Ambition The Destruction of Shakespeare’s Macbeth Essay

One of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies is that of Macbeth. It is also known as â€Å"the Scottish play,† primarily because of its Scottish setting and because it is based loosely after the life of a real King Macbeth of Scotland. (Mendham) This play is considered a tragedy because the protagonist of the play, Macbeth, will suffer a terrible downfall as the result of his actions. From the beginning of the play, Shakespeare effectively establishes the atmosphere of the play as one of doom and despair, where even nature is at war with itself. The main themes of this tragedy are power and betrayal. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare explores aspects of the human conscience. He pays particular attention to our sense of right and wrong,†¦show more content†¦He also displays honor as a valiant war captain. Upon returning home from the battle in which both he and his comrade, Banquo, were victorious they are praised by King Duncan and a captain in his army for their outstanding valor. King Duncan said, â€Å"They smack [have the flavor, taste] of honor both.† (Macbeth Act 1, sc 2) Thane of Glamis is no doubt an honorable position as well which demands the respect of the general public. Macbeth appears to maintain his image of honor (in the public’s eye) when he is promoted to thane of Cawdor; however, his new ambitious thoughts are anything but honorable. Macbeth’s greatest strength is his ambition. With it, he pursues greatness for himself in a position of high respect and honor. His ambition gives him an edge that is not easily dulled. Along with great ambition comes determination; and with great determination, many things are made possible. His ambition in itself is a strength; however, it’s the intents of the heart that determine whether the ambition is truly a strength or a weakness. In Macbeth’s case, his ambition is both a strength and a weakness and will become his doom. Macbeth also possesses flaws in his character just as any person does. Throughout the play, his strengths are rebounding to become his weaknesses. One of his many flaws or weaknesses is moral cowardice. He doesn’t stick to what he knows is right. Rather his masculine ego allows him to beShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth And The Human Condition1292 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s plays have been analysed and studied for hundreds of years. They are an iconic aspect of human history and are considered by many, even today, to be timeless classics. But how is it that stories written centuries ago continue to maintain so much relevance in modern society? Hello and welcome to today’s public forum; Shakespeare – its relevance in our world today. 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However, Shakespeare display of Macbeth, allows the audience to view his infatuation with a royal title. Macbeth’s negative characteristics embed themselves within his positive characteristics, therefore, successfully dragging him down to his own downfall. Macbeth’s alert nature allowRead MoreMacbeth As A Tragic Hero893 Words   |  4 PagesAndreacchi February 13th 2017 ENG2D1-02 Macbeth as a Tragic Hero A tragic hero can be described as a character obtaining heroic qualities that is, at the same time, destined for their own downfall. Unfortunately, Macbeth is an example of a character that has this title. In Shakespeare’s time during the writing of the play was the reign of King James of England, and the play ‘Macbeth’ reflects on Shakespeare’s own relationship with this king. Someone of great honour, respectRead MoreThe Character Of An Individual s Ambition On Self And Others1600 Words   |  7 Pagesof an individual’s ambition on self and others. Ambition is devil’s creation. Ambition is an admirable trait that enabled famous writers and scholars to attain an unbelievable greatness. However, highly ambitious people often end up failing because they are unable to fill up an insatiable hole of greed that leads them to constant frustration and dissatisfaction. Just as an excessive ambition can start with malice, it can end in anguish and despair. In the play, Macbeth, by William ShakespeareRead MoreEssay on Lady Macbeth by William Shakespeare770 Words   |  4 PagesMacbeth is Shakespeares shortest tragic play in which the main character, Macbeth, becomes the tragic hero. He begins as a noble lord only to finish as Devilish Macbeth. But who or what is responsible for the tragic downfall of Macbeth? I believe Macbeths is partly responsible for the tragic events that take place, including the murder of King Duncan, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her children. However, Macbeth was influenced by the supernatural witches and by the strict pressure of his w ife, LadyRead More The Cause of Macbeths Destruction in William Shakespeares Macbeth1062 Words   |  5 PagesMacbeths Destruction in William Shakespeares Macbeth      Ã‚   In William Shakespeares Macbeth, Macbeth was a well-respected man of noble birth, but his fortune was reversed after he turned to darkness. He plummeted endlessly into a chasm of evil until his corrupt life was ended on the edge of Macduffs blade. Whose actions opened up the path of darkness to Macbeth? Whose actions led to Macbeths demise? The answer is threefold. The weird sisters set Macbeths fate into motion. Lady Macbeth goadedRead MoreAmbition: the Key to Self-Destruction911 Words   |  4 PagesAmbition: The key to self-destruction Ambition is normally seen as a positive quality in an individual, but it can in fact spiral out of control. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, readers witness this exact situation; ambition is what leads to Macbeth’s destruction. This trait can also be referred to as his hamartia. The dangerous growth of ambition begins when the witches present to him a prophecy, continues when Lady Macbeth pushes him until, finally, he has built up enough to drive himselfRead MoreDefining a Hero in Shakespeares Macbeth1308 Words   |  5 Pagesthrough William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. In his play, the reader comes across Macbeth, a noble and honorable hero, who ranks highly among his peers. Nonetheless, as the play unfolds, it clearly depicts how power can corrupt even the most honorable. The noble Macbeth usurps his higher sovereignty, King Duncan of Scotland, in order to obtain the throne. However, in doing so, he annihilates anyone and everyone who seeks to stop him. As a result of his fallacious ambition, Macbeth is murdered byRead MoreMacbeth: The Tragic Hero Essay1026 Words   |  5 Pages In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero who is constantly struggling with his fate. In the opening scene of the play Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. They proclaim that he will be the thane of Cawdor. He responds by saying, â€Å"By Sinel’s death I know that I am thane of Glamis/ but how of Cawdor†(I, iii, 70-73)? At first, he does not realize to earn this title what he must do, but when he realizes he is taken aback. His bewilderment prefigures

Working at McDonalds by Amitai Etzioni Free Essays

In response to â€Å"Working at McDonald’s† by Amitai Etzioni I think that Etzioni is way off on his evaluation of the lower skill, lower paying jobs in America. He makes it sound as if the employer must provide some sort of skill along with their jobs that will provide a learning experience. Why? Where in the Constitution does it state that employers must provide their employees with training while paying them to do work? It does not. We will write a custom essay sample on Working at McDonalds by Amitai Etzioni or any similar topic only for you Order Now And what of the people that choose jobs such as those provided by McDonalds simply because they wish to have less responsibility, as is shown in the recent movie â€Å"American Pie†. In this movie the main character quit his corporate, good paying job and applied for a regular burger flipping position at McDonalds because he was tired of the stress. And what about higher pay and benefits? The way the American economic system is set up, there must be some low paying jobs because there is always menial tasks that must be done and unskilled workers to do them. Say for instance, that everyone was guaranteed at least ten dollars an hour, no matter what the job was. There would therefore be no reason for some people to get an education because they knew they would have a decent job paying at least ten dollars an hour. This would also upset the people who had gotten an education only to find out they made little or no more than uneducated people now. Employers, now that they had to pay drastically higher wages, would have to charge much higher prices. Now the people earning the higher wages are right back to where they started, because the extra money they earn now just goes back to the employer. It†s just a vicious cycle, and higher wages or jobs that teach new skills to those who don†t need them are just not practical. As hard as you argue, the simple fact sticks is ugly head out, there are always low pay, low skill jobs for those who have no wish to better themselves in life. How to cite Working at McDonalds by Amitai Etzioni, Papers

Protestantism in the United States free essay sample

Mainline churches share a common approach to social issus, they were always active in social causes such as civil rights moment. As a group, the mainline churches have maintained religious doctrine that stresses  social justice  and personal  salvation. Evangelicalism Evangelical Churches lively express and share they faith through gospel- (sharing the good news) in diverse ways, that includes preaching and social actions. They stand between fundamentalists and liberals. The largest concentration of Evangelicals can be found in the United States, with 28. % of population or 91. 6 million, less than a quarter of the world figure †¢ conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; †¢ activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; †¢ biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and †¢ crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The largest denominations: Baptists Baptists  are the largest Protestant grouping in the United States, and the  Southern Baptist Convention  is the largest Protestant denomination in the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Protestantism in the United States or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S. , with 16  million members. Pentecostalism Pentecostalism is the 2nd denomination in USA . It is a religious movement ithin Protestantism, that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the  baptism of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals tend to see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power, worship styles and teachings that were found in the  early church. Lutheranism Lutheran denomination, is the 3rd largest denomination in USA that identifies with the theology of  Martin Luther, a  German  reformer. Luthers who published 95 Theses, that speeded the idea of Protestantism. Lutherans have 4 main points I their religion: Only the Christ, Only the Bible, Faith, Grace Presbyterianism Presbyterianism  is a branch of  Protestant  Christianity  that adheres to the  Calvinist  theological tradition and whose congregations are organized according to a  Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the  sovereignty  of  God, the authority of the Scriptures, and the necessity of  grace  through faith in  Christ. Restorationism Restorationism, sometimes called Christian primitivism, refers to the belief held by various religious movements that original Christianity or the Christianity of the  Apostolic Age  should be restored. Many of them are  Nontrinitarian, that is they reject the Holy Trinity.

