Amy Tan and Functionalism Essay

This essay will explore the real life of Amy Tan and the translation of her life through her large body of work. The research will not only involve biographical information but quotes from her books as they relate to her life and the influence of Asian culture on those works as well as her life. The works that will be focused on in this essay will The Joy Luck Club and other others. The main development of the essay will be based upon the comparing qualities found in The Joy Luck Club. This essay will be partly analytical and partly research based in its design. Amy Tan’s work, though broad in theme will usually bear the relationship of the mother-daughter paradigm in the weight of the story incorporating a functionalist theory. Cognitive processes performed by the brain allow for construction of an internal model of reality from the sensory data. This also coincides with consensual reality or perceived reality which is the function of the normal processes of the brain. Sensory perception is a crux by which cognitive science develops its theories. As such, the mind is in a continuous learning equation. The brain chronically categorizes representations of reality (objects, feelings, events, etc) and learns how to problem solve, and compute these different sensory receptions. This is a self-organizing process by which the mind acts like a computer and stores information from sensory events into a coded mechanism. Amy Tan writes about the way in which an Asian woman grows up in a Western culture and the effects of this on the mother-daughter relationship. Thus, not only is the theme of the familial relationship relevant but also the theme of the first generation Asian American important. Especially in the novel The Joy Luck Club the view of Asian values as they are pitted against Western culture is examined, just as in Amy Tan’s life, such issues were relevant. Tan’s novels peak with relevance to the negotiation of the characters toward their assimilation into Western society †¦Asian American culture emerges out of the contradictions of Asian immigration, which in the last century and a half of Asian entry into the United States have placed Asians within the United States nation-state, its workplaces, and its markets, yet linguistically, culturally and racially marked Asians as foreign and outside the national polity. Under such contradictions, late nineteenth-century Chinese immigrants labored in mining agriculture, and railroad construction but were excluded from citizenship and political participations in the state†¦By insisting on Asian American formation as contradictory, and therefore as dialectical and critical†¦while immigration has been the locus of legal and political restriction of Asians as the other in America, immigration has simultaneously been the site fro the emergence of critical negations of the nation-state for which those legislations are the expression†¦The national institutionalization of unity becomes the measure of the nation’s condition of heterogeneity. If the nation proposes American culture as the key site for ht resolution of inequalities and stratifications that cannot be resoled on the political terrain of representative democracy, then that culture performs that reconciliation by naturalizing a universality that exempts the non-American from its history or aestheticizes ethnic differences as if they could be separated form history (Lowe 11). Asian Americans are prone to negotiation and this interaction between cultures as well as between generations is especially prevalent in The Joy Luck Club as it relates to Tan’s life. In the context of this process is the history of Tan’s own life. She was a first generation Asian American born in Oakland California. Her parents were Chinese immigrants. Her father was a Baptist minister and her mother was a Shanghai nurse. When Tan was fourteen years old, her father as well as her elder brother died of brain tumors. After the death of the figurehead of the family and the brother, Tan, her mother Daisy and the younger brother Peter moved to Montreux, Switzerland. As Tan grew older she began to realize the great gap that existed between herself and her mother due to their difference in culture. As Tan grew up she realized that there was much tension between herself and her mother. Tan eventually moved away from home and gained her master’s degree in linguistics at San Jose State University. Tan’s first job was as a children’s speech therapist. Within the context of Tan’s writing there exists these elements of her life; integration, acceptance, alienation both in terms of culture and through this culture of familial ties. The ideal behind the immigration to America is extrapolated in her novels as a way of achieving the American dream. This issue is brought subtly to the foreground by way of the parents’ expectations of their children and the children’s noncompliance to these wishes, a sort of shucking off of the parents’ ideal for the children’s own interest, Although ‘Asian values’ have continued to define the material success of Asian Americans in American culture and society since the 1980’s, these values have equally been deployed to suggest the inability of Asian Americans to embrace the American Dream, a problem that would culminate in the myth of ‘perpetual foreigner. ’†¦the history of Asians in America can be fully understood only if we regard them as both immigrants and members of nonwhite minority groups precisely because Asian Americans have never been completely absorbed into American society and its body politic (Shu 93). Thus, Tan’s novels, as juxtaposed with her life emphasize the alienation first generation Asian Americans deal with as being ostracized from either culture, Culture is the medium of the present—the imagined equivalences and identifications through which the individual invents lived relationship with the national collective. But it is simultaneously the site that mediates the past, through whih history is grasped as difference, as fragments, shocks, and flashes of disjunction. It is through culture that the subject becomes, acts, and speaks itself as American. It is likewise in culture that individuals and collectivities struggle and remember, and in that difficult remembering, imagine and practice both subject and community differently (Lowe 10). In Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club the main attraction for readers resides in the focus of the four main Chinese-American families. These families unite in the club they formed called The Joy Luck Club in which the mothers, and towards the end of the novel the daughters play the Chinese game Mahjong for money while also partaking of a myriad of Chinese dishes. In fact, Tan brings a lot of Chinese culture into her stories through food. The novel is written in a vignettes style in which the characters lives are portrayed in sixteen chapters divided into four sections where the narrative is dedicated to both the mother and the daughter. The beginning of the novel begins with Jing-Mei or ‘June’ who has at this point lost her mother Suyuan to an aneurysm. The Joy Luck Club requests that June take the place of her mother at their game. This begins the novel in a fashion of exploration and a journey in which June discovers who her mother was and thereby finds her own identity through her mother on behalf of the information gleaned from Suyuan’s friends. This topic of finding the self through the mother relates to Tan’s own life and her relationship with her mother. This is also a cultural issue in which the daughter denies her heritage, in this case both Tan and June, and only through this journey of discovering who the mother is does the daughter begin to understand her own self, In contrast, the cultural productions emerging out of the contradictions of immigrant marginality displace the fiction of reconciliation, disrupt the myth of national identity by revealing its gaps and fissures, an intervene in the narrative of national development that would illegitimately locate the immigrant before history, or exempt the immigrant from history. The universals proposed by the political and cultural forms of the nation precisely generate the critical acts that negate those universals. These acts compose the agency of Asian immigrants and Asian Americas: the acts of labor, resistance, memory, and survival as well as the politicized cultural work that emerges from dislocation and disidentification. Asian immigrants and Asian Americans have not only been subject to immigration exclusion and restriction, but have also been subjects of the migration process and are agents of political change, cultural expression, and social transformation (Lowe 11-12). Tan’s novels also focus on the American dream as it is reinterpreted by her characters. Tan’s use of culture as it applies to the characters is also applicable through the identity of being an immigrant. The loss of self through the loss of culture becomes a very viable source of depression for the characters in the novel just as Tan wrote that her own family suffered from this disease. Depression is prevalent with the daughters of the novel in struggling to find their identity and for June in finding out who her mother was as a person and as a mother. The novel deals greatly in behind the scene actions and events that are not revealed to the protagonist until the right time toward the end of the novel. In a way the old adage of a woman not becoming a woman until the death of her mother plays a specific role in this novel just as it does for Tan’s life. When June’s mother dies June must take on her mother’s responsibilities in the Joy Luck Club and in a way become her mother for these women. It is in this position that June learns of Suyuan’s life before being a mother just as much as she is an identity as a mother. Tan stated that her mother Daisy witnessed her mother’s suicide. This theme was emphasized in The Bonesetter’s Daughter when the mother tried to contact Precious Auntie. The form of contact that June clutches to in The Joy Luck Club is found in Suyuan’s circle of friends My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at the Joy Luck Club. I am to replace my mother whose seat at the mah jong table has been empty since she died two months ago. My father thinks she was killed by her own thoughts†¦My mother could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies they left behind in China and hopes they couldn’t begin to express in their fragile English. Or at least, my mother recognized the numbness in these women’s faces. And she saw how quickly their eyes moved as she told them her idea for the Joy Luck Club (Tan 19-20). The pressure that mother insists upon the daughter is prevalent in Tan’s live as well as it is presented in the lives of her characters, especially June. There is a theme concurrent with this idea of memory, escape and eventual recognition in The Joy Luck Club which persists with the image and symbolism of the piano. Jing-mei’s mother Mrs. Woo insists that Jing-mei is a musical prodigy but during her debut recital both mother and daughter realize how bad she is at playing the instrument. As a result of this terrible recital Jing-mei shouts at her mother that she wishes she had never been born, that she were dead like those twins Mrs. Woo had to abandon. The mother then backs off and allows Jing-mei to forget about the piano. Later in the story the piano is given to Jing-mei as a thirtieth birthday presents and in this gift Jing-mei realizes that her mother only wanted her to find something worthwhile in her life. The gift of the piano reminds Jing-mei of the daughters that her mother had to leave behind, however, it is only after her mother’s death that Jing-mei can come to accept the gift of the piano. As she plays the piano Tan’s underlying theme becomes refocused on the American Dream translated into Chinese culture. Jing-mei’s mother wanted her to make something of herself, hence the piano. In Jing-mei’s ugly comment about wanting to be dead like her twin sisters the reader realizes that this is a metaphorical death, that Jing-mei is realizing that she is the product of a Chinese household but with ever growing dreams persuade by Western culture. Jing-mei eventually goes to China to meet with her twin sisters and in so doing she becomes reunited with her mother in the stories that she must give them, but all is revealed in that initial hug between the sisters. The mother’s children unite thereby uniting the family after so many years dislocated. In this way Tan’s focus is one of Diaspora, in the lack of home and the journey emotionally, spiritually and physically that each character in The Joy Luck Club must undertake to come to recognition with their identity, as Asian Americans, immigrants, products of a cultural dichotomy and as daughters and mothers, Tan also explores the effect of popular culture on the immigrant. Mrs. Woo gets her ideas from television and popular magazines. She does not question the validity of these sources. The magazines range from the bizarre—Ripley’s Believe It or Not—to the commonplace—Good Housekeeping and Reader’s Digest. Everything has been predigested for mass consumption (Shu 93). This predigested concept elicits for Tan the idea of self as seen through culture. The mother in this passage is seeking to redefine and assimilate into a culture for which she is ill designed. The theme then, as it was for Tan who was a first generation Asian American who later moved to Switzerland and then back to the San Francisco Bay area, is this idea of relocation, Diaspora. Through this concept of Diaspora through Tan’s novels it is easy to understand the psyche of her characters in relation to her own sentiments about life, immigration, identity as they in turn relate back, each of them, to the mother and daughter relationship. These forced concepts of becoming a woman and struggling with identity as it pertains to these outside forces is a daunting realization for each other Tan’s characters as it must have been difficult for her to define her life growing up a first generation Asian American. Amy Tan’s talent for writing is based on her affiliation with true life events which is a very functionalist way to write. Thus, when she writes her fiction novels she is also writing in part her biography as the thoughts of the characters are revealed to be strikingly similar to the sentiments that Tan must have felt growing up and finding out the history of her own mother who witnessed her mother’s suicide. Through the incorporation of these personal thoughts there is also the element in this way of thinking that focuses on Asian culture. The concept of the immigrant as it applies to Western culture is inclusive of being ostracized. Thus, the characters in Tan’s novels are in search of identity; identity as it relates to the dichotomy of Asian and Western culture, mother-daughter relationships, and the self. Through the arrival of the mother’s past revealed to the daughters in each of Tan’s novel, the daughter comes to an epiphany. The daughter realizes that she is her mother in part, and that is where her home is found. Thus, Tan is able to transfer this personal quest of self in the novel, as well as her real life, into the notion of the self being identified through the struggle of the mother for the daughter and the sacrifice therein. This concept is proved especially with June’s character, but for Tan , the idea of the mother defining the daughter is constant. Work Cited Lowe, Lisa. â€Å"The Power of Culture†. Journal of Asian American Studies. Vol. 1, No. 1. 1996. Shu, Yuan. â€Å"Globalization and ‘Asian Values’: Teaching and Theorizing Asian American Literature. † College Literature. Vol. 32, No. 1. Winter 2005. Tan, Amy. â€Å"The Joy Luck Club†. Putnam. 1989. Tan, Amy. â€Å"The Bonesetter’s Daughter. † Putnam. 2001.

