Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Portfolio Instructions Essays - Education, Knowledge, Writing

Portfolio Instructions English 101 Fall 2016 Overview As part of an ongoing assessment of a student's ability to progress as a writer, each student enrolled in English 101 will submit a portfolio of work at two separate times. The first submission will be a work-in- progress to be turned in along with the Midterm. The second submission will be the final submission, to be turned in along with the Final. The portfolio assignment is worth 15% of the student's final grade. Expectations Students must write an essay specifically for the portfolio that will introduce the portfolio to their readers and demonstrate that they have achieved the required competencies of the course. Students should write a reflective essay in which they argue for their accomplishments on the writing tasks listed below, using their compositions as evidence. This essay is typically read first, giving the readers of their portfolio insight into their thinking about their writing. Students will have chosen the work and provided some information about the assignments, but only they can explain how their portfolio demonstrates their accomplishments as a writer. This essay will not count toward the total number of pages (10-30) or papers (3-5) for the portfolio itself. Other Requirements 1. At least three compositions that illustrate work in more than one genre (ex. a proposal, a profile, a narrative, an academic argument, etc) which are preceded by an introduction explaining the assignment and why the student chose to include it in the final portfolio. 2. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to use writing for reflections. 3. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to use writing for explanation. 4. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to use writing for analysis. 5. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to use writing for persuasion. 6. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to use write according to an audience. 7. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to integrate their own writing with the writing of others, effectively using appropriate sources, properly documented. 8. At least one composition that demonstrates the student's ability to articulate and support a thesis-driven argument. 9. Evidence of engaging in the writing process through multiple drafts. 10. Evidence that the student has worked collaboratively with peers. 11. Evidence that the student can edit their work for mechanical errors to the extent that, while perhaps not "perfect", surface features of the language do not interfere with communication. Advice Do not panic! Some essays can count for multiple requirements, and we'll make sure each requirement is covered. To help, keep EVERYTHING we write, not just final drafts. Also, keep anything that has received peer or instructor feedback. Keep these in a folder that you can bring with you every day.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

The Great Gatsby and the Lost Generation

The Great Gatsby and the Lost Generation Nick Carraway, the tale’s â€Å"honest† narrator, is a small-town, Midwest American boy who once spent some time in New York with the greatest man he has ever known, Jay Gatsby.  To Nick, Gatsby is the embodiment of the American Dream: rich, powerful, attractive, and elusive.  Gatsby is surrounded by an aura of mystery and illusion, not unlike L. Frank Baum’s Great and Powerful Oz.  And, like the Wizard of Oz, Gatsby and all that he stands for turn out to be nothing more than carefully crafted, delicate constructs.   Gatsby is the dream of a man who does not exist, living in a world where he does not belong.  Although Nick understands that Gatsby is far from being who he pretends to be, it does not take long for Nick to be charmed by the dream and to believe wholeheartedly in the ideals that Gatsby represents.  Ultimately, Nick falls in love with Gatsby, or at least with the fantasy world that Gatsby champions. Nick Carraway is perhaps the most interesting character in the novel.  He is simultaneously the one person who seems to see through Gatsby’s faà §ade, but also the person who most adores Gatsby and who cherishes the dream that this man represents.  Carraway must continually lie to and deceive himself while attempting to reassure the reader of his honest nature and unbiased intentions.  Gatsby, or James Gatz, is fascinating in that he represents all aspects of the American Dream, from the tireless pursuit of it to the actual embodiment of it, and also, tragically, the realization that it does not really exist. The other characters, Daisy Tom Buchanan, Mr. Gatz (Gatsby’s father), Jordan Baker, and others are all interesting and important in their relationship to Gatsby. We see Daisy as the typical Jazz Age â€Å"flapper† interested in beauty and riches; she returns Gatsby’s interest only because he is so materially advantaged.  Tom is the representative of â€Å"Old Money† and its condescension to but vehement dislike of the  nouveau-riche. He is racist, sexist, and wholly unconcerned for anyone but himself. Jordan Baker, the artists, and others represent the various unspoken but ever-present notions of sexual exploration, individualism, and self-gratification that are indicative of the period.   What typically draws readers to this book, whether or not they come away with the traditional understanding of the novel (a love story, a censure on the American Dream, etc.), is its strikingly beautiful prose.  There are moments of description in this narrative which nearly take one’s breath away, particularly as they often come unexpectedly. Fitzgerald’s brilliance lies in his ability to undercut his every thought, showing both the positive and negative arguments of a situation within the very same paragraph (or sentence, even).   This is perhaps best demonstrated in the final page of the novel, where the beauty of the dream that is Gatsby is contrasted with the disillusionment of those pursuing the dream.  Fitzgerald explores the power of the American Dream, the heart-pounding, soul-shaking evocation of those early American immigrants who looked upon the new shores with such hope and longing, with such pride and eager determination, only to be crushed by the never-ending struggle to achieve the unattainable; to be trapped in a timeless, ageless, persistent dream  that never amounts to anything but the dream. The Great Gatsby  by F. Scott Fitzgerald is quite possibly the most widely-read piece of American Literature.  For many, The Great Gatsby is a love story, and  Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are the 1920s American Romeo Juliet, two star-crossed lovers whose destinies are intertwined and whose fates are tragically sealed from the beginning; however, the love story is a faà §ade. Does Gatsby love Daisy?  Not as much as he loves the  idea  of Daisy. Does Daisy love Gatsby?  She loves the possibilities he represents.   Other readers find the novel to be a depressing critique of the so-called American Dream, one which, perhaps, can never truly be reached.  Similar to Theodore Dreiser’s  Sister Carrie, this story predicts a bleak fate for America.  No matter how hard one works or how much one achieves, the American Dreamer will always want more. This reading brings us closer to the true nature and purpose of  The Great Gatsby,  but not quite all.   This is not a love story, nor is it strictly about one man’s striving for the American Dream. Instead, it is a story about a restless nation. It is a story about wealth and the disparity between â€Å"Old Money† and â€Å"New Money.† Fitzgerald, through his narrator Nick Carraway, has created a dreamy, illusory vision of a society of dreamers; shallow, unfilled people who are rising too fast and consuming too much.  Their children are neglected, their relationships disrespected, and their spirits crushed beneath the weight of soulless riches. This is the story of The Lost Generation and the lies they must tell in order to continue living every day when they are  so sad, lonely, and disillusioned.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Critical Essay On The Book The Crusades through Arab Eyes

