Uncle Toms Cabin Essay example -- Uncle Toms Cabin Essays

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born June 14, 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was the daughter of a Calvinist minister and she and her family was all devout Christians, her father being a preacher and her siblings following. Her Christian attitude much reflected her attitude towards slavery. She was for abolishing it, because it was, to her, a very unchristian and cruel institution. Her novel, therefore, focused on the ghastly points of slavery, including the whippings, beatings, and forced sexual encounters brought upon slaves by their masters. She wrote the book to be a force against slavery, and was joining in with the feelings of many other women of her time, whom all became more outspoken and influential in reform movements, including temperance and women's suffrage. The main point of Harriet Beecher Stowe in the writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin was to bring to light slavery to people in the north. In this she hoped to eventually sway people against slavery. The novel Uncle Tom's Cabin focuses on the lives of two slaves, who both start under the ownership of a Mr. Shelby, who is known as a man who treats his slaves well. Mr. Shelby, however, was indebted to a man of the name Haley, who is a slave-trader. In return for the debt owed to him, Haley wants two slaves one being the son of a beautiful mulatto woman named Eliza, and the other the devout Christian Tom, who is called Father Tom because of his sermons. Eliza is also a Christian, as are the rest of the slaves on Shelby's farm. Eliza loves her son dearly and rather than lose him to the slave-trader she takes him and heads to Canada, where she can be free. Haley follows but can't catch her before she goes from Kentucky, the state of the Shelby Farm, to Ohio. Haley then sends slave-catchers after her. He also goes back to the farm, and brings Tom on a steamboat to the South, a place where slaves are known to die, but Tom meets and makes a great impression on a little girl, Evangeline S t. Clare, or Eva as she is called, and she persuades her father, Augustine St. Clare to purchase Tom. Augustine is a man against slavery, but too intelligent and idle to openly oppose it, instead choosing to let his slaves run freely and do whatsoever they please, within reason. Tom is bought as a man who works at the stable, and is the private driver of Marie St. Clare. Marie was a conceited woman who is too busy worrying... ...s towards going against society, seen in St. Clare. She made the slaves more human and the slaveholders appear to be morally wrong, but not by always using morally correct slaves and masters without morals. For example, Stowe creates a character, Adolf, the overseer of sorts for St. Clare. Adolf is a slave who is not morally correct he steals from St. Clare often, yet he appears more human for doing so. The slaves or human but not divine, as are the masters, creating a sense of equality, which Stowe wanted to put across. She wrote the book well, choosing where it was best to put which idea, and making many allusions to historical events around the time, which made her book more popular to the people of her time by involving other things they knew of into the story. Overall, Uncle Tom's Cabin was well written, organized, and historically accurate. Harriet Beecher Stowe used her knowledge of the past to write a clear argument for the abolition of slavery, by creating an interesting enough book to get her ideas to the common people. Her book was influential because it not only told her ideas, but because it states her ideas understandably, something not all writers are able to do.

Country Lovers Essay

The farm children play together when they are small; but once the white children go away to school they soon don’t play together any more, even in the holidays. Although most of the black children get some sort of schooling, they drop every year farther behind the grades passed by the white children; the childish vocabulary, the child’s exploration of the adventurous possibilities of dam, koppies, mealie lands and veld—there comes a time when the white children have surpassed these with the vocabulary of boarding-school and the possibilities of interschool sports matches and the kind of adventures seen at the cinema. This usefully coincides with the age of twelve or thirteen; so that by the time early adolescence is reached, the black children are making, along with the bodily changes common to all, an easy transition to adult forms of address, beginning to call their old playmates missus and baasie—little master. The trouble was Paulus Eysendyck did not s eem to realize that Thebedi was now simply one of the crowd of farm children