Othello’s Shakespeare Literature Essay Example for Free

Othello’s Shakespeare Literature Essay Stereotype in layman’s term is often defined as predictable characters and situations or something that is not authentic, or something that is already experienced. In Shakespeare literature, stereotyping is sometimes inevitable. Some of his works, its themes and characters embody the social predicaments and situations during the time he created the masterpiece. In Othello’s case, the issue of race and religion and the revelation of the dark side of human nature is revealed and discussed through the characters. Themes and conflicts like jealousy, race, power, religious tensions, obsession and marriage illustrated in Othello are still important and experienced today. The characters in love, the characters in extreme emotions like obsession and jealousy and the characters who lose and win portray same emotions in reality and some other literature. The common human experience experienced by the characters of Othello, Desdemona and Iago makes this literature stereotype. However what makes stereotyping in Shakespeare’s literature unique and sophisticated is the creative structure of his stories and plays. The play reflects that race and culture divides the world and the people which, in effect, influence human responses to love and emotions. Othello, who is the main character in the story, is a black man who fell in love with a white woman, Desdemona. When Iago gave false accusations against Desdemona, Othello responded with rage, revealing his awareness that his newfound love with Desdemona was all but an illusion. Othello is obviously insecure about his identity as a black man which motivated his hatred and eventually his actions. Othello’s general conclusion that a white woman and a black man are unfit to become lovers motivated his demonic tendencies. This reflects that the controversial issues about racism manipulate our perspective towards love and relationship, which is often destructive. Like any other human beings when faced with inequality, Othello approached his emotions unwisely. Othello’s reaction to his feelings contaminated his sense of morality and spirituality just like how other people is being contaminated by their extreme emotions. Jealousy and envy motivate evilness and passion that in the long run will create human suffering and tragedy. People often hear that human beings are naturally selfish. In love, this selfishness is often revealed. However, those people who are victims of jealousy, especially the ones who are loved, will always experience passive suffering. Love affects in this case, the way a lover responds to love will greatly affect the beloved. Love is a shared communion. The lover’s choices will affect the beloved’s fate. Othello’s choices resulted to Desdemona’s death. Here Shakespeare demonstrates the defensive nature and stereotypical image of black people If Othello denied inferiority and race, Iago gave importance to power and race and status. This selfish need and motivation of Iago resulted to jealousy and which eventually led to destruction. Just like any other negative emotions, Shakespeare gave a predictable outcome: selfishness and jealousy leads to destruction. Stereotyping in character is probably used by Shakespeare to demonstrate the realities of human life and the realities of human nature. However the sophistication and language of his literature revealed his Shakespeare’s innate talent, artistry and creativity.

Social responsibility Essay Example for Free

Social responsibility Essay The utilitarian view requires that the focus should be on the effects of the decision/action, such as effects in the form of benefit or costs. Aside from considering benefits and costs, this view also considers the number of people affected. In essence, a decision/action that benefits more people is generally viewed as more favorable. This view is limited because the definition of such benefit/cost can be flexible, based on the person’s perspective and the context. The moral rights rule puts emphasis on the individual rights. For example, this rule requires that the decision/action should lead to the maximum protection of these rights, as much as possible. For example, a decision/action that provides greater protection for the privacy rights of employees is considered more favorable in this model. However, note that the rights of stakeholders are to be considered, inclusive of employees and investors within the context of the organization. This rule is limited because it does not guide the decision-maker regarding which rights should be prioritized. The legal rule, on the other hand, puts focus mainly on the application of suitable conventional standards as well as laws based on the legal system. For instance, this rule indicates that the established laws should be used as basis for making the most appropriate decisions. A decision that upholds the law is considered favorable in this ethical perspective. However, it might be difficult to actually identify the most suitable rule. In the integrative social contracts rule, it is indicated that there must be proper consideration for the context, and the dependence of the appropriateness of ethical actions based on such context. Different contexts need to different ethical considerations even when facing the same or similar dilemma. This ethical view is limited because it does not properly provide a consistent basis for ethical decision-making. Personal Perspective The model that I consider as close to my ethical perspective is the utilitarian rule. I consider this perspective as easily applicable in many situations. For instance, it requires identification of the affected people/parties, as well as the identification of the benefits and costs that might occur as a result of the decisions/options at hand. I also view as a utilitarian perspective as close to my personal ethical perspective because I believe that it is important to consider all of the affected parties, and that every individual involved in the situation should come. In essence, this ethical model tries to distribute the consideration for benefits/costs to the individuals in a situation, rather than grouping them and prioritizing/evaluating them for group. In this way, there is better consideration for the weight of the number of people affected. This is in contrast to the moral rights rule, for instance, which considers groups of stakeholders and their rights within the context of the business organization. My core beliefs include that every person is significant. This means that even seemingly small individuals compared to highly powerful stakeholder groups should also matter. This is one of the reasons why I considered a utilitarian perspective as the module that is close to my personal ethical view. I also have the value of considering the diversity in the perspectives and interests of people. In this regard, in applying the utilitarian model, I usually think about what these interests and perspectives might be, so that I would be more accurate in evaluating the potential benefits/costs that might affect the people in this situation of the ethical dilemma. Thus, because I put value on diversity of interests and the significance of every individual, I believe that the utilitarian model is more acceptable and is highly aligned to my view. Ethical Dilemma Recognition and Analysis. An ethical dilemma is a situation in which the available options present significant advantages/benefits as well as disadvantages/costs. This means that it appears that none of the options actually stands out in terms of the benefits that can be achieved, because each of the options has notable costs. Thus, the ethical dilemma requires that the decision-makers should evaluate the weight and significance of the benefits and costs of these options. An ethical dilemma that I encountered in the past was with regard to the decision on which project to take for a term paper. This project was group-based. As the team leader, I needed to make the final decision on which specific