Baraka essays

Baraka essays Modern culture encourages mass production including the commercialization of animals and poeple. In the film Baraka, the effects of mass production and commercialization are contrasted in serene nature scenes and other scenes from today's busiest industrial cities. First of all, mass production is the manufacturing of goods in large quantities. Baraka shows several examples of this, the most memorable one takes place at a poultry factory in Hong Kong. The assembly line of baby chicks being tossed around as their wings are clipped and beaks are burned is painful to watch. The blank, almost cold expression on each of the workers faces who handle the innocent, baby chicks is disturbing. This scene shows how people can become programmed and objectified or only be worth the quantity of product that they produce is mind boggling. Another example as a result of mass production takes place in the scene where acres and acres of trees are being cut down to make paper. Considering the amount of recycling we do today, it is hard for one to consider "the need" to tear down as many new trees as we do. The mass murder of beautiful, innocent trees that produce oxygen and homes for animals are examples of how mass production ravages nature to provide material things for modern cultures. Defined as applying methods of business to exploit or produce something to make a profit, commercialization has the same effects as and is also a result of mass production. In a previous example at a poultry factory in Hong Kong, the workers are shown with blank, exhausted expressions on their faces. It is hard to tell if they are at all content with their occupation. The lack of emotion and blind focus on producing product is all that is shown. One might conclude that the workers are unhappy since it is common for factory workers to be paid a petty amount for a ridiculous amount of work. ...

Biography of John W. Young

Biography of John W. Young John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 - January 5, 2018), was one of the best-known of NASAs astronaut corps. In 1972, he served as commander of the Apollo 16  mission to the moon and in 1982, he served as commander of the first-ever flight of the space shuttle Columbia. As the only astronaut to work aboard four different classes of spacecraft, he became known throughout the agency and the world for his technical skill and calm under pressure. Young was married twice, once to Barbara White, with whom he raised two children. After their divorce, Young married Susy Feldman. Personal Life John Watts Young was born in San Francisco to William Hugh Young and Wanda Howland Young. He grew up in Georgia and Florida, where he  explored nature and science as a Boy Scout. As an undergraduate at Georgia Institute of Technology, he studied aeronautical engineering and graduated in 1952 with highest honors. He entered the U.S. Navy straight out of college, eventually ending up in flight training. He became a helicopter pilot, and eventually joined a fighter squadron where he flew missions from the Coral Sea and the USS Forrestal. Young then moved to become a test pilot, as so many astronauts did, at Patuxent River and the Naval Test Pilot School. Not only did he fly a number of experimental aircraft, but he also set several world records while flying the Phantom II jet. Joining NASA In 2013, John Young published an autobiography of his years as a pilot and astronaut, called Forever Young. He told the story of his incredible career simply, humorously, and humbly. His NASA years, in particular, took this man- often referred to as an astronauts astronaut- from the Gemini missions of the early to mid-1960s to the Moon aboard Apollo, and eventually to the ultimate test pilot dream: commanding a shuttle to orbital space. Youngs public demeanor was that of a calm, sometimes wry, but always professional engineer and pilot. During his Apollo 16 flight, he was so laid-back and focused that his heart rate (being tracked from the ground) barely rose above normal. He was well-known for thoroughly examining a spacecraft or instrument and then zeroing in on its mechanical and engineering aspects, often saying, after a blizzard of questions, Im just asking... Gemini and Apollo John Young joined NASA in 1962, as part of Astronaut Group 2. His classmates were Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Charles Pete Conrad, James A. Lovell, James A. McDivitt, Elliot M. See, Jr, Thomas P. Stafford, and Edward H. White (who died in the Apollo 1 fire  in 1967). They were referred to as the New Nine and all but one went on to fly several missions over the next decades. The exception was Elliot See, who was killed in a T-38 crash. Youngs first of six flights to space came in March 1965 during the early Gemini era, when he piloted Gemini 3 in the first manned Gemini mission. The next year, in July 1966, he was the command pilot for Gemini 10 where he and teammate Michael Collins did the first double rendezvous of two spacecraft in orbit. When the Apollo missions began, Young was immediately tapped to fly the dress rehearsal mission that led to the first Moon landing. That mission was Apollo 10 and took place in May 1969, not quite two months before Armstrong and Aldrin made their historic trip. Young didnt fly again until 1972 when he commanded Apollo 16 and achieved the fifth human lunar landing in history. He walked on the Moon (becoming the ninth person to do so) and drove a lunar buggy across its surface. The Shuttle Years The first flight of the space shuttle Columbia required a special pair of astronauts: experienced pilots and trained space fliers. The agency chose John Young to command the maiden flight of the orbiter (which had never been flown to space with people aboard) and Robert Crippen as the pilot. They roared off the pad on April 12, 1981. The mission was the first manned one to use solid-fuel rockets, and its objectives were to get to orbit safely, orbit Earth, and then return to a safe landing on Earth, as an airplane does. Young and Crippens first flight was a success and made famous in an IMAX movie called Hail Columbia. True to his heritage as a test pilot, Young descended from the cockpit after landing and did a walk-around of the orbiter, pumping his fist in the air and inspecting the craft. His laconic responses during the post-flight press briefing were true to his nature as an engineering and pilot. One of his most-quoted lines answers was to a question about ejecting from the shuttle if there were problems. He simply said, You just pull the little handle. After the successful first flight of the space shuttle, Young commanded only one other mission- STS-9 again on Columbia. It carried the Spacelab to orbit, and on that mission, Young stepped into history as the first person to fly into space six times. He was supposed to fly again in 1986, which would have given him another space flight record, but the Challenger explosion delayed the NASA flight schedule for more than two years. In the aftermath of that tragedy, Young was very critical of NASA management for its approach to astronaut safety. He was removed from flight duty and assigned a desk job at NASA, serving in executive positions for the rest of his tenure. He never flew again, after logging more than 15,000 hours of training and preparations for nearly a dozen missions for the agency. After NASA John Young worked for NASA for 42 years, retiring in 2004. He had already retired from the Navy with the rank of captain years earlier. Yet, he remained active in NASA affairs, attending meetings and briefings at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. He made occasional public appearances to celebrate important milestones in NASA history and also made appearances at specific space gatherings and a few educators meetings but otherwise remained largely out of the public eye until his death. John Young Clears the Tower for the Final Time Astronaut John W. Young died from complications of pneumonia on January 5, 2018. In his lifetime, he flew more than 15,275 hours in all kinds of aircraft, and nearly 900 hours in space. He earned many awards for his work, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He is a fixture in several aviation and astronaut halls of fame, has a school and planetarium named for him, and received Aviation Weeks Philip J. Klass award in 1998. John W. Youngs fame extends well beyond his flight time to books and movies. He will always be remembered for his integral role in space exploration history.

Sentencing Provisions of the Criminal Justice Act of 2003 Article

Sentencing Provisions of the Criminal Justice Act of 2003 - Article Example As a result, there has been considerable political input into the criminal justice process, notably through sentencing guidelines, in response to pressure from the public fuelled by high levels of media attention to crime. In striving to achieve the balance between the need to control crime and the need to ensure that the rights of individuals are preserved to uphold the legal principle that every criminal suspect is innocent until proven guilty, sentencing guidelines in the Criminal Justice Act of 2003 may need to be improved upon, because they may not necessarily be serving the interests of justice in every instance. The criminal justice system may be analyzed in the context of two different models: (a) the due process model and (b) the crime control model, both of which impact differently upon the manner in which criminals are punished under the system1. The focus of the due process model is upon the individual citizen, which produces a corresponding emphasis on the need to reduce the powers of officials such as the police so that they do not abuse their position through their widespread use of their coercive powers over individuals who are suspects in any crime. As a result, at every stage of the criminal justice process, there must be formal safeguards established in order to protect the rights of those suspected of committing a crime. The crime control model on other hand adopts a different view and control of criminal conduct is the ultimate objective to be achieved. The assumption under this system is that society must operate as efficiently as possible in order to achieve the goal of crime control. Police officers and Prosecutors are viewed as the ideal agents to screen out those who are innocent rather than relying upon court proceedings to achieve the same goal, or allowing a higher degree of importance to the rights of suspects to challenge the criminal justice process if it is found to be oppressive. The crime control model therefore allows for extra judicial proceedings to also be incorporated, such as entering guilty pleas from defendants in order to speed up the trial process. Saunders and Young offer the view that while many of the provisions in several criminal justice Acts including PACE and the CJA 2003 would appear to reflect a due process model, in terms of actual practice, the system appears to function on the basis of several of the characteristics of the crime control model. Where the question of stop and search powers are concerned for example, they state: "Stop and search in its operation corresponds far more closely to the crime control model than the due process model to which the law is purportedly orientated."2 The crime control model would also be centered upon a punitive model of justice, where criminals are punished for their crimes and may serve to satisfy the need for punishment raised by public perception about the extent of heinousness of a crime. The due process model on the other hand, would adopt a more restorative form of justice, where harm and redress are emphasized, so that there is a greater focus upon rehabilitating offender s and ensuring that they

