History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

History - Essay Example Many of the progressive programs he implemented are still alive and well today. Progressivism began in the late 1800s as people began to feel that large corporations had too much power over people’s lives. The first progressives also felt that the government was corrupt and that the corrupt people needed to be removed from office. When Theodore Roosevelt was president, he targeted corporations that he felt were monopolistic and had too much power. He also advocated labor unions (â€Å"Theodore Roosevelt†). Additionally, progressives like Roosevelt felt that science and technology were the solution to humanity’s problems. Woodrow Wilson shared many of Roosevelt’s progressive views and also believed that the checks and balances created by the founders to limit power were a mistake and should be done away with (â€Å"Woodrow Wilson†). Franklin D. Roosevelt was also a progressive who advocated labor unions, increased taxes, and extensive government prog rams. Today’s progressives believe similarly that government intervention and government programs greatly benefit society. Most progressives are liberal democrats. They believe that the government is responsible for making people’s lives better.

Benefits Of Audio-Visual Aids Lectures

Benefits Of Audio-Visual Aids Lectures Students’ perception on role of audio-visual aids used in didactic lectures Abstract: Background objectives: Medical teachers have conventionally been using different teaching methods to educate medical students. Nowadays audiovisual aids such as power point slides, animation videos are being used. The optimum use of audiovisual aids is essential for deriving their benefits. This study was done to know the students’ preferences regarding the various audiovisual aids, with an aim to improve their use in didactic lectures for better understanding of concepts in medical science. Methods: Cross sectional observational study was undertaken in 113 undergraduate medical students . A set of questionnaire was distributed and students were directed to choose the most appropriate option as per the Likert scale. The responses were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. Results: Out of 113 students,45.1% preferred use of combination of audiovisual aids during a didactic lecture.27.4% preferred animation videos,15.9% preferred PowerPoint slides 11.5% preferred use of blackboard. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that use of combination of audio-visual aids is the most preferred mode of teaching by the students. For better understanding of a subject and improvement of student’s performance, a teacher should match the lectures with preferred audiovisual aids and use them prudently. The subjects wanted animations to be incorporated frequently into medical education. Key Words: Animations, Audiovisual aids(AV),Blackboard, didactic lectures, Medical students, Powerpoint slides Introduction: Today we are living in the era of Information and communication technology. The power of technology has captured the minds of new generation and this influence could be seen in the field of medical education too. The technology for teaching students in this competitive scenario is the use of Audio-Visual aids in the form of power point presentations, animation videos, movies etc or can be the combination of both1. Lectures are the most traditional, old fashioned and didactic method of teaching which are meant for one way delivery of information and are especially useful when a large number of learners must be taught at one time. Well organized lecture remains one of the most effective ways to integrate and organize information from multiple sources on complex topics2.Lectures are often supported by audio-visual aids by emphasizing key points on the black board, the projection of written or printed matter on transparencies via an overhead projector(OHP) or increasingly nowadays via a computer based system, notably Microsoft power point(PP) animation videos3. The traditional chalk-talk methodology provides strong student-teacher interaction, but its effectiveness declines as the number of students in the class increases. Furthermore, maintenance of discipline and drawing attention gets hampered4.OHPs lack the ability to display moving images, have poor visibility and optical focus. Microsoft PP slides, accompanied with multimedia projectors, have remarkably revolutionized teaching. Texts as well as audiovisual clips can be easily played on PP slides. Animations refer to 3D video clips that can be played on a multimedia projector (MP). They provide a visual simulation that is particularly handy in sustaining interest and understanding complex medical concepts5. Students favour teaching methods employing audiovisual aids over traditional lectures using blackboard 3.However, the optimum use of audiovisual aids is essential for deriving their benefits6 . There is no conclusive study stating the superiority of one method over the other. Garg A et al. have observed that students want the teachers to include audiovisual aids during the lectures, but it is not certain whether it improves their understanding or performance in the examinations7. Baxi SN et al. have observed that there was marked improvement in examination results when PPT replaced the use of OHP 8. So there is a mixture of views based on the recent studies and it is not clear whether the use of a particular lecture delivery method is superior to others. Therefore, this study was undertaken to get the feedback from the medical students regarding their preferences in using newer modalities of teaching methods like animation videos, PowerPoint slides, and pre-recorded lectures along with blackboard teaching with available resources and progressively improve lecture delivery for their better understanding. Material methods: The cross-sectional, observational study was conducted with prior permission from the authorities and approval from ethical committee. A self administered questionnaire based on previous study4,6,16 was distributed to 130 students of 2nd 3rd year MBBS aged 18-22 years selected by random convenient sampling after obtaining their informed consent.The questionnaire was asked to complete anonymously.Participation was voluntary and dependent on subjects willingnes.The participants were asked not to reveal their names,registration number or any personal information so they can answer freely without any influence. Responses were taken from the students present in the class on the day of survey. Those who were absent or refused to participate were excluded from the study.113 students out of 130 who returned the filled questionnaire became the participants in the current study. The questionnaire consists of twenty questions designed in two parts, first part composed of information regarding schooling, HSC board HSC percentage of the participants. Second part contained questions related to the preferences and opinions for use of AV aids in lecture delivery, in which twelve attributes were measured, based on Likert’s scale of grading as strongly agree/Agree/ No opinion/ Disagree/ strongly disagree. The scores allotted in the aforementioned sequence are 5/4/3/2/1.The participants were encouraged to furnish their independent and unbiased opinion without revealing their identity in the questionnaire. The sum of the all students grading on each attribute was taken for calculating the final weighted score. The response was analyzed using SPSS 17.0 for data entry and statistical significance was found by using Friedman ANOVA test. Results: Association between attributes and preference of AV-aids is depicted in (TABLE- 1).To analyze the best method of audio visual aid in use for independent attributes, ranking scale was adopted allotting the sequence in ascending order. It is evident that mean ranking for blackboard ,PPT prerecorded lectures were lower than that of animation videos for most of the attributes. On application of â€Å"Friedman test† a significant association was found (p Table 1: Association between attributes and preference of AV-aids Attributes Blackboard PP slides Animation videos Prerecorded lectures Combination Stat. Sig (Friedman’s test) Mean SD Median Mean SD Median Mean SD Median Mean SD Median Mean SD Median Lectures were well organized 2.99 .966 4.00 3.23 .798 4.00 3.93 .659 5.00 1.73 1.036 3.00 3.12 .891 4.00 P Contents were well informative 2.87 .992 4.00 3.38 .793 4.00 3.74 .566 4.00 2.06 1.036 3.00 2.96 .908 4.00 P Lectures clear understandable 3.43 .862 4.00 3.11 .833 4.00 3.64 .651 4.00 1.90 1.059 3.00 2.94 .932 4.00 P Clarity was good 2.83 .937 4.00 3.51 .958 4.00 3.41 .879 4.00 2.23 1.092 3.00 3.03 .936 4.00 P Well audible 3.20 .744 4.00 3.13 .908 4.00 3.31 .789 4.00 2.35 1.073 4.00 3.01 .926 4.00 P Stimulated interest 2.91 1.015 4.00 3.20 .983 4.00 3.63 .966 5.00 2.22 1.143 3.00 3.04 1.069 4.00 P Advanced understanding of topics 3.12 1.045 4.00 3.13 .966 4.00 3.44 .962 4.00 2.32 1.108 3.00 2.98 .671 4.00 P Delivery was interesting 2.86 .955 4.00 3.06 .958 4.00 3.52 .852 4.00 2.47 1.112 3.00 3.08 .642 4.00 P Able to take notes/diagrams 3.74 .967 4.00 3.36 1.136 4.00 2.50 1.123 3.00 2.28 1.145 3.00 3.12 1.126 4.00 P Effective in clearing concept remembrance 3.25 .50 4.00 3.00 .963 4.00 3.46 .973 4.00 2.36 1.157 3.00 2.94 .942 4.00 P Concentration/ attention span maintained 3.40 1.140 4.00 3.07 1.134 4.00 3.28 .946 4.00 2.32 1.175 3.00 2.93 .949 4.00 P Explanation/ summarization 3.21 .973 4.00 3.25 1.062 4.00 3.37 .869 4.00 2.27 1.126 3.00 2.89 .964 4.00 P Table 2: Preferred aid Preferred aid Total Animations blackboard Combination Ppt slides Gender Female Count 14 7 35 11 67 % within gender 20.9% 10.4% 52.2% 16.4% 100.0% % within Preferred aid 45.2% 53.8% 68.6% 61.1% 59.3% Male Count 17 6 16 7 46 % within gender 37.0% 13.0% 34.8% 15.2% 100.0% % within Preferred aid 54.8% 46.2% 31.4% 38.9% 40.7% Total Count 31 13 51 18 113 % 27.4% 11.5% 45.1% 15.9% 100.0% Discussion: The current study was conducted to get feedback from the medical students regarding their opinion on audiovisual aids used during didactic lectures using a Questionnaire. It is an obvious observation that gradually the use of electronic media has become more common in medical colleges over conservative teaching methods that utilized blackboards9. For centuries, a blackboard remained the mediator for displaying information in a persistent manner, and can give the audience a consistent view of far more information than can be held in short- term memory. Anderson R noted that blackboards encourage note-taking and student-teacher interaction10 which was also found in our study. Seth V et al. noted that by using blackboard taking down the simply-drawn diagrams is easy, the teacher makes natural pauses and power breaks do not interfere with the lecture4.Its limitation is that information-rich contents like complex tables, graphs and vivid images cannot be displayed and the orga nization of the presentation is poorer as compared to electronic slides5.He also noted that the majority of medical students preferred PPT presentations, while dental students preferred chalkboard. Baxi SN et al.8 observed that an equal number of students preferred blackboard-based or multimedia-based lectures and insisted to consider the need of using multimedia modalities to present lectures to students11. In our study it was revealed that the students preferred animation videos over Powerpoint presentations or blackboard. Majority of the students opined for the use of combination of audiovisual aids in didactic lectures for better understanding of concepts in medical science which correlates with the study done by Kaushik Bhowmick et al12.The training program in UG teaching uses a judicious mixture of didactic lectures with audiovisual aids and problem based learning methods, clinical teaching and practical experiments 6.Optimum use of audiovisual aid is essential for deriving their benefits6.Audio visual aids can be effectively used to show the photographs and the animated pictures related to the topics13.Animations, with their unique three-dimensional presentation, have been accredited with simultaneously being able to increase interest and motivation, to draw attention, to illustrate procedures and to explain how things work14 . Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that lecture delivered by using a combination of audio visual aids was most appreciated by the students. To understand complex concepts and to retain facts, the participants desired animations to be incorporated frequently into medical education as they are interesting it breaks the monotony of lecture.It motivates students to attend lectures as they are very curious to see or hear what the teacher is going to show them in the upcoming class, by seeing animated effects, colorful presentation and hearing recording they are able to concentrate more1. References: Arora A. Impact of Audiovisual aids on students at university level. Altius Shodh Journal of Management commerce.2013;ISSN 2348-8891. Richardson D. Don’t dump the didactic lecture; fix it. Adv Physiol Educ. 2008; 32(1): 23-24. Bennal A, Itagi V, Taklikar RH.Role of Audiovisual aids in physiology lecture. National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy Pharmacology.2014;4(2):109-111. Seth V,Upadhyaya P,Ahmad M,Moghe V.PowerPoint or chalk and talk: perceptions of medical students versus dental students in a medical college in India. Adv Med Educ Pract 2010;(1):11-16. Naqvi SH,Mobasher F, Afzal MA,Muhammad U,Naeem A. Effectiveness of teaching methods in a medical institute: perceptions of medical students to teaching aids. JPMA.2013; 63: 859. Mohan L,Sankar P R, Kamath A, Manish M S, Eesha B R. Students attitudes towards the use of audio-visual aids during didactic lecture in pharmacology. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 2010; (4): 3363-3368. Garg A, Rataboli PV, Muchandi K. Students opinion on the prevailing teaching methods in pharmacology and changes recommended. Indian J Pharmacol 2004; (36):155-8. Baxi SN, Shah CJ, Parmar RD, Parmar D, Tripathi CB. Students perception of different teaching aids in a medical college. African Journal of Health Professions Education. 2009; 1(1):15-16. Seth V, Upadhyaya P,Ahmad M,Kumar V. Impact of various lecture delivery methods in pharmacology. Excli journal 2010;(9):96-101. Anderson R. Beyond PowerPoint: building a new classroom presenter. Syllabus 2004; (17): 31-3. Lowry RB. Electronic presentation of lectures – effect upon student performance. University Chemistry Education. 1999; (8):18-21. Bhowmick K,Mukopadhyay M,Chakraborty S. Assessment of perception of first professional MBBS students in India about a teaching learning activity in Biochemistry. South East Asian Journal of Medical Education 2009;(3):8. Metcalfe DH, Mathura M. Students perception of good and bad teaching: a report of a critical incident study. Medical Education.1995;29(3): 193-197. Lowe R, Schnotz W (eds.). Learning with animation: research implications for design. UK: Cambridge University Press. 2008. Chavan SK,Chavan KD,Giri PA,Jogdand SS. Perceptions of Medical Students Regarding Use of Audio-visual Aids in Lecture Delivery.IOSR Journal of Research Method in Education .2014;(4):28-32. Kumar A,Singh R,Mohan L,Kumar M. Students views on audiovisual aids used during didactic lectures in a medical college. Asian Journal of Medical Science 2013;(4):36-40.

