Monday, May 31, 2010

Chinese Immigration Essay

Imagine coming to a new country, a new culture, and leaving your family and friends behind. You are promised that life will be better and that you will have a high paying job. But, when you get to the new country, you are stereotyped, discriminated against, and mentally and physically abused. Life is much harder and you have to work for at least 12 hours per day for very low wages. This is exactly what both the Chinese migrants and the Chinese labourers went through on what they thought was going to be a new and better life in Canada.

Several shiploads of illegal Chinese migrants were caught off the west coast of British Columbia in the summer of 1999. These migrants were granted admittance into Canada and many have claimed refugee status. The treatment of these migrants has of course, not been good. However, many Canadians feel sorry for them, as they had to live for weeks in unthinkable conditions just to come here. There were mattresses laid on the floor and the boats were dirty and unhealthy. Buckets were used for toilets and the drinking water was contaminated. Small generators were used to supply power and the migrants survived off bottled water and little food.

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These illegal migrants were smuggled into Canada by Asian smuggling gangs known as snakeheads. These gangs charge up seventy thousand dollars to smuggle people into Canada. Accomplices here arrange for jobs for the migrants. Many of them end up working in restaurants, sweatshops, as poor farmers, or street merchants. Females are usually forced to work in the sex trade. These migrants have very little education and work for very low wages (as little as four dollars an hour) in horrible working conditions. They have to give almost all of their wages to the snakeheads, who charge up to eighteen percent interest, to pay off their debts. Snakeheads control their existence for years and are warned to obey their every command or risk being severely punished. It takes years to pay off their debts and if the price is not paid, gangs resort to threats or physical violence to intimidate the migrants or their families.

The main reason the migrants come here is to escape a life of poverty or a bad past. Some are lured here by promises of high paying jobs. But, they end up working for six to seven years to pay off their debts. They are watched twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week by gang members to help prevent their disappearance. Not only do they live a life of loneliness, they have to come here, to a new country, without knowing anyone, and they have to get used to a new culture. They are stereotyped, unwelcome, treated badly, and mentally abused. Also, if they return home, they risk being punished or even killed.

In 1880-85, the construction of the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway employed thousands of Chinese workers. 17,000 Chinese workers left their homes and came to B.C. to begin working on the railway. 700 Chinese men died while building the C.P.R. and many more were injured. They were paid between $1.50-$1.75, half as much as white men. The labourers worked in dangerous working conditions and ate rice and stale ground salmon. White men were served fresh meat and vegetables. One third of the Chinese labourers lost their lives, killed by rockslides, cave-ins, or by diseases like scurvy. When they became sick, no one would help or even give them a drink of water.

Visible minority groups suffered from mainstreaming, society’s intolerance, prejudice, and bigotry. They were mistreated daily and violence was not uncommon and also suffered from disdain and knowing that they were second-class citizens. They were commonly used as scapegoats for economic, social, and political problems and were accused of taking work from white workers.

Personally, I don’t think there has been a change as to how Chinese migrants are treated and how the labourers were treated. They were both treated more like animals than people. These visible minorities were victims of stereotyping, racism, discrimination, society’s intolerance, and bigotry. But, I think that the migrants had it a little bit easier than the labourers. I’m not saying that the migrants had it easy; they both had a very hard time fitting into our society. It’s very unfair that these innocent people were treated the way that they were. They were taken advantage of and both physically and mentally abused. I think that we all need to learn to treat each other with respect, no matter what colour our skin or hair is, or where we come from.

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Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Cask Of Amontillado Sample Essay

I believe that no individual is ever justified to take justice into his or her own hands. Even though many people do take justice into their own hands, I believe that they are not actually aware of what they are doing. So in that case I believe that they are justified.

In the short story "The Cask Of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor takes justice into his own hands. He actually buried one of his best friends alive because he embarrassed Montresor in public. In my mind that is just going too far. It may seem like nothing now a day. However, back then it was a great offense to do so and especially in public. It also seemed that when Montresor was building the brick wall, while Fortunado was moaning behind it, Montresor seemed to regret everything he was doing. But then he realized that if he freed Fortunado , Fortunado would proballey go to the police and then he would go to prison.

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I see that Montresor is a lot like many people today. Most people don't realize that they won't ever be able to justify themselves until it is just too late and something terrible has happened.

Today it may seem that people do not take insults seriously however people do and the people that say those insults now a days may possibly die for saying it. For if you look at someone the wrong way they will literally kill you. Today people freak out about stupid things such as: characters in a play, grades, clothes, and a lot of other stupid things, actually just about anything.

So they then go and seek revenge one the person that wronged them in such a stupid way, so that they will feel that justice was taken. In my opinion that is just stupid because if you do take justice into your own hands and do something to the person it will just come back at you because then they will get revenge on you. And it will just keep going around in a circle until someone stops it or someone is killed. In this case you still wont justify yourself because you will have to live with the guilt of what you did to the other person.

Now although I find taking justice into your own hands completely unacceptable, I often find myself doing it. I have two older sisters that are always doing crappy things to me and at most times I try to justify myself by doing something mean to them but then they get back at me and like I said in the previous paragraph we end up going in circles. I do not believe that people can actually even be justified in taking justice into their own hands. And mainly this is because it just comes right back. People are to busy taking revenge to realize that there is no way to justify yourself without it coming back at you.

With saying this I believe that taking justice into your own hands is totally and completely unacceptable. I do believe most people would agree with me. However I bet that everyone that you would talk to has taken justice into his or her own hands.

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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Essay on Cars Classification

Cars have been around for over a hundred years. The first universal car in America was created by Henry Ford in 1908. This car was called the model ‘T’ also known as the Tin Lizzy. After the first car was introduced, the evolution of cars had changed in size, shape, and price. The most drastic change has been in price.

Today, consumers have the options of choosing a car that is inexpensive in price to very expensive. An inexpensive car’s price range is anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000. An inexpensive car would consist of a Hyundai, Kia, Saturn and Honda. Some of the features to an inexpensive car consist of the interior design such as the cloth seats. The cloth seats in a car are made to provide temporary comfort for the driver to get from point A to point B. The stereo in an expensive car is considered to be a low end product. The engines however, in a Hyundai, Kia, Saturn and Honda are considered to be very reliable. Today, manufacturers make cars that offer a variety of engines. For example a consumer can have the option of choosing a car with a 1.0 to 24 horsepower engine. These types of engines are good commuter cars because even though they are very inexpensive, their engines are considered to be very reliable.

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A moderately priced car can range from $25,000 to $45,000. The moderately priced car gives the consumer a variety of options. A moderately priced car is considered to be a Toyota, Ford, Nissan, and Acura. These cars come with different choices of interior. For instance, the buyer can have the option of leather or cloth interior. The interior is also made to provide comfort to the driver. The stereo in the car is considered to be a decent model with a variety of controls. These type of cars offer cruise control, stick or automatic transmission, and free regular service check ups. The service check ups allow the car to have free oil changes and service inspections at certain miles. The engines in a moderately priced car range from a 4 cylinder to an 8-cylinder vehicle. When purchasing a car, the buyer appears to have more options with moderately priced vehicle then with an inexpensive or cheap vehicle.