Ethical Issues related to the Physician Sunshine Act Coursework

Ethical Issues related to the Physician Sunshine Act - Coursework Example or design of clinical trials or development of medical devices should be encouraged since they help in the enhancement of the existing technology for the benefit of patients. By gaining the ability of accessing information regarding their physicians’ financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, the public will be greatly informed regarding possible conflict of interest as well as protect them from potentially injurious doctor-industry relationships. In addition, patients will get a better grasp of when and whether associations with manufacturers manipulate the physician’s decisions (Twomey &Jennings, 2014). Exceptions such as gifts of less than $10, educational materials for patient distribution and product samples are important and serve to pass new products to the market in addition to assisting in education and research. Provision of free gifts or food makes the message being delivered more palatable as well as to be more favorably received by the

Influence of Baroque Music to Classical Music Essay Example for Free

Influence of Baroque Music to Classical Music Essay Music of any period reflects, in its own way, some of the same influences, tendencies, and generative impulses that are found in the other arts of that time (Donna, 2005). Thus the word baroque, usually used despairingly by eighteenth-century art critics to describe the art and architecture of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, came to be applied also to the music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. After some years after the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the ornate, formal and strict form of the High Baroque became â€Å"old-fashion† and lost its favor. Music slowly began to change form the style and forms of the High Baroque to a simpler yet tuneful form around 1750. The period following the Baroque is called the Classical period. The transition to the new styles and forms of Classical music was, like all transitions, rather complicated. The use of the baroque bass figure lost its taste and became obsolete. The preference of a simple structure rather than polyphonic constructions became dominant most especially in secular music. There was also a preference for one clear melodic line without melting with many others. Although baroque music differs greatly from classical music, they have striking similarities as evident in specific styles and forms. Though Classical composers tend to avoid the antiquated Baroque, one cannot fully abandon the styles and forms of the immediate predecessors. Instead, these styles were further developed to form a new meaning and use on the new musical structure. Forms like the opera and orchestra revolutionized—the former branching out from serious to variety, and the latter have a complete upheaval. Moreover, on the late Classical period, great composers such as Beethoven and Mozart studied the works of Baroque composers Bach and Handel. The later works of the classical composers were characterized of having innovative yet powerful polyphony inspired by Bach’s masterpieces, and contrapuntal melodic lines imbued with the oratorios and suites of Handel. General characteristics of baroque music Baroque composers were united in a common goal: to express or represent a wide range of feelings vividly and vigorously. They sought musical means to express or arouse the affections.  Rather than they express their personal feelings, composers wanted to represent human emotions in a generic sense (Norton, 2010). The music is regarded for its distinct, formal compositional styles and forms. Style Various styles laid the foundation of baroque music. Expressive and expansive in melody yet deeply rooted in chordal harmonies, baroque music is typically highly rhythmical and quite easy to listen to. The comfortable regularity and lively rhythmic qualities of much of baroque music have made it appealing to many modern listeners. For more detailed listeners, one can interpret the music having poignant and stirring melodies, engaging conversation-like dialogues in sound, and rich harmonies and textures (Daniels Wagner, 1975). Modality was replaced by tonality which gave a strong feeling of joy or lament. In 2008, Ferris explains that composers developed and theoreticians articulated the tonal system, in which every note of the major or minor scale bears a specific relationship to every other note, and all of the pitches are more or less similar to the tonic. Composers at that time recognized and utilized triad chords as an entity, which resulted to meaningful and consonant units of sound. The use of triads most especially the three principle chords (tonic, dominant, and subdominant) paved a stable and harmonic direction to tonal music (The Baroque Period). Thus, the tonal system of harmony was wholly adopted during the seventeenth century. In addition, the continuous use of the polyphonic texture during the Early Baroque was revolutionized to form a new texture—the homophony. Imitative polyphony (more than one melodic line) was an extremely important factor in writing and playing music (The Baroque Era, Kamien, 2008). New forms of polyphonic music were developing because baroque composers felt that the art of counterpoint was essential to their artistry. On the other hand, the homophonic method (a musical technique that displays a vast separation amongst the melody line and the accompaniment) was gaining acceptance and use quite rapidly (The Baroque Era). The homophonic musical style played a significant role in opera and solo vocal music because it ocused the listener’s concentration in the poetic melody of the singer. Most pieces in baroque music have the basso continuo which gave way to uniformity and unity. Basso continuo, or figured bass, is an accompaniment which consists of a bass part with numbers which specify the chords to be played above it. Musical works containing a continuo part helped to convey harmonic support of chords under the melodic line (The Baroque Era). Kamien (2008) states that basso continuo is usually played by at least two instruments: an organ or harpsichord and low melodic instrument like the cello or bassoon. Kamien (2008) also adds that â€Å"the organist of harpsichordist plays the bass part with the left hand which is also played by the cellist or bassoonist. With the right hand, the keyboard player improvises chords or melodic line by following the numbers. Because the numbers only indicate a basic chord, the performer has a wide field of freedom. † With continuity of rhythm and melody, baroque music also features continuity of dynamic level. This means that the volume stays the same for a period of time, and then there is a sudden shift to a different dynamic level. There are no gradual changes in dynamics (such as a crescendo or decrescendo). Terraced dynamics were used as the main keyboard instrument was the harpsichord, which could only be played in two modes, either forte (loud) or piano (soft), precluding the ability to accomplish crescendos or decrescendos (Kamien, 2008). Moreover, baroque composers fashion their work with different kinds of ornamentation. For Baroque musicians, ornamentation is not merely decoration that has no intrinsic value but rather the chief way of moving affections. One should, therefore, try in his ornamentation, as in all other aspects of his interpretation, to effectively communicate the sense of the music. In a lyrical movement, baroque performers intensify the expressiveness through the use of smooth melodic ornaments and appoggiaturas, in a brilliant movement, incorporate virtuosic ornaments, and in a movement that seems complete, add almost nothing besides essential cadential trills (www. musebaroque. fr). Eventually, both vocalists and instrumentalists recognized the principal ways of ornamenting a melodic line. First, brief formulas called ornaments—such as trills, turns, appoggiaturas, and mordents—were added to certain notes to emphasize accents, cadences, and other significant points in the melody (Norton, 2010). Second, more extended embellishments—such as scale and arpeggio passages, and other types of flourishes—were added to create a free and elaborate paraphrase of the written line (Norton, 2010). Forms In 1573, a group of musicians and intellectuals came together to discuss various subjects, especially the desire to revive Greek drama. This group of individuals is known as the Florentine Camerata, they wanted lines to be sung instead of simply being spoken (Styles of the Baroque Period). The group developed a new vocal style based on the music of the ancient Greek tragedy. This new style followed the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech. It was sung by a soloist with only a simple chordal accompaniment and was, thus, homophonic; the Camerata rejected polyphony because it would obscure the all-important text (Kamien, 2008). Together with the opera, the oratorio stands as a major development in baroque vocal music. Like opera, the oratorio is a large-scale composition for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra usually performed during the Lenten season in the oratory, from which its name was derived; it is usually set to a narrative text. Oratorio differs from opera in that it has no acting, scenery, or costumes. Most oratorios are based on biblical stories, but usually they are not intended for religious services (Tovey, 1956) The genre reached its heights in the late baroque period in the works of George Frederic Handel such as the Messiah with its well-known chorus of continuous praise of Hallelujah. Likewise, the baroque mass is an instrumentally accompanied vocal music tended to be a conservative musical form. As the seventeenth century progressed, masses began to incorporate concertato style and to have instrumental accompaniments. These developments led to the five masses of J. S. Bach, whose B Minor Mass is one of the towering monuments of Western music (Daniels Wagner, 1975). One of the most significant aspects of the Baroque period was the emergence of independent instrumental music. Its development was not entirely what the Florentine composers had intended; â€Å"the new forms†, Kitson (1966) stated, â€Å"were by-products of reform†. The use of the modal system was broken down, and establishment of the major-minor tonality were considered. But, the old contrapuntal style was not abolished entirely. The known form of during the Baroque is the fugue. According to Kamien (2008), a fugue, written for a group of instruments or voices, or for a single instrument, is a polyphonic composition which is based on one theme called subject. Composers wrote fugues both as independent pieces and as sections within preludes or toccatas (Norton 2010). Throughout a fugue, different melodic lines, or â€Å"voices†, imitate the subject. Fugue subjects usually have a clearly defined character and a lively rhythm. Music that had become associated with various social dances began to separate itself and became a type of independent instrumental music. The baroque suite is a set of dance-inspired movements, all in the same key but different in tempo, meter and character. It is performed by a solo instrument, a small group of instruments, or an orchestra (Wright, 2008). The movements of a suite are usually in AABB form. The section A, which starts from the tonic key then shifts to the dominant, is balanced by the section B, which starts from dominant then shifts to the tonic (Kamien, 2008, p. 103). Moreover, the orchestra during the baroque period was a performing group on instruments of the violin family. The baroque orchestra was consisted of ten to thirty or forty players. At its core were the basso continuo and upper strings. The use of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments are variable depending on the demand of the piece to be played. An aria (in English works sometimes called an â€Å"air†) signifies a melody apart from the harmony, but especially a musical composition for single voice or instrument, with an accompaniment of other voices or instruments. The aria in Bach’s suites is a short binary movement in a flowing rhythm in not very slow common or duple meter (Tovey, 1956). Influence of baroque music to classical music In the middle of the 18th century, Europe began to move toward a new style in architecture, literature, and the arts, generally known as Classicism, which sought to emulate the ideals of Classical antiquity and especially those of Classical Greece. Changes in musical perception on style and form are likely caused by a sum of economic, religious, sociological and political factors. It is interesting to examine the music created within the hazy boundaries between the periods. Style Norton (2010) believes that â€Å"at its best, Classical music reached a consistently high standard and possessed the qualities of a noble simplicity, balance, perfection of form, diversity within unity, seriousness of purpose, and use of ornamentation. † The transition to the new style was rather complicated. There was a general relaxation of formality, and for a while nothing much to take its place (Daniels Wagner, 1975). The relaxation in the court life favored the Rococo (derived from the French word rocaille referring to the artificial rockwork), a reaction to the formalism, rigidity, and seriousness that had become characteristics of the Baroque, and a decorative style that was lighter, smaller in scale, and wittier than the Baroque (Daniels Wagner, 1975, Kitson, 1966). The melody most typically consisted of a series of a series of short motives, repeated several times and cast in four or eight measure phrases. The melody is also generously supplied with a variety of trills, mordents, and the like. Classical music is basically homophonic. It seemed a proper alternative to the heavy polyphonic textures of the High Baroque. However, texture is treated as flexibly as rhythm. Pieces shift smoothly or suddenly from one texture to another. A work may begin homophonically with a melody and simple accompaniment but then change to a more complex polyphonic texture that features two simultaneous melodies or melodic fragments imitated among the various instruments. In addition, polyphony was piously maintained when it came to church music. It was used for intensification, contrast, and development in the late works of Haydn and Beethoven The most far-reaching event of Rococo music was the development of the simple two-part dance form of the Baroque, through a gradual enlargement and refinement, to the sonata-form of the Classical period. The end result was a form that remained in a dominant position in the field of instrumental music for almost two hundred years (Kitson, 1966). Indeed, it is a marvel of structural flexibility, capable of the greatest conceivable variety of expressive content. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was generally cast in a form consisting of three movements arranged in fast-slow-fast sequence. In sonatas and other pieces for violin, gradual increases and decreases of dynamics had long been employed; a theorist addressed the problem of crescendo and decrescendo receiving considerable attention. The Italian opera orchestra, too, had been familiar with swelling of tone. The solution is the borrowing a baroque style. Terraced dynamics had provided composers with one means of achieving contrast. Operas employing this device were widely performed throughout Europe. Form The practice of the baroque era was the standard against which new forms was measured, and there came to be a division between sacred works, which held more closely to the Baroque style from secular works, which were in the new style. A new orchestra developed during the classical period. It was a standard group of four sections: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion unlike the baroque which could vary from piece to piece. The number of musicians in a classical orchestra was greater than in a baroque group. Classical composers exploited timbres of each instruments. Unlike baroque composers, they did not treat instruments interchangeably. The Classical composers were the first to orchestrate for instruments like clarinet, trombone, and piccolo (Daniels, Wagner, et al, 1975). According to Kamien (2008), â€Å"the classical orchestra had developed into a flexible and colorful instrument to which composers could entrust their most powerful and dramatic musical conceptions. The mass continued to be an important form for Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. During the Classical period, masses involved orchestra, soloists, and choir in a fully integrated work, using organizational principles derived from instrumental forms (The Classical Period). The majority of Mozart’s masses were in Missa brevis type, the simultaneous setting of several lines of text, or the omission of certain sections of the mass, becau se the Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg had no patience with long Masses. Effects of the influences of baroque music Long after the Baroque era ended, and their music was all but forgotten, both Handel and Bach were rediscovered in the Classical era. All great Classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven, after Bach and Handel, studied their works and learned from them in grasping and further developing Bachs and Handel’s science of baroque composition in such a way, that something entirely new emerged, pointing into the future. Proficient Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The works of Bach, such as the B-minor Mass and the six motets, and Handel, for example, the Messiah had deeply influenced the works of Mozart in his last years of writing music. Mozart was thoroughly familiar with the music of Handel. During his childhood trip to England, he became well acquainted with Handels music and he never lost his taste for it. One can hear Handels influence in some of Mozarts early works, such as The Solemn Vespers, and in later works such as the Great Mass and the Requiem Mass in D minor. In fact, the opening page of Mozarts Requiem, beautiful as it is, is merely a reworking of the opening choral movement of Handels funeral music for Queen Caroline (Langlois, 2008). At the age of thirty, Mozart, visiting the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, upon hearing a Bach motet for the first time, exclaimed â€Å"Now there is music from which a man can learn something. † Then, the choirmaster at Leipzig gave Mozart a copy of the score to all six of the Bach motets. They were a profound influence on his late style. In the last two years of his life, Mozarts counterpoint became even more exquisite and complex than before (Langlois, 2008). Moreover, Mozart was attracted to the main genres in which Bach excelled—keyboard sonatas, keyboard concertos, symphonies and operas. Bach’s singing-style themes, tasteful use of expressive motives, suspenseful harmonic ambiguities, and consistent thematic contrasts became permanent features of Mozart’s writing (Portowitz). Ludwig van Beethoven Having Mozart as his model for his compositional styles, Beethoven had been familiar to the styles of the works of Bach and Handel. He continuously borrowed ideas, techniques and texture of the music of the baroque in his latter musical career. In his later years, wanting to compose certain pieces in a more contrapuntal style, Beethoven worked hard at mastering counterpoint. He studied the music of Bach, Handel, and even of Palestrina. In his late music, he developed a style of counterpoint that is more reminiscent of Handel than Bach. His fugues in his late period are very rhythmic in nature and quite unique in the history of music (Langlois, 2008). Beethoven showed his constant concern with the work of J. S. Bach. He constantly requested copies of newly published editions, for example, a copy of the B-minor Mass, from the well-known publishers in Leipzig and Zuurich. In Beethovens sketchbooks, interspersed among work on his own compositions, there are numerous entries of short or long passages from Bachs works, among them, the Chromatic Fantasy, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier and The Art of the Fugue (Cramer, 2001). For Beethoven, the sense and aim of the study of his predecessors, was indeed his own further development, toward new ideas. Beethoven described this very clearly in a letter to the Archbishop Rudolph, in which he clearly names Bach and Handel as the only true geniuses, among his predecessors: The aim of the world of art, as indeed in the whole creation, is freedom, progress; if we moderns have not the same firmness as our ancestors, yet the refinement of our manners has in many ways enlarged our sphere of action.

