Once Upon a Time Essay

‘Once Upon a Time’, was written by Gabriel Okara, who is a Nigerian poet. He often explains what happens when a traditional African culture meets the forces of the Western way of life. I think the poem was written to outline the fake personalities of many people and to try and get them to return to a natural and innocent state. The poem tells of the conversation between what seems to be a father and son, where the father wants to learn from his son how to go back to normality and no longer be fake. The poem starts by the father telling his son how, ‘once upon a time’, people, or ‘they’, ‘used to laugh with their hearts’. I think that the word ‘they’ refers to western people who are white. Also this description gives the impression of genuine emotion given off by the people. He then moves on to say that now they only, ‘laugh with their teeth, while their ice-block cold eyes search behind his shadow’. This gives off very negative, fake and false feelings and it is a very cold description. This affects the tone of the poem that now becomes sinister and bitter. Stanza two then reveals more of the past when it is said that, ‘they used to shake hands with their hearts’, again this image reveals true and genuine emotion. But just as in the first Stanza the present reality is then discussed when it is said that, ‘that has gone, now they only shake hands without hearts while their left hands search his empty pockets’. This shows that, again the people are fake and seem to be using the man to see what they can get. Poem Stanza Four Presents the Adaptations and Solutions. Stanza three then goes to explain more about the changes he has noticed in these false people. Again the Stanza starts positive with the phrases, ‘feel at home’, ‘come again’, but then goes on to say that he will come again, ‘once, twice’ but there will ‘be no more thrice’ for then ‘I find doors shut on me’. This shows that the people lie when they say the positive phrases and after a few visits they have all that they want from the man; their falseness is reflected in the language they use. The first three Stanzas have the same structure. They start by telling the past and explaining how things used to be, but then they tell the negative reality. I think this is used to compare the times and introduce the reader to the situation. Stanza four presents the adaptations and solutions that the man has found to counter the problems. It starts by saying that the man has, ‘learned many things’, already suggesting that he has changed to fit in. He then explains the things he has learnt. He tells of the false personalities or of his ‘many faces’. He tells that he has learnt to ‘wear’ these faces, suggesting that he wears faces for different situations. For example, he says he has an, ‘office-face, street-face, and host-face, proving that he acts differently under different circumstances. He then adds that they have, ‘conforming smiles, like a fixed portrait’. This suggests even more falseness and changes. Poem Stanza Five: Learned to Laugh With Only His Teeth. Stanza five of the poem tells of the fake attributes to go along with the fake looks. It also repeats some of the acts that were mentioned earlier in the poem. Repetition seems to be a key technique in this poem. He says that he has also, ‘learned to laugh with only his teeth’ and ‘shakes hands without his heart’. This suggests that he has copied the western ways as this is what they did earlier in the poem. He then goes even further by saying he has learned to say, ‘Goodbye’ when he means, ‘Good-riddance’ and ‘Glad to meet you, without being glad’. I think that the man is ashamed of himself and is confessing to his son how far the fake attitudes have developed, he seems to hate what he has done. Stanza six and seven then show the man showing his regret as he says, â€Å"I want to be what I used to be when I was like you†, showing that he wants to be honest and truthful again.