An expensively priced car can range from $50,000 to over a $100,000. These types of cars are considered to be Mercedes, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Lexus, and BMW. All of the cars interiors are made from fine quality leather. The craftsmanship in the interior is very detailed. This type of interior has been made to make the driver feel like he is sitting in a recliner instead of driving a car. These types of cars also have an electronic switchboard that consists of power seats, door locks, windows, sunroof, and cruise control. Another option that some of the expensive cars have, is that they can be driving an automatic car, but they can also change the gears so that it can be a 5 speed driving machine. The performance in these cars has been made so that the stops and acceleration in the cars are seamless to driver. The expensively priced cars also have the options for a navigation system as well as an entertainment system. The navigation system allows the driver to view an electronic screen that displays a map on how to get from point A to B. The entertainment system has a DVD set up, which allow the passengers to view movies and play video games that are created from a compact disc. Another feature that these cars have is the temperature control. The passenger and driver can set their own temperature control based on where they are seated. If a person is sitting in the front, middle or rear of the car, they will have the option of changing the temperature control in the car.

The consumer has a lot of options to choose from when trying to decide which car to purchase. But the main factor when purchasing a car is price. A car can have a lot of features to the model, but if the price does not fit the buyer’s budget, the buyer will most likely choose a car that is moderately expensive, or inexpensive. Today manufacturers realize that they need to provide the buyer a variety of options to fit the buyer’s income. For example, Mercedes has now created models that are relatively in the moderate price range. This means that more people are able to purchase a Mercedes car. So even though the buyer has a variety of makes and models to choose from, price will always be a factor.

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Spanish History Essay

History of Spain Essay

Medieval Spain is a complex but fascinating period to research, with various cultural influences from the Visigoth Kingdom in the 5th century AD to the Arab invasions in 711, to the final episode of the Reconquest, with the fall of Granada in 1492. I decided to put the Golden Age in the fifteenth century aside, and to concentrate on the Middle Ages in Spain before the arrival on the scene of Ferdinand and Isabella. The research on the web was quite disappointing: there were not many websites on the subject, and the ones I found were not very exciting. Most of them only provided scant information, did not expand on the subject and were not very interactive.

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The history of medieval Spain can be very confusing and the best way to start is by establishing a chronology, located in sites on the general history of Spain. The best one is to be found at http://www.sispain.org/SiSpain/english/history/, a site on Spain, its current affairs, linguistics, geography, etc, with several pages on Spanish history. These are divided into chronologies, from the first human settlements, to the current parliamentary monarchy. Medieval Spain is broken up into 4 pages: the Visigothic Kingdom, Muslim Spain, the Reconquest and the Catholic Monarchs. The site offers some good basic information in a clear and simple way. Two other websites offer a diverse approach to the history of Spain. http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/nnc/spain/Spain.htm views Spanish history through its coinage. It is quite interesting and a good starting point, although it does not have much on medieval Spain and it is very short. http://www.uncg.edu/rom/courses/klrauch/civ/art.htm portrays Spanish history through its artists, from the gothic period to the contemporary age. It provides illustrations and commentaries on the artists' works, as well as their biographies. This website provides a good alternative way to get to know the history of Spain, and offers a link to another similar website, http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/tours/spain/index.html, well worth visiting.

On Medieval Spain in particular, one can find interesting texts from the Medieval Source Book such as the Egyptian historian Ibn Abd-el-Hakem's account on the Islamic conquest of Spain (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/conqspain.html). The Medieval Source Book also contains extensive bibliographies. Another academic website is that of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain: http://www.uca.edu/aarhms. It contains newsletters, archives, which include copies and commentaries of charters, and a library of Iberian Resources Online. It is a very useful, rich and well designed website for those enormously interested in the subject. There is not much on the Visigoth Kingdom in Spain. The Columbia Encyclopaedia Online gives a good summary of it (http://www.bartleby.com/65/vi/Visigoth.html), but I did not find any other websites worth looking at. Most of the websites concentrate on Visigoth names, or costumes, and it is difficult to avoid re-enactors or role games sites.

On Moorish Spain, there is more material to explore. http://srproj.lib.calpoly.edu/projects/engl/Zapata_Liziel_L/index.htm is the main one, referred to by many other websites. It encloses the main dates on the Arabs in Spain, and pages on the culture of Moorish Spain, mainly on the music and on the architecture. The main attraction of the site is pictures of artefacts from various museums across the world, and maps. An alternative, less European point of view on Muslim Spain and it signification in European culture is to be found at http://www.xmission.com/~dderhak/index/moors.htm. http://www.baroquespain.com/mulus.php is one of the most interesting website, unfortunately in Spanish, although some of its pages are actually in English. However, the Spanish used is very simple, and could be an incentive for those who are learning the language. One of its pages, 'Espana Musulmana' is quite attractive, divided by subjects (history, geography, literature, art, economics, etc) and containing a lot of pictures and images. For each subject there is a short text in Spanish along with pictures, and then sources relating to other web pages, either in Spanish or in English (see for example the page on music). Sites on the technological, literary and philosophical achievements of Muslim Spain are numerous, and almost all linked to the history of Islam in general. As always when the subject touches on religion, it is difficult to find objective websites. http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/main.htm gives very good biographies with numerous links on Moorish philosophers, such as Averroes.

If you want to know more about specific people in Medieval Spain, there are not many websites. Even El Cid does not seem to be that popular, and a search with his name will get you more restaurants and hotels than anything on the conqueror of the Kingdom of Valencia against the Moors in the eleventh century. One of the few sites is http://www.legends.dm.net/paladins/cid.html, which contains links to texts, as for example the wonderful play Le Cid by the French playwright Corneille. The most complete biography on El Cid is to be found at http://lilt.ilstu.edu/bekurtz/elcid.htm.

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Friday, May 28, 2010

Essay on "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Analysis on "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening has a very clear literal meaning. However, there are many elements to the poem that can lead the reader to reading it allegorically. The need to look past a poems literal meaning comes from the associations readers make between words and other ideas. The elements which make up a poem can be used as tools to look beyond the literal meaning and on to a deeper meaning.

The literal meaning of Frost’s poem is obvious. A man is traveling through the woods on horseback and stops to admire the woods but realize he has many obligations and a long journey ahead before he can rest for the night. The speaker describes the woods as “lovely, dark, and deep” (13). The poem could be described in the same way. It is very pleasant but could also have a deeper-darker interpretation. You can not help but make the association between words like deep and dark to the idea of death. This his how Frost uses diction to bring out a literal and allegorical way of reading this poem. Diction was not the only element that made me think about the poem in an allegorical sense.

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Frost’s choice of words was my first indication there was more than one purpose to the poem. The last two lines of the poem are, “And miles to go before I sleep” (15-6). The repetition of this line made me feel as if Frost had other intentions than its literal meaning. The last word of the poem is sleep. Coincidently, the last time a man sleeps on his journey through life is in death. This association may not be recognized the first time reading the poem. But as a reader I could not resist but to read the poem again after reaching the end and hearing the repetition of this final line.

The final line of the poem pulled me as a reader into the poem to look for a deeper-darker interpretation. The reader is almost in the same situation as the speaker in the poem. However, the speaker in the poem is able to resist the inevitable beauty of the woods because of prior obligations. As a reader I was not able to accept the literal meaning and had to read it again. Here, the literal reading of the poem became clearly different from the allegorical reading. The last line of the poem, “And miles to go before I sleep” (16) makes perfect literal sense. But it could also be interpreted as a metaphor meaning, I have longer to go before I die. Bringing your own sense of death into the poem while reading can completely change your interpretation. This simple repetition of a line can draw a reader into a poem just as easily the speaker in the poem was captured by the simple beauty of nature.

The simplicity of this poem can easily be over estimated. Each of the four stanzas are merely identical. The first, second and third line of every stanza rhyme and the third line sets up the rhyme scheme for the following stanza. However the last stanza is different from the rest. This is the only stanza in which all four lines rhyme. What was the purpose of Frost changing the rhyme scheme at the end of the poem? The intentions of an author are almost impossible to say. But I interpreted this change at the end of the poem to be like the change many things go through at the end of something. All things have to come to an end and most things come to an end through death.