topic to take. I viewed my input as the most favorable, although some of the inputs from the team members were actually also interesting. This was a dilemma because choosing my suggestion could help in maximizing the score that we could get from the project, but it could jeopardize teamwork. On the other hand, choosing to make the team members make the ultimate decision could lead to a slower process and conflicts among the team members. In terms of the utilitarian framework, the benefits would be in terms of how the ultimate decision could affect all the members. There must be consideration for the number of members affected, as well as the benefits/disadvantage. Ultimately, in using the utilitarian perspective in this ethical dilemma, I decided that it was necessary to let the group decided so that their interests could be more effectively considered. In this way, the decision actually resulted in a favorable score for the group, even though we experienced some challenges initially. The implications of this decision were that it benefited more members of the group, because they were satisfied in terms of greater involvement in the decision. It was limited because it did not properly consider the conventional rules on which topics to pursue. Ethical Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility Ethical leadership is of critical significance in any business organization. This is so because the actions of a leader can lead or mislead the entire organization. In this regard, in ensuring that the decisions and actions of the leader remain ethical all the time, the organization can expect that the activities of subordinates would also be as ethical as possible. Basically, a higher level of effectiveness in applying ethical principles in leadership should lead to a higher probability of ethical conduct among all the other members of the organization. I view corporate social responsibility as necessary and important, not just for the stakeholders, but also for the business organization. This is so because I believe that the business organization is a citizen of society. Instead of just considering it as a mechanism for generating profits, I view the business organization as part of society. The improvement in the contributions of the business organization to the development of society should lead to an improvement in society as well as the improvement in the opportunities for the business. I believe that organizations should be deeply involved in social responsibility, as much as they are resources and realistic contexts would allow. I understand that business organizations have limitations in terms of their resources. However, these business organizations should also review social responsibility as opportunities for them to improve the society in the market in general. An improvement in the market should lead to better business opportunities later on. Moreover, better contributions in the social responsibility efforts of the business organization should help in improving corporate image as well as the relationships of the organization with stakeholders, especially community members and customers, among other stakeholder groups.

Ageing Experience And Psychological Well Being Social Work Essay

Ageing Experience And Psychological Well Being Social Work Essay There are two potential determinates that might influence quality of life and psychological well-being of elderly people. Firstly there are the objective factors that are income, health, status and age and intuitively, usually having more of these things means greater quality of life. However, in various research based on happiness of the elderly people, objective factors are less powerful than one might expect as Lyubomirsky et al; cited in the research article titled Psychological Acceptance and quality Of Life in the Elderly,'(2007). The research suggested that objective factors account for about 8 to 15 % of the difference in happiness. So, Do people get less happy as they get older? and their well- being while ageing has been discussed by various researchers in order to define the concept of successful ageing but there is still a lack of consensus on what defines a successful ageing. The various researches on the relationship between old age and well-being have been at many time s assessed through life satisfaction, happiness and morale. 2.2 Theories of ageing In attempting to explain the ageing process and moreover the elderly experience with family support in this particular study, the theories of ageing, which describes the ageing process and what it implies will be taken into account. 2.2.1 Activity theory, developed by Havighurst and associates in 1953, asserts that remaining active and engaged with society is primordial to satisfaction in old age. The theory asserts that positive relationships in the aged individuals level of participation in social activity leads to life satisfaction as active aging equals successful aging. Activity can be physical or intellectual in nature so as to replace those interests and relationships that have been diminished or lost over time. This theory proposes that elderly people need to remain active in a variety of social spheres as for instance with family or friends because activity is preferable to inactivity as it facilitates well-being on multiple levels that is assuming that activity is vital to well-being. Activity theory proposes that social activity and involvement with others results in an increased ability to cope with aging, improved self-concept, and enhanced emotional adjustment to the aging process (Lee, 1985). 2.2.2 Disengagement theory was proposed by Cumming and Henry (1961). This theory states that aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement; resulting in decreased interaction between the ageing person and others in the social system he belongs to (Cumming and Henry, 1961, p.2). Disengagement theory thus assumes that social involvement decreases with aging and that successful ageing is best achieved through abandoning social roles and relationships and by the individual reducing both activities and involvement. Proponents of this theory maintain that this separation is desired by society and older adults, and serves as such to maintain social equilibrium. While high morale is evident at the completion of the process, the transition is characterized by low morale. However, this theory has been strongly criticized by researchers who found a lack of evidence from older people disengaging from their surroundings. Whereas older people social relationships change and that they possibly have fewer ties, it was found that these relationships were often deeper and more significant. 2.2.3 The Continuity theory states that as elderly adults adapt to changes associated with the normal ageing process, they will attempt to rely on existing resources and comfortable coping strategies. This theory of aging states that older adults will actually maintain the same activities, behaviours, and relationships as they usually did in their earlier years of life. As older adults try to maintain this continuity of lifestyle by adapting strategies that are linked to their past experiences, decisions and behaviours will form the foundation for their present behaviour. Continuity of self which occurs in two domains: internal and external is thus important. Whereas internal continuity occurs when one wants to preserve some aspects of oneself from the past so that the past is sustaining and supporting ones new self, external continuity involves maintaining social relationships, roles and environments such that internal and external continuity are maintained, life satisfaction is hig h. 2.2.4 R.Weiss (1974) put forward a theory about provision of support from close relatives and relationships.  