Gay Marriage Will Help America Essay -- argumentative, persuasive

Why is gay marriage such a big deal? Why are there so many people against it? Most of the time it is easy to presume where to draw the line when interfering with someone else’s rights. Simply, do not do it. Everyone has the right to get a driver’s license or has the freedom of speech, but why on earth do some people have the right to wed and think that he or she has the right to tell somebody else that he or she does not have that same right? Gay marriage is not traditional, gay relationships are immoral, and marriage is for procreation. Gay marriage is a perfectly acceptable decision that any citizen should be able to make for themselves. A gay California man, whose partner died in the September 11 terrorist attacks has become "legally vulnerable in ways he could never imagine". Keith Brodowski lost his life partner, Jeff Coleman, to American Airlines flight 11, which was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. Coleman was a flight attendant. Brodowski is now battling the state and the nation for survivors' benefits, granted to the widows of those who died. It took powerful words of Keith’s testimony to move legislation to grant partial inheritance rights for registered domestic partners in California. Married couples had to go through nothing of this caliper for their benefits. In a survey conducted by Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples, over fifty percent of lesbians and forty percent of gay men had faced problems obtaining employment benefits, lower tax rates, and insurance breaks because civil unions are not recognized as a legal marriage. Other discriminations included employment, hospital visitation, adoption, and many more. These problems could have been eliminated if the couple had been legally m... ...y not believe in the same sexual likings as us, they are still people who live among us. People with different religions do the same and they are allowed to get married and spend a life together. Why shouldn’t gays? References Bidstrup, S. (2000). Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives. Veritas Et Ratio - Truth And Reason. Retrieved from website on March 19, 2011. From . Head, T. Arguments against same-sex marriage - Debunking 10 Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage. Civil liberties at about.com - Your guide to civil liberties News and Issues. Retrieved from Website on March 19, 2011. From . Should gay marriage be legal?. Gay Marriage ProCon.org. Retrieved from website on March 18, 2011. From .

Main differences and similarities between God and human according to Hebrew Scriptures Essay

The first man was perfect, Made in the image of God and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Image in this case can not refer to the body; God is a spirit while man is earthly. Image here would mean the divine attributes that God endued man with, separating mankind from other animals. Short gives six God like qualities that man posses. These are language, creativity intellectual ability, dominion over the earth, love holiness, immortality and freedom (5). Some of these attributes are arguably not possible without including the body in the image. Man stands apart from all other living creatures because of his relationship with God. Grudem gives five aspects of our likeness to God. These aspects of human existence shows man to be more like God than the rest of creation. The aspects are: †¢ Moral aspect: Human has an inner sense of right and wrong that set him part from animals. †¢ Spiritual aspects: Man’s spiritual lives enable him to relate to God as persons, to pray and hear him speaking his word to him. †¢ Mental aspect: man has the ability to reason and think logically. †¢ Relational aspect: despite the fact that animal too relate to each other, the depth of interpersonal harmony in human relations; in marriage, church is much greater and function in accordance to God’s principles. †¢ Man’s great dignity as bearers of God’s image. Despite the fact that man is in the image of God, God has no the physical form but is a spirit. b) Similarities and differences between the gods and humans, according to the Iliad Greek gods are not spiritual beings but are anthropomorphic. They resemble human beings and tend to act in human ways. They portray human emotions, virtues and vices. They further are organized into divine family, which imitates the patriarchy of human society. Iliad gods are much concerned with human affairs. Many goddesses would mate with human beings, sire children who would favor them in times of war. The Iliad presents an action on two planes, the human and the divine. The gods serves to emphasize the limitation of man, his short life, and the ultimate meaningless of human affairs. Work cited Short J. R, The image of God. Viewed on 09/07/10 from http://www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v4/i1/man. asphttp://www. answersingenesis. org/creation/v4/i1/man. asp Dunkle R, classic origin of western culture. Viewed on 09/07/2010 from http://ablemedia. com/ctcweb/netshots/homer. htm Grudem. W, the Uniqueness of Human Beings: â€Å"In the Image of God viewed on 9/7/10 from http://www. creationbc. org/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=131&Itemid=5 Question 2: What is the covenant? (Gen: 12 and 15) The covenant refers to the Abraham covenant. Abraham is told to leave his people, take his wife and move to Canaan. The covenant found in Genesis 12:1-3 reads: â€Å"and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great and you shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you: and in you all families of the earth are blessed. † Abraham would receive the seven physical blessings only if he would obey God. Nations in Abraham day would be blessed through Abraham .The covenant has four basic provisions, these are: †¢ Special favor with God. †¢ Land provision †¢ Special favor to Abrahams physical offspring’s, and , †¢ Special favor to Abraham’s spiritual seeds Relationship between Abraham Covenant and Mosaic Ten Commands of Exodus 20 The Mosaic Law was a bilateral covenant made specifically for Israel to govern her life in the Promised Land. From the Abrahamic covenant, Israel was a chosen nation, an instrument through which God would bless all other nations. Yahweh was her Theocratic king to rule and guide the nation to her destiny, protect the nation from pollution and contaminations by other nations hence fulfill the God’s intended purpose. The Mosaic nation was hence instituted to direct Israel as a nation in all spheres of her life- morally, socially, politically, economically and religiously. Work cited Grudem. W, the Uniqueness of Human Beings: â€Å"In the on 9/7/10 from Image of God viewed http://www. creationbc. org/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=131&Itemid=5 Keathley H. j The Mosaic Law. Viewed on 09/07/10 from http://bible. org/article/mosaic-law-its-function-and-purpose-new-testament Question 3 The origin of evil and human suffering according to: †¢ Hebrew scriptures According to Rhodes, evil is something that is not an existence of its own: it rather is corruption of that which already exists. It is absence or privation of something good (3). Evil exist either as natural evil or moral evil. Moral evil is evil that we human beings originate: cruel, unjust, vicious and perverse thoughts and deeds. Natural evil is evil that originates independently human actions: in disease, earthquakes, storms, droughts etc. In Gen1:31, the original creation was very good. No sin, no evil and no death. The turn down come after Adam and Eve choose to use their God given free will and violently chose to disobey him. Created in the image of God, man was given the risky gift of free will. Based on the above fact, it would be right to argue that God had the potential for evil, when he bestowed upon man the freedom of choice but the origin of evil came s result of man’s who disobeyed God for his own selfish personal desires. †¢ Sayings of Buddha According to Buddha, craving is the root cause of all human suffering. To him craving is the central evil that reduced life into a bundle of painful despair. As long as there were delightful and pleasurable things, the craving would persist. Craving takes root in the sense, in the eye, in the ear, in the nose, in the tongue in the mind and in the body. Sensuous craving causes accumulation of present and future suffering. These accumulated craving then leads people to various form of conflicts and quarrels or wicked acts like stealing robbery or seducing other men’s wives which results in deadly pain or death ( the noble truth of the origin of suffering). †¢ Hesiod in Works and Days According to Hesiod, gods keep secretes of an easy life away from men. From Hesiod’s work, Prometheus was able to snatch the gift of fire from man, pilfering it from the gods; this angered Zeus who vowed to curse men. He sent the evil seductress Pandora them â€Å"all gifts† like diseases, pain and evil. Hesiod believes that all women are wily, wiggling traps to lead men to destruction. God keep men helpless, men then live lives of toil to avoid starvation. Work cited Rhodes. R, Notes on the Problem of Evil. Viewed on 09/07/10 from http://ldolphin. org/evil. html Question 4 Meanings of the Hebrew words for prophet The common word for prophet in Hebrew is nabi and meaning spokesman. Other Hebrew words associated with prophetic figures are hozeh and ro’eh, both meaning some one that sees. Nabi and Hozeh are close synonyms. The roles a prophet filled during the period of the Hebrew Kingdom, from Saul to the exile and return from Babylon Prophets played an important role in Israel political life. In the monarchy and rise to power of Saul, Samuel played an important role in the decision and action. Samuel was at the frontline in the appointment of David (1sam 8-12; 15-16). Even prophets who had a strong burden to correct false religious practice like Hosea addressed political issues strongly. Prophets would be consulted about the future. They were powerful to bless or curse, like in the Moabite prophet Balaam illustrates (nun 22). Prophets would also perform miraculous or symbolic acts like; Showing unusual power over nature (1 Kgs 17:1-8, 41-46) ,Feeding people by miraculous means (1 Kgs 17:8-16; 2 Kgs 4:1-7; 4:38-44), Healing people (2 Kgs 5:1-19) or causing others to fall ill (2 Kgs 5:20-27), Rising the dead (1 Kgs 17:17-24; 2 Kgs 4:8-37) and Performing other miraculous and/or symbolic actions (1 Kgs 18; 2 Kgs 6) â€Å"Prophet’s reward† in Old Testament times In the Old Testament times, each prophet had to pass through pain of rejection, self doubt, persecution, and ultimately vindication only after the unfolding of history validates their prophetic utterances. Jeremiah, after many years of warning his people of unidentified evil coming from north, wearied by the non fulfillment of his prophecies, even his family members plotted against him to take his life in order to silence him. Differences between visions and messages of the prophets Prophet in the bible were not were not primarily foretellers, they in addition seeing would criticize the present wrong doing, injustice, oppression, and rich , luxurious worship while the poor starved. Amos, for instance looked at the future often to warn. He warned against disobedience and its repercussions. Bible dictionary: Prophets, viewed on 11/07/10 from file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/User/Desktop/prophets. htm

