Monday, September 30, 2019

Reliance Fresh Essay

Reliance Retail a convenient store format, is governed by the Mukesh ambani and is the most important part of Reliance Industries retail Business. It also comprises more than 2000 reliance stores(October 2014) all over the country. The outlet sells foods, groceries, apparel s and footwear. A distinctive Reliance Fresh outlet is around 3000 to 4000 sq. feet and accommodates catchment area of one to three Kilometers. Reliance retail is spread over 155 cities. History of Reliance Retail The Reliance Retail had to face various difficulties before the launch of Reliance fresh, because of the various circumstances prevailing in Orissa, West Bengal and UP, along with the news focusing on the dearth of vegetables and fruits stocks. The retail business of Reliance then minimized its exposure in vegetable and fruit business, as a result established Reliance fresh positioning a pure super market play focusing on various categories like IT, consumer durables, home, FMCG and food. The retail company of Reliance may not supply the vegetables and fruits in a few states, the Reliance Fresh decided to not to race with local wholesalers partly because of the incapability to maintain a healthy supply chain. The first ever a Reliance Fresh store was established in Hyderabad, wherein the company, mainly focused on the fresh produced vegetables and fruits at comparatively low price. Subsidiaries and Divisions: 1.Reliance Fresh: Retail outlets of fruits, vegetables &groceries. 2.Reliance Digital: Consumer electronics retail stores. 3.Reliance jewels: Jewellery 4.Reliance Timeout: Stores of books, music, movies 5.Reliance Market: Wholesale cash n carry Objectives:- To provide high quality products for the customers. To reduce spoilage through its supply chain & logistic networks. To enrich  customer’s shopping experience through customized offer & ‘value for money’ merchandise. To foster relationship with partners. To increase agribusiness in india and timely payments to farmers. To reduce gap between customer and manufacturer.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Most Dangerous Game

The Most Dangerous Game† are examples of foil characters with two very different personlaties as well as characteristics. These two characters are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Zaroff is the hunter and Rainsford is the prey in this story. Also, General Zaroff has very unethical ideas and hobbies. This is very different from Rainsford's humane beliefs. Lastly, Zaroff is far more ostentatious compared to Rainsford, who is more resourceful with his hunting experience.It is clear that their character traits differ greatly. To begin, Zaroff and Rainsford have two very different roles in â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game†. General Zaroff is perceived as the hunter and Rainsford is the prey. Zaroff presents a â€Å"game† where the two characters hunt each other. Although Rainsford wins this â€Å"game†, Zaroff is known as the hunter. This is because he is known for hunting humans. He has also never lost this â€Å"game† to any of his other opponents. Rains ford is seen as the prey (prior to him winning) because he is against hunting humans and considers it murder.He also appears to be afraid of Zaroff in he beginning. † I wish to leave this island at once† (Connel 175). This represents his fear. Knowing this, it is automatically assumed that Zaroff will hunt and kill Rainsford. To continue, the two characters are considered foils because they have different beliefs and morals. General Zaroff is open about his hobby of hunting humans. He even ridicules Rainsford by saying that he â€Å"harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life† (Connel 172). On the other hand, Rainsford's character hunts animals. He considers it murder to hunt human beings.Zaroffs reason for hunting humans is hat they are able to reason with the hunter, therefore making it more of a challenge to hunt them. One possible reason for this difference of morals are the nationality of the two men. General Zaroff is Russian while Rainsford is Amer ican. This could explain the difference because the culture and lifestyle of the two countries could cause its citizens to act in certain ways. Additionally, Zaroff and Rainsford are foil characters because of their behavior and character. In the story General Zaroff is ostentatious while Rainsford is more resourceful.Zaroff shows off his home and lifestyle when Rainsford is there. He also appears bossy in the story. He orders around Ivan and seems to brag about the people he is training in his basement. This might also be a reason that Zaroff loses the â€Å"game†. â€Å"‘To date I have not lost,' he said† (Connel 174). He underestimates Rainsford's abilities and is too confident about himself. He is sure that he will win the game. Rainsford is considered resourceful because he uses features of the forest to build traps for Zaroff and his dogs multiple times in the story. He also uses his Knowledge 0T nuntlng to create a trall tnats OITTlcult to Tollow Dy Laron. RalnsTora relies on his talents while Zaroff seems to rely on other sources such as the hounds. In conclusion, General Zaroff and Rainsford represent foil characters in â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game†. They are two extremely different people with different beliefs and traits. Zaroffs character is an amoral one who likes to hunt humans. His character is also depicted as the showy and arrogant hunter. Rainsford on the other hand is ethical compared to Zaroff. He is also seen as the prey of the story. General Zaroff and Rainsford are very obvious examples of foil characters. Most Dangerous Game The Most Dangerous Game† are examples of foil characters with two very different personlaties as well as characteristics. These two characters are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Zaroff is the hunter and Rainsford is the prey in this story. Also, General Zaroff has very unethical ideas and hobbies. This is very different from Rainsford's humane beliefs. Lastly, Zaroff is far more ostentatious compared to Rainsford, who is more resourceful with his hunting experience.It is clear that their character traits differ greatly. To begin, Zaroff and Rainsford have two very different roles in â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game†. General Zaroff is perceived as the hunter and Rainsford is the prey. Zaroff presents a â€Å"game† where the two characters hunt each other. Although Rainsford wins this â€Å"game†, Zaroff is known as the hunter. This is because he is known for hunting humans. He has also never lost this â€Å"game† to any of his other opponents. Rains ford is seen as the prey (prior to him winning) because he is against hunting humans and considers it murder.He also appears to be afraid of Zaroff in he beginning. † I wish to leave this island at once† (Connel 175). This represents his fear. Knowing this, it is automatically assumed that Zaroff will hunt and kill Rainsford. To continue, the two characters are considered foils because they have different beliefs and morals. General Zaroff is open about his hobby of hunting humans. He even ridicules Rainsford by saying that he â€Å"harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life† (Connel 172). On the other hand, Rainsford's character hunts animals. He considers it murder to hunt human beings.Zaroffs reason for hunting humans is hat they are able to reason with the hunter, therefore making it more of a challenge to hunt them. One possible reason for this difference of morals are the nationality of the two men. General Zaroff is Russian while Rainsford is Amer ican. This could explain the difference because the culture and lifestyle of the two countries could cause its citizens to act in certain ways. Additionally, Zaroff and Rainsford are foil characters because of their behavior and character. In the story General Zaroff is ostentatious while Rainsford is more resourceful.Zaroff shows off his home and lifestyle when Rainsford is there. He also appears bossy in the story. He orders around Ivan and seems to brag about the people he is training in his basement. This might also be a reason that Zaroff loses the â€Å"game†. â€Å"‘To date I have not lost,' he said† (Connel 174). He underestimates Rainsford's abilities and is too confident about himself. He is sure that he will win the game. Rainsford is considered resourceful because he uses features of the forest to build traps for Zaroff and his dogs multiple times in the story. He also uses his Knowledge 0T nuntlng to create a trall tnats OITTlcult to Tollow Dy Laron. RalnsTora relies on his talents while Zaroff seems to rely on other sources such as the hounds. In conclusion, General Zaroff and Rainsford represent foil characters in â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game†. They are two extremely different people with different beliefs and traits. Zaroffs character is an amoral one who likes to hunt humans. His character is also depicted as the showy and arrogant hunter. Rainsford on the other hand is ethical compared to Zaroff. He is also seen as the prey of the story. General Zaroff and Rainsford are very obvious examples of foil characters.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Book Summary The Goal Processes and Operations