War free essay sample

# 8211 ; Persian Gulf # 8211 ; Iraq Essay, Research Paper WHY WAR WAS UNAVOIDABLE IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND WHY IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT IRAQ WOULD LOSE War was inevitable in the Gulf and it was a war in which Iraq was inevitable to lose. There were several grounds why this was and became a world. How, when, where did this procedure of ego devastation get down? It was rather apparent that Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, was going a military giant in the Middle East and hence a menace to the stableness of the full part. His war with Iran was cogent evidence of this. The U.S. and other industrialised Western states could non put on the line the loss of oil from the country. Kuwait is the 2nd largest beginning of crude oil in the Middle East and so the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait sent the universe oil market into a craze. We will write a custom essay sample on War or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Iraqi forces so gathered their forces on the boundary line with Saudi Arabia, the 2nd largest provider of oil in the universe. This in bend brought the military might of the United States into the struggle. There are several grounds why Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. After the eight twelvemonth war with Iran over territorial differences and spiritual competitions between the Persian Shiites and Iraqi Sunni cabals, Iraq had a monolithic debt to many Arab states including Kuwait. The swayers of these states wanted some of their money back but Iraq thought they were thankless wretchs and were thankless for supporting the Arab amir from the Persian Islamic fundamentalism. The Arab amirs were afraid that the Islamic fundamentalists would lift against the authorities and finally take over the authorities as they had Iran against the Shah. Kuwait was besides afraid of this and so they supported the Iraqi Arabs against the Persian Persians. The financess that the Gulf states lent to Iraq we re used to purchase high tech arms. These high tech arms made Iraq one of the largest ground forcess in the universe and a force to postulate with. Ironically much of the money and arms came from the states that united to contend against him. The Gulf states bankrolled him while the Western states, who had many defence contractors traveling out of concern because of the terminal of the Cold War, supplied him with the arms to contend Iran and subsequently Kuwait and the Coalition. With a big ground forces like his, it would be really easy to get the better of the far smaller Kuwaiti ground forces compared to his. Oil had made Kuwait one of the richest and most progressive states in the universe. This desert land is one of the universe # 8217 ; s taking manufacturers holding over one-tenth of the universe # 8217 ; s known crude oil militias. This is all in 20,150 square kilometers, a small smaller than the province of New Jersey. Kuwait is one of the universe # 8217 ; s wealthiest states in footings of national income per individual. It has free primary and secondary instruction free wellness and societal services and no income revenue enhancement. There was much to protect. All of this was attractive and annoying to Saddam who would and did utilize a fraction of his ground forces to assail and occupy Kuwait in which it merely took the Iraqi ground forces 6 hours to make the capital metropolis. After the invasion they had about 19 % of the universe # 8217 ; s known oil militias. Historically Iraq had claimed that it had a right to Kuwait. Saddam was covetous that Kuwait was in control of the two islands needed for a deep H2O transporting port: the Bubiyan and Warbah islands. These islands along with some parts of Kuwait were a portion of old Mesopotamia which the Ottoman Turks conquered. The Ottoman Empire was defeated during World War I and the British made their ain lines in the sand, spliting up the land harmonizing to their ain strategic demands and in t he procedure recklessly spliting up ancient communities and boundaries that had been recognized for decennaries. Most of Mesopotamia became Iraq and some other parts to Kuwait. In 1961, Kuwait became independent and the Iraqis threatened to occupy except that British military personnels kept the peace. This was to be the first of many boundary line brushs which included Iraqi missiles fired at Kuwaiti oil installings and the reflagging of Kuwaiti oil oilers during the Iran-Iraq War in which U.S. ships patrolled the Persian Gulf and Kuwaiti oilers were reflagged with U.S. flags. The Iraki authorities had besides accused the Kuwaitis of stealing 2.5 billion barrels of oil from its Rumaila oil Fieldss by skiding drills into Iraqi oil grapevines. They had besides accused Kuwait of transcending OPEC oil production, which had dropped the monetary value of oil from $ 20 a barrel to $ 13 a barrel in the first six months of 1990. This meant one billion dollars less for Iraq everytime that mo netary value of an oil barrel went down by a dollar. Saddam said he would halt them from go oning aggressive action. Iraq? s foreign curate Tariq Aziz subsequently said in a missive to the Arab conference that Kuwait is # 8220 ; consistently, intentionally and continuously # 8221 ; harming Iraq by infringing on its district, stealing oil, and destructing its economic system. ? Such behavior sums to military aggression # 8221 ; . These were merely marks of the Desert Storm to come. Personally, Saddam Hussein had grounds to desire to travel to war against the Western states. He grew up as a immature male child detesting the British for incarcerating his uncle that had cared for him. Subsequently, he joined the Baath Party which was based on a platform of Arab integrity and as a member was sent to seek to assassinate General Abdul Karim Qasim who they believed to be really friendly with the Western states. By traveling to war, he hoped to further Arab integrity against the Western states, like an Islamic sanctum war against the # 8220 ; heathens # 8221 ; . He besides believed that it was his fate to carry through the prognostication of governing an Arab state streching from Euphrates to the Suez. The Western and Gulf states united together to organize a alliance to contend against Iraq that followed the Uni ted States declaration that Iraq must draw out of Kuwait on January 15, 1991. They had several grounds for desiring Iraq out of Kuwait. The two chief grounds are the huge sums of oil in the part which history for 53 % of the world’s known crude oil militias and the stableness of the states that have the oil. The two biggest manufacturers in the part are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Saudis were afraid that Iraq would occupy Saudi Arabia merely like Kuwait. The United States depends on Middle East crude oil for approximately 25 % of its energy demands and other Western states even more. Other beginnings of power are by and large excessively expensive to be practical or are still under development. So any break of oil from this part would earnestly impact the economic systems of the Western states, merely as they were stealing into a recession, which would non be really good for the leaders of these states at the ballot box. However traveling to war or even the existent possibili ty of it would give a large short term encouragement to the economic systems of these states by increasing the monetary value for a barrel of oil which would let oil companies to do bigger net incomes and there would be more geographic expedition in North America to detect new beginnings of oil. This would assist hike the stock markets by increasing positive activity in the trading of portions. Besides by traveling to war, it would make occupations in many sectors of the economic system from the defence contractors to the service industries down the line. The chief ground that the Coalition was formed was to protect the â€Å"vital interests† in the frequently unstable Middle East. The Middle East has been the beginning of many of the world’s wars after, sometimes about to point of traveling atomic. The Arab spouses joined the Coalition so what had happened to Kuwait wouldn? t happen to them. The United States and the other Western spouses wanted to guarantee a steady supply of inexpensive oil and the invasion of Kuwait had risen the monetary value of oil along with making instability in the Middle East. The best manner to reconstruct order to the part and make some stableness was to coerce Iraq out of Kuwait and badly weaken its authorities and armed forces, which the Allies were successful in making. Another ground that has been suggested is that Iraq was permitted to occupy Kuwait merely to give the U.S. an alibi to assail the Iraqis so that they would no longer be a menace to other states in the part. This would besides do the Arab states dependant on the Americans for their defence so that they would non seek to try hostile actions in footings of increasing the cost of the oil to them or restricting the production of crude oil as had been demonstrated by the OPEC states in the seventiess. President Bush besides had personal grounds as to why he wanted Iraq to go forth Kuwait. As the youngest combatant pilot in the Navy during World War II, h e flew in many missions before being shot down. These missions helped to determine his beliefs that the U.S. should be like a planetary police officer. He felt Saddam Hussein must be stopped merely as Hitler should hold been stopped from interrupting the conditions of the pacts the Germans signed stoping World War I. Another ground he felt he had to take military action was that there were American sureties held by the Iraqis after the invasion of Kuwait for a twosome of months. Iraq would lose in the war with the Coalition because their forces were non every bit good trained as the Coalition forces, their arms were technologically inferior, they had no air support and the Coalition forces were good prepared for moves against them. The Iraqi ground forces was chiefly composed of conscripts, who are non good trained or equipped. Merely the few Republican Guard units, that were the elite of the Iraqi ground forces, were any lucifer for the Coalition. The ground for this is that the Co alition forces were composed of chiefly professional, well-trained voluntaries. Besides the Iraqi arms were inferior compared to the Americans. The Iraqis had arms chiefly from the late seventiess to the early 1980s while the Allies had the most- advanced arms available including the AWACS system, the Stealth bomber and the Patriot missile. With this, they rapidly achieved air and naval high quality over Iraq and Kuwait. The Iraqis had few planes that were of any menace to the Coalition and most of these neer faced combat for unknown grounds. This made the Allies occupation much easier. The Alliance forces were besides really good prepared as to the Iraq? s conflict tactics. This was because they used the same tactics as the ex-Soviet Union which the Americans had studied for a possible invasion of Europe. A Gulf War affecting Iraq was ineluctable and in this war Iraq was defeated. The Iraqis were going a major military power in the Middle East and hence a danger to the stableness of the whole part. The United States and other industrialised Western states could non afford the loss of oil from the part and hence they were really willing to guarantee that they continued to have the oil. The U.N. and U.S. both wanted Iraq to go forth but realized that Iraq did non wish to go forth and had no purpose of making so unless they were forced out. Neither the Iraqis or the Coalition wished to endorse down diplomatically. And with no other utile options available, war was the lone option left to the Coalition. In this war, Iraq would lose because it had inferior arms, a ill trained ground forces and the Coalition was good prepared for the Iraqi tactics. Bibliography CNN The Gulf War ( Video ) , Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min. , 1991 # 8220 ; Iraq # 8221 ; , World Book New York, World Book, 1990, Vol 10, pp. 260-261 # 8220 ; Kuwait # 8221 ; , World Book New York, World Book, 1990, Vol 11, pp. 354-355 Toronto Star: particular subdivisions from January 14, 1991 to March 8, 1991. ( Many subdivisions were used )

Computer Monitors essays

Computer Monitors essays The most used output device on a computer is the monitor. The display provides instant feedback by showing text and graphic images. Most desktop computers use cathode ray tube displays. Portable computers use liquid crystal display (LCD). LCD monitors are now beginning to replace CRTs. This is due to a slimmer design and a use of less energy (How Stuff Works). IBM introduced the Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) in 1981. It was capable of rendering four colors. It had a maximum resolution of 320 pixels horizontally by 200 pixels vertically. In 1984 the Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) was introduced. This allowed 16 different colors. Its resolution was increased to 640x350 pixels. This improved the appearance of the display (PC Tech). The Video Graphics Array (VGA) was introduced in 1987. VGA monitors are still in use today. This is a standard established to provide higher pixel addressability. The VGA consists of seven sub-systems, including: graphics controller, display memory, serializer, attribute controller, sequencer and CRT controller (PC Tech). The graphics controller can perform logical functions on data being written to display memory. Display memory is a bank of 256k DRAM divided into four 64k color planes. It is used to store screen display data (How Stuff Works). The serializer takes display data from the display mem ory and converts it to a serial bit stream which is sent to the attribute controller. The attribute controller contains the color look up table which determines what color will be displayed for a given pixel value in display memory (PC Tech). The Extended Graphics Array (XGA) came about in 1990. Its resolution in true color is 800x600 pixels, and 1024x768 in 65,536 colors (How Stuff Works). The size of your display is determined by aspect ratio and the screen size. Most displays use an aspect ratio of 4:3 (How Stuff Works). The projection surface of the display is called the screen...

