaders are managing our nation’s finances. My response to the cartoon will resonate with this audience and they will

Organizational Development in HRD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational Development in HRD - Essay Example The last manager to be terminated, Leon McLaughlin had 15 years of Marine experience, but he could not deliver results. Although, he did his best, he was handicapped by the lack of funds, which were originally promised, leading to underperformance. The main task before the new manger, Jack Keltner, is how to successfully run Fourwinds Marina through new strategies, even while generating funds. Strengths Lake Monroe is a happening place in Indiana with all safeguards and opportunities FourWinds has been providing optimum services for the last few years There are other value added services, which would complement it Jack Keltner’s previous good performance in Marina’s accounting department Weakness Managers are being changed in a short-term manner, without long-term perspective Thus, there is no optimum continuity of the various organizational processes, initiated by each one of them Charges for anchoring boats are also increasing, leading to higher operational costs Oppo rtunities Indianapolis metropolitan area’s population is over one million, and they have some $3.5 billion dollars to spend annually.

The Impact of Video Games on Children or is video games have impact on Essay

The Impact of Video Games on Children or is video games have impact on children - Essay Example For example, a national conversation ensued regarding what relationship video games had to the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 when two students massacred 13 and wounded 23 before committing suicide. Though many motivations were probably involved, it is not practically feasible to identify exactly what provoked these teenagers to gun down their schoolmates and teachers but violent video games were and continue to be mentioned as a contributing factor. These two students had frequently played Doom, a bloody and brutal firearms game which is used by the U.S. military to instruct the armed forces how to kill with more effectiveness. To what extent this particular video game influenced the actions of these two high school students has been debated since this tragic incident. The entertainment medium, it is generally accepted, is an enormously influential dynamic in everyone’s lives. â€Å"What behaviors children and adults consider appropriate comes, in part, from the less ons we learn from television and the movies† (Huesmann & Miller, 1994). It is logical to expect video games, especially those that depict violence, will have similar and perhaps a more extensive effect on violent behavior. Currently, few studies exist which have comprehensively examines the connection between violent video games and violent actions by children. As video games are increasingly becoming more explicit and brutal as well as more widespread, additional research is needed concerning the effects on the easily influenced minds of the children who play them and a clearer explanation to parents of the risks associated with these violent games. Not everyone agrees that video games lead to violent behavior. For example, according to James Potter, the Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner shows alone exhibited more instances of explicit violence than kid’s witness today during an afternoon of playing video games. Watching violent acts, particularly those in

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Corporate governance - Essay Example ts relation to growth and development of companies and also the scandals that arise where good governance is eliminated and the ways in which these scandals can be eliminated in businesses through proper regulation and legal control. Corporate governance in UK dates back to the growing anxiety in 2002 where corporate scandals had started being experienced in the US. UK set up the Smith committee and the Higgs committee to investigate these failures and the reports were evident of the latent manegiarialism in companies. This raised concerns on integrity of the managerial system of companies. It was argued that high-quality corporate governance was supposed to reduce costs and improve good working conditions of the workers. It was caught up in a scandal in 2008 in which there was an asset scandal which led to loss of value of the bank’s shares. It had a win- win situation where traders who won were rewarded hand those who lost their money to the bank. This was a short term performance that led to the loss of the value. They could have used a much longer term performance. It has been up with a number of controversies e.g. that of environmental pollution particularly in African countries. In 1990 protesters were against the company’s environmental record because of the possible pollution that was caused by the proposed disposal of Brent spar. This was a platform in the North Sea. Shell reversed the decision despite the massive support it received from the United Kingdom government. It maintained that the sinking of the platform would also have done better for the environment than the revised decision. Shell had also another scandal in 2004 of overstatement of oil reserves. This resulted to the loss of confidence of investors and stakeholders for the group. The financial services authority fined them 17million Euros. This also saw the departure of Phillip Warts. In Africa, it has led to environmental issues some of which are very extreme. Many pipes are much