What Was the Renaissance Like

1 . What was the Renaissance like? Account for its main features. The term â€Å"Renaissance† is from the same French word, meaning â€Å"rebirth. † It comes from the Italian Reenactments, â€Å"Re† meaning â€Å"again† and â€Å"nascence† meaning â€Å"be born. † The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages (Tuscany) and later spreading to the rest of Europe. Its influence affected literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual enquiry.As a cultural movement, the Renaissance period encompassed a rebellion of lassie-based learning, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Although the Renaissance saw revoluti ons in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo dad Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term â€Å"Renaissance man†.The leading intellectual trait of the era was the recovery, to a certain degree, of the secular and humane philosophy of Greece and Rome. Another humanist trend which cannot be ignored was the rebirth of individualism, which, developed by Greece and Rome to a remarkable degree, had been suppressed by the rise of a caste system in the later Roman Empire, by the Church and by feudalism in the Middle Ages. Medieval Christianity restricted individual expression, fostered self-abnegation and self-annihilation, and demented implicit faith and unquestioning obedience.Furthermore, the Church officially ignored man and nature. Http://www. Timpani. Com/renaissance. HTML Literature (characteristics): Emphasis on classical studies in t he expanding universities. -Increasing literacy among the laity. -Learning increased rapidly. -New schools were founded throughout Britain, in rural villages as well as cities. -Growth of a critical, skeptical type of scholarship, leading to scientific inquiry. -Increasing trade leads to individual wealth, general prosperity, nationalism, and materialism. -Gradual movement from unquestioned religious beliefs toward a more human- centered philosophy. Emphasis on human potential, not God's power, believing one's role in life should be action, not religious contemplation. Language: English had triumph over French as the spoken language. It became the language of scholarship, replacing Latin, and the language of theology. It had no bounds to its development. As regards vocabulary, much growth came from the learned words borrowed from Latin and Greek, but explorers and overseas tradesmen brought an influx of words from many foreign languages. New words were invented daily. Spelling was e rratic.In pronunciation, many words were stressed on different syllables from the ones currently emphasized. Changes in grammatical elements: -Pronouns: ye was replaced by you. -Verbs: the endings the changed to s. . Explain how the Philosophy of Humanism differs from the ideals held during the Middle English Period. Humanism is a system of thought that considers that solving human problems with the help of reason is more important than religious beliefs. It emphasizes the fact that the basic nature of humans is good. It is secular-minded – religion is no longer the orientation.Humanism was not a philosophy per SE, but rather a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval scholastic method, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, humanists would study ancient texts in the original, typically Ritter in Latin or ancient Greek, and appraise them through a combination of reasoning and empirical evidence. A) Mention the key representatives among Humanists wri ters -Sir Thomas More: he was a humanist and lawyer, the first layman to become Chancellor. Best known for his work Utopia (no place or good place), which tells of an ideal state with the truly representative government.It was written in Latin, addressing to all scholars in Europe (names were in Greek). He describes his ideas of a perfect society. His work gave rise to the Utopian literature (new genre), presented as an ideal of perfection. Tyndale: was the first translator of the Renaissance, a defender of the faith who creates new words that didn't exist in English. His work as a translator was opposed in England and he was forced to live in Germany, where he produced the first English version of the Bible between 1525 and 1531 – King James: made the first authorized version of the Bible.He used an archaic language so as to sound formal, show respect, and create a more distant atmosphere. It was a collected work of all the previous translations. – Sir Thomas Eliot: w ith â€Å"The book named the Governor† -Protestant/Anglican: Tyndale, Coverall Protestant/Calvinist: Geneva Bible -Catholic: Today Bible b) Focus on Thomas More and explain why his Utopia is a Renaissance literary work Sir Thomas Mere's most famous work is essentially a dialogue between More, and an imaginary character Raphael Hathaway.In the conversation between the two men, More learns that Hathaway is a traveler who has been all over the world with America Vesuvius and had been left to explore the island of Utopia (nowhere). Hathaway explains how life in England has many evils in society in all aspects of life from political to social aspects. He then explains how the people of Utopia handled Hess everyday problems to make it the perfect nation. Sir Thomas Mere's Utopia is a satire – the name Raphael Hathaway meaner â€Å"dispenser of nonsense†-.The book also makes fun at many aspects of society in England during the time period such as the severity of crimin al law and the growing luxury of the wealthy class at the expense of the poor class's life of increased hardship. More can successfully accomplish the feat of criticizing the government because the character that is making the critical analysis of England is made up. By using this technique in Utopia, More can publicize his own thoughts on the nation thou being called out for treason to the crown. 3. Focus on the Sonnet Sonnet: short song, a lyrical poem in 14 lines. ) How does the Patriarchal sonnet compare to the Elizabethan sonnet? Patriarch wrote sonnets that consider love in an early renaissance sense; that is, they idealism the beloved lady, and they focus on the divine qualities she possesses, while lamenting the pain the speaker feels in not being with her. Each sonnet of fourteen lines considers one proposition in the opening octave of eight lines, and then considers the reverse or opposing view in the final sestets, or six lines. The switch from one view to its opposite is called the Volta.Shakespeare wrote sonnets in a much later period, and pokes fun at the idea that his beloved lady could possibly represent divine beauty. In addition, he took the English form of the sonnet, developed by the Earl of Surrey and Thomas Wyatt, which included a final rhyming pair of lines, called a rhyming couplet. Shakespeare then pursued the same proposition throughout the entire sonnet until the very end, often pushing the Volta to the final couplet. -Structure of the Sonnet Patriarchal sonnet: -Each line has 5 feet consisting of either one unstressed syllable followed by en stressed syllable (iambic pentameter).Each line has 10 syllables in all. -The poem is divided into two parts: the octave (8 lines – divided in two groups of 4 lines) and the sestets (6 lines – divided in two groups of 3 lines). -Between the octave and the sestets two main ideas are compared Octave: presentation, problem, argument, question. Sestets: solution, conclusion, answer. Or balance -The rhyme scheme at the end of each line of the octave is: baobab; the sestets often varies, CDC or ceded. Elizabethan, Shakespearean or English sonnet: -Each line is in iambic pentameter.The poem is divided into four parts: 3 quatrains (4 lines each) and a final couplet (2 lines). -The rhyme scheme is usually: ABA CDC fee / egg – Shakespeare. ABA Bcc CDC / e – Spencer. Http://suites 01 . Com/article/differences-between-the-patriarchal-and-the- Shakespearean-sonnet-a374838 b) Why can sonnets be equated to miniatures? C) Which is the function performed by the rhyming couplet in 16th century sonnets? The 6th-century sonnets were written to display the great cleverness, sophistication, and skill of the poet.Generally speaking, sonnets were more self- centered than their love rhetoric might initially suggest. Although they often purport to express private emotions from the poet to a beloved, they were usually meant not for private communication, but for â€Å"pu blic† consumption amongst a circle of Courtly readers. In other words, they were written to impress others rather than to convey genuine emotion. The great majority of 16th-century sonnets were written to explore unrequited romantic love. It was assumed that the speaker would be a besotted man and the beloved a resistant, disdainful, or otherwise unavailable woman.The speaker spends much of his time trying to persuade the beloved to sleep with him. Patriarch developed a number of conventions for describing love's varied pleasures and torments and the beauty of the beloved. Sonnets abound in wordplay: puns, double-entendre, multiple meanings, and clever figures of speech. The most common figures of speech used in 16th-century sonnets include the conceit, the blazon, and personification. Http://www. Lima. Ohio-state. Du/debarks/sonnet. HTML d) Which are the current themes in sonnets? Compare Patriarchal themes to Shakespearean themes. Courtly love: love as pain (unrequited); lov e as a labyrinth; love as passion stronger than will; loves as chains – you cannot escape. Art. -Time: poetry could stop the passage of time – preserve a particular moment. -Death. -Historical figures -Love at first sight, obsessive yearning and loveliness, frustration, love as parallel to feudal service; Patriarchal themes: The lady as ideally beautiful, ideally virtuous, miraculous, beloved in heaven, and destined to early death; Love as virtue, love as idolatry, love as sensuality; The god of love with his arrows, fires, whips, chains; War within the