When first reading the poem the simplicity of its rhyme scheme, format, and diction may lead us to interpreting the poem in its most literal sense. But when reading the poem for a second time theses elements that make it seem so simply, can also give you a reason to look for a deeper meaning. Eco believes that the author’s intention is “very difficult to find out and frequently irrelevant for the interpretation of a text.” 1 To interpret is to establish a meaning or significance of something and can highly depend on the reader and the way in which they read the poem. Recognizing the intent of a poem is not necessarily the same as saying you know the meaning. When reading something allegorically compared too literally you need to have a scheme in which you will know when to take something literally versus allegorically. Because the relationship between the two meanings is not always logical. Frost’s purpose of the poem in unclear. But the reader of the poem can use the elements as a tool used to find more than a literal meaning.

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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Essay on the Use of Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown

Symbolism in "Young Goodman Brown"

The short story Young Goodman Brown portrays a man’s wild journey to leave his faith, home, and security behind to take a chance with the devil in to an adventure into a dark forest. Young Goodman Brown, the main character goes off into the woods and undergoes a life-transforming experience. In this story the author Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to be infatuated with the themes of sin and guilt. William Hawthorne, one of Hawthorne’s ancestors, was in fact a judge in the Salem witch trials, which is probably where the author’s interest in the twin themes of sin and guilt come from. Hawthorne widely employs the use of symbolism through the story, which avoids the logical mind to tap in to its more dream like processes. We can deduce the use of symbolism by exploring three aspects of the story; the setting, the characters, and the plot.

The setting where the story takes place plays a very important role in the story thus it is one of the main uses of symbolism. Goodman Brown leaves the village in the middle of the night to head out into the forest. The fact that he meets the devil in a dark forest portrays the place he is going as evil. The story takes place in the forest where Goodman Brown sees all kinds of evil and people worshiping the devil.

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One of the character names in the story also represents symbolism. Goodman’s wife’s name was Faith. She represents good. Throughout the story Goodman is struggling with his faith and trying to resist evil. At the beginning of the story Goodman leaves “Faith” and travel out into the forest to follow evil. When he met up with his evil fellow traveler he says, “Faith kept me back awhile”. This seems to have a double meaning. His wife Faith slowed him down, but also his own personal faith made it a struggle for him to go. He was battling with good and evil. Goodman Brown decides to follow evil and justifies it by saying that this was the last night, and after that he would follow Faith to heaven.

Symbolism is also used in the characters that Goodman sees along the dark path in the forest. Goodman sees all of the people that are the religious leaders in his village. The women that had taught Goodman since he was a child about God. To Goodman this woman symbolizes a Christian person. Goodman also sees the deacon from the village and other important leaders of the church. All these leaders of the church symbolize Goodman Brown’s faith. When Goodman sees that they are evil he loses his faith and turns to evil.

In the plot of the story there are many uses of symbolism. Two examples of this are the pink ribbons in Faith’s hair and the staff that the fellow traveler carries. Faith wear’s pink ribbons in her hair which symbolizes goodness. When Goodman heard Faith in the forest he finds her pink ribbons. They had fallen off, just like her goodness had left her when she followed evil. Goodman cries, “my Faith is gone”. This has two meanings. He has lost his wife Faith to evil and he has also lost his own faith to evil.

The staff is also used all throughout the story to symbolize evil. The first staff that the traveler has looks like a black snake. He offers the staff to Goodman so that he won’t feel weary as if he was offering the devil to encourage him to follow evil. The traveler gives Goody Cloyse the staff and gets another one from the tree. As soon as he touched it, it began to wither. When Goodman decides to follow evil when he hears Faith in the woods he grabs the staff and almost begins running.

In this story there are many examples of symbolism. The setting, the characters, and the plot are important to the story and help to develop the theme of the story. The author uses this symbolism to give the reader a better understanding of the events in the story and to draw parallels.

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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Pneumonia Essay

Pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs caused by an infection. The infection that it is caused by is a bacterial infection. It also, can be caused by viruses, fungi, or by breathing certain harmful chemicals, which irritate the tissues of the lung. Pneumonia can be spreaded through the air, by someone who has it or by something. Smoking raises the risk of acquiring pneumonia it is very easy to get in the winter than in the summer.Vaccination may be helpful in preventing some types of pneumonia. Coughing and deep breathing may help prevent some forms of hospital-acquired pneumonia. It is easier to get at hospitals than in the air.

Many people are in the hospital for this disease and when you go to see them, you have a better chance of getting it from them than in the air.

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These are a few symptom's that are the start of pneumonia coughing, fever, easy fatigue, chest pain, headache, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, joint stiffness, muscular stiffness, and rales.Pneumonia, is mostly common just about anywhere and in any age group. Even to little kides and the smallest of babies can get pneumonia, not just adults or older people catch it, every one can. It is alot worse on babies and kids than adults, because kids haven't developed a strong immune system whereas adults have. Also, about 500,000 cases of pneumonia still develop in the United States each year, about 10 percent of these cases are fatal, particularly in older people.The goal of treatment is to cure the infection with antibiotics. If the pneumonia is caused by a virus, antibiotics will not be effective. Also, pneumonia can be treated by flu shots about once a month and vaccine. In conclusion, this report has told about the symptoms of pneumonia, where it is mostly common at, how it can be avoided, how it can be treated, and how it is spreaded.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Asthma Essay Sample

I attended the allergies and asthma workshop on Sunday. I picked that one because at the beginning of this year I had a really long cold-like sickness, with a terrible deep cough for over a month that left me completely breathless when I played soccer. I went to the doctor many times, always leaving with new medicine and a new inhaler, but the doctor always putting off the asthma test. I was hoping this workshop would be helpful in my research on whether or not I have asthma. I’ve researched it before, so I didn’t learn too much new information, but this is what I did learn.

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Asthma is the bronchial constriction of the air passages. It can be a nuisance, and in its worst cases it can be lethal. There is an asthma gene, but since there’s not just one, they haven’t yet found the specific one. The development of asthma can be parallel one’s living environment. For example, urban areas have higher asthma rates. The reason rural has less is because of the hygiene hypothesis. This hypothesis is during development, exposure to farm animals and milk (“good bacteria”) may create better immunity, lessening the chance of asthma development in later years.

Histamines cause asthmatic reactions. Someone will inhale an allergen, which sets off their immune system. Then antibodies are generated, which react with mass cells.

I learned all that, but my favorite part of the festival was spinning the Crest wheel and winning a free toothbrush and toothpaste. Well, either that or the free “healthy whole grain with whole wheat flour and a hint of honey” bread.

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Monday, May 24, 2010

Assisted Suicide Sample Essay

Although Assisted suicide is a very controversial issue, in my opinion, it should be allowed for all terminally ill patients. First of all, assisted suicide should be allow to all terminally ill patients because they are just waiting for the day of death with extreme pain. Death is a compassionate way to relieve unbearable suffering no matter how long patients can live. In a survey two-thirds of the patients are desire to euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide for their agony. (Emanuel, 1996.) All ill terminally patients are having intractable pain, fatigue and breathlessness as symptoms through the last moment of their lives.

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For example, one patient, 68-year-old Karl Stansell, has terminal throat cancer. He has received chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and is being fed through a feeding tube. His doctors have told him he has less than six months to live as the cancer spreads through his body. Stansell said, "Eventually I will be unable to swallow anything and will die in agony." He has the fear of future suffering and have to deal with intractable pain until he dies. Secondly, assisted suicide should be allowed for all terminally ill patients and their families. Not only patients suffering from the pain, but also their families suffer from emotional and financial burden. Caring for a terminally ill person is difficult for many families; end-of-life care can produce exhaustion for caregivers, and families can experience panic, distress, and financial strain. The patients of terminal ill wish to end of their lives without being a burden to caregivers, and don't want to give them a great deal of pain. According to survey, "Sixty-three percent of the 27 people whose suicides were legally assisted under Oregon law in 2000 said, they did so because they feared being a burden to family, friends, and other caregivers." (Copyright 2001 National Right To Life Committee, Inc.)