Critical On The Book The Crusades through Arab Eyes - Essay Example The book stands out among other books written on this subject, for it differs from other books in its focus. Majority of books have depicted the Crusades from the Western perspective. This book focuses on the Arab forces and their thoughts. The author begins the book by describing the fear that Franj troops created in the minds of Arab leaders. King Kilij Arslan was the first Arab King who was informed about the approach of Franj troops. â€Å"The King Kilij Arslan whom Ibn al-Qalanisi mentions here was not yet seventeen when their invader arrived. The first Muslim leader to be informed of their approach, but also the first to be routed by the formidable knights.  The news of the invasion was received with fear, as Arslan was aware that the Franj troops brought ruin and destruction. The attitude of Arab world towards Franj troops is depicted in the thoughts of Arslan. Although they were ignorant of their aims, they were sure that Franj troops were coming to harm them. Arslan repre sented the outlook of the Arab world towards Franj troops. â€Å"He immediately feared the worst. Naturally, he had no idea as to the real aims of these people, but in his view, nothing good could come of their arrival in the Orient.†. The Arab world viewed the Franj troops with distrust and fear.  The book also sheds light on the conduct of Arabs and Franj troops during the Crusades. The Franj troops claimed that they followed the teachings of Christian but their behaviour defied their claim.  Ã‚  

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Company Analysis for Yahoo Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Company Analysis for Yahoo - Research Paper Example Basically, Yahoo was only accessible by the two engineering students but because they had created a web interface that had allowed other people to access to their guide and because of apparent knowledge of Yahoo and its existence in lieu of the word of mouth and electronic mail, more people began using their web site and because of Yahoo's strong as well as positive impact to the people and the society amicably, Yahoo has a complex environment. Due to this complexity, the department is considering all the factors that affect its task environments. Some factors such as political-legal and economic climates are encouraging to the growth of the department. However, the sociocultural climate is posing a challenge. Nevertheless, Yahoo is generally having a stable environment. The political-legal climate of corporations globally has been generally encouraging. This is especially for yahoo in which it reciprocates the government's trust on the company by sharing 30 percent of its shares to the government. Likewise, the economic climate globally has seen the growth of systems of wealth production, distribution and consumption. However, inflations and recessions affect the operation of Yahoo. These are the factors over which we have little control. The sociocultural climate represents the attitudes, values, norms, beliefs, behaviours and associated demographic characteristics of the population within which an organisation operates (Daft 1997, p. 78). In operating and managing Yahoo applications that support users, we have to consider our customers' values and beliefs. To do this we conduct studies to identify the concerns of our customers. The technological climate includes scientific and technological advancements in the production of goods and services (Dahlgren and Whitehead, 1991). Technology for Yahoo is of particular importance because it has been and continues to be the main source of increases in productivity, which means it can either provide a competitive advantage to organisations that can use it effectively, or pose a threat to those that lack it. To remain competitive therefore, it is important that we need to understand current technology developments affecting their ability to offer desirable products and services. The pace of change in that industry, of course, is accelerating, and its scope and impact are widening. Spectators of the technology can trace that change from the earliest antecedents of Yahoo, to the most recent developments. Spectators can also scan the entire Yahoo continuum from the 19th century to the 21st or pinpoint, year by year or decade by decade, but the focus of this paper will only be from 1998 to 2003. These are the years and key events that have led to the Yahoo of today and it has shown through the use of the company's corporate strategy. It is said that people are living through an era in which organizations

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Business Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Business Analysis - Essay Example My perspective of the mentioned learning outcomes is that the business environment is a complex setting with diverse factors that influence all the decisions that managers make concerning business. This work will seek to demonstrate the interrelations of the mentioned learning outcomes and their relevance to the performance of firms. The environment consists of both internal and external factors that interplay to affect the way businesses make choices regarding what to produce and what to sell on the market. For this case, the market place forms the biggest force in the external environment that affects the choices from within the internal environment. I understand that the government forms unit of regulation of business activities in both the micro and macroeconomic environments. Economics deals with the choices that people make because of the limited resources, which for this case, contains both the individual producers and consumers as well as the aggregate economy. Microeconomics is, therefore, the study of individuals within an economy while macroeconomic concerns the aggregate economy. Both firms and consumers within the economy have to make choices regarding the use of limited resources. For this case, the consumers form the market forces because they affect the levels of demand for the goods and services that the firms make within the economy. I understand that the choices that companies make concerning the production of their products constitute the market structures such as the oligopolies, monopolies, and perfect competition. Managers of the firms have to make choices of the best alternatives that will give the best returns after studying the activities of their competitors. Such decisions constitute the market curves, which are actual theoretical tools that predict the likely outcomes of a given decision concerning the production of goods and services. It is evident that the