Comparing Christianity and Buddhism :: Papers Compare Contrast Religion Essays

Comparing Christianity and Buddhism This paper is a comparison between two very different religions. Specifically Christianity and Buddhism. Coming from opposite sides of the globe these two religions could not be any farther apart in any aspect. I will discuss who Christ is for Christians and who Buddha is for Buddhists. I will also get into the aspects of charity, love, and compassion in both religions and I will be looking at the individual self and how christians see resurrection where the buddhists feel about the afterlife. One thing to keep in mind is that the two religions are very different but they seem to have a very similar underlying pattern. Both believe that there was a savior of their people, Buddha and Christ, and both believe that there is something good that happens to us when our time is done here on earth. This is a very generalized summarization but in order to go in to depth I need to explain the two religions more to fully convey this theory. The Christian religion, like all other religions has its strengths and weaknesses in our modern society. Perhaps the strengths out weight the weaknesses as this is one of the largest religions in the world. Hundreds of people follow the Catholic/Christian religion yet still a greater number follow yet other religions. Perhaps this is because they see the weaknesses or perhaps it is simply because their parents have taught them that it is a sin to follow this religion. The Christian religions do however present much more of an appealing atmosphere than such other religions which are as large as the Christian. The Christian religion is one of few religions where punishments for sins are not severe. In the Christian religion, even if you have lived a life of sin, so long as you repent in the end, you will be saved and given eternal life. This is not so in other religions. Such religions as Hinduism for instance do not believe this. For everything you do wrong you will be punished. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, if not in this life, then the next. Hindu's also believe that punishing the body is part of the path to salvation. Christianity is nothing like this. Many Christians live in high class society. Christianity is one of the most appealing in that any sins may easily be corrected and that Christians may live comfortable, if not wealthy lives without guilt.

