Why There Would Be No People Without Plants Essay - 2

Why There Would Be No People Without Plants - Essay Example Since humans exhale carbon dioxide, plants use that to create oxygen that enables humans to live. This makes life possible for all living forms on earth. This paper will review the importance of plants, and how their existence orchestrates the existence of other life forms. Plants have the task of cleaning the air. This implies that they take up all the carbon dioxide that humans exhale, and turn it into oxygen. They are a primary source of energy. This is because some individuals somewhere in the world do not have electricity as a form of energy. They provide basic heat energy in the form of charcoal and wood. It is a known fact that, without this heat source, many lives would perish (Balick & Cox, 1997). Through plants, the soil pH and acidity is maintained. It is through the existence of shrubs and grasses that the top soil is stabilised and held in place. Through any form of erosion, soil would be rendered useless. The growth of anything on earth depends on how the soil tends to behave. Supporting life form on earth is based on the ability to grow and sustain food (Balick & Cox, 1997). This can only be possible if rich, top soil is maintained. Through plants, it is possible for human beings to get treatment for certain diseases. Some plant species aid in the excretion of chemicals that help combat diseases. Without some of these plants, it would be next to impossible for humans to exist for long (Chiras, 2011). Isolating plant proteins is responsible for this, and through technology; many scientific breakthroughs in medicine are made possible. These proteins are synthesised in plants. Through cellular respiration, the conversion of these nutrients into biochemical energy occurs. This further leads to the breakdown of large molecules into much smaller ones, thus releasing energy to the immediate environment. This occurs through aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Though they perform almost similar functions, the two operate under different conditions

Police Misconduct and Corruption Essay Example for Free

Police Misconduct and Corruption Essay Police and Society January 31, 2013 Police Misconduct and Corruption In the early 1990’s police brutality had become common; police officers abused their powers and became brutal when dealing with offenders and even non-offenders. One infamous example of such brutality occurred in 1992 in Los Angeles when a black man named Rodney King was violently beat by five officers for being â€Å"black. The five officers repeatedly struck King as a few other officers stood by not paying any attention to the situation near by. Two of the five officers were later acquitted which angered the black and Latino community around the world as did the videotape of the incident. This incident did however put more attention and awareness on the issue of police brutality. A few weeks after the King incident, a drug scandal in New York erupted into another police brutality incident. This prompted an investigation on police corruption by the Mollen Commission. The investigation found many occurrences of police abuses, including brutality, corruption, and perjury. A century before the Mollen Commission, in 1894 the Lexow Commission in New York discovered the same occurrences of police brutality. This shows that police corruption has been going on for many years and is continuing to happen now. Although the public less accepts police brutality now, it is believed that most police corruption is done â€Å"underground† or through legal loopholes. I have chosen to research Police Brutality because I find it outrageous that the people who swore to protect us cheat the law and use excessive force without reason. I am majoring in Sociology and Criminal Justice, so I am curious to learn about why officers feel the need to become brutal. Is it a lust of power? I’m interested in learning about the sociology of police brutality.