Friday, November 15, 2019

A Letter From Prison Accounting Essay

A Letter From Prison Accounting Essay Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) is a software company which sells software products for business. In the case, according to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, revenues for the software licensing should be recognized once a contract was signed, the software was delivered, and payment was reasonably assured. In Computer Associates, when the revenue recognition principles were met, it recognized the whole value of the licensing revenues quarterly. However, from the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 1988 to the second quarter of the fiscal year 2001, Computer Associates has backdated some contracts and allows it accountants to record these contracts in the present financial statements. In accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, these contracts should be recognized in the next quarter. The future revenues which have recorded in the present financial statements lead to the higher profits and return on investments currently. What Computer Associ ates does is in the violation of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. What Computer Associates haves done is a kind of ethical elitism and ethical parochialism. Ethical elitism means that it is significant to maximize the interest of the top stratum or the elite no matter what to scarify and the ethical parochialism refers to that it is important to protect the interests of the individuals in-group. The executives of Computer Associates take their effort to recognize the revenues against the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in order to protect the reputation of the company and meet the analysts estimation and make the investors confident to the company. However, the investors and shareholders cannot make a good decision by using the improper financial statements. In the case, as the former senior manager of the Computer Associates, Richards try to defense against the crime which makes him in jail. Richards considers that Computer Associates lacks of the information to justify whether the accounting operation in Computer Associates is legal or not. As to him, it is not a big deal for doing this and it is just a timing issue in the revenue recognition. Nevertheless, the revenue recognition in Computer Associates is against the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Computer Associates recorded the future revenue in the current financial statements to make the company seems to be profitable. The main function of the financial statements is to show how the company operates and offer the information about the company to the managers and investors. The financial statements are the tools in helping the managers and investors to make the decision. Computer Associates cloud the investors and shareholders about its accurate sales revenues within the current quarter. By using the inaccurate financial statements, strategies and investment are made incorrectly. From the Exhibit 4 in the case, the percentages that properly recorded revenue was inflated by improperly accelerated revenue in every quarter from 2000 to 20001 were all above 10%. Moreover, there are large differences between the announced EPS and EPS without improperly recognized revenue in every quarter from 2000 to 2001. The announced EPS were much higher than the EPS without improperly recognized revenue. Comparing to the analyst EPS estimated, Computer Associates cannot reach the analyst EPS estimated without improperly recognized revenue which is mentioned before. In order to make the financial statements more profitable, Computer Associates use the improper recognized revenue method to make the company seem more profitable. It is unethical for Computer Associates to use allowed accounting flexibility for its revenue recognition. What is accounting flexibility? Accounting flexibility refers to the process that the accountants use their knowledge of accounting rules and standards to manipulate the figures in the financial statement in order to meet some specific purposes. It is about the transformation of the figures in the financial reports from actual figures to the figure which were needed by the preparers, by taking the advantages of the accounting rules and standards. (Naser, 1993). It can help the management to manage the reported figures to be higher or lower. Examples of accounting standards which can use accounting flexibility are as follow: The revaluation of the assets. While in estimation of the assets current value through the depreciation, the estimations are usually made inside the business. It is subjective for the company to estimate the value of the assets. The management has the opportunity to estimate the value on the side of caution or optimism. When doing the estimation in the value of the assets, it refers to the change of the assets, depreciation expenses and the impairment losses. Therefore, the measurement of the assets and income change. The fair value recognition of the plan asset. According to IASB, fair value is defined as the market-based value. It means that the fair value of the plan asset is on the basis of the market transaction. it can be manipulated. When changing the fair value of the plan asset, changes will be recorded in the financial statements. Q2. Richards mentions how difficult it is to operate in the grey areas of accounting and indicated that he might have benefitted from more guidance from senior management. Critically indicate who in a listed firm is responsible for the content of the final accounting reports. Corporate governance is the processes, structures and information which use for coordinating the relations in the management of the corporation. It guarantees the efficiency and the accountability for the mechanism in the corporation to protect the interests of the shareholders. Good corporate governance can help the company to create good corporation culture. The corporation culture creates through the process of the management practices and values which directly come from corporate governance. As in the company, the responsibilities of the major office holders are as follow: Implementing the strategy of the company to make the company operation in the healthy way. Advising the board about the structures of the company and making sure the quality and the quantity of the staff in the company. Providing the accurate information about the company to the board and making the proper prediction for the company. Preparing the accurate financial statements within the Generally Gccepted Accounting Principles In the company, the management should take the responsibility for the accounting reports which is in accordance with the IFRS adopted in Australia. The management should make sure the financial statements are fairly present the financial position and performances of the company. In addition, management must guarantee the financial statements with the accounting standards and prevent them to being fraud. In IFRS 8, management must consider that the most recent pronouncements of other standard setting bodies that use a similar conceptual framework to develop accounting standards, other accounting literature and accepted industry practices. Even though accountants prepare the financial statements in company, the management determines in what ways the financial position illustrate and whether make changes in the financial statements. In conclusion, the management is responsible for the content of the final accounting reports. In Computer Associates case, as a senior manager, Richards did not take his responsibilities to correct the manipulation of the revenues in the financial statements and applied to the sales-driven culture in Computer Associates. He paid more attention to the sales and the revenues in the company. Therefore, with the support of the management included Richards, the improper revenue recognition method was implemented in the company. As for me, possible alternatives can be taken as follow: Changing the accounting policies. The company can use the legal way to manipulate the revenues. For instance, Computer Associates can change the depreciation calculation and change the allocation of the research and development expenses within the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to reduce the expenses so that the profits can be higher. Changing the time of the transactions. It is helpful for delaying the expenses and the anticipation of the income, which will avoid fighting against the law and the accounting standard. Changing the terms of manipulation. Within Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, some other terms relative to the profits of the company can be manipulated in legal ways. For example, the calculation of the doubtful debts and allowance for uncollectible accounts. Changing the closing date policy of the sales target. As it is mentioned in the case, the customers use delaying tactics to negotiate with Computer Associates to get the better deal. Large proportions of the contract are booked in the final week of the quarter. That makes Computer Associates hard to recognize these contract in the current period and it makes Computer Associates to backdate the contracts. Changing the closing date policy of the sales target is helpful. Computer Associates can short the period for the sales target. For example, it can be closed monthly so that the contracts can be recognized in time. Q3. Consider managements incentives and choices in their actions. What are Computer Associates motivations to manage earnings and the financial ratios as represented in the accounting statements? Internal motivations As Richards mentions in the letter, the company culture in the Computer Associates is a sales-driven culture. It means that the more you sell, the more commissions you can get. The culture leads the company to be aggressive in operation. The goal of the company is to make profit as it can so that it can maximize the shareholders benefits. In addition, the compensations of the executives are on the basis of the sales. The executives would have high compensations when sales associates have reached the goals. According to a study of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 by Healy, there is a high possibility for choosing and changing accounting procedures in a sales-driven culture with bonus schemes. It is easily to manipulate the accounting figures to maximize the bonus awards. The study also that it is high incidence of voluntary changes in accounting operations in years following the adoption or modification of the bonus reward plan. In Computer Associates, it is so attractive to get the high quantity of compensations by manipulated the revenues. What is more, in Computer Associates, performance in business is a vital criterion. Non-performance is not acceptable in the business. Performance in non-revenue areas should be paid less attentions. In order to perform well, it is reasonable for Computer Associates to manipulate the improper revenue. External motivations The main reason for Computer Associates to manipulate the revenues is to meet the expectations of the market. According to the study of Kasznik and McNichols, the consequences of not meeting the expectations lead to lower future earnings, lower share price, lower market premium and penalization of the markets. Therefore, for Computer Associates, the motivations in order to meet the expectations can be concluded as follows: Future earnings. It is about the stakeholders. The Computer Associates needs to enhance its reputation in their stakeholders, such as distributors and customers. High earnings in the financial reports make the stakeholders more confident for the company. Therefore, the stakeholders would like to do business with the company. Share prices. According to the study of Amat, Blake and Dowds, the accounting flexibility can help to boost the share prices of the company and make the company appeared to less risks for the investors. From the Exhibit 4, it is obvious to see that the EPS without improperly revenue recognition is much lower than the expectation. That means the market will decrease the share price for Computer Associates because of the low revenues. In order to change the situation, Computer Associates should manipulate the revenues to meet the expectations to maintain or increase the share price so that the confidence of the investors can be enhanced. The analysts. As it is mentioned in the case, investors gain information about investments from the analysts instead of the company. The main method which Analysts gather the information about the company is to analyze the financial reports. If the company fails to meet the expectation of the market, the analysts will doubt about the companys future earnings and the credibility. Computer Associates do not want to make the analysts feel doubtful about the companys development so that it tries to manipulate the revenues to meet the expectation of the markets. Q4. All issues related to revenue eventually affect the calculation and recognition of income. Making specific reference to the Comprehensive Income Project initiated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), carefully outline the concept of income that has been proposed by this project and the major issues highlighted. According to IASB, income refers to the increases in the benefits in the accounting period in the form of increases of the assets or the decreases of the liabilities which lead to the increase in equity. Comprehensive income is the changes in equity in a period of transactions and other events and circumstances from sources which are not owned by someone. All the changes in equity should be included in comprehensive income while the investment by owners and distributions to owners should be excluded. Comprehensive income is the sum of historic transaction income and unrealized fair value of the other items. For the historic transaction income, it refers to the entitys income during an accounting period which relative to the companys operation. In IFRS 13, fair value is the value which can be received when selling the assets or paying to transfer a liability in fairly transaction between knowledgeable and willingness parties. Fair value measurement defines as a market-based measuremen t and it is not an entity-specific measurement. Hard income refers to budgeted income that should be recognized during the operations and soft income is the actual income which recognized after the operation. In 2004, a Joint International Working Group on Performance Reporting was established (IASB 2004a). It is helpful in Comprehensive Income Project to establish the standards of the comprehensive income presentation in financial reports. (IASB 2005b) Comprehensive income requires the entity to present all the items relative to income and expense during the period. One single or two statements are accepted. When the Accounting Handbook 2009 was released, the definition of comprehensive income was published. However, income statement was still useful. Therefore, there is a confusion that as the income statement is useful, it seems the comprehensive income approach is quite inconsistent. The comprehensive income requires all the changes in the revenues and expenses and the disclosure items haven been changed. Q5. Critically review and provide an overview summary of a minimum of at least two (2) academic research papers that asses the price relevance of comprehensive income. Show how this research may have influenced subsequent releases and changes in focus by the IASB. In the study of Biddle and Choi, they focused on the debate about the fundamental definition in accounting, the comprehensive income and the consideration of IASB relative to the question. In order to justify those issues, information content, predictive ability and executive compensation contraction were used to examine. The study drew a conclusion that different definition of income makes different decisions and applications and disclosing separately comprehensive income components is useful for making decision. This study is the first study to examine this kind of issue. Another study which had done by Cahan, Courtenay, Gronewoller and Upton, suggested that, to some extent comprehensive income more value relevant than net income. Nevertheless, when doing the asset revaluation increments and foreign currency translation, the effect of comprehensive income was weak and there was no benefit in reporting the separate components of comprehensive income. In conclusion, as for the authors, in the comprehensive income approach, some information was useless, which lead to the comprehensive income did not really benefit the investors. As in a study of comprehensive income, Hanlon had the similar opinion with Cahan, Courtenay, Gronewoller and Upton. In Hanlons study, he mentioned the value relevance of mandated comprehensive income disclosures and discussed whether to choose reported in comprehensive income basis or reported in net income basis. He found that there is no evidence to support the value relevance which would be affected by the comprehensive income. Thus, he suggested that components of comprehensive income were not really value relevant after the controlling for the net income. From my point of view, after reading three essays above, IASB need to focus more on the uses of comprehensive income which IASB makes the entity to report. There are many differences between the different situations so that it leads to different adoptions. Revenue recognition is quite complex. IASB should do more researches to find out whether to use the comprehensive income approach or not when facing different situations.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Return: Midnight Chapter 33