Understanding the Difference Between Race and Ethnicity

Understanding the Difference Between Race and Ethnicity Its common to see the terms race and ethnicity used interchangeably, but, generally speaking, the meanings are distinct. Race is usually seen as biological, referring to the physical characteristics of a person, while ethnicity is viewed as a social science construct that describes a persons cultural identity. Ethnicity can be displayed or hidden, depending on individual preferences, while racial identities are always on display, to a greater or lesser degree. What Is Race? The term race refers to distinct populations within a larger species. Racial characteristics are physical and can range from skin, eye, and hair color to facial structure. Members of different races usually have relatively minor differences in such morphology- a branch of biology dealing with the form and structure of animals and plants- and in genetics. All humans belong to the same species (Homo sapiens) and sub-species (Homo sapiens sapiens), but small genetic variations trigger varying physical appearances. Though humans often are subdivided into races, the actual morphological variations dont indicate major differences in DNA. The DNA of two humans chosen at random generally varies by less than 0.1%. Because racial genetic differences arent strong, some scientists describe all humans as belonging to a single race: the human race. What Is Ethnicity? Ethnicity is the term used for the culture of people in a given geographic region or of people who descended from natives of that region. It includes their language, nationality, heritage, religion, dress, and customs. An Indian-American woman might display her ethnicity by wearing a sari, bindi, and henna hand art, or she could conceal it by wearing Western garb. Being a member of an ethnic group involves following some or all of those cultural practices. Members of an ethnicity tend to identify with each other based on these shared traits. Examples of ethnicity include being labeled as Irish, Jewish, or Cambodian, regardless of race. Ethnicity is considered an anthropological term because it is based on learned behaviors, not biological factors. Many people have mixed cultural backgrounds and can share in more than one ethnicity. Race vs. Ethnicity Race and ethnicity can overlap. For example, a Japanese-American would probably consider herself a member of the Japanese or Asian race, but, if she doesnt engage in any practices or customs of her ancestors, she might not identify with the ethnicity, instead considering herself an American. Another way to look at the difference is to consider people who share the same ethnicity. Two people might identify their ethnicity as American, yet one is black and the other white. A person born of Asian descent growing up in Britain might identify racially as Asian and ethnically as British. When Italian, Irish, and Eastern European immigrants began arriving in the United States, they werent considered part of the white race. This widely accepted view led to restrictions of immigration policies and on the entrance of â€Å"non-white† immigrants. Around the start of the 20th century, people from various regions were considered to be members of sub-categories of the white race, such as â€Å"Alpine† and â€Å"Mediterranean† races. These categories passed out of existence, and people from these groups began to be accepted into the wider â€Å"white† race, though some retained distinction as ethnic groups. The idea of an ethnic group can also be broadened or narrowed. While Italian-Americans are thought of as an ethnic group in the United States, some Italians identify more with their regional origins than their national ones. Rather than view themselves as Italians, they consider themselves Sicilian. Nigerians who recently moved to the U.S. might identify more with their specific group from within Nigeria- Igbo, Yoruba, or Fulani, for example- than their nationality. They might have completely different customs from African-Americans who descended from former slaves and whose families have been in the U.S. for generations. Some researchers believe that the concepts of both race and ethnicity have been socially constructed because their definitions change over time, based on public opinion. The belief that race is due to genetic differences and biological morphologies gave way to racism, the idea of superiority and inferiority based on race, they charge. Persecution based on ethnicity, however, also has been common. Race Trumps Ethnicity New York University sociology professor Dalton Conley spoke to PBS about the difference between race and ethnicity for the program â€Å"Race: The Power of an Illusion†: â€Å"The fundamental difference is that race is socially imposed and hierarchical. There is an inequality built into the system. Furthermore, you have no control over your race; it’s how you’re perceived by others.† Conley, like other sociologists, argues that ethnicity is more fluid and crosses racial lines: â€Å"I have a friend who was born in Korea to Korean parents, but as an infant, she was adopted by an Italian family in Italy. Ethnically, she feels Italian: She eats Italian food, she speaks Italian, she knows Italian history and culture. She knows nothing about Korean history and culture. But when she comes to the United States, she’s treated racially as Asian.† Key Takeaways Differences between race and ethnicity: Race is biological, while ethnicity is cultural.Ethnicity can be displayed or hidden, while race generally cannot be.Ethnicity can be adopted, ignored, or broadened, while racial characteristics cannot.Ethnicity has subcategories, while races no longer do.Both have been used to subjugate or persecute people.Some sociologists believe that racial divisions are based more on sociological concepts than biological principles. Sources: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-race-and-ethnicity.html https://www.diffen.com/difference/Ethnicity_vs_Race https://www.livescience.com/33903-difference-race-ethnicity.html

Death of Stalin and Soviet Succession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Death of Stalin and Soviet Succession - Essay Example Malenkov emphasized on consumer goods production that saw the reduction of the tax payments by the peasants as well as the collective farm policy. Nikita thought also of an agricultural policy and this led him to develop the virgin lands. Nikita forged alliances with other parties to strengthen his position and he forced Malenkov to resign since he was party less. Nikita achieved as the successor of Stalin where he revived the party apparatus and reasserted control over the military, state security, and the state ministers. Kim Donggil account is that the Soviets took way North Korean properties such as food and factories left by the Japanese and the issue led to the Korean War. According to the author, Stalin did not like the presence of China or America in Korea since he had interests in the country. Stalin approved Kim II Sung attack on the Republic of Korea to guarantee Soviet political and economic interests in Korea while avoiding a direct clash with America in the region. Stalin actions were to advance Soviet interests in the sphere of influence to demand postwar strategic plan while avoiding the precipitation of Third World War. Stalin abandoned the pursuit of cooperation while he acted to tighten Soviet control in Eastern Europe. Shen Zhihua declares that Moscow need to know the American military apparatus, weapon stockpiles, troop dispositions, and atomic armaments. Moscow dispatched a Soviet doctor to spy on Mao Tse-tung while treating the Chinese red boss.2 The Soviet planned to collaborate with Korean once they realized that American troops had under strength and poor equipments in the country. Moscow assumed that United States had no chance of sending reinforcements in Korea. To guide a Soviet-Korean operation, Moscow dispatched 10,000 Russian officers and military supplies at Manchuria so that they can observe United States tactics to enable them plan on the enemy combative

Sociology and culture of Chicago Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sociology and culture of Chicago - Essay Example That's why Chicago has the biggest population and median home values throughout the state. In 2000 there were 2,896,016 people living in Chicago. The U.S Census Bureau provides us with the data that says that 42.0% of Chicago dwellers are white, 36.8 % percent of them are Black or African American, the percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native persons is only 0.4%, while there are 4.3% of Asian persons living in Chicago. 26% of Chicago dwellers are persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, and the percentage of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders is 0.1%. 2.9% of people reported two or more races, and 13.6% of the citizens reported some other race. The research conducted by the U.S Census Bureau displayed that the population of Chicago has grown by about 4%, but the Local Information Data Server Website reports that in recent years Chicago's population has been declining at an annual rate of less than one percent. The quantity of children under five years old was about 7.5% in Chicago in 2000, while the quantity of young people under eighteen, equaled 26.2%. 10.3% of the Chicago dwellers were sixty five years old and over at the time when the research was conducted. There were 51.5% of females dwelling in Chicago in 2000, and 48.5% percent of male dwellers. 21.7% of those, who lived in Chicago in 2000 we... In 1999 Median household income equaled $38,625, and the per capita money income was $20,175. 19.6% of Chicago dwellers lived below the poverty threshold in 1999. Like most big cities, Chicago has to deal with the problem of poverty within it. Of course, there are some people in the city that can't or don't want to work, but most of Chicago dwellers work hard to earn their living. The thing is that working very hard is often not enough to ensure the proper level of life for yourself or your family. Like all of the American huge cities, Chicago has to face the problem of the working poor. A new class of poor people appeared in the USA, those who can not provide themselves with the things needed for the decent living in spite of the amount of time and effort they spend. Those are home health care aides, call-center operators, child care workers, security guards, receptionists, food processors, gardeners, data-entry clerks, waiters and cleaners. If all of those low-waged workers stopped working at once, the countries social, economical and industrial life would be paralyzed. Low wages aren't the only problem of the working poor. Most of them are not socially secure. Of course this state of things influences their physical and psychological condition badly. The poor often cannot afford to buy a proper food and clothing for themselves and their children, or they have to choose between having a supper and paying the water and electricity bills. Most of them don't have any medical insurance, and those who have it wish they didn't, because it takes the considerable share of their earnings. Low-wage workers often experience problems finding the accommodation and paying for it, as the rent is too high for them. They are often

Interpreting the First Amendment of the Constitution Essay Example for Free

Interpreting the First Amendment of the Constitution Essay The notion of being free to choose whatever religion a citizen wants to posses is notoriously known to be a liberty dictated by the first amendment. â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,† (A-18 Brinkley) are the famous words of the constitution. Yet, this same law also states that the legislative branch of the U. S. government does not have the authority to favor one religion over the other. In fact, it dictates that the government must remain secular when it comes to the affairs of religion as it cannot respect any one particular religion over another. Thus, there can never be a national religion, an American version of the Anglican Church, as it would hinder the government from preserving the freedom to choose between religions. The other liberties guaranteed by this amendment were the rights of speech, the press, â€Å"or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (A-18 Brinkley). These are all liberties that allow for the citizens of the nation to protest the government. Civilians can protest through their speech, which may hold accusatory claims against the government, in public areas. Americans are allowed the right to publish grievances in the press, free of censorship from a legislative body, as well. These are liberties that allow for organizations to spread information and knowledge over any form of tyranny they may feel the government bestows onto the population. These are also lubricating actions that more easily allow for assemblies to form and confront the government over such issues. Really, the amendment is a formula for allowing the civilian populous to restrain the authority of the government.