self- hope, fear, Joy, sorrow.Conceits, wit, urbane cleverness; disputations and scholastic precision; Allegory, personification; Wooing, exhortation, outcry; Praise, blame; self-examination, Self-accusation, self-defense; Repentance and the farewell to love. Shakespeare themes: One interpretation is that Shakespearean sonnets are in part a pastiche or parody of the three-centuries-old tradition of Patriarchal love sonn ets; Shakespeare consciously inverts conventional gender roles as delineated in Patriarchal sonnets to create a more complex and potentially troubling depiction of human love.He also violated many sonnet rules, which had been strictly obeyed by his fellow poets: he plays with gender roles, he speaks on human evils that do not eve to do with love, he comments on political events, he makes fun of love, he speaks openly about sex, he parodies beauty, and even introduces witty pornography e) Account for the main contributions made by renaissance consenters: Wyatt, Surrey, Lily, Sidney and Spencer. To do so, focus in the themes these consenters privilege and the main devices they employ. Provide 2 examples of their poetry. ** Wyatt: Betrayal is a prevalent theme in Watt's work.Typically, the narrator is the wronged person and the poem serves to expose betrayals involving affairs of the heart along with political and social treachery. In Watt's work, the fickle nature of women can rear it s head at any time and a courtier could be given the cold shoulder on the whim of the king – especially true in Henry Vic's time. For example, in ‘They Flee From Me', the narrator details being forsaken both by a woman he loved and by acquaintances who once sought his guidance. Watt's narrators experience lash out from the pain but also dejectedly accept their position.In ‘My Heart I Gave Thee', the narrator realizes that to pursue the one who wronged him is pointless. Still, the betrayed are not without their cutting words and extreme motions. ‘Lug! My Fair Falcon', believed to have been written during Watt's imprisonment, contains vivid imagery (like lice away from dead bodies they crawl') to illustrate the cruelty of betrayal. Even God abandons him. He follows Patriarchal theme of courtly love ** Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey The tight rhyme scheme is not Surrey's only sonic device: there's plenty of alliteration, too. Brittle beauty†, â€Å"tickle treasure†, â€Å"slipper in sliding†, â€Å"Jewel of Jeopardy† are among the most noticeable examples, but almost every line makes use of the device to some degree. Influenced by Wyatt, he popularizes English form of sonnet while adding the theme of nature. He did much to establish the tradition of courtly concerned with arts and letters. He translated the Amended, making first use of blank verse (unrushed iambic pentameter). ** John Lily He is best known for Pushes (puppyish – style) which has trivial and twisted plots but was read for its alliterative style and extravagant language.He is involved in the writing of Drama. He takes his imagery from classical learning. There are classical allusions, symmetry, parallelism, alliteration. People loved it so much that he wrote a second part of Pushes. * Sir Philip Sidney He was the first English literary critic. He argues that poetry has the function of both teaching and delighting. The great end of learning is the living of a virtuous life, and the inspired poet can lead readers to the highest truths. Prose: -Arcadia: as Lily, he uses the prose for ornamental use and has a twisted plot. Device used: pathetic fallacy, beyond personification.He gives inanimate objects willing and feelings of their own. He uses imagery from nature – sounds more fresh. Poetry: -Catastrophes and Stella: first sequence of related sonnets in English. Catastrophes (star lover) – Stella (star) *Edmund Spencer: He was the first important modern English poet. His poetry continues in the allegorical verse tradition of the Middle Ages. His allegories, however, were much more complex than previous ones on three levels: moral, historical, and personal. Allegories were suggested by the character's names: Vanity, Queen of Pride, Gluttony.Readers should be alert to the multilevel meaning of each character. Spencer divides a nine line stanza, rhyming Babcock, now known as the Spenserian stanza. The first eigh t lines of the stanza are in iambic pentameter, the last is an Alexandrine (iambic hexameter). Faerie Queen: culmination of allegorical tradition. It brings together history, folklore, patriotism, political thought, humanism, Protestant idealism, epic and romance, etc. Amaretto: a sonnet sequence f) Analyses The Hind by Wyatt and the sonnet that begins â€Å"Since brass, nor stone†¦ By Shakespeare. The Hind by Wyatt Wyatt uses the sonnet form, which he introduced to England from the work of Patriarch. The Patriarchal sonnet typically has 14 lines. The first 8 lines, or octet, introduce a problem or issue for contemplation and the remaining six lines, or sestets, offers a resolution or an opinion. Wyatt uses iambic manometer. This meaner that there are five pairs of syllables, each with the stress on the second syllable. It is the most common rhythm used in traditional poetry and was used by Shakespeare in his sonnets, poems and plays.Iambic pentameter, though a regular rhythm, was thought to be closest to ordinary speech patterns, so it is an attempt to imitate but also elevate the sounds of everyday conversation. By opening the poem with a question, the narrator challenges the reader. There is an invitation in his words, and the use of an exclamation mark at the end of the first line implies excitement at the idea. As hunting was a popular pastime in the court of Henry VIII, this suggests a poem along the lines of Henry Vic's own most famous lyric, ‘Pastime With Good Company.However, problem within the octet is revealed in line 2 as the poet tells us that he is no longer part of the hunt. An exclamation mark is used in line 2, again to emphasize emotion, but this time frustration and regret. This is a passionate yet contradictory introduction. Line 3 makes use of assonance to reveal the poet's earlier hunting efforts as Vain travail' which has tired him out to the point of physical pain. We can see that the memo is an extended metaphor for the end of a relationship. The metaphor is an excellent choice in terms of the Tudor court and the possible situation to which it is attributed.The poet is now at the tail end of the pursuit, although, he says in line 5 that his mind has not deviated from the hunt. Wyatt makes use of enjambment (breaking a phrase over more than one line of verse) and caesura (concluding a phrase within the first half of a line of verse) across lines six and seven to highlight the discord represented by the end of the relationship as he subverts and challenges his own chosen structure. In line 8, the poet uses the concluding line of the octet to stress the futility of his former quest. He uses the metaphor of catching the wind in a net to emphasize the pointlessness of his chase.The final sestets begins with line 9 reiterating the appeal to those who wish to join the hunt, but he continues in to line 10 to explain that the pursuit will be in vain for them too. Again there is an exclamation mark to indicate an intensity of feeling. Line 11 continues the extended metaphor as an explanation of why his hunt of this ‘hind', and that of others who pursue her, is so pointless. She has a bejewel collar, indicating she already has an owner. Her collar is adorned with the Latin phrase ‘Noel Me teenager' meaning touch me not'. This expression refers to a phrase spoken by Jesus to Mary Magdalene in the Bible.The design also includes the name of her owner – for Career's I am. ‘ If we identify the poem as referring to Anne Volley, then her new owner would be King Henry VIII; the pair were married around the time when this poem was composed and Wyatt could no longer compete for her affections. By describing Henry using the allusion of Caesar, Wyatt bestows on his monarch the qualities of a reputation of greatness and incisive rule. Caesar was, like Henry, a leader early in late teens, a handsome and strong young man and was significant in the political and aesthetic changes and developments of his realm.Both were literate, charismatic and influential. However, other less favorable parallels can be drawn. Both Caesar and Henry VIII incurred huge debt during their respective offices. There were many subjects who were held captive, sometimes executed, on charges of treason. Caesar faced questions regarding his sexuality and his unsuitable choices of women. Wyatt may also be alluding to these less appealing aspects of Caesar in his comparison if we see the suasion in the poem to be borne of frustration and anger. Http://www. Graveside. Mom/collected-poems-of-sir-Thomas-Wyatt/study- guide/sections/ Sonnet 64 discusses the â€Å"lofty towers I see down-razed,† the â€Å"brass† which is â€Å"eternal slave to mortal rage,† or a victim to war, and the destruction of â€Å"the kingdom of the shore† by the â€Å"hungry ocean. † Here again, â€Å"brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea† can escape the ravages of ti me. Line 3 asks, â€Å"How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,† characterizing beauty as the plaintiff in a legal dispute. Time is thus characterized as an unfair warrant, against which delicate beauty stands no chance in court.The legal terminology is continued in the following line with the use of the word â€Å"action. † The idea of time's â€Å"rage† links Sonnet 65 to the previous sonnet. In Sonnet 64, â€Å"brass† is described as an â€Å"eternal slave to mortal rage. † The term â€Å"rage† in association with time is also seen in Sonnet 13, which refers to the â€Å"barren rage of death's eternal cold. † Lines 6-8 present a metaphor of the seizure of a city, which would be the final destruction of war. In line 6, â€Å"the wrathful siege of battering days,† refers to ruin and