Women In A Midsummers Night Dream English Literature Essay

Women In A Midsummers Night Dream English Literature Essay Shakespeares female characters are represented across a variety of social classes. In this essay I will explore how Shakespeare portrays women in A Midsummer Nights Dream inclusive of several female characters in this play. This allows us to examine in depth, to a very limited extent, how they were treated in society and the stereotypical roles Elizabethan society imposed upon them. I will be examining specifically the characters and portrayal of Hippolyta, Helena and Hermia and how they defy the stereotypical notion of how women were treated by men. Firstly, the most obvious aspect regarding Shakespeares portrayal of women in this play is that the female gender is commodified. Throughout the play, women are treated like objects to be sold or traded. With reference to the background of the characters Theseus and Hippolyta, Greek mythology states that when Theseus, the Duke of Athens, sailed to the land of the Amazon, the Amazons offered Theseus gifts of peace. However, Theseus kidnapped Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazonians, and forcefully made her his wife.  [1]  This resulted in the war between the Athenians and the Amazons. Theseuss action of claiming Hippolyta as a prize and a wife might show that he treats them as objects rather than human beings.  [2]  This idea is reinforced when Theseus says Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, and won thy love doing thee injuries (I.i.16-17). This statement refers to how Theseus won the battle with the Amazons and in conquering the Amazons; he has conquered their queen, Hippol yta, both physically and emotionally. Hippolytas lines in this play are of relatively insignificant amount and value as compared to Theseuss. For example, in the first Act, Hippolyta only comforts Theseus by saying that Four days will quickly steep themselves in night; Four nights will quickly dream away the time (I.i.7-8) and they will have the marriage ceremony soon. In addition, Theseus appears to be making the decisions regarding everything, ranging from their marriage to Hermias marriage. This is significant as it shows that Hippolyta is subservient to Theseus as she has little say in these state events despite being seated next to Theseus. In addition, Hippolytas silence could possibly show how she is unhappy about being forced into a marriage with Theseus  [3]  as shown in the 1970s BBC production of A Midsummer Nights Dream. Hippolytas silence could also be seen as a rejection of male dominance.  [4]  However, it is also significant that Hippolyta gets is given more of a voice in the last scene after bein g married and this will be explored later. Another relationship that suggests the marginalizing of women is seen again between Egeus and Hermia. Egeus, Hermias father, has made up his mind to marry Hermia to Demetrius but Hermia refuses to do so. Egeus then brings up this complaint to Theseus, hoping Theseus is able to help him. In doing so, Egeus is shown to regard Hermia as a commodity. Egeus says that Hermia has turned her obedience, which is due to me (I.i.37) and that since she is mine, I may dispose of her (I.i.42). These 2 lines show Egeus treating Hermia as mere property  [5]  because he made her and hence Hermia ought to listen to her fathers instructions. This idea is also proven by some parents in the early 17th century such as Sir Edward Coke who whipped his daughter into marriage with a mentally unsound man.  [6]   Moreover, Theseus becomes the personification of the law in Athens as he tells Hermia to either to die the death, or to abjure for ever the society of men (I.i.65-66). According to the ancient privilege of Athens (I.i.41) a womans father has the right to decide who she should marry and she has no say in his decision. If the woman goes against the wishes of her father, she can either be put to death or to stay a virgin forever by becoming a nun. The number of different options given by both Theseus and Egeus only goes to support the fact that Renaissance women were constrained in the verbal medium and that silence was the virtue most stringently required from Renaissance women.  [7]   However, it is also through these three women that we see the female gender defying the societys treatment of women then. Hippolyta, Helena and Hermia go against the grain in their unique ways and show that despite the limitations and laws that society imposes upon them, they are able to assert themselves and show society that they have the potential to be as capable as men. Critics have said that Shakespeares portrayal of women in this manner could possibly be his own stand on how women should be treated equally as men but since he belongs to the Elizabethan era, it is still difficult to garner Shakespeares precise views on feminism and its issues solely based A Midsummer Nights Dream and even if we could, it is still problematic to judge his 16th 17th century mindset based on the definitions and criteria of twentieth century feminism.  [8]  In addition, Shakespeare is based in the Elizabethan era yet he writes about the lives and attitudes of the ancient Greeks. This suggests that interpreting Shakespeares mindset from his works is only reliable to a small extent. Hence, his representation of women only serves as an understanding to how he was unorthodox in the gender assumptions of his era. One extremely effective method of showing that women should assert having their opinions and rights recognized by men is to have the characters in A Midsummer Nights Dream either engage in a power struggle or a role reversal. The very first power struggle shown in the play exists between Egeus/Theseus and Hermia. In Act 1 Scene 1, Hermia openly defies Egeuss wishes for her to marry Demetrius instead of Lysander. Through Egeuss eyes, Hermia is seen to have a stubborn harshness (I.i.38) and she will not consent to marry with Demetrius (I.i.40). She defies Egeus despite knowing that ancient tradition grants the father power to marry his daughter off whoever he wishes to. Nonetheless, she even conspires with Lysander and agrees to his plan of leaving Athens to Lysanders widow aunt whose house is remote seven leagues (I.i. 159) and out of reach of the sharp Athenian law (I.i.162). While running away might seem like a nuanced and subtle form of defiance, it is still an affirmation of Hermi as rights and freedom as a woman to choose who she marries. In the same scene, she defies Theseus in both her tone and her language. For example, when Theseus tries to persuade Hermia to marry Demetrius by saying that Demetrius is a worthy gentleman (I.i.52) Hermia asserts, So is Lysander (I.i.53). In addition, when Theseus tells Hermia that she faces either a nunnery or death, she replies that My soul consents not to give sovereignty (I.i.82) and she would rather be a nun than having to marry Demetrius. In Hermias case, the act of women asserting themselves is almost unheard of as Shakespeare lived in a patriarchal culture in which authority and privilege is particularly invested in the hands of the patriarch of a family. This shows that women were subordinate to men.  [9]   The most obvious example of gender reversal is between Demetrius and Helena. In Act 2 Scene 1, Helena reminds the audience about this role reversal by saying, We cannot fight for love, as men may do; we should be wooed, and were not made to woo (II.i.241-242). This line refers to how, in this situation, Helena is playing the role of the male chasing after the female (Demetrius) through the woods and persuading Demetrius to love her. Although I acknowledge that Helena is forced to woo Demetrius due to her situation of unrequited love, it is not proper for a woman to behave in this manner in Ancient Greece. This role reversal between Helena and Demetrius suggests that in Ancient Greece, women were generalized as insensible and unable to make proper judgments and hence needed a male guardian.  [10]  By getting Helena to play the role of men, Shakespeare creates comic relief as the audience sees it as ridiculous and absurdly funny. In addition, some members of the audience may feel sympathetic for Helena instead. Inducing sympathy and challenging the audiences perception of women could have been Shakespeares intentions to promote equal treatment regardless of gender. Nonetheless, this seemingly comic situation still holds true to this day as we, to a small extent, still stereotype women as human beings to be wooed by men despite various organizations pushing for female equality. This may be due to our genetic makeup as human beings or cultural influences about women but we do not exactly know. The final instance of a power struggle between the genders occurs between Theseus and Hippolyta. In Act 5 Scene 1, Hippolyta voices out that she disagrees with Theseus on the events that happened to the lovers the previous night. While Theseus says that he may never believe these antique fables (V.i.2-3), Hippolyta disagrees and says that it must have been true because all their minds transfigured together (V.i.24) and it was more witnesseth than fancys images (V.i.25). Hippolytas verbal answer can be seen in two ways. Firstly, Michael Boyd, a stage director implied that Hippolyta has accepted Theseus as she gives her husband a kiss. This suggests that Hippolyta is simply discussing the whole issue about the lovers with Theseus. The darker way of looking at this is that Hippolyta is involved in struggles for power in a patriarchal society.  [11]  In doing so, Hippolyta empowers the female gender by going against how women were supposed to be submissive and agreeable to their husb ands. In conclusion, I hope this essay demonstrates Shakespeares several conscious and subconscious feminist intentions, through A Midsummer Nights Dream, in his portrayal of women as opposition to the supposed virtues of marriage.  [12]  More importantly, this paper would have suggested that A Midsummer Nights Dream may be interpreted to imply Shakespeare being a proto-feminist who understood and sympathized women who were treated unfairly.