SPECIAL PROBLEM IN OFFICE MANAGEMENT Essay Example for Free

SPECIAL PROBLEM IN OFFICE MANAGEMENT Essay Relative Standing Today from the Past to Today criteria: a.) Nation’s Share of Capital Definition of â€Å"Share Capital†: Funds raised by issuing shares in return for cash or other considerations. The amount of share capital a company has can change over time because each time a business sells new shares to the public in exchange for cash, the amount of share capital will increase. Share capital can be composed of both common and preferred shares. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The GDP is monetary value of all goods and services produced in a nation during a given time period, usually one year. Basically, it’s a tally of everything bought for money during the course of a year. Consumer purchases from a candy bar to a car are counted in the GDP. When business buy  computer, farmers sell their crops, or a corporation exports goods overseas, the transaction all increase the GDP. Government spending, whether for a highway or a new bomber, also contributes to the GDP. Gross National Product (GNP) It is an additional measure of the size of the economy. It is the market value of final goods and services purchased by households, by government, and by foreign in current year. It uses slightly different criteria than GDP, and GDP is more often used for comparison of a nation’s economic progress against that of other countries. GDP and GNP in the Global Economy Due to factors such as technological advances, of trade barriers, and expansion of international financial markets, the world’s economies are more interconnected than ever before and the weakness of one can affect the health of them all. An internal crisis that affects the financial health of one country can send shockwaves around the world. Most government of the world maintains a national accounting system that compiles various measures of economic activity. There is even a set of international guidelines, the system of National Accounts, which provides on measuring GDP and other key statistic. Income approach Sum the income received by all producers in the country. Production approach Estimating the Gross values of Domestic output in various economic activities. Determining the intermediate consumption Deducting intermediate consumption from domestic value to obtain the Net Value of domestic output. Comparing GDP of Different Nations When computing GDP, nations use their local currency. In order to compare it to the GDP’s of other countries, it must be converted to a common currency. Converting value of currency, however, may result in an incomplete understanding of the true worth of money on a foreign nation’s economy. The same goods and services do not the same amount in every country. In addition to asking how much local currency equal in U.S., dollars one should ask how much value of a dollar will buy in the country. Expenditures Approach to Calculating GDP The expenditures Approach to calculating GDP by summing the four possible types of expenditures as follows: GDP = Consumption +Investment +Government Purchases +Net Exports Consumption The largest components of the GDP, consumption are calculated by adding durable and non-durable goods and services expenditures. Investment Investments in fixed assets and increases in inventory. Government Purchases Equal to the government expenditures less government transfer payments (welfare, unemployment payouts, etc.) Net exports Exports minus imports. Imports are subtracted since the GDP is defined as the output of the domestic economy. There are three approaches to calculating GDP -Expenditure approach Calculated the final spending on goods and services. -Production approach Calculate the market value of goods and services. These three approaches are equivalent with each rendering the same result. Per capita income The concept of international inequality refers to inequality across countries due to differences in per capita income among them. This concept of inequality takes as the unit of analysis, countries (nations) and, implicitly, omits intra-country income differences among its citizens. There are several methodological considerations involved in cross-country comparisons of per capita income: the exchange rates used in the comparisons (observed or purchasing power parity), the source of income data (survey-based or national accounts), etc. An important methodological issue, relevant for assessing the empirical recent evidence on the evolution of international inequality is how to weigh countries to compute an index of international inequality. One procedure —unweighted international inequality— is to assume that all countries count equally (in an analogy, a sort of UN General Assembly concept in which one country is one vote). Another concept is to weigh countries by population weighted international inequality. Here a more populous country (e.g. China) counts more than a small country (e.g. Luxembourg) when making inferences about the welfare level of the â€Å"representative individual† in the world economy. Another concept is world inequality. Here the unit of analysis is the citizen of the world rather than countries. The concept of world inequality treats, in principle, all individuals in the world the same and ranks them from the poorest to the richest, regardless their country of origin (Milanovic, 2001). An index of world inequality can be decomposed as the sum of international (between countries) inequality plus national (within country) inequality plus an overlapping component or residual (Yitzhaki, 1994). In other words, the distribution of income (welfare) of an individual of the world is the outcome of distributional patterns within the country he/she lives and the distribution of incom e of his/her country with respect to other countries (plus the overlapping term or residual). National inequality, say the disparity of the distribution of income within a country, provide the bridge between international and world inequality. The determinants of international inequality are the forces generating different rates of growth across countries that, over time, generate (important) differences in per capita income, living standards and levels of development across nations. In turn, national inequality depends on factor prices, ownership of productive resources within countries, demographic patterns, technical change and macroeconomic cycles. Of course, several of these factors can affect also international inequality. Health care Services Although predicated on the premise that the global concept is new, it actually had its origins in the late 1800s. Religious foreign mission groups felt it was their spiritual calling to tend to the sick and afflicted in poor countries (Schroth Khawaja, 2007). The religious work of missions was closely linked to medical work. These missionaries believed that the services they provided were designed to reduce human misery and suffering, thereby elevating the status of God in the minds of people. Mission hospitals and mission doctors served as important points of entry of Western medicine into other countries, and were the hub of medical knowledge and practice. Private healthcare facilities were established as part of the charitable mission. Even now, medical mission groups, such as Doctors without Borders and Heal the Nations, provide charitable medical care to the developing world. Subsequent innovations in