In another instance a survey in Washington State, where assisted suicide is illegal, most patients requested assisted suicide because they were concerned about being a burden. ( Back, 1996.) A lot of ill patients worry about their familiesбп mental pain in spite of their own. Thirdly, assisted suicide should be allowed to terminally ill patients because every individual has a right to end his or her life. People ought to have the right to control their own lives especially to patients who lives a life filled with pain and suffering. People may be kept alive, rely to life support, or to have a major surgery, but they have the right to choose to live with extreme pain or the freedom to let it go. (The Economist, U.S. Cover Story, 1997.) If it is acceptable for a doctor to "unplug" a patient from life support to allow him or her to die, then it is equally acceptable for him to help his patient end their lives. (The Economist, U.S. Cover Story, 1997.) In addition, the choices at the end of life should not be between living in pain and suicide. "At the high level of generality, the act of euthanasia becomes a constitutional right because it gives people the right to choose their own existence." (Canavan, 1995.) In all fairness, those who don't have that option should be allowed to choose death. To sum up, terminally ill patients do have the right to choose assisted to relieve their pain and their familyбпs burden.

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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Heart Attack Essay

It was a day like any other when I woke up and went to school but when I came home I just knew something was wrong by just looking at my mother’s eyes. She told me the calamitous news with tears in her eyes. This happened exactly two years ago when my mother got the tragic call from Italy that my father’s only brother had past away from a heart attack the night before with out any signs of heart diseases. This was very hard on my family, especially my father since they were only four years apart and my uncle was only 43 years old. Once I sat down and tried to understand what had happened to my uncle, questions started going through my head: What is a heart attack? What causes a heart attack? How can it be prevented?

I already know that a heart attack can be originated if you are under stress, over weight, or if you are a person of about 45 and above. That’s about all I knew when I first heard that a heart attack had affected a member of my family. Since then I’ve been committed to learn as much as I can and I’m pleased to report that I have.

Basically, I wanted to know as much as possible on my topic, because of the fact that there are chronicle heart disease problems in my family, and I wanted to know if there are any risk factors. If in fact there are, what could I do to prevent
myself, and the other members of my family from getting infected? Could we live a health life without having to think of what could happened? Since my uncle died without any signs of heart disease, what are some common signs?

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With all of these questions I managed to come up with a research question: are there any risk factor for a heart attack, and if so what could someone do to prevent it? After many days of research I was able to form an answer: Yes, there are several risk factors, such as family history of heart attack, smoking, drinking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of physical activity, age, sex, stress, anger, obesity, and diabetes mellitus. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating right and exercising can reduce some of these risk factors. Others, such as family history, sex, and age cannot be changed. That is the main reason why it is important to work as much as you can on the simple things that can be reduced.

I worked on my search for about two months and it was definitely a new step for me. Never before have I worked on such a major paper and presumably without my language book I wouldn’t have come this far. I started of my research by forming a research question and then by sharing my research question and topic with a group. This helped me a lot because when I first started I was completely confused and unorganized, but I soon recovered when I started my search journal which to this day I’m writing in every time I work on my research.

Next, I went to a public library near my home. There the librarian helped me out once I told her what I was working on. She advised me to read a book called The Heart Attack Prevention and Recovery Handbook. I followed her advice and checked the book out not knowing how much information I was going to find in this book. In the final days, this book by Jack Gillis, helped me the most from all of my resources I came in touch with.

During the next few days I spend a lot of time in my school library searching the net. I wasn’t surprised at the many wedsites I found, but it did take quiet a while to diminish some of the unneeded sources. Ultimately after working on my computer at both home and school I found the perfect website that held many answers to my unstopping questions. www.galenet.com

At last, after working on my two resources for a while I had to turn to another one. I turned to a perfect medicine encyclopedia titled The Gale Encyclopedia of Medication, which I choose to use as my final resource. And I must conclude that I did the right thing by making this my last resource because I found brief but very useful information. Once I completed my source and bibliography cards on my resources I learned more than I could have ever imagined on heart attacks.

With all of the information I managed to find, I still kept my original search question the same: Is there a risk factor for heart attack and if so what could someone do to prevent it? However, I was able to come up with more detailed questions on my topic. I ended up narrowing my topic to five main subjects that I found important for my research to be discussed: What it is; Signs and Symptoms; Care; Medication; Life after Heart Attack.

The first thing I found out and wanted to know more about is what a heart attack really is. Most heart attacks are the end result of years of silent but progressive coronary artery disease, the two arteries that provide blood to the heart. A heart attack is also called a myocardial infartion. It is the leading cause of death in America. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle itself, the myocardium, is severely reduced or stopped. This occurs when one of the coronary arteries, that surround the heart like a crown and supply blood to the heart muscle, is blocked. The blockage is usually from the build-up of plaque, fat like substances, due to atherosclerosis, and can lead to a heart attack.

My next finding was on signs and symptoms. The most common sign is chest pain. This pain may feel crushing or heave. It may spread to the neck, jaw, shoulders, back, or left arm. This one-two punch to the heart may feel like you are having indigestion or burning under the breastbone. Other signs may be trouble, sweating, or nausea and vomiting. Your skin may be pale or cool or you may feel lightheaded or weak. Some people have no chest pain, this is called a silent heart attack. Knowing this information on signs and symptoms might just save your life, because one out of every five people that suffer from a heart attack don’t even know that one has occurred since they don’t feel much pain in their chest. This can cause a lot of damage to your heart. Half of these people die before even getting to the hospital, like my uncle. Those who do get to the hospital almost two out of five die within the same year.

The third thing I found is the kind of care you get hopefully once you make it to the hospital. When you arrive you will be put in the hospital for tests and treatment. Pain medicine and oxygen may be given. You may be hooked-up to a heart monitor so caregivers can monitor your heart. The infected person may be privileged to medicine to break up clots that are blocking the hear. The heart may not be damaged if these clots are removed soon after your chest pain starts. Caregivers may proceed with a cardiac catheterization. This is a test that shows if there are blockages in the arteries of your heart. If there are, you may need an angioplasty. This is a balloon that opens the arteries up other wise you will need surgery. After surgery or any other treatment, the person who suffered from a heart attack like 1,000 Americans do every year may stay in the hospital from three to fourteen days depending on the recovery process.

One of the most common medications I happened to run into in my fourth finding was Aspirin. This is the most prevalent medication doctors tell heart attack patients to use. It is a pain reliever and it can actually reduce the risk of some people to ever have a heart attack. However, doctors are learning that this common chemical compound has properties that make it an effective medication for heart patients. Even a small amount of this commonly used medication, from less the one half a tablet daily, produces an important effect. Certainly there are many more medications subscribed nowadays by doctors but non is used in the American society as much as Aspirin.

In conclusion with my findings, I read an article that I found very interesting in my book about life after heart attack. A few years ago it might have sounded impossible telling a victim of a heart attack that there is life after this for them. Today it is reality. You can life a full, active life after a heart attack if you follow your Cardiologists advise to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating right, not smoking, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking, and relaxing. These simple things can change your life for the better and the earlier you start accomplishing these goals the easier it will be for you in the future. So if you have time just get your young self out there to the gym and spend some quality time exorcising and maybe next time you go t a fast food restaurant you will remember what happened to my uncle at the age of 43.