Procrastination :: Personal Narrative Essays

Procrastination It is Monday morning and I have slept in, thanks to Thanksgiving. In fact, it's twelve o'clock and I am free for the afternoon. As usual, I sit in front of the television after I clean myself up, staring endlessly at the screen with my finger clicking on the remote. I realize that I have a draft due on Thursday, but I justify my procrastination with reasons like: "there is still lots of time." Life is faster now, and people in the 00's are supposed to organize and plan in order to keep up; however, it seems to me that more people are procrastinating than ever before. When I ask people why they procrastinate, they often supply reasons like: this task won't take me a long time; the pressure makes me to work more efficiently; there were emergencies; and there were other important things. Some of these reasons sounds legitimate, but I think these reasons are just excuses for people's fear of failure, fear of lost security, and need for pressure. Back high school, I had a friend, Eric, who dropped out of school because of bad grades. As his friend, I knew he was doing fine until the period of final exams. He was a smart and responsible person which laziness is not a factor of his bad grades. Eric could not pick up the books soon enough before the exam because he was afraid of failure. Since Eric's older brothers had achieved excellence academic records and great careers, Eric' parents expected him to follow his brothers' foot step. As the result, Eric was afraid to try because he feared to fail his parents' expectation. When he realized the problem, it was too late. It is two o'clock in the morning. The computer is on, the coffee maker is cooking, and I am under a lot of stress. "There isn't a lot of time left," I keep telling my self as I watch the blank piece of paper in front of me. "I know I can do it," I keep encouraging my self while my mind generates zero ideas for my essay: which is due six hours from now. Everyone I know procrastinates, my friends, relatives, even people in government. Back in Taipei, the Mayor, Mayor Chen, delayed getting rid of gangs in the city. "I am going to issue a policy that will eventually stop gangs from spreading in our community," promised Mayor Chen of Taipei during his election campaign. Mayor Chen won the election, but he didn*t do anything about the gangs Procrastination :: Personal Narrative Essays Procrastination It is Monday morning and I have slept in, thanks to Thanksgiving. In fact, it's twelve o'clock and I am free for the afternoon. As usual, I sit in front of the television after I clean myself up, staring endlessly at the screen with my finger clicking on the remote. I realize that I have a draft due on Thursday, but I justify my procrastination with reasons like: "there is still lots of time." Life is faster now, and people in the 00's are supposed to organize and plan in order to keep up; however, it seems to me that more people are procrastinating than ever before. When I ask people why they procrastinate, they often supply reasons like: this task won't take me a long time; the pressure makes me to work more efficiently; there were emergencies; and there were other important things. Some of these reasons sounds legitimate, but I think these reasons are just excuses for people's fear of failure, fear of lost security, and need for pressure. Back high school, I had a friend, Eric, who dropped out of school because of bad grades. As his friend, I knew he was doing fine until the period of final exams. He was a smart and responsible person which laziness is not a factor of his bad grades. Eric could not pick up the books soon enough before the exam because he was afraid of failure. Since Eric's older brothers had achieved excellence academic records and great careers, Eric' parents expected him to follow his brothers' foot step. As the result, Eric was afraid to try because he feared to fail his parents' expectation. When he realized the problem, it was too late. It is two o'clock in the morning. The computer is on, the coffee maker is cooking, and I am under a lot of stress. "There isn't a lot of time left," I keep telling my self as I watch the blank piece of paper in front of me. "I know I can do it," I keep encouraging my self while my mind generates zero ideas for my essay: which is due six hours from now. Everyone I know procrastinates, my friends, relatives, even people in government. Back in Taipei, the Mayor, Mayor Chen, delayed getting rid of gangs in the city. "I am going to issue a policy that will eventually stop gangs from spreading in our community," promised Mayor Chen of Taipei during his election campaign. Mayor Chen won the election, but he didn*t do anything about the gangs

Romeo and Juliet Tragic Hero Essay

William Shakespeare is an English poet and play right. His plays mainly consisted of comedies, history, and tragedies. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare. For a play to be a tragedy there must be a tragic hero. In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic. In this play there are two tragic heroes. Romeo and Juliet are both the tragic heroes. To be a tragic hero they must be from a high estate, have a tragic flaw, and the tragic flaw is the cause of their downfall.A tragic hero must be from a high estate or well- known family. For a family to be of a high status means to be a well- known family of wealth. Both Romeo and Juliet are from high estates. Juliet is a Capulet a well- known family but not as high status as the Montagues. Romeo is a Montague a family of higher status than the Capulets. You know Romeo is of high status when it is said by Benvolio in Act 1, Scene 1, in Line 141: ‘†My noble uncle. â€Å"’ As mentioned in the prologue both families successful merchants, large houses, and many servants.Both of these families are of high estate and well- known by the people of Verona. Tragic heroes must also have a tragic flaw to them. Both tragic heroes have a tragic flaw. Romeo’s tragic flaw is that he does not think before he does something. He rushed to kill himself as soon as he believed that Juliet was dead. ‘†For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. â€Å"’ -Said by Romeo in Act I, Scene V, in Line 52. The audience can quickly identify Romeo's flaw of falling in love too quickly and deeply when he forgets about his feelings for Rosaline and concentrates on Juliet.Juliet too realizes that Romeo's love for her was too fast when she said: ‘†It is too rash; too undvis'd, too sudden. â€Å"’ (Act II, Scene II, Lines 117-118). Juliet’s tragic flaw is that she i s too loyal to Romeo. When she wakes up she sees that Romeo has poisoned himself, so she kills herself with his dagger. ‘† I will kiss thy lips, haply some poison yet doth hang on them to me die with a restorative. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Said by Juliet in Act IV, Scene III, in Line 165- 167. Most tragic flaws are usually the cause of a characters downfall. Romeo’s tragic flaw was cause of his downfall.His tragic flaw was that he did not think before acted. He heard that Juliet was dead so he went and got some poison and drank it when he saw Juliet; thinking she was dead. While he is dying she had awaken and then he realizes he made a fatal mistake. Juliet’ tragic flaw was also a cause of her downfall. Her loyalty for Romeo drives her to suicide when she awakes and sees that Romeo is dying because of the poison he drank; she takes his dagger and stabs herself. As she stabs herself she says ‘† This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die. †Ã¢â‚¬â „¢ (Act V, Scene III, Line 170).Romeo and Juliet both let their tragic flaws cause their downfall. To be a tragic hero you must be from a high estate, have a tragic flaw, and the tragic flaw is the cause of your downfall. Romeo and Juliet are both part of high estate. Romeo’s family being of higher status. Both Romeo and Juliet have tragic flaws. Romeo’s tragic flaw being that he does not think before he does something. Romeo falls in love with Juliet upon meeting her therefore he did not think about it and just fell for her. Juliet’s tragic flaw was that she is too loyal to Romeo.She takes her life away because Romeo killed himself for her so she kills herself. Romeo and Juliet both let their tragic flaw be the cause of their down fall. Romeo let his tragic flaw of not thinking before acting; kill himself before he realizes that Juliet is not dead. Juliet let her tragic flaw of being too loyal to Romeo and seeing that he is dead she commits suicide and stabs he rself with Romeo’s Dagger. Both Romeo and Juliet portray all the characteristics of being a tragic hero in the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

A Psychoanalytical Approach to the Awakening

The psychoanalytic approach understands us from the point of view of our unconscious and early childhood experiences. The approach is based on Freud’s belief that that there is a structure of the mind that includes the id, the superego and the ego. The plot of The Awakening, revolves around Edna Pontellier and the awakening of her unconscious sexuality, the need for love and her desire of independence. Edna and her family go to a resort to spend their summer.Edna’s husband, Leonce, adores his wife but considers her to be neglectful as a wife and a mother. â€Å"He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. † (Chopin, 2005, Chapter 3, para. 6). At the resort she meets Robert, the owner’s son, and realizes that she can no longer pretend that she is happy with her husband and her children. This unconscious realization is triggered by the sight of the ocean one day. The sight made Edna think of simpler times when she believ ed that she could attain anything.Edna reminisced how about how looking at the ocean reminded her of when she was a teenager and would walk through a meadow that â€Å"seemed as big as the ocean,† (Chopin, 2005, Chapter 7, para. 15). She confided in Madam Ratignolle that â€Å"sometimes I feel this summer as if I were walking through the green meadow again; idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided. † (Chopin, 2005, Chapter 7, para. 20) I believe this was her first unconscious realization that she missed not having the responsibilities of being a wife and a mother.Later in the story, the sea becomes a symbol of empowerment. â€Å"As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself. † (Chopin, 205, Chapter 10, para. 10). It was after learning to swim that Edna began to stand up for herself, such as she did when Leonce demanded that she go into the house that evening and she refused. She recalled that in the past she had always succ umbed to his demands without a thought. This was no longer the case with her. Finally, Edna chose to end her life in the ocean.The thought of not being able to have Robert had pushed her to the edge. She also could not bear the thought of forgetting about Robert in the same way that she had forgotten the gentleman that she had crossed the meadow for so many years ago. As she swam out into the water, she was â€Å"thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she had traversed when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end. † (Chopin, 2005, Chapter 39, para. 28) References Chopin, K. (2005). The Awakening. Vitalsource Digital Version. Raleigh, NC: Hayes Barton Press.

The Odyssey Essays - Mythology, Greek Mythology, Religion

The Odyssey Essays - Mythology, Greek Mythology, Religion The Odyssey The Odyssey The great muses are called upon by Homer to tell the great adventure of Odysseus in his travel back to his home. Prayers are given to the Greek Gods and muses by Homer in order to proceed this story. The Greeks life revolved around the gods in a matter of fashion as we presently revolve around Christianity. The depiction of the roles the gods played in the Odyssey is both presented in good and evil. The Greeks portrayed their gods as powerful and merciful. However in the Odyssey the gods play a role in a savior like Jesus Christ and the tormentor like Satan. With the present role in the story of Odyssey the gods can be seen as a key role in Odysseus life. Odysseus alone cannot have escaped the treacherous Trojan War without the aid of the gods. However can it be reconcile that the gods were truly the ones who controlled our lives? In Odysseuss case the gods played a vital role. Throughout the entire story Athena was the crutch Odysseus and his family leaned on in the time of aid. Through the treacherous paths Odysseus traveled it was hope of seeing Penelope and his son Telemachus that brought him strength and wisdom. With the loves one left behind Odysseus fearlessly face the gods and tramples over their challenges. Without the help of Athena and her wisdom and devotion to Odysseus his challenges would be help with no boundaries. With Athena on Odysseus side, he was able to return home without any harms done to him or his family. With the gods in favor of Odysseus return all he had to fight was the challenges Poseidon threw at him. With the water being the only road back to his home this challenge was fare more difficult then the Troj an War itself. With the guidance of Athena Odysseus was safely returned to Ithica. Even though Athena played a key role in Odysseus life she was still unable to protect him from the challenges he faced with Poseidon, Calypso, and Helios. The gods can be seen as Odysseuss sub-conscience. Athena being Odysseuss wisdom, Helios the jealousy hidden in our curiosity, Calypso the temptation we face, and Poseidon the challenges in life we face everyday. These main Gods played a key role in Odysseuss life. Poseidon tormented blinded Polyphemus. Poseidon would have never tormented Odysseus if only he kept his boastful self-quiet. A lesson in life learned by Odysseus to keep him self- humble at all times. Odysseus faced other challenges that slowed his journey towards home seem longer. Calypso who kept Odysseus on her island for seven years offered him the impossible. Odysseus with his wife in mind declined the gift for a passage towards home. With temptation and challenges that blockaded Odysseus journey hom e. However Odysseus and his deceased crew could of made it home safely if it wasnt for the curiosity and jealousy of the crew to open the bag of wind and their evil temptation to kill and eat Helios cows. The gods playing minor roles it was human nature that brought the crewmembers to their doom and slowed Odysseus down from returning home. Homer portrayed human nature with the gods and goddesses. We are our own enemy. We are the ones who lay the path in our life and destination. However there are bumps in the word that slow us down and break us down. With hope we resist temptation and fight evil off. The gods in the Odyssey portrayed the good and evil in human nature. Odysseus being the hero of the Odyssey resisted and learned valuable lessons in life on his adventure back home.