healthcare have made it possible to bring patients from other countries into US hospitals for care that is not available in their home country. Specialists from US hospitals may also be utilized in countries that have no such physicians. For instance, Operation Smile, an international medical humanitarian organization, has a presence in over 50 countries (Magee, 2009). Their focus is surgical treatment of children with cleft lip and palate while providing the necessary medical training for local medical volunteers that will result in self-sufficiency for these communities. Often  persons travel to the US to avoid delays in care due to long lines and waiting periods experienced in other countries that may have universal coverage. Telemedicine is the exchanging of patient information through the Internet or cybertechnology. This ability allows healthcare professionals to communicate patient status regardless of distance (Goldbach West, 2010). Telehealth and teleconferencing have been used extensively for consulting with other professionals as well as reaching patients who live in rural or remote areas. The most popular direction globalization has taken is in the area of medical tourism. This aspect involves patients choosing to leave one country for another in order to seek quality specialized care or major surgery at a reduced cost (Keckley Underwood, 2007; Goldbach West, 2010). Countries such as India, Singapore, and Thailand provide care such as cardiac surgery, joint replacements, and reconstructive surgery at significant differences in cost. For instance, in India, a person can have cardiac surgery for approximately $25,000 less than the cost in the US. Along with the medical care provided, these locations offer a vacation-like atmosphere. Another feature that encourages the use of medical tourism is the availability of medications and technologies that may be experimental in some countries but readily available in others. Because of the cost differential, some private insurers also offer incentives to utilize medical tourism as a means of accessing health care services. Although medical tourism has led to knowledge development on a worldwide scale, concerns remain as to quality and liability. However, despite these concerns, entities such as medical tourism have the potential to increase awareness of illness and disease processes. This knowledge could be empowering to developing countries. Since the early 1990s, over 48 million people have been displaced due to the environmental crisis and its health related impact (Toole, 1995). HIV rates are increasing both in the US and abroad, infecting nearly 25 million people. Other diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera have developed into drug-resistant strains proven difficult to treat, thus increasing the disease transmission rates. It is predicted that by 2020, heart disease will  become the leading cause of disease an disability followed by depression and traffic accidents (Murray Lopez, 1996). Poverty has been found to be a leading predictor of health disparities. More than 25 percent of the world’s population lives in poverty. This economic burden results in decreased access to necessary and affordable healthcare. Public and private healthcare expenditures worldwide equal about 8 percent of the world’s economic output (World Bank, 1993). Life Expectancy As noted at the beginning of this chapter, globalization is here to stay even if it benefits just one set of nations of the world. However, that does not mean that it is fair, justifiable, and that its course cannot be altered. On thing remains clear: Most citizens of this world realize the injustices and are asking the major powers and corporations that benefit from the system to ensure that the planet is the ultimate winner, bringing an end or reduction to inequities or disparities, especially in health, the theme of this chapter, and provide the means, the knowledge, and the empowerment they need politically, economically, and environmentally to live better lives. This chapter has argued, and many others have done, that one of the most potent sticks through which to measure the objectives and the success of the phenomenon we have come to call globalization is the extent to which health and health care systems function for the extension of life expectancy and access to quality health care services. One can argue that, in the final analysis, globalization and its acclaimed successes are interdependent on people’s health. Health concerns and priorities dominate our lives and without it, life is almost meaningless, as it is for many who carry the burden of disease, especially when this condition can be easily alleviated, as is the case with many infectious and communicable diseases in the developing world. According to Okasha (2005): The process [of globalization] has clearly both negative and positive results and is likely to create both losers and winners. Globalization has promised to grant the world instant communication, fast and efficient means of travel, a widened access to technology, cross-border cultural interaction and globalized approaches to environmental issues. However, it also entails  deregulation of commerce and the creation of supernational political and economic bodies. As a result, the gap is widening between societies that â€Å"enjoy knowledge, tec hnology and the ability to control events and others which are still backward, ignorant, frustrated, helpless and unable to follow progress and selfactualization† (Okasha, 2005). The public response It is encouraging, however, that the unfairness of the system has not gone unnoticed. Labonte Torgerson (2003) remind us that the WTO has actually been under fire from social and human rights activists, the United Nations, civil society, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and even from the European countries themselves, which created it at the Uruguay Round of Talks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO’s â€Å"level playing field,† with different rules and treatment, â€Å"is pushing many of these countries into deeper health-compromising poverty. Its negotiations to open public services to trade will hasten their privatization, with loss of access for the poor.† In other words, the health needs for most inhabitants of this planet appear gloomy for the foreseeable future. Looking toward solutions What is the solution? The intent of our chapter was not to give solutions to the problems of globalization but to provide an overview of what the phenomenon and its system have done to the health of many people of the world, currently reflected in the existing health disparities or inequities that have prevented them from enjoying access to quality health â€Å"care, life saving knowledge, reasonable income, clean air, clean water, sanitation, land, and gainful employment.† In order to reap the benefits of globalization, say many experts, â€Å"we need novel approaches to international cooperation that place national self-interest in the context of global mutual interest to promote international cooperation and goodwill† (Frenk and Gomez-Dantes, 2000; Pang Guindon, 2004). References: The Impact of Globalization Determinants and the Health of the World’s Population Mario J. Azevedo and Barbara H. Johnson School of Health Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, USA Globalization for Development: Trade, Finance, Aid, Migration and Policy Golding Kenneth A. Reinert