Discuss whether Mexico has the potential to become a future global Essay

Discuss whether Mexico has the potential to become a future global economic power - Essay Example In order for the country to achieve such, it requires an appropriate management of its various economic sectors with the view of limiting the various economic threats that have threatened country’s economy in the past. The expansion of the various economic sectors will likely improve the country’s economic potential by increasing the employment rate of the economy thus facilitating an expansion of the economy (Boyes & Michael, 2012). The discussion below portrays some of the major economic features and an elaborate discussion of the current economic state of the country thus developing the growth potential the economy enjoys. Current economic characteristics of the country The Mexican economy has various vibrant sectors all of which sustain the country’s economy. All of the sectors present a potential for expansion thus promising the growth of the economy into a global economic power. Among the most vibrant sectors in the economy are tourism, communication and tr ansportation (Fox, 2002). Transportation sustains the economic growth in any country. With this knowledge, the successive Mexican governments have often invested in the development and expansion of the country’s transport system. The country has long road network that links nearly every part of the country. With an effective road network that joins every part of the country, the economy enjoys faster transportation of both goods and passengers throughout the different cities within the country. Besides the elaborate roads network, the country has a complementary rail network which also facilitates the faster transportation of goods. The development of the electric rail system has further improved the efficiency in the transportation sector, as goods currently take shorter to reach their destinations (Kates, 2007). The country also has various airports and airstrips all of which facilitate the faster transportation of products within the country. The capital city known as Mexi co City has two international airports, which act as the entry points into the country. Through the two facilities, the country maintains an active economic interaction with other countries globally as the two facilitate the transportation of goods in and out of the country (Aaker & Aaker, 2010). The effective and efficient transportation network has attracted hundreds of investors who enjoy the seamless transportation of both goods and humans to every part of the country. Another great factor that has attracted more multinationals into the country is the cheaper labor and electricity costs. The low cost of the two makes the country favorable for setting up companies. Various companies have therefore set up their manufacturing plants in the country (Tabbush, 2011). The fact that the country competes with the likes of China in labor and electricity costs makes it a favorable destination to most of the American multinational companies seeking cheap labor. This way, the country has con tinuously enjoy infrastructural development and an increasing employment opportunities as the companies provide ready employment. Tourism is the country’s main foreign exchange earner. With such a vibrant tourism industry, the country enjoys sustained influx of foreign currency and an equally large employment opportunity. The world tourism organization rated Mexico as the second most visited country in the world in 2001 coming second to the United States (Cavanagh, 2002). The country has

Brown vs. Board of Education and Freedom Summer Research Paper

Brown vs. Board of Education and Freedom Summer - Research Paper Example With â€Å"Jim Crow† laws there were established separate facilities for African American people, which were inevitably of a lower quality, standard of cleanliness, and poorly equipped in comparison to the facilities that â€Å"Whites† used. These standards were also maintained in the education system, with many African American families prevented from sending their children to public schools that were for â€Å"Whites† only, and the facilities that did exist for African Americans were inevitably of a lower standard and lacking qualified teachers, access to books and learning materials, failing to provide even the most basic facilities for the students. Because the system of education was operated on a public or government organized basis and funded by tax dollars, the existence of this segregated society was a clear statement that racism was institutionalized by authority in the United States, and that these policies also furthered the discrimination, impoverish ment, and deprivation of human rights for African Americans in the country. ... Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other organizers who worked together to end racism in America. Brown vs. Board of Education The Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954) Supreme Court decision represented a major attack on the â€Å"Jim Crow† system in the South and across America. In â€Å"Mississippi: A History† (2005), Westley F. Busbee, Jr. describes the uproar this decision caused in the racist â€Å"White† community, and how local politicians attempted to disband the public schools and reorganize them as private institutions while preserving the apartheid style of segregation. (Busbee, 2005) This response, and the violence unleashed in racist groups like the KKK to oppose anyone who challenged the segregation policies, would show the emotion and ignorance involved in the views of the racist South, as well as how difficult it would be to depose these views through civil rights activity. Ultimately, President Eisenhower authorized the us e of Federal troops to oversee the desegregation of public schools in the South with a symbolic show of force in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. (Busbee, 2005) The violent backlash by â€Å"White† racists against anyone who attempted to organize African American people to vote, to protest, or to demonstrate for civil rights set the stage for the great upheaval of the next decade in the region, that would see Stokely Carmichel, Bob Moses, Medgar Evars, and other leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the NAACP working in these areas to organize, educate, and promote reform in communities. (Payne, 1997) Nevertheless, it is clear that historically these civil rights efforts were emboldened and given increased legitimacy in the U.S. and internationally through

Cell Phone Use Should Be Prohibited While Driving Essay

Cell Phone Use Should Be Prohibited While Driving - Essay Example A 2005 study conducted by Virginia Tech found that 80% of all automobile crashes were associated with driver inattention (Box). Drivers that become distracted lose the concentration on the road that is necessary for safe driving. A distraction that lasts for only a few seconds, such as dialing a phone, can be sufficient to cause an accident. The study further found that the use of phones, and other wireless devices, was the leading cause of driver distraction events (Box). Young drivers, who are already struggling with driver safety, are put at even greater risk as we see the pervasive numbers of cell phones escalate in the 16-24 year old group ("Cell Phones and Driving"). All drivers need to focus on the task of driving and not be allowed to be distracted by a phone call. When we are driving, we rely on our peripheral vision to tell us the location of traffic that may be around us. When we have a cell phone to our ear we are limiting the vision from our left eye. Traffic to the left of us may go unnoticed or critical road signs may be missed. Using a cell phone while driving is like trying to drive with your left eye closed. Hands free devices offer little improvement as drivers develop tunnel vision while concentrating on the phone call and staring straight ahead (Evans).