According to Weiss, these provisions reflect what we receive from relationships with other people. He maintains that the elderly require six main social provisions to maintain well-being and avoid loneliness. They are the assistance-related that is reliable person and guidance as well as non- assistance related one namely social integration, reassurance or worth, nurturance and attachment. These components provided by close relationships mainly provide and guarantee support to people as those people who lack the social support experience negative effects. He argues that individuals must maintain a number of relationships in order to maintain psychological well-being. Weiss holds that multiple needs must be satisfied by an individuals support network. In that respect, social provisions may be provided by friends but more often are provided by family members who are usually t he primary source of support in old age. 2.2.5 One of the first theoretical frameworks to focus on interpersonal relationships was proposed by Kahn and Antonucci (1980): the convoys of social relationships. They stated that social support is primordial to the individual in describing it to include attachment, roles and social support. Social support is viewed as interpersonal relationships that include these following components: affect affirmation and aid. Their basic idea is to view social connections and social support as a lifetime and ongoing set of relationships which generally serves to enrich, fortify and reassure people. The convoy model assumes that all people need social relations and that it is important because they have favourable effects on health and well-being. Despite being dynamic and lifelong in nature, Kahn and Antonucci suggest that losses and gains in convoys could have a variety of causes. It was hypothesized that social relations were more psychological than physical, and therefore, would affect psy chological or mental health, that is, depression, life satisfaction or happiness rather than physical health. (Antonucci, Fuhrer Dartigues, 1997; Fratiglioni, Wang, Ericsson, MAytan, Winblad, 2000) 2.3 Social Support My family has always been an essential part of my life, but the older you get; the more you feel how much you need each other. As long as you are together, it is like a growing tree the longer the tree is there, the stronger the branches become and the more you are knit into one. So, the more you are together, the more you realize how important it is to be together and stay together. -66 year old married father of two. (Cited in Family ties and ageing, Connidis, 2007, p3) Worldwide the family is the primary caregiver to the elderly. This reality transcends culture, politics and economic circumstances in spite of a wide variation in the way care is provided in different societies. However, almost everywhere round the world, support often flows in only one direction. Many older people receive financial help from their adult children but what about their help in terms of the social support in order to ensure healthy psychological ageing? Social support is defined as the individual belief that one is cared for and loved, esteemed and valued, and belongs to a network of communication and mutual obligations. (Cobb, 1976). Some experts suggest that social support provides a sense of connectedness to ones social group, which results in feelings of well being (Ryan. 1995). As people become old, social relationships often change and that they sometimes have fewer social ties, it was found that these relationships are often deeper and more meaningful to them, (Helmuth 2003). Maintaining relationships with their families and their friends is important to the vast majority of elderly persons. Rosenmayr (1968) found that, though they may not want to live with them, they do maintain contact with their children. Shanas (1967) found, in a study of elderly persons in three societies, that they generally live near at least one of their children. These relations seem to be at a large extent important, if not vital, to the elderly as the experience of ageing often requires them relationships and families support to evolve and adapt or cope with the challenges of the transition. Observers and various researches have showed that the loss of important relationships leads to feelings of emptiness and depression (Freud, 1917/1957; Bowlby, 1980). The interplay between relationships and various domains of life is complex as older adults reporting a greater number of social ties have been shown to have lower mortality risks, and both social integration and social support have been associated with mental and physical health outcomes (reviewed in Berkman 1995; Cohen Herbert 1996; Seeman 1996). Social support provided to the elderly parents by family members is thus proven to have positive consequences on the elderly in many ways. Moreover, a considerable number of researches show that social support is the key determinant of successful ageing (Rowe Kahn1998; Leviatan 1999; Unger et al, 1999; Seeman et al, 2001b). Persons involved with positive relationships are often less affected by everyday problems, are said to be more effective, and to act with greater sense of control or independence. Those without relationships often become isolated, cynical, mistrusting and depressed whereas those caught in poor relationships tend to dev elop and maintain negative perceptions of self, find life less satisfying. The usefulness of social support for dealing with illness has also been repeatedly shown, suggesting that a positive social environment encourages health and well- being whether or not stress is present. Social support is thus an important factor that may buffer the ill effects of stress on mental and physical health. 2.4 Lack of social support According to many researchers, the absence of social support is linked to various illness and poor quality of life in old age. Depression and loneliness are the most common in the elderly. Findings of depression and lack of social support are often interrelated due to the often inseparable nature of the two variables. There is also a clear link between chronic disease and depression, with those in nursing homes showing higher rates than those living in their own house. Depression as well as loneliness has been discussed by researchers and it was found that elderly people mostly suffer from these two major problems besides physical problems. The most firmly establishes link between of elderly parents and their psychological well-being in old age is that they basically suffer from loneliness and depression. Some research has shown that elderly individuals who have not maintained contact with family members are at a higher risk of developing depression, personality disorders and other c ognitive or behavioural issues. The physical as well as psychological state of the elderly parent is put at risk when he or she is not in contact with other individuals and especially the family. It is observed that if communication is done on a daily basis with family members, there is a better maintenance of the elderly psychological well-being as friends and family become often the sole support system for the elderly. According to American Geriatrics Society, depression can affect 40% of nursing homes residents in a given year which is often undiagnosed and untreated or treated as a normal component of ageing. A growing number of studies and articles have been published in that respect and shows how social support is beneficial to the elderly. For instance, there is a published thesis submitted in 2010 in Canada, titled Social support, loneliness and depression in the elderly. In this study, the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms was explored in 54 elderly residents living in both nursing and retirement homes out of 62 interviewed. The findings demonstrate that loneliness remained a significant risk factor for depressive symptoms, even after controlling other demographic variables such as age, gender, length of stay, time of interview and institution. This finding is consistent with a qualitative study by Barg et al. (2006), which suggests that loneliness in older adults is closely tied to depression. In this particular study, the author found that loneliness is easily mapped onto standard assessments of depression and hopelessness in the