Treatment of Native Americans Essay Example for Free

Treatment of Native Americans Essay From the very beginning of American history, settlers have poorly treated the Native Americans. As some people know, â€Å"poorly† is an understatement. The treatment of the indigenous people was horrible during the 1800s from being forced to move west, having laws made against them by the government, and mass murder, even though that isn’t what our history books like to tell us today. In 1804, fur trading was established with the Oglala and became a big part of their life. Then, the Oglala and Lakota tribes decided to expand their control and influences west toward the Big Horn mountains. Then, on March 26, the United States government forced the Native Americans to move west past the Mississippi River. This meant that they would have to leave everything they had to move to a reservation where they would have to start all over again. They only had a certain amount of time to move cooperatively but when that time was up, they would be moved forcefully. If the Native Americans did not agree to move, then they were killed. Many laws and acts were passed against the native American people. In 1833, a law was made that no Native American to reside in the state of Florida, so, yet again, the indigenous people of our country were forced to drop everything thing they had to go live in a reservation in the west to start all over again. Also, in 1834, the Indian Intercourse Act was passed. The Indian Intercourse Act said that Congress created Indian Territory in the west that included the land area in all of present-day Kansas, most of Oklahoma, and parts of what later became Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. The area was set aside for Indians who would be removed from their ancestral lands which, in turn, would be settled by non-Indians. The area steadily decreased in size until the 1870s when Indian Territory had been reduced to what is now Oklahoma, excluding the panhandle. Along with all of the laws and forced movement of Native Americans, there were also many battles that killed a lot of the indigenous people. In 1835 to 1842 was the Seminole War, the second and most terrible of three wars between the US government and the Seminole people was also one of the longest and most expensive wars in which the US army was ever engaged. Thousands of troops were sent, 1,500 men died, and between 40-60 million dollars were spent to force most of the Seminole to move to Indian Territory more than the entire US governments budget for Indian Removal. Another fight between settlers and Native Americans was in 1855. The Ash Hollow massacre was a pretty dumb battle when you think about it. Colonel William Harney uses 1,300 soldiers to massacre an entire Brulà © village in retribution for the killing of 30 soldiers, who were killed in retribution for the killing of the Brulà © chief, Conquering Bear, in a dispute over a cow. Settlers used any excuse they could think of to humiliate and kill as many Native Americans as they could. In conclusion, the treatment of Native Americans in our country was brutal. We are all told that a human is a human and everyone is equal. Well, clearly, people in the 1800s did not think so. They attacked anyone that was different in order to get ahead, including our indigenous people.