Elena was waiting for the fog to disperse. It had come in as always, bit by bit, and now she was wondering if it would ever leave, or if it were actual y another trial itself. Therefore, when she suddenly realized she could see Stefan's shirt in front of her, she felt her heart bound for joy. She hadn't messed anything up lately. â€Å"I can see it!†Stefan said, pul ing her up beside him. And then, â€Å"Voil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – but in a whisper. â€Å"What, what?†cried Bonnie, bounding forward. And then she stopped too. Damon didn't bound. He strol ed. But Elena was turning toward Bonnie at the time, and she saw his face as he saw it. In front of them was a sort of smal castle, or large gateway with spires that pierced the low clouds that hung above it. There was some kind of writing over the huge cathedral-like black doors in front, but Elena had never seen anything like the squiggles of whatever foreign language it was. On either side of the building, there were black wal s that were nearly as tal as the spires. Elena looked left and right and realized that they disappeared only off at the vanishing point. And without magic, it would be impossible to fly over them. What the boy and girl in the story had discovered only by fol owing the wal s for days, they had simply walked straight into. â€Å"It's the Gatehouse of the Seven Treasures, isn't it, Bonnie? Isn't it? Look!†Elena shouted. Bonnie was already looking, both hands pressed against her heart, and for once without a word to say. As Elena watched, the diminutive girl fel to her knees in the light, powdery snow. But Stefan answered. He picked up Bonnie and Elena at the same time and whirled them both. â€Å"It is!†he said, just as Elena was saying â€Å"It is!† and Bonnie, the expert, gasping, â€Å"Oh, it real y, really is!†with tears freezing on her cheeks. Stefan put his lips to Elena's ear. â€Å"And you know what that means, don't you? If that is the Gatehouse of the Seven Treasures, you know where we are standing now?† Elena tried to ignore the warm, tingling sensation that shot up from the soles of her feet at the feeling of Stefan's breath on her ear. She tried to focus on his question. â€Å"Look up,†Stefan suggested. Elena did – and gasped. Above them, instead of a fog bank or incessant crimson light from a sun that never stopped setting, were three moons. One was enormous, covering perhaps a sixth of the sky, shining in swirls of white and blue, hazy at the edges. Just in front of it was a beautiful silvery moon at least three quarters as big as it was. Last, there was a tiny moon in high orbit, white as a diamond, that seemed to be deliberately keeping its distance from the other two. Al of them were half ful and shone down with gentle, soothing light on the unbroken snow around Elena. â€Å"We're in the Nether World,†Elena said, shaken. â€Å"Oh†¦it's just like in the story,†Bonnie gasped. â€Å"Exactly like. Even the writing! Even the amount of snow!† â€Å"Exactly like the story?†Stefan asked. â€Å"Even to the phase of the moons? How ful they are?† â€Å"Just exactly the same.† Stefan nodded. â€Å"I thought they would be. That story was a precognition, given to you with the purpose of helping us find the largest star bal ever made.† â€Å"Well, let's go inside!†cried Bonnie. â€Å"We're wasting time!† â€Å"Okay – but everyone on your guard. We don't want anything to go wrong now,†Stefan said. They went into the Gatehouse of the Seven Treasures in this order: Bonnie, who found that the great black doors swung open at a touch, but that she could see nothing, coming in from bright sunlight; Stefan and Elena, hand in hand; and Damon, who waited outside for a long time in the hopes, Elena thought, of being deemed â€Å"a different party.† Meanwhile the others were having the most pleasant shock since they'd taken the Master Keys from the kitsune. â€Å"Sage – Sage!†Bonnie shril ed as soon as her eyes adjusted. â€Å"Oh, look, Elena, it's Sage! Sage, how are you? What're you doing here? Oh, it's just so good to see you!† Elena blinked twice, and the dim interior of the octagonal room came into focus. She went around the only piece of furniture in the room, the large desk in the middle. â€Å"Sage, do you know how long it seems? Did you know that Bonnie almost got sold for a slave at a public auction? Did you know about her dream?† Sage looked as he always had to Elena's eyes. The bronzed, terminal y fit body, like a model of a Titan, the bare chest and bare feet, the black Levi's, the long spiraling tangles of bronze hair, and the strange bronze eyes that could cut steel, or be as gentle as a pet lamb. â€Å"Mes deux petits chatons,† Sage was saying. â€Å"My two little kittens, you have astounded me. I have been fol owing your adventures. The Gatekeeper is not provided with much entertainment and is not al owed to leave this fortress, but you were most brave and amusing. Je vous felicite.†He kissed first Elena's hand and then Bonnie's, then embraced Stefan with the Latin two-cheeked kiss. Then he resumed his seat. Bonnie was climbing Sage as if she were a real kitten. â€Å"Did you take Misao's star bal ful of Power?†she demanded, kneeling on his thigh. â€Å"Did you take half of it, I mean? To get back here?† â€Å"Mais oui, I did. But I also left Madame Flowers a little – â€Å" â€Å"Do you know that Damon used the other half to open the Gate again? And that I fel in too, even though he didn't want me? And that because of that I almost got sold as a slave? And that Stefan and Elena had to come after me, to make sure I was okay? And that on the way here Elena almost fel off the bridge, and we're not sure if the thurgs are going to make it? And do you know that in Fel ‘s Church the Last Midnight is coming, and we don't know – â€Å" Stefan and Elena exchanged a long, meaningful glance and then Stefan said, â€Å"Bonnie, we have to ask Sage the most important question.†He looked at Sage. â€Å"Is it possible for us to save Fel ‘s Church? Do we have enough time?† â€Å"Eh bien. As far as I can tel from the chronological vortex, you have enough time and a little to spare. Enough for a glass of Black Magic to see you off. But after that, no dawdling!† Elena felt like a crumpled piece of paper that had been straightened and smoothed. She took a long breath. They could do it. That allowed her to remember civilized behavior. â€Å"Sage, how did you get stuck way out here? Or were you waiting for us?† â€Å"Helas, no – I am assigned here as punishment. I got an Imperial Summons that I could not ignore, mes amis.†He sighed and added, â€Å"I am just Out of Favor again. So now I am the ambassador to the Nether World, as you see.†He waved a languid hand around the room. â€Å"Bienvenue.† Elena had a sense of time ticking away, of precious minutes being lost. But maybe Sage himself would do something for Fel ‘s Church. â€Å"You real y have to stay in here?† â€Å"But assuredly, until mon pre – my father† – Sage said the word savagely and resentful y – â€Å"relents and I am al owed to return to the Infernal Court, or, much better, to go my ways without ever returning. At least until someone takes the pity on me and kil s me.†He looked inquiringly around the group, then sighed, and said, â€Å"Saber and Talon, they are well?† â€Å"They were when we left,†Elena said, itching to get on with their real business here. â€Å"Bien,† Sage said, looking at her kindly, â€Å"but we should have your entire group in here for the viewing, no?† Elena glanced at the doors and then again at Stefan, but Sage was already cal ing – both with voice and telepathy – â€Å"Damon, mon poussinet, do you not want to come in with your comrades?† There was a long pause, and then the doors opened and a very sul en Damon stepped in. He wouldn't reply to Sage's friendly, â€Å"Bienvenue,† instead saying, â€Å"I didn't come here to socialize. I want to see the treasures in time to save Fel ‘s Church. I haven't forgotten about the damned hick town, even if everyone else has.† â€Å"Alors maintenant,† Sage said, looking wounded. â€Å"You have al passed the tests in your way and may look upon the treasures. You may even use magic again, although I am not sure that it wil help you. It al depends upon which treasure you seek. Felicitations! â€Å" Everyone but Damon made some gesture of embarrassment. â€Å"Now,†Sage continued, â€Å"I must show each gate to you before you can pick. I wil try to be quick, but be cautious, s'il vous pla?t. Once you choose a treasure, that is the only door that wil open again for any of you.† Elena found herself clutching at Stefan's hand – which was already reaching for hers – as one by one the doors shone with a faint, silvery light. â€Å"Behind you,†said Sage, â€Å"is the very gate you entered to get into this room, yes? But next to it, ah†¦Ã¢â‚¬ A door brightened to show an impossible cavern. Impossible because of the gems lying on the ground or sticking out of the cave wal s. Rubies, diamonds, emeralds, amethysts†¦each one as big as Elena's fist, lying thick in great piles for the taking. â€Å"It's beautiful, but†¦no, of course!†she said firmly, and reached out to put a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. The next door lit up, brightened, then brightened more so that it seemed to disappear. â€Å"And here,†Sage sighed, â€Å"is the famous kitsune paradise.† Elena could feel her eyes widen. It was a sunny day in the most beautiful park she had ever seen. In the background a little waterfal spil ed into a creek, which ran down a green hil , while directly in front of her was a stone bench, just the size for two, underneath a tree that looked like a cherry in ful bloom. Blossoms were flying in a breeze that rustled other cherry and peach trees nearby – causing a rain of dawn-colored petals. Although Elena had only seen the place for a moment, it already seemed familiar to her. She could just walk into it†¦ â€Å"No, Stefan!†She had to touch his arm. He had been walking right into the garden. â€Å"What?†he said, shaking his head like someone in a dream. â€Å"I don't know what happened. It just seemed as if I were going to an old, old home†¦Ã¢â‚¬ His voice broke off. â€Å"Sage, go on, please!† The next door was already lighting, showing a scene with rack after rack of Clarion Loess Black Magic wine. In the distance, Elena could make out a vineyard with lush grapes hanging heavily, fruit that would never see the light of the sun until it was made into a famous liquid. Everyone was already sipping at their glasses of Black Magic, so it was easy to say â€Å"no†even to the luscious grapes. As the next door brightened Elena heard herself gasp. It was bril iant midday. Growing in a field as far as she could see were tal bushes thick with long-stemmed roses – the blossoms of which were a velvety-looking black. Startled, she saw that everyone was looking at Damon, who had taken a step toward the roses as if involuntarily. Stefan put an arm out, barring his way. â€Å"I didn't look very closely,†Damon said, â€Å"but I think these are the same as the one I†¦destroyed.† Elena turned to Sage. â€Å"They're the same, aren't they?† â€Å"But yes,†Sage said, looking unhappy. â€Å"These are al Midnight roses, noir pur – the sort in the white kitsune's bouquet. But these are al blanks. The kitsune are the only ones who can put spel s on them – like the removal of the curse of a vampire.† There was a general sigh of disappointment among his listeners, but Damon just looked more sul en. Elena was about to speak up, to say that Stefan shouldn't be put through this, when she tuned in to Sage's words and the next gate, and felt a surge of simple, selfish longing herself. â€Å"I suppose you would cal it ‘ La Fontaine of Eternal Youth and Life,'†Sage said. Elena could see an ornate fountain playing, the effervescent spray at the top making a rainbow. Smal butterflies of al colors flew around it, alighting on the leaves of the bower that cradled it in greenery. Meredith, with her cool head and straightforward logic wasn't there, so Elena dug her nails into her palms and cried â€Å"No! Next one!†as quickly and forceful y as she could. Sage was speaking again. She made herself listen. â€Å"The Royal Radhika Flower, which legends say was stolen from the Celestial Court many mil ennia ago. It changes shape.† A simple enough thing to say†¦but actual y to see it†¦ Elena watched in astonishment as a dozen or so thick, twining stems, topped by gorgeous white cal a lily blossoms, trembled slightly. The next instant she was looking at a cluster of violets with velvet leaves and a drop of dew shining on a petal. A moment later, the stems were topped with radiant mauve snapdragons – with the dewdrop Stillin place. Before she could remember not to reach out and touch them, the snapdragons had become deep, ful y open red roses. When the roses became some exotic golden flower that Elena had never seen, she had to turn her back. She found herself bumping into a hard, masculine, bare chest while forcing herself to think realistical y. Midnight was coming – and not in the form of a rose. Fel ‘s Church needed al the help it could get and here she was staring at flowers. Abruptly, Sage swung her off her feet and said, â€Å"What a temptation, especial y for a lover of la beaute like you, belle madame. What a foolish rule to keep you from taking just a bud! But there is something even higher and more pure than beauty, Elena. You, you are named for it. In old Greek, Elena means ‘light'! The darkness is coming fast – the Last, Everlasting Midnight! Beauty wil not hold it back; it is a bagatel e, a trinket, useless in times of disaster. But light, Elena, light wil conquer the darkness! I believe this as I believe in your courage, your honesty, and your gentle, loving heart.† With that, he kissed her on the forehead and set her down. Elena was dazed. Of al the things she knew, she knew best that she could not defeat the darkness that was coming – not alone. â€Å"But you're not alone,†Stefan whispered, and she realized that he was right beside her, and that she must be wide open, projecting her thoughts as clearly as if she were speaking. â€Å"We're al here with you,†Bonnie said in a voice twice her size. â€Å"We're not afraid of the dark.† There was a pause while everyone tried not to look at Damon. At last he said, â€Å"Somehow I got talked into this insanity – I'm Stillwondering how it happened. But I've come this far and I'm not going to turn around now.† Sage turned toward the final door and it brightened. Not by much, however. It looked like the shady underside of a very large tree. What was odd, though, was that there was nothing at allgrowing under it. No ferns or bushes or seedlings, not even the normal y ever-present creepers and weeds. There were a few dead leaves on the ground, but otherwise it was just dirt. Sage said, â€Å"A planet with only one corporeal form of life upon it. The Great Tree that covers an entire world. The crown covers al but the natural freshwater lakes it needs to survive.† Elena looked into the heart of the twilit world. â€Å"We've come so far, and maybe together – maybe we can find the star bal that wil save our town.† â€Å"This is the door you pick?†asked Sage. Elena looked at the rest of the group. They al seemed to be waiting for her confirmation. â€Å"Yes – and right now. We have to hurry.†She made a motion as if to put her cup down and it disappeared. She smiled thanks at Sage. â€Å"Strictly speaking, I shouldn't give you any help,†he said. â€Å"But if you have a compass†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena had one. It was always dangling from her backpack because she was always trying to read it. Sage took the compass in his hand and lightly traced a line on it. He gave the compass back to Elena and she found that the needle no longer pointed to the north, but at an angle northeast. â€Å"Fol ow the arrow,†he said. â€Å"It wil take you to the trunk of the Great Tree. If I had to guess at where to find the largest star bal , I would go this way. But be wary! Others have tried this path. Their bodies have nourished the Great Tree – as fertilizer.† Elena scarcely heard the words. She had been terrified at the thought of searching an entire planet for a star bal . Of course, it might be a very smal world, like†¦like†¦ Like the little diamond moon you saw over the Nether World? The voice in Elena's mind was both familiar and not. She glanced at Sage, who smiled. Then she looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be waiting for her to take the first step. She took it.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Concept of Demolition Man Essay