Abraham  Lincoln  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the  statesman  of  the  USA,  one of the founders of the Republican Party, the 16th US president who freed the slaves, the national American hero – was born in village Hodgenville (Kentucky) on February 12, 1809. Due to the fact that he was born in a family of farmer with meager income, Abraham was unable to get a good education, he went to school for no more than a year and, from an early age, got used to the physical work. At the age of eight with his parents the boy moved to a district in the state of Indiana, where was no closer schools. Nevertheless, little Lincoln learned to read and write and was very fond of reading.For  him  itbecame  a  helper  in  a  zealous  self-education  and  favouritepastime  forever. The young Lincoln had a chance to try a variety of occupations – laborer, carpenter, postman, and woodsman. In 1830 their family moved to New Salem (Illinois), and Abraham worked as a surveyor, a clerk in a small commercial shop. During the Indian War of â€Å"Black Falcons† Lincoln went to volunteer in the militia, as Indians at one time killed his grandparents (paternal). He was chosen as a captain, but he did not serve for a long time and did not have a chance to take a part in battles. Working during the years of 1833-1836 as a postmaster, Lincoln simultaneously was studying law. He has passed an exam and in 1836 received permission to practice law, which he was engaged in the further years. In this field he succeeded and became one of the best lawyers in the state, at one time, he even worked for the railroad â€Å"Illinois Central† as a consultant. Qualities of wit, integrity, honesty contributed to his confident professional growth and strengthening of the authority. The political biography of Lincoln began in the early 30s with an unsuccessful attempt to take a seat in the State of the House of Representatives. However, in 1835 young Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Illinois, where he adjacent to the Whig party. Until 1842, he was a Chairman of the Finance Committee and one of the most known persons in their party. The next step in his political career was the election in 1847 to the US Congress. Lincoln fought for the expansion of political and civil rights of the broad masses of the population, for ensuring that women got the right to vote. Fighting with the slavery, the politician advocated the stop of the spread of slavery throughout the country. In 1854, Lincoln acted as one of the organizers of the Republican Party. In 1858, he became a candidate for the US Senate, but could not win the election. The end of the 50-th of the 19-th century was a turning point in Lincoln’s life. Actively participating in political disputes, he gained widespread popularity in the country. Giving speeches in different parts of the country, Lincoln showed himself as an intelligent and cautious politician. He did not support the request of the abolition of slavery and sought to prevent civil war by all means. At the meeting of the Republican Party in Chicago, Lincoln was nominated for president. Then, the tough struggle with candidates of Democratic Party, who supported the slaveholders of the South, began. Get high quality custom written essay just for $10 In 1860, Lincoln was elected for US President, he was at the head of country from March,1861 untill April,1865. South responded to his appointment by the separation, despite the fact that the new president had a moderate position against slavery ; the Civil War (1861-1865) has started in the country. Adopted in May 1862 the so-called homestead acts, granting US citizens land plots, has become a powerful blow to the slave system and helped to solve the agrarian question. December 30, 1862 the president signed the â€Å"Emancipation Proclamation†, thanks to which from the yoke of slavery 4 million man was released. In 1863, government troops have won big, turning victory, which allowed to finally break the resistance of the South and to restore the unity of the nation. In 1864, Lincoln’s re-election for a second term was held, even though he doubted the correctness of the decision to run his candidacy again, moreover, some political forces opposed this as well. In April 14, 1865 Lincoln, who was in Washington at Ford’s Theater on the play, was wounded: he got shot by the actor John W. Booth, a supporter of the Confederate slave-owners. Without regaining consciousness, in the morning of April 15th, Lincoln died and became the first killed US president. During his innings he was constantly exposed to harsh critical attacks, however, as the results of opinion polls, Lincoln is still ranked among the most beloved by people and the best, as well as intelligent, in his opinion, the country’s presidents. Death of Abraham LÃ'â€"nkoln literally shocked the whole World. An endless stream of people went to the White House to say goodbye to the man who led the country through the hardest crisis by uniting the supporters of the unity of the country and the abolition of slavery. Retaining the united country, the United States could eventually become a leading power in the world. In assessing the merits of Lincoln, the great Russian writer LTolstoy said: â€Å"He was the same as Beethoven was in music, Dante in poetry, Raphael in painting, Christ in the philosophy of life.† Rely on professional writers with your college paper and take a load off your mind. Relax while we are working on your essay. Your peace of mind is just one click away

Bilingual Education, Oil, and the Navajo Nation Research Paper

Bilingual Education, Oil, and the Navajo Nation - Research Paper Example Bilingual education is a form of education where information is presented to learners in two or more distinct languages. In the United States, though English has not been endorsed as the official national language, most schools if not all in the U.S.A use English in the teaching of schools not considering that America is also comprised of other various native languages that may get extinct as a result of only using English in teaching in schools (Romaine, 1995). Discussion The state of Arizona has in the resent past been the subject of discussion in matters relating to bilingualism in education since it is majorly populated by the people of the Navajo nation who have and would like to use their language in the education of their children. The people of Navajo who speak Athabaskan have been objecting the education of their children in English since this has saw the steady decline in the number of people who speak Athabaskan. The state of Arizona has since developed a proposition 203, which is an initiative that illegalizes the use of native language in instruction of learners who have a limited a proficiency in English in public schools. The proposition has also made sure that the new law is implemented to the latter by micromanagement of schools using the electoral process to implement the English only policy in public schools (Favela, 2008). In the recent discovery of oil in the territory that had been assigned to the Navajo, they might as well scrap this law off since they only demand for bilingual instruction in the education of public schools surrounding their nation. U.S.A has no territorial rights in the Navajo territory as this area is private property and belongs entirely to the nation of Navajo. The scraping off of this newly implemented law is likely due to the fact that the nation of U.S.A is really in great need of locating more energy resources within its borders; the prospect of a major onshore oil field in Arizona is very significant. As your leg al adviser, I have devised several policies that you would choose if you see fit to present to the council of the Navajo representatives to assess whether they would be swayed to consider their hard-line stand in regard to the reintroduction of bilingua

Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Criminal Justice - Essay Example Recent studies have revealed however, that the law did not only fail to meet its purposes but it has, at times, became a tool of injustice. The idea of a Three Strikes Law became compelling in the early 1990s because of the proliferation of serious crimes and several widely publicized cases. The cases of Polly Klass, a 23-year old girl, who was abducted and murdered in California and Diane Ballasiotes, a Washington resident who was raped and murdered served as catalysts to the adoption of the law. In both cases, the culprits were parolees. Thus, in 1993, Washington adopted the Three-Strikes Law and a year later California passed and ratified theirs. The fundamental feature of this law is that it increases the penalty of convicted offenders on their third conviction (Samaha 2005 p. 376). To date, thirty-six states, in addition to the earlier two, have three-strike laws (Other States 2002). In 2002, the Justice Policy Institute conducted a research on the impact of the law. The study which covers the period from 1993-2002 shows that California had imposed the law four times the number of those of the other striking states, combined. Yet, as shown on Table 1, there is not much significance in the change of crime rates between striking and non-striking states (Schiraldi et al pp 9, 13-16). The study also compared the crime rate decline in California and the state of New York, a non-striking state, in the same given period. Surprisingly, New York outperformed California both in Index Crime Rate and Violent Crime Rate decline, as shown in Table 2 (Schiraldi p 10). The Criminal Defense Clinic of the Stanford Law School recently reviewed cases of incarcerated offenders under California’s Three Strikes Law (Three Strikes Sanity 2009). To date, four offenders have been freed after judges were persuaded to take a second look at their cases. Most of these convicts had prior convictions in drug and theft, as well

Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Movement - Essay Example In my opinion, the human brain is quite a powerful organ for it normally plays a major role when it comes to the issue of sight because whereas it is capable of making the visible become invisible, it can also do the vice versa. In this study besides addressing the aspect of visual illusions, it also analyses the issue of movement, this is by relaying information on whether movement is actual or is it just an illusion. Illusions normally come when one tends to perceive something is in a form different from the actual form (Conway et al.). Illusions are of different types, in the case of movement, optical illusion is an illusion related to sight. During the occurrence of an optical illusion, a number of brain regions are involved in accordance with aspects like shape and color. Studies contend the most common form of optical illusion is that of movement especially when objects appear to be in motion but it is the contrary in reality. For instance, when in a film theatre, one normally has the perception that he or she is watching a motion picture though studies prove this is not the case. Films are not motion pictures but rather comprise of thousands of still pictures shown in series and in so doing make the viewer have the perception that they are moving (Carrol & Choi 287). I think this perception is true, whereby a motion comes because of static repeated patterns. Mainly, this comes due to the in voluntary eye movements such as blinking, normally triggered by the brain intentionally in a move to create a shortcut, hence not showing some of the information. Studies show that eyeballs of humans are normally in constant vibration, which is imperceptible. However, when one sees an object, neurons end up emitting negative signals stronger compared to the positive ones (Llg & Guillaume 19). This is due to the optical illusions that take place. Optical illusion, also known as illusionary motion is a situation whereby static