Does Music Have Any Effects On The Brain?

Does Music Have Any Effects On The Brain? Music can have a very strong influence; is it strong enough to affect your brain? Music is an art of sound that expresses ideas and emotions through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and colour. The power and influence of music on individuals is a psychological process involving the human ears, body, brain, and nervous system. Besides its pleasing effects to the ears, it has been established that music can have an influence on our emotional state of being. People listen to music for different reasons and at different times. In recent years, however, a question has been raised with regards to music and its effects on the brain: Does listening to music help improve our physical and mental abilities? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (the most popular American Poet in the 19th century, 1807-1882) wrote Music is the universal language of mankind. It brings us together as a society and unites people of different cultural backgrounds. It is a very important element which can be used for many purposes such as entertainment, sleeping aid, pain relief, relaxation tool, eliminate stress, emotional purposes, provide means of self-expression, aid develop the skills necessary at workplace, home or general environment and so much more. It is also used for special occasions such as funerals, weddings, graduations, soldiers marching off to war, sporting events, prayer, romantic dinners and parties. Music is mostly used in these types of events because it has the influence to change our atmosphere and provide us with a sense of pleasure, comfort and happiness. It also enhances teamwork skills and discipline in churches and in bands where all team members involvement and participation is required to produce a good song. Research shows that certain types of music such as classical music, yoga music or nature music creates a calming effect on us which helps reduce our heart rate. This may enable us conquer anxiety and gain self confidence. Music can help us communicate with each other when languages are different. Before the invention of mails and telephones, certain tribes use to contact each other with drumbeats. Sound travels at about 350 meters per second in dry air at 20 C (68 F) and this was quicker and efficient in getting a message across to each other in the Ancient times which required some skills and knowledge. There was a sender and a receiver who would interpret the me ssage to the Leader of the village. This was mostly practised in Africa and Asia and is still practised in some parts of the world. The drawbacks were messages could be interpreted wrongly by the receiver or conveyed wrongly by the sender which caused inconvenience. There are many uses and benefits of music which are yet to be discovered. In recent years, scientists have been astonished by the effects music has on children. Babies are mostly lulled to sleep with lullabies due to its known calming effects on the brain and body. Experiment has proven that introducing toddlers to good music genres such as classical at an early age enables them become more creative, increase their level of imagination and their ability to obtain and develop different skills in later life. During childhood we are all expected to learn nursery rhymes reason being music is known to be a kick-start to learning and known to offer long life benefits. Also as individuals we all need diversity in our lives to broaden our knowledge and develop strong relationships in life. On Sunday, 21 February 2010, one of the major British newspapers The Guardian, which has a certified average daily circulation of 358,844 copies, published an article on music and its power to shape a chil ds mind. (Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/music-has-the-power-to-shape-a-childs-mind-1905967.html).The article discusses some of the profound effects of music on the nervous system and encourages schools to make it a core subject. Schools which fail to make music a core subject are making a mistake, because it has advantages for the growing brain and would help all children, including those with dyslexia and autism, neuroscientist Professor Nina Kraus said. Professor Krauss team at North-western University in Chicago, Illinois, have shown that the nervous system responds to the acoustic properties of speech and music with sub-millisecond precision. The effectiveness with which the nervous system interprets sound patterns is linked to musical ability. Scientists have been amazed by some of effects of music can be have individuals. This has led to the establishment of a field of health care known as Music Therapy. Therapists use the benefits and positive effects of music to improve and maintain their patients emotional, physical, aesthetic, mental, social, and spiritual well being. Those who practice music therapy are finding it very useful and effective which enables them live a normal life. It is used to help patients with cancer, neurodevelopment disorders such as dementia, children with ADD and autism. A National Autistic Society spokeswoman explained how many children with autism respond well to music. It helps children in communication and interaction. It also creates a calming effect on the patients which enables them express some level of emotion. This has resulted in many patients overcoming certain illnesses. Hospitals are also beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management. In some hospital theatre s such as Bay Medical Center located in both Northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (America), music is used to help ward off patients depression and ease muscle tension. Many patients reacted positively to especially classical music as it generated a comforting environment and calmed patients which enabled doctors progress during operations. However, it could be argued that music can be an addiction and if not constantly played to these patients could cause further depression in some cases. Scientist have conducted further research and found that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking to the listener. Slower music genre such as classical helps promote a relaxed and meditative state (source: http://www.brainskills.co.uk/MusicTherapy.html ). Over the years scientist have been looking at some other benefits music can offer. Athletes such as cyclist and marathon runners are known to find music very useful during training sessions. Most of these athletes consider music as a motivation and a relaxation tool which helps prepare the body and mind for a lengthy workout. There are believes that fast music can help athletes train faster and better during training, leading to a good workout. To determine the actual effects of music on the performance of athletes, Scientists at St. Scholastica College in Duluth, Minnesota conducted a test with six men and five women on a 15 minute treadmill at 5.5 mile per hour on each runner. The runners were categorised into a group of three. Group1 and 2 consisted of two males and two females and group 3 consisted of two males and one female. Group 1 were made to listen to a fast pace beat, group 2 were made to listen a slow beat and group 3 listened to no music. This was observed for 15 minutes and in the study, it was discovered that group 1 burned 10 extra calories over 15 minutes, an extra 40 calories per hour. This may seem a small gain but if practised constantly over just three hours a week, you may be capable of burning an extra 2 pounds of fat in the course of a year. This will help towards the individuals stamina and be of great advantage to his/her mental health. This research also suggested that music if combined with appropriate imagery can have either a calming effect on the individual during physical training which helps improve the cardiovascular system by maintaining adequate circulation of oxygenated blood around the vascular network of the body. However, there is no firm evidence that suggest that the tranquilising effects of music can promote better performances when athletes listen to the music before performing. The research, however, implies that listening to music during training sessions can certainly improve workout quality. (Effect of Up-Beat Mus ic on Endurance Performance, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, volume 27(5), Supplement, #853, p. S151, 1995 and The Impact of Music and Imagery on Physical Performance and Arousal: Studies of Coordination and Endurance, Journal of Sport Behaviour, volume 15(1), pages. 21-33, 1992) Music is mostly divided into genres and subgenres. Some of the main genres are Rock/Pop, Jazz, Hip hop, World, Nostalgia, Blues, Country, Easy Listening, Folk, Ethnic, Metal and other subgenres. Classical music is one of the oldest genres encircling a broad era from roughly 1750s to date (source: http://www.musiclessonsonline.co.uk/ClassicalMusic.html ). It has inspired and influenced other genres such as hip hop and RB. It is accepted by nearly every generation ever since its establishment. Researchers have come across some rather amazing benefits of classical music. It holds one of the largest listeners due to its calming effects which aid the mind and its ability to inspire its listeners. Amongst the results it was found that classical music has the ability to reduce crime. British Transport Police supplied classical music into London Underground stations in 2004 in some of the areas most dangerous neighbourhoods. After playing the music for six months, robberies were cut by 33 percent, staff assaults decreased by 25 percent and vandalism went down 37 percent. This was not the first time classical music had been used in preventing crime. In 2001, police in West Palm Beach, Florida installed a CD player and speakers on an abandoned building in a crime-ridden neighbourhood. After playing classical music mostly Mozart, Bach and Beethoven 24 hours a day for about three months, shootings, thefts, loiterers and drug deals decreased. (Source: http://hypography.com/forums/music-studies/14554-help-me-describe-why-music-education-5.html ) It was also discovered that if you walk into a store thats playing classical music you are likely to spend more. It is used as an instrument to get you to purchase more items, as consumer advocate and columnist Brian Vaszily entertainingly explains in How Stores are secretly using music to lure their customers. Music can help shape customers time perception, lower sales resistance and increase willingness to spend, says James Kellaris, a marketing professor at the University of Cincinnati. The complexity of classical music makes your brain work harder, causing it to overcompensate and make you feel like youve been in the store for less time than you actually have. Meanwhile, the music can make it more difficult for shoppers to use critical thinking in deciding whether to buy a product. The end result is spending more time in the store, buying more, and spending more money. (Source: http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/10/05/how_classical_music_can_reduce_crime_benefit_your_mood_and_ increase_your_spending.htm) All these events reveal that music can control our brains and has the capability to change our live style and behavioural patterns. Scientists wanted to prove scientifically how listening to a song helps develop the brain. Several experiments were conducted to find out which side of the brain is activated and improved when we listen to music. Mozarts music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. Reading activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes the brain to be more capable of processing information. According to The Center for New Discoveries in Learning, learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this 60 beats per minute music. For example, the ancient Greeks sang their dramas because they understood how music could help them remember more easily. A renowned Bulgarian psychologist, Dr. George Lozanov, designed a way to teach foreign languages in a fraction of the normal learning time. Using his system, students could learn up to one half of the vocabulary and phrases for the whole school term (which amounts to almost 1,000 words or phrases) in one day. Along with this, the average retention rate of his students was 92%. Dr. Lozanovs system involved using certain classical music pieces from the baroque period which have around a 60 beats per minute pattern. He has proven that foreign languages can be learned with 85-100% efficiency in only thirty days by using these baroque pieces. His students had a recall accuracy rate of almost 100% even after not re viewing the material for four years. Music has also been used by Doctors to heal the human mind and also cure diseases. It has been used as a means of overcoming depression and reducing chronic pain. Music can be described as a tool used to capture and transmit emotions. One of the advantages of music is its ability to achieve more than one objective at a time. Elevating music can divert the mind and revive the soul. Sad and soulful music can offer solace, encourage and support psychological work and set free emotions. When exposed to the worlds dilemmas, some depend on drugs and others relate to music to help overcome these obstacles. Some of these dilemmas can lead to Depression which reduces the activities that occur in our brains and obstructs the minds capability to arrange and carry out responsibilities. The lack of the neurotransmitter and Serotonin leads to a depressed state of mind. It has been discovered by scientist that listening to music could help reduce chronic pain and depression by a quarter (http://www .sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060524123803.htm). People react to music in different ways. Singing and dancing to your favourite music is known to help increase the flow of serotonin in the brain by bringing about pleasure and excitement to the individual. I was greatly astonished by some of the experiments and discoveries mostly carried out by scientists, therapist and authors involving this topic. This influenced me to create a questionnaire to discover how music influences its listeners and what music genre generates the most effects. This is a summary table of the research questionnaire I created and handed out to a sample audience of fifty. To obtain varied and reliable results I decided on a 50 percent male audience and 50 percent female. i.e. Every bar in this graph is out of a 100%. This is because I designed my questionnaire so people could tick many answers for a particular question. I then counted the number of people who listened to music for entertainment purposes out of number of audience I have and multiplied it by 100%. This enabled me convert all my figures into percentage. I decided on a 50 sample audience as it is large enough to obtain varied results, to help structure my graph and in order not to obtain decimal figures when converting to percentage. This was prepared to achieve reliable results. The data also indicates that 46 (92%) of the sample audience listen to more than 1 type of music. This proves that music is universal and its effects are not limited to one genre of music. As seen in the graph 82% of my sample audience listened to music for entertainment purposes. This proves that music provides stimulation and entertainment at the most fundamental level. 60% of my sample audience listened to music to help eliminate stress. This shows that music helps takes your mind temporally away from problems and it has the effect of eliminating tension from the mind. 30% of my audience listen to music for emotional purposes. This proves that music can help provide solace to its listeners. Four of my sample audience listened to music whilst studying and two suggested it helped improve their grades at school. Finally one person suggested it helped them gain confidence. My questionnaire also generated a link between music for entertainment purposes and stress elevation. Majority of my sample audience who listened to music for entertainment purposes also suggested it helped in eliminating stress. As shown in figure 2 above, modern music genres such as Hip hop and Rock/Pop is the most listened to probably due to its relatable lyrics. An analysis of the data by age groups also shows that 71% of the under 18s age group listen to music for entertainment purposes. 91% of the 18-21 age group that is 10 out of 11 people also listened to music for entertainment purposes. Of the 22 years and above age group, 17 out of 31 representing 55% listened to music to help eliminate stress. An analysis on gender shows that out of 25 females the influence of music is high amongst 5 representing 20% of the sample audience, 6 of them (25%) found the influence of music to be low. However, majority of them that is 12 (48%) indicated the effects of music to be medium. Out of 25 people in the male group, 5 representing 20% found the effects of music to be high and 12 representing 48% found it to be medium. This shows that music on an average has a medium effect on both male and female. Of the unemployed group of 4, three indicated the effects of music to be low. This may suggest that they need more than just music to entertain them and relieve stress. Writers mostly consisting of neurologist have published several books on the subject of music and its effects on the brain. Musicophilia is a highly recommended book, a New York Times bestseller. Written by Oliver Sacks (Author) and published by Picador on the 2nd of November 2007. It has been awarded one of the Best Books of 2007 by the Washington Post and the editors of Amazon.com. According to Oliver Sacks, Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing. But the power of music occupies more areas of our brain than language does humans are a musical species. In this book Oliver Sacks tells interesting tales of individuals affected with the worse case of neurological conditions but are perfectly capable of memorising and composing songs on the piano. This has in effect changed the way we view the human brain. In Musicophilia, he cautiously explores the influence of music through the individual experiences of patients suffering from Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers or amnesia, stroke and many more. It also involves musicians, performers and normal individuals who have been greatly affected by music. There are also scenarios of people struck by lightning and are suddenly motivated to become pianist, to an entire group of children with Williams syndrome who are hyper musical right from birth. Oliver Sacks scientifically explains why music is at times haunting, memorable and irresistible. The extraordinary neural robustness of music is also brought out in the following letter I was sent, about a well-known pianist. The pianist is now 88 and has lost language but he plays every day. When the Mozart is read, he points back and ahead well in advance of the repeats. Two years ago he recorded a complete four-hand repertoire of Mozart that he had recorded in the 1950s (Page 336). Whiles his language has began to fail him, I love his recent playing and conception even more than the earlier recording a colleague stated. Another letter was written to Oliver by one man briefly explaining how his wife was diagnosed with a brain disorder but still plays the piano on a daily basis. Although my wife has Alzheimers diagnosed at least seven years ago-the essential person miraculously remainsShe plays piano several hours daily, very well. Her present ambition is to memorize the Schumann A-minor Piano Concerto (Page 337). Alzheimers is a progressive and fatal brain disease. Alzheimers destroys brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behaviour severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimers gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. Alzheimers disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases. And yet this woman who is, in most other spheres, grossly forgetful and disabled memorises plays full songs on the piano. Music can survive the most devastating brain damage. A herpes infection left Clive Wearing, a musicologist and musician, with a memory span of no more than a few seconds. His entire life form was overturned. But, confronted with a piece of music, he would first insist he had never played it before and then play it flawlessly. The process of making the music overcame his handicap. His wife wrote to Sacks of Clives at-homeness in music . . . where he transcends amnesia and finds continuum. Or there is the case of Tony Cicoria, a man struck by lightning in a telephone box. A few weeks later, he was overcome by an insatiable desire to listen to piano music. He bought CDs and sheet music and began to resurrect his childhood piano lessons. Then, involuntarily, he began to compose music in his head. A torrent of notes came, he said, from heaven. Cicoria now lives in music. Oliver Sacks concentrates on stories written or told by the victim or the victims relative rather than theory; he does not come to a definite conclusion about music in his book but our intuition is reinforced by elaborate analysis of particular situations. Music genres such as hip hop, rock and pop has been known to help promote crime. Violence, racism, homophobic behaviours or sexist lyrics in much of todays popular music could have an impact on impressionable young people who are just developing a sense. Numerous studies indicate that a preference for heavy metal music may be a significant marker for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risk, sex-role stereotyping or risk-taking behaviours during adolescence. (Source: American Academy of Pediatrics, 1999) In conclusion music is a very powerful tool that creates a connection to the human soul, body and mind. As shown in my work music is used to entertain, as therapy in hospitals to relieve stress, help in communication, express emotions, enhance concentration and maintain alertness and vigilance. It is also used in stores to promote sales and to motivate the workers.