The Goal Processes and Operations Key Idea The main message of the book is that the proper way to manage any operation, whether it’s a manufacturing plant or a web design shop or a clothing store, is to: 1) Identify what needs to be changed. 2) Identify what it should be changed to. 3) Identify how to execute the change. Summary This story is based around the life of Alex Rogo, Plant Manager for Uniware, which is a division of Unico. After some very upsetting customer approaches Alex’s boss, Bill Peach, is given a challenge to turn the plant around in three months. Due to the limited amount of time available, there are not many outside tools available such as consultants, surveys, and so on. With very few hopes, Alex foresees the inevitable until he remembers his conversation with Jonah, a physicist who Alex knew from a previous job. It is not until Alex’s job is in at risk that he decides to devour into his conversation with Jonah. During the conversation, Jonah asks him several questions to analyze his company’s situation. The conversation leads ultimately to the question, What is the goal of any business? After rethinking his conversation, Alex realizes that the goal of any business is to make money. Furthermore, if the goal is to make money any action toward this goal is considered productive and any action not moving towards the goal is nonproductive. Alex was unsure of such a simple answer and decided to contact Jonah to continue the search for more answers. Once Alex contacts Jonah they define the following measurements to define the success of any plant’s production: 1) Throughout = rate that the system is used to generate money through sales. This measurement would consist of what a product would be worth when sold at market value after deducting operational expense and inventory. 2) Inventory = all the money invested in purchasing items that will be sold. This could include the remains of their machines after being used toward the investment. 3) Operational expense = all the money used to turn inventory into output. This would include such items as depreciation of a machine, lubricating oil, scraps, etc. Jonah explains to Alex that a plant that is continuously productive is considered inefficient. He further explains that continuous production will result in high absenteeism, poor quality and employee turnover. Based on this, he would need to reduce operational expense and inventory to improve throughput to demonstrate a balanced line of production. Jonah leaves him to think about the understanding of two things: what are the dependent events and statistical fluctuations in his plant. During a hiking trip with Alex’s son, he produces a game for a few of the kids to demonstrate an ideal balance line of production. He does this by setting up dependents and uses a die to measure the statistical fluctuations. At the end of the game, he concluded that the bottleneck’s speed of production is what determines the speed of the other dependents. Therefore, inventory moves very slowly because of statistical fluctuations. In the end, this is where Alex began his search inside the plant. After arriving back at work, he and the crew began their search for the bottlenecks. They identify one of the robots, NCX-10, and the heat treatment area as the source of the bottlenecks. Once identified, they began their search for solving them. After following some simple steps they significantly increased production by 12% during the first two months and 20% in the third month. Based on these increases, Alex saves the plant and his got promoted to Bill Peach’s position. Besides the ongoing theme of saving the plant, there is an underlying story about Alex’s personal life. In the beginning Alex’s wife, Julie, and him are constantly arguing about Alex working late in attempts of saving the plant which flows over into not spending any time with his family. Within the first 100 pages of the book, his wife leaves him, after being exhausted of all attempts to save their marriage. However, during his search for reclaiming the plant he does the same with his marriage. I think that the author is telling the audience that there must be a balance between these two lives. It is important for both to be in harmony because eventually they will flow in and out of each environment. Lessons Learned What I enjoyed the most about this book was the layout. It consisted of telling a story about Alex in a novel form, which included dialog, plot, etc. By making the book in this way it broke the specifics down for a layperson, Alex. After all, Alex represents the average person job going down the tube and marriage shortly following it. The source of the problem the whole time was following the rules that were and are continuously engraved into us each day. What I learned about this book is that you should not let your business and processes control you and lead you. Instead, you should be constantly criticizing and reviewing your processes and not settling for any bottlenecks or sticking points. Another major theme in the novel is that the point of a business is to make money, and more specifically, to make a profit. The way to do this is not to create as much as possible, but instead to run as efficiently as possible. That might require making drastic changes to common practices, things that on paper seem like they will hurt the bottom line. For example, in the book, they discover they’re running their manufacturing plant at 80% capacity. That means 20% of the time, they have machines and people just sitting there doing nothing. So they tell their sales manager to get them 20% more work. He says that they can only get it from a client who wants it at below cost, so they would lose money. But Alex convinces him that they only have materials as costs, as they have people doing nothing currently who are getting paid, so their time is not an additional expense. I thought this was very interesting. Application This book would be ideal for anyone interested in simplifying ways to improving any process whether it is manufacturing or service oriented. These back to basics principles, help break down what has become common practice.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Gasoline Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gasoline Economics - Essay Example According to the above diagram, the positive in demand curve from D1 to D2 will result in increasing in price (P) and quantity (Q) of the gasoline. As a result the supply curve will shift to the right from S1 to S2. Equilibrium is the point where the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied, thus there's no surplus of goods and no shortage of goods. Initially, E1 is the equilibrium point and due to the increase in demand, equilibrium shows at E2. However after the demand increase supply will decrease and equilibrium point shows at E3. According to the above diagram, the positive in demand curve from D1 to D2 will result in increasing in price (P) and quantity (Q) of the gasoline. As a result the supply curve will shift to the right from S1 to S2. Equilibrium is the point where the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied, thus there's no surplus of goods and no shortage of goods. Initially, E1 is the equilibrium point and due to the increase in demand, equilibrium shows at E2. However after the demand increase supply will decrease and equilibrium point shows at E3. Figure 1: Demand for and Supply of gasoline According to the above diagram, the positive shift in demand curve from D1 to D2 will result in an increase in price (P) and quantity (Q) of the gasoline. As a result the supply curve Source: Review of Economics and Statistics, 57(4), 502-07 According to the above diagram, the positive in demand curve from D1 to D2 will result in increasing in price (P) and quantity (Q) of the gasoline. As a result the supply curve will shift to the right from S1 to S2. Equilibrium is the point where the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied, thus there's no surplus of goods and no shortage of goods. Initially, E1 is the equilibrium point and due to the increase in demand, equilibrium shows at E2. However after the demand increase supply will decrease and equilibrium point shows at E3.Suppliers adopt their own strategies in order to meet contingency demand by consumers. As a result suppliers tend to change their strategy according to the shifts in demand (Comnor, & Jon, 2001). Assuming a greater degree of pressure on supplier networks coming from greater market demand, suppliers would up their stake in the ultimate outcomes of the corporate strategy and business policy. This is the inevitable result of growing power of big Gasol ine organizations becoming more and more independent on to expand business. (B) Consumer demand and behavior - related to GasolineConsumers are very important for the business organization in determining its corporate strategy. For example customers can either make or break a business organization on the basis of demand. The business organization depends on customers' perceptive behavior to such an extent that the former has very little freedom in deciding the corporate strategy and production policy in any other possible way. The Gasoline prices have a big impact on consumer behavior. Thus consumers are not very responsive with their demand related to changes in the gasoline prices. As a result of rising gasoline prices consumers have been forced to cut down on their other needs and wants needed for their day today life. It also reduces savings and real income growth and other forms of consumption such as entertainment, eating out, electronic items, and vacations. Thus that the percentage of income set apart for gas and oil is inversely proportional to inco me. That is the less a person earns the higher the percentage set apart for

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Major Goals to be Achieved to Satisfy Taxpayer Essay

Major Goals to be Achieved to Satisfy Taxpayer - Essay Example As the report declares the key to improving educational performance lies in a two pronged approach improving quality parameters through the use of the Quality Improvement Model as laid out by WTCS, which has created the new data system in 2004 for the quality review process and providing wider access to more students by a phased approach to learning through part time, flexible programs. More emphasis needs to be given to the online, correspondence and net meeting programs to enhance educational opportunities for those who have potential but not the opportunity due to their job commitments. This essay stresses that bearing these two objectives in mind, my plan will focus on performing more frequent self assessment as provided for by AQIP at lower costs. This will help to assess how exactly the college stands as compared to taxpayer expectations. The new WTCS associate degree reconfiguration program will be emphasized with less emphasis on international applicants and more attention diverted towards reaching the community of taxpayers in Wisconsin with the opportunity to return to college, while simultaneously strengthening the K-12 post secondary agreements to provide links to more students to avail of the facilities at the college. This could be integrated with a teacher recruitment effort by pulling in our past students as teachers, to consolidate teacher teams and put back resources into the community.