down at the kraal, recognizable in his sisters’ old clothes. The first Christmas holidays after he had gone to boardingschool he brought home for Thebedi a painted box he had made in his wood-work class. He had to give it to her secretly because he had nothing for the other children at the kraal. And she gave him, before he went back to school, a bracelet she had made of thin brass wire and the grey-and-white beans of the castor-oil crop his father cultivated. (When they used to play together, she was the one who had taught Paulus how to make clay oxen for their toy spans.) There was a craze, even in the platteland towns like the one where he was at school, for boys to wear elephant-hair and other bracelets beside their watch-straps; his was admired, friends asked him to get similar ones for them. He said the natives made them on his father’s farm and he would try. When he was fifteen, six feet tall, and tramping round at school dances with the girls from the ‘sister’ school in the same town; when he had learnt how to tease and flirt and fondle quite intimately these girls who were the daughters of prosperous farmers like his father; when he had even met one who, at a wedding he had attended with his parents on a nearby farm, had let him do with her in a locked storeroom what people did when they made love—when he was as far from his childhood as all this, he still brought home from a shop in town a red plastic belt and gilt hoop ear-rings for the black girl, Thebedi. She told her father the missus had given these to her as a reward for some work she had done—it was true she sometimes was called to help out in the farmhouse. She told the girls in the kraal that she had a sweetheart nobody knew about, far away, away on another farm, and they giggled, and teased, and admired her. There was a boy in the kraal called Njabulo who said he wished he could have bought her a belt and ear-rings. When the farmer’s son was home for the holidays she wandered far from the kraal and her companions. He went for walks alone. They had not arranged this; it was an urge each followed independently. He knew it was she, from a long way off. She knew that his dog would not bark at her. Down at the dried-up river-bed where five or six years ago the children had caught a leguaan one great day—a creature that combined ideally the size and ferocious aspect of the crocodile with the n an interview published in Women Writers Talk (1989), edited by Olga Kenyan, Nadine Gordimer had this to say about the political evolution of South Africa: [TJhere are some extraordinary black and white people who are prepared to take a Pascalian wager on the fact that there is a way, that there must be a way. It goes be’ yond polarisation, it cannot happen while the situation is what it is. It can only be after the power structure has changed. But the fact is that if whites want to go on living in South Africa, they have to change. It’s not a matter of just letting blacks in— white life is already dead, over. The big question is, given the kind of conditioning we’ve had for 300 years, is it possible to strike that down and make a common culture with the blacks? Since 1953, when she published her first novel, The Lying Days, Nadine Gordimer has been aligned with the liberal white consciousness of South Africa. She was born in the Transvaal in 1923. Her father was a shopkeeper, her mother a housewife. A childhood illness kept Gordimer out of school until she was 14, by which time she was already an avid reader. By 15 she had published her first short story. It was not until she was somewhat older that she became aware of the South African political situation, and it was not until she was 30 that her first novel was published. Beginning with A World of Strangers (1958), Gordimer’s novels focus directly on the South African racial situation. The most famous of these works include A Guest of Honor (1970), The Conservationist (1974), Burger’s Daughter (1979), July’s People (1981), A Sport of Nature (1987), My Son’s Story (1990), None to Accompany Me (1994), and The House Gun (1998). Gordimer has also published 10 volumes of short stories, as well as several volumes o/non/iction. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1991. Asked by Olga Kenyan what it means to be a white South African, Gordimer responded as follows: You have to shout that you support change. In my case that you support a complete revolution, if possible a peaceful one. I use revolution in a broad sense, a complete change of the whole political organisation, from grass roots. It’s not enough for a white to say â€Å"Right, I’ll be prepared to live under black majority rule,† and sit back, waiting for it to come. Yow.also have to work positively, in whatever way you can, as a human being.