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 2

Chapter 2 THE LOCAL GIRLS HAVE A WAY ABOUT THEM The Warrior Babe of the Outland steered her Honda station wagon down Cypress Street, stopping every ten feet or so for tourists who were stepping into the street from between parked cars, completely oblivious of any automobile traffic. My kingdom for a razor-blade cowcatcher and Cuisinart wheel covers to cut my path through this herd of ignorant peasant meat, she thought. Then: Whoa, I guess I really do need the meds. So she said, â€Å"They act like Cypress Street is the midway at Disneyland – like no one actually has to use the street to drive on. You guys wouldn't do that, would you?† She glanced over her shoulder at the two damp teenage boys who were huddled in the corner of the backseat of the car. They shook their heads furiously. One said, â€Å"No, Miss Michon, no we'd never. No.† Her real name was Molly Michon, but years ago, as a B-movie queen, she'd done eight movies as Kendra, Warrior Babe of the Outland. She had a wild mane of blond hair shot with gray and the body of a fitness model. She could pass for thirty or fifty, depending on the time of day, what she was wearing, and how deeply medicated she was. Fans agreed that she was probably somewhere in her early to midforties. Fans. The two teenage boys in the backseat of the car were fans. They'd made the mistake of taking part of their Christmas break to go to Pine Cove in search of the famed cult-film star, Molly Michon, and get her autograph on their copies of Warrior Babe VI: Revenge of the Savage Skank, just released on DVD, with never-before-seen outtakes of Molly's boobs popping out of her gun-metal bra. Molly had seen them skulking around the outside of the cabin she shared with her husband, Theo Crowe. She'd snuck out the back door and ambushed them on the side of the house with a garden hose – sprayed them down good, chased them through the pine forest till the hose reeled out of its cart, then she tackled the taller one and threatened to snap his neck if the other one didn't stop in his tracks. Realizing at that point that she might have made a public relations error, Molly invited her fans to come along to help pick out a Christmas tree for the Santa Rosa Chapel Christmas Party for the Lonesome. (She had been making more than a few minor misjudgments lately, as she'd stopped taking her meds a week ago in order to save money for Theo's Christmas present.) â€Å"So, where are you guys from?† she said cheerfully. â€Å"Please don't hurt us,† said Bert, the taller, thinner of the two kids (She had been thinking of them as Bert and Ernie – not because they really looked like the puppets, but because they had the same relative shapes – except for the big hand up their bottoms, of course.) â€Å"I'm not going to hurt you. It's great to have you along. The guys at the Christmas-tree lot are a little wary of me since I fed one of their coworkers to a sea monster a few years ago, so you guys can sort of act as a social buffer.† Damn, she shouldn't have mentioned the sea monster. She'd had so many years of obscurity between the time she'd been pushed out of the movie business until the revival to cult status of her movies that she'd lost most of her people skills. And then there was that fifteen-year disconnect with reality when she'd been known as Pine Cove's crazy lady – but since she'd hooked up with Theo, and had stayed on her anti-psychotics, things had been a lot better. She turned into the parking lot of Pine Cove Hardware and Gift, where a half acre of tarmac was corralled off for the Christmas-tree lot. Upon spotting her car, three middle-aged guys in canvas aprons quickstepped their way into the store, threw the bolt, and turned the  «Open » sign to CLOSED. She'd thought this might happen, but she wanted to surprise Theo, prove that she could handle getting the big Christmas tree for the chapel party. Now these narrow-minded minions of Black & Decker were foiling her plans for a perfect Christmas. She took a deep breath and tried to exhale herself into a calm moment as her yoga teacher had instructed. Well, she did live in the middle of a pine forest, didn't she? Maybe she should just go cut a Christmas tree herself. â€Å"Let's just go back to the cabin, guys I have an ax there that will work.† â€Å"Noooooooo!† screamed Ernie as he reached across his damp friend, threw the latch on the Honda's door, and rolled them both out of the moving car into a pallet of plastic reindeer. â€Å"Okay, then,† Molly said, â€Å"you guys take care. I'll just see if I can cut a tree out of the front yard.† She swung around in the parking lot and headed back home. Slick with sweat, Lena Marquez slid out of her Santa suit like a baby lizard emerging from a fuzzy red egg. The temperature had risen into the high seventies before she'd finished her shift at the Thrifty-Mart, and she was sure she'd probably lost five pounds in water in the heavy suit. Wearing only her bra and panties, she padded into the bathroom and jumped on the scale to enjoy the surprise bonus weight loss. The disk spun and settled on her usual preshower weight. Perfect for her height, light for her age, but dammit, she'd fought with her ex, been pounded with ice, rang out good cheer for the less fortunate, and endured the jolly heat of the Santa suit for eight hours, she deserved something for her efforts. She took off her bra and panties and hopped back on the scale. No discernible difference. Dammit! She sat, peed, wiped, and jumped back on the scale. Maybe a third of a pound below normal. Ah! she thought, brushing her beard aside so she could read the scale more clearly, this could be the problem. She pulled off the white beard and Santa hat, flung them into the nearby bedroom, shook out her long black hair, and waited for the scale to settle. Oh yeah. Four pounds. She did a quick Tae Bo kick of celebration and stepped into the shower. She winced as she soaped up, hitting a sore spot there by her solar plexus. There were a couple of purple bruises developing on her ribs where the ice bag had hit her. She'd had more pain after doing too many crunches at the gym, but this pain seemed to shoot on through to her heart. Maybe it was the thought of spending Christmas alone. This would be her first since the divorce. Her sister, whom she'd spent the last few Christmases with, was going with her husband and the kids to Europe. Dale, total prick that he was, had involved her in all sorts of holiday activities from which she was now excluded. The rest of her family was back in Chicago, and she hadn't had any luck with men since Dale – too much residual anger and mistrust. (He hadn't just been a prick, he had cheated on her.) Her girlfriends, all of them married or paired up with semipermanent boyfriends, told her that she needed to be single for a while, spend some time getting to know herself. That, of course, was total bullshit. She knew herself, liked herself, washed herself, dressed herself, bought herself presents, took herself out on dates, and even had sex with herself from time to time, which always ended better than it used to with Dale. â€Å"Oh, that get-to-know-yourself stuff will send you full-blown batshit,† said her friend Molly Michon. â€Å"And believe me, I am the uncrowned queen of batshit. Last time I really got to know myself it turned out there was a whole gang of bitches in there to deal with. I felt like the receptionist at a rehab center. They all had nice tits, though, I gotta say. Anyway, forget that. Go out and do stuff for someone else. That's much better for you. ‘Get to know yourself' – what good is that? What if you get to know yourself and find out you're a total harpy? Sure, I like you, but you can't trust my judgment. Go do something for other people.† It was true. Molly could be – uh, eccentric, but she did make sense occasionally. So Lena had volunteered to man the Salvation Army kettle, she'd collected canned food and frozen turkeys for the Pine Cove Anonymous Neighbors food drive, and tomorrow night, as soon as it got dark, she was going to go out and collect live Christmas trees and drop them off at the homes of people who probably wouldn't be able to afford them. That should take her mind off herself. And if it didn't work, she'd spend Christmas Eve at the Santa Rosa Chapel Party for the Lonesome. Oh God, there it was. It was Christmastime, and she was in the Christmas spirit – she was feeling lonesome. To Mavis Sand, the owner of the Head of the Slug saloon, the word lonesome rang like the bell on a cash register. Come Christmas break, Pine Cove filled up with tourists seeking small-town charm, and the Head of the Slug filled up with lonesome, disenfranchised winners seeking solace Mavis was glad to serve it up in the form of her signature (and overpriced) Christmas cocktail, the Slow Comfortable Screw in the Back of Santa's Sleigh, which consisted of – â€Å"Well, fuck off if you need to know what's in it,† Mavis would say. â€Å"I'm a professional bartender since your daddy flushed the condom that held your only hope of havin' a brain, so get in the spirit and order the goddamn drink.† Mavis was always in the Christmas spirit, right down to the Christmas-tree earrings that she wore year-round to give her that â€Å"new-car smell.† A sheaf of mistletoe the size of a moose head hung over the order station at her bar, and throughout the season, any unsuspecting drunk who leaned too far over the bar to shout his order into one of Mavis's hearing aids would find that beyond the fluttering black nylon whips of her mascara-plastered pseudo lashes, behind the mole with the hair and the palette knife-applied cakes of Red Seduction lipstick, past the Tareyton 100s breath and the clacking dentures, Mavis still had some respectable tongue action left in her. One guy, breathless and staggering toward the door, claimed that she had tongued his medulla oblongata and stimulated visions of being choked in Death's dark closet – which Mavis took as a compliment. About the same time that Dale and Lena were having their go-round down at the Thrifty-Mart, Mavis, perched on her stool behind the bar, looked up from a crossword puzzle to see the most beautiful man she'd ever lain eyes on coming through Slug's double doors. What had once been a desert bloomed down under; where for years lay a dusty streambed, a mighty river did now flow. Her heart skipped a beat and the defibrillator implanted in her chest gave her a little jolt that sent her sluicing electric off her bar stool to his service. If he ordered a wallbanger she'd come so hard her tennis shoes would rip out from the toe curl, she knew it, she felt it, she wanted it. Mavis was a romantic. â€Å"Can I help you?† she asked, batting her eyelashes, which gave the appearance of spastic wolf spiders convulsing behind her glasses. A half-dozen daytime regulars who had been sitting at the bar turned on their stools to behold the source of that oily courtesy – there was no way that voice had come out of Mavis, who normally spoke to them in tones of disdain and nicotine. â€Å"I'm looking for a child,† said the stranger. He had long blond hair that fanned out over the rain flap of a black trench coat. His eyes were violet, his facial features both rugged and delicate, finely cut and yet with no lines of age or experience. Mavis tweaked the little knob on her right hearing aid and tilted her head like a dog who has just bitten into a plastic pork chop. Oh, how the pillars of lust can crumble under the weight of stupidity. â€Å"You're looking for a child?† asked Mavis. â€Å"Yes,† said the stranger. â€Å"In a bar? On a Monday afternoon? You're looking for a child?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"A particular child, or will just any child do?† â€Å"I'll know it when I see it,† said the stranger. â€Å"You sick fuck,† said one of the daytime regulars, and Mavis, for once, nodded in agreement, her neck vertebrae clicking like a socket wrench. â€Å"Get the hell out of my bar,† she said. A long, lacquered fingernail pointed the way back out the door. â€Å"Go on, get out. What do you think this is, Bangkok?† The stranger looked at her finger. â€Å"The Nativity is approaching, am I correct?† â€Å"Yeah, Christmas is Saturday.† Mavis growled. â€Å"The hell does that have anything to do with anything?† â€Å"Then I'll need a child before Saturday,† said the stranger. Mavis reached under the bar and pulled out her miniature baseball bat. Just because he was pretty didn't mean he couldn't be improved by a smack upside the head with a piece of earnest hickory. Men: a wink, a thrill, a damp squish, and before you knew it it was time to start raising lumps and loosening teeth. Mavis was a pragmatic romantic: love – correctly performed, she believed – hurts. â€Å"Smack ‘im, Mavis,† cheered one of the daytime regulars. â€Å"What kind of perv wears an overcoat in seventy-five-degree weather?† said another. â€Å"I say brain him.† Bets were beginning to be exchanged back by the pool table. Mavis tugged at an errant chin hair and peered over her glasses at the stranger. â€Å"Think you might want to move your little search on down the road some?† â€Å"What day is it?† asked the stranger. â€Å"Monday.† â€Å"Then I'll have a diet Coke.† â€Å"What about the kid?† asked Mavis, punctuating the question by smacking the baseball bat against her palm (which hurt like hell, but she wasn't going to flinch, not a chance). â€Å"I have until Saturday,† said the beautiful perv. â€Å"For now, just a diet Coke – and a Snickers bar. Please.† â€Å"That's it,† Mavis said. â€Å"You're a dead man.† â€Å"But, I said please,† said Blondie, missing the point, somewhat. She didn't even bother to throw open the lift-away through the bar but ducked under it and charged. At that moment a bell rang, and a beam of light blasted into the bar, indicating that someone had come in from outside. When Mavis stood back up, leaning heavily on her back foot as she wound up to knock the stranger's nads well into the next county, he was gone. â€Å"Problem, Mavis?† asked Theophilus Crowe. The constable was standing right where the stranger had been. â€Å"Damn, where'd he go?† Mavis looked around behind Theo, then back at the daytime regulars. â€Å"Where'd he go?† â€Å"Got me,† they said, a chorus of shrugs. â€Å"Who?† asked Theo. â€Å"Blond guy in a black trench coat,† said Mavis. â€Å"You had to pass him on the way in.† â€Å"Trench coat? It's seventy-five degrees out,† said Theo. â€Å"I'd have noticed someone in a trench coat.† â€Å"He was a perv!† someone shouted from the back. Theo looked down at Mavis. â€Å"This guy flash you?† Their height difference was nearly two feet and Mavis had to back up a step to look him in the eye. â€Å"Hell no. I like a man who believes in truth in advertising. This guy was looking for a child.† â€Å"He told you that? He came in here and said he was looking for a kid?† â€Å"That's it. I was just getting ready to teach him some –  » â€Å"You're sure he hadn't lost his kid? That happens, Christmas shopping, they wander away – ; â€Å"No, he wasn't looking for a particular kid, he was just looking for a kid.† â€Å"Well, maybe he wanted to be a Big Brother or Secret Santa or something,† said Theo, expressing a faith in the goodness of man for which he had little to no evidence, â€Å"do something nice for Christmas.† â€Å"Goddammit, Theo, you dumbfuck, you don't have to pry a priest off an altar boy with a crowbar to figure out that he's not helping the kid with his Rosary. The guy was a perv.† â€Å"Well, I should probably go look for him.† â€Å"Well, you probably oughta should.† Theo started to turn to go out the door, then turned back. â€Å"I'm not a dumbfuck, Mavis. There's no need for that kind of talk.† â€Å"Sorry, Theo,† said Mavis, lowering her baseball bat to show the sincerity of her contrition. â€Å"Why was it you came in, then?† â€Å"Can't remember.† Theo raised his eyebrows, daring her. Mavis grinned at him. Theo was a good guy – a little flaky but a good guy. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Nah, I just wanted to check with you on the food for the Christmas party. You were going to barbecue, right?† â€Å"I was planning on it.† â€Å"Well, I just heard on the radio that there's a pretty good chance of rain, so you might want to have a backup plan.† â€Å"More liquor?† â€Å"I was thinking something that wouldn't involve cooking outdoors.† â€Å"Like more liquor?† Theo shook his head and started toward the door. â€Å"Call me or Molly if you need any help.† â€Å"It won't rain,† said Mavis. â€Å"It never rains in December.† But Theo was gone, out on the street looking for the trench-coated stranger. â€Å"It could rain,† said one of the daytime regulars. â€Å"Scientists say we could see El Nià ±o this year.† â€Å"Yeah, like they ever tell us until after half the state has washed away,† said Mavis. â€Å"Screw the scientists.† But El Ni;o was coming. El Ni;o. The Child.