After spending much valuable time on my research, I can state that there are a lot of risk factors out there today for heart attacks. If you just put some work into a few simple things like exercising, eat right, and simple maintain a healthy lifestyle you should be more then fine in the future. This also includes regular visits to the doctor, not smoking or drinking, and relaxing. So don’t wait until the last minute to accomplish this goals start today and know that your are doing the best you can to reduce another American from getting affected from this tragically death threatening disease.

In conclusion, doing this research took more time that I could have ever imagined because I tough we had a week or so. I learned how to be more organized, how to spend my time more realistically, and how to write longer reports. I learned how to do all this things in the last two months and I’m working as hard as I can to keep up with them when I do some other related work. In addition to learning a lot about heart attack I have learned what my family and I have to do to prevent heart attacks from occurring ever again in my family. Can I be sure that nobody will have a heart attack in my family? No but I know that we are doing the best we can to reduce the risk that another member will suffer the same as my uncle did and that’s all that really matters.

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Saturday, May 22, 2010

Effects of Caffeine Essay

The debate on coffee is an age old one, which has been occurring now for centuries. Pope Clements VIII was asked by the Roman Clergy to ban coffee because it was the ‘Devil’s Drink’ in 1600. Fortunately, the Pope enjoyed it so much that he blessed it, and converted it to a Christian beverage.(Hons, caffeine) Caffeine in its multiple forms, is the only drug that is distributed freely across the world. While many people link caffeine with a multitude of health risks including Osteoporosis, heart arrhythmia, as well as several others. In moderation there are no studies which have as of yet which prove these accusation to have any factual evidence, actually the opposite is proving to be true. While many people steer away from caffeine because of the belief in its addictive nature, coffee drinkers, do not require increasing amounts of caffeine over prolonged periods of time (which is the characteristic of an addictive substance), they can also moderate or change there consumption with little difficulty. The actual description of “Addiction is a strong dependence on a drug characterized by three elements: 1) severe withdrawal symptoms; 2) tolerance to a given dose, or the need for more and more of the substance; and 3) the loss of control, or the need to consume the substance at all costs. Addicts may exhibit anti-social behavior or even commit crimes to perpetuate the abuse.”(Leviton, Coffee and Health) Evidence shows that coffee drinkers do not exhibit these symptoms of addiction. Which proves that by definition caffeine is shown to be a non-addictive substance.

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How Caffeine works
Caffeine, medically known as trimethylxanthine, is a cardiac stimulant as well as a mild diuretic. It operates using the same mechanisms as amphetamines; cocaine and heroine do to affect the brain, although it does so on a more mild level. In side the body caffeine, to a nerve cell appears to be the same as adenosine, and is able to bind to the adenosine receptor. Yet, although adenosine slows down the cell’s activity, caffeine blocks the receptors and speeds up the cell. It also causes the brain’s blood vessels to constrict as it also blocks the adenosine’s ability to open them. This block causes an increased firing of the neurons within the brain, the pituitary gland notices this activity and interprets the information as the occurrence of an emergency. It then releases hormones which tell the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline (epinephrine), this then causes the following effects on the body: dilated pupils, opening of the breathing tubes, increased heart rate, blood vessels on the surface constricting to slow blood flow while increasing the blood flow to the muscles.(unknown, How Stuff Works)

Caffeine also increases dopamine levels in the same way that amphetamine's do (heroine and cocaine also manipulate dopamine levels by slowing down the rate of dopamine re-uptake). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, in certain parts of the brain, activates the pleasure center.(unknown, How Stuff Works)

Advantages and Disadvantages
While caffeine can have both advantage’s and disadvantages on the body the primary effect is giving your mind and body a short burst of energy, too much caffeine can be harmful causing fever, confusion, muscle twitching and difficulty sleeping. Aside from the extremely rare overdose however, the effects of caffeine can be fairly beneficial. Recent studies on mice, show that skin lotion containing caffeine can actually reduce the number of cancer tumors from 50 – 70%, Dr. Allan Conney, a professor specializing in cancer research at Rutgers University found that it can remarkably kill any abnormal skin cells, while keeping normal ones intact.(Leviton, Coffee and Health)

Another Study done by Dr. G. Webster Ross at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Honolulu, found that men who drank 28 ounces of coffee or more per day were 50-80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease then those who drank no coffee. These results however are only based on Japanese-American men and as of yet it is inconclusive weather ethnicity affected the results.(Hons,Caffeine)

Another advantage of caffeine from the American Medical Association is that men who drink 2-3 cups of regular coffee daily, have a 40% less chance of developing gallstones than those who do not drink coffee. Gallstones are lumps of cholesterol in the gallbladder caused by consumption of both heavy and fatty foods. Caffeine protects against these by using stored fat to increase the energy output. It also can absorb the fluid that causes gallstones, increasing the flow of bile through the gallbladder.(Hons, Caffeine) Studies are constantly being done all over the world to discover whether caffeine can protect against similar effects on any other parts of the body.

Caffeine and Exercise Performance
Caffeine can improve both high intensity and endurance in exercise performance, while not produced by the body it is considered to be a nutritional ergogenic aid because it is a natural constituent of several common beverages, especially coffee. In relatively small amounts taken before exercise, caffeine can improve performance in both intense effort and in endurance. This is due to the adrenaline released and the subsequent stimulation of lipolysis in the adipose tissue, increasing the free fatty acid supply to the muscles, sparing muscle glycogen and delaying the point of muscle fatigue. Caffeine is so effective in this form that while it is not banned by the International Olympic Committee its use is regulated and a drug test in which an athlete has a concentration of caffeine exceeding 12 mg/l is considered to have committed a doping offense.(Gleeson, Sports Nutrition)

Anthropologists believe that some cultures began to ingest caffeine-containing plants as early as the Stone Age, in approximately 1100CE, the first coffee plants are suspected to have been planted on the Arabian Peninsula. It was here where it was given the name coffee, coming from the word “qahwa” which means that which prevents sleep.(unknown, How Stuff Works) By 1763, the city of Venice contained over 200 coffee shops and today the coffee industry is a multimillion dollar industry. The United States alone consume over one-fifth of the worlds coffee which is equal to 45 million pounds per year. With this amount of caffeine consumed in the world today, there are more then 19,000 scientific studies to date conducted on caffeine, effects according to the National Library of Medicine and it is still “Generally Recognized as Safe.”(Hons,Caffeine)

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Friday, May 21, 2010

Harmful Effects of Drugs Essay

Man has been using chemicals for as long as he has been a manufacturer. Primitive man pressed dyes from barrier and poisons from roots, the Greek could make medicines from mineral ores.

Eventually people learned how to improve and change the substances that existed in nature and even how to make up new ones from their components.

When we are talking about drugs, we have to distinguish between drugs which are used as medicines and drugs which change your personality.

A drug is a chemical which people take initially for pleasure or benefit. It is a chemical which has the power to change one's state of mind or mood and on which the user can become dependent.

Most drugs can be taken either legally or illegally, according to whether they have been prescribed by a doctor. However, others like for example alcohol or cigarettes are largely accepted by society.

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Lord of the Flies Essay: Good vs Evil

Lord of the Flies Essay Sample

William Golding's first novel Lord of The Flies is ultimately a novel about the inherent evil that plagues us all, and the wickedness that thrives in the darkness of man's heart.

Lord of the Flies can be broken into three parts. The first being the arrival on the island, the assembly, the establishment of rules and regulations, the election of Ralph as chief, the Coral Island like perceptions "flower and fruit grew together on the same tree" and the hope of rescue.