Learning to critique by critiquing critiques Essay

Learning to critique by critiquing critiques - Essay Example This author brings out her illustrations through a destruction, which took place at the Murrah Federal Building. It is after this devastating event that several developments taka place in the architectural field in the city. Krinke employs significant use of symbols for the purpose of communicating some of her ideas. For instance, she elaborates the elements that are associated with a sacred space. There is a lot of symbolism, which is applied for the purpose of bringing to light what the elements represent. The stone is the first element that is used. The stone elements in the city are tailored to serve as permanent markers for a given phenomenon. This is majorly due to the durability, which is associated with them. For example, on the concrete floor of the Murrah Building there are names of those individuals who survived the ordeal. Near the epicenter of the pool, there has been a development of a reflective pool. The changes that take place in the atmosphere are noted or brought out by the water. This also represents the changes, which took place at the city after the blast. The trees represent the ability of an entity to remain unscathed in the course of its existence. The tree, which stands out in the city, is the Survivor Tree. This tree is a representation of the survival and endurance, which has characterized the city together with its inhabitants through the years since the explosion. Krinkle significantly applies the approach, which entails imagery and symbolism. This elaborates the significant developments, which have been taking place. The imagery and symbols also point out that the explosion seems to have had a significant effect on the residents of the town. The approach, which is taken by Melcher in her article, is one, which is rather critical of the happenings in the city. For example, she points out that the names, which are embossed on the wall, may not be significant to a person

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Employment law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 8

Employment law - Essay Example If the employee finds the termination unlawful then redress may be undertaken before the employment tribunal. Dismissal is not encouraged as the livelihood of the employee is at stake but it does not entail the destruction of the employer if fair causes exist to justify termination. Dismissal is deemed just when anchored on the employee’s misconduct, inability to discharge the duties due to lack of qualifications, the position is redundant, continued employment is prohibited by statutory duty and other analogous reasons. The employee is not without any recourse from unlawful dismissals. An employee may institute a suit before the employment tribunal provided that such employee has rendered one year continuous service. However, an employee may bring an action regardless of length of service when based on â€Å"automatically unfair grounds† thus the time element is not a pre-condition. If the dismissal is rooted on medical reasons, it is sufficient that the employee has rendered one month of service. Accordingly, an employee who was treated unfairly may proceed against the employer. This is the dilemma of Ms. Sally Trent who owns ST Solutions, a small business with seven employees including Sally. A suit for constructive dismissal and harassment was lodged by Trish Dodge, her Secretary/Administrator for about twenty months. According to Sally, Trish was competent in her job notwithstanding long absences due to illness which she failed disclosed. There were no complaints regarding her conduct or had problems dealing with Sally and the other employees. Conflict arose between Trish and Brian, a freelance web designer, who regularly found fault with Trish by shouting words â€Å"you are useless†. When Trish complained to Sally, she told Brian during a drinking get-together to avoid contact with Trish. Brian ignored the warning prompting Trish to walk out. In her letter, Trish stated that she cannot work in the same office as Brian. Sally hired a

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Anthropology of Power And Resistance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Anthropology of Power And Resistance - Essay Example For the understanding of anthropology of power, first we have to understand what power is, how it is constituted, and how it works within an allegedly postmodern world in which older rules of authority seem to have decreasing relevance'. The impacts of policy interventions and opportunities at state, supra-state and extra-state levels for example, on the ways in which people evade or ignore the reach of the state in constructing economic power beyond state control; the opportunities for and constraints on ethnic, gender and other group or categorical empowerment offered by institutions such as United Nations agencies and forums, multinational Non-Governmental Organizations, the European Union, the International Court of Justice, the Internet and the global media, among many others; the possibilities for empowerment by manipulating the interstices between local, regional and central levels of state bureaucratic organization; and issues of 'management'". Foucault's conceptualization of power is "individuals are always in the position of simultaneously undergoing and exercising this power. They are not only its inert or consenting target; they are always also the elements of its articulation the vehicles of power, not its points of application. (Foucault, M. (1980) Power/Knowledge, (ed.) C. Gordon. New York: Harvester/ Wheatsheaf). There is also a hint here of that contemporary usage of 'empowerment' which implies the drive by individuals, singly or in combination, to get what they want. But such an approach helps us to understand how socially equal individuals (academic colleagues, for example) can exercise power over others and for themselves and get what they want when they want it merely by ignoring the normal rules of polite social interaction. There are specific circumstances in which the anthropologist is obliged by the dynamics of the public policy process to adopt a more radical position, of the kind associated with a unilocal, univocal and unifocal form of ethnography, where the goal of 'political anthropology' is to achieve a transfer of power from the 'system' to the 'community'. For this reason, it is necessary for the discipline to develop something akin to a 'code of practice', whereby the necessity or desirability of movements between the radical and the moderate position can also be negotiated, within particular political settings, in order to avoid a breakdown in the dialogue which constitutes the discipline itself. A 'political setting' is defined here as something which is necessarily larger than a single 'community', which may be equivalent to a single jurisdiction (or nation-state), but which will normally also have some sectoral component-e.g. 'health', 'conservation', 'mining', etc On the other hand currently disempowered people subvert dominating structures and relationships and come some way towards achieving their goals precisely by not voicing their resistance to hegemonic power openly, but by exercising some other capacity or resource. Patterns of domination can accommodate resistance so long as it is not publicly and unambiguously acknowledged voice under domination includes rumor, gossip, disguises, linguistic

Monday, September 23, 2019

Personal statement for ucas Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

For ucas - Personal Statement Example I have practiced dancing for twelve years and instructed dancing in schools like IISC. Through my dancing skills, I have managed to achieve a government award in 2007. I love concerts and seldom miss any occasion. I have participated in cultural events like at the Indus, and danced at the Indus cultural festival like the ‘Mamma Mia, and We Will Rock You Musical’. As a kid, I had the passion of becoming an engineer, which motivated me to excel in subjects like Mathematics and Physic. I have conducted a full length research on, "How the temperature affects the magnetic field of different magnets" and wrote a 4000 words essay on the research. I conducted this research in a PHD research university in my 11th grade summer vacations. As a young adult, I had asked for career advice from a motivational speaker who had visited my school. Henceforth, I have found learning Mathematic to be interesting, since it is a powerful tool for analyzing and solving problems. Mathematics has several specialization segments like pure and applied mathematics. Additionally, I love Physics since it assists in understanding the world deeply by its information. I learned about Electrical Engineering in my initial school and assistance from my bigger brother. He is a Civil Engineer doing well in his line of specialty. Furthermore, he is my role model, since we share the same dream of being engineers. In particular, I realized that my passion was in Electrical Engineering. My career master rightly advised me on the path to follow to be an Electrical Engineer, which I followed it to the latter. My college years have vastly acquired me with educational and managerial skills. My internship at the Battery Industry (Amaron Battery Industry) instilled managerial and leadership skills in me. I was exposed to dealings within the learning institution; hence I am armed with administration and managerial skills. Taking part in the science

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The First Essay Example for Free