The Venus of Urbino Essay Example

The Venus of Urbino Essay Example The Venus of Urbino Paper The Venus of Urbino Paper The representation of the female nude in art history exists in abundance; as does the prototype from which these nudes are styled. The focus of this essay will be the masterpieces Venus of urban, 1538, Titian Vehicle painted In the period referred to as the High Renaissance; being a study of methods systems and standardized practice of art. Along with Grandee Odalisque, 1814, Jean-Augusta-Dominique Ingress, painted during the Neo-classical period; concerned with the Ideal, harmonious, naturalist style of art. Titian and Ingress were considered some of the most important artists of heir time; credited with being both progressive and conservative. Noting the paintings and painters alike stand on their own as genius, their individual contributions are monumental to the respective movements. Despite their separation of close to three centuries, an important comparative link the artist share is through using old forms and new content always referencing previous standards and canon to produce original work. Through identifying each work through their individual form content and context the two works will be contrasted. Titian is considered to eave been the greatest 16th-century Venetian painter, and the shaper of the Venetian colorist and painterly tradition. He Is one of the key figures In the history of Western art. Tolland Vehicle was born In the north of Venice, In 1477; he was trained by both Belong and Giorgio, and after Gorinesss early death In 1 510 It fell to Atlanta to complete a number of his unfinished painting (Goofed 1997). His works were increasingly sought after ,his unexpected gift as historian as a witness and interpreter of the reality of his time, through the vehicle of his portraiture(Fearer 002), here lies the possibility to follow both the stylistic and human progress of the Titans influence on later artists: he was supreme in every branch of painting and revolutionized the oil technique with his free and expressive brushwork and adoption of canvas. The history of the period 1517-1642 Italy is very interesting. The Protestant Reformation happened in the beginning of 1517, and soon spread to include most of northern Europe. The Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation began In the Catholic Church about the sasss (Hill, 1980). Most art In this period was eased on the canon of the Renaissance generally, classical Ideal naturalism derived from the ancients: the private parts of the nudes were covered in the next few decades. About 1530, the year in which his wife died, a change in Titans manner becomes apparent. The asses are marked by relative quiet, pictorial subtlety, and colorist refinement, as exemplified by the Venus of Robin 1538-39, Fizz, Florence. The strong, simple colors used here, and the artists evident pleasure in the silhouetting of dark forms against a light background, reappear throughout the work of this period. The Venus of Robin was painted for Guidebook Della Rover, the heir of Francesco Maria Della Rover, Duke of Robin. The pose of this Venus brings to mind that of Gorinesss Sleeping Venus In Dressed (It Is believed the young Titian had completed after Gorinesss death) the Intent of the painting Is quite deferent. Titans Venus has nothing to do with Gorinesss Idealized Image of female beauty; It Is normally interpreted as a metaphor of marital love. There have been some suggestions that tender malign De a connection Witt ten weaning AT Gladiolus cell Rover Ana Giuliani Varian in 1534(Hill, 1980). A splendid female nude off goddess, later copied by eighteenth and nineteenth century artists, comfortably reclined covered with cushions, and holding flowers. Probably the most important aspect of the painting which should not be overlooked is the contrast of light and shade produced by the pale body of Venus on an equally pale sheet, standing out against the dark wall behind. Architectural motifs are used to enhance the drama of the scene where trees and figures together form a centrifugal composition suited to the action. Titian asserts not spatial unity but there is an inconsistency between the foreground and he background, even though we are invited to recognize the contextual relation between the two: a bed in the foreground, bedroom furnishings in the background. The vertical wall, draped with a green curtain, separate these spaces, and their link is challenged by the difference of scale. The standing maid, for example, measures slightly less than one-third the figure of Venus. ) Titian repeats this displacement by displacing the vanishing point of his own perspective creation with Venus eyes, which is further honored by every other trick in Titans Venetian book, by the manipulation of color and light, the direction of folds in the various fabrics, and the elimination of any other glance (even the dogs) as competition for our attention. Traditional critical responses dwell on the classical beauty of the nude Venus of Robin or they overstretch themselves in complex iconographic interpretations. Because sexuality and gender identity are bound to society, understanding Titans women requires understanding his time and place, the psychological, political, social and economic situation of women in sixteenth-century Venice (Goofed, 1997). Titans twin Cassini are, then, purposeful signifier, the furniture equivalent of the myrtle and bouquet of roses, plants that were then, and remain, familiar bridal attributes (Tansy, 1996). Titans heroine lacks classical correctness, the passive demeanor expected (by modern critics, at least) of an ancient goddess. Titans Venus, on the contrary, is alert and powerful, a more dominating, direct Venus. More than twenty-five years separate Gorinesss creation from Titans painting. He changed the archetype into two obvious ways: Venus is now indoors, and she is awake. Outdoors, though furnished with cushions and sheets, Gorinesss Venus inhabits an romantic surroundings traditionally associated with love and lovemaking in medieval and Renaissance imagery, Asleep, Gorinesss Venus seems demure in comparison with Titans conscious, alert heroine, the pose was invented by Parallaxes for the Aphrodite of Knits, which was a standing figure. Titian, like Giorgio and others before them, borrowed for painting a posture or contrasts devised for sculpture, which makes the ideal of the arts an undertone of the Venus of Robin. Titian departed from the honored prototype in two significant ways. The first is straightforward: Venus does not cover her breast with her right arm but instead props herself up on pillows while clutching a bouquet of roses. The second variation, however, is challenging unlike the ancient Venus, she does not merely conceal, she caresses herself The Venus of Robin adds boldness to independence, and self- aware, she reclines in a well-furnished, modern (sixteenth-century) bedroom and addresses her sexual power directly to the beholder, may explain why Titian created Nils only messmates Interior Tort ten Venus AT Ordure. Although teen are OTOH obviously nudes, Ingress nude refers back to a figurative setting of exotic lands. Ingress nude slyly turns her head in profile but does not stare at us sullenly the way. Ingress nude could be beckoning the viewer seductively, refers to Titans Venus of Robin, but her much more upright stance is modestly staring at us. A comparison of this cool yet voluptuous work with Ingress La Grandee Odalisque later shows the wide range of sexuality which an outline style can express. Ingress, Jean-Augusta- Dominique 1780-1867. French painter, parliamentarian, A leading Neo-classicist, he was a student of Jacques Louis David. He was considered painter and icon of cultural conservatism in 19th-century France. He studied and worked in Rome about 1807-20, his portraits are meticulously detailed and highly polished. A master draughtsman, he considered drawing the probity of art, and marked by clarity of line and a cool formality in fierce opposition to the Romanticism of. His major works, exercised a profound influence on 19th-century French Academic art (Ackerman, 1995). In politics it was an age of upheaval, particularly with destructive and total warfare before 1715. It was also a time of expanding capitalism that saw rapidly expanding international read and a growing population. The increasing importance, wealth and self-esteem of the European middle classes, who became increasingly associated with the arts in this period Ingress became the leader of the French tradition of Neoclassical painting after the death of Jacques-Louis David. Ingresss cool, meticulously drawn works were the opposite of the contemporary Romantic school. Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in particular. The strict classicists looked upon Ingress as a rebel, the leaders of the Romantic Movement for which Ingress, throughout his long life, always expressed the deepest hatred, alone seem to have been reasonable of his qualities, and found him celebrated throughout France. Whilst he taught with repressive authority and admirable wisdom, it was with angry disgust and resentment that he found his work received with the same doubt and indifference, if not the same hostility His technique as a painter was academically unimpeachable he said paint should be as smooth as the skin of an onion but he was often attacked for the expressive situations of his draftsmanship; Unfortunately the influence of Ingress was mainly seen in those shortcomings and weaknesses which have come to be regarded as the hallmark of inferior academic work. ( Pooch, 2002). Ingress is a puzzling artist and his career is full of contradictions The central contradiction of his career is that although he was held up as the guardian of Classical rules and precepts, it is his personal obsessions and mannerisms that make him such a great artist. The Grandee Odalisque 1814 was commissioned by Napoleons sister, Queen Caroline of Naples. Ingress was known as an artist who rendered a wide variety of themes, from historical scenes to portraits. As one of the great Neo- Classicists artists he was interested in art history and in exotic cultures. Ingress was fascinated by the sensuality and exoticism of a near eastern harem. An Odalisque is a female slave of the harem, in Turkish she is literally a maid of the chamber. He often used ancient classical sculptures as source materials for his figures, accentuating the contours As Baudelaire remarked, his finest works are the product of a deeply sensuous nature. He stressed ten Importance AT Ellen as Trot Greek art Ana works DAY Raphael (Ackerman, 1995). The Odalisque is a study in opposites: The Oriental languor of her reclining pose is in opposition to her actual position. She appears relaxed but the position would be difficult to maintain comfortably. Her soft, warm skin tones are contrasted with the opulent silk patterns in cool colors. She is looking toward the viewer yet she is turned away. The critics disapproved of the figure; they complained that she seemed to have extra vertebrae in her back and that her arm had no detailed elbow. The figure is not quite correct and yet this abstraction gives the Odalisque a fluid quality that would otherwise not be possible. Ingress put great attention to the textures and an almost photographic realism to the fur, velvet and satin. The Contrast between the two paintings is plain; the reclining nude Venus is shown frontally in a languid posture; the seated nude Odalisque is seen from behind directs her gaze at least in part, toward the viewer. Commitment to ideal form and careful compositional structure is also another important comparison of the two paintings and painters. Both relied heavily on the canon of ideal beauty each played with and challenged the rules of the day. Masterfully they combined the ideal with the exotic, while setting their nudes in identifiable settings of their era. Color plays an important role in both paintings almost setting the stage, creating an almost theatrical scene; both were painted using oils on canvas. The origins of both works closely linked to the traditional; this in itself is not unusual for painters of their time but Titian and Ingress shaped these traditions in a ways that typifies their nude ladies s unique original and exemplary works that still today define the reclining nude.