MIM and the Rise of Muslim Identity Politics

MIM and the Rise of Muslim Identity Politics Akshay Shetty The 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections were perhaps one of the most interesting electoral experiments in recent history. The 15 year old Congress-NCP alliance and the 25 year old Shiv Sena-BJP alliance came to an end and the four parties contested elections on their own. While the results of the elections didnt come as a surprise to any of the four parties, the success of one party has attracted massive media attention, albeit alarmist. Making its debut in Maharashtra, the Hyderabad based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) won 2 seats in the 288-member assembly, grabbing a 0.9% share of votes. Waris Pathan won the Byculla assembly seat by a narrow margin of 1,357 votes, beating rivals Madhu Chavan of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Geeta Gawli of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS). However, MIM sprung a major surprise in the Aurangabad Central seat, where its candidate, former NDTV journalist Imtiaz Jaleel defeated sitting Shiv Sena MLA Pradeep Jaiswal by 19,982 votes. It also lost three seats by a narrow margin and finished third in nine constituencies. Overall, MIM polled over 5.13 lakh votes, even though it fielded, in many cases, political novices. The party also cut into the traditional vote banks of the Congress, the NCP and managed to wrest control of some areas where the BJP was believed to be strong. Buoyed by the victory, MIM president Asaduddin Owasi is planning to expand the party base in the state. The MIM has decided to contest all municipal elections in the state, including the BMC election in 2017 and the Aurangabad municipal election in 2015. It already has 13 corporators in the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation. Plans are also afoot to expand in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka. The MIM’s victory can be attributed to two main factors, the division of votes in other parties and the polarization of the Muslim votes. With the BJP led by Narendra Modi sweeping to victory after winning elections across India, the delicate balance between the country’s religious and ethnic minorities, and especially its Muslims, and the majority Hindu population is shifting. MIM fed off the growing feeling of political disempowerment among Muslims and the disenchantment with the Congress, a party which traditionally received the bulk of the Muslim vote. The vitriolic speeches of the Owaisi brothers, with fervent appeals to Allah and claims of Muslim victimhood contributed to the polarization. Clips of Akbaruddin Owaisi were widely circulated on WhatsApp, and the Muslim youth who are wary of the hysteria surrounding Narendra Modi were attracted to them (Lokhande, 2014). Thus the MIM’s victory is a combined result of Muslims being fed up of the token secularism of the Congress and the indifference and alienation by the BJP. India’s Muslims are at crossroads today. Before delving into the politics of the MIM, it is important to understand the state of India’s largest minority community. India’s Muslims Muslims make up about 14.4 percent of India’s total population. However, according to a 2013 report by the Pew Research Center, the country maintains â€Å"the world’s second-largest Muslim population in raw numbers (roughly 176 million).†Often referred to as â€Å"the lost children of India’s partition† (Gayer Jaffrelot, 2012), Muslims who chose to stay in India have struggled to keep pace with the majority community. The Sachar Commission report (2006), ordered by the then prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh showed Muslims to be stuck at the bottom of almost every economic or social indicator. They were poorly represented in public sector jobs, school and university places politics. Low literacy levels and low fertility were other major findings. India’s Muslims tend to be excluded from 3 sites of power within the state machinery: the judiciary, the administration and the police. In 2002, they represented only 6.26% of the 479 High Court judges in India, 2.95% of the 5,018 Indian Administrative Service officers and 4.02% of the 3,236 IPS officers. By contrast, according to a report in the Times of India, nearly 20% of India’s prisoners were Muslims. Experts believe that this trend is not because Muslims commit more crimes. Rather, it’s a product of economic and social deprivation. With no money for litigation and for getting bail, they end up languishing in jails for years. There have been several instances of false cases slapped against Muslims, especially after terror attacks and riots. Closer home, the Mahmoodur Rahman Committee appointed in 2008 by the Maharashtra government revealed the shocking social, economic and educational condition of Muslims in the state. Maharashtra has witnessed the highest number of Hindu-Muslim riots post-Independence. This has led to ghettoisation which has further contributed to their neglect. About 45% of Muslim households have a per capita income of less than Rs. 500 a month. About 58 % of urban Muslims live in slums. Muslims constitute only 8.1% of the state’s farmers, 44.4% of rural Muslims work as agricultural labourers, compared to 36.1% of Hindus. Only 4.4 % of Maharashtra’s Muslims work in the government services. In 2012, there was not a single Muslim in the entire cadre of the Indian Administrative Services. The committee also found that in the urban areas, bus stops are located at a 1.3 km distance from Muslim areas. Fearing a backlash from the state’s Muslims and the media, the government never tabled the report in the Assembly, though it was submitted in 2013. The above statistics paint a grim picture. However, this doesn’t suggest that Muslims haven’t progressed in independent India. In addition to being appointed to a number of top positions, Muslims in India â€Å"enjoy complete political and religious liberty, a free legislative environment to undertake economic and educational initiatives, a vibrant television media and cinema that teach liberal coexistence, and access to a vast number of universities and institutes of modern education† (Ahmad, 2014). However, the benefits of a democratic, secular and pluralistic polity haven’t trickled to the vast majority of the country’s Muslims. One of the main reasons for this has been their poor representation in our elective bodies. Muslim representation With every election, the position of Muslims has deteriorated. Muslims representation in the 16th Lok Sabha hit an all-time low of 22. For the first time in the history of Lok Sabha, not a single Muslim got elected from Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populated and electorally decisive state. Maharashtra’s Muslims too have been affected by the growing communal schism generated during the 1990’s. The number of Muslim MLAs in the recently elected Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has dropped to an abysmal nine. The state’s five main political parties put up only 45 Muslim candidates in the election. Out of the nine MLAs, eight have been elected from Muslim-dominated constituencies. Votes polled by Muslim candidates have been steadily falling since 1990. In 2009, while a non-Muslim candidate polled an average of 13,766 votes, a Muslim candidate attracted only 4,453 votes. This is the reason why most parties refuse tickets to Muslim candidates. No political party dares to put up a Muslim candidate unless the constituency has a substantial Muslim population. Even the avowed secular parties continue to succumb to communal consideration in the selection of their candidates. While it is not necessary that Muslims should be represented only by their co-religionists, electorally ignoring an important group is not good for the health of a nation. Representation gives a community a sense of belonging. Further, representation of multiple identities is the essence of modern democracy. During the first five decades after independence, the vast majority of Indian Muslims saw in the Congress their natural protector, for its commitment to secularism. However after the demise of Jawaharlal Nehru, the pluralism of the Congress soon started changing. Muslims’ faith in the Congress started eroding with the escalation of anti-Muslim violence and the political, social and economic marginalization of the community, sometimes at the hands of the Congress itself (such as during the Emergency). The party started milking the community for electoral gains, by conceding religious and cultural space to the Deobandi Ulemas. Banning Salman Rushdie’s novel Satanic Verses, overturning the Shah Bano judgment were among several of the party’s tropes which contributed to the disenchantment of moderate Muslims from the Congress. Muslim Identity Politics Despite the love lost with the Congress and other ‘secular’ parties, Indian Muslims have generally been reluctant to form their own political parties. However, in the last decade or so, a number of Muslim dominated political parties have emerged in India. The Peace Party was founded in Uttar Pradesh in 2008 by Mohamed Ayub. It won four seats in the 2012 Assembly elections and expanded its base in a number of states. The Kerala-based Indian Union Muslim League enjoys considerable popularity in the state. Maulana Badruddin Ajmal formed the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam after falling out with Congress leader Tarun Gogoi in Assam. It is now the main opposition party in the state. Other Muslim identity based parties include the Parcham Party, Rashtriya Ulama Council and Welfare Party. However, none of these parties could achieve any substantial success. The MIM and its history It is in this context that the rise of MIM in Maharashtra should be seen. The MIM was formally founded in 1927 â€Å"for educational and social uplift of Muslims†, however it first arose as a proto-Islamist movement to defend the Nizam’s autocracy through an armed militia called the Razakars. They unleashed brutal violence against Hindus, the communists and all those wished to merge Hyderabad with independent India. In 1948, the Indian government sent in the army to overpower the Razakars, an operation that left several thousands dead. Hyderabad was annexed to India and Kasim Rizvi, the Majlis leader was imprisoned and the organization banned. Rizvi was released about a decade later only on the condition that he would leave for Pakistan in 48 hours. Before leaving, Rizvi handed over the reins to Abdul Wahed Owaisi, the grandfather of Asaduduin Owaisi. Owaisi re-drafted the Majlis constitution in keeping with the provisions of the Indian Constitution and heralded a new age in the party’s history. Though MIM remained on the margins of Hyderabad’s politics for about fifteen years, the situation soon started changing in the 1970s. Under the new president Salahuddin Owaisi, the party made great inroads in the city. Votes polled by Majlis in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat rose from 58,000 in 1962 to over four lakhs in 1989. It also set up a number of educational institutions for Muslims in the city. Thus, a party that was a part of the Razakars has found acceptance in the very city that had celebrated its ouster. The mainstream media has reacted to MIM’s victory in Maharashtra with a sense of paranoia. There are fears that the party could accentuate communal differences in the state. Moderate Muslims accuse the MIM of milking the sufferings of Muslims, while not doing anything for the community’s development. Party MP Akbaruddin Owaisi is known for his vitriolic hate speeches instigating Muslims to stand up against Hindu violence. MIM’s politics represent a reactionary agenda that seeks to counter the violent communal politics of the right-wing Hindu parties. On the other hand, Muslims are also hopeful about the MIM as they feel it can better represent the community’s interests. MIM’s rise represents the failure of all ‘secular’ parties in checking atrocities against India’s minorities and preventing majoritarianism. Muslim youth who fail to see themselves as a part of the youth Narendra Modi keeps gloating about are attracted to the MIM and its aspirational politics which largely involves invoking a false pride of the â€Å"glorious history of Muslim rulers†. However, the same youth need to realize that the MIM has done nothing to defend the human rights of young Muslims who are falsely accused of being terrorists and who end up spending years in jails. MIM has never spoken out against radicals within the community; neither has it done anything to empower Muslim women. It wouldn’t be long before India’s Muslims see through the farce that the MIM represents and the process of disillusionment sets in. Problems with identity politics The deeply problematic nature of MIM’s politics still doesn’t justify the media’s sustained and critical coverage of its victory in Maharashtra. Identity politics is not a new phenomenon. India’s ruling party BJP has its roots in Hindu nationalism, the Akali Dal was formed to give a political voice to Sikh issues, the RPI and its more than 50 factions claim to represent Dalits. The UP-based Apna Dal enjoys a following among the Kurmi caste. The Shiv Sena and now the MNS have, from time to time, raised the bogie of the Marathi manoos for electoral gains. The media’s hypocrisy while reporting about these parties needs to be called out. Muslim identity politics is as dangerous as the identity politics of any other community. According to Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, â€Å"Identity politics can be oppressive, hegemonic and exclusionary to strengthen hierarchies and hierarchical structures, to defend the privileges of the social, political and economic elite.† It is part of a larger trend of a greater assertiveness of identity in India. To counter this, it is important to strengthen the county’s secular and pluralistic ideals. Conclusion So what does that leave India’s Muslims with? They don’t need parties which essentialize their identity. Voting en bloc for hegemonic identity based parties isn’t going to yield any dividends. All they need is democratic representation of their interests. They need parties and candidates that stand for the values of equality, liberty and justice. MS Sathyu’s iconic film Garm Hava is perhaps the best film made on India’s partition. It shows Balraj Sahni’s family members leave for Pakistan, one after another, because of the increasing discrimination faced by them. In the end, Sahni and his son, Farooq Sheikh too decide to leave the country. On their way to the railway station, they come across a protest march by angry youth demanding jobs. Sheikh and, eventually, Sahni too join the march, thereby deciding to survive and succeed in his own homeland. An Urdu poem by Kaifi Azmi is heard in a voice-over as we see Sahni joining the protesters: â€Å"Jo door se toofan ka karte hain nazaara, unke liye toofan vahaan bhi hai yahan bhi, Dhaare mein jo mil jaaoge, ban jaaoge dhara, Ye vaqt ka elaan vahan bhi hai yahan bhi.† The scene is a poignant reminder for India’s Muslims that their future depends on engaging with politics of social justice and security rather than falling prey to leaders stoking their insecurities. Bibliography: Ahmad, T. (2014). Democracy and Indian Muslims. Daily Times. Retrieved 29 November 2014, from http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/16-Mar-2013/comment-democracy-and-indian-muslims-tufail-ahmad Ananth, V., Gadgil, M. (2014). Religious polarization helps AIMIM debut in Maharashtra. Mint. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://www.livemint.com/Politics/FxsUExgM2i03mSOH6w3RmO/Religious-polarization-helps-AIMIM-debut-in-Maharashtra.html?utm_source=ref_article Ashraf, A. (2014). Hidden history of the Owaisis. Firstpost. Retrieved 28 November 2014, from http://www.firstpost.com/politics/hidden-history-owaisis-aimim-doesnt-want-know-1817267.html Bagri, N. (2014). Indian Muslims Lose Hope in National Secular Party. The New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/world/asia/indian-muslims-lose-hope-in-national-secular-party.html?_r=1 Engineer, I. (2014). Political Mobilisation of Muslims in India Changing Pattern. Secular Perspective, XVII (21). Gayer, L., Jaffrelot, C. (2012). Muslims in Indian cities. New Delhi: HarperCollins India. Ghosh, S. (1987). Muslim politics in India. New Delhi: Ashish Pub. House. Lokhande, D. (2014). Why we should be concerned about MIM victories in Maharashtra. DNA. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-why-we-should-be-concerned-about-mim-victories-in-maharashtra-2027543 Noorani, A. (2003). The Muslims of India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Rahman, M. (2013). The Condition of Muslims in Maharashtra. Mumbai. Sachar, R. (2006). Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India. New Delhi. Shaikh, Z. (2014). Force behind MIM. The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/force-behind-mim/99/ Sharma, S. (2014). Behind the victory of a Muslim party in Maharashtra, the gamble of a journalist. Scroll. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://scroll.in/article/685327/Behind-the-victory-of-a-Muslim-party-in-Maharashtra,-the-gamble-of-a-journalist Shukla, A. (2014). Maharashtra polls: Opinions among Muslims on AIMIM pitch vary. DNA. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maharashtra-polls-opinions-among-muslims-on-aimim-pitch-vary-2018458 The Hindu : Holding them captive?. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2003/04/27/stories/2003042700081500.htm Zakaria, R. (1995). The widening divide. New Delhi: New York, N.Y.