The First Essay In the first part of this lab, E. coli cells were transformed with an R-plasmid carrying a tetracycline resistant gene, giving rise to tetracycline resistant E. coli strain. This was accomplished through transformation, which allowed E. coli to directly uptake the naked DNA molecule carrying the antibiotic resistant gene (1). However, in order to take up the DNA and incorporate them into their genome via recombination, cells must be competent (1). Therefore, E. coli cells which are not competent under normal conditions were treated with cold and high concentration of CaCl2, in order to make them artificially competent (1). The transformants were grown on the LB with the tetracycline antibiotic, and on the LB without the tetracycline. Then the viable competent cells and the viable cells were counted to calculate the frequency of transformation. In the second part of the lab, lateral gene transfer by generalized transduction was done on E. coli cells. In the process of transduction, the transfer of genes is facilitated by bacteriophage, which is a virus that infects a bacterial host (1). Generalized transduction involves lytic infections that kill the bacterial cells, and during the process, bacterial DNA is packaged into a new phage head which in turn injects the DNA into another bacterium (1). In this lab, P1vir phage was used and grown on the donor strain by making a phage lysate. P1vir phage kills bacterial cells by lytic infections, which is required in the generalized transduction (1). On the other hand, the wild-type p1 is a lysogenic phage and therefore could not be used for the generalized transduction (1). In order to prevent excessive killing of the recipient E. oli strain, the P1vir lysate was tittered by serial dilutions. This would also prevent infection and lysis of the transducing particle. In generalized transduction, trp-pyrF region of CSH61 chromosome, which was the P1vir lysate, was laterally transferred to the recipient CSH54 strain. The genotypes of transductants were tested by patching them onto a Petrie plate lacking tryptophan and uracil, whi ch will allow growth of trp+, pyrF+, and not the trp+,pyrF- transductants. Trp gene encodes for trypsin, while the pyrF gene encodes for pyramidines, such as uracil. Thi, his, and pro genes encode for thiamine, histidine, and proline respeictively (1). Finally, the frequency of transductant was used to obtain the distance between the trp and pyrF gene. Discussion In the transformation experiment, E. coli cells were transformed with Plasmid DNA containing the tetracycline resistant gene, and were tested for competency by growing them in LB in presence of tetracycline antibiotic. Tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic that works by inhibiting translation, thus inhibiting protein synthesis. It attaches to the 30S subunit of ribosome and prevents the charged aminoacyl-tRNA from binding (3). As shown on Table 1, Tube 3 and Tube 2 did not have any growth of E. coli cells. Tube 2 contained E. coli cells only, and when cultured on the LB plate in presence of tetracycline antibiotic, the growth was inhibited by the antibiotic. Because the E. coli cells in tube 2 lacked the tetracycline resistant gene contained in the plasmid DNA, it was unable to grow in the presence of tetracycline antibiotic. Tube 3, lacked the E. coli cells and so, there were no cells to grow in the LB plate with or without the tetracycline. Tube 3 instead was used as a control, to test for contamination in the plasmid DNA and the calcium chloride. In tube 1, which contained the E. coli cells and the plasmid DNA containing the tetracycline resistant gene, transformation occurred. As a result, E. coli cells have acquired the tetracycline resistant gene, being able to grow on the LB plate in the presence of the tetracycline antibiotic. Therefore the viable competent cells were counted from tube 1 contents in 102 diluted LB (with antibiotic), which had cells between 30 and 300 colonies. On the other hand, the total viable cells were counted from tube 1 in 106 diluted plate that was grown on LB without the antibiotic. As shown on table. 2, the viable competent cells were calculated to be 24350 cells/100ul and the total viable cells were found to be 370,500,000 cells/100ul. Finally, the transformation frequency, which is the ratio of transformants per viable cell, was calculated and was found to be 6. 49 x 10-05 as shown on table 2. In the generalized transduction experiment, trp gene from the donor strain of CSH61 (P1vir lysate) was laterally transferred to the recipient strain, CSH54. CSH61 strain are trp+, pyrF+ and the CSH54 strain are trp-, pyrF-, and because trp and pyrF are linked together on the same chromosomal fragment, they are cotransduced (1). The transductants were identified by selecting for the trp+ marker by growing in absence of tryptophan, however the pyrF marker may be present or absent, depending on the crossover event during recombination. This was identified by patching the transductants onto a Petrie plate lacking tryptophan and uracil. The trp+, pyrF+ transductants will be able to synthesize both tryptophan and uracil, and therefore will grow in this minimal medium (1). However, trp+, pyrF- transductants cannot grow in the medium, because they won’t be able to synthesize uracil (1). As shown on table 3, 57. 5% of transductants were trp+, pyrF+ while 42. 5% were trp+, pyrF-. This means trp is cotransduced with pyrF at 57. 5% frequency, which indicates that they are very closely linked. Markers which are separated by less than 0. 5 minutes are cotransduced at 35-95%, and so, trp which cotransduced with pyrF at 57. 5%, is very closely linked (1). This closely matches the actual cotransduction frequency of 55% between trp and pyrF in E. oli (2). According to the Wu formula, the cotransduction frequency of 57. 5% yielded distance of 0. 084 minutes, which was very close to the distance of 0. 09 minutes at cotransduction frequency of 55% found in literature (2). Bacterial genes can also be analyzed by a method known as Southern blotting (4). In this method, DNA is treated with restriction enzymes, which cuts the DNA into fragments of different size. Then the fragments are run on an agarose gel by electrophoresis, which separates the fragments by size.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Pollution Of The River Gomti Environmental Sciences Essay