* The Hollywood film represents the danger of globalization and cultural and environmental homogeneity, standardization and sanitation. * Friedman argues that because globalization is creating a single marketplace, it is homogenizing consumption and culture and can run the risk of wiping out ecological and cultural diversity throughout the world. In the Cold War system, cultures didn’t interact as frequently or directly as they do today, where they are often offered up for global competition and comparison against one another. Diversity in Globalization * Friedman argues that because globalization is often associated with Americanization, countries need to develop strong cultural and environmental filters so they can interact with but not be overwhelmed and swallowed by the herd. He suggests the most important filter is the ability to â€Å"glocalize,† meaning a culture’s ability to absorb natural influences into their culture yet reject those that are alien—to assimilate aspects of globalization into your culture in a way that adds diversity without overwhelming. * Globalization will be sustainable as long as we manage these filters in a way that protects our culture while simultaneously getting the best out of others’ cultures. Methods for Greening Globalization * Mobilize the environmental entrepreneurs– term coined by Keith Algers for an organization meant to stop the logging activities in the rainforest in Brazil while formulating a plan to avoid unemployment among these loggers. Looking at the bigger picture, it implies finding solution to the growing problems of compromise in the industrialized society that environmental protection and economic development can coexist together. * Environmentally Sound Production Methods – Corporations and shareholders should be pressured by the government to adapt new environmental policies. The government hitting companies over the head with both new regulations and new tax incentives to be green, and with SFC telling companies they have to start accurately portraying their environmental liabilities to shareholders—such as where they are being sued for dumping and what the cleaning up cost—there has been a paradigm shift. * Learning how to use globalization itself. Where globalization is an asset is in the fact that it is creating â€Å"Super-empowered environmentalist†, who are acting on their own, can now fight back rather effectively against both the Electronic Herd and governments. Thanks to the Internet, environmentalists in one country are quickly relaying how a multinational behaves in their country to environmentalists in other countries. Preventing cultural homogeneity * GlocalizationHhlksal;kl;ksdsl;adkls;adkals;d—the ability of a culture, when it encounters another strong cultures, to absorb influences that naturally fit into and can enrich that culture, to resist those things that are alien and to compartmentalize those things that, while different, can nevertheless be enjoyed and celebrated as different. * Unhelathy Glocalization—when you absorb something that isn’t part of your culture, doesn’t connect with anything latent in your culture, but you have so lost touch with your culture, you think it does. * Glocalism alone is not sufficient to protect indigenous cultures from globalization. Some hard filters are also needed. To begin with you need zoning laws, protected area laws and educational programs to preserve unique regions and a cultural heritage from insidious homogenous development.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The structure of DNA and protein synthesis.