Elements of Relationship in D.H. Lawrences Works Essay -- D.H. Lawren

After spending a semester experiencing and analyzing the work of D.H. Lawrence, it has become obvious that he had several messages to convey to his audience. Through his characters, Lawrence commented on the condition of England, on social issues, and also on relationships. In his novels Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, Lawrence reveals three important aspects of relationships, and shows his audience the devastating results when one or more of those aspects are missing. When it comes to intellectual, spiritual and sexual connections, Lawrence makes it clear that all of these elements must be present in order for a relationship to be successful; it's either all or none. Lawrence's first example of relational incompleteness comes through Paul in Sons and Lovers. By the middle of the novel, the reader is well aware of Paul's connection to his mother, Mrs. Morel. Paul's awareness of his mother comes in the notion that ?when she fretted he understood, and could have no peace,? (51) and also in the way they act like excited ?lovers having an adventure together.? (81) Through Paul?s relationships, Lawrence reveals how ?an exaggerated intense spiritual love from the parents,? can make it difficult for the receiver of that love to cultivate healthy relationships outside the familial sphere. (Yudhishtar, 87) Because of his deep spiritual connection with his mother, it is difficult for Paul to give himself to other women, as can be seen through his relationship with Miriam. Although Paul likes Miriam and the two get along very well, his connection to his mother prevents the young man from really giving himself to her. Paul is turned off not only by how spiritual Miriam makes him (165), but also ... ...ming deeply connected spiritually with one?s children, and how that connection can prove disastrous for non-familial relations. Through Birkin, Ursula, Gudrun and Gerald in Women in Love, he shows the crippling effects that result when intellect is emphasized drastically more than spirituality and sexuality. Lawrence arrives at a perfect balance between Connie and Mellors in Lady Chatterley?s Lover, and although Connie suffers through two failed relationships before meeting success, Lawrence shows that intellectual, spiritual and sexual connects can indeed simultaneously exist on the same plane. Through these characters, Lawrence demonstrates the importance of having a balance of all three ingredients. Without a physical connection based on spirituality and a common intellect, Sir Jon would not be able to ?say good night to Lady Jane?with a hopeful heart.? (328)

Christian life Essay

Father Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) presents a deeply spiritual and insight book with Reach Out. He presents a Christian approach to living with a systematic form of spiritual life, occurring in three defined steps; loneliness to solitude; hostility to hospitality; and illusion to prayer. Through each step Nouwen encourages a person to question themselves, and to seek an â€Å"ascent† to a higher way of being that achieves unity with God. His presentation of his message however is not an attempt to â€Å"bible bash† the reader, rather he uses the Bible as a filter to draw analogies to his interpretation of a meaningful life. Nouwen’s defined categories distinguishes the stages of the journey of Christian life as he sees it, basically reaching out to; the innermost self, to the rest of humankind; and to God. In itself the book is a beautiful rendition of a way of living that focuses on humankind as a community, and as sharing in their experiences of emotional states. It provides the reader with practical methods to apply change to their lifestyle that will cultivate a greater sense of peace and contentment. The phrasing and choice of words in titles and headings has been carefully considered and in themselves transports the reader to a place of reflection and prayer. The strength of Nouwen’s book is his ability to question his own values, decision-making and actions. He has gone to places of hardship in his experiences of loneliness, hostility and illusion and returned with treasures to share. Nouwen uses the movement between emotional states to provide a systematic process for the living the Christian life, which completes modern day values of systems thought, and critical analysis. However, the writer presents his material also in a highly capitalistic manner, in that emotional states are basically divided into two distinct forms: positive (winning) and negative (losing) and ignores the possibility that each state may not actually be so absolute; a milestone on the continuum of what it is to be human. The dichotomy he sets up may in itself be the cause of internal conflict for people, as Western societies value distinct black and white boxes in which to place information; Nouwen maintains this cultural value in his differentiation of distinct categories, and the application of a model of â€Å"ascent† for emotional states. The book is richly spiritual and helpful in learning to cope with loneliness, anger and misperceptions, and Nouwen’s voice tends to be presented as one of experience, that has gone to the depths of each of these states. His approach implies that all people feel loneliness, illusion or hostility and that â€Å"you like to stay away from†. The Bible describes many experiences of Jesus, prophets and other of the Lord’s people being tested, polished like jewels, or smelted like pure gold and other metals. The message is that if we are not prepared to undergo hardship how can we expect to lose ourselves of that which is not important? Nouwen encourages the reader to cultivate their faith and sense of hope by allowing ourselves to experience a forward movement into a more spiritual and subsequently balanced life. 2. Concrete Responses A Suffocating Loneliness is the title of Chapter One and for me came across as quite visceral terminology. It conjured up feelings of confinement that implies that Nouwen has really been there himself. I imagined the soul suffocating, unable to breathe, speak, communicate, or reach out because it was focused solely on survival. The title made me think about what it is to be alone and to have something happening to you beyond your control; a life threatening experience. Another heading, Between Competition and Togetherness, cam across to me as being very Zen, as the juxtaposition of words threw my mind off its track trying to hold an image of both concepts at once. Not unlike those silhouette pictures of the vase which is a face, or is it the other way around! The phrase further implies that there is a point between the two which each of us are at; though this point is unlikely to be static-given the human experience and we are dynamic beings. Nouwen encourages the reader to find a point of balance between these two concepts, and in my minds eye I saw a see-saw and a set of scales, and wondered to myself whereabouts on the continuum I was today (N. B. , near the competitive edge as I have a game of bingo in an hour). I believe I noticed these words because I have chosen the spiritual life for myself, and live my life to cultivate a sense of personal control as well as acceptance for that which I cannot change, as well as harmony and balance. Like Job and Jonah I let myself be smitten or swallowed by the beast when I perceive it to be the time in my life cycle to let go, fall apart, draw away from others, and to suffer hardship. Like these two men I come through stronger and wiser about myself, my place in this world, and with a deeper meaning of what is important – to keep on going, never give up on one, and to be there for others. I am also a writer and sometime poet and delight in the juxtaposition of words and the images that they provide which take me to places within myself that may have ever undiscovered. And the use of words in new ways helps me to see the world from another perspective, which is always a discovery. 2. Concrete responses A Suffocating Loneliness is the title of Chapter One and for me came across as quite visceral terminology. It conjured up feelings of a time for me when I felt confined by my problems and unable to reach out for concrete help from others – no one seemed to understand where I was, what I was trying to communicate to them. I imagined at the time my soul suffocating, unable to breathe, speak, communicate, or reach out because it was focused solely on survival. The title made me think about those times when I have felt absolutely alone and separated from all others, and that life was completely beyond your control; a life threatening experience. The juxtaposition of words in the chapter heading threw my mind off its track trying to hold an image of both concepts at once. I believe I noticed these words because I have chosen the spiritual life for myself and live my life to cultivate a sense of personal control as well as acceptance for that which I cannot change. Like Job and Jonah I let myself be smitten or swallowed by the beast when I perceive it to be the time in my life cycle to let go, fall apart, draw away from others, and to suffer hardship. Like these two men I come through stronger and wiser about myself, my place in this world, and with a deeper meaning of what’s important – to keep on going, never give up on one, and to be there for others. I have in the past drawn on Bible accounts of suffering and grief to understand the experiences of difficulty I have (do) have. The phrasing of many of the Biblical passages, such as those in Proverbs, are easy to â€Å"write upon one’s heart† and Nouwen’s voice has a similar effect in his blending and weaving of words and phrases. 3. Reflection I wonder why the author portrays loneliness as a negative and unwanted state, particularly as he is a Christian. Many verses in the Bible, in fact the whole book of Job, contends that pain such as that felt in loneliness is necessary to â€Å"remove the dross† form a person’s soul. Going into the crucible of fire, such as the suffering of loneliness may cultivate, is a way that many mystics, monks, prophets and medicine women and men claim is the path to become more the person that â€Å"God†/we want us to be. Loneliness is an emotion, and so by virtue of the Christian teachings that emotion is also God, as our emotions are the flux of hormones, neurotransmitters and bioelectric currents, tangible substances which omnipotent God intrinsically exists within; God is everywhere at once. Also, God created all, so all emotions can be sourced from God; humans are made in his image, suggesting that God has knowledge of what loneliness is. It perplexes me that a state of loneliness is seen by Father Nouwen as the â€Å"bottom rung† in his ascent model; John the Baptist lived in the desert and has been often described as experiencing intense loneliness; Jesus spent 40 days and nights alone in the desert; Moses was alone with his â€Å"crazy† dream of the chosen people, and Mary mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene suffered deep loneliness many times during their lives. 4. Action I will facilitate a counselee to find more functional ways to experience loneliness and to keep on going and not give up on themselves or humankind. I will also encourage them to consider the concept of living a more spiritual life and achieving a union with God; for me God is the unity of all things (omega and beta) so that I am never truly alone as all is from God and in God. So that loneliness for me is a temporary state when one forgets that we are all interconnected. Alternatively, Nouwen approaches loneliness, hostility and illusion as purely negative states and provides of all things an â€Å"evolutionary† model to explain â€Å"developing from† each state to another state. Firstly, I do not agree with this form of development as it certainly implies ascent from a lesser (primitive) quality to a higher (civilized) quality. Instead I would encourage the counselee to embrace their diversity and variability in experiencing their emotions. Movement away from a particular emotion is illusory, as our emotions are a continuum like a circle or a ring; we can move to another state but all are parallel, none higher or lower than others. I intend to start a reflective journal of my values, interpretations, decision-making and actions to learn more about myself, and to find the balance across my emotional states.