population, thus showing strong correlation between loneliness and depression. The Evaluation of depression in elderly people living in nursing homes, involving 35 people by Aribi L et al; publishes in October 2010 in Tunisia had for main aim to determine the prevalence of depression in old people living in a nursing home and to evaluate the degree of their autonomy. A descriptive and analytical survey was carried out on 35 old people at a nursing home in Sfax, Tunisia. The study was evaluated by using two scales specific to the geriatric practice: The scale of depression: GDS (geriatric depression Scale) applied to 30 items and the scale of autonomy: IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living). Results were as such the examined population was composed of 35 people aged from 65 to 9, 51.4% of the residents were in a state of depression. Depression was more frequent in female subjects however (58.8% of women compared to 44.4% of men and it was concluded that depression in the elderly is related to several depressive factors particularly for patients living in institution. Anxiety and depression are thus very common in elderly living in nursing homes. Studies have shown a relatively low prevalence of anxiety disorders in older individuals but that among elderly, anxiety disorders occur two to seven times more often than depression problems. The rate of anxiety disorders may be even higher among elderly living at institutional settings. Another study which support that view is that of study Anxiety and Loneliness in Lone Elderly done by T.T.A Rahman which evaluated the prevalence of anxiety and depression in lone elderly living at their own homes and those going to geriatric clubs regularly or living at geriatric home. There was 164 lone elderly participants from geriatric clubs named group I and 168 lone elderly participants from geriatric homes, group II were included in this study. Hamilton Anxiety Scale and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were used for detection of anxiety depression respectively. Results were as follow: The co-occurrence of anxie ty and depression is 34.1% 57.1% in group I and group II respectively, while depression is actually 22.0% 23.8% and anxiety is 2.4% 1.2% in group I group II respectively. Living at geriatric homes and age group 60 to 70 are independent risk factors for anxiety, depression or mixed anxiety and depression. It was concluded that lone elderly, living at institutional settings such as geriatric homes is an independent risk factor for anxiety, depression or mixed anxiety and depression. Mixed anxiety and depression is more prevalent than anxiety or depression per se. Another survey conducted by Agewell Research Advocacy Centre released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information recently, found that about one in four (26 per cent) seniors living in a residential care facility, such as a nursing home or long-term care home, had been diagnosed with depression. A further 18 per cent had symptoms of depression but had not been diagnosed. Many of these residents dealt with persistent anger, tearfulness and repetitive anxiety, yet had not received a diagnosis. The problem is a serious one because, as the researchers note, depression can have serious effects on a seniors medical condition, their emotional state and general quality of life as seniors with symptoms of depression are more likely to display aggressive behaviour and may be three times more likely to have sleep disturbances while having difficulty to communicate. Different factors can contribute to the development of a depressive disorder that may include feelings of hopelessness, self- blame and loneliness, possibly accompanied by physical symptoms such as poor sleep, decreased appetite and lack of energy, often leading to social withdrawal. The researchers note that there is a perception that depression is a natural part of aging. Thats because a number of factors associated with late-life, depression is common among older people, such as: illness, loss of family, friends, social support or independence. But they note that depression can shorten lives. In studies of the effects of depression on seniors, the odds of dying were 1.5 to 2 times greater in elderly people with depression compared to those without. According to  Himanshu Rath, Founder Chairman of Agewell Foundation,  Depression is quite common among many of the people, particularly in old age. It is a major social challenge that cannot and should not be ignored. However, to fight Depression in Old Age, both the suffering older persons and the family members need to join hands and work together to bring back the golden happy times, from a Survey on Depression in old age published in September 18, 2010. 2.4 Rationale of the study There are many researches as such that have examined the importance of single, close, personal relationship related to elderly people which put forward that family support acts as a buffer against psychological illness. Family support promotes higher morale and lower levels of loneliness and social isolation in old age. Older people who lack confidants report more psychological distress and higher rates of depression (Hays et al. 1998). It is thus true on one hand that relationship and especially with family is important for older adults as social isolation may be devastating especially in old age but on the other hand can social relationships have negative impacts on people? Although a great deal of research have focussed on the positive effects that social support can have on adults, recently researchers have urged greater attention to the negative side of informal relationships. Since Rook (1984) demonstrated that social relationships can adversely influence the psychological well -being of older adults, several investigators have examined the effects of both positive and negative social ties in later life. (Ingersoll-Dayton, Morgan Antonucci, 1997; Okun Keith, 1998). Furthermore, in considering that the closeness and mutually supportive relationships that many adult children and elderly parents share may make the latter happier than those who do not have children, research on this issue has consistently demonstrated that individuals who are childless are as happy and well-adjusted as are parents, even in the later years. As people who are sixty-five or older and do not have children are more likely to report advantages than disadvantages of childlessness. Individuals who have remained childless have been found to develop social networks that compensate for the absence of support from adult children in terms of friends as some studies suggest that friends are more important than family to morale and well-being of the elderly (OConner, 1995). A realatively p opular research topic has been the well-being and resources of childless elderly. It seems safe to conclude that these people are at least as happy as older parents, andthat they are able to find alternate sources of emotional and instrumental support for their need (Beckman Houser, 1882; Johnson Catalano, 1981; Keit, 1983; Kivett Learner, 1980). The research put forward that instead of presence or absence of children, factors such as marital status, health and economic well-being are more strongly linked to the morale and life satisfaction of the older people. As Hoff and Tesch- Romer ( 2007: 77) has described: the relative importance of family relations and family support in contemporary societies may have diminished, but as empirical findings of many studies into the subject have shown, family relations have remained a reliable and stable source of support. For the majority of elderly people, ties with their children represent the most important component of their family network and social support. Since ageing is becoming an important aspect in the Mauritian context and that many studies relating to old age and relationships have not been conducted at the local level, it deems to be important to infer about the contributions of family support to the older persons psychological well-being.