The Pollution Of The River Gomti Environmental Sciences Essay The city of Lucknow has come up on the banks of the river Gomti. The rivers significance has been time and again stated in various historical annals, which essentially point out the manner in which the city in its early days was dependent on the Gomti. The early nawabs used had built palaces on the banks of the Gomti, with water from the river being brought into the palaces for both sanitary as well as aesthetic purposes.  [3]  These palaces had bathrooms as well as toilets with proper sewage disposal mechanisms to ensure that the water post use was taken out of the palace and left back in the Gomti.  [4]   The river provided for the arts of various craftsmen to thrive.  [5]  The water from the river was utilized by various people who practiced the art of dying cloth. The water, once the dying process was over, was let back into the river.  [6]   When the British came to Lucknow, they constructed the company cantonment, called the Residency, four miles north of the Gomti.  [7]  Here too, the river played an important role in providing water to the British by means of a system of canals that they had constructed for their purposes.  [8]   The river for the masses had always been an important asset. Besides being a source of water, it provided them with employment as well. Agriculture thrived along the banks of the river.  [9]  Fishing too was an important source of income, which was nurtured by the river.  [10]   Over the years, a lot about the city as well as the river that nurtured it has changed. The British as well as the Nawabs have long left and have been replaced by various factories as well as the innumerable people who now call Lucknow home. The river that once was the life line of the city now carries its waste and sludge. The residents solid wastes gets dumped into the river, and in light of the poor implementation of the law, the manufacturing units present in the city use the river to discharge their affluent. The river water hence has been rendered unsuitable for consumption. The aquatic life that once existed too now has perished as a result of the raised levels of pollution. 1.2 Research Methodology For the purposes of this research paper the researcher has utilized the doctrinal, as well as the empirical method of research. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of this research paper, the researcher needed not only understand how pollutants in the river water have a detrimental effect on the quality of the water, but also needed to study the existing legal framework to see if those specific concerns had been catered to in the legislations. Furthermore, the author had to empirically access the levels of pollution in the river waters of Gomti in order to determine whether the pollutants were being controlled or not by the respective agencies. In addition to this, numerous newspaper reports and government documents from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board  [11]  have been used. Various sources form the world wide web too were utilized for research purposes. 1.3 Aims and Objectives The aim of this research paper is to portray the levels of pollution in the river Gomti and thus determine the effects of pollution on the river. The objective of this research paper is to determine if the legal framework is well suited to ensure that the pollution levels be curbed or if there is any lax in the normative structure of the law. 1.4 Scope and Limitation The scope of this research paper revolves around the pollution that has been caused by the industrial activity in and around the city of Lucknow and the manner in which the same has polluted the river. The scope of this research paper also envisages a brief perusal of the legal norms governing the environment and its protection in India. This scope is limited to the legal situation that exists in India. In addition to this, the scope of this research paper is restricted to the River Gomti alone and no other river that flows in the region. Necessary references to highlight the comparative levels of pollution have been made in paper where necessary. 2.0 The Law for the Protection of Water Bodies 2.1 The Water (Prevention And Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 In 1974, the Central Legislature decide to enact the Water Act. This Act aimed at the prevention and control of water pollution and at the maintenance or restoration of the wholesomeness of water bodies in India.  [12]  The Act envisaged this by means of the establishment of Central  [13]  and State Boards  [14]  . The main function of the central boards is to ensure that the water bodies do not in any manner incur any degradation.  [15]  They work towards the maintenance of aquatic ecosystems across the States. For the fulfillment of the said objective, they not only coordinate the activities of the State Board but also ensure that adequate assistance is provided to the State boards whenever necessary. The Central Boards are also provide technical information to the State Boards whenever the same is asked for by the latter. The Central Board for the purposes of furthering environmental causes may recognize laboratories so as to enable them to analyze water samples form the various parts of the country.  [16]  The State Board on the other hand is responsible for planning a comprehensive program for the prevention of pollution in the State. It is suppose to work in conformity with the Central Board for the attainment of its predetermined objectives.  [17]   As per the legislation, the authorities have the right to enter any industrial establishment and take samples of the chemicals that are being released into the water bodies in order to determine whether or not they are toxic and therefore ought to be treated before they are released.  [18]  Furthermore, if the agency cannot gather the chemicals, it can collect the samples from the water that is being released in order to determine the levels of toxicity.  [19]  Subsequently, the Board can approach a court of law to enforce the prescribed penalty.  [20]   In cases where, the culprit is a company, then the board also withholds the power to pierce the corporate veil and determine whose commission or omission is responsible for the release of the pollutants into the water body.  [21]  Similarly, if the culprit is a Government entity, then in that case, the Head of the Department of that Government entity shall be deemed to be responsible for the pollution caused.  [22]   In addition to the Water Act, 1974, there are various provisions in the Constitution of India such as the Article 48A that talks about the protection of the environment.  [23]  Similarly, the municipalities  [24]  as well as the panchayats  [25]  too have been enabled to take steps for the preservation of the ecosystem. 2.2 Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 . These rules essentially provide the manner in which Hazardous wastes are to be handled and disposed of by the any industry or body that is emitting the same. These Rules were brought in pursuant to powers conferred by Sections 6,8 and 25 of the Environment(Protection) Act, 1986(29 of 1986) on the Central Government to make rules.  [26]   These Rules have specific schedules that mention the quantity of heavy metals that are permissible to be released into any water body.  [27]  In addition to this, the Rules also provide for the responsibility of the occupier and the operator of a facility in regards the release of affluent into water bodies.  [28]  The rules mandate that hazardous waste be packaged, labeled and transported to specific dumping sites.  [29]  These disposal sites too have been specifically provided for in the rules.  [30]   2.3 Cases on River Water Pollution in India 2.3.1 Tirupur Dyeing Factory Owners Association v. Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association and Ors. , Civil Appeal No. 6776 of 2009 (Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 6963 of 2007) and Civil Appeal No. 6777 of 2009 (Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 28296 of 2008) as Decided On 06.10.2009 (Not Cited Yet) Public Interest Litigation was filed by the Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association, a registered Association for seeking directions for preservation of ecology and for keeping the Noyyal river in Tamil Nadu free from pollution.  [31]  According to this Association, a large number of industries, some of them respondents before the writ court and appellants herein had indulged in dyeing and bleaching works at Tirupur area and discharging the industrial effluents into the Noyyal river which had caused water pollution to the extent, that the water of the river was neither fit for irrigation nor potable. The pollution also adversely affected the Orthapalayam reservoir and other tanks and channels of the said river.  [32]   The court held in this case that the polluting Association cannot escape the responsibility to meet out the expenses of reversing the ecology.  [33]  They were bound to meet the expenses of removing the sludge of the river and also for cleaning the dam.  [34]  The principles of polluters-pay and precautionary principle in this case have been read with the doctrine of sustainable development.  [35]  In light of this reading it became the responsibility of the members of the Association that they carry out their industrial activities without polluting the water.  [36]   2.3.2 U.P. Pollution Control Board v. Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Modi and Anr, (2009)2SCC147 M/s Modi Carpets Ltd., Raebareli had been releasing affluent and sludge into a nearly water body and the same had been happening for a very long time. The court in this regard after looking at the facts and circumstances of the case came to the conclusion that the pollution that was being caused was the responsibility of this said establishment and held them liable for the damage caused to the environment.  [37]   2.3.3 Pondicherry Paper Limited v. Central Board for Prevention and Control of Pollution, Cri. M.P. No. 4662 4663 of 1978 Madras High Court Pondicherry Paper Limited had been releasing various chemicals intro a nearby water body. This had caused a lot of damage to the environment and the water in which the chemicals were being dumped was now not suitable for any form of usage.  [38]  The court in this case under Section 33 of the Water Act, gave an injunction to prevent further water pollution.  [39]   2.3.4 Narula Dyeing and Printing Works v. Union of India, AIR 1995 Guj 185 In this case the Dyeing Unit had not set up any treatment plant and had been functioning for a very long time. During the years of its functioning, it had been releasing the chemicals that it had been using in the Khalicut Canal. When the matter was brought to the cognizance of the court, they not only issued an injunction on this unit but also called for the payment of heavy damages.  [40]   3.0 The Condition of the Gomti Today The condition of the river Gomti has been depleting day be day. The waters of the river have been used by the residents of the city as a dumping ground for household garbage. The Times of India on the 16th of September, 2008 ran an article that brought this pathetic condition to the fore.  [41]  With the receding waters of the river, for the first time, the Lucknow Municipals Corporation came to know the amount of polythene that had been dumped in the river. The polythene had subsequently managed to reach the sewage treatment plant at Daulatganj, the sole sewage treatment plant in Lucknow on the Gomti. As a result of this, the plant was chocked and could not process the wastes. Consequently, untreated water had been flowing into the river Gomti causing the depletion of the aquatic environment as well as the marine life that exists there.  [42]   The treatment plant at Daulatganj receives 303 Million liters per Day of sewage.  [43]  When toxic substances enter a body of water, they get dissolved in the water and cause the oxygen levels in the water to deplete. On numerous occasions, the pollutants in the water remain suspended or get deposited at the bottom of the river. The resulting water pollution causes the quality of the water to deteriorate and affects aquatic ecosystems. Pollutants can also seep down and effect groundwater deposits.  [44]   Lucknows sewage and industrial wastes that are discharged into the Gomti have had a similar effect. Studies have shown that the amount of dissolved oxygen in the river has constantly been reduced with the raised levels of pollution. It is an accepted scientific fact that aquatic life cannot exist in waters where the level of dissolved oxygen is below 4 Mg / liter.  [45]  A study of the levels of dissolved oxygen in the waters of the Gomti has shown that the condition has been made critical because of the dumping of sewage and other pollutants. In 2008, the level of dissolved oxygen was calculated by the UPPCB to be 1.2658 Mg / Liter  [46]  causing large scale deaths of fish and other marine life forms.  [47]  In addition to this, micro organisms that thrive in highly alkaline waters that are unsuitable for the habitation of fishes and other aquatic beings too were found, which further corroborate the high toxicity levels of the waters of the Gomti.  [48]   Besides sewage being dumped in the river, municipal waste  [49]  as well as the animal carcasses too are left by the banks of the Gomti  [50]  . The dumping of municipal wastes along the river over a large period of time has caused the chemical composition of the soil as well as the water to change. As the toxic chemicals present in the waste percolates down the soil, it chemically reacts with the soil to alter its chemical nature and composition permanently.  [51]   The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute  [52]  had conducted a survey along the River Gomti in order to determine the levels of toxicity in the river water as well as the sediments along the banks. They concluded that the levels of heavy metals, found not only in the river but also in the sediments were raised above normal. The water contained 0.0276 mg / L of lead which was considerably above the optimal limit. Similarly, the levels of Cadmium and Copper too were substantially raised.  [53]   The study of the sediments found along the banks too narrated a similar story. The levels of Iron, Magnesium, Manganese and Cadmium had been raised alarmingly due to the continued disposal of toxic waste along the banks. Iron was found to be at a high of 739.43 m grams / gram. Similarly, in every gram of sediments collected, NEERI found 7.9 m grams of Cadmium.  [54]   It is thus evident from the raised levels of these heavy metals that the river water as well as the area surrounding it is highly toxic. The origin of these heavy metals has conclusively been determined as the waste products that have been dumped in the river and the areas surrounding.  [55]  The presence of these heavy metals has been known to cause several diseases. Cadmium for example causes health hazards like gastrointestinal ulcers, kidney damage, and liver damage.  [56]  Internationally, it has been recognized that the levels of Cadmium should not exceed 5 m grams / gram.  [57]  This index therefore gives us an idea as to the level of toxicity along the Gomti. The allegations that had been leveled against the National Botanical Research Institute  [58]  further has added to the debate.  [59]  It was alleged that the NBRI had been conducting the certain experiments using radioactive material. The disposal of the waste material created by the research was said to be in non conformity with the guidelines issued for disposal of radioactive waste.  [60]  The raised levels of heavy metals in the river water and in the sediments could be an indicator of the same.  [61]   4.0 Conclusion The situation encountered here is one that is not unusual in India. One cannot conclude that there is a paucity of laws in this particular area concerning water pollution. But when one looks at the enforcement of these laws, a lot remains desired.  [62]   The State Boards and the Central Boards have not been functioning as per their mandate. With government officials not catering to their responsibilities, the Boards have become paper tigers, despite the impressive legislative backing that they have. The empirical studies conducted by the researcher shows that the river water is exhibiting tell tale signs of high levels of pollution. The law on preservation of water bodies has stipulated the amount of sewage that can be released into the rivers and other streams in any region. As per Annexure II 303 Million Liter of sewage is released per day into the Gomti, the same is higher than any of the prescribed limits for proper waste disposal in any country of the world.  [63]   As a consequence of such high levels of pollution, the levels of dissolved oxygen in the water have depleted, rendering the water unsuitable for the sustenance of any form of life. Ideally, for the aquatic ecosystem to exist, there ought to be a minimum of 4 mg of dissolved oxygen per liter of water.  [64]  Unfortunately, due to the release of various pollutants into the river water, the level of dissolved oxygen has become as low as 1.2658 Mg / Liter.  [65]  The same has consequently resulted in the death of numerous fishes in the river. In addition to this, what is extremely alarming is the raised levels of heavy metal in the river water and the sediments found along the river bank. A qualitative analysis of the river water as well as the sediments have disclosed high levels of Cadmium and Lead, in addition to Iron.  [66]  The presence of these three heavy metals in such high quantity is indicative of the high levels of toxicity that exists today. The same is a result of the large scale dumping that has been happening both of domestic as well as industrial waste. The toxic waste seeps into the soil and eventually causes the depletion of the quality of the soil. In addition to this, there have been allegations of radioactive wastes being dumped into the river by the NBRI.  [67]   4.1 Liability of the Municipality In regards the dumping of untreated sewage water in the River Gomti by the U.P. Jal Nigam, the liability for the same shall rest on the Municipality in light of the ratio laid down in the case of M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1988 SC 1115. The Supreme Court in that case had stated that the maintenance of the ecosystem that exists in the rivers in India was the responsibility of the municipalities and they could not absolve themselves of the same on any ground.  [68]  If there was any release of chemicals or untreated sewage water into the waters of any river, the municipality responsible for having prevented the same shall be help responsible.  [69]   In the present matter, the Lucknow Municipality had the onus on them to ensure that the waters of the river Gomti were not polluted by the release of sewage. Since, the same was not done, they should be help responsible for the pollution caused to the river. Furthermore, the existence of heavy metals in the water and the sediments too can be attributed to the negligence of the Municipality. As per The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, specific limits have been provided that suggest the upper limit of the concentration of those heavy metals in the soil.  [70]   In light of Entry 3  [71]  , Entry 4  [72]  , and Entry 5  [73]  of Schedule I and Entry A3 and A4  [74]  and Entry B30 and B6 of Schedule II of the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, the liability of the Municipality of the is further established. A reading of these entries show that the concentration of the heavy metals in the water of the river as well as in the soil sediments is far above the permissible limits and hence would make the municipality liable.  [75]   4.2 Liability of the NBRI The NBRI cannot be held liable under the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 since the applicability of this legislation is specifically precluded from radio active wastes.  [76]  The disposal of radio active substance is covered by the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. As per the provisions of this legislation, whenever a particular organization is using any form of radioactive substance, then in that case the disposal of the same has to happen in sealed lead containers and not in the open, else the same might cause damage to the environment.  [77]   In the present case, the NBRI had been using radioactive substances, without disposing them off as per the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, that is, it had been releasing radioactive substances in the open and not in the proper sealed containers, the same shall render them liable for the damage caused to the environment. 4.3 Solutions The condition therefore is most certainly alarming. The city is dependent on the river for water, and continues to use the same, ignorant of the condition of the water, with no action being taken either by the U.P. Jal Sansthan or the UPPCB. There have been plans of cleaning up the Gomti, and the same have received immense media coverage as well. Unless and until, the flow of pollutants into the river is not stopped, such programs shall only be partial successes. Steps need to be taken to improve the levels of dissolved oxygen. In addition to this, the dumping that is happening along the river banks also needs to be controlled so that the levels of heavy metals can be reduced in the river water as well as in the sediments along the bank of the river. In addition to this, the dumping of animal carcasses as well as polythene bags need to be stopped. Not only do they block the water treatment plants, they also damage the aquatic ecosystem to a great extent.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Alzheimer’s Disease Essay -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition where the neurons degenerate in the brain, while the brain substance shrinks in volume. Alzheimer’s is also the number one cause of dementia. When it was first noticed, Alzheimer’s was thought to be a pre-senile disease, but now it is known to be responsible for seventy-five percent of the dementia cases in people over sixty-five years of age. Alzheimer’s disease usually causes several years of personal and intellectual decline until death. Because there is an increasing number of elderly citizens in the United States, research into the causes and possible cures for the disease is on the rise (1). Several theories have been made concerning factors that may cause the condition; however, the cause remains unknown. Some suggest that it may be caused by some type of chronic infection or from exposure to a metal that may be toxic, such as aluminum (1). This line of belief originated from high levels of aluminum deposits being found in Alzheimer’s brain lesions (2). It is also known that people with Alzheimer’s have reduced levels of brain chemicals, such as acetylcholine (1). Additionally, people with Down’s Syndrome are more likely to acquire this dementia, with about fifteen percent of Alzheimer’s patients showing a family history of this disease. This leads many scientists to believe that there is a genetic link to the disease. When twins have been studied, a high agreement rate has been found for the disease. Furthermore, there is sometimes a very dominant pattern of inheritance of this disease, where a person has a fifty percent chance of acquiring it if either parent has Alzheimer’s (autosomal dominant transmission) (1,2). It is rare to acquire Alzhei... ...al and family study of 22 twin pairs. Neurology, 1987, 37, 359-3B3. 4. Thomas, C. L. Alzheimer’s Disease. Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 15th ea., 1985, 61. 5. Murray, R. K., Cranner, D. K., Hayes, P. A. and Rodwell, V. W. Deposition of Amyloid Beta Protein is Involved in the Causation of Alzheimer’s Disease. Harper’s Biochemistry, 23rd ed., 1993, 750-752. 6. Miyakskawa, T., Katsuragi, S., Watanabe, K., Shimoji, A. and Ikouchi, Y. Ultrastructure Studies of Amyloid Fibrils and Senile Plaques in the Human Brain,1986,70: 202-208. 7. Frazier, S. H. American Psychiatry Glossary, 5th. ed., 1988, 11; 50: 153. 8. Cohen, C. D. Useful Information on Alzheimer’s Disease. Department of Health and Human Services, 1990, 5-7. 9. Rosenberg, R. N. A Causal Role for Amyloid in Alzheimer’s Disease: The end of the beginning. Neurology, 1993, 43:851-854.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Internet Pornography, the ACLU, and Congress Essay -- Cyberporn Essay