Paleontology and The Evolutionary Theory

Paleontology and The Evolutionary Theory Introduction Paleontology is a wide field of study that is filled with a long and fascinating past and â€Å"an even more intriguing and hopeful future† (UCMP, n.d, p.1). A large number of people think that this field involves just the study of fossils but it is much more than this. According to UCMP (n.d), paleontology is defined as â€Å"the study of what fossils tell us about the ecologies of the past, about evolution, and about our place in the world† (UCMP, n.d, p.1).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Paleontology and The Evolutionary Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This field of study takes in knowledge from other fields such as anthropology, biology, and computer science as well among others, in order to have the understanding of the processes which have contributed to the coming about and ultimate destruction of the various kinds of living organisms, beginning from the time life s tarted. The field of paleontology is traditionally broken down into a number of sub-disciplines and these include; palynology, vertebrate paleontology, invertebrate paleontology, micropaleontology, paleobotany, human paleontology, paleocology, taphonomy, and ichnology (UCMP, n.d, p.1). In this paper, the discipline of paleontology is going to be explored and the main concern will be on looking at paleontology and how it relates to the Darwin’s evolutionary theory. In the discussion, the background information on the fossil record is going to be given and this will be followed by the main discussion on paleontology and the evolutionary theory. The conclusion section will give a summary of the discussion. Fossil Record Before embarking on the main discussion, we need to consider what the fossil record is because the discussion is going to be based on this to some extent. The fossil record is defined as â€Å"the collective accumulation of artefacts which have been fossilized a ll over the world† (Fossil record, 2003, p.1). When looked at as a whole, there can be offering of very interesting information by the fossil record concerning how life evolved on earth. The scientists can make a decision to engage in studying the fossil record in its entirety or may chose to go to a specific period, in an effort to get information about the earth’s history and the living organisms that dwelt on it (Fossil record, 2003). A large number of fossils, amounting to millions, which are found in rocks, exhibit forms of evolution through time and also exhibit a large number of transitions that take place in species. In the year 1831, Charles Darwin commenced on assembling a huge bulk of evidence and in turn engaged in assessing and analysing it for over one and a half decades before keenly deducing a fresh rule of â€Å"descent of organisms with no modification† (Calabro, 2000, p.1).Advertising Looking for research paper on archeology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The fossil record is clear on the evolution of life beginning from simple forms of life to complex forms ones. The fossil record has been seen as having been very important in the development of the evolutionary theory by Darwin. However, it was pointed out that the fossil record was incomplete and Darwin criticized it for the weaknesses associated with it (Calabro, 2000). Paleontology and the Evolutionary Theory According to Sepkoski (2008), there exists a direct relationship between the health of a scientific discipline and the quality of its data sources. The discipline of paleontology â€Å"has a rich source of data in the fossil record†(Sepkoski, 2008, p.27). However, there has been contradictions in opinions in the course of time in regard to the completeness of the fossil record and the sufficiency it has for making conclusions on the evolutionary trends and patterns (Sepkoski, 2008). In t he more recent times, experts in the field of paleontology have had enthusiasm about the fossil record quality and there has been optimism about its approximations and the completeness it has (Benton, 2003; Jablonski et al., 2003, Foote Sepkoski, 1999). However, In the course of the last one century or even more, after Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ publication, there was strict hindering of the capability of paleontologists to take part fully in the discussions concerning the evolutionary theory by perceptions that, â€Å"the fossil record was not a complete or reliable source of data† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.27). While paleontology developed its professional distinctiveness in the course of the 1900s, the critical task for the experts in this field was to set up the sufficiency of the data they had to give answers to questions raised about the authenticity of the contributions made by paleontology to the evolutionary theory. This program involved carrying out determination of the appropriate connection between paleontology and the biology and geology fields, which are its very intimately related sister disciplines. It is pointed out that, in the absence of this backing on behalf of its data, â€Å"paleontology might never have claimed a place at the ‘high table’ of evolutionary biology, and the modern discipline of paleobiology might never have existed† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.27). During the start of the 1800s, at a time paleontology methodology and discipline orientation were coming up, the current fields of science as we now know them were not there. In the year 1859, such a term as ‘biology’ was at that time still a relatively new innovation and even Charles Darwin himself did not utilize it in any of his editions of â€Å"Origin of Species† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.27). At that time, the term ‘paleontology’ was in general use.