Working mothers

Instead traditional feminism has always focused on white middle-class needs. Traditional values fall to recognize how women's different identities such as race, class, and sexuality shape our views and beliefs about family and motherhood. Many believe that shared social issues such as women rights bring women together, but what many do not see are the different Identities such as class, race, and sexuality within gender, that can cause conflicting views. The quote above by Joan Williams Is a testament In understanding how these deferent identities within women can become a delving factor In their beliefs.Specifically women's beliefs and roles In the family are Influenced by their Individual Identities. These Intersections of identities play an important role in women's beliefs on motherhood. Through the course readings I will show how the notions of motherhood changes through these different identities. Women's participation in the labor, education, domestic duties as well as views o n marital status and child rearing will show the division within women's notions of motherhood. America underwent a change in 1945 that had never been seen before.Despite representation there was a conflict from WI in the ass'. There was a shift from reduction to consumption, where America was seen as ‘living the good life'. By 1960 America's Income had Increased, and by the end of the decade Americans were moving up In prosperity. What history falls to acknowledge are the women who feel disorientated and discontent. The ass's and ass's was also a time filled with anxiety and alienation. As Betty Friedman puts it there was a vague uneasiness' that is the mark of this period. The sass's was an odd period of time, where many social issues were taking place.Nevertheless women continued to enter the labor force, which suggested the growing antinomy for women after the war. In the 1 ass's as Friedman suggest people were politically and culturally conservative, particularly regardin g gender and family issues, which made exploring new opportunities difficult for women due to restrictive gender norms. Through the lives of middle-class white women Friedman uses labor force participation to show their beliefs of motherhood. The role of a housewife to some may seem simple, as If they have nothing to do but to take care of the children and domestic duties.But what many fall to see are that these women are well educated and hold traditional ideologies of the family in which women sacrifice ones fulfillment ender role expectations. Women's behaviors and beliefs were in relation to men, which created a lack of fulfillment amongst women. Friedman argues these housewives needed competition and should make contributions to society. Friedman's argues that middle-class white women needed to find something fulfilling in society to feel a since of purpose. To get away of what society tells them to do, and start living for what they would want to do.Surprisingly women's action s did not reflect their beliefs. Though these women were educated enough to have careers but, many found it best eatable to become a housewife because it was the gender norm for women to stay at home and be the caregivers while men should become the breadwinners outside the home. These beliefs countered women's fulfillment as a woman but filled their beliefs on motherhood. Friedman titles masculine ideologies of motherhood that creates feelings of emptiness as ‘The Feminine Mystique'. Its overpowering, hegemonic dynamic in the work place and in the homes, where men carry the power enforce gender roles.These women adopt the Feminine Mystique, for the purposes of appeasing to societies expectations, but Friedman clearly shows how the traditional views of others are not holding strong in these women's beliefs. Women were becoming board and tired of being a housewife. This shows the view of motherhood for these women would be to have a more active part in the community, take care of the domestic duties and fulfill the husbands needs but their fear of going against men's ideologies of motherhood keeps them confined.The intersecting identities of class, education status and gender played a role in how these women view their roles in the family. Becoming a stay at home mom may have not always been by choice but by sacrifice. Gender roles have proven to be influential on women's beliefs on others. Despite Friedman pushing for women to become contributing factors in society, Bart Laundry in â€Å"Black Working Wives† offers a counterpoint to the norms of white middle- class families. Black women are usually excluded from white framework of motherhood.He incorporates race unlike Friedman as a contributing identity that shapes black middle-class women's notions of motherhood. Participants were black middle-class two parent families. The black women in these families took care of domestic duties, cared for the children and had an active part in the community, which allowed black women more freedom. Black women in most cases did not have the option of staying home. They pursued careers outside the home because they believed a true woman' could do both. The notion of mother hood was achievement in both public and private spears.The black community held a different standard then their white counterparts. The black community appreciated women's intelligence and their independence. Women's in Friedman's book looked to their husbands for the decision making rather then formatting and expressing their own views. There is a big divide in how women in Friedman's reading and Landers book viewed womanhood partially due to the racial preference and also because of class. For white families you could be middle-class solely on the husband's income.Black families did not share the same experience, to Laundry challenges domesticity as she focuses on African American women. Looking at black families we can see a transition of the traditional family to a more radical modern family. The male ideologies of motherhood were also different as unlike there white counterparts black husbands had the expectation for their wife's to work outside of the home, which allowed black women to become more active in the community. The egalitarian mindset of black families combined the public and irate spear.Working outside of the home gave black women more respect inside of the home. Race has played a significant difference in expectations of working wives. Black women did more because there family needed both incomes to be middle class. They face more criticism in the work place and carry the burden of isolation from the male counterparts coming home from an oppressed workplace. On the other hand white women stayed at home because they had stronger beliefs in ideologies. Catering to the household and their husbands were put over their own needs.Women in both readings lacked fulfillment. Men shared unequal responsibilities in doing housework, which is an issue that has been solved. The power dynamic of who is responsible for the domestic duties, stems from male ideologies. Men in both readings are the primary breadwinners therefore lack the obligating in helping with domestic duties. Friedman and Laundry take on two different perspectives on motherhood. While Friedman is pushing women to become active contributors in their communities Laundry is showing how black women have been working for year to support their families.Here we can see how identities such as class and race can create a division amongst gender and also shape beliefs on motherhood. Women who participate in labor both inside and outside of the home have contradicting beliefs on motherhood. In Mary Blair-Loss book â€Å"Competing Devotions† she looks at how women in both spears view labor and family schemas. Work devoted women in the reading were well education and help high power position Jobs. They worked full time which became time demanding and had to sacrifice their extracurricular time for work. They felt their Job was important and more like dynamic work.Women wanted to become more economically independent from men UT at the same time their high-end Jobs meant working long hours, which left them tired and facing discrimination from male dominance in the work place. Women felt that they were providing a better life for themselves and their children. Their beliefs of motherhood was not to fulfill domestic duties like cleaning and cooking every day but to provide the economic needs for their children so they would always have what they needed. The family devoted women sought marriage and child rearing as their primary devotion.Some women worked part time but still took care of the domestic duties. Families believed their roles to be biologically destined, where men should work full time outside the home. Family devoted mother criticized work devoted mother for not spending more time with their family and work devoted women critic ized stay at home mothers by saying they are lacking fulfillment and depended on men. Like the women in Friedman's reading these women held a more traditional view of womanhood. Like all mothers both schemas came with their sacrifices, which they people for support and shunned the opposite schema.The notions of motherhood aligned with the schema these women adopted. It is interesting to see the role education played in choosing which schema to adopt. Women's views on motherhood relied not only schemas but also their beliefs on marriage. Kathleen Eden and Andrew Cheering search to find the problems as to why low income white and black single mothers are not getting married. The study finds five reasons to why women are reluctant to enter or reenter into a marriage. The same five reasons are also how they define womanhood.Women sought having children before marriage fulfilling, but did not count on being single. Women saw affordability, respectability, control, trust and domestic viol ence as important measures when looking into marriage. These women felt if they were to be in another relationship it would be with a man that would uplift her status. These women wanted a man that they could trust and count on to support them and a child. Class, race and previous experiences shaped these low-income single women notion of motherhood. Due to their low social economic status they wanted a man that could take care of their family.Because they claimed there was a scarcity of black decent men, they looked for affordability and respectability and because of their previous experience they wanted someone they could trust. These women had their own economic stability but anted to gain upward mobility and believed having a decent trustworthy man will fulfill their notion of motherhood. Lastly through Mignon Moor's chapter â€Å"Lesbian Motherhood and Discourses of Respectability' we can see the ways in which lesbian women form motherhood through women's sexual autonomy, and an emphasis in strength and resilience.The reading discusses a lesbian woman named Jackie who has adopted her sister's child. Jackie overcame a massive struggle with social services in finalizing her adoptive rights to Andrew. Her refusal to hide her sexuality supports the notion of black womanhood that communicates a sense of sexual autonomy. Jackass's beliefs of what it meant to be a good mother derived from her childhood past. What she never had as a child she gave to Andrew and she made it her personal responsibility to see that he was safe, and stayed out of trouble.For women like Jackie challenges such as race, family structure and poverty influenced how she defined motherhood. Lesbian mothers have accepted a social responsibility based on family obligations, and have looked into their upbringing and personal experience for defining lesbian One woman named Athena had difficulty with telling her child from a previous heterosexual relationship that she was a lesbian. Athena did not feel comfortable identifying herself as a lesbian because she not only felt stigmatize from the community and family but she felt it was best to keep her sexuality unexposed to protect her child.By Athena not coming into terms with her lesbian identity it ruined her relationship and her chances to gain fulfillment in life. With the ending of her relationship with her partner we can see her understanding of motherhood. She defines motherhood as self-sacrificing for the good of the child. The move toward sexual autonomy is a struggle for women who are reluctant about their identity. Drawing a division between the two identities becomes difficult for women who are heterosexual lens and absorb cultural understandings of good motherhood in ways that make it difficult for them to view their lesbian sexuality in a positive light† (130).There is a constant battle when one is forced to choose between who they are and what is best for their child. Unfortunately the one parallel betw een all women are the sacrifices they endure for their families. We can she a range of mothers living in traditional families to more radical contemporary families, and all define motherhood differently. Women re forced to navigate motherhood through tough circumstances, which can become difficult.As seen in the reading women's roles are stretched so thin it becomes inevitable to find a suitable balance for themselves within the family needs. We can see that motherhood can vary through the different identities such as class, race and sexuality. No women's identities and experiences are the same, which make ‘motherhood' hard to generalize and allows motherhood to also divide gender. It becomes a forced decision rather then a choice that women struggle with in their daily life. Motherhood has become an internal battle between selfish and selfless.