Movie Review: In the Womb

In the womb – the DVD – Review A must see movie for future parent's! Experience  the life before birth, The formation, a step by step in a film that have not been seen like him. In the womb, was produced for National Geographic Channel . Its includes  features in advanced technology, simulations that have been  generated by ultrasound photography in four dimensions. Before it takes its first breath, a human baby has been through an incredible transformation from a single cell to a complex, self-sustaining organism.Watch this amazing process in real time inside the womb. Recommendation + personal experience I remember that moment I realized that my wife's stomach size is what supposed to be my child, with God's help,  I studied this film, explaining   me something that is very difficult for me personally to understand: how our body produces live? How does it work? If you think that I got it after seeing the film and that I  understood all of these scientific facts, then you're wrong, its still seems like a crazy miracle that happens one after the other in the all wide World.I sthrongly recommend everyone to see that   movie, it shows the very little detailsof the process  and even shows us the fetus  in  a verity of positions, moves, making faces, etc that we cant see without that film. you will enjoy it. Source:  http://www. shvoong. com/exact-sciences/2000143-womb/#ixzz2cqvNjWSF Maybe this has already been talked about and I missed it, but I thought I would let all of you ladies know about a National Geographic special my husband recorded for me to watch called â€Å"In the Womb. † I HIGHLY recommend the film.It's a fairly new documentary about how babies develop and it's quite interesting. I thought I would do a little review for you all since some of you are midwives and others are looking for informational videos. There are good and bad things about the documentary, but the end made me so very, VERY happy that I've forgiven the film all of it's faults. Con: The intro is of a woman in labor screaming bloody murder like they do in the movies while giving birth. You'll forgive this later, however. Read on. Con: I kinda almost fell asleep at the beginning when they were covering conception.It was stuff we've all heard a million times in school, so it was pretty redundant. Get to the babies already! Pro: Some of the computer graphics and filming was really amazing. They use all new footage, no recycled stuff from other documentaries. Con: Sometimes the film would state some fact and then not back it up in any way, so you'd be left wondering â€Å"gee, that's new. Where on earth did they get THAT? † For example, during one part, they said that a woman is more likely to have a miscmarriage if she experiences stress, has an immune disorder, or if she has previously given birth to a boy.Now, I've had three miscmarriages, so I've read tons of information about it and never have I heard that givi ng birth to a boy makes you more likely to have a miscmarriage. I thought â€Å"wow, really? Where'd they hear that? † but they just went on to the next subject without explaining. Con: 99% of the babies in the film are not real – they are either rubber models (which look absolutely fantastically realistic, by the way) or these super creepy alien-looking computer generated babies that totally freaked me out. They were a bit disturbing looking.Con: They stressed the value of ultrasound in the video and I'm personally against it, but it doesn't lose a lot of points with me because a lot of women are pro ultrasound. Pro: They did mention that ultrasound might be harmful, though it is not â€Å"known† to cause problems in babies. They also mentioned that while we can't hear ultrasound, babies CAN because it creates an echo inside the water-filled uterus. They explained that babies â€Å"run† from it because it is extremely loud – somewhat like standing next to a subway train. Pro: They provided TONS of the most amazing 4D footage of babies I've ever seen.They had videos of babies only weeks old in the womb yawning, playing with their noses and feet, and twins interacting with each other. I cried at parts. Pro: Aside from a brief (and very low-key) clip where a doctor does a minor surgery on an unborn fetus along with a few short clips of doctors pperforming ultrasound, there were NO HOSPITAL SCENES or doctors in the film. Woot! The best part ever: The film follows only one mother through her pregnancy and ends with her giving birth. I grumbled my way through a few mildly irritating parts of the film, but whe I reached the end, I got a rather shocking surprise.When it's time for the mother to give birth, you see her standing – yes standing – next to a bed in a birthing center giving birth. There is not one doctor in the room or a machine beeping of any kind, only the woman, her midwife, the cameraman, and the husband . There are no bright lights and it's very quiet except for the woman's screams. Then, to my utter delight, the narrator informs the viewers that standing or squatting are the best positions in which to give birth and that it is better and more comfortable for the mother than laying on her back.I wish every reader could have been there with me as I whooped and hollered and punched my fists in the air in delight! Imagine a mainstream documentary saying something like that! The baby is immediately handed to the mother through her legs and she sits on the bed with her newborn, a smile plastered on her delighted face. No one takes her baby away. The midwife waits to cut the cord and then the mother is seen breastfeeding. WAY TO GO NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC!! So yes, any midwives out there who are looking for a good educational video, I'd have to say that this is the one.It's not about birth, it's about development, but it's the best I've seen so far and it's SO ultra pro-natural birth. ETA: S ORRY! The Youtube link seems to have been taken down. I'll keep an eye out for any other sites hosting the full video   -Amber National Geographic Channel's In the Womb by Inbar Maayan  Keywords:  Human development,  Movies,  Fetus Written, produced, and directed by Toby Mcdonald, the 2005 National Geographic Channel film  In the Womb  uses the most recent technology to provide an intricate glimpse into the prenatal world.The technologies used, which include advanced photography, computer graphics, and 4-D  ultrasound  imaging, help to realistically illustrate the process of development and to answer questions about the rarely seen development of a human being. The following description of the images and narrative of the film captures the major points of  In the Womb, and of embryonic and fetal development, as they are seen at the outset of the twenty-first century, depicted in only 100 minutes. In the Womb  opens with a glimpse of the mature  fetus  moment s before she is ready to emerge into the outside world.The narrator explains that at this final stage, she is equipped with all of the faculties necessary for full function outside the  womb. The main focus of the film, however, is the journey leading up to these final moments, a journey that begins with just a single cell. This journey is viewed intermittently tthroughout the film using 3-D and 4-D  ultrasound  scanning techniques which show the baby moving. 4-D refers to a string of 3-D images taken in real time (time is the fourth dimension), thus creating a movie of in utero events.In addition, the process is simulated by computer imaging based on observations, giving a vivid portrayal of embryonic and fetal development. The developmental narrative begins with millions of swimming  sperm, and an explanation of their unique purpose—carrying the father’s genetic information to the moment of  conception. The  sperm  are produced in a man’s  test es, and their quality depends on his lifestyle choices; they tend to be damaged by the consumption of various drugs and by heat, and stimulated by the consumption of coffee.A singlesperm  is filmed swimming across a black landscape, which accentuates the rapid, intricate movements of its tail. The tail’s flexibility allows the  sperm  to progress approximately a tenth of an inch per minute. Millions of  sperm  are filmed as they appear in the  vagina, many of them dead on their sides, with the vast crowd in the middle swimming toward the  uterus, the  fallopian tubes, and the  egg, which looks like a moon-like orb nestled among its protective agents. This  egg, like all her others, was formed during the mother’s own time in the  womb  and has resided in her body ever since.The film suggests that in order to find the  egg, the  sperm  Ã¢â‚¬Å"sniff it out† using their figurative sense of smell. A graphical simulation shows the  sperm   traveling toward the awaiting  egg, and one of them penetrating its outer layer. The bigger picture, in which the rest of the  spermare permanently shut out upon  fertilization, is filmed. Another graphical simulation follows, illustrating the fusion of the father’s and the mother’s genetic material at the moment of  conception. The narrator notes that this particular genetic combination has never before existed, and will never be duplicated in another human being.DNA, which carries the organism’s genetic information and is bundled in the chromosomes, is depicted as a long, energetic helix that carries the more than 20,000  genes  that make up an average human. These  genes  are responsible for various characteristics and are determined by paren'tal contributions. They are absolutely crucial to the development of new life. The various physical effects of genetic information are illustrated in the display of various shapes of eyes, noses, hair , and other features.The great variability of genetic effects on appearance is depicted by the morphing of a face to show a vvariety of characteristics, both male and female. It is noted, however, that while the parent's contribute equal amounts of genetic information, it is the DNA from the  sperm  that determines the child’s sex, via its twenty-third chromosome, which is either an X or a Y. The  genes  contributed by the parent's largely predetermine the child’s appearance and much of the child’s personality and predisposition for certain diseases.After the illustration and explanation of  fertilization, a description of the fertilized egg’s journey toward the  uterus  is accompanied by film footage of the process. As it sails along the fallopian tube on the first day of its journey, the single cell divides into two identical cells. Cell division continues and by the fifth day, the resulting ball of cells is made up of about 100 cells and is called a  blastocyst. At this stage, theblastocyst  will split into two groups of cells: the outer layer prepares to become the  placenta,  umbilical cord  and fetal membranes, and the inner layer prepares to become the embryo itself.The cells making up the inner part of the  blastula  are  stem cells, and have the ability to differentiate into all of the different types of cells that make up the human body. One week after  fertilization, the  blastula  reaches theuterus, where it will start to develop into a new human being. Three weeks into  gestation,  In the Womb  simulates the embryo folding inward and elongating as the basic body plan is determined. An actual embryo at this stage is shown and a basic spine is visible.The top of the embryo, destined to become the head and brain, is indicated; this region has already begun to generate  nerve cells  by the fifteenth day of the  pregnancy. These  nerve cells  will proliferate and eventually become the brain and the  central nervous system. The heart forms soon after this, and twenty-two days after  conception, begins to beat. This movement is initiated by a single heart cell which begins to beat and induces the cells around it to beat to the same rhythm. Close-up filming shows this pulse as heart cells proliferate and the organ continues to form.With the formation of the heart come thin veins and early blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen and nutrients; the blood in these veins moves to the beat of the heart. During the early stages of development the heart beats relatively independently, though its function will later be carefully regulated by the brain. By the time the embryo is four weeks old, preliminary eyes have appeared on her head. These look like dark spots on a pale landscape of surrounding tissue on which the early contours of the forehead, nose, mouth, and other parts of the mature face can be seen.In addition, arm and leg buds emerge. The n arrator mentions that even though thirty days have passed since  conception, the embryo is almost indistinguishable from the embryos of other mammals. The changes taking place in the embryo’s  morphology  over the following few weeks are shown through film progression. The face plates move in to better define facial features, arms and legs continue to take shape, and the head becomes more clearly defined. At six weeks, the embryo is about an inch long, has a firmly rooted and visible  umbilical cord, and the outline of her fingers can be distinguished as well.The eyes have developed by leaps and bounds, although they are not yet concealed by eyelids. The nostrils are now visible, wide-set beneath the eyes on a head that is giant in relation to the size of the body. By the end of eight weeks of  gestation, the embryo is called afetus  and is no longer dependent on the  yolk  sac that nourished it during the  embryonic stage of development. The  yolk  sac, a balloon-like structure of tissue with visible veins, vanishes at this point and the  fetus  becomes solely dependent on the  umbilical cord  rooted in theplacenta, and thus on the mother’s blood for nutrition.A close examination of the  placenta  reveals intricate blood vessels transporting the nutrients necessary for the embryo’s growth, while keeping out many of the toxins present in the mother’s own blood. Despite the placenta’s effectiveness, substances like drugs and alcohol cannot be completely be filtered out, and it’s up to the mother to limit her consumption of them. By nine weeks, the nervous system has developed dramatically and starts to allow the  fetus  to move. Although this movement, shown through computer simulation, is not yet connected to the brain, it premotes agility and further growth.After this point, the body will gradually come under the control of the brain. This change also has the effect of regulating heart rate, which may increase to more than 150 beats per minute before cerebral  regulation. A standard  ultrasound  is performed at the Create Health Clinic in London at the conclusion of the first  trimester, and the narrator explains how  ultrasound  waves function to create the image on the screen. While a physician explains the various tests that can be done at this stage of  pregnancy  using  ultrasound, the baby’s heart can be seen contracting and expanding in the moving image.A step beyond standard  ultrasound  is the 4-D scan, which shows the three-dimensional  fetus  moving in real time. This tool allows for even more accurate evaluation of the fetus’s health and development. It shows everything from the  fetus  moving her arms to yawning or playing with her nose. Four-dimensional scans of various babies at different stages of development greatly expand the amount of detail that is visible to the world outside the  womb. The n arrator also notes that this first  ultrasound  scan is the first oopportunity to ascertain the number of fetuses present in the  womb.Four-dimensional scans also allow us to see the preliminary steps of a baby’s literal first steps. These are manifested in scans of eleven- and twelve-week-old fetuses kicking and pushing off the walls of the  uterus  as they exercise the use of their appendages. This movement is called the stepping reflex, and it is controlled by the fetus’s nervous system. The five weeks leading up to this point, weeks six through eleven, are considered to be the period in which the  fetus  undergoes the most dramatic transformations in its developmental journey.By the end of the eleventh week, all organs have formed, but the  fetus  is still tiny—about three inches long—and thus must grow significantly before it can be  viable. Sex is also determined at this point, and the sex organs produce  hormones  that furth er regulate the sexual development of the  fetus. Miscmarriage beyond this point is far less likely than during the first three months of  pregnancy, since the  fetus  is more stable. As time goes on, the  fetus  looks more and more human, and her senses sharpen further.Simulation reveals highly developed hands and the hardening (ossification) of bones beneath the semi-transparen't skin. The face looks far more â€Å"human† as well, with the eyes now closer together and the nose and mouth more defined. By this time, the brain controls most of the body–including the heart–through thecentral nervous system. Aside from seeing the heart, a Doppler probe is also used to hear what the fetus’ heart sounds like. It beats at a frantic 146 beats per minute, which the physician indicates is a healthy pace for a  fetus  this age.At four months, she not only has control of her heart rate, but she also begins to respond to physical stimuli and to move a round a lot. She has also begun to develop proprioception, which is the awareness of the body’s position in its surroundings. She is shown feeling the sides of the  womb  and grasping at different parts of her body. Four-dimensional images of twins also reveal how interactive they are with each other; identical twins, however, interact much more than do fraternal twins, who have a membrane separating them.This membrane is also visible with this more detailed scanning tool. Eighteen weeks after  conception, fetal movements become readily detectable to the mother. In addition, the  fetus  starts digesting amniotic fluid as her digestive system begins preparation for the outside world. Another preparation has been revealed by 4-D scans, where thefetus  can be seen practicing the blinking reflex. Soon, she will even have her own fingerprints. At the conclusion of the second  trimester, the  fetus  is fully formed but still needs to experience dramatic growth and to develop her senses.The film states that at this stage, she begins to taste flavors from her mother’s food, and to hear the sounds that surround her cocoon, including the tone and cadence of her mother’s voice. Comfort with her mother’s various sense-inducing habits may even prove conducive to more healthy development once the baby has been born. In the Womb  also notes that, as well as providing a preliminary basis for diagnosis of complications,  ultrasound  scans also premote the development of paren'tal attachment to the yet-unborn child.Ultrasound is thought to enhance the relationship of the child with the parent's, both in infancy and later in life. At twenty-four weeks, this relationship could begin prematurely, for it is at this point that a baby could survive outside of the  womb; though still small and underdeveloped, with appropriate intensive care, she could be considered  viable. The greatest complications may arise due to the prematur e lungs, since the lungs only fully develop near the conclusion of the  pregnancyand are filled with amniotic fluid until breathing begins.The eyes, which have been fully developed since the middle of the  pregnancy, cannot see yet but are adorned with eyelashes by the twenty-fifth week. Babies are usually born with lighter-colored eyes than they will have later; babies of Caucasian descent are often born with blue eyes, while babies of Asian or African descent first have darker brown eyes. These colors will often change or deepen during the first few months of life, as the pigments in the eyes are exposed to light, which is absent in the  womb. In the darkness of the  womb, babies in their final  trimester  spend most of their time sleeping soundly.When they are awake, however, fetuses are often active, practicing their reflexes in response to provocations from outside the  womb. These include the startle reflex, when the  fetus  flings her arms out and over her h ead, and the swallowing and sucking process, crucial to nutrition outside of the  womb. The latter may be manifested in thumb sucking, which is thought to be sthrongly correlated with handedness during a person’s life. The  placenta  not only conducts oxygen, nutrients, and flavors to the  fetus, but it may also conduct the mother’s mood. The ear or anxiety that a mother might experience cascade through, eventually causing the baby’s heart to beat faster as well. Serious and sustained stress or anxiety have been found to result in stress in the child and a higher risk for stress-related physical and mental health complications. Past twenty-six weeks the  fetus  concentrates almost solely on growth; despite this, serious issues might arise even before birth. In the Womb  shows Dr. Kypros Nicolaides of King’s College Hospital in London diagnosing and pperforming  in utero  surgery on a  fetus  whose intestines are obstructing lung grow th.He performs this delicate surgery with the help of a fetuscope, which allows him to see inside thewomb  and is also used as a tool in the surgery itself. Nicolaides’ technique for treating this particular disorder has been met with a 50% increase in the survival rate of his prenatal patients. The last two months of  pregnancy  see the final steps toward a healthy birth. During this time, the  fetus  develops a layer of insulating fat and has even been found to develop consciousness and memory. The  fetus  may remember and respond to familiar sounds such as her mother’s voice or even her parent's’ favorite music.If the  fetus  recognizes music, she might even move in rhythm. Fast music has been found to stimulate and excite the  fetus, which seems to be almost dancing in the  womb, while classical music will often have a calming effect. The development of all of these complex functions prior to birth has also led some experts to posit tha t, developmentally, birth is not as significant as was previously assumed. This is because the brain of a maturing  fetus  is almost identical to that of a newborn. This ssimilarity is particularly striking considering the sighting of rapid eye movement (REM) in 4-D scans, since these are indicative of dreaming.From thirty-five weeks on, the  fetus  could be fully functional and self-supporting (aside from its need for external nutrition and warmth). The film notes that though it is not yet certain what sets off delivery, the maturation of the lungs may play a key role. When mature, the lungs release a protein that affects the  hormone  production of the  placenta, reducing  progesterone  production and initiating the production of oxytocin, which in turn triggers uterine contractions and inhibition of memory.These are useful when the  cervix  undergoes extreme widening—approximately 10 cm—as it conveys the baby’s large head out into the wo rld. In the Womb  has now gone full-circle, arriving again at the time of delivery. To ease the pain of delivery and risks of complication, the mother in the movie delivers standing up and leaning forward with her legs spread apart slightly. During this time, the baby releases large quantities of adrenalin, which keeps the heart pumping fast and prepares the lungs to take their first breathes of air. Soon, the baby’s head crowns and is followed by the rest of the body.As soon as the baby has emerged, it starts crying as its lungs fill with oxygen and it is exposed to the light and cold of the outside world. The  placenta, now unnecessary, detaches from the  uterus  and exits the mother’s body through the birth canal. In the Womb  reviews the entire process of the  pregnancy  and highlights the grand achievement that is transformation from a single cell into an entirely new individual. The newly born baby depends on adults for warmth and nutrition, althoug h all other functions rest solely in her tiny hands.