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample o n Paleontology and The Evolutionary Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the scientists, Charles Lyell, during that period gave a definition of this term as â€Å"’the science which treats fossil remains; both animal and vegetable’ .but it would have been quite unusual for a scientist to identify solely as ‘paleontologist’ or even ‘a geologist† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.28). Hence, the paleontology professional position, especially when compared with the biology field, is a debatable issue in the course of the time those fields had turned out to be generally recognized as independent fields. However, it is pointed out that the geological as well as paleontological evidence were of great significance to Charles Darwin in setting up the evolutionary theory (Sepkoski, 2008). This was mainly for the reason that the fossil record historical evidence made it possible for him to present arguments for chron ological evolutionary succession. In the initial edition of the Origin and those that followed, Darwin engaged in the extensive discussions about the importance of fossil succession, and it is not to overstate by pointing out that paleontology was a backbone of the argument he presented for evolution. However, it is pointed out that Charles Darwin’s conservative evaluation of the fossil record completeness hindered the capacity of the paleontologists that came thereafter to totally engage in joining in the development of the evolutionary biology community (Sepkoski, 2008,). Among the greatest fears was the idea that â€Å"the ‘incompleteness’ of the fossil record would be used to criticize his theory† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.28). The dilemma that Darwin faced, then, was that he was concurrently needed and faced embarrassment caused by the paleontological evidence found in the fossil record. As on one hand Darwin almost surely had no intentions of diminishing th e status of paleontology, on the other hand, the diagnosis he undertook of the limitations which the fossil record had, had precisely that effect for almost a century after the Origin publication. Darwin wrote about the weaknesses in the fossil record. Whilst he presented the case that the fossil data were essential for a clear understanding of the organic history, he pointed out that â€Å"the absence of transitional forms between species is an inherent and insoluble problem for paleontologists and geologists† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.28). However, it is pointed out that the theory presented by Darwin of evolution brought in a revolution in paleontology for the reason that the fossil record turned out to be the only possible source of evidence that evolution had actually taken place. In the absence of evolution, paleontology just â€Å"made interesting, descriptive observations about the form and distribution of once living creatures; without paleontology, there is no concrete ev idence that evolution happened† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.29).Advertising Looking for research paper on archeology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More But paleontology, on its own, could not independently contribute towards the theory of evolution because this theory relied on evidence which came from such fields as geology, biology and heredity among other fields in order to bring meaning to the paleontological data (Sepkoski, 2008). This means that, in the absence of the theory of evolution to paleontology, this field of study (paleontology) could not find a solution to issues concerning the organic nature history; it called for the Darwin’s theory of evolution to carry out the contextualization of the contributions it had made while excusing its shortcomings. Darwin had relatively pointed out that paleontology had already offered all it was possibly to give to having understanding of evolution. Therefore, for those who supported Darwin, there existed no immense necessity to examine the fossil record. In actual fact, those who supported Darwin were much more likely to have a wish to engage in pushing â€Å"paleontology i nto the background† (Sepkoski, 2008, p.29). For instance, Colman (1971) presents an argument that â€Å"to the biologist that fossil record posed more problems than it resolvedthe incompleteness of the recovered fossil record, in which a relatively full historical record for any major group was still lacking, was the very curse of transmutationist† (p.66). Hunt (2010), also citing the weakness in the fossil record as diagnosed by Darwin, points out that; in responding to the lack of â€Å"absence of species-levels transformation† within the fossil records, Darwin presented an argument that that â€Å"the fossil record was too incomplete, too biased, and too poorly known to provide strong evidence against his theory† (Hunt, 2010, p.61). Hunt (2010), in his research, carried out the evaluation of this view of the fossil record in light of a period of one and a half century of the paleontological research that followed. He points out that even if the assessme nt carried out by Darwin of the â€Å"completeness and resolution of fossiliferous rocks was in several ways astute† Hunt (2010, p.61), in the current day, there is much better exploration of the fossil record and there is also better documentation and understanding of this record than the way it was way back in the year 1859 (Hunt, 2010). More specifically, a logical big set of studies which seek to trace â€Å"evolutionary trajectories within species can now be brought to bear on Darwin’s expectation of gradual change driven by natural selection†(Hunt, 2010, p.61). Conclusion As it has been looked at in the discussion above, it can be concluded that, paleontology is a very wide discipline and has been there for a long time. This discipline has played a very important role in the evolutionary theory, which was set up by Charles Darwin. The fossil record enabled Charles Darwin to develop this theory. But over time, different views have come up concerning the com pleteness of the fossil record and its satisfactoriness for drawing conclusions on the evolutionary trends and patterns. For instance, Darwin’s conservative assessment of the completeness of the fossil record hindered the capability of the successive paleontologists to