The Quality of Leaders Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Quality of Leaders - Assignment Example The other leader who is least admired is the managing director of a local restaurant in the United States. This leader has been in position for about four years in what may generally be referred to as a static restaurant business. Among other things, this latter leader is autocratic, unapproachable, secretive, intemperate and unable to stick to a common plan. The two leaders achieved their levels of power and influence through different means. For example the admired leader rose through the ranks of the sporting club of which he is presently the Chief Executive Director. This is because the company that runs the club has an organizational structure or system that rewards hard work by promoting employees through the ranks of positions. With the type of diligence, hard work and submissiveness that is described by Ancona et al (2007 p. 96), the leader easily won the hearts of the Board of Directors to win promotional status whenever there was vacancy above his rank. As Andreu and Rosanas (2012) opine, leaders are at times able to buy their ways to the top by influencing the judgmental thoughts of the people who are responsible for their endorsement. It has therefore been reported of how the least admired leader managed to influence several people who had voting powers to vote for his promotion to the office in which he currently

School Administrator Public Relations - Comparative Critique of 10 Essay

School Administrator Public Relations - Comparative Critique of 10 Articles - Essay Example s are being voted down, teachers are striking, graduates are suing schools because they cannot read, parents demanding revised curricula, students and teachers being attacked in the classroom. The growth in news coverage of education reflects in part the public’s increased awareness of schools and their impact on society (Wilder, 2000). With the rapid evolution of protests in the streets, the discovery of the poor, the rise in industrial technology, and swiftly changing patterns, the social urgency of education has been firmly established in the public mind. The list of problems in our school can go on. Most large school districts now realize that part of their responsibility as social institutions is to keep the public informed about their operations. There are three basic groups of school leaders/administrators which the 10 articles have in common. First, the teachers, this includes primary and secondary and college/university professors. The next group, which we will refer to, in this article as the principal will include school principals, superintendents and university and college presidents, the last group, consist of the members of the school board. Wilder (2000) also mentioned that, if a school leader says that he does not care about what the public says about his school, that teacher, administrator or member of the board is a liability to all the schools. He explained that no school, public schools to be exact, has any moral right to allow itself to be unexplained, misunderstood or publicly distrusted for by its unpopularity it poisons the pond in which we all fish. Before going into details about the specific roles of the different groups, let us first take a closer look on accountability. This concept is one of the similar functions of the three groups and therefore needs special attention. The performance and costs of schools has generated increasing dissatisfaction which in turn lead to a greater demand for accountability and transparency on the

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words - 6

Leadership - Essay Example nes to be a pervasive element that nurtures optimal capacity of an individual to understand the perception of the followers and lead them to achieve their optimal goals in both personal and professional career (Riggio & Harvey, 2011). In this regard, it is quite evident that the conception of leadership often requires an experiential learning to gain adequate understanding about the significance and role of leadership in human development. The essay critically reflects and appraises the perception of leadership in relation to streamlining potentials of individual leaders. To understand the conception and role of the potentials to garner effective leadership style, the discussion of the essay evaluates the perception of applied leadership theory in the context of evidence-based, inquisitive, reflective and in a critical approach. Throughout the discussion, the analysis sections of the essay portray the influence of leadership approaches and practice on the followers along with their perception within a particular organisation or group. The leadership approaches have long been witnessed to provide a major contribution to the organisations by improving performance and achieving competitive advantages over others. In this regard, the applied leadership has been witnessing to obtain pervasive values and significance for the leaders to accumulate wider attention of the followers and enhance their performance for a shared organisational vision. In relation to the growing phenomenon in the global business environment, leaders apply various approaches of leadership practices accordingly (Northouse, 2009). Few of the major approaches of the leadership practices applied in the organisations have been critically evaluated in the following discussions. The application of the leadership practices depends on various aspects as stated and discussed hereunder. The concept of leadership has been widely recognized as the notion of competence, which tends to influence a group

Stem Cell Research Legislation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stem Cell Research Legislation - Essay Example The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, aside from its ability to establish potential information for the benefit of the Americans, was hoping from the start to receive financial support from the government, and consensus votes among the legislators in both Congress and Senate (US Congress, 2010, p.9967). However, the Congressional Bill, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, vetoed by Bush administration, was highlighting scientific progress which would be under constraint through living up to ethical responsibilities (Rimmer, 2008, p.258). Under this point, stem cell research has difficulty finding funding support from the Federal Government, which leads to varying scrutiny from the point of view of the scientific community. Recently, the stem cell research is heading forward to human embryonic stem cells by viable preimplantation embryos through in vitro fertilization. However, it is not only in the US this substantially receives rejection leading to highly controlled legislative reg ulation, but including in some European countries like Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia, primarily due to controversial ethical concerns associated with it (Atala, Lanza, Thomson & Nerem, 2010, p.215). However, some countries especially India, Israel, Singapore, China, Australia, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom and other European countries have already implemented liberal and research-favorable regulatory policies associated with stem cell research (James, 2009, p.6). Unlike the US which is currently struggling to draft regulatory policies, these countries are remarkably looking forward to investigate and know more about the health benefits and great promises of stem cell technology for the humanity. Understanding this will eventually lead someone to think the prevailing legislative state of affairs going on in the US with stem cell research. In addition, some concern on this issue would be in line with knowing where the law on stem cells in th e US is heading in the future considering its highly conservative effort on this matter. As already stated, the prevailing state of affairs concerning stem cell research in the US is quite politically motivated from the point of view of scientific community. However, the federal government on the other hand just like with the stand of Bush administration, would want to emphasize the great influence of science and technology on the humanity together with its huge ethical concerns. In line with this concern, the Obama administration is also considering substantial restriction concerning legislative regulation for stem cells technology and research (Atala, Lanza, Thomson & Nerem, 2010, p.215). From the stand point of scientific community, the restrictions on legislative regulation hinder stem cells researchers to optimize better understanding on stem cells’ potential advantage for the humanity. However, it is clear that the law on stem cells in the US is heading to major progres sion. Just this year, Texas Board approves rules on use of stem cells (Park, 2012). However, there is a great controversy that proliferates upon the emancipation of this ruling. The rules include the use of adult stem cells. However, the great issue of concern at this point is on the safety of using adult stem cells, which at this point has not yet been proven feasible and safe (Park, 2012). So the real issue has

Feminism shown throughout the book called Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Essay

Feminism shown throughout the book called Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Essay Example Some have considered it quite ironic for a person like Mary Shelley to write a novel in which all female characters have marginal representation compared to the male characters. Shelley was born to a very notable Victorian feminist named Mary Wollstonecraft. Yet, she has portrayed women as creatures of little wisdom or independence in her most distinguished novel. For example, when the text says that â€Å"He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care;† (Shelley 26), it is suggested by Viktor that Caroline, his mother, had no capacity to look after herself and looked up to his father to be taken care of. She clearly has no means to support herself financially and so, marries Viktor’s father for survival. This possessibility of women, depicted in the novel, could be due to the fact that Shelley wrote in a time when women were expected to abide by some rules which were set for them by the conservative society in which they lived. Her novel does not speak of women with spirited enthusiasm, rather they are described in a very ordinary way which makes the readers perceive them as ordinary and powerless. For example, at one point, Viktor speaking of his mother says that in his childhood, â€Å"she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift† (Shelley 30). Here, it is clear how powerless women then were because Elizabeth, while being unaware herself, is promised by another woman to his child. Elizabeth has no say in this important matter of her life, rather she is treated like an object and handed over to a child. There is a huge gender gap which is clearly noticeable in Frankenstein. This is even considered a sexist book by many critics. Negative portrayal of women in the novel is traced back by some to the time in which Shelley lived when women were brought up in a such a way that they could not think of

Data Collection and Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Collection and Analysis - Essay Example Depending on the need, availability of information and expected outputs one or combination of more than one methods for data collection and analysis needs to be adopted. Following are some of the methods for data collection - 1. Primary Research - this method involves collecting information from first hand research done by other individuals / teams / groups and using it to draw inferences with due references to the original research work. 2. Secondary Research - this method involves collecting information which has been derived or inferred from some other primary research work. This may involve articles, secondary research reports, published opinions, etc. among others. 3. Survey - this is a widely known method of data collection by conducting a survey over a sample target population and analyzing the results in order to get first hand information on the research work. 5. Interviews - interviews are another form of collecting information from relevant target population and use the information captured to satisfy the research objectives. Interviews can be structured or unstructured and can be conducted in person or on phone or video conference. 6. Delphi Method - this is a method for collection of expert opinion in the area in which research is being conducted. Experts consulted should be credible and knowledgeable people in the area of the research. For each of the data collection met... However, the above list captures the most commonly used data collection methods. Pros and Cons For each of the data collection methods stated above, there are pros and cons of adopting them in a research project as well as appropriateness for specific type of research projects. Following is a brief discussion on the same - 1. Primary Research - this is a good method of data collection as it provides valuable data points for the research without actually conducting a firsthand research. This method is useful where there are constraints on either time or resources for conducting fully fledged research activities. However, this is still a substitute for actual research. Information available may not exactly match the conditions needed for the research. Hence, there may be compromises or assumptions to be made while using this form of research. This may lead to inaccuracies in research results. 2. Secondary Research - similar to primary research, secondary research may also used in cases of constraints on resources or time. Many times, this form of research is used as a literature review for first step in a research project to provide rough idea on the research topic. This provides important data points which may be useful for designing the actual research, tools used and analysis of data. Again, the disadvantages are that the secondary source information may have inherent inaccuracies introduced while drawing inferences and conclusions from the primary research sources. 3. Survey - this is a popular data collection tool used while conducting business research or market research. The survey results and their analysis provide first hand information directly from the main sources and are not dependent on inferences or