Eugenics in America Essay -- Sociology Essays Research Papers

Eugenics in America Eugenics profoundly impacted the culture of the twentieth century. Coined in 1893 by Sir Francis Galton, it studied the heredity and selection of favorable traits. Born out of the social tumults of the late nineteenth century, it represented the Western elite’s attempt to protect itself from so called â€Å"inferior† cultures of the colonies and â€Å"new wave† immigration. The late eighteenth century was a turbulent time throughout America. An influx of immigrants packed into massive cities such as New York and Chicago. As opposed to previously northern European immigration, a wave of â€Å"new† immigration in the 1890’s brought immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, who vastly differed culturally and religiously from their northern European counterparts. Some immigrants brought radical ideologies with them such as Marxism, anarchism, and monarchism, which completely differed from the American ideals of free markets, elections, and democracy. The massive influx of people crowded into sordid city blocks brought a slew of social problems such as alcoholism, poverty, murder, rape, and violence. Coupled with falling birth rates among the elite and rising birth rates among immigrants, Anglo-culture sought out an answer to defend itself against the â€Å"siege† of â€Å"inferior† cultures. The late nineteenth century saw the rise of â€Å"eugenics† throughout academia. Founded by Francis Galton (the word came into existence in 1893), eugenics was the study of the selection of favorable traits in society. Deeply influenced by Darwin, Galton published his first eugenicist tract in 1865 Hereditary Genius, which posited that man’s strength, talent, and skill is passed down genetically fr... ...â€Å"degenerate† or â€Å"inferior.† Popularized in the early twentieth, it manifested itself throughout American culture from textbooks to advertisements for household goods. Eugenics represented American culture’s vain attempt to grapple with non-western European cultures and cope with a quickly evolving social landscape. Bibliography Dolan DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Laboratory, http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/ School of Mathematics and Statistics at St. Andrew’s University http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galton.html Pucker, Johnathan, History in the Influences of Intelligence Theory and Testing http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/galton.html Linden, Jeremy http://students.vassar.edu/jelinden/galton.htm McCleymer, Professor at Assumption College http://www.assumption.edu/users/McClymer/his394/contagion.html

Foucaults Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison Essay

Foucault is best remembered for his historical inquiries into the origins of â€Å"disciplinary† society in a period extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Today, however, under the conditions of global modernity, the relevance of his contribution is often called into question. With the increasing ubiquity of markets, the break up of centralized states and the dissolution of national boundaries, the world today seems far removed from the bounded, disciplinary societies Foucault described in his most famous books. Far from disciplinary, society today is â€Å"post panoptic,† as Nancy Fraser has argued — in a move which seems to confirm Jean Baudrillard’s demand that we â€Å"forget Foucault.† In order to answer the question, how Foucault’s theory of the disciplinary society can be used to understand the body in the society, I would like to begin this essay by returning to Foucault’s book – Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison. This book deals with the disciplinary institutions and practices that emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While discipline and punish is concerned with the birth of the prison in modern Europe, it has far wider implications for the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. Notions such as micro-power, disciplinary institutions, panopticism and normative judgements. Foucault developed this material through the research methods he called archaeology and genealogy. Both methods work to uncover the discursive formations and practices of different historical periods, but genealogy has a greater focus on questions of power, and the ways in which discursive power works on bodies. Power shows itself on a subject’s body because various events or happenings are written on the human body- they shape th... ...n prison model disposed people to monitor themselves and others regarding the appropriateness or otherwise types of behaviour and body shape. Bibliography:- Chancer and Watkins. Gender, Race and Class. An Overview. (Blackwell Publishing) Toni Lester. Gender Nonconformity, Race and Sexuality. Charting the Connections. (The University of Wisconsin Press) Teresa de Lauretis. Technologies of Gender Essays on Theory, Film and Fiction (Palgrave Publication) Kennan Malik. The Meaning of race. (Palgrave Publication) Anne Cranny-Francis, Wendy Waring, Pam Stavropoulos, Joan Kirkby. Gender Studies. Terms and Debates. (Palgrave Publication) Penelope Ingram. The Signifying Body. (State University of New York Press) Mark Gibson. Culture and Power. (Berg Publication,New York) Colin Burnham. Race. B.T.Batsford LTD. London.

Essay --

There is an old saying that claims that it is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one. While many choose to follow unjust traditions, others choose to pursue the path of justice. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the mockingbird is a symbol of innocence that should never be killed; It is harmless and provides a song for the enjoyment of others. Furthermore, three characters from the novel are considered symbolic mockingbirds. Boo Radley, not convicted of any real charges, has fallen into a trap of rumors that have gone around the town. Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman with no substantial evidence proving him guilty. He is shot down while trying to escape prison. Lastly, Scout, the narrator of the book, is an innocent five-year-old girl. As the novel progresses, she starts to witness racial prejudice; which is something that no minor should come in contact with during her childhood. By exposing their innocent natures, we see how Boo, Tom Robinson and Scout are the mockingbirds in this novel. In reality, Boo has done nothing wrong. His confinement began when he, along with some other people, had played a prank and gotten into some trouble with the law. Later in his life, a rumor is spread that he had stabbed his father with scissors. Forced to stay in the house for his behavior, Boo becomes the center of gossip and rumors that spread throughout the town. He did not do did any of the things of which he was accused; instead, all he wanted to accomplish was to befriend Jem and Scout. He left them gifts in the oak tree. Scout complains to Jem, â€Å"I’ve been chewin’ it all afternoon and I ain’t dead yet, not even sick† (45). Jem is completely astonished when he discovers that Scout took the ... ... newspaper editor, despises negroes yet supports Tom Robinson: â€Å"Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting or escaping. He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (323). Even though it is obvious that Mr. Underwood does not like negroes, he writes about the injustice done upon Tom Robinson. Similar to killing a mockingbird, Tom is killed for a crime he had never committed and harm that he had never brought. Scout is one of the most innocent people in this book. During the course of this book, she goes through events and experiences, that no child should ever witness at a young age. On one hand, her father Atticus, is trying to teach her to live moral life and make the right decisions. On the other hand however, she is open to influences of a town filled with racism and prejudice.