entirely engage in joining in the development of the evolutionary biology community. However, it is important to note that Darwin’s evolutionary theory caused a revolution in the field of paleontology and this was because the fossil record turned out to be the only available source of evidence that indicated that evolution had actually occurred. Yet paleontology, standing alone as an independent field, could not contribute to the theory of evolution and this is for the reason that this theory relied on evidence that was obtained from other fields which include the biology, geology and heredity fields or disciplines among others in order to make the paleontological data to turn out to be of significance. References Benton, M. J. (2003). The quality of the fossil record. London, England: Taylor Francis. Calabro, T. (2000). The fossil record and evolution. Retrieved from https://carnegiemuseums.org/ Coleman, W. (1971). Biology in the Nineteenth Century: Problems of Form, Function, and Transformation. New York, NY: Wiley. Foote, M. J. Sepkoski, J. (1999). Absolute measures of the completeness of the fossil record. Nature, 398(6726), 415-417 Fossil record (2003) Retrieved from https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-fossil-record.htm Hunt, G. (2010). Evolution in fossil lineages: Paleontology and the origin of species. The American Naturalist, 176 (1), 61 – 76. Jablonski, D. R. Kaustuv, J. W. Valentine, R. M. Price, Anderson, P.S. (2003). The impact of the pull of the recent on the history of marine diversity. Science, 300(5622),1133-1135. Sepkoski, D. (2008). Evolutionary paleontology and the fossil record: A historical introduction. Wilmington, NC: University of North Carolina Press. UCMP. (n.d). What is paleontology?. Retrieved from https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/paleowhat.html

Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem In his book Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem tells the story of two boys Mingus Rude who is black and Dylan Ebdus who is white. These two boys are friends, but the difference in their races makes their friendship quite hard.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The two live in a Brooklyn neighborhood where most of the inhabitants are exclusively black. In this novel, Lethem tells the story of America in the 1970s when a lot was happening concerning racial issues. The reader can also relate this novel to the 1990s when no one seemed to care about the other person. Fortress of Solitude is the story of racial tension and this paper will focus on analyzing this theme and how this book relates to the American Dream. This novel concentrates on issues of race, gentrification, music and culture. However, the theme of racial tension dominates the b ook especially with the story being centered on two friends who have racial differences. Although Dylan is white and his friend Rude is black, both boys share similar tastes in music and comic books. Dylan is a white kid living in the midst of a black community in Brooklyn and just like the other children in the neighborhood he attends the public schools. Dylan’s childhood is demonstrated as one filled with â€Å"public embarrassment, yoking, and bullying† (Lethem 3).It is clear that there exists a racial tension between the society, Rude and Dylan and as a result their relationship has to be kept a secret. Dylan’s experiences while growing up gives a clear picture of racial tension; he and his parents Abraham and Rachael belong to the â€Å"self styled gentrification project† that is led by a white woman named Isabel Vendle. According to Lethem gentrification means â€Å"uncool† therefore this project demonstrates blacks as â€Å"uncool† (1 2). The intention of Isabel to start the project was to change Gowanus into Boerum Hill by having the brownstones â€Å"figuratively bleached of their colors, and the Puerto Rican and black populations yielding to richer whites† (Lethem 13).Advertising Looking for book review on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Dylan was impressed by the gentrification project and this is evidenced through his refusal to play with a black girl simply because she is of a different race which is said to be uncool. The girls’ description in the first few lines of the novel indicates racial tension; â€Å"the two white girls in red vinyl roller skates with white laces on a cracked blue slate sidewalk looking like a match struck in a darkened room† (Lethem 3). This description casts a picture of contrast between light and dark in the terms of race. Dylan’s friendship with Mingus Rude can be viewed has a pole which he uses to triangulate his own racial identity. With the fact that he is a white boy living in the middle of a black neighborhood whose amusements include muggings and bullying, his friendship to Rude is a gift to him from the heavens. In such a neighborhood and the fact that he is white, Dylan needs a lot of protection from the blacks; this can only be achieved through befriending Rude who is black. As a matter of fact, Mingus Rude is a good friend as well as a role model to Dylan. Dylan depends on Rude for protection and his entrance to power structure of Dean Street. As their friendship progresses, the two boys get attracted to each other romantically. The tension in racial relations here can be thought as the relationship that is expected to exist between a white and a black; a relationship of master-servant. Racial tension is seen where Dylan befriends another white boy Arthur Lomb so as to get through the school years normally. The difference comes in w here both white boys take different approaches towards life. Dylan decides to go to a white and elite high school while Arthur chooses to hang out with black kids. Arthur befriends Mingus Rude and Robert Woolfolk who become his role models teaching him â€Å"niggerfication.† Dylan believes that, the contrast found between being black or white does matter even where it is expected not to. About the Chinese children, Dylan says that â€Å"the Chinese children in school weren’t white and they weren’t so that was a plus† (Lethem 32).Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He continues to say â€Å"anyway it wasn’t their fault they were Chinese† (Lethem 32). It was not Dylan’s fault as well; his cultural inheritance of being white gave him class and racial dislocation. For this reason, Dylan emulates t he black culture by listening to black music, keeping an â€Å"afro† and having a black girlfriend (Lethem 56). In this case, Dylan seems to deny his race thus causing more racial relationship tensions between the black and the white community. The opposing irony of Dylan being white seems to torment him most of the times. His life as a â€Å"white boy† is met by endless humiliations (Lethem 56). All the same, his â€Å"whiteness† also affords him an opportunity to leave the oppressive black neighborhood to a richer and famous one in Vermont. Racial tension is seen where even with white children surround him, Dylan does not actually fit in. when Dylan attends the college party, he says â€Å"that easy appropriation of dance-floor funk was a first taste, for me, of something I desperately wanted to understand: the suburban obliviousness of these white children to the intricate boundaries of race and music which were my inheritance and obsession. Nobody here care d it was only a danceable song† (Lethem 59). This quote illustrates the racial tensions which may exist between people of the same race. Although racial relations are the main theme of this book the characters play roles that seem to be predetermined. All blacks in the novel are sentimentalized despite their varied occupations; whether a mugger or a musician, if the person is black, he o she is sentimentalized. As a racial experiment, Dylan fails when he decides to adorn â€Å"black leather jackets and white boy rock† to be a part of the Stately Wayne Manor band. Discrimination against the black community is evident where Rude is left to be â€Å"a prisoner of the streets† (Lethem 66). At this point, the reader can tell that there exists a racial tension between Dylan and Rude; Dylan exclaims â€Å"hey, it’s not racist to find blacks earnest as hippies, broad, and embarrassing as a comic book these boys are punks and punks sneer that’s what they do deal with it† (Lethem 66).Advertising Looking for book review on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The American dream promises success and prosperity for any citizen of the US despite their racial background. On the other hand, the American Dream suggests that for people to succeed, they must work hard. In the novel Fortress of Solitude, the American Dream of equal rights for every one is found to fail. There is rampant racial discrimination in the Brooklyn neighborhood which makes it hard for the minority to live the American Dream. It is stated in the American dream that â€Å"all men are created equal† but in Dylan’s society there are people who are â€Å"more equal than others.† In conclusion, Fortress of Solitude is a book that explains tensions that exist between people of different races especially the black and the white community. The author Jonathan Lethem actually tells his own tale when he was growing up in Brooklyn and his expectations of the American Dream as a descendant of Greece. The relationship between the main protagonist Dylan and Mingus Rude clearly demonstrate the tension in racial relationships. The race difference in these boys leads them to totally different worlds in the end. While Dylan becomes a journalist, Rude ends up in prison. This is the picture in our modern world especially in countries where racial discrimination is evidenced. Work Cited Lethem, Jonathan. The Fortress of Solitude: A Novel. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Print.

Waikato River settlement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Waikato River settlement - Assignment Example Partnerships normally offer great opportunities to increase the availability of knowledge and the available resources and this opens up opportunities for development of an area which is more inclusive and unified as it brings on board all the concerned parties. Bodansky in his research states that there are a number of economic activities practiced by the Maori including forestry, fishing and agriculture and they normally account for annual income of between 1billion US dollars and 1.9 billion US dollars in their economy but this source of livelihood is under threat from the destruction of the environment and unsustainable use of the environmental resources. This paper takes a comprehensive overview of the Maori and Crown people scrutinizing their worldviews on different issues including their customary rights, ownership and stewardship. Finally we shall survey the issue of sustainability and how this important issue is under threat and finally recommend solutions for a better and mo re sustainable environment within the Waikato Basin. Until the year 2004, the Maori people have had a greater control on the management of resources and decision making than it has ever been during the colonial past periods. A number of treaty settlements have been used to bring the economy of the Maori people into the modern world market as well as the global economy (Selby, 2010). According to a recent analysis, forestry, fishery and agriculture account for about 1-1.9 billion US dollars of the Maori economy every year (NZIER, 2003). However, study has also indicated that this source of livelihood for the society is under threat from unplanned and unsustainable use of the available resources. The Maori leaders are expected to be conscious of the unique relationship they have with the environment and also of the ways in which long term sustainability of the environment, the society, the economy and the cultural values can be ensured. It is however not enough to simply achieve