The structure of DNA and protein synthesis. D.N.A. and Protein Synthesis.Every living thing is made up of cells. Every cell has a nucleus, and in every nucleus there are chromosomes. In a Human being there are 46 chromosomes, or 23 chromosome pairs. These chromosomes are very long compact coils of D.N.A. (DeoxyriboNuclic Acid). D.N.A is a thread formed by two strands, wound together to form a Double Helix. These D.N.A. store allthe information that your body needs such as how you look, and how you function. On average, these strands are 40cm long! One section of this Double Helix is called a gene. There are hundreds of genes in one chromosome. These genes contain the recipes, for proteins that make up most of your body. Structural proteins form skin, hair, and muscle. Most processes in yourbody are carried out by proteins called enzymes.The Double Helix is a truly amazing structure. The double Helix looks like a twisted ladder.English: Static thumb frame of Animation of the st...The "sides" of this "ladder" are made of sugar a nd phosphate. The "rungs" of this "ladder" are attached to the sugar on each side. Each rung is made up of either Adenine (A) and Thymine (T) or Cytosine (C) and Guanine (G). Adenine can only join with Thymine, and Cytosine can only join with Guanine.The whole structure of D.N.A. is made up of four building blocks. These blocks are called Nucleotides.SugarBasePhosphateThis is the pattern for the four building blocks. The base can be replaced with Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, or Cytosine.Ten pairs of these nucleotides make one complete twist of the Double Helix. A single D.N.A. could have 3 billion pairs of these building blocks!The information that these genes have is the recipe for proteins. These Genes also have a "control panel" so that they know where...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Death in Todays Society Essays