Series of questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Series of questions - Assignment Example Mucosa layer is a mucous membrane that gets a line in the gut all the way from the mouth towards the anus and contains numerous mucosal glands. It plays a significant role of secreting substances, absorption of digestion end products when they pass through it, as well as protection of the gut wall. It gets composed of three layers; the epithelium, the lamina, and the muscular mucosae. The epithelium layer gets located within the innermost section of the mucosa and made up of stratified squamous epithelium (Petrie, 2007). It has numerous goblet cells and endocrine cells. The goblet cells play the role of secreting mucus guards the gut wall from digestion, and, on the other hand, the endocrine hormone plays the role of secreting hormones into the human blood system. The lamina layer gets located outside the epithelium layer of mucosa and made up of individual tissues known as areolar connective tissue. It has some blood vessels and lymphatic vessels supplying nutrients to this wall and undertaking the absorption of the digestive end products. The muscular mucosae are the outermost layer of the mucosa and have smooth muscles, with the major role of conducting the local movements. The smooth muscles are numerous and, therefore, increase the surface area for absorption by mucosa. Submucosa layer gets loosened connective membrane layer, composed of numerous large blood vessels. It has various lymphatic and nerves with lots of glands that secret mucous. The areolar connective tissues in the submucosa layer get composed of nerve fibers. Submucosa layer plays the major role in giving support to the mucosa, together with joining the mucosa to the bulk of the smooth muscles. Muscularis Externa, also known as muscular propria, is a smooth muscular layer composed of two layers; the inner circular layer and the outer longitudinal layer. The two layers play a role of peristalsis to aid in the movement of food

ENGLISH 12 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ENGLISH 12 - Article Example These two essays strongly base their works on particular systems of belief in the respective societies that determine particular behaviors. Thus, by analyzing the setting, characterization and the shared theme in the two essays, this comparison shows how systems of beliefs have constrained the truth so as to shape the behavior of societies, giving them distinct identities. The setting in â€Å"A Secret Society of the Starving† is an online society whereas â€Å"Can You Tell the Truth in a Small Town?† uses a physical society setting. In the online society, the truth about the identities of the members has been hidden under the disguised names that they use when interacting. Even with these hidden identities, Udovitch (110) gives an account of how members of this society have organized practices governed by their beliefs and that they share their experiences, without which they would probably not be pro-ana. Perhaps, their anonymity gives them the freedom to share their experiences online, a distinct trait of this society. In Dakota, writers face a physical community of people who are their prospective audience. Albeit these writers do not know with certainty who would be the audience with regard to their writing, they still find a moral obligation not to tell the truth considered to be discouraging. This follows the belief in the society that the truth should not be told if it would discourage the public (Norris 127). Through this contrast, it is evident that despite the nature of a society, the system of beliefs in which its members believe in serves as a more critical aspect in aligning their behaviors towards a specific way of life more than their anonymity to one another possibly could influence otherwise. Both of the selected essays use the power of characterization to depict a society where members would sacrifice their welfare to uphold the dictates of their system of beliefs, thus the importance of beliefs over people’s free-will in determining behavior in the societies. In the pro-ana society, in order to achieve and maintain the thin body considered as attractive, women have to suffer pain and sacrifice eating according to the anorexia practice. Thus, the belief that a thin body is attractive has sacrificing free-will eating as the price to pay (Udovitch 111). Beliefs supersede one’s free-will to eat. In the same way, the Dakotan writers sacrifice the truth so as to be acceptable in the Dakotan society. According to Norris, â€Å"someone who wants to write either has to break away or settle for writing only what is acceptable† (128). But since the writers fear being set aside from the society, they choose the latter, thus sacrificing to tell the truth that they know. The author, thus, shows that the value of beliefs supersedes that of the truth in the society. These characters show that beliefs in any society are regarded with high esteem and members of the given society would trade anything, i ncluding the truth about their welfare, to observe these beliefs. Moreover, the writers in both essays employ the theme of unity brought about by the existence of a system of beliefs, hence the importance of beliefs in giving people a common identity. Udovitch and Norris depict beliefs as the glue that unites people sharing similar traits both physically and psychologically. The online