The Impact of Embryonic Stem Cells on Regenerative Medicine Essay

The Impact of Embryonic Stem Cells on Regenerative Medicine - Essay Example This according to me has lead to successful harvesting of human embryonic stem cell. These cells have unrestricted ability. Hence I strongly believe this may possibly permit permanent repair of failing organs by injecting healthy cells produced from human embryonic cells. Again I believe skeptics might refute pluripotent stem cells as tumorogenic. Qualified researchers from Stanford school of Medicine have discovered an innovative yet distinct method of synthesizing liver cells from fat cells extracted from human body. This new method takes less time and produces more liver cells in the process. Other methods such as i-Heps and spherical culture take more time. Therefore since this is the most effective effort and just takes nine days, it should be adopted for faster advancement that the conventional means for liver-poisoning victims seeking transplantation. To start with this process, adipose cells are obtained from liposuction treatments or the removal of fat cells from the patient s bodies. This study at the Stanford University School of Medicine has been successful in transforming adipose stem cells into liver cells. Therefore this new discovery should be adopted because it will start producing immense potential for regenerative medicine. Ideally, the researchers were able to discover that induced pluripotent cells (iPS) had the potential to be used as possible option to human embryonic stem cells. However, some other people believe that some implications could be used to examine the molecular factors of Marfan on an adopted basis (Goldman 1) There is no doubt that the breakthrough of induced pluripotency denotes the synthesis of scientific standards and technologies that have been created over the past sixty years. I have come to learn that somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a dominant tool to investigate the experimental potential of cells; therefore it is quite difficult and not all suitable for generic and biochemical research. Also, this method is important has amounted to further improvement towards isolating iPSCs since the discovery of immortal pluripotent cells from teratocarcinomas (Stadfeld and Hochedlinger 2239-2263). This method is as well important because the discovery of lineage-linked transcription elements, which assist to identify and sustain cellular activity during growth by influencing the articulation of cell form particular genes while suppressing lineage-inappropriate genes, might possibly transform cells outcome where ectopically articulated in specific heterologous cells. However to establish transcriptional controllers so that they might reprogram adult cells into pluripotent cells, it is necessary to develop a magnificent screen for aspects inside a cluster of 24 pluripotency-connected candidate genes that will have the potential for activating a latent drug resistance allele that will be integrated into ESC-specific locus. The methods for deriving iPSCs which do not contain transgenic series are the b est because they are aimed at isolating the potentially destructive impacts of leaky transgenic expression and supplementary mutagenesis. In my view, this is particularly essential when taking into consideration iPSC technology in a therapeutic situation. To understand more about my topic, you will need to learn more about iPSCs. The first insertion free iPSCs were produced from adult mouse hepatocytes using non-integrating adenoviral, and the mouse embryonic fibroblasts. I suspect researchers used these tests so as to provide proof of standard that transitory appearance of the four classical reprogramming aspects of common integration location in iPSCs generated with retroviruses substantiate this argument. In searching the

Case Brief, U.S. V. Clemons, 32F.3d 1504(11th Cir. 1994) Research Paper

Case Brief, U.S. V. Clemons, 32F.3d 1504(11th Cir. 1994) - Research Paper Example Althouse was murdered late in the night while driving toward a colleague’s house, to discuss the next day’s arrest warrants The court relied on the law stating that any individual who kills or attempts to kill federal agents while they are engaging in their official duties can be convicted of murder. In cases whereby an individual is found guilty of an attempted murder, a jail term of not more than twenty years is issued. The court was convinced that the federal agent (Althouse) was engaging in official duties when he was murdered. Clemons argued that the evidence presented to the judge was insufficient to show that the federal agent was on official duties at the time of the murder. In addition, he argued that the court broke the law by relying on similar cases and evidence to make its decision. Smith argued that the use of Clemon’s confessions in implicating him is against the law. The court argued that Althouse was trying to prevent the theft of FBI property when he was murdered. Even though the duties were being carried out late in the night, the court still believed that Althouse was performing his duties. The way in which Clemons carried out the carjacking led to murder. Any individual who kills or attempts to kill federal agents, or any officer or employee working in the secret service or drug enforcement administration, is punishable under sections 1111 and 1112 of the United States’ Constitution. Individuals found guilty of attempted murder are given jail terms of not more than twenty years. The court made its decision based on the argument that the federal agent was performing his official duties. Althouse was trying to prevent the theft of a federal car when he was killed. In such circumstances, the judges were convinced that the agent was performing official duties. The court also relied on the evidence presented by Althouse’s colleagues. Althouse had

Food Inc Essay Example for Free

Food Inc Essay The movie makes some really good points. The best point is that subsidized corn artificially lowers the cost of animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup. This creates a tax-subsidized economic incentive for people to choose fast food over nutritious options. Scrapping farm subsidies including corn would be a great idea (that the movie doesnt propose). It has a good segment about how Monsanto is using intellectual property law to unfairly create a US soybean monopoly, suing farmers who never bought Monsanto seed and forcing them to capitulate because of the sheer weight of legal bills. But the movie descends into sensationalism. For example, it takes a sad case of a kid named Kevin who died of E Coli poisoning after eating a hamburger. It traces the industrys response which is to use ammonia to make sure that almost no E Coli survives and criticizes its solution while playing ominous music in the background along with unanswered cries of anguish from Kevins mother. It fails to mention that (1) all E Coli dies when meat is cooked properly (2) using ammonia to kill E Coli is an ingenious idea thats very effective (3) the food with the greatest risk of E Coli poisoning is organic spinach. It doesnt mention how the fast food industry eliminated the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil, almost completely eliminating trans fat from fast food. It has a scene comparing the resources used by a free range cow farmer who has about 20 cows versus an industrial slaughterhouse that processes thousands failing to mention that if the free range farmer produced cows on the same scale he would use 4x to 10x the resources for the same output. The movie takes an ill-advised stance against genetically modified food (google Norman Borlaugh). It makes several self-defeating arguments (like arguing that our industrially-produced food is infected and resource-intensive and that we should pay more to eat organic which is actually much more resource intensive and more likely to be contaminated by bacteria because of the use of poop as fertilizer instead of nitrates). The movie makes some interesting points. But the whole big business bad thing is a completely useless attitude that is a constant source of irritation to me personally. People and businesses have, do, will, and should act in their own best interests. The question is which policies should be created to incentivize wise outcomes? Regarding Monsanto, the problem isnt evil big business, its that the US should reform its legal system to act like the UKs where if you sue someone and lose then you have to pay their legal fees. That would prevent Monsantos abuses of IP law (and would accomplish tort reform in medical malpractice).

Mystery of Under Water Crop Circles Essay Example for Free

Mystery of Under Water Crop Circles Essay Current Events Paper Synopsis: Under Water â€Å"Crop Circles† Thesis: Although 95% of the ocean hasn’t been explored, researcher and photographer Yoji Ookata just recently named his new find the â€Å"mystery circle†, an intricate design of an underwater crop circle created by a tiny puffer fish, a find that uncovers yet another mystery of the ocean. Summary: Yoji Ookata has been diving and documenting the ocean well over 50 years, just off the southern coast of Japan, Ookata observed what looked like a circular rippling pattern. 80 feet below sea level and 6 feet wide is a work of art Ookata never thought he would see, created by a puffer fish. The specific ridges are designed to attract female puffer fish, they lay eggs in the center so that they are shielded from ocean currents, the more ridges the more likely it will attract females. The little puffer works tirelessly to complete his design with just one fin. When Ookata discovered this circle he went out with a camera crew determined to find its creator, taken aback when this puffer fish made his appearance Ookata knew he had just unlocked another beautiful mystery hidden within the ocean. Sources: Knowles, Melissa. â€Å"Mystery Behind Deep-Sea Crop Circles Off the Coast of Japan Solved.† Yahoo.com September 19, 2012. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/mystery-behind-deep-sea-crop-circles-off-coast-165833308.html?_esi=1 Christopher. â€Å"Mysterious Underwater ‘Crop Circles’ Discovered Off the Coast of Japan† Thisiscolossal.com September 19, 2012. http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/09/mysterious-underwater-crop-circle-art-discovered-off-the-coast-of-japan/