Internet Porn, the ACLU, and Congress      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ashcroft vs. ACLU, 00-1293, deals with a challenge to the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which Congress passed in 1998. The law, which is the subject of this essay, attempts to protect minors from exposure to Internet pornography by requiring that commercial adult websites containing "indecent" material that is "harmful to minors" use age-verification mechanisms such as credit cards or adult identification numbers.(Child) An earlier version of the law -- the 1996 Communications Decency Act -- was struck down as an unconstitutional restriction of free speech when challenged by the ACLU; the 1998 version attempted to address the constitutional concerns by limiting its scope to commercial websites, and carving out an exception for material that has "serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors." (Communications) COPA makes adult website operators liable for criminal sanctions -- up to $50,000 in fines and six months in jail -- if children are able to access material deemed "indecent," by "contemporary community standards," for those under 16. This raises the sticky issue of what "community" should set the standard for the global world of the Internet. No one has been prosecuted under COPA; the ACLU brought suit as soon as the law was passed, and a federal judge in Pennsylvania agreed to block enforcement. The Third Circuit upheld the injunction, ruling that COPA's reliance on community standards improperly allows the most conservative communities to dictate what should be considered indecent. The ACLU represents a number of plaintiffs who publish materials online, including an art gallery, Salon.com magazine, a bookstore, and the producer of a... ...rmful to minors on the Web, Beeson responded: "There isn't any way to make it a crime to display material harmful to minors on the Web." A decision from the Supreme Court is expected sometime in the spring of 2002. This case does not directly address the issue of how the community standards requirement applies to determining whether online material is obscene (speech that does not receive First Amendment protection) rather than merely indecent (harmful for minors but protected for adults). The court's ruling will nonetheless be significant in terms of the future of the "community standards" test for obscenity online. WORKS CITED: Child Online Protection Act. http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/copa.html Communications Decency Act. http://www.epic.org/CDA/cda.html "Legal Challenge to COPA" http://www.epic.org/free_speech/copa/complaint.html