Death in Todays Society Essays Death in Todays Society Paper Death in Todays Society Paper Essay Topic: Everything Is Illuminated Introduction Death distances humans from life, is what death is thought of today. Death that is the strongest proof of humans being mortals is denied on its face value by the modern age people. People try to escape death and defeat its existence to live a fearless life that maximizes their pleasure for eternity. The phobia against death has made people avoid discussing death in public, and today it has become a taboo, like pornography was in the medieval ages. Sociologists and thinkers such as Gorer, Moller and Cline have studied the subject in great detail with solid research and a concerted effort they have recognized the changed behavior of people towards death. Instead of accepting its existence and getting on with the reality: that we have to leave this world one day, people deny death. This is reflected in their behavior towards death rituals and gatherings. Discussing death or the deceased is considered to be strange in todays society. People that speak of death or the dead people face prudery at the hands of their social environment. Thus, death has become a taboo, or something that should not be talked about. This situation was not always the case; in fact this is a modern day development. This transition in the reactions of people with respect to death, as noted, studied and explained by Gorer and his proponents is known as Taboo Thesis. In this paper a discussion will be made on the following thesis statement, â€Å"Death, today, is treated as a fearsome, alien phenomena and has become a taboo, with lesser and lesser people concerned about it. â€Å" Contribution from Gorer. Geoffrey Gorer, born in 1905, was a renowned English Anthropologist. He spent his life in understanding the nature of humans and how do they get along with different variation in their lives. One of his greatest contributions to the field of Sociology is his work and research on the notion of death, the transition that it has been through the ages and its prevalent status in the current world order, categorically the United Kingdom. Very interestingly Gorer compares the treatment of death in the modern society with that of the notion of pornography in the Victorian Era. This creative and analytical thinking ability of Gorer made him stand out from other thinkers and anthropologists and thus his work has become exceedingly significant for scholars in order to expand their horizons of study on death or other related areas (Gorer 1955). Gorer compares the treatment of the notion of pornography in the Victorian era with that of the treatment of death in the contemporary world. In the Victorian era pornography was considered to be a highly intimate affair and discussion in public was considered to be an â€Å"eye-brow† raising issue that would lead to prudery in the society if projected. Gorer does not approve of such reactions as he believes that copulation and sex are issues known to people in general, so veiling them does not make a lot of sense as people tend to speak about issues that they are aware of, so the same must hold true for pornography as well. This argument is aesthetically forwarded by Gorer regarding death and the reaction of people to it in the contemporary world. Gorer opines that death is as big a truth in life as life itself, but today people try to evade from its existence in a manner that is similar to the Victorian era where people avoided sex and obscenity related discussions in public. Gorer believes that the society is distancing itself from the acceptance of a universal fact, and truth, and perhaps this is something that one would agree with as well (Gorer 1955). A contemporary example Let’s consider the Somalian drought, termed as the â€Å"worst humanitarian crisis† by the UN. It is on the verge of engulfing the lives of more than 700,000 humans in the months to come. This drought has shown the real face of humans to themelves, but its such a pity that we still don’t seem to care. No matter how steep the death toll is, no matter how severe a disaster, people just continue living their own lives, for life has become as convenient as it has never been before. Joseph Stalin was absolutely spot on when he coined his famous quote â€Å"a death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic†. No better sentence in the world could depict how we act to events such as the Somalian drought. Humans are so indifferent to everything that is happening around them, and have become so self-centered that they simply don’t care who died outside their circle. This goes for the entire human race for the most part, and not a particular class or segment of the society. A prominent example of the hedonistic approach that has taken as the sole path of our lives is the Annual Tomatina Festival in Spain. More than 90,000 pounds of tomatoes, tantamount to several hundred thousand tomatoes, are wasted in this festival, for what is termed as â€Å"for fun†. The event has more than 20,000 tourists from around the world, spending Dollars and Euros to attend this futile activity, participating actively (One India Living 2011). That is exactly what Gorer depicted. We treat death to be something really personal and not worth mentioning or discussing in public. This transition has come about with the change in people’s attitudes towards death and their eloping from religion and scriptures. We have to die one day and that day could be any day, but we just don’t want to know which day it is because we simply don’t care. We want to maximize pleasures and avoid pain and we, today, have become more self-centered and rational; so as far as we are happy, the world is a good place to live in. This ideology was forwarded by Gorer in the post World War II era and one can claim that his thinking was influenced by the innumerable deaths that were incurred during that period. However Gorer is not alone with his conception of alienation of death and bereavements from the society, in fact Aries is pretty much a proponent of the same (Gorer 1955). Walter’s Perspective On the other hand Tony Walter, born in 1948, a freelance writer and a sociologist on the subject of Death and Society, has a different chain of thoughts. Walter has conducted a lot of research regarding the reaction of people towards death and he came up with sound observations and claims. He is not of the opinion that death in the modern age has become a taboo. In fact, he declares that the modern society is much more concerned with deaths, and as a ground to this argument he presents the mass media as the evidence. He says that today in newspapers and in electronic media we see that the news of deaths is overwhelmingly dominating. He says that deaths were not given more importance in the past. Today the leading newspapers of the world publish death reports and publications on the front page and there never was a time in history where deaths were subjected to more seriousness and significance. A recent example of this is the notorious events of Tottenham in 2011 where one death triggered the masses to cause riots and challenge the establishment of the law enforcing authorities in UK (Walter 1991). The work of Moller The argument here is not only about the discussion of death, bereavement practices and rituals exercised in pubic, but also the message taken by people from the deaths of their loved ones. Dr. David Wendell Moller sheds light on a beautiful concept entailing death. He expresses the significance of death to life and claims that death is not an end in itself, in fact it is the beginning of an eternal and illuminated journey of salvation. Dr Moller, also known as Dr. Death among his students and colleagues in the School of Medicine, IUPUI, has conducted research on the subject of Death and Dying and he has also noted a prominent transformation in the beliefs of people regarding death. Like Gorer, Moller maintains the view that in the early time before the 19th Century death was celebrated in a humble manner. People used to gather to talk about the life of the person who had just died. The family, friends and acquaintances used to share various incidents and experiences associated with the departed soul. This was a useful social exercise as it did not only give chance to the family members of the deceased person to mourn and share their sorrows with others but it also served as a platform where people could remind themselves of their ultimate faith and get prepared to face it. With the passage of time this concept has depleted and now instead of facing death as the sole truth of life people either tend to evade it, avoid it, deny it and sometimes even defeat it. This act of avoiding death has lead to curious psychological dilemmas among people. Now they see death as being horror, fearsome and ugly and that is why they don’t want to talk about it anymore (Moller 1996). Cline and the fear of death in women This elevating fear in the minds of people regarding death is also acknowledged by Dr. Sally Cline. In her book â€Å"Lifting the Taboo† she goes out an extra mile and brings the fear of death in women to limelight. With respect to her research she says that women are afraid of dying today. The fear is not of the fact that they have not done anything to please the Almighty, but the fear is astonishingly for materialistic reasons. People fear death because they perceive death to be something that will snatch their worldly pleasures from them. People evade the notion of dying because they don’t want to submit their wills and themselves to an eternal entity, God. People want to pursue their dreams till eternity and want to be the commanders of their destinies and fates. This is where we once again come to the view points of Gorer and Moller that today death has become a taboo. People don’t talk about it and thus they don’t know anything about it. Cline also discusses some of the most prominent and standout sources of fear for death in women and not surprisingly the fear was related to their household, love, relations, children and affection. With this entire discussion in hand and the views of different thinkers and sociologists taken into consideration we can sum up the discussion into the concluding phase (Cline 1995). Conclusion  Death, the greatest truth on earth after life is treated as a taboo in today’s world. People in the modern day life try to turn their backs when it comes to talking about death. Death is treated as something that is either a curse or lower cast argument not worth discussing in public. A lot of people also take the topic of death and dying as highly private, intimate and personal and it is not the place of friends, relatives and even parents to talk about it with them. This avoidance of the acceptance of the realm of death is forcing modern age into a state of denial. The dilemma is so severe that we have stopped the process of self talk as well, and we just want to deny and defy death. As mentioned earlier in this paper, Moller is of the opinion that death has been captured by mass media much more than it has been covered historically. Perhaps this is the reason that people avoid discussing death in public circles, because it is already been discussed everywhere. But the discussion of death in newspapers or electronic media is not for the sake of self evaluation, or for the spiritual good of humans, it is in fact covered like any other news item where statistics are mentioned and that’s it. The people, to whom media is aimed at, have now started looking at death in quantitative terms rather than its subjectivity. Death is not seen as the beginning of a new life by the people today. Under the current circumstances where we see consistent deaths recurring all over the globe in Haiti, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya and Turkey by means of natural disasters and human activities people have started treating death as a taboo. Deaths are occurring so frequently and so quickly that people have started fearing and they don’t want to let that fear overcome their lives and devastate their spirits and efforts. People want to live the moment and in the urge to do so they have distanced themselves from morality. People have become hedonistic. In the drive to avoid discussing death, people today have involuntarily forgotten about death. Those who talk about death are either looked down upon or are perceived to be puritanical in their approach towards life and that is exactly how death has become a taboo in today’s world. Denying death and eloping from its acceptance will do no good. The media, the family and the society needs to play a role, a role to revive the forgotten norms and values of death. The media is also obliged to edify the masses and bring them closer to humanity and nature. Talking about death, or those who are dead in a family gathering shall not be done with the aim of becoming puritanical or acquiring necrophilia, in fact the purpose should be to accept a reality and to get on with it without thinking about escaping it. This will bring us closer to the life, and will give us motivation and better reasons to become a better human being, and to play our role in the welfare of the society. References David Wendell Moller. â€Å"Dying and Historical Context. † Confronting Death. New York, Oxford University Press. 1996. Geoffrey Gorer. â€Å"Pornography of Death. † Death, Grief and Mourning. † Doubleday and Company. 1955. Sally Cline. â€Å"Earlier Times, Other Cultures and Religions. † Lifting the Taboo. New York University Press. 1995. Sally Cline. â€Å"Mortal Messages. † Lifting the Taboo. New York University Press. 1995. Tony Walter, â€Å"Modern death: taboo or not taboo. † Sociology, 1991, 25, pp. 293-310. One India Living. â€Å"History of the â€Å"Red† La Tomatina Festival. † Web. 2011