1831, by Louis P. Masur Essay

This book was written by Masur Louis   P. who described 1831 as the year of the eclipse that had so many omens that stated that the American society was completely changed. Every aspect of life including the political, social, economic and cultural all underwent a metamorphosis that brought about change. In that year, foreigners visited America and they described it as a year where there was a possibility of a civil war occurring in America due to the many negative things that were happening then. An English visitor Frances Trollope felt very disappointed with how America had gone about to deal with slavery and he even criticized the vehement expressions of insane and hypocritical zeal as it was preached by the preachers. The writer states that most of the visitors had no intentions of talking about the institution of slavery, but they could not turn a blind eye to it and their writings helped to create controversy on slavery in America and therefore putting pressure to allow the issue to be addressed (Louis 2008).   Some of the visitors who helped to shape the institution of slavery included: Henry Tudor, Thomas Hamilton, James Boardman and Ales de Tocqueville. The issues that have been described in this book are based on four thematic chapters; slaverly and its abolition, religion and politics, state and nation and finally, the issue of changing technology with the use of machines and nature (Louis 2008). In the same year, there was a lot of violence and rebellions over slavery, tariffs and religious revivalism over the nation. He talks of a revolution that was led by Nat Turner who he describes like a very intelligent, charismatic and religious leader. He rebelled against slavery and the authorities even hunted him for questioning where he confessed about having taken place and led the rebellion. His actions brought a lot of attention towards America and it was at this point it was concluded that the slaves were not loyal and content, that slavery was not benign as it was thought to be and that trying to control the population through terror groups was not the way out. The outspoken nature of Nat Turner inspired many of the abolitionists who made calls for emancipation of slaves. There were unresolved tensions between the states and the nation’s rights, competing passion for religion and politics. The debate on the emancipation of slaves has also been described where the people from the north expected it to be a slow and gradual process, but the people from the south saw it as a necessary evil. Masur P.L stated that the way to deal with the problem was to set up a colony in West Africa as they believed that the Africa Americas were helpless and hopeless people who could not be able to rise above their conditions and state of living. It was described as the year when the Southern oligarchy quit the possibility of doing away with slavery and William Garrison demanded that there would be abolition of some peculiar institutions. His newspaper, the liberator, was meant to make people see the evils of the day which by then they did not see. The nullification crisis and the Indian removal act further made the sectional differences and with the changes in technology it made dramatic changes in America’s relationship with the land. The author describes the American people as people who were in love with technology and therefore referred to them as the locomotive people (Louis 2008).   The introduction of steamboats, railroads and the mechanized reapers made people very rich because of the profits that were being made. The author also describes the protestant missionaries as the people who worked on behalf of the Cherokees. They held a large numbers of slaves yet thirty years later they were barely mentioned and the Cherokees fought on the side of the confederacy supporting the very people who had thrown them out of their ancestral land and nobody dared to raise their voice against it. Policies that were made by Andrew Jackson against the Cherokee erase the last hopes of seeing the India as being autonomous. It was thought that religion would hold the nation together and help to counter their forces of disunity caused by the vast and large territory occupied, the numerous and the very increasing high population, the diversity of the local interests ,the power of selfishness and the feeling of sensational jealousy and hate had   prevailed amongst the people of America.   The religious revivalism that swept the country inspired the working class to agitate. It gave an insight in the idea of enthusiasms for religion as it was with even the tent meetings that were supposedly supposed to bring about reform of the individual together with the reform of the society at large. It also indicates the surprising rise of political movements such as the anti –masons which was America’s third party that invented the presidential nominating convention. The Andrew administration threatened to unravel and dissent the economic future of the country (Louis 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, the author not only writes about the negative issues that affected America but he also has intellectual pleasure that helps to savor the hypocrisies of the day by stating that although the Turners revolt saw many white many people maimed and killed, at least they were happy because women were never raped. He goes on to say that they finally saw the need to keep in control the terror gangs and groups and began to give a doctrine that slavery was indeed benign and that the enslaved were loyal, content and more satisfied than it was previously believed. As much as people from the north and those from the south were outraged by William Garrison’s radical newspaper, their opposition against it only helped to popularize and circulate the paper which has today become one of the largest selling papers today. For the people from South Carolina, they took pride in the doctrine of nullification as it meant that they could resist the federal Government to interfere with slavery. References Louis, Masur P. 1831: Year of Eclipse .United States: Barnes and noble.com lnc, 2008.   