Floor Exercise :: Exercise Physiology

Floor Exercise   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Floor exercise is a sequence of tumbles, leaps, and balances, which make a gymnastics performance. No equipment is used, only a mat and open space. At competitions, judges look for good posture, proper technique, continuity, and variety.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Floor exercise builds confidence and character. Your self confidence increases as you learn body control. As you become involved you will gain self discipline. You will learn valuable lessons about exercise, eating correctly, and getting the proper amount of rest, leading to a healthy and longer life. Competitive acrobatics have various levels at which people can participate and gain recognition for achievements. Most important, floor exercise is fun. More challenging the than other activities. Tumbling is considered the basis of all acrobatics. Although it is not one of the four Olympic competitive events, tumbling is important because the skills you learn will help you perform the other events. For example, the basic forward roll can also be performed on the balance beam and in the floor exercise, and is important even when learning the vault and the uneven bars.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The best way to learn floor exercise is through progressions. A progression is a step by step method of learning skills, beginning with the easy ones and gradually mastering the more difficult ones. If you wanted to learn a forward somersault, you would not just start out trying to do the somersault. Instead, you would learn a whole series of skills one by one, moving along to the next one only after you mastered the first. It is important to be patient when learning floor exercises through progressions. Do not move on to the next skill in the progression until you and your coach have determined that you are ready. This method will allow you to learn a large number of skills while having fun and developing confidence. If you find a skill to be particularly difficult to learn, perhaps you are trying to take too big of a step, or too many, in your progression. Ask your coach for assistance. She or he can almost always give you smaller steps that will help you reach your goal. In learning acrobatics or any other sport it requires that you also learn the language of the sport. The language of acrobatics is quite complicated. For example, a forward roll is done on the ground, but a forward somersault or salto is done in the air. Someone might think that you have learned a front flip, but you will know that this is really a salto.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Floor exercise is fun and one of the best overall physical fitness

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Wife of Bath

Madison Roan English 2332-CO1 Professor Heaslip Nov 18, 2012 Week 12 Alyson undoubtedly was a self-assured woman in the pilgrim expedition and her numerous marriages and declaring how she dealt with her husbands through sexual influence and trickery. However, I believe that Alyson perhaps was a realistic character of metropolitan woman with certain prosperity in the medieval England. I consider that Chaucer was justly attempting to define Alyson realistically and founded her on what he saw of actual women with her qualities in the London during his time.Alyson is what woman truly wants to be, however; don’t convey their true feelings. The Wife of Bath contradicts with everything a woman was back then. I believe that similar the additional characters in the Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath was intended to display how culture actually was through irony and drama. The Wife of Bath's Tale is voiced from a woman's position. She demonstrates in her story that the entity women most yearn is whole control over their husbands.It is said how she had the greater influence in all of her marriages. The Wife of Bath tells a tale of love, passion and enchantment. The Knight's Tale flawlessly portrays the character of a Knight: That is, he chooses love, righteousness, chivalry, and exploration. His story spoke of two cousins and brothers, who were embodied by the desire of one woman, Emily. They are both different when it comes to the women of the tales over the overall point of the stories are the same; love, passion and magic. Read also: â€Å"My Ideal Wife†