Occupational stress in Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Occupational stress in Nursing - Essay Example It is important to note that nursing is one of the crucial subjects of the occupational stress studies. A large number of studies have been conducted to understand and bring to knowledge the reasons resulting in the causation of stress and the factors that can help lower the possibility of presence of these stress inducers. The present paper considers the contribution of some recently published papers to the growing body of knowledge on the subject of stress at work place. The paper examines the complex issue of stress from different important facets and presents a constructive criticism of the research done on the topic in view. We shall focus our attention to the recently published important scientific studies that have contributed to the understanding of occupational stress in nursing. Our objective is to analyze the studies as per their level of relevance and objectivity of application to the subject. One such important study was performed by Stordeur and experts (2001). They worked to characterize the presence of stress based on the severity of its induction. Thus, the severity of stress induction has been ranked as the amount of workload, disharmony with other colleagues (nurses, physicians), lack of completeness in knowledge and thus possible blurring of the tasks required to be performed or goal expected to be achieved. A ranking was also given to the head nurse who is responsible to closely monitor the performance of the staff members to locate the spot of deficiency in service provision and thereby plan and implement corrective measures for better and more competent performance. However, in additio n to the identification of the sources of stress inducers, it is also important to distinguish between the factors that are probably responsible to results in emotional exhaustion and job disengagement. It should be noted that this important feature was not included in the studies and research performed by Stondeur and his colleagues. Demerouti (2000) made an address to this feature in his article. The published paper adds to the knowledge the facts not presented by Stordeur' in his article on occupational stress. Sirkka Billeter-Koponen Hfa (2005) and colleagues in a qualitative interview studied about nurses' experiences of long-term stress, burnout, and patient-nurse relations. The objective behind this study was to obtain an in-depth knowledge about the mechanism of long-lasting stress and burnout induction in the nurses. The focus of research was held on professionalism and patient-nurse relations. In order to analyze the open interviews, the Grounded Theory methodology was used. The participants selected for the study were 10 nurses belonging to the age group of 36 to 61 years. The nurses were holding their professional status in different care

Assess and arguments for the law of karma, and discuss whether the law Essay

Assess and arguments for the law of karma, and discuss whether the law implies or refutes the ex - Essay Example Sankhya believe that the material of creation is made of earth and stone and could possibly not be created by ‘Isvara’ whose own characteristics are not consistent with the same material (Radhakrishnan 43 b). The Sankhya doctrine holds that it is not possible to prove the existence of God and therefore he cannot be said to exist (Larson 83). I would opine that the doctrine contention aligns with the view that a benevolent God would have no motive of creating a world of mixed happiness and sorrows. The Purusa takes an important place in the understanding of the Sankhya doctrine. The Sankhya offers that the Purusa is not caused (Collins 106). The Purusa is usually likened to consciousness. In most doctrines, consciousness is usually attached to the idea of the existence of a Supreme being. The Sankhya position that the Purusa is not caused directly contradicts the idea of the existence of a creator God. However, problems arise within the doctrine with the supposition that Purusa does not have any qualities. In my opinion, this view would imply that all beings are same. Such a thesis would refute the possibility of the existence of different fates for different actions as understood within the overall framework of the Karma. The position adds weight to some of the problems and contradictions that have been identified within the Sankhya doctrine with regard to the nature and qualities of the Purusa. The character of the ‘Isvara’ according to the doctrine developed by the Sankhya is that he is not attached to the universe (Radhakrishnan 40 b). According to the Mimamsa doctrine, the ‘Isvara’ does not provide the fruits of actions, which essentially distinguishes them from other doctrines that assign roles of reward and punishment to the deity (Radhakrishnan 22 b). Instead, the rewards or consequences of actions are purely depended on the actions of individuals. Good actions beget positive consequences, while bad actions bring ab out negative consequences. The Mimamsa doctrine does not mention whether or not the ‘Isvara’ created the universe (Radhakrishnan 19 b). In my view, I would conclude that the positions adopted by both doctrines acknowledge the fact of divine being but do not agree on his nature or tasks. In general terms, the Sankhya philosophy is governed by the concept of dualism. The philosophy challenges the view of the God as central idea that controls the cause and destiny of humanity. The destiny of man, according to Mimamsa is dependent on the actions and will of man in accordance with the Verdas (Radhakrishnan 74 a). In this sense, God is only a benevolent power that grants to human beings their due share in accordance with their character on earth. It is therefore important to consider the fact that the actions of man are integral in the destiny of the universe. The cultivation of ‘Dama’ or self-control as a way of pursuing a virtuous and upright life (Radhakrishna n 13 b). Samkhya adopts the position that the harmony in the world is born out of the paradoxical dualities as argued by Sage Kapila. Samkhya philosophy is founded on the idea of harmony numerals. According to the terms of this philosophy the collection of elements and characteristics of things in the universe work to maintain some sense of balance between the systems. The underlying meaning in the Samkhya philosoph