Holdens Perception of Others in Catcher in the Rye Essay -- Catcher R

Holden's Perception of Others in Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden's encounters with other people. He divides all people into two different categories, the "phonies" and the authentics. Holden refers to a "phony" as someone who discriminates against others, is a hypocrite, or has manifestations of conformity. A person's age, gender, and occupation, play a key role in how Holden interacts with them. Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood. Holden has a respect for women that he views as unnatural. He feels that his sexual desires should be similar to those of his roommate Stradlater and peer, Luce. Holden shows his confusion by saying, "The thing is, most of the time when you're coming close to doing it with a girl, a girl that isn't ... ...c artistry to "phony" artistry, Holden lost respect and his opinion of his brother changed. Holden divides people into the "phony" and authentic groups based on age, gender, and their occupations. The novel revolves around Holden's encounters and interactions with the people, which makes Holden decide subconsciously not to try to escape society through death. But, ultimately he learns that you cannot protect the innocent from the "phonies" of the world. Works Cited If You Really Want to Know: A "Catcher" Casebook.   Ed. Malcolm M. Marsden. Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1963.   68-73. Crispell, Diane.   "The Holden Syndrome."   American Demographics.   Aug. 2001.   Online.   7 June. 2003.   Available http://www.marketingtools.com/Publications/AD/96_AD/9608_AD/9608AF01.htm Salinger, J.D.   The Catcher in the Rye.   Boston: Little, Brown, 1991.

Ralph Ellison’s Prologue to the Invisible Man Essay -- Ralph Ellison P

Ralph Ellison’s Prologue to the Invisible Man The Invisible Man is not a story of things that go bump in the night, but of those in society who people refuse to â€Å"see†. The essay was written by Ralph Ellison, an African American writer of the 20th century, whose stories tended to focus on racial issues. The main character of this story’s prologue is anonymous and unseen. He resides in a basement and lives off stolen energy in Harlem New York. Throughout the essay it is hard to determine whether he prefers to be this way or not, but he does describe that he loves light and warmth. He is a character that most audiences can easily feel sympathetic for. Although the essay is a narrative story, on a more critical level it tells of the flaws of society, and how some people go unnoticed and unloved. It is also tells of the power and will of human spirit. Ralph Ellison’s Prologue to the Invisible Man is an effective essay because audiences can easily relate to it through its use of informal tone, subje ctive point of view, and its appeals to pathos. With the use of informal tone Ellison is able to relate the story to the audience better. The prologue is written in the first person, everything in the essay is being told from the storyteller’s point of view. This makes the reader feel as though the character is personally talking to them and telling of the events. Ellison also personally addresses the reader as â€Å"you† this also enables the audience to relate to the story. One particular quote form the story that was very effective was â€Å"You ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you’re a part of all the sound and anguish.† It as though Ellison was truly talking with his audience in ... ...n so emotionally, readers are able to easily associate themselves with it, and this allows the message of the paper to convey itself to the audience. Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"Prologue from The Invisible Man† is a very successful and effective essay. By reading this it is possible to tell that Ralph Ellison is someone who may have first-handedly experience racism and unjust experiences. His essay tells of the negative aspects of society to generally overlook certain people of different races. However, on a more positive note, it also tells of the strength and everlasting hope of the human spirit. This text does indeed raise important issues and concepts to an audience. Due to its appeals to pathos, use of informal language, and subjective point of view, audiences are able to relate to Ralph Ellison’s Prologue to the Invisible Man, making it a successful essay.