Nationalism and its Negative Effects in the Modern World

Nationalism and its Negative Effects in the Modern World Introduction In the study entailing nationalism, one stumbles upon four major debates that scholars tend to engage in. The first one centers on how â€Å"nation† and â€Å"nationalism† should be defined. Secondly, there is a question of the time during which nations are thought to have first occurred.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Nationalism and its Negative Effects in the Modern World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The third debate tends to explore how nations and nationalism actualized. Finally, most classic works emphasize on European nationalism raising a debate as to whether nationalism began in Europe and spread to other non-western parts of the world or whether it developed on its own in non-western countries (Eschenhagen 2 ). This work will not attempt to exhaust all these debates but will rather concentrate on the various definitions of nationalism and its negative effects in the modern wo rld. Definition of Nationalism Nationalism can be understood in diverse perspectives depending on the context. Sociologically, nationalism can first be understood from the word nation, from which it is derived. The nation is Latin in origin – nation whose meaning during the medieval era was devoid of any political connotation. It has a similar meaning with Greek word ethnos that stands for â€Å"people, nation, and country† (Norbu 25). It was until the Middle Ages that the nation began attaining a political interpretation, which was vividly outspoken especially in France and Germany. In these two places, the term nation was used to refer to the ruling cadre in contrast with the word volk, which is synonymous to the common people or populace (Norbu 25). In view of this meaning, the word nation and the nationality concept were closely attributed to both sovereignty and power to imply that this concept was only common among those who were in rulership. Rather than belong to the people who embody it, the word nation rather referred to those in political power that had more say over state related concerns and held the key to the means of production. During the absolute monarchy, the nation was closely associated with the monarch’s state. If for that matter political power’s place of residence is the epitome the nation, then the French revolution was a major protest against the aristocratic class. With the increase in social communication and mass awareness, the idea of nationalism ceased from being cocooned within the aristocrats. It spilled down to the common people as well.Advertising Looking for essay on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Rousseau (1770 -1850) who refused equating nation to the higher political class and instead equating it with the populace (Norbu 25) agitated for the new concept of the nation. The meaning of nationality and that of na tionalism are closely related in that they designate a people rather than a nation per se. Nationalism is therefore a unique type of politically motivated social awareness that is people-derived and people oriented (Norbu 25). Another perspective of understanding nationalism is to look at it from the different kinds of nationalism and then elucidating that one of them can be defended and the other kinds cannot. In this light, the western form of nationality can be contrasted against the eastern form (Miller, 1995). For instance, western nationalization has been perceived as perspicacious and favorable to progress or reform. On the other hand, eastern nationalization has been perceived as unprogressive and cryptic, based on a seeming tribal perspective of nationality (Kohn, 1944, cited in Miller 8). The second contrast suggests that western nationalism was for people with outstanding cultural marks, able to measure up with those of known nation states such as Germany and Italy during the nineteenth century. On the other hand, Eastern nationalism was for people whose ancient culture was primitive and hence they had to curve an identity for themselves to able to fit competently in the modern world (Arnold 1976, cited in Miller 8). Another difference suggests that in Eastern nationalism, people who within the same territory are governed by common laws and take part in similar civic culture while Eastern nationalism is genealogically- based suggesting the notion of individuals bound together by shared ancestry. In each case, the contrast is used to draw the fact that Western nationalism is friendly to a liberal state whereas eastern nationalism tends towards dictatorship and cultural constraint (Miller 9). Another way of understanding nationality is looking at it from the standpoint of political philosophy. This is the difference between a nationalism of a nation that interferes with the rights of other nations as it strives to uphold its own objectives and a natio nalism that is sensitive to the rights of other nations and aims at enhancing equality among all nations. For example, MacCormick differentiates between acknowledging moral tussles while striving for national concerns from an egocentric drive of desiring that one’s nation should outdo others (Nathanson, 1993, cited in Miller 9).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Nationalism and its Negative Effects in the Modern World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, succinctly put, nationalism can be termed as opposition to foreign control, consciousness of being part of a certain nation and pride in the nation’s culture, norms, infrastructure, and achievements, awareness of shared political roles and a demand for self –motivated national governance (Okoth 1). How nationalism has been a negative force in our modern world The 1962 Indian border war Although the Indian border war in 1962 was not directly influenced by a western power, it elicited a rise in Chinese various nationalistic elements such as the sovereignty and legitimacy of China. When the raw over the border emerged within the mid nineteenth century, Apart from fear of losing its territorial loss, China hardened its position due to two other reasons. This was both the Tibet question and India’s non-negotiable attitude towards the borderline. Despite the known fact that Tibet has been within the Chinese territory since 1950, the Indian prime minister negated the fact that China had sovereignty over the territory. This really soured the relationship between India and China. China interpreted the Indian prime minister’s challenge of their own sovereignty over Tibet as purely imperialistic. China then resolved to respond to this through a strike of equal magnitude. The borderline war between India and China was not only fueled by India’s imperialistic approach, but also by India’s hard-line atti tude regarding the McMahon line. Due to collective opinion from the Chinese republic and Taiwanian support, China finally got victory. Although the Chinese government had achieved its objectives, the war tainted China’s international position and was a major cause of a deadlock in bilateral associations for many years thereafter (Eschenhagen 6). The eight islands dispute Besides the past borderline dispute between India and China, there is also a recent nationalistic dispute between Japan, China, and Taiwan regarding the ownership of eight islands found in the East Asia Sea. Although none of the three parties would like the issue to cripple their bilateral agreements, the conflict is motivated by both domestic and international politics. Although ownership of resources found in the islands is the major cause of dispute, nationalistic claims have blown out of proportion. Although conflict among the three parties was improbable, resolution and shared exploitation of the resourc es was also elusive (Huang, 1997, cited in Eschenhagen 6). A series of international conflicts then arose leading to protests from Chinese students. This was after a bomb attack in China that was thought to have been of western origin. The students’ protests led not only to the bombing of an American officer’s residents but also to the vandalism of other U.S related premises within the Chinese streets.Advertising Looking for essay on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The protests moved from street-based to online-based and with this, the Chinese national leadership had to intervene since the move would have jeopardized the relations between China and the U.S. The western world was greatly baffled by the protests and the U.S media apportioned blame to the Chinese government for fueling the mayhem by misleading the masses with incorrect nationalistic information (Eschenhagen 8). The U.S surveillance plane incident In a separate incidence, an American spy plane collided with a Chinese jet over the sea located in the southern part of China. This was after the American plane penetrating into the Chinese airspace without verbal clearance. This came at a time when other issues like human rights and support of Taiwan by the U.S had strained the relationship between Beijing and Washington. Although the U.S ambassador to China brought a message of apology to the Chinese people after a long impasse, the Chinese jet had been destroyed and its pilot killed i n the collision. Extreme Right wing voting The reasons behind the popularity of extreme right wing in some countries of the European Union and their absence and low influence in other parts have been of much debate (Gijsberts 157). However, they have been attributed to a diversity of country-specific features. Factors leading to these variances in the extreme rightwing voting are three-fold: sociological, economic, and political (Gijsberts 157). Sociologically, variances in the population of different countries affect the voter turnout in the extreme right wing voting. This is determined by both the public opinion and social structure of country. Economically, the economic doldrums and rivalry between the country’s main group and the immigrants could also explain the differences in extreme right wing voting. Politically, specific factors that characterize a party and the system of its operation influences voter turnout (Gijsberts 157). Nationalism as a cause of major world co nflicts and genocide Xenophobia and chauvinism are both regarded as products of extreme nationalism (Auer 19). This is perceived in the sense that xenophobic nationalism being the fear and rejection of a stranger is an extension of any aspect of national identity. Additionally, even though patriotism is closely related to nationalism, critics of nationalism find it quite detrimental in its extreme manifestation (Kegley 408). Extreme patriots tend to gauge their patriotism via the level of hatred and protest extended towards alien nations. Patriotism also makes them to blindly endorse all policies and practices of their own nation. In this vein, nationalism negates the aspect of universal values that elevates the values of all above those of individual nations. This is seen as an impediment to human rights and the harmony that exists among all nations in a world without borders. Nationalism further contradicts Christian, Islamic, and Judaistic teachings that love should be manifested even towards one’s enemies. Looked at from this perspective, nationalism is therefore perceived as a cause for armed world conflicts. Nationalism’s double-faced character is believed to be the main cause armed conflict. First, it is a common force that bonds nations with similar nationalities together and secondly, it does not only bring divisions among but it also divides nationalities and this is what justifies armed conflicts with other nations (Kegley 408). Genocide is normally explained as state organized killings that targets a given political, religious, national, or ethical group (Scherrer 69). The Bosnia genocide is believed to have its causes embedded in nationalism. Although the concentration camps were used to carry out genocidal activities, other acts entailed not just mass rape but also destruction of both Islamic and Croatian symbols (Delanty and Kumar 327). Such acts partly involve death but also involve annihilation either fully or partly, of a given national group. For instance, the mass rape psychologically torments and destroys the reproductive potential of all the groups (Delanty and Kumar 327). Apart from the Bosnia genocide, both world wars were direct full-scale genocides. For example during the Second World War, Hitler ordered mass murder against many ethnic groups such as the European Jews and Russians among others (Scherrer, p. 76). There were also organized killings against millions of prisoners and slave workers. The Nazi terror took away of 50 million the lives and Fascist Germany war eliminated the lives of millions of the Roma and Sinti, Russian civilians, Serbs among others (Scherrer 76). Conclusion Nationalism is the social consciousness of the people in a particular nation that causes them to protest alien control as they pride in their own national traditions, achievements and political rights. The extreme manifestations of nationalism have had negative impacts in the world especially manifested through armed conflicts and genocides. Auer, Stefan. Liberalism in Central Europe. London, Routledge. 2004. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=b2IRot3UaQ0Cpg=PA19dq=negative+effects+of+extreme+nationalismhl=enei=Fm3ATP_UGZ-V4gawiqTnCwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=3ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepageqf=false. Delanty, Gerard and Kumar, Krishan. The SAGE handbook of nations and nationalism. London, Routledge. 2006. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=3Y3zK_jyagQCpg=PA327dq=nationalism+as+the+cause+of+genocide+in+bosniahl=enei=ozXBTN2dGYaVswa74P2WCAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepageqf=false. Eschenhagen, Paul. Nationalism in China: Implications for Chinese International Relations. Norderstedt, GRIN Verlag. 2006. October 21, 2010. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=XxW92MeKABECpg=PA2dq=Definition+of+nationalismhl=enei=fALATOsSh_ngBrjCyLYMsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepageq=Definition%20of%20nationalismf=true . Gijsberts, Merove I. Nationalism and exclusion of migrants: cross national comparisons. VT, Ashgate Publishing. 2004. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=6iW3lXAj5BQCpg=PA160dq=negative+effects+of+extreme+nationalismhl=enei=Fm3ATP_UGZ-V4gawiqTnCwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepageqf=false. Kegley, Charles. World Politics: Trend and Transformation. CA, Cengage Learning. 2009. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=JFVlaSN6CwsCpg=PA408dq=conflicts+resulting+from+extreme+nationalismhl=enei=GybBTNeNOYfEswab2pDSCAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=10ved=0CFMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepageqf=true. Norbu, Dawa. Culture, and the Politics of Third World Nationalism. London, SAGE Publications Ltd. 1992. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=DhZk6aOAWbsCpg=PA25dq=Definition+of+nationalismhl=enei=fALATOsSh_ngBrjCyLYMsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=Definition%20of%20nationalismf=true. Okoth. Assa. A History of Afri ca. Kampala, East African Publishers Ltd. 2006. 21 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=suMvEWjK-OcCpg=PA1dq=Definition+of+nationalismhl=enei=fALATOsSh_ngBrjCyLYMsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=Definition%20of%20nationalismf=true. Scherrer, Christian. Ethnicity, nationalism, and violence. London, Ashgate Publishing Limited. 2003. 22 October 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=6NnchlGT3nECpg=PA69dq=nationalism+as+a+cause+for+genocidehl=enei=GTzBTP7WM8_tsga__pXHCQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=nationalism%20as%20a%20cause%20for%20genocidef=false.