The story begins on a Pacific Island where an unknown amount of English school boys aged between six and twelve have been left stranded, after their plane was shot down. They are in the midst of an atomic war, and although Golding does not elaborate we perceive that much of the world has been destroyed and the children were in the process of being evacuated. With all adults on board dead, the children are at first over joyed at their new found freedom. It is on the beach that we first meet two of our main characters, Ralph and Piggy. Ralph, a tall boy who is "built like a boxer" and Piggy who is overweight, wears glasses and has asthma. The two boys then come across the conch which Piggy instructs Ralph to use and they call a meeting. This is where we meet the sullen dominant head choir boy, Jack Merridew who is described as being "ugly without silliness." Ralph is then elected chief much to Jack's disgust and under his guidance they all agree to keep the fire burning as a signal, and obey the sounds of the conch. Piggy and Ralph set about to build shelters while Jack and the choir boys are given the role of hunter's and also volunteer to watch the fire and act as a lookout.

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Everything contained in this part of the book is to do with childhood innocence and confined within law and rule. They still feel the constraints of society and the forbidden is still evident. Roger throws stones to miss Henry because he feels that round the innocent child "was the protection of parents and school and policeman and the law".

The second part takes on the first parts threats as reality. With the arrival of the dead airman brings change and fear to the boys. Watching the fire and maintaining the shelters becomes tedious and its is obvious that hunting is the real attraction. Because of this a ship passes and the signal fire is left to burn out. The group is slowly broken up by a superstitious terror known as the "beastie". Jack eventually goes off by himself in an act of tyranny and one by one the novel tells of how the boys desert Ralph and Piggy. Jack's tribe takes control and with their painted faces and strict disciplinarian ways Jack, driven by fear and superstition of the beast becomes increasingly tyrannical. Destruction is everywhere and its is now that the real beastie becomes clearer. It is not a beastie or a snake but mans own nature. Simons insight of this is in the end confined to himself and he pays the price for this insight with his own life when he is killed in a frenzy of tribal dance. SimonТs death highlights the true evil that has been created on the island and with the dead airmen symbol no longer needed it and Simons body is carried out to sea in a mystical high wind.

In the third part of the book the meaning and consequences of evil are explored and a moral anarchy is let loose by Simon's murder. Every rule, regulation and moralistic obligation is destroyed because no longer can anyone remember when things were other wise. Piggy and the conch are destroyed by Jack's sadistic accomplice Roger. And instructed by Jack and Roger the boys hunt Ralph down across the island with the intent to sacrifice him to the beast. The forest is set on fire and it is with some irony that if not for the smoke that engulfed the island then the cruiser and the Officer would not have arrived to ultimately save Ralph's life and restore order. The naval officer is amused by the children who needed "a bath, a hair cut, a nose wipe and a good deal of ointment." And in visions there time on the island as being "Fun and games" and a "Jolly good show. Like the Coral Island." It is with double irony that the naval officer rounds the children up and places them in another war, a war that is parallel to the children's society and one which there is no savior. With this Gloding finally restores our view to the "external scene" the picture of our world.

Lord of The Flies analyses the disintegration of a group and it is through symbolism that Golding exposes the desperate wickedness and callous evil in society and the "end of innocence and the darkness of mans heart." The story is evidently grim and not in the least optimistic. It is this consistent negative view of Golding's world that we become familiar with and why this novel is so different to Ballyntyne's Coral Island. Although Golding has acknowledged "a pretty big connection" between the two they are vastly different. The main characters in each book share the same names, Ralph and Jack. But Ballyntyne's castaways experience little difficulty adjusting to their new surroundings. While Coral Island does show evil, it comes in the form of the Pirates and natives. With the English school boys behaving "proper" throughout. Compare this to the corruption of Golding's English boys and what you get is two different tales of life on a shipwrecked Island. One where the badies and goodies are easily distinguished and one where the two merge and are evident in everyone including Ralph.

As Phillip Drew contemplated the broken order in Lord of the Flies Сoccurs because the qualities of intelligence, address, bravery, decency, organization and insight are divided among Piggy, Jack, Simon and Ralph." This leads us to conclude that each of the characters represent only one side of human personality and are an embodiment of conflicting personalities or instincts that exists inside every individual. It is through this isolation on the island in which Golding seeks to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the human personality.

At the time Golding wrote this novel he had experienced two world wars and Hitler's destruction of the Jewish race. Golding had seen first hand the evil in which man could carry out and it is because of these experiences that may have lead to Golding's pessimistic view of society and the human condition. Newsreels of that era show Adolf Hitler addressing sports stadiums full of frenzied supporters, all chanting in unison with their leader. These scenes can be compared to the assemblies of Jack Merridew, who we see whipping his tribe into a frenzy, all lifting their spears in unison and hanging on his every word. Both leaders appealed to their followers on an emotional level rather then rational, and like Hitler plays on his supporters fears of the unknown- the Jews- Jack plays on the fears of the unknown beastie. As one American reviewer put it "Golding's analogy of World War II is obvious." Ralph's indecision to take a stand against Jack parallels England's then lack of physical stance against Germany until it was to late. Ralph encounters this same problem. By the time Ralph eventually throws a few punches at Jack in a fit of temper the power is already totally in Jack's control.

Golding uses his characters to covey certain parts of society and with this microscope we see symbolism used to create a second meaning behind everything. Jack represents the savagery and anarchy of society, Roger is evidence of Satan and pure evil a character who is the parallel to Ralph's Piggy who instead maintains wisdom, intelligence and clear sightedness. Roger has no need for power enjoys being Jack's henchman and delights in savagery and evilness his climax being his brutal murder of Piggy. Ralph along with Piggy represent the struggle for democracy and order. Simon represents purity and contains no evil. Piggy's glasses represent the state of social order on the island.

Although Ralph is seen as an example of democracy and order he himself suffers in the end of the dehumanization of the others. He is not immune to the pressures of conflict from Jack. Through out the novel Ralph reveals traces of the irrational. After wounding a pig he admits "that hunting was good after all" and when a hunter comes to steal Piggy's glasses he lashes out with a "passionate hysteria". While fighting with Jack he must be reminded to why he is fighting, and in the final stage of Ralph's deterioration from man to animal, when being hunted by Jack and the tribe he attacks one of his hunters: "Ralph launched himself like a cat: stabbed, snarling with the spear, and the savage doubled up." Ralph's William Blake like transition from innocence to experience to eventual experienced innocence, at the arrival of the Naval officer proves that even in the noblest of humans evil will subsequently rise to the surface once the rules of civilization are depleted.

The theory of Blakes in which innocence turns to experience which end in experienced innocence is a theory that fits so well with Golding's English school boys. At the start they are excited school boys talking of "mummy" and "daddy", and choir boys who once sung like angels. They then turn into wild savages murdering each other and pigs in a mindless blood shed. But in the end of the novel at the arrival of the Naval officer the boys are reduced to exactly what they are, boys. Jack once the brutal sadistic leader is now nothing more then "a little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist" The spears are no longer spears and the tribe no longer triumphant in stead they are nothing more then a "semi circle of little boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands" It is this arrival of the outside world that gives the boys the right to once again cry and takes the great weight of responsibility off their shoulders.

Lord of the Flies gives the suggestion that evil is not unique to little boys standing in an abnormal situation but implicit in nearly every detail our our daily life in the civilized world as well. But as Phillip Drew questioned "if we were to take on Golding's view of society and the individual is man perfectible through the institutions of law ad religion, or is he damned because he is born evil?" But no matter what our conclusion may be Golding must be celebrated for raising the question and bringing the issue to our attention.