Contemporary Society

There are many contemporary social concerns in the world today. Information on these concerns can be found just about anywhere including the Internet, T.V. and even articles. A critical thinker has a responsibility to find out information on the topic that is correct, true, has validity and limited to no biases. One contemporary issue that is going on is the issue with the addiction to crystal meth. A critical thinker needs to be able to understand the validity and truth behind a writers work, understand the importance of ethics and moral reasoning, and understand the advantages of informational technology.Any critical thinker can understand how crystal meth addiction is impacting the contemporary world today. Crystal meth is a very addictive drug and has many side effects to the brain and to the body. In order for a critical thinker to find reliable resources, he or she must research many areas of a writer’s paper.One way that a person can understand if a an article, website, etc. is a reliable source is to conduct research on the resources that writer four his or her information. All resources need to be creditable and those in turn have to credit where the information came from. This information needs to be written by someone who is an expert in the field at hand. In this case the topic is crystal meth addiction. An expert should have no issue with peer-reviewed.A reference should also be peer-reviewed. When a source is peer-reviewed it  has been reviewed and passed by a board that works in the author’s field of study. This can lead to  sources being published allowing others to view information that is correct. It can also create an issue in having some articles rejected if the peer-reviewers do not agree with the information that is being printed. An example of information that can be rejected is bias information.A critical thinker needs to be careful to understand when he or she is coming across bias. Bias is when the writer is defending one side over the other is facts. When a research paper is written, it needs to cover all sides of the issue at hand. A research paper on crystal meth addiction would be bias if it only described how poor, homeless people become addicted to crystal meth. A critical thinker should be able to understand how this is bias and not true. A critical thinker should be able to understand that people from all walks of life could and can become addicted to crystal meth. Along with a critical thinker understanding bias in a resource, he or she must also understand validity.In order for a critical thinker to hold full responsibility for a resource, he or she must look into the validity of a resource. Validity revolves around the logic and truth behind information. A resource must contain both truth and logic. The truth is what a research paper is all about. Information must be true and contain information that can be backed up by research and education. An topic of addiction to crystal meth is a very big social concern that people should be educated on. This information must come from studies, research, and information that have been provided by researchers who have studied the field and have done a number of tests. When looking into the facts about crystal meth addiction, a critical thinker must be able to understand what is the truth and what is not.Many articles about crystal meth addiction have stats and percentages. A critical thinker must be able to look at the stats and percentages and understand where the resource is getting the information. There may come times when the percentages are off based on where the information has come  from. A critical thinker should be able to understand that if an article states that there are a zero percentage of people addicted to crystal meth, this is not the truth and this information should not be looked into. This also contains the fact of how factual the information really is.Fact is a very big part of understanding literatu re review. When a critical thinker is looking at literature, he or she needs the information to be true and to have fact behind every word. If an article is published with fake information, this can lead to the critical thinker having misinformation and understanding the topic of addiction to crystal meth in the wrong way. Every piece of literature that a critical thinker reads must have great resources, peer-reviewed information, contain no bias, and have validity to back it up in order to get the correct and right information.When looking into a piece of literature, a critical thinker should looking into the resources, peer-viewed, bias, and validity of the information at hand. This will allow the critical thinker to get the best information for his or her information on a topic such as the addiction to crystal meth. Finding these four main points in a piece of literature will help keep information as reliable as possible on a contemporary issue.Researching the addiction to crysta l meth will result in a major number of findings. It is  the responsibility of a critical thinker to understand the findings of each piece of literature he or she looks into. The first thing to look into is the information about crystal meth addiction. The site that has been published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse is full of information about what crystal meth (methamphetamine) is, what it does to a person, the statistics and trends, how it is abused and must more. In order to make sure this site is going to be useful, a contemporary thinker must look into the sources, bias, and validity of the literature and when the last time it was updated.This website has a section that deals with the research resources. This is  a good place to start in order to make sure the information is going to meet the criteria. The research resource includes a list of genetics research resources, data harmonization projects, and justice system resources. This information will provide where the information on the site has come from and who can back it up in order to make sure it is valid information. Here a critical thinking can see whom the NIH (National Institute on Drug Abuse) teamed up with in order to get the findings and information they have published. These researchers can be looked into and followed up with in order to make sure that the NIH is using true and real information on the topic of crystal meth addiction.The information found on the research resources will also let the person know that this information has been peer-viewed by all of the researchers involved in the findings. The next part that a critical thinker needs to look into is if there is any bias information in the literature. Bias information is information that is leading more towards one side.Reading the information  that the National Institute on Drug Abuse has written it is easy to see that the information is not bias and deals with the facts of crystal meth addiction. There is informat ion on how the drug is used. The NIH states â€Å"methamphetamine [crystal meth] is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol and is taken orally, intranasally (snorting the powder), by needle injection, or by smoking (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010, para 2). There is nothing that is bias about the information found on this website. The literature is informational and very valid.The validity of the information is very present. After reading through all of the resources and researchers involved, a critical thinker can understand that the information at hand is valid. This website has information that is both logical and factual present throughout all of the information that it provides. The same steps can be applied to another article about crystal meth.Sherry Mumford wrote