Views against suicide Essay Example for Free

Views against suicide Essay Jessie mothers remarks to commit suicide is to accept the logic of the absurd but in some small way to triumph over it. (p. 24) Psychiatrists believe that committing suicide is self-abuse and self-murder (masturbation and suicide). Both behaviors became the bogeys of the psychoanalysts as well. In 1910, Freud concluded the first essay in which he specifically addressed the subject of suicide with these words: Let us suspend our judgment till experience has solved this problem. (Freud, 1910). What is the problem? It was know[ing] how it becomes possible for the extraordinarily powerful life instinct to be overcome. In 1917, Freud announced his famous solution self-murder is aggression turned against the self: [N]o neurotic harbors thoughts of suicide which he has not turned back upon himself from murderous impulses against others (Freud, 1917). Freuds far-reaching generalization is a sobering reminder of the influential influence of the religious-psychiatric tradition: He treats suicide as if it were a unitary occurrence. David Hume (1711-1776) would wholly disagree with Jessie, arguing that suicide is not contrary to love of self, of neighbor, or of God. Hume claimed that even assuming the truth of Aquinass theism, one requirement of not preclude suicide from being rational and moral. That is, if it is consistently permissible to encroach on divine providence by disturbing the operations of diverse natural laws (by curing diseases and the like), then, by parity of reasoning, it ought to be similarly permissible to commit suicide. Moreover, couldnt a person commit suicide while expressing gratitude to God for the good she has enjoyed and for the ability to escape her current misery? After all, Aquinas allowed self-inflicted killings when one is divinely commanded to do so! Hume, a known skeptic on religious matters, is being ever so ironical and sardonic in his essay. When I fall upon my own sword, therefore I receive my death equally from the hands of the deity as if it had proceeded from a lion, a precipice, or a fever. There is no being which possesses any power or faculty, that it receives not from its Creator, nor is there any one, which by ever so irregular an action, can encroach upon the plan of his providence, or disorder the universe. Its operations are his works equally with that chain of events which it invades; and whichever principle prevails, we may for that very reason conclude it to be most favored by him (Hume, 1783). Moreover, Ecclesiastic law still forbids suicide, and religious penalties against the act are, nominally, still in force. However, as soon as secular law recognized insanity as an excuse for suicide, so, too, did canon law. For approximately the past century, rabbinic and church authorities alike have classified suicides as ipso facto non compos, permitting them to receive normal religious burial services. The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion states: Judaism does not consider the individual as the owner or unlimited master of his own life; consequently, suicide, which amounts in rabbinic thought to murder, is strictly forbidden. . . . However, recent rabbinic ruling considers the suicide as being of unsound mind, and as such he is allowed to be interned [sic] with others. (R. J. Z. Werblowsky and G. Wigoder, p. 367). The Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant clergy use the same formula for annulling the sinfulness of suicide. After a well-known Catholic American killed himself and was given an elaborate burial, a spokesman explained: Today it is the churchs feeling that a person must be crazy to commit suicide. And we place the insane in the hands of God, for his mercy and his judgment. . . . The church will not judge [him]. (San Francisco Chronicle, 22 October 1983, p. 3) Roman law expanded the criteria that made suicide morally acceptable. For example, tedium vitae a mental state we are likely to call depression, but is better rendered as having had enough (of life) -was a justification for it (A. J.L. van Hoof, p. 122). However, Roman law prohibited the suicide of slaves, because they destroyed not themselves but their masters property; and of defendants accused of crime, because their deed prevented the law from determining whether they were guilty or not. If their deed was interpreted as signifying guilt, the law required that their corpse be denied ritual burial and their property be confiscated. Christian canon law adopted the practice of denying religious burial to the suicides corpse, and medieval English criminal law reinstated the penalty of forfeiting the suicides property (A.J. L. van Hoof, p. 16). Views for suicide Jessie claims the decision to be a rational one, a logical conclusion