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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Short Essay on Tsunami

Here is a short essay on Tsunami and Earthquake... On Good Friday, March 1964, at 5:36 pm local time, the strain of the warping crust at the plate boundaries of the Pacific and North American plates under Northern Prince William Sound, Alaska, gave way to cause the second largest earthquake in recorded history. The earthquake was recorded as having a moment magnitude of 8.4, but later revised to the astonishing 9.2. The epicenter was located 20 – 30 kilometers below the surface of the earth, at latitude 61.04 N, and longitude 147.73 W near Prince William Sound. The rupture in the rocks and the ground deformation extended 800 kilometers, parallel to the Aleutian trench. Along the shoreline of southern Alaska was a belt of uplift up to 10 meters on the coast and 15 offshore, while inland there was subsidence. (The 1964 Alaskan Earthquake)

The 1964 Alaskan earthquake was caused by a thrust fault subduction zone that is occurring in southern Alaska and forming the Aleutian Island Arc. Running parallel to the volcanic island arcs is the Aleutian trench which marks the meeting of the two plates (Wood). This is where the Pacific plate is being thrust underneath the North American plate at a rate of 5 to 7 centimeters per year. The pressure and the bending of the rocks and the sudden release of energy by the sudden southeastward motion of portions of coastal Alaska as they move back over the subducting Pacific plate is what caused the Alaskan earthquake (Wood). Once the rocks met their elastic limit, the massive amounts of stored energy were released in the short 4 minute rupture time of the earthquake. However, the energy was continually released throughout the following months. On the first day, 11 more earthquakes were recorded as having a magnitude greater that 6 on the Richter scale. In the next three week 9 more were recorded. Smaller aftershocks continued on the remainder of the year (Wood). These aftershocks occurred in an area that was about 250 kilometers wide, and it extended 800 kilometers from Prince William Sound to the southwest end of Kodiak Island. (Sokolowski)

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The earthquake caused some amazing surface ruptures with vertical displacements ranging from 11.5 meters of uplift to 2.3 meters of subsidence (Earth). Ocean floors were uplifted to the point where they are now dry ground. Off the southwest end of Montague Island, the land had a vertical uplift of 15 meters. The earthquake caused the greatest vertical uplift ever recorded. Buildings were completely torn in half, topography was completely altered, and areas of Alaska were completely changed. A zone of subsidence covered about 285,000 square kilometers, including the north and west parts of Prince William Sound, the west part of the Chugach Mountains, most of Kenai Peninsula, and almost all the Kodiak Island group (Earth). The earthquake was also accompanied by vertical uplift over an area of 170,000-200,000 square miles. The major area of uplift trended northeast from southern Kodiak Island to Prince William Sound, and east-west to the east of the sound. (Earth)

The earthquake generated a maximum intensity of XI on the intensity scale. It was recorded as having an IX-X throughout most of the area. The maximum intensity of IX-X was felt over approximately 7,000,000 square miles of Alaska, and portions of western Yukon Territory and B.C., Canada. This was one of the most violent earthquakes ever recorded. Only the sparse population and time of occurrence when schools were closed, business areas were not crowded, and the tides were low prevented the death toll from surpassing 131. (1964 Earthquake)

The earthquake took 131 lives, 115 in Alaska, and 16 in Oregon and California. The tsunami created by the earthquake took 122 of the lives, whereas the earthquake itself, only took 9. The tsunami was the second largest ever recorded (Sokolowski). Significant damage from the earthquake was seen over 130,000 square kilometers. Liquefaction occurred over most of this area and it added to the damage reports and cost (Vallejo). As stated previously, the death toll was extremely small for a quake of this size, due to low population density, the time of day (holiday) and type of material used to construct many buildings (wood). The overall damage was reported as being between 300,000,000 and 400,000,000 dollars (1964 dollars) (1964 Earthquake).

With such an intensive earthquake, there were numerous landslides, avalanches, and reports of liquefaction. Liquefaction is where the ground shakes so much that it looses all of its density and its ability to support mass (Vallejo). The buildings and structures on top of these areas just sink into the ground and fall apart. The ground turns into a thin mud, almost liquid. The landslides and avalanches were created when the shaking loosened their hold on the surrounding ground. The result was massive amounts of rock, mud, and snow sliding down the mountains and hills. These were some of the most destructive aspects of the earthquake. Homes, schools, roads, sewer, and gas lines were all destroyed because of these landslides and avalanches (Barnhardt).

The tsunami that this earthquake created was recorded as being the second largest one in history. When a sudden vertical uplift occurred in the Alaskan seafloor, the result was the tsunami that took 122 lives. The tsunami traveled at a speed of around 500 miles per hour and was recorded as being as high as 220 feet. Pictures of splintered, leveled, trees that were between 88 and 101 feet above sea level, and 24 inches in diameter showed how powerful and deadly the tsunami was. The tsunami affected the entire world. Boats in harbors as far away as Louisiana were sunk due to seiches, a sort of sloshing of water back and forth in a small body of water like a boat harbor or swimming pool. Oscillations in the height of water in wells as far away as South Africa were also reported. (The 1964 Alaskan Earthquake)

A local tsunami was also reported when at least 5 local landslides hit the ocean. The tsunami, though much smaller than the one created by the vertical uplift of the sea floor, still caused damage throughout the region. This local tsunami is what caused the damage and spreading of oil, which was on fire and floating on the water, throughout the homes and buildings that were in the water and in the nearby area. (The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964)

The seismic waves that the earthquake created traveled around the world for several weeks. Because of their magnitude and intensity, the waves basically rang the whole earth like a bell (1964 Earthquake). States as far away as Texas and Florida reported vertical displacements from 5 to 10 centimeters in height. No substantial damage was reported from these waves, but it is necessary to note just how phenomenal of an act that this is (Moulton). The earthquake had the energy to ring the whole earth like a bell for several weeks. That energy was great enough to move the ground in areas thousands of miles away (Moulton). This was one of the most substantial and influential events the earth has ever seen.

Many things have been learned from the study of this earthquake. It has been found that the south central seismic zone that produced the 1964 quake extends as part of a system of interior faults. Alaska has a large number of these faults although not many are unidentifiable since they are often buried under sediment and sometimes do not reach the surface. Faults are also often obscured by rivers that erode their natural weakness in the earth's crust. The Tanana River is thought to hide a fault from near Delta Junction to Fairbanks, creating a highly seismic area. (Sokolowski)

If anything good can be said about this earthquake, it is that luckily this earthquake occurred in such a remote, unpopulated area. If this earthquake would have happened in San Francisco or Japan, the death toll would have been phenomenal. Complete destruction would have occurred, skyscrapers would have fallen, millions and millions of people would have been affected, deaths would be very high, and relief would be hard to get for such a large number of people. The cost of the damage could be in the tens of billions of dollars. The numerous aftershocks that were felt would be just an added danger for a populated area. With rescuers and relief efforts, the aftershocks would be very deadly. The magnitude of this earthquake in an area around the San Andreas Fault could have triggered other violent earthquakes from the same fault or nearby ones. Luckily, this earthquake happened in the remote area of Alaska.

In conclusion, the 1964 Alaskan Earthquake was one of the most phenomenal events the earth has ever seen. The amount of energy that was released could never be matched with any man made device. The earthquake devastated half of the earth, and affected the other half. One can only hope that another earthquake of this magnitude never happens again, but it is only a matter of time. Hopefully, the next one will also be in a remote area where losses would be minimal, and lives could be saved.

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Essay on The Giver by Lois Lowry

Summary

Eleven-year-old Jonas feels apprehensive about his upcoming Ceremony of Twelve, during which he will receive his Assignment, the job he will perform as an adult. After dinner, he and his family perform the evening ritual of sharing their feelings. Jonas' seven-year-old sister, Lily, confesses her anger at a group of Sevens visiting from another community who did not obey the play area rules. Her parents ask her how she felt when she visited a community with unfamiliar rules, and Lily confesses that she felt strange and stupid. Lily suddenly feels sorry for the visiting Sevens because they must have felt the same way in her community.