Menopause experiences of women living in karachi pakistan

Menopause experiences of women living in karachi pakistan This chapter presents the background of the study and the significance of the study to nursing. The study purpose, objectives and the study question are also mentioned in this chapter. Background of the Study World Health Organization (1990) reported that by the year 2030, about 1.2 billon women in the world will be at least 50 years old. It seems that in future we will have more women of old age. According to National Centre for Health Statistics (2003) womens life expectancy is now 79.8 years. Womens life expectancy has increased but their health status and quality of life is in question. To enhance their health status, the National Institute of Health (1991) developed an agenda for womens health research. The first National Institute of Working Conference (1993) recommended for research on menopause as menopause has become a dominant issue in the womens health and the quality of life of woman with menopausal symptoms is affected in various ways. In 1999, the National Institute of Health research agenda included attention to diverse population of women. After that, there was a breakthrough in researches on various aspects of menopause such as staging in menopausal transition, physiology , symptoms of menopause and their relationship. This therefore draws attention to the need to conduct more studies on the menopausal experiences of women living in developing countries, because women spend about one-third of their lives in the post menopausal period. Menopause is a physiological process, which takes place universally in all women who reach midlife. According to World Health Organization (1990) It is an important event that occurs within a long process of menopausal change, the period immediately prior to menopause (when the endocrinological, biological, and clinical features of approaching menopause commence) and at least the first year after the menopause (WHO 1980: 10), in which women move from the reproductive to the post reproductive phase of life as a part of the aging process (Kaufert, 1990; Lock, 1986). Menopause refers to the depletion of ovarian function which leads to stop menstruation and indicates the end of fertility (Lyons Griffin, 2003). All women in their midlife experience menopause but are difficult to determine what are their perceptions and experience as it is affecting womens life in various ways. Womens experience depends upon their socio-cultural norms and personal knowledge (George, 2002). Kaufert (1996) stated that menopause experience also depends on womens health at menopause that can be determined by various factors. These factors include: cultural attitudes towards health, disease, and medical treatments, their reproductive histories, the environmental conditions under which they were born and lived, their exposure to disease. According to the bio-cultural perspective, although menopause is defined as a biological event, the experience of this biological event is shaped by physiological and cultural factors (George, 2002). According to Lock (1986) menopause is of biological and socio-cultural significance; culture provides the ground where values, attitudes, and beliefs about mid-life are transmitted and where the woman attaches meaning to her experiences. Eastern women consider menopause as a natural process and view this life phase more positively as compared to Western women. According to Hafiz and Eden (2007) the differences in attitude between Eastern and Western women can be attributed to more cultural factors than to biological factors. Menopausal women from Asia experience less menopausal symptoms because their social status is raised in older age that the older women in the family are respected as wise matriarchs. They therefore develop positive attitudes toward the incidence of menopause. This is unlike the experience of European and North American women who report more menopausal symptoms and visit health practitioners more frequently. In their experience, the social status of older women in the West declines with age. Therefore, they lose their self-confidence and develop negative attitude. Women living in rural areas have unique needs associated with menopausal experience (Price, 2007 1m, 2008). Geographical and socio- cultural environment is quite different from urban population so they need special attention. Women living in rural areas are often ignored, isolated and have limited health care facilities. Pakistani women lack awareness of menopausal symptoms as well as its long term effects and outcomes but view it as natural and normal process of their life (Malik, 2008; Nusrat, et al, 2008). Although the literature revealed many key characteristic of menopause experience of women in general, there is limited information about the menopause experience of women living in Pakistan. In Pakistan few quantitative studies have been conducted on age, pattern, characteristics, attitude and symptoms experience of menopausal women under the umbrella of menopause (Malik, 2005 Nusart et al, 2008; wasti 1992; Qazi, 2006; Yahya Rehman, 2002). These all studies have utilized the survey questionnaire as data collection tool. In my limited search, none study has been conducted yet by using qualitative approach. Therefore, there is a dire need of qualitative approach to develop in-depth insight of menopause experience of women in Pakistan. Significance of proposed study to Nursing Life expectancy of women has increased and it seems that it will continue to rise because of the development of modern technology and scientific advancement. Menopause is inevitable for women who live long enough. This study would add knowledge in previously existed knowledge about the menopause experience of women living in Karachi, Pakistan. This study will enable nurses to understand menopausal women in better way and teach them the management of their menopausal symptoms and their effects as well as maintenance of their health status during this phase of life. Nurses would also be able to understand the contributing factors which can influence their experience. Working in different areas in different status, nurses, health workers, and LHVS nurse practitioner will be able to provide health education according to their socio-cultural context, arrange sessions on sharing the experience and guide them in managing their menopausal symptoms. Nurses who are working in the hospital or o ther health institute must make them aware of menopausal symptoms of in their middle age so they would be prepare to understand and able to manage their menopause successfully. It would add in previous research on menopausal symptoms experience and can expend the research and may help other in further research if they want to search some other aspects of menopause in the same context/ area of interest to search. Study Purpose The study intends to explore the menopause experience of women living in Karachi, Pakistan. Study Objectives The study objectives include: Firstly, to gain insight about the perceptions of women related to menopause. Secondly, is to find out the impact of menopause on women life. Thirdly, to explore the challenges menopausal women face and finally, to find out the strategies used to manage the challenges. Study Question What is the menopause experience of women living in Karachi, Pakistan? CHAPTER TWO Literature Review Menopause is naturally occurring process which all women throughout the world experience in their midlife. Menopause refers as the depletion of ovarian function which leads to cessation of menstruation and indicates the end of fertility (Lyons Griffin 2003). This section provides an overview of the literature reviewed, relevant to the study and highlights the research carried out on this topic. The forth coming literature is divided into different sections. First, is the physiology of human menstrual cycle and mechanism initiating menopause. Second, is the historical development of research support on menopause? Third, are the concepts or meanings of menopause? Fourth, is the factors affecting and influencing the menopause experience and finally, the comparison of studies undertaken in USA and South Asia. Physiology of Human Menstrual Cycle and Mechanism Initiating Menopause There are four (4) events involving in the hypothalamic pituitary-ovarian axis that control the human menstrual cycle: First, the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), responsible for the development of ovarian follicles and production of estradiol (Hiller, Reichert Van 1981). Throughout the menstrual cycle, estrogen maintains low gonadotrophin levels via its negative feedback effect on hypothalamic gonadotrophin releasing hormones and consequently lutenizing hormone (LH) and FSH secretion. (Yen,Tsai,Vandenberg Rebar 1972). Second, the FSH-induced increase in ovarian estrogen secretion to trigger an LH surge that is called positive feedback (Young Jaffe, 1976). Third, is the LH surge, a hypothalamic pituitary response to the estrogen stimulus? This positive feedback response of estrogen on LH secretion has been used as a test of hypothalamic pituitary function (Weiss, Nachtigall Ganguly, 1976). Final event is ovulation and leutinization of the follicles, triggered by LH surge, forming a corpus luteum. This is an ovarian response that results in progestrone secretion necessary for the establishment of a pregnancy (Vande et al, 1970). The onset of human menopause is thought to be caused by ovarian failure and follicles depletion. However, clinical symptoms and some of the recent data on menopausal woman suggest central nervous system involvement. (Weiss et al, 2004). The Study of Womens Health across the Nation (SWAN) was conducted to determine if the modification of hypothalamic-pituitary response to estrogen feedback mechanism occur in older reproductive-age women as a mechanism of onset of menopause. Three groups of women were studied who had estrogen increased and on LH surge, estrogen increased without on LH surge and neither estrogen increases on LH surge. Anovulatory cycles with high estrogen were frequent in older reproductive age women and there was an evidence of failure of the estrogen positive feedback on LH Secretion to initiate and stimulate ovulation. In anovulatory cycles follicular estrogen levels did not lower LH secretion as it was in younger reproductive age, there was decreased estrogen-negative feedback on LH secretion. It was concluded that there was hypothalamic-Pituitary insensitivity to estrogen, in aging perimenopausal women. Historical Development of Research Support on Menopause In 1993, the first National Institute of working conference recommended for research on menopause and in 1999, NIH research agenda included attention to diverse population of women. Seatle Midlife Womens Health Study was a longitudinal study conducted from 1990 2000 to study the FSH by Menopausal transition stages early, middle and late transition by the use of menstrual cycle calendar. Comparison of reproductive age and peri-menopausal womens cycles. Urinary estron and FSH level by menopausal transition stages late reproductive, early menopause transition and post menopause transition. Study of Womens Health Across the Nation (SWAN) began in September 1994. The purpose of the study was to describe the chronology, the biological and psycho-social characteristics of menopausal transition and the other purpose was to describe the effects of this transition on health and risk factors for age related chronic conditions. The emphases placed on multiethnic samples and community or population based samples. Swan study included daily hormone study over multiple years and annuals blood draws, interview, clinical exams and questionnaire. Multiple ethnic groups of women Africans, Chines, Japnese, Hispanis and White American were included in this study. The stages of reproductive aging work shop (STRAW) was held in Park city USA in 2001. The purpose of this workshop was to develop the staging system for the menopause transition. The benefits of this system are that the researches and clinician can compare cases and data across studies. Women would understand the timing and duration of the transition. This system has seven stages. Five precede and two follow the final menstrual period. Stages from -5 to -3 encompass the Reproductive Interval; stages from -2 to -1 the Menopausal transition and +1 to +2 the post Menopause (Soules et al, 2001). March (2005) A conference on management of menopause related symptoms was held by office of medical applications of research in USA to understand the symptoms and their correlation with menopause transition stage. Seatle midlife womens health study on charting the course of the natural transition to menopause for a population based sample of 35 55 years old white, Asian and African, American women ( n=375) in longitudinal study begun in 1990 and followed until 2006. Women provided daily health diary recording for 3 days per month. Monthly early am urine sample for endocrine analyses and annual health update symptoms rated from 0 (absent) to 4 (extreme). It was estimated that severity of hot flashes increased after the last menstrual period (FMP).There was an association between hormonal changes during menopause transition and the symptoms experienced by the women such as: hot flashes, sleep disturbance, depressed mood, anxiety, fatigue and vaginal dryness. There were some other factors associated with these symptoms severity. As physiology change so there are chances of developing the medical problems. SWAN studies ruled out the other diseases associated with menopause such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporoses. In the period of late and early menopausal transition there may be the the chances that the lumen size of the carotid artery becomes larger (Wikdman et al, 2008).Women experience a high incidence of depressed mood during late menopausal transition (Bromberger, 2007 ; woods et al, 2008). Concepts or Meanings of Menopause Menopause is a complex and significant phase of life that affects womens life in different ways globally. It is a life event that leads to physical as well as emotional challenges (George 2002; Lyons Griffen 2003). One can realize its impact on womens life as was identified by McCrea (1983) stated that in Victorian era menopausal women were used to view as aging women, with a decomposing body and an evil mind suffering from foolishness. All women experience menopause between the ages of 48 and 55 years (George, 2001), but it is difficult to determine how it is perceived by women. What does it mean to her? There is a dilemma attached to it whether it is consider as medical problem or as a life transition (James Deborah, 1997; Lyons Griffen, 2003). There are four main meanings or notions about menopause. First, is the biological or biomedical? Second, is the developmental and natural event? Third feminist notion, as natural female process and fourth, post modern which is related to physiological, social and cultural dimensions. (Gosden, 1985). A biologic definition of menopause refers to permanent cessations of menstruation resulting from loss of ovarian follicular activities and indicates the end of fertility. (Gosden1985). The last menstrual flow is the biologic marker that refers to a woman transition from a productive to non productive phase. Symptoms which are experienced by the women such as: hot flashes, perspiration, palpitation, vaginal dryness, sleep disturbance, forgetfulness, difficulty in concentrating and irritability also describes the menopause. Another aspect of biologic or biomedical view is the disease orientation to menopause which supports the use of hormonal replacement therapy (George, 2002). Changes in physiology seem to be experienced as symptoms that may require medical