Civilization Term Paper Topics

Civilization Term Paper Topics If you are enrolled in a course of civilization of any kind – then comes a time when you are asked to write a paper on a civilization term paper topic. In this case – you have to write a splendid paper which will cover all the material which you discussed in class, and express your personal opinion. These days, not every student knows how to write a good term paper on any of the civilization term paper topics. In order to succeed in this activity – a student needs to know the theory of writing term papers, as well as possess some knowledge on the civilization topic. The first thing you need to figure out for yourself is the topic of your term paper. There are various civilization term paper topics where you can apply yourself, but you need to choose only one, which will show your knowledge on all other civilization term paper topics. The possible civilization term paper topics are: America in the 18th century England before 1700 France before 1700 European history term paper topic The culture of Europe in the 17th-19th centuries Mixed and controversial issues of western civilization All these civilization term paper topics are good to write about and discuss, but all of them are tricky. Not every student knows that if you want to get a good grade – you need to show your knowledge on several civilization term paper topics, and that is when comparison comes in handy. If you are writing about France before 1700 – you have to compare France to England, and many other countries. This way you will show your professor, that even though you chose France as the main topic of your discussion, you still are proficient in other countrys history. Always stay focused on your topic. As soon as you start writing something – your mind will want to bounce from topic to topic, and discuss everything you want to, but you need to control yourself and stay focused on something specific. When you have chosen a topic – you need to come up with a smart hypothesis. You need one string idea or an argument, to lead you through the whole civilization term paper. It could be something of your own observation. If you do that – you will need a bunch of supportive arguments to prove your point. This is the whole point of a quality civilization term paper – and if you follow these simple instructions – you will definitely succeed in writing your paper on any civilization term paper topic. If you feel that writing on your civilization term paper topic is too complicated – you can ask CustomWritings.com for help and quality term paper assistance. We are here to help striving students get over with their civilization term papers and help them get high grades for their paper. Our professional writers will share their experience and expertise in any civilization term paper topic and will show you how a great civilization term paper is done. All our papers on civilization topics are written from scratch and 100% plagiarism free. We always control the quality of every custom written civilization term paper. Our writers always follow the instructions that come with the order. We have very strict policies towards this. SO be sure that you will be pleasantly surprised with your custom written civilization term paper. Heres a list of the most popular civilization term paper topics: 1. The Inca Civilization 2. Symbols of Civilization 3. Civilization Deteriorates to Savagery 4. Ancient Civilization 5. The Brilliant Maya Civilization 6. Lord of the Flies: Civilization and Savagery 7. The Birth of Civilization 8. Early Western Civilizations 9. Egypt Civilization 10. Monks Saved Western Civilization 11. Contributions to Western Civilization from Ancient Greeks 12. Geography: Its Influence on the Development of Civilizations 13. Three Major Contributions to Civilization 14. The Ancient African Civilization Aksum 15. Freud in Civilization 16. Use of Civilization in Grendel 17. Destruction of Civilization 18. Egyptian and Sumerian Civilizations 19. Ethics in Western Civilization 20. History of Western Civilization: Industrial Revolution 21. Indian Civilization