to a life that has lost its true meaning; there are disturbing glimpses of another motivation. To begin with she is on medication, which has given her an apparent sense of clarity and equanimity. If she is herself, then, she is so by virtue of chemical intervention, though there are hints of an obsessive behavior not touched by her medicine. She has a notepad in her pocket which contains a checklist, a countdown to annihilation. She is, she explains, cold all the time, and longs for the dark and quiet of death, a place where nobody can get me †¦ Dead is everybody and everything I ever knew, gone. Dead is dead quiet (night Mother, p. 16). She likens herself to Jesus, whom she suddenly perceives as a suicide (I didnt know I thought that) (p. 17). Though, well known philosopher may agree with Jessie as Margolis takes suicide to be essentially a matter of choosing death for its own sake. In the case of genuine suicide, according to Margolis, the victims overriding concern is to end his own life. (1975) Moreover, Immanuel Kant claims that the exercise of freedom in self-destruction is self-contradictory. He seems to favor, however, the moral heroism of Cato (a Roman statesman who killed himself rather than surrender to Julius Caesar), but does not label it a suicide, since Cato was presumably attempting to rescue his personal integrity and not intending to destroy himself. That is, despite his antisuicide stance, Kant claims that there are times when life ought to be sacrificed. If I cannot preserve my life except by violating my duties towards myself, I am bound to sacrifice my life rather than violate these duties. He views humanity in ones own person as inviolable. Suicide, by contrast, treats our personhood as a thing; it reduces us to the stage of a beast. Persons, for Kant, are ends-in-themselves, having the capability for autonomy and rationality that comprise their humanity. Jessie suicidal act goes with Kant view of life. According to him, Life is not more important than virtue. To live is not a necessity; but to live honorably while life lasts is a necessity. Kant maintains that the fabric of society is destabilized by those who advocate a right to suicide and romanticize it somewhat in the progression. Nonetheless, pace his categorical imperative, it seems suicide can be universalized on Kantian grounds, e. g. , anyone whose situation in life is such that his or her continued existence would cause others a greater amount of suffering than his or her suicide must commit suicide. Conclusion According to the sources discuss, it can be said that argument against suicide are more powerful and it is definitely goes against Jesse’s suicide. Jessie chooses to shoot herself with her fathers gun, and if not with that then with her husbands. These were the two men she loved, the two men who might have saved her had they not left, derelict her in their different ways. There is no irony in the choice. The man who saw her into life, and perhaps tainted her blood with the seeds of epilepsy, now ushers her out. At the same time, Thelma, apparently disengaged, separated from her daughter by a sense of guilt and mutual incomprehension, and finds herself deeply committed to saving her. While her mother philosophy was Things happen. You do what you can about them and see what happens next (p. 39) is not without its logic or ethics. Moments before her daughters death, indeed, this woman, who until now has appeared content to drift through life, unquestioningly, can be explained as nearly unconscious from the emotional devastation †¦ so far beyond what is known as pain that she is virtually unreachable'(p.52). For the first time in her life she knows what she is living for and though she will be frustrated in her attempts to save Jessie, Jessie, perhaps, may have saved her in so far as she has lured her back into the world. Work Cited Catholic Church Says It Wont Judge White, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 October 1983, p. 3. A. J. L. van Hoof, From Autothanasia to Suicide, (London: Rutledge, 1990) p. 122. Freud, Contributions to a Discussion on Suicide (1910), in SE [Standard Edition], vol. 11, p. 232. Essays on Suicide, and the Immortality of the Soul, ascribed to the late David Hume, Esq. â€Å"Two Letters on Suicide†, from Rosseaus [sic] Eloisa (1783) Freud, Mourning and Melancholia (1917), SE, vol. 14, p. 252 Joseph Margolis, Negativities: The Limits of Life (Columbus, 1975), pp. 23-36. Marsha Norman, night Mother (New York, 1983). R. J. Z. Werblowsky and G. Wigoder, eds. , The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion, p. 367. Richard B. Brandt, The Morality and Rationality of Suicide, in Handbook for the Study of Suicide, edited by Seymour Perlin, pp 61-76, 1975. U S. News and World Report (April 9, 1984): 18.