treatment. Until recently menopause has been viewed from a medical perspective (James Deborah, 1997). It seems that physician view menopause as a disease that must be treated. Menopause as a developmental and natural event considers as a part of womens life and taken to be normal. Menopause is often stressful but it doesnt mean that it is a disease. It should be perceived as a part of the normal developmental cycle. Life expectancy of women has increased now which indicates that menopause will now be seen as a normal event not a medical condition but as it is associated with specific health risks (osteoporoses and cardiac diseases) it is likely that physicians will continue to treat it and its symptoms. Menopause as a feminist notion that emphasizes that it is a natural female process. It can be taken as a change. If a woman understands this period as a change in her life pattern and she would try to adjust and cope with it (Lyons Griffen, 2003). Menopause as post modern notion believes that it is related to physiological, social and cultural dimensions. The meaning of menopause may be positive or negative it depends on the womans culture, the status of the women in the society as well as the physiological change that occurred as a result of menopause. Lyons and Griffen (2003) introduced another meaning and that is confusing and it is between the natural and disease construction. A woman has uncertainty about the menopause and it is the result of lack of knowledge and understanding. If menopause as taken confusing it produces anxiety and uncertainty which further complicate the complexity of menopause. Surgical meaning of menopause refers to the menopause as a result of surgical intervention (oophractomy and or hysterectomy) but the symptoms are same as natural menopause, however, the onset is abrupt and symptoms are more severe as compared to natural menopause moreover, physical and psychological symptoms are due to sudden hormonal change (Park 2005). Menopause may be viewed by women as natural or medical event; it may be confusing or challenging. The way it is perceived ultimately affects womans experience. There are many factors which can be attributed in the menopause experienced by the women. Factors Affecting or Influencing Menopause experience Menopause is a bio-cultural experience therefore bio-cultural factor such as environment, diet, fertility and genetic differences may be involved in the variations of menopausal experience (Beyene, 1986). Furthermore James and Deborah (1997) explained that a womans culture teaches her how she should respond to this event in her life. If a womans role is child bearing by her culture then she perceives her-self unimportant as menopause means the end of her role. George (2002) asserted that the menopause and how women experience it depends on her cultural norms, social influences and personal knowledge about menopause which influence the womans ability to cope with the menopausal period. Elliot, Berman and Kim (2005) added culture is embedded in all aspects of ones life and affects ones ideas, beliefs and ultimately affects on the menopause experiences. Ellen (2005) stated that women with infertility problem experiences menopause as normal and natural event after futile struggle for so long to become productive. Infertility was an abnormal event as it interfered with normal phase in life and menopause for them is a normal event that is supposed to happen so they take it positively. It is believed that each woman experiences the menopausal symptoms in a same way; however this is not the case. Avis (2002), Flint (1975), and Yahyeh and Rehan (2006) asserted that cultural differences also affect menopausal symptoms experience. The pattern and frequency of menopausal symptoms vary from culture to culture. Avis (2002) conducted a large cross sectional study for women aged 40-55 years across racial or ethnic groups of women in the United States for the comparison of menopausal symptoms. Result showed that across all five groups two consistent factors emerged. One was hot flashes and night sweats and the other psychological and psychosomatic symptoms. Caucasian women reported more psychosomatic symptoms; African American women reported more vasomotor symptoms. The pattern of finding argues against a universal menopausal symptoms syndrome consisting of vasomotor and psychological symptoms. On the other hand Im, Liu, Dormire, and Chee (2008) identified that white women b elieve that generational and life style differences are much more important than ethnic differences in menopausal symptoms experience. In a study of Indian women, Flint (1975) found that few women had any problem other than cycle changes. Lock (1986) found that Japanese Women did not have depression and also having low rates in vasomotor symptoms as compare to western culture women. In a cross cultural comparison of menopausal symptoms Avis (1993) reported the rate of almost every symptoms were lower in the Japanese than US and Canadian women. Price, Storey, and Lake (2007) identified that living in isolated environment and lack of social support system; women experienced more severe menopausal symptoms and experienced the loss of control on physical as well as psychological symptoms. It is conclude that the experience of menopausal symptoms is not same for each and every woman. They are influenced by ones socio-cultural back ground (environment, life style, knowledge, values, beliefs and the meaning of menopause perceived). It also affects the overall menopause experience of women. If the meaning of menopause taken negatively, the women will have more intense symptoms and face difficulty in managing herself as well as seek for medical treatment and experience menopause as a threat. Comparison of Researches: USA and South Asia. George (2002) conducted a study to explore the experiences of American women from diverse ethnic and socio-cultural environment. He found that the experiences of American women were not similar; they were all unique in their experiences. Some of them were having high intensity of menopausal symptoms but some did not experience any menopausal symptoms, some of them were confused as they were unaware of what to expect. Some experienced depression but some were feelings of relief from child bearing and monthly periods. Some were looking forward to future. In another online study of white midlife women Im, Liu, Dormire, and Chee (2008) identified that white women believe that generational and life style differences are much more important than ethnic differences in menopausal symptoms experience they are optimistic and try to cope with the symptoms. Women needed assistance with the menopause symptoms and were not satisfied with the guidance of the physicians use humor as coping strategy for menopause to increase their inner strength and motivate them to go through the hardship. Price, Storey, and Lake (2007) conducted a study on experiences of women living in a rural area of Canada. Researchers identified that women considered it as a change of life, and showed high concern about their general health and the changes their bodies under going. The women described the need to understand the intensity of menopausal symptoms (physical, psychological and social), including changes to their physical and mental well being. They need to receive reliable information. Menopause had significant impact on their personal relationships as they were unable to share their experiences with their husbands. Their coping strategies were social support and humor. Elliott, Berman, and Kim (2002) conducted a study on Korean Canadian women on menopause experiences. He found that they view menopause as a natural process and wanted to be fully aware about all aspects of menopause in order to control and cope with this phase of life. They were having difficulties in communication with health care professionals. They were reluctant to share their experiences with their husbands but they expressed the need to share their feelings with someone. Hafiz, Liu and Eden (2007) conducted a study on the experiences of menopause among Indian women. They identified that because of their positive socio-cultural ideas and attitude towards menopause they were not concerned about becoming menopausal and believe that it is a natural event same as birth and death. They experienced more physical and psychological symptoms rather than vasomotor (hot flashes and might sweat). He revealed that physical and psychological symptoms were higher in Asian women. Researches in Pakistan In Pakistan few quantitative studies have been conducted on age, pattern, and characteristics, attitude and symptoms experience of menopausal women (Malik, 2005 Nusart et al, 2008; wasti 1992; Qazi, 2006; Yahya Rehman, 2002). No qualitative studies have been conducted on menopause experience yet. Wasti et al (1993) conducted a study on the characteristics of menopause in three socio-economic urban groups in Karachi. The total samples size was 750 menopausal women. He found one in five women were symptomatic to poorest group but one in two the other groups. He found that fewer women had menopausal symptoms in his study but he admitted or hypothesized that menopausal problem will be most probably increase as life expectancy of women is increasing. He found mean age of natural menopause was 47 years of age. Yahya and Rehan (2002) conducted a study on age; pattern and symptom of menopause among rural women of Lahore will sample size of 130 women from 20 villages. He found mean age at menopause was 49 Â ±3. 6 years. Moreover the common symptoms were lethargy 56.4%) forget fullness (57.7%) urinary symptoms (56.2%) agitation (50.8%) depression (38.5%) insomnia (38.5%) ht flushes (36.2%) and dysparunea (16.9%). He concluded that the mean age of menopause was lower than the reported for Caucasian, but similar to Africa and South America but higher than Iran, Egypt and UAE. The frequency of symptoms was lower than observed among Caucasians, he suggested further studies on local buologies and understanding the socio cultural basis of these differences. Malik (2005) conducted a study on knowledge, attitude towards menopause and Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) among postmenopausal women in Karachi. The sample size was 102 post menopausal women. She found mean age at menopause was 147.4Â ±3 years. She found most of the respondent had positive attitude towards menopause and consider menopause as natural event lacked sufficient knowledge our menopause and HRT. Qazi (2006) conducted a study on age, pattern, symptoms and associated problems among urban population of Hyderabad. Sample size was 800 menopause women. He found mean age at menopause was 47.16. the marked climacteric symptoms were low backache headache, tiredness, lump pain, sleep disturbance and might swats were common menopause associated problems include Ischemic Heart Disease, Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, post menopause that the symptoms and problems were different from other studies reported with in the country and abroad which may revealed socio cultural and dietary differences. Nusrat et al (2008) conducted a study on knowledge attitude and experience of menopause. The sample size was 863 menopausal women. She concluded that majority women consider menopause as natural event and have positive attitude but majority of the women were unaware of menopausal symptoms and health effects, the bothered by symptom but did not sought for treatment. The age at natural menopause according to Pakistani studies is between 45-51 years; mean age is 48 years (Malik, 2008, Qazi, 2006; Yahya Rehan, 2006). Some of the findings were similar in the studies which have been conducted in Pakistan. Pakistani women consider menopause as natural and normal phase of life and aging process. They have positive attitude to words menopause (Malik, 2005; Nusart et al, 2008; Yahya Rehman, 2002). These findings are similar with the findings of studies have been conducted in other Eastern countries women such as India, China, and Korea. The other finding that the Pakistani women are not fully aware of the menopausal symptoms and its health implication or its long term consequences on quality of life (Malik, 2008. Nusrat et al, 2008; Yahya Rehan, 2006). Majority of the women bothered with the menopause symptoms but because of positive attitude, poverty, and due to lack of awareness they do not go for treatment or consultation. Malik, 2008; Nusrat et al , 2008). Qazi (2006) identified many differences in his study especially in the prevalence of symptoms reported with in the country and assumed that these are because of socio-cultural and diet differences. In rural areas of Lahore, Yahyeh and Rehan (2006) found the prevalence of various symptoms comparatively lower than other Caucasian. Researcher suggested the need for studying local biologys and understanding of socio-cultural bases of these differences. Summary of the Literature The literature revealed important information about the physiology as well as the initiation process of this phenomenon. The various concepts and meanings perceived by different school of thoughts. The historical development in the research on menopause is also addressed. Factors which are closely involved in influencing menopause experience as well studies conducted on this topic are also highlighted. The Eastern women conceptualize menopause as natural process thats why they have positive attitude towards it as compare to Western women. They bothered by menopause symptoms but try to cope with it positively. In Pakistan quantitative studies have been conducted on this topic but this approach did not provide insight in to a womens understanding the need of qualitative research is required to explore the women experience related to this phenomenon. (George, 2002). CHAPTER THREE Study Design and Methodology This chapter focuses on the approach to conduct this study, the study design and rationale of the design, the study population, study setting as well as sample and sampling. Data making, data management, data analysis, study rigor and the study limitations will also be the part of this chapter. Study Design The study design which is selected for this study is qualitative descriptive-exploratory. According to Polit and Beck (2008) qualitative approach involves naturalistic pattern. Naturalistic methods of inquiry deal with the experiences of human complexity by exploring it directly. It emphasizes on understanding the human experience as it is lived. Qualitative study required for in-depth and rich information to understand the phenomenon. Furthermore Holloway and wheeler (2002) concluded that qualitative research is an objective way to gain knowledge about the subjective and holistic nature of human. Burns and Grove (2007) stated that the purpose of exploratory study is to investigate a specific concept about which little is known. It emphasizes on identification of factors related to a phenomenon of interest. As this study aims to explore the menopause experience, which is lived experience and there would not be one reality as each women experience would be different. Therefore a quali tative exploratory descriptive design is best suited to this study. Study Population The study population would be all women who are in their menopausal period, coming to Obstetric and Gynecologists outpatient department of Pakistan Naval Ship hospital, Karachi. The target population will be all the menopausal women who will meet the inclusion criteria, will be coming to Obstetrics and Gynecology OPD. Setting Pakistan Naval Ship hospital, Karachi will be selected as data collection site. Obstetric and Gynecologists OPD will be utilized for this purpose. This hospital was established in 1963. It is classified as a class A Pakistan Navys hospital. The total bed stren