John Collier “Back for Christmas” Essay

The text â€Å"Back for Christmas† by John Collier is written in a style of fiction. The story is about farewell party to the doctor Carpenter and his wife. In the beginning of the text we can see the Carpenters’ living room that was filled with the close friends who had come to say â€Å"last-minute farewell† – the author used this epithet to show us that their friends would be missing him very much. On the contrary with his wife doctor Carpenter wasn’t sure he would come in time, he thought smth could spoil his plans. But his wife â€Å"beaming at them† said he would be back in England for Christmas. The metaphor is used to reassure everybody to make them believe in this. So, the farewells began. Mrs Carpenter tried her best to make all the arrangements on the high level and to prove it the author used such epithet as: â€Å"fluting of compliments† and â€Å"marvelous arrangements†. Carpenters were going to drive to Southampton that evening and would embark the following day. They have chosen this kind of transport for more comfortable travelling without any bustle. And to emphasize it the author the used the repetition â€Å"No trains, no bustle, no last minute worries†. So doctor Carpenter has contracted for lecture only three months and certainly he would be a great success in America. His wife Hermione has just tagged a long him to have some entertainment’s to see the big cities skyscrapers. Then the author uses repetitions â€Å"No extensions. No wonderful post†¦Ã¢â‚¬  that show us that his infirmary needs him. After the farewell dinner the maids washed up all the plates, come in to say goodbye and were in time to catch the afternoon bus to Devizes. So, to my mind, the main idea of the text – east or west home is the best.

Hypocritical Holden Essay

Hypocrisy is found in exclusively of us. Many of us go through with(predicate) things ab let on ourselves that we dont need to share with others, and try to hide possibly we are trying to hide our lying. In The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger expresses through Holden Caulfield that hypocrisy results from non being able to splice with others. Although Holden accuses others of being imposter, in reality, Holden is a dissimulator him self-importance and as a result of his hypocrisy, he is unable to connect with others, suggesting that to connect with others unity and only(a) must(prenominal)(prenominal) be able to demand other hatfuls flaws.Holden defines others as phonies because he is critical and has a cast out utlook on the world and the the great unwashed in it. When Holden makes observations of other people he a lot defines them as pseudo. For example, when Holden goes to the movies he observes a doll seated next to him who is call during the movie, The gr apheme that got me was, in that respect was a lady session next to me that cried all through the diabolic picture. The phonier it got, the more she cried she had this little kid with her that was worldly as hell and had to go to the bathing tub but she wouldnt move back him You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of decennium theyre mean bastards at heart.Im non kidding (181).Holden depends that the woman crying is a phony because she is wound up close to a movie which is fake, yet she does not feel bad for the kid who is sitting next to her in real life, who has to go to the bathroom. A woman crying at a movie is what Holden observes and defines as phony behavior. Holdens negative outlook on the world and the people in it only if pushes Holden farther and farther away from people. He is isolating himself. In addition, Holden thinks some spoken language or phrases are phony. When Holden is talking on the phon e with a girl he hold outs, Sally, who says something thatHolden thinks is phony. Id love to. Grand. Grand. If theres one word I hate, its grand. Its so phony(106). Holden thinks that the word grand is phony, which may be received to Holden although the more energy he spends on pointing out phonies the more apart(p) and unhappy he becomes. Holden is a dissembler because he is sometimes aware that he is being a phony himself. Holden thinks that he needs to hide his received self from people in order to wear. When Holden is out at Ernies and meets up with a girl he knows, Lillian, Holden says something to the dark blue blue true cat who was with Lillian that Holden considers phony.Holden addresses the reader, Im eternally saying Glad tove met you to somebody Im not at all glad I met. If you want to confine alive, you have to say that stuff, though (87). Holden lies to the navy guy, and in like manner says that he lies to other people when saying this phrase. Although Hold en is representing phony, and therefore hypocritical, he is aware of it. He acts phony because he is cowardly that sharing his true self with others will interfere with him connecting with others Holden thinks that he will turn people away because he is different. Holden is different because he is critical, and also eeply sympathize with and emotional.Holden is trying to act exchangeable a regular guy so people will like him and be unbidden to talk with him. Holden is striving to make a connection with someone anyone. He is on the button looking for anyone to talk to and make a connection with, but he is afraid to open up to them. Holden tries to fit in with others by being phony when in reality, he hates how most people act. Holden tries not to show his hatred of phonies because then, people would currently realize that Holden is a phony himself. At Ernies when Holden meets up with the navy guy, introduced to him by Lillian, Holden hares his true thoughts about the navy guys actions with the reader. Holden says, He was one of those guys that think theyre being a world-beater if they dont break about forty of your fingers when they shake hands with you. God, I hate that stuff (86-87).Holden doesnt like the expectations put on men to act tough this makes Holden feel insecure. Holden feels that he must hide that he is caring and emotional by being phony. In addition, Holden is sometimes oblivious(predicate) that he is being phony. For example, when he asks his taxi driver Horwitz a question, Holden is unaware that he is being phony. Hey, Horwitz, I said. You ever so pass by the lagune in central park? Down by central park south? Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you line up to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance (81)? Holden asks Horwitz where the ducks go in the winter time because he is inadvertently comparing his situation to the ducks in the lagoon Holden wants to know where he goes now that it is winter time and his lagoon, Pencey prep, has frozen. Throughout the book, Holden struggles to find a place where he belongs. He also strives to connect with people.Holden is reluctant to share his true self with people. Asking Horwitz where the ducks go is one of Holdens phony attempts at qualification a connection with someone. When Holden acts phony, he shields his true self from people which keeps him from connecting with others. Holden dislikes phonies, and he much criticizes people for being phony, although Holden acts phony himself because he is insecure about himself, which leads to Holden acting phony. J. D. Salinger expresses through Holden that when trying to connect with others, one must act like themselves. Hypocrisy is lots inevitable all of us troop hypocrisy.