Using Context Clues to Improve Reading Comprehension

Using Context Clues to Improve Reading Comprehension Context clues can help many people with dyslexia to compensate for weak reading skills when comprehending reading passages. Context clues can significantly increase reading comprehension. According to a study completed by Rosalie P. Fink at Lesley College in Cambridge, this continues into adulthood. This study looked at 60 professional adults with dyslexia and 10 without dyslexia. All consistently read specialized information for their jobs. Those with dyslexia scored lower in spelling and required more time to read and indicated they relied on context clues, both during the study and in everyday reading, to aid in comprehension. Context Clues When you encounter a word you dont know as you are reading, you can choose to look it up in a dictionary, ignore it or use the surrounding words to help you determine what the word means. Using the words around it is using contextual clues. Even if you cant figure out the exact definition, phrases and words should be able to help you make a guess about the words meaning. Some of the ways to use context to help understand new words: Look for examples, illustrations or explanations. Difficult or uncommon words may be followed by information to help discern the meaning. The writer sometimes uses phrases to help identify examples and explanations: for example, such as, including, consists of, for instance, is like. Even without specific words introducing the meaning of an unknown word, phrases and sentences in the paragraph give further explanation, often enough to make a logical or educated guess as to the meaning of the word.Definitions are sometimes included in the text. For example, After the fire, the entire office was restricted, that is only a few people could enter, for several days. In this example, the author built the definition directly into the sentence.Sometimes surrounding words or phrases contain synonyms of the unknown word. For example, The boss complained when he was tardy, or late, for work for the third time this week.Antonyms can also be used to help readers figure out the meaning of a word. F or example, Joe was exhausted after the trip but Tom was wide awake and alert. Experiences can also be used to explain unknown words. Roger was reluctant to volunteer to help at a charity event. Last time he jumped right in and found there was much more responsibility than he was ready to take on and it took up an immense amount of time. This time, Roger decided to take it slow, offering only a few hours a month rather than whatever time was needed. His fear of making a quick decision paid off and he really enjoyed the job once he could control how much time he gave to the organization. Teaching Context Clues To help students learn to use contextual clues to learn new vocabulary words, teach them specific strategies. The following exercise can help: Using a textbook or printed worksheet, write down several new vocabulary words on the board. If using a textbook, write down the page and paragraph where the word is.Have students divide a paper into three columns.In the first column, the students should write the new vocabulary word.In the second column, the student should write down any clues in the text that help them guess the meaning of the word. Clues can be found immediately before or after the word, in the sentence before or after or even in the paragraphs around the word.The third column should contain the students guess as to what the word means. Students should review the different types of contextual clues, such as examples, synonyms, antonyms, definitions or experiences as they read through the text. If using a printout, students can use different color highlighters to mark the unknown word and the clues. Once the students make a guess, they should re-read the sentence, inserting their definition in place of the vocabulary word to see if it makes sense. Finally, students can look the word up in the dictionary to see how close they were in guessing the meaning of the word. References Literacy Development in Successful Men and Women with Dyslexia, 1998, Rosalie P. Fink, Annals of Dyslexia, Volume XLVII, pp 3311-346What Are Context Clues? Date Unknown, Staff Writer, Sacramento City CollegeWhat Contextual Clues Can I Use? Date Unknown, Presented by Lynn Figuarte, U.S. Department of Education

Kristopher Scholl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kristopher Scholl - Essay Example leaders have dazzling social intelligence, gusto for any change, and to crown it all, a vision that enables them to focus their sights on issues that really benefit the attention of the followers (Greenleaf & Spears, 1998). A higher authority is necessary for regulating and supervising other people as well as setting an example of a dedicated and a hard worker. Any effective leader should possess competence, courage, and compassion. Character as majorly discussed, is possibly the most significant characteristic a leader should have. An individual’s real character is who they happen to be when they are placed to face difficult scenarios. It is the morality and the decisions of a great leader that awards them the respectable character that other people seek to follow. Having character is essential for any leader since a leader requires that capability to see what others are unable to see, the needed sacrifices that should be made, even if it means that the sacrifices are of their own or a different individuals. Most of historical effective leaders are crowned charismatic; this may bring the need to define charisma, whether it is inborn or attained somewhere in life. At the same time if all charismatic leaders are generally effective. Basically, charismatic leaders are very skilled in their communication styles (Greenleaf & Spears, 1998). These are persons who are born verbally eloquent, at the same time they are able to communicate to most of their followers on an emotional, deep level. These are leaders who are capable of articulating a captivating or a compelling vision, and have the power to arouse very strong emotions in most of their followers. Charisma is basically a process. An interaction that takes place between the leader and the followers and the situation that calls out for the leader such as a need for change or settles a crisis. Most political leaders develop the needed skills to communicate to their followers or even convince the donors, this

I will UPLOAD loms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

I will UPLOAD loms - Essay Example The group achieved 98.435 instead of the planned 53000 pounds. In the analysis there was failure in achieving the objectives that were set by the group. The approaches otherwise could be adjusted to bring out the desired results due to the objectives that were aimed by the group The objectives that were set by the group was to achieve during the month of running the company was the performance measures that will allow the ability to deliver the products on time and keep customers satisfied by the number and amount of penalties that they paid. The objective was however not achieved due to the factors that the group did not consider. The important aspects that was neglected by the group in the approach includes forecasting, planning and also ordering of enough inventory that was needed in the production to have just in time delivery to the orders that were give. The group did not order enough during the first three weeks and led to suffering of the inventory especially raw materials. Since the group was bound by own raw materials available in their inventory, the group could not produce more than the minimum quantity even if the demand that week required it to. Thus the group did not manage the inventory as well it should have been managed. The strengths that the group managed is together with coinciding with the actual peak in the last month of the game which was luck in the trying to chase the week. Due to the unfulfilled orders in the approaches, high unit cost and penalty charges, the group ran bankrupt. A strength came when after the situation there was plan of the next move which was done carefully and this enabled the coming out of the bankruptcy in the next one week and even came up with a profit in the week. Forecasting as an element was not used in the approach by the group. The element was necessary in the approach since it would make the group plan the production, tell the peak and purchase more