Jonas's father is a Nurturer, one of the adults who cares for new children, or infants, before they are assigned to family units in the community. One of the new children is not growing fast enough, and he does not sleep soundly through the night. Jonas's father is worried because the committee is considering releasing the new child. A new child's release is a sad event because the new child then will not have a chance to grow up within the community. Nurturers consider the release of a new child a failure on their part, so Jonas's father plans to care for the new child in their home at night in the hopes of furthering his development. He confesses that he broke the rules and looked up the under-developed new child's name: Gabriel. He thought that Gabriel would develop more quickly if he were called by his name.

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Release of the elderly is a happy event because it is a celebration of a long and fruitful life in the community. But release is also a punishment for those who disobey the community's rules. For example, a pilot broke the rules by flying his plane over the community when he got lost, and he was "released" from the community for his mistake. When Lily suggests that they might get to keep the new child, her mother reminds her that the rules allow each family unit to have only two children, one male and one female.

Jonas's mother, who works for the Department of Justice, confesses that she felt frustrated and angry today because she dealt with a second-time offender against the community's rules. She thought the offender had been punished adequately the first time. She is frightened for him because a third offense will result in the offender's release, which will bring shame and disgrace on his family.

When Jonas confesses his apprehension about the Ceremony of Twelve, his parents send Lily to bed so that they can speak privately with him. The December Ceremonies are supposed to be an exciting, happy occasion. The new children born that year undergo the Ceremony of One, at which time they are named, given to family units, and considered to be one year old. All children undergo a Ceremony every year up to the age of twelve. The Eights begin performing community service in preparation for their adult Assignments. The Nines receive their bicycles. Although it is against the rules to teach a child to ride a bicycle before the Ceremony of Nine, everyone breaks it. The committee has considered changing the rule, but changing any rule takes years of careful study and consideration. Changing important rules requires the advice of the Receiver, the highest-ranking Elder in the community.

Jonas' father assures him that the Committee of Elders takes great care in choosing Assignments. They watch every child carefully, noting what his or her interests and aptitudes are. Jonas' father was not surprised that his Assignment was Nurturing. When he was a child, he spent a great deal of his time with the new children. Very rarely is anyone disappointed with an Assignment. However, Jonas' parents warn him that after the Ceremony of Twelve, he will spend more time with his Assignment group than he will with his friends among the Elevens. Meanwhile, Lily returns to demand her comfort object, a stuffed elephant. Her parents warn her that she will have to give up the comfort object after the Ceremony of Eight.

Commentary
Jonas' community probably seems unusual and different. He lives in a world where fear is so uncommon that a plane flying unexpectedly over the community frightens Jonas badly. His community also seems to care a lot about polite courtesy. Whenever someone is rude, that person is required to apologize for his or her behavior. Moreover, everyone is required to accept the apology. An important theme in The Giver is how society deals with the conflicts between the individual and the larger community. Jonas' society makes every effort to avoid such conflict through institutionalized rules.

One means of reducing conflict in the community is an insistence on "precision of speech." In training citizens to be very clear about the meaning of their words, and by simultaneously training them to be polite, the community ensures that there will be little understanding. The idea of "precision of speech" also exposes a hypocritical underside to the community, however, such as in its use of euphemisms like the word "release." In substituting a vague, pleasant sounding word for a practice such as legally sanctified execution, the community demonstrates an actual inability to face accurate speech. The speech practices by the community may be "precise," but it is a limited precision, defined by the community.

Still, there are some benefits to the importance of "precision of speech" in Jonas's community. Jonas feels afraid because his Ceremony of Twelve will soon take place. When he analyzes his feelings in order to clearly define what he feels, he realizes that he isn't afraid but "apprehensive." Often, when someone cannot quite define what they feel, the inability to name one's feelings causes anxiety and fear. Jonas feels more in control once he can define his feeling about the Ceremony as "apprehension."

Similarly, there are benefits evident in the community's daily practice of sharing and analyzing feelings, which seems to minimize interpersonal conflict and avoid the possibility of lingering anger or aggression. As can be seen in the example of Lily, the ceremony allows Lily and others to deal with their anger in a constructive way. However, once again, there is a dark side to the seemingly positive sharing sessions. Just as the "precise speech" actually hid a deeper limiting of speech and thought, so do the sharing sessions push Lily and others into a particular mode of thinking. The sharing sessions are beneficial, but they are limiting, as well.

"Precise speech" and the sharing circle embody a deeper theme that is the focus of The Giver: whether the limitations imposed to gain stability and comfort are worth the reward they reap. For example, Jonas's community is highly regulated by a large number of rules. Individuals have few choices because the Committee of Elders makes most of their choices for them. The committee chooses what career a person will have when he or she reaches the age of twelve. They also, as becomes clear, decide who lives and dies. But the community is peaceful, stable, and comfortable. Jonas' voyage through the community constitutes an exploration of the theme of stability versus the costs gained to achieve that stability, and it is also an exploration of the reasons behind Jonas' ultimate decision that stability and comfort are not worth the price.

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Monday, May 17, 2010

George Washington Carver Essay

Essay on George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was born in Diamond Grove, Missouri during the spring of 1865. George W. Carer died on January 5, 1943. He was not sure when he was actually born because they did not keep accurate records during this time. His parents were slaves. When he was an infant his father was killed in an accident. Then shortly after George, his mother and sister were stolen and took to Arkansas by raiders. He lived his childhood during the Civil War period.

George Washington Carver was kidnapped when he was an infant. His mother and sister disappeared, but a bushwhacker brought him back to his owner in exchange for a race horse. Moses and Susan Carver raised George and his brother as their own children . George was cared for by Carver's wife and took the family name as his own. He performed various household tasks and at an early age showed an interest in plants. It was at Moses' farm were George fell in love with nature.

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George Washington Carver had many occupations in his life time. He was a former slave, educator, scientist, business person, service industry employee, agriculturist, medical worker, artist, author, lecturer, domestic, reformer, and performing artist. Carver became a member of the faculty of Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanics teaching classes about soil conservation and chemurgy, he was the first black faculty member for Iowa College. In 1897, Booker T. Washington convinced Carver to serve as the Director of Agriculture at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes.

George Washington Carver was mostly influenced by nature itself. He loved everything that had anything to do with nature . He fell in love with plants and all of nature during his childhood at Moses Carver's farm.

He began his formal education at the age of twelve, which required him to leave home. Schools were still segregated at this time, with no schools available for black students near Carver's home. He moved to Newton County in Southwest Missouri, where he worked as a farm hand and studied in a one-room school house. He went no to attend Minneapolis High School in Kansas. College entrance was a struggle, again because of racial barriers. At the age of thirty Carver gained acceptance at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he was the first black student. Carver had to study piano and art, the college did not offer science classes. Intent on a science career, he transferred to Iowa Agricultural College in 1891, where he gained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1894 and a Master of Science in bacterial botany and agriculture in 1897.

George Washington Carver lived in several different places. He moved from his home in Diamond Grove, Missouri to Newton County, Missouri to pursue his education. Then he moved to Minneapolis,Kansas to attend high school. Then he packed up again to and went to Indianola, Iowa. He later moved to Alabama to teach.

George Washington Carver contributed several things to society. Carver developed axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, cheese, chili sauce, cream, dyes, flour, ink, instant coffee, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, milk flakes, paper, rubbing oils, shampoo, shoe polish, shaving cream, sugar, talcum powder, wood stains, worcestershire sauce and several, several more things were developed by Carver.

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