Modernization of Health Practices in East Central :: essays research papers

The colonization of the western world brought on many changes for the indigenous people of Africa in every way of life. The Christian missionaries accomplished much more than just introducing their religion. They also exposed and converted Africans to western values and social beliefs. Health care practices were one of the things greatly influenced by the colonization. In my paper, I am focusing on the practices of the east central region of Africa, including the regions of Nigeria and (???). This region has common Bantu-speaking ancestors and commonalties among medicines and practices. The impact of the western world is easily recognizable because of the radical differences in thought between the Europeans and the Africans. At the time of colonization, European health care centered around science and reason. Most Africans, on the other hand, believed in more abstract, spiritual explanations for disease and illness. Religious practitioners had a big part in the healing process. The infiltration of western ideas sparked obvious changes and many times produced a combination of traditional healing along with western ideas. There were changes in health care practices even before the time of colonization and I will also give a brief history of this change to emphasize the fact that religion and practices are never stagnant. Brief history of people in East Central region African healing practices traditionally have strong ties with religion. They place an emphasis on holistic healing and believe in a mind-body connection. Divination is one technique that is often used to find the cause of a particular illness. "Since all human problems such as infertility, illness, and trouble in hunting, are ascribed to moral conflicts within the human community, the diviner's task is to disclose acts of immorality which have provoked the vengeance of the ancestors, and to reveal the destructive hand of witches and sorcerers." (Ray, 104). A diviner searches a person's past to find something that may be ascribed to the works of an outside source. They want to find the source of the problem before simply treating the symptoms. They also believe that once the source is found, a ceremony can be performed that may lead to the reversal of its effect. There is a strong belief that the cause of illness is in the mind, so when the treatment is foscused there, improvement in physical ailments may be seen. "Because illness and death are seen to be rooted in immoral acts, the diviner's role