Iagos Role in Othello :: essays research papers

How powerful and credible is Iago?s role in Othello? Use literary criticism to inform your opinion. Possibly being one of the most despicable characters that Shakespeare has ever drawn up, Iago is fascinating for his most terrible characteristic: his utter lack of convincing motivation for his actions and therefore this questions his credibility within the play. Douthat, Ross, Stewart and Adam (August 2001, former Harvard University students and writers of the ?SparkNote on Othello?) claim that ?In the first scene, he [Iago] claims to be angry at Othello for having passed him over for the position of lieutenant (I.e. 7?32). At the end of Act I, scene iii, Iago says he thinks Othello may have slept with his wife, Emilia: ?It is thought abroad that ?twixt my sheets / He has done my office? (I.iii.369?370)?. This suggests two of the main reasons why Iago might hate Othello but it does not explain his deep hatred and loathing of him. It seems that Iago does not reveal his true reasons behind the hatred of Othello or that he does not have one. This, then, interferes with Iago?s characte ristics of being a clever, cunning and specific in what he wants and does. Another flaw in the play that can be used to question Iago's credibility is his actual ability to persuade and manipulate Othello. ?Iago, the protagonist is yes evil but yet fascinating. His methods of deception when planting the, ?seeds of poison,? into Othello?s mind are astounding, how he can make an experienced man of the world (although granted he is not experienced in the ways of women, a factor Iago plays upon) believe a shallow and very unstable lie is amazing (Charlie Clough, Dec 2002). This could advocate two things: Iago must have an amazing ability to manipulate and persuade other people (though this astonishing ability is put to use without a main purpose) or Othello, despite our early impressions of him, is gullible and irresponsible with his opinion so we begin to question whether Othello is worthy of his title and position.

Ancient Greek Beliefs Of Religion And Death Differs From Other Culture :: essays research papers

Ancient Greek Beliefs of Religion and Death Differs From Other Cultures   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How does the Ancient Greek beliefs of religion and death differ with the view of other cultural groups? Death, the way it is represented in Homer's book, The Odyssey, is always caused by human error. Whether their death was caused by greed, selfishness, or just being curious, many people died in The Odyssey. Still, the question of what happens after we die remains. Many religions have different beliefs of religious ideas from the Ancient Greeks. Afterlife, is a belief where the comparisons among religions become extremely close. The Greek beliefs of gods and death are different from the modern day beliefs of other religions such as Judaism and Ancient Egyptian beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For example, The Odyssey begins with a scene containing a conversation among the gods. The goddess Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, is discussing the matter of Odysseus with Zeus, the head god and god of sky (Homer 10). Of course these are not the only Greek gods and goddesses. Other examples of Greek gods and goddesses are Apollo, god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and young unmarried men and Hestes, goddess of the home. As you can see, the Greeks believed in many gods unlike the people of the Jewish fate who believed in one god. The Jewish god does not have an emblem that which it is represented by. The belief is that the god is represented by everything. For example, members of the Jewish religion believe god is everywhere, in everything, and represented by everything they do. Another example of the religious differences is how Ancient Egyptians believed in idol gods which are gods represented in statues. Ancient Greek beliefs are different from those of other societies because of differences between how gods are represented in Judaism and Ancient Egyptian beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Equally important are the Ancient Greek views of death. Death caused by human error is widespread throughout the book. Human error is encountered in each one of Odysseus's adventures on his return home. The Kyklopes represented the greediness, selfishness, and uncilvilization of Odysseus's men. Odysseus fell asleep and his men unleashed a bag of bad winds, throwing them off path (Homer 315). Skylla and Kharybdis was a representation of death from nature when Odysseus's men stopped rowing and six of the men were killed. The Seirenes, with their beautiful singing voices represent suicide death. Hades, probably the most down to Earth adventure, represents time and fate. Many religions use time and fate as representations of why people die. Ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died, they were hand picked by god and therefore sacrificed.

Heroes (my Parents) :: essays research papers

When one thinks of heroes, names such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa often come to mind. These people had done a lot of favors, courage, helps, and more of things for the people who needed them. They have change the world. But, heroes can be in anyway, even in each of individuals in the world. I have the persons who I think is the best hero in my mind. They are my parents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My parents are brave; they will do anything for my happiness. Not only mine, but also their friends, and families. My father has many friends, and he always helps them whenever they need them most. Without my parents, I probably will not survive. Heroes usually best described as selfless, brave, and often inspiring. A friend of my mother just heard a bad news from her family back in Indonesia, telling that her father has a cancer that already spread in his body. She has to go back and visit her father, but can't afford the plane ticket. My mom not hesitantly let her borrow her money for the ticket. During The May riot in Indonesia, everybody in my complex tried to run away since the natives were going to kill the Chinese. But, My father and couple of his friends ordered them to stay and fight back, and it worked. The natives ran when they saw a crowd of Chinese trying to kill them back. My parents are the most inspiring people for me. They taught me things that I need to know like drugs, and other important things. My father always inspired me to do the right things, to be strong, and be independent. I am sure that all parents that did a lot of things for their children are heroes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Heroes always change in our mind as we grow. As a child, we think Hercules, Xena, superheroes, imaginary friends, comics', and cartoons' heroes as the real heroes. As we grow older, our opinions keep changing from time to time.