Leader Persona Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leader Persona - Essay Example ust have appropriate qualities capable of fostering the growth of the various aspects of the society as the below analysis of Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani below portrays. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani typifies the qualities of a good leader in the contemporary society. From his controversial rise to power in 1995 to the current economic and social stability of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani continues to prove his ability to lead and revolutionize a modern society, one bestowed with limitless natural resources that continue to cause chaos and mayhem in numerous other parts of the world. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani came from Al Thani, a royal family in Qatar and became the ruling Emir in 1995 through a bloodless coup of the palace. He ruled the country from 1995 to 2013 a period within which Qatar experienced tremendous economic growth. Additionally, Qatari became a regional economic and diplomatic hub under his leadership. Numerous sports and diplomatic functions took place in the county during his tenure. As stated earlier, he embodied a perfect and revolutionary leader who enhanced the growth and prosperity. Key among his personality traits was aggressiveness (Kronfol, Ghuloum & Weber, 2013). He rose to power by overthrowing an existing Emir of the kingdom. Such was his belief in both himself and his leadership. He believed that he could lead the people of Qatar better thereby enhancing the development of the Kingdom. He therefore grabbed the throne. He was part of the royalty in the Kingdom a feature that made the coup bloodless. However, soon after rising to power, he busied himself with the formation of appropriate social and political structures to help secure the country and fortify his position as the Emir of the Kingdom. He understood that politics continue to bedevil other countries with similar political structures. He therefore sought to safeguard his position as the leader of the country by creating appropriate political structures to help him secure his

2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

2 - Essay Example equal to capital and liabilities because when a person or an entity start their business, they inject the capital which can be in form of cash or other assets therefore at the beginning of the entity all there is are assets and capital. When the company expands it purchases goods or offers services which give rise to further assets and further liabilities as loans are acquired and credit is obtained out of that same capital. Some amount is also generated as profit for their business. Therefore, all the transactions of the entity take place through the same capital and the assets of the company must always equal their liabilities and capital. The statement of financial position gives the position of the company at a given moment of time where it provides the description of company’s assets, liabilities and equity from its establishment to that particular date, while the Income statement provides the details of all the income and expenditure activities during the year as at the date of balance sheet. In a nut shell, the financial position is the standing at that date while the Income statement is the movement during the period which is why the dates begin with ‘as at’ and ‘year ended’ respectively. The figure of net cash flow will mostly be different from that of net profit because the cash flows of the company are purely due to the monetary items such as sale, purchase, monetary income of dividend and interest, monetary expenses of salaries and rent etc. These expenses are purely of monetary nature while the net profits of the company not only involve these monetary items but also involve non cash items such as depreciation, fair value, amortization etc therefore normally cash and cash equivalents of the company are usually not equal to their net profit. Certain expenses are not affected by the cash flows of the company as it does not involve cash dealing on the time of the transaction. These expenses or income do not affect the cash flows because

Faulty forensic science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Faulty forensic science - Essay Example ts as to why there is a need for a centralized governing forensic science body to oversee the crime labs, and also look into the possibility that maybe, just maybe, forensic science is not always at fault when it comes to the acquittal or conviction of a criminal. Acknowledging the fact that the forensic field of criminal investigation is not fool-proof, the United States Department of Justice has decided that the time has come to establish a forensic commission that will set the standards and oversee the functions of crime labs nationwide. This commission is expected to set the standards that will be used to determine the forensic guilt of a criminally charged person. through the creation of a â€Å"a professional code for forensic scientists, set certification requirements and advise the Attorney General... In addition, the National Institute of Standards and Technology will double-check existing forensic science standards and develop new ways of making forensic measurements.† (Diep, â€Å"New Commission to Set Standards for Troubled Forensic Sciences†). Currently, there are no uniform rules existing to guide the forensic labs in the discharge of their jobs. The commission is expected to standardize their function and offer a sense of uniformity in their investigation and experimentation procedures. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences reported that â€Å"much of the â€Å"science† used in crime labs lacks any form of peer review or validation – fundamental requirements for sound science. Such questionable forensic methods include long-established and accepted techniques such as fingerprint comparison, hair and fiber analysis, and bullet matching† (Clarke, â€Å"Crime Labs in Crisis: Shoddy Forensics Used to Secure Convictions†). The creation of this commission will then make the forensic labs answerable to the commission and prevent the failure of the justice system by sending an innocent person to prison or releasing a guilty person back into the general

Strikes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strikes - Research Paper Example As a means to an end, it recommends strategies that an organization can implement to maintain a successful working relationship with the unions. The management plays a pivotal role in a firm. It ensures that the working environment is conducive for the employees; hence, reducing cases of strikes. It also works jointly with the unions to improve the welfare of the workers and ensure high productivity. Additionally, it controls and manages the activities of the firm to guarantee smooth running of the business. Most of the organizations have unionized employees; thus, the unions ensure that the rights of the workers are fully protected. On the same note, they impact organizations negatively and positively. For instance, they ensure increased profitability, reduced turnover, and improved relationships with the employees. However, in case there are disagreements, there is likelihood of engaging in strikes; hence, low profit and negative publicity. In that case, organizations need to work jointly with the unions by seeing them as partners and developing a strategic partnership with them that is based on respect and trust (Ghosh, 2 005; Tschida, 2006). This discourse focuses on discussing the role of the management and unions in an organization. It also gives a detailed summary of the effects that unions have on the management. Finally, it recommends strategies that organizations can implement to create a productive working relationship with the unions. It is without doubt that the trade unions play a major role in enhancing productivity; thus, managers should work together to maintain a positive working setting that is based on mutual trust and social cohesion. Managers are paramount in a firm as they ensure all activities are in accordance to the stipulated goals. The main role of an organization’s management is to guide firms towards accomplishing their goals as well as

Faulty forensic science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Faulty forensic science - Essay Example ts as to why there is a need for a centralized governing forensic science body to oversee the crime labs, and also look into the possibility that maybe, just maybe, forensic science is not always at fault when it comes to the acquittal or conviction of a criminal. Acknowledging the fact that the forensic field of criminal investigation is not fool-proof, the United States Department of Justice has decided that the time has come to establish a forensic commission that will set the standards and oversee the functions of crime labs nationwide. This commission is expected to set the standards that will be used to determine the forensic guilt of a criminally charged person. through the creation of a â€Å"a professional code for forensic scientists, set certification requirements and advise the Attorney General... In addition, the National Institute of Standards and Technology will double-check existing forensic science standards and develop new ways of making forensic measurements.† (Diep, â€Å"New Commission to Set Standards for Troubled Forensic Sciences†). Currently, there are no uniform rules existing to guide the forensic labs in the discharge of their jobs. The commission is expected to standardize their function and offer a sense of uniformity in their investigation and experimentation procedures. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences reported that â€Å"much of the â€Å"science† used in crime labs lacks any form of peer review or validation – fundamental requirements for sound science. Such questionable forensic methods include long-established and accepted techniques such as fingerprint comparison, hair and fiber analysis, and bullet matching† (Clarke, â€Å"Crime Labs in Crisis: Shoddy Forensics Used to Secure Convictions†). The creation of this commission will then make the forensic labs answerable to the commission and prevent the failure of the justice system by sending an innocent person to prison or releasing a guilty person back into the general

Nation-states and colonial regimes have historically managed diversity Essay - 1

Nation-states and colonial regimes have historically managed diversity while creating further diversity in the process. Explain some of these tensions - Essay Example ular media, scholarly literature, professional journals and many more, it is a multifaceted expression, and thus, there is no single definition of diversity. The dictionary definition of diversity is â€Å"a state of unlikeness† or â€Å"the condition of being different.† For many, diversity means inclusion, gender, or racial differences. Since we are all different, diversity is a term that includes everyone. In this essay, diversity refers to individual, group and cultural differences. A nation-state is an independent state in which the majority of the citizens are united by factors such as common descent and language, which are factors that define a nation. JurgenOsterhammel (2005) as â€Å"a relationship between the majority who are indigenous and the foreign invaders who are the minority†, on the other hand, defines colonialism. In the pursuit of interests, the colonial rulers make and implement the fundamental decisions that affect the lives of the colonized people. History has that many examples of colonial regimes rejecting cultural compromises with the colonized population exist. This end up forcing the colonized population believes that the colonizers are the superior. Unsurprisingly, this rejection leads to tensions within the diverse population. A concept that has been propagated to respond and manage the issue of diversity is multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is the ideology of embracing diversity in cultures and formulation of policies to protect the existence of different orientations in a population (Long, 1997). It is all about making people in a society to preserve their different cultures. The idea of multiculturalism is manifested in the approach used to propagate and champion for it. Advocacy groups are formed to push for recognition of the right of people to uphold and practice their culture and religion. Another way it comes out is by creating of policies that promote diversity of cultures. The concept is opposed to the integration of