The Halo Effect

Have you ever seen a CEO of a huge cooperation walking in to a business meeting in shorts and sneakers? Probably not. Throughout many industries of the world certain job positions come with a specific look. Which means the person that holds one of these positions is expected to dress and appear in a certain way. People’s perceptions of others can be greatly affected by the halo effect and the bias of attractive people as demonstrated by the article â€Å"Physical Attractiveness Bias In Hiring: What is beautiful good† by Comila Shahani-Denning and the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. The halo effect in basic terms is attributing many positive qualities because of one or few good qualities notice in the person. such as a thin, attractive women may be perceived by other to be neat, well organized, and nice. Even though she doesn’t actually show any evidence of any of those qualities. In the film The Devil Wears Prada, The Runway magazine publishing company has set a high standard of presentation for its employees. All of it’s employee basically fit the same description, size 2, attractive and wearing the latest fashion. Then a average looking young women named Andy walks in wearing an outfit that looked like she stole it from her great grandmother closet to apply to be the assistant’s assistant to the head of the company, the assistant Emily begin judging her the second she enters the office. She obviously doesn’t fit in and is quickly overlooked for the position by the assistant. This is closely related to the idea’s in Comila Shahani-Denning article of beauty is good. The beauty is good theory states that attractiveness has a significant impact on a person being hired, so the more attractive candidate has a better chance in being hired then the less attractive person. Which can be seen as a type of discrimination because you it’s a non-work related factor. Attribution also plays a huge role in this situation. Attribution is the way we find meaning to other peoples actions. There are two different types of attribution, negative attribution and positive both of which can come from two different sources, an internal or external motive. By Andy not dressing the part she’s sending a message to other that she just doesn’t care. This is an example of an internal attribution. The fact that it’s a fashion magazine and she seems to know little or nothing about it doesn’t really help her. On the other hand when the main reason the company head Miranda hires her is because she wasn’t like the rest who didn’t work out. One factor of this film that I found very interesting was the way Miranda was portrayed. Majority of the film, she shown as this cold hearted monster everyone fears. Andy’s perception of her is very negative and this is an example of the reverse halo affect. The reverse halo affect is taking one negative quality and attributing many more without any obvious indications. Just by seeing how strict Miranda is at work, andy make her seem like she has no care or compassion for anyone else but a good thing they did in the film was show her vulnerable side when she was getting divorce from her husband. She let her feeling show demonstrating she’s not the heartless beast they portray her as. As human being we all try to find meaning and reasoning to everything. That what set us apart from other animal, the need to know why. But what happens when our judgments of other are based on assumptions rather than facts. We begin to form false views of people and even form stereotypes of people. One stereotype I’ve heard many times is that overweight people are unorganized and just messy. Which is hard for me to understand what one has to do with the other, I’m nowhere near the 121 lbs I’m supposed to be for my age and height but that doesn’t mean I’m a slob, it just means I like food. How shallow have we become that we judge people based on physical characteristics. In addition to the beauty is good theory, Comila Shahani-Denning also explore the far less common beauty is beast theory. Beauty is beast theory basically states that attractive females are considered to feminine for a traditionally male role and are less likely to be hired then a less attractive female. I have seen this my entire life, my mother has always been the only female at most her jobs, not because she unattractive but because she normally wears very loose fitting clothes and never wears make-up so she give off a rougher look then a women who wears , making her seem suitable for more masculine positions. The Comila Shahani-Denning article also shows a study between an individualist culture the United States and an collectivist culture India in order to see if the trend is similar throughout different cultures. The students were required to look at an application with a photo attached for a job position. The result were similar in both situations, but this may be due to the fact the students were only shown one application when in real life a employer would have a variety of different applicants. So now there working on fixing this flaw in the study and retest the hypothesis. I believe that when the study is repeated we will see a greater bias in hiring in an individualist culture do to the fact that the employee of a given company are representative of the company and many people fall for the beauty is good theory. The better the people look the better the company seems. For example if I visit two bakeries, one in which there are overweight women wearing street clothes and another with a thin attractive women wearing a proper uniform. I’m more likely to rate the bakery with uniform to be better regardless of the taste of the food. So in a way this also relates to the halo effect, I seen one positive quality and attributed it to be all around better. As we’ve seen the halo effect and attribution are very closely related. The qualities which we notice in a person can let develop many other ideas about a person, which can make assumptions which can lead us into making wrong decisions based on these assumption for example dating a person just because of their physical attraction, you may find yourself dating a complete airhead or psycho. My point is when you assume you make an a$$ of yourself.

Importance of Educational Essay for Students

The LA Times recently ran an article on the decline of field trips in schools, especially since the establishment of No Child Left Behind. Under scrutiny and being analyzed for revision, the No Child Left Behind act has been accused of forcing teachers to focus on preparation for standardized tests at the expense of the overall learning experience. In essence, they will be so busy teaching the children to memorize facts that they will fail to teach them to learn. The article in the Times, written by Seema Mehta, suggests that funding for field trips has declined due to the focus on standardized learning. The teachers featured in the article worry that the educational experience suffers with the decline in field trips.According to the article, there are groups who have recognized the decline and, believing field trips to still be a valuable component to a child's education, have found ways around the problem. Museums have tailored and enhanced their exhibits to comply so well with the standardized requirements that administrators are more willing to include the trips into their schedules. Target was also moved to action, creating a grant program for educators for the purpose of field trips.Perhaps the first and best intervention for this dilemma will be for parents and educators to continue to champion the value of extra-classroom experience for a child's learning environment. If field trips continue to decline in the elementary levels, perhaps educational tours at the secondary and college level will gain momentum. My first trip out of the country was to Colombia, South America, one year after graduating from high school. Possibly the most reluctant student on the journey, I believe now I had the most to learn. That trip awakened me to life in a way I had never imagined. The unfamiliar sights and sounds stirred my senses