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Play review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Play review - Essay Example The change of setting was highly enlightening as it demonstrated the great universality of Shakespeare’s works. The particular choice of the 1920s seems to be motivated both out of particular elements in the play that fit well with this time period, as well as the time period’s reputation as a time of excitement during the prohibition era. In terms of specific elements one considers that alcohol is implemented in a variety of scenes within the play. For instance, Toby and Andrew are regularly drunk and this motivates some of the action in the drama. The nature of the adaptation, however, didn’t play as large a factor as one might assume. To an extent it seems that this has to do with the nature of the production. Rather than being a full-scale theatrical production this play was more of a one-off reading. In these regards there were minimal sets. In terms of staging there were a variety of non-descript backdrops and the requisite bar that identified the play as o ccurring in the 1920s. The costumes, however, were directly influenced by the period; the men were dressed in Chicago-gangster like attire, while the women were replete in flapper wear. In terms of lighting elements there were minimal notable occurrences. There was a general stage light and a spotlight that was implemented for juxtaposition in a variety of scenes. Perhaps more significant at times was less the action occurring on the stage than the fact that it occurred within the specific playhouse. The Coconut Grove Playhouse has been in existence since the 1920s – the same period the play was set – and this gave the play a sort of vintage ambience that heightened the plot. In terms of acting it was clearly discernable that the production was not as extensive as other plays. While many of the actors were engaging, to a large extent their interactions lacked the unconscious and free-flowing intensity that is more indicative of productions where the

Friday, November 1, 2019

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

Case Study - Essay Example The punishment on the four boys has a beneficial impact on the greater society since it teaches on the importance of morals such as respect for one’s property. Through the punishment of the boys, the need to have a well-functioning society devoid of disregard to other people’s property is supported. I strongly feel that the punishment on the boys is morally justified, though the sentencing of the boys may be extremely unreasonable. The punishment is moral since the conduct of the boys cannot be tolerated at any cost. Any wrong action must be followed by a tough consequence. This is the only way that will allow for a complete weakening of any wrong systems that might be thriving in the society. As utilitarianism goes, punishment contributes to a greater good in the society (Williams & Arrigo 180-181). Chang, Juju., Brown, Ely & Effron, Lauren. The Controversial Felony Murder Case of The Elkhart 4: Should Teens Be Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison? 25 Jul. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.