The Black Codes and Why They Matter Today

The Black Codes and Why They Matter Today It’s hard to understand why African Americans are incarcerated at higher rates than other groups without knowing what the black codes were. These restrictive and discriminatory laws criminalized blacks after slavery and set the stage for Jim Crow. They are also directly linked to today’s prison industrial complex. Given this, a better grasp of the Black Codes and their relationship to the 13th Amendment provides a historical context for racial profiling, police brutality, and uneven criminal sentencing. For far too long, blacks have been dogged by the stereotype that they’re inherently prone to criminality. The institution of slavery and the Black Codes that followed reveal how the state essentially penalized African Americans just for existing. Slavery Ended, but Blacks Weren’t Truly Free During Reconstruction, the period that followed the Civil War, African Americans in the South continued to have work arrangements and living conditions nearly indistinguishable from those they had during slavery. Because the cost of cotton was so high at this time, planters decided to develop a labor system that mirrored servitude. According to America’s History to 1877, Vol. 1: â€Å"On paper, emancipation had cost the slave owners about $3 billion - the value of their capital investment in former slaves - a sum that equaled nearly three-fourths of the nation’s economic production in 1860. The real losses of planters, however, depended on whether they lost control of their former slaves. Planters attempted to reestablish that control and to substitute low wages for the food, clothing, and shelter that their slaves had previously received. They also refused to sell or rent land to blacks, hoping to force them to work for low wages.† The enactment of the 13th Amendment only amplified the challenges of African Americans during Reconstruction. Passed in 1865, this amendment ended the slave economy, but it also included a provision that would make it in the South’s best interest to arrest and imprison blacks. That’s because the amendment prohibited slavery and servitude, â€Å"except as a punishment for crime.† This provision gave way to the Black Codes, which replaced the Slave Codes, and were passed throughout the South the same year as the 13th Amendment. The codes heavily infringed on the rights of blacks and, like low wages, functioned to trap them in a slave-like existence. The codes were not the same in every state but overlapped in a number of ways. For one, they all mandated that blacks without jobs could be arrested for vagrancy. The Mississippi Black Codes in particular penalized blacks for being â€Å"wanton in conduct or speech, neglect[ing] job or family, handl[ing] money carelessly, and ...all other idle and disorderly persons.† How exactly does a police officer decide how well a person handles money or if he’s wanton in conduct? Clearly, many of the behaviors punishable under the Black Codes were completely subjective. But their subjective nature made it easier to arrest and round up African Americans. In fact, a variety of states concluded that there were certain crimes for which only blacks could be â€Å"duly convicted,† according to The Angela Y. Davis Reader. Therefore, the argument that the criminal justice system works differently for whites and blacks can be traced back to the 1860s. And before the Black Codes criminalized African Americans, the legal system deemed runaway slaves fugitives for stealing property - themselves!   Fines, Forced Labor, and the Black Codes Violating one of the Black Codes required offenders to pay fines. Since many African Americans were paid low wages during Reconstruction or denied employment at all, coming up with the money for these fees all too often proved impossible. Inability to pay meant that the county court could hire out African Americans to employers until they worked off their balances. Blacks who found themselves in this unfortunate predicament usually did such labor in a slavery-like environment. The state determined when offenders worked, for how long and what kind of work was performed. More often than not, African Americans were required to perform agricultural labor, just as they had during slavery. Because licenses were required for offenders to perform skilled labor, few did. With these restrictions, blacks had little chance to learn a trade and move up the economic ladder once their fines were settled. And they could not simply refuse to work off their debts, as that would lead to a vagrancy charge, resulting in more fees and forced labor. Under the Black Codes, all African Americans, convicts or not, were subject to curfews set by their local governments. Even their day-to-day movements were heavily dictated by the state. Black farm workers were required to carry passes from their employers, and meetings blacks took part in were overseen by local officials. This even applied to worship services. In addition, if a black person wanted to live in town, they had to have a white sponsor. Any African Americans who skirted the Black Codes would be subject to fines and labor. In short, in all areas of life, blacks lived as second class citizens. They were emancipated on paper but certainly not in real life. A civil rights bill passed by Congress in 1866 sought to give African Americans more rights. The bill, for example, permitted them to own or rent property, but it stopped short of giving blacks the right to vote. It did, however, allow them to make contracts and bring their cases before courts. It also enabled federal officials to sue those who violated the civil rights of African Americans. But blacks never reaped the benefits of the bill because President Andrew Johnson vetoed it.   While the president’s decision dashed the hopes of African Americans, their hopes were renewed when the 14th Amendment was enacted. This legislation gave blacks even more rights than the Civil Rights Act of 1966 did. It declared them and anyone born in the United States to be citizens. Although it did not guarantee blacks the right to vote, it  gave them â€Å"equal protection of the laws.† The 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, would give blacks suffrage. The End of the Black Codes By the end of the 1860s, many Southern states repealed the Black Codes and shifted their economic focus away from cotton farming and onto manufacturing. They built schools, hospitals, infrastructure and asylums for orphans and the mentally ill. Although the lives of African Americans were no longer dictated by the Black Codes, they lived separately from whites, with fewer resources for their schools and communities. They also faced intimidation by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan when they exercised their right to vote. The economic woes blacks faced led to an increasing number of them to be incarcerated. That’s because more penitentiaries in the South were built along with all of the hospitals, roads, and schools. Strapped for cash and unable to get loans from banks, former slaves worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers. This involved working other people’s farmland in exchange for a small cut of the value of the crops grown. Sharecroppers frequently fell prey to shopkeepers who offered them credit but charged exorbitant interest rates on farm supplies and other goods. Democrats at the time made matters worse by passing laws that allowed merchants to prosecute sharecroppers who couldn’t pay their debts. â€Å"Indebted African American farmers faced imprisonment and forced labor unless they toiled on the land according to the instructions of the merchant-creditor,† states America’s History. â€Å"Increasingly, merchants and landlords cooperated to maintain this lucrative system, and many landlords became merchants. The former slaves had become trapped in the vicious circle of debt peonage, which tied them to the land and robbed them of their earnings.† Angela Davis laments the fact that black leaders of the time, such as Frederick Douglass, did not campaign to end forced labor and debt peonage. Douglass primarily focused his energies on bringing an end to lynching. He also advocated for black suffrage. Davis asserts that he may not have considered forced labor a priority due to the widespread belief that incarcerated blacks must have deserved their punishments. But African Americans complained that they were frequently jailed for offenses for which whites were not. In fact, whites usually eluded prison for all but the most egregious crimes. This resulted in blacks jailed for petty offenses being incarcerated with dangerous white convicts. Black women and children were not spared from prison labor. Children as young as 6 years old were  forced to work, and incredibly women in such predicaments were not segregated from male inmates, making them vulnerable to sexual abuse and physical violence at the hands of both convicts and guards. After taking a trip to the South in 1888, Douglass witnessed firsthand the effects of forced labor on the African Americans there. It kept blacks â€Å"firmly bound in a strong, remorseless and deadly grasp, a grasp from which only death can free [them],† he noted. But by the time Douglass made this conclusion, peonage and convict leasing had been in effect for more than 20 years in certain places. And in a short stretch of time, the number of black prisoners grew rapidly. From 1874 to 1877, Alabama’s prison population tripled, for example. Ninety percent of new convicts were African American. Crimes formerly considered low-level offenses, such as cattle theft, were reclassified as felonies, ensuring that impoverished blacks found guilty of such crimes would be sentenced to longer prison terms. African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois was disturbed by these developments in the prison system. In his work, Black Reconstruction, he observed, â€Å"The whole criminal system came to be used as a method of keeping Negroes at work and intimidating them. Consequently there began to be a demand for jails and penitentiaries beyond the natural demand due to the rise of crime.† Legacy of the Black Codes Lives On Today a disproportionate amount of black men are behind bars. In 2016, the Washington Post reported that 7.7 percent of black men between the ages of 25 to 54 are institutionalized compared to 1.6 percent of white men. The newspaper also stated that the prison population has quintupled over the past four decades and that one out of nine black children has a parent in prison. Many ex-convicts can’t vote or get jobs after their release, increasing their chances of recidivism and trapping them in a cycle as relentless as debt peonage. A number of social ills have been blamed for the large numbers of blacks in prison - poverty, single-parent homes and gangs. While these issues may be factors, the Black Codes reveal that since slavery ended those in power have used the criminal justice system as a vehicle to strip African Americans of their liberty. This includes the glaring sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine, a higher police presence in black neighborhoods, and a bail system that requires those  arrested to pay for their release from jail or remain incarcerated if they’re unable to. From slavery onward, the criminal justice system has all too often created insurmountable hurdles for African Americans.

Week 6 Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Week 6 Discussion - Assignment Example â€Å"A primary goal of any website or blog should be to provide its visitors with a pleasant and fulfilling experience† (Dailyblogstips). I believe that Wal-Mart should expand into any area of business that will increase its sales activity. The firm has grown so much internationally that it should be willing to provide personalized services such as ship to site services. Wal-Mart is a multinational corporation and the firm should be open to obtaining new clients in new markets by capitalizing on the brand value of the company. My general impression of Wal-Mart’s website is that the company is doing a good job of expanding its business using an e-commerce strategy. In 2010 ecommerce sales generated $152.1 billion in the United States (Plunkett Research). The company has to invest in developing its website to compete with other online retailers in the U.S. and abroad. As the biggest retailer in the world Wal-Mart has to capitalize on its brand value to generate more business from its online

How does buying a cup of coffee from Starbucks affect the environment Dissertation - 1

How does buying a cup of coffee from Starbucks affect the environment - Dissertation Example Unfortunately, when it comes to Starbucks, their biggest negativity is the non –recyclable cups of synthetic nature which pollute the earth on a considerable level. Starbucks being a huge food chain have captured the coffee market globally by taking on the increased demand of coffee lovers. According to (Austin,2004) â€Å"Starbucks had revenue of $2.7 billion in 2001, up from $465 million in 1995 (see Exhibit 1 forfinancials). Nearly two-thirds of revenue came from coffee beverages, 15% from coffee beans, and24% from food and coffee-related items†.They also maintain their good will by means of powerful advertisement they display in the international business arena. This coffee chain have spread over much part of the globe and have influenced people many people in buying their product , as it is assured to be the best and perfect in the market. As per (Laminetez)â€Å"Starbucks switched its plastic cups from polyethylene (No. 1) to polypropylene (No. 5), which uses 45% less greenhouse gases†. ... The Starbucks in order to save on the cost factor ignore the natural disaster their coffee cups can bring about in the nature. Even though people feel convenient in drinking from their non –recyclable cups, they are less knowledgeable about the consequences it can bring to the natural sustainability of the planet. â€Å"Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for—and in many cases is already affecting—a broad range of human and natural systems† (Clooney,2010, pg.484-48). There are many studies done in order to perceive the amount of waste disposed in nature by Starbucks by taking into account various factors. The first phase was considering the determinants of waste generation in South Eastern America by keeping in mind the elements like economic, structural and demographic variables. In this per capital retail sales, urban population percentage and per capital income was taken it account to calculate the waste generation quotient. However, the study concluded that when retails sales increased the per capital waste generation also increased. So an effective solution for Starbucks is to consider recycling cups which reduce pollution of the environment According to (Zaida,2009)â€Å"One of the many challenges in reducing the use of disposable products is that the true social cost of using these disposable products, the externalities, are not incorporated into the price we pay for them†. It is a general fact, that the cups used by Starbucks for hot beverages are made out of paper fiber and low density plastic materials. This plastic element in the cups is the main culprits in