an article called Putting meth addiction in context. This article should be researched to make sure it follows the same guidelines as the first literat ure information. The article revolves around Chilliwack, B.C. and the crystal meth addiction that can be found there. Sherry Mumford wrote the article and was published by Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers, LLC. This LLC peer-viewed the article and found that the information was valid and decided to publish it.A critical thinker could argue that the article has some bias parts in it. The article states that â€Å"[Meth] is not an epidemic. It’s a drug trend and it’s problematic. It came on fairly quickly but it will go away† (Mumford, 2004, para 6). This information is leading more towards saying  that crystal meth is not addiction and is more of just a trend that is going around. This does not give the allusion that crystal meth is addictive and some people have trouble getting off the drug. This could also be considered in the validity of the article.The validity of an article is very important. The article contains some num ber on how many people are seeking help in the area. The article states â€Å"a total of 1,200 young people sought help from Fraser Health addictions services in 2003-04, and for adult clients the total was 5,500 in that same period† (Mumford, 2004, para 14). This information is very valid and the overall validity of the article is good.Another way to make sure that a piece of literature checks out is to see when the last time it was updated. An article called Straight faces about meth addiction was published in 2005 by Torstar Syndication Services, A Division of Toronto Star Newspaper, LLC. This article was peer-viewed by the publication company. The article also has a side bar stating the it was late updated in 2010. This left five years for new information to be found and changed if any information was not the same or not correct. This can be a real help to a critical thinker when making sure the information is right. The information also needs to contain no bias.The artic le deals with information on how to try and stop the crystal meth addiction. This article is not bias in anyway. The article is trying to help parents understand that even if it seems tough, there can be help for a son or daughter to get out of the addiction. The article does not state that is not help, which would lead to bias information. Stating that there is no help for anyone who becomes addicted to crystal meth would lead to a bias view. Knowledge of  resources will help a critical thinker understand the truth and validity behind literature.Knowledge not only helps a critical thinker understand the truth and validity behind literature but it can also help with the impact of social elements on both local and global communities. The knowledge that a person gains through social and institution elements can really have an impact on both local communities and global communities.Academic knowledge can impact local communities from a social element on the topic of crystal meth addi ction. People are taught that addiction is real and can effect so many people. It is important for people to understand that addiction can be found locally and education can help with the issue. When it comes to addiction, the more educated a person is, the better the understanding that person will have on the topic and how go about the issue.The Internet is a big way for people to gain academic knowledge on information that is going on locally and globally. This information can help a person see the underling issues that come with crystal meth addiction. Academic knowledge can help people understand the truth in small communities and even across the world. Academic knowledge can be anything from what a person learns in school to what is taught to us by others such as a co-worker who was educated in crystal meth addiction.Academic knowledge can have a big impact on local communities. Understanding the truth behind crystal meth addiction can really help a community understand the iss ue. An article written by Goble and Battershill  talks about how the leaders of a town decided to educate the town on crystal meth. A man by the name of Ramsey held a movie screening at the local highschool. Ramsey stated that the forum â€Å"will include a screening of a disturbing eighteen minute film† (Goble and Battershill, 2005, para 17). This information will help to inform the local community and help keep them educated on the topic of addiction.Being educated is the best way to try and find a resolution to any issue in a community. The communities need to know that some side effects of a crystal meth user are â€Å"extreme paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and severe cognitive impairment† (Lecomte, 2005, para 3). This can help others to understand what they need to look for in a person who is addicted to any type of drug, not just crystal meth. A person can then use their knowledge to understand that drugs mess with the brain and body.Academic know ledge can also help a critical thinker understand that an environment can have a lot to do with a person who is venerable to addiction. Through academic knowledge we learn that there are different environments, which can lead to different outcomes of how someone is raise, different types of cultures, and different subdivisions. An article by Matt Hartley talks about how some areas in the world can lead to a higher change of a person becoming addicted to drugs. Matt Hartley states â€Å"It’s hard enough to positively conduct treatment in you own community, [but] sending the kids far away, especially to a larger city where they’re going to run into a lot more troubled youth, is tricky† (Hartley, 2006, para. 9). This leads to the issue of the global community academic education can have an impact on.It is very important for a any person to know what is going on around the glob. A person can apply academic education to a global matter. The education a person has to apply to a local  community can also be applied to a global community. If using environment as an example, the same different types of environments in a community can also  be found around the world. Education does not only have to be academic. Education and information can be taught at a young age from anywhere.A survey back in 2009 came back with the results that â€Å"one out of every five students who filled out the survey from after an anti-drug group’s presentation said they know of someone using crystal meth† (Ryan, 2009, Infomart). Kids all across the globe need to be educated on this topic and understand the issues that come along with the addiction to not only crystal meth, but also any drug for that matter. Education is everywhere. Active citizenship in this matter and education could really help with the percentage of addicts in a community and around the globe.Active citizenship could impact the issue of the addiction to crystal meth in the next five t o ten years. The active citizenship has already started to help with getting the numbers of people addicted to crystal meth down. The National Institute of Drug Abuse has reported that the use of crystal meth in teens has started to drop of the recent years. The site suggests that this is because of all of the attention being brought to the subject. If this continues of the next five to ten years, there could be a very low rate at the end. The next five to ten years could show a very big difference in what we see today.Using education, the next five to ten years could show an great drop in the amount of users of crystal meth. There are many different types of educational tools out there besides academic. People can also become educated with the World Wide Web, multimedia (blogs,  videos, radio), television. Education has already started to bring down the number of kids doing crystal meth. According to Geoffrey Laredo there has already been a â€Å"significant decrease in methamph etamine abuse† (Laredo, 2004, para 1). Education has helped with this.Education keeps growing and so does technology. Technology in the next five to ten years is going to be a great impact with how education works today. Today people can find information on any topic on the Internet. Giving technology five to ten years is going to help education further and help so  many more people with the information of addiction to crystal meth.There are so many blogs and videos out there that help people understand why not to do drugs and what the side effects are. Videos, blogs, and prodcasts are a way for people to communicate with each other or even gain information on a topic like crystal meth addiction. When it comes to videos, blogs, and prodcasts; a critical thinker has to be careful about the information that is being provided. These types of multimedia can contain lots of bias and very little validity.There are many blogs out there about addiction. A blog is a personal webpage or website that allows that person to write opinions, stories, personal information, and also allows for others to comment on this information. There are many blogs about addiction that are full of information about recovery, the struggles, and what each person went through personally as a addict or as a family or friend of an addict.The blog called An Addict In Our Son’s Bedroom is a blog for parents dealing with an addict child. This blog allows for the main â€Å"Mom and Dad† to communicate with others and for others to reach out to them. The blog does not seem to have very many resources and can come across as bias in some cases. The information in this blog is valid based on the fact that it is coming from real life stories.A critical thinker can apply academic knowledge to this blog and understand the validity of the issues and the fact that some parts may come across as bias. A critical thinker can also understand how some of the information is not true nor meet s the qualifications of a peer-viewed article. The information on the blog is very relevant to the issue at hand: Addiction to crystal meth.This blog has many stories of what a family member of a user is going through. It also tells stories of how the people reach out to others and even talks to school students about the issues with addiction and what addiction can do to a person. There is so much personal information that statistics and numbers will not give someone. The validity and truth behind a blog is much different than the type of truth a validity one would get from an article backed up by many sources.Academic knowledge can help a person understand contemporary social concerns and how to apply the principles of active citizenship to those issues. A critical thinker needs to be able to know what information is good and what information is questionable. A critical thinker needs to be able to understand the validity, bias, and important of peer-viewed resource  and the impor tance of technology gathering data when dealing with any type of concern. This will help a critical thinker gain information that is correct, valid, and usable in the real world.

Land And Water Pollution Essay

Major types of water pollution Organic wastes that is largely untreated human waste, sewage, and industrial waste from processing various food roducts, from the pulp and paper industry, and from animal feedlots. Inorganic pollutans that is salt brines, acids, phospates, heavy metals, asbestos, PCBs, radioactive chemicals. Land Pollution Toxic substances Hazardous or toxic substances are those that can cause an increase in mortality rates or irreversible or incapacitating illness or those that have other seriously adverse health or environmental effects. Toxic substances that have been released on land include acidic chemicals, inorganic metals (such as mercury or arsenic) flammable solvents, pesticides, herbicides, phenols, explosives, and so on. For example benzene is a common industrial chemical that is also used in plastics, as well as dyes, nylon, food additives, detergents, drugs, fungicides, and gasoline. Benzene is a toxic and can cause of a anemia, bone marrow damage, and leukimia. Studies have shown that benzene workers are several times more likely than the general population to get leukimia. Solid wastes come from residential garbage, industrial wastes, agricultural wastes, mining wastes. The most common one we usually meet is residential garbage. Only about a third residential wastes are recovered through recycling. A low proportion that is due to the lack of financial backing for recycling operations, the small size of markets for recycled products, and toxic chemicals present in recyclable garbage. City garbage dumps are significant sources of pollution, containing toxic substances such as cadmium (from rechargeable battery), mercury, lead (from car battery, and TV pictures tube), vanadium, copper, zinc, and PCBs. Nuclear wastes Light water nuclear reactors contain radioactive materials, includeing known carcinogens such as strontiums 90, cesium 137, barium 140, and iodine 131. Extremely high levels of radiaton from these elements can kill a person, lower dosages (especially if radioactives dust particles are inhaled or ingested) can cause thyroid, lung, or bone cancer as well as genetic damage that will be transmitted to future generations. Depletion of Species and Habitats Human activity has rendered dozens of plants and animal species extinct. Since 1600 at least 96 known pecies of mammals and 88 major identifiable species of birds are known to have become extinct. Several hundred more species such as whales and salmon today find themselves threatened by commercial fishing. Forest habitats on which the bulk of species depend are also being decimated by the timber industry. Depletion of Fossil Fuels Until the early 1980s, fossil fuels were being depleted at an exponentially rising rate. That is, the rate at which they were being used had doubled with the passage of a regular fixed time period. Some early predictions of resources depletion assumed that fossil fuels would contiinue to be depleted at these exponentially rising rates. If continued, an exponentially rising rate of depletion would end with the complete and catastrophic depletion of the resource in a relatively short time. Estimated world resources of coal would be depleted in about 100years, estimated world reserves of oil would be exhausted in about 40years and estimated reserves of natural gas would last only about 25years. Depletion of Minerals If earlier exponentially rsing rates of depletion continued then alumunium would have been scheduled for exhaustion in the year 2003, iron in 2025, manganese in 2018, molybdenum in 2006, nickel in 2025, tungsten in 2000, zine in 1990, and copper and lead in 1993. World resources are also limited, and the depletion rates of the world’s supplies of minerals will also eventually peak and then gradually decline as remaining supplies become harder and more expensive to mine. The precise impact the limitation of worlds supplies will have on us exceedingly difficult to predict. Miningtechnologies may continue to develop , which will reduce the difficulty and cost of mineral extraction and extend the period of decline. This has in fact been the case for most mineras up to the present. Increased recycling may reduce the need for intensive mining of remaining minerals reserves. Substitutes may be found for many of the minerals whose supply is limited, and technological development may make many current uses of these  minerals obsolete.