Recognition Properties for Pyrrole

Recognition Properties for Pyrrole Preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer and its recognition properties for pyrrole X.W. Wu, J. Wang, H.X. Wang  [1], Q.M. Zhou, L.H. Liu. wang, Y.P. Wu, H.W. Yang, G.L. Zhao, S.X. Tuo Abstract: The molecularly-imprinted polymer (MIP) of pyrrole was synthesized by a precipitation polymerization method using acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linker agent in acetonitrile. MIP of pyrrole was characterized by FT-IR and UV. The surface morphology and specific surface area of the MIP was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption (BET). The adsorption behavior of the MIP was investigated in detail, which showed high selectivity for pyrrole, the results indicated that the maximum binding capacities of pyrrole on the MIP and the non-imprinted polymer (NIP) were 404 and 265 ÃŽ ¼molΆ¡g−1, respectively. Application of MIP with a high selectivity to pyrrole provides a novel method for separating and purifying the trace nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds from tobacco. Keyword: molecularly imprinted polymer, pyrrole, tobacco, nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds 1 INTRODUCTION The Pyrrole and other nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds in tobacco leaves come mainly from the reaction products formed by the reaction of sugar and amino acid[1-3], which play an important role in sensory quality of tobacco and tobacco products. They are the important parameters to evaluate the sensory quality of tobacco products and have great effects on the sensory characteristics of tobacco products and on the health of smokers[4]. Therefore, the studies and analysis of nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds are conducive to improve the quality of perfuming and tobacco products. Molecular Imprinting, as an interdiscipline derived from polymer chemistry, material science, and biological chemistry, is the method of preparing the polymer with particular selection to given template molecules[5-8]. So far, dozens of countries, (i.e., America, Japan, Germany, Australia, France and China) hundreds of academic institutions and enterprises have been working on the research and development of the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP).Thanks to MIP is simple in preparation and can be easily preserved, with specific selectivity, high temperature, high pressure and acid corrosion, it has been widely used in the solid phase extraction[9], chromatography analysis [10], membrane separation [11], biomimetic sensor[12], ect. The separation of bioactive ingredients in natural products is difficult because of their low contents, complex structures and diversity[13-15]. Compared with traditional methods (high performance liquid chromatography, silica gel column chromatography, etc.), molecular imprinting method has the advantages of high molecular recognition, simple operation, low solvent consumption and recyclable[16]. Thus, the molecularly imprinting technique has attracted considerable attention for extraction of compounds from complex mixtures of chemical species[17-18]. However, to the best of our knowledge, no molecularly imprinted polymer has been reported for the separation and determination of pyrrole in tobacco so far. In this study, pyrrole imprinted polymer was synthesized by employing acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinking. After the characteristics and analysis of the MIP and NIP, the adsorption behavior including kinetics and isotherms are discussed in detail. It was found that the MIP can specifically adsorb and identify pyrrole molecules, which meant the MIP can be applied to separation and enrichment of trace pyrrole in tobacco. The aim of this paper is to provide theoretical basis and technical supports for further study of the effects of nitrogen heterocyclic compound on tobacco quality. 2 EXPERIMENTAL 2.1 Reagents Pyrrole, pyridine and methanol were obtained from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China). Acrylamide, methacrylic acid, acetonitrile and azodiisobutyronitrile were purchased from Tianjin Kermel Chemical Reagent Company (Tianjin, China). Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was obtained from Aladdin reagent co., LTD (Guangdong, China). All the solvents were of analytical reagent grade and used without further purification. 2.2 Synthesis of MIP and NIP The pyrrole imprinted polymer was prepared by precipitation polymerization in the following procedures. 0.1 mmol of pyrrole and 0.4 mmol of AM were dissolved in 20 ml of acetonitrile in a 40 mL glass vessel. The mixture was sonicated at room temperature for 30 minutes for pre-polymerization, and then was incubated at 4à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™Ã‚ °C for 12 h. Subsequently, 2 mmol of cross-linker (EGDMA) and 10 mg of initiator (AIBN) were added stepwise. The glass vessel was degassed in a sonicating bath for 10 min, and filled with nitrogen for 30 min, and then sealed for polymerization at 60  °C for 24 h in a thermostat water bath. After polymerization, the resultants were extracted with a mixed solvent of methanol/acetic acid (9:1, v/v) for 48 h in a Soxhlet extractor to remove the template from its polymeric matrix, followed by ethanol for another 48 h to remove the acetic acid. The obtained MIP was dried in an oven at 60  °C overnight. As a control, the NIP was prepared and treated unde r identical conditions except for the omission of the template. 2.3 Morphological characterization The FT-IR spectra were recorded to characterize the MIP and NIP on an AVATAR 360 ESP FT-IR spectrometer (Nicolet, America). SEM images were obtained with afield-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM, JSM-6700F, JEOL, Japan). The nitrogen adsorption/desorption data of MIP and NIP was determined using an ASAP2020Micromeriticsapparatus (Micromeritics Instruments, USA). 2.4 Binding experiments The binding experiments were carried out at 30  °C and 150 rpm on an orbital shaker with 100 mg of the MIP and NIP in a 100 mL flask containing pyrrole in 20 ml of acetonitrile. Batch experiments were performed to examine the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium. In the kinetic adsorption experiments, 2.5 mmolΆ¡L-1 pyrrole in acetonitrile was used. The adsorption isotherm experiments were conducted with the initial pyrrole concentration ranging from 0.2 to 5.0 mmolΆ¡L-1 for 2 h. After the adsorption, the concentration of the substrates in the supernatant solutions was determined via an UV-2450 Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, Japan). The binding capacity of pyrrole and the analogs was calculated from the equation: (1) Where: Q stands for the binding capacity (ÃŽ ¼molΆ¡g−1), C0 and C are the initial and the residual concentrations (mmolΆ¡L-1) of pyrrole, respectively, V is the solution volume (mL), and m is the amount (mg) of the MIP or NIP used for the adsorption experiments. 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Interaction between pyrrole and the functional monomers In order to investigate the feasibility of imprinted pyrrole, two different functional monomers MAA and AM were investigated for the formation of complex with the template. The maximum absorption wavelength of pyrrole was measured by the UV-2450 Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer. As shown in Fig.1, compared with MAA, AM demonstrated much stronger interaction with pyrrole for the non-existent absorbance of pyrrole. It is possible that the complex of pyrrole with AM was formed via hydrogen bonding between N–H of pyrrole and –CONH2 of AM due to the pre-polymerization. Fig.1 Interaction between pyrrole and functional monomers 3.2 The molar ratio of pyrrole to the monomer In order to elucidate the recognition mechanism on a molecular level, spectrophotometric analysis was employed in the pyrrole imprinting process. A series solution were prepared in acetonitrile, in which the molar ratio of pyrrole and AM varied at 1:0, 1:2, 1:4 and 1:6, respectively. After equilibrium for 12 h, absorption spectrums of the mixture were measured via an UV-2450 Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer. As shown in Fig.2, the absorbance decreased with the increasing concentration of AM, When the molar ratio of pyrrole and AM up to 1:4, the absorption peak of pyrrole disappeared, which indicated that the pyrrole had reacted with AM completely. While molar ratio of pyrrole and AM exceeded 1:4, the excess of AM could self-associate, and formed non-specific binding site, which makes the adsorption mass transfer resistance increase and is not conducive to the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer. Therefore, the optimal molar ratio of pyrrole and AM is 1:4. Fig.2 Absorption spectra of pyrrole with different proportion of AM in acetonitrile 3.3 Characteristics of MIP and NIP 3.3.1 Characterisation of MIP and NIP by FT-IR spectra Pyrrole, AM, EGDMA, MIP (before and after eluting templates) and NIP were compared to affirm the successful preparation of MIP by FT-IR spectra. The FT-IR spectra of the MIP before and after removal of template pyrrole are presented in Fig.3a and Fig.3b, respectively. The –NH stretching vibration band of monomer AM (Fig.3e) appeared at 3580 cm-1 in the spectra of MIP before pyrrole removal (Fig.3a), which indicated that the template pyrrole formed hydrogen bonding interaction with monomer AM, this band is shifted to a higher wavenumber (at 3585 cm-1) after removal of pyrrole in MIP (Fig.3b). A conspicuous band at 1648 cm-1 in the spectra of MIP before removal of template pyrrole is ascribed to -C=C- aromatic ring stretching vibration of pyrrole (Fig.3d). This band disappeared after removal of pyrrole in MIP (Fig.3a) and was not observed in spectra of NIP (Fig.3c) due to absence of pyrrole. The peak at 3597cm-1 inFig.3c corresponds to the –NH stretching of monomer AM in the FT-IR spectra of NIP. The absorption peaks of MIP and NIP were similar, which means that both MIP after eluting templates and NIP have the same chemical components. Fig.3 IR spectra of (a) MIP before eluting template, (b) MIP after eluting template , (c) NIP, (d) pyrrole, (e) AM 3.3.2 Morphology of MIP and NIP The morphology of MIP and NIP was shown in Fig.4. As shown in Fig.4 (a), the prepared polymer is microsphere and the particle is uniform, which indicated the spherical particle can be synthesized at the best experiment condition. The MIP microsphere has a narrow and small particle size, and the average diameter is 2ÃŽ ¼m. As for NIP, the microsphere with a narrow but big particle size, and the average diameter is 3ÃŽ ¼m. Much imino exist in the template molecule, which may suppress the polymerization, results in the bigger particle size of NIP compared with MIP. Besides, the whole reaction system polarity increased with the added template molecule, the solubility of MIP decreased, so that MIP precipitated from the whole reaction system early, which can also generate the bigger particle size of NIP. Fig.4 SEM micrographs of (a) MIP, (b) NIP. 3.3.3 Characterization of specific surface area Table 1 lists the results of nitrogen adsorption experiments for MIP and NIP particles. It can be seen that the specific surface area and the average pore diameter were different for MIP and NIP particles. Table1 Structure parameters of MIP and NIP a Measured by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method. b Measured by Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) method. 3.4 Binding performance of MIP and NIP 3.4.1 Absorption isotherms and kinetic of pyrrole on the MIP and NIP The absorption isotherm curves of pyrrole on the MIP and NIP were plotted in Fig.5. The absorption capacity was increased gradually with increasing initial concentration of pyrrole in the range of 0.2-5.0 mmol ·L−1. In the higher concentration range, the binding capacity was close to be stable. The binding data can be analyzed by Langmuir equation: (2) Where Q stands for the binding capacity (ÃŽ ¼molΆ¡g−1), Qmax is the maximum binding capacity (ÃŽ ¼molΆ¡g−1), Ceq is equilibrium concentration of pyrrole (mmol ·L−1), and B is a constant. In order to calculate the maximum binding capacity of pyrrole on both MIP and NIP, this equation was changed into Eq. (3): (3) Eq. (3) shows a linear relationship between Ceq/Q and Ceq. From the slope of the linear plot, the maximum binding capacities of pyrrole on the MIP and NIP were calculated to be 404 and 265 ÃŽ ¼molΆ¡g−1, respectively, which means that the maximum binding capacity of pyrrole on MIP was 1.52 times of that on NIP. In addition, under the same experimental conditions, the adsorption capacity of the MIP at each concentration was higher than that of the NIP. It was indicated that MIP offered a higher affinity for the template molecule than NIP. Fig.5 Adsorption isotherms of pyrrole on MIP and NIP 3.4.2 Binding kinetic curve of pyrrole pyrrole on the MIP As shown in Fig.6, the adsorption kinetic curves of pyrrole on MIP and MIP were shown at the pyrrole concentration of 2.5 mmol ·L−1 in acetonitrile. It can be seen that the binding capacity of MIP increased rapidly in the period of 0-60 min, and then the increments were reduced on the stage of 60-80 min, and the saturated binding was observed after 80 min. Fig.6 Adsorption kinetic curves of pyrrole on MIP and NIP 3.4.3 Selective adsorption In the selective adsorption test, the target molecule pyrrole and the competitive one pyridine possess similar structure and co-exist in tobacco extract as nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds. As we can see in Table 2, it is obvious that the absorption capacity of pyrrole and pyridine of MIP was much higher than that of the NIP. The selectivity of MIP was 2.17 times higher than that of NIP, which suggested that the imprinting process significantly improved adsorption selectivity to the template. Table 2 Binding capacity of different substrates on MIP and NIP 4 CONCLUSIONS In this paper, the pyrrole molecularly imprinted polymer was synthesized via the facile precipitation-polymerization method. The prepared polymer is microsphere and the diameter is about 2 ÃŽ ¼m. The binding property experiments indicated the imprinted polymer can adsorb the pyrrole molecule selectively. Moreover, the adsorb effect of MIP is stronger than NIP. The selective adsorption experiments demonstrated the synthesized MIP microsphere has the obvious selective adsorption effect with pyrrole molecule when compared the similar structure pyridine. 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