Monday, September 16, 2019

The Changing Demographics of Nursing

The face of nursing has been changing over the last 50 years. Women who a half a century ago would only work as nurses until they married are now ending up as nursing managers and administrators, moving out of the practical field. . But still it has been noted that the age of the nursing workforce has increased over the last quarter of a century, and fewer younger people are entering the nursing profession. In fact, at the time of the survey by the Bureau of Health Professions in 1997, baby boomers (those born between 1947 and 1962) were the largest component of the nursing workforce and at the current time only nine percent of registered nurses are younger than 30 years of age (Santucci, 2004). If this trend continues, then it would mean that the need for nursing would increase by as much as 22% between the years of 1998 and 2008. The demographics of nursing are changing as to the working environment as well. While hospitals employ about 60% of all nurses, the nurses who work in hospitals are likely to be younger, mostly due to the strain of physically demanding work and the shift work involved. While the hospitals tend to produce recruiting programs more focused on younger nurses, this also means that there is the need to promote relationships between the different generations of nurses. Problems in workplaces are the most often sited issues when it comes to job turnover rates among nurses. And the flow of younger nurses toward the hospital setting also means that the number of new graduate nurses being hired into the nursing pool is getting higher. This in turn results in a greater number of rather inexperienced new nurses in positions that may be better filled by experienced nurses. In order to answer this problem, residency programs have been developed for new graduate nurses, to provide orientation to the specialty areas such as critical care, medical/surgical and psychiatry. These residency programs appear to do much to help the new nurses address the challenges they face in their new positions. Green and Puetzer (2002) clearly define in their article the issues surrounding the importance of effective recruitment, efficient training and ultimate retention of experience nursing staff. A structured mentoring and precepting program appears to be key to all three of these issues and shows that while the schools prepare the nurses for the basics, mentoring programs are the most effective in the workplace. Without residency programs, there is a significant degree of turnover in the nursing staff, which leads to poor clinical are and burnout. A study by Bowles and Candela in 2005 reviewed involved the experiences of recent RN graduates in their first jobs (Bowles and Candela, 2005). The study was meant to determine new graduate perceptions of first jobs and why they left them, if they had. The results showed that 30% of new graduates left their positions within one year, and 57% had left their first positions within 2 years. Issues cited for leaving consisted of patient care problems, unsafe nurse to patient ratios, and stress associated with the acuity of the patients. Other significant issues (22%) noted a lack of support on the part of management, as well as a lack of guidance and a sensation of being given too much responsibility for patient care as compared to the nurse's level of comfort and experience. This review showed that RNs in the first year of work tend to leave their first position at a much higher rate than RNs who are in second or subsequent positions. It would appear from this study that to improve RN retention one must consider the development of orientation and mentoring programs. This would improve work environments and reduce stress levels. There is a limited availability of preceptors. This often causes nurse interns multiple preceptor assignments that causes problem with educational continuity, follow through on assignments and progress assessments, as well as preceptor burnout. Smith and Chalker (2005) describe the issue from the nurse interns' view where all active duty military nurses assigned to a military hospital between December 2000 and November 2003 were surveyed. A total sample of 216 nurse interns were surveyed regarding the nurse intern's perception of the preceptor continuity within the existing four-month nurse intern program. These nurses were also asked about differences in perception between clinical performance, role transition, job satisfaction and nursing retention issues among nurse interns who had the same preceptor throughout their 4-month internships as compared to those who did not. In this study, there appeared to be no difference reported in the clinical performance, role transitions and retention in nursing between nurse interns who had assigned clinical preceptors versus those who did not. Over 48% of those surveyed indicated that the presence of one or multiple preceptors had little to do with the nurse's desire to stay within the nursing profession. It is important, however, to note that of those who were surveyed who were new graduates, of these respondents 85% felt that having the same preceptor was most beneficial. Some supporting comments included issues such as building a trusting bond with the preceptor, consistency and continuity, and confidence building. Another interesting study assessed the effectiveness of using a mentorship program not only to retain quality nurses, but also to actually recruit them to programs in the first place. In this study (Nelson and Godfrey, 2004) identified that the new graduate nurse population required special attention, quoting that one in every three nurses under the age of 30 planned to leave their current job within the year (Aiken, et. l. 2001). Understanding this effect of patient care continuity, Nelson and Godfrey set out to see if a nurse mentorship program designed to provide an intense experience for students to gain greater clinical skills, and work values that would lead to commitment to professional teams and hopefully job retention. This study included nursing students who were within 2 semesters of graduation from a local program in Florida. All candidates for the program were prescreened and required a completed application as well as two letter of reference before they would be accepted into the program. Students in this study worked with assigned preceptors for a minimum of 16 hours with each two-week period, mentoring one on one with an experienced RN. It is interesting to note that ten of the students are now graduated, and remain employed by the hospital at which they precepted. It is likely that the selection process weeded out those applicants who most likely would be in benefit of a preceptor program, perhaps the more clinically insecure RN or the one who is struggling with assimilating clinical decision making skills and the like. There was benefit to the students in that they all felt better prepared for entry into employment as an RN. The benefit to the hospital also cannot be denied. As noted in the study, savings related to RN retention continues to accrue. Using the assumption that the 62 graduate nurses who did not participate in the program had participated, and applying the hospital's 23% turnover rate applied to this hypothetical group, this would mean a net savings of 14 nurses (instead of the 29 they would have lost without the program, according to previous rates of turnover). Assuming that the cost of mentorship for each RN would be approximately $10,000, and then the savings would be around $150,000 to the hospital based on nurse retention alone. This study would seem to indicate that the nurse mentorship program not only improves nurse clinical skills and job satisfaction, but also can be of monetary savings to the hospitals themselves. While relatively few articles available on mentorship for graduate nurses exist, there are enough valid studies out there which all seem to indicate the importance of orientation programs not only to improve clinical care, but to decrease nursing staff turnover, preceptor burnout and decrease the financial burden such turnover costs to the healthcare system.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Information and Communication Technologies

Chapter 1IntroductionIn modern society, most people are familiar with information and communication technologies: ICT is used at home and at work, for personal needs and for study; with their help bills are paid, things are bought and sold, interaction with state structures is carried out – all this and much more is done in the cyberspace. But are many really aware of the importance and danger of cyberthreats? The European Union, for example, is aware of and is doing its utmost to ensure cybersecurity, at least within the EU member states. Commercial enterprises, society, state structures and national security depend on the functioning of information technology and the competent exploitation of a critical information infrastructure; transport, communications, financial services, emergency and utilities rely on reliable, complete and secure information transmitted through this infrastructure. That is why the problem of cyberspace protection is critically important for the European Union. An incident that causes a violation of such infrastructure or IT systems can lead to serious negative consequences for the functioning of society and the economy. To assist in the organization of the protection of each individual EU member state and the European Union as a whole, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) was established to deal with the rapid detection, analysis and prevention of cyber incidents, as well as monitoring of the existing situation cases with cyberthreats. ENISA deals with a very wide range of issues: it creates reports on cyberthreats and cyber incidents, produces useful materials for experts in the field of information technology, conducts cyber exercises with the countries of the European Union, organizations and citizens of the EU, interacts with agencies and agencies of the European Union itself, holds meetings and conferences, and much more, but ENISA has not yet fully revealed its potential. Based on this statement, this study was aimed at assessing the effectiveness and construct a scenario for the future development of the agency. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were identified:Identify key terms on cyberspace;Identify the reasons for the establishment, the main goals and objectives of the agency on network and information security;To consider and evaluate the effectiveness of the internal organization of the work of ENISA;Identify the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of the practical and scientific activities of the Agency for Network and Information Security;Identify the key factors for building the forecast.Thus, the research question: How an entity such as agency or organization can be effective in providing security in cyberspace? For this study, we can distinguish two chronological frames – the first includes the time from 2004 to 2016 in that part of the work that is devoted to the history of the creation of the agency and the evolution of its goals, tasks and internal structure; second include the period from 2014 to 2016 in that part of the work that is devoted to the direct activities of ENISA. Since the full package of documents on the results of the year from the approximate time to us is only for 2014, for 2015 there are only partial data in free access and for 2016 there is only a work program available – a full package of documents will allow us to view the agency's performance in 2014 by comparing the planned tasks and their immediate execution, and the analysis of documents for 2015 and 2016 permits third degree of confidence in the agency, its development and predict the possible prospects of its development. The object of this study is the cybersecurity of the European Union, and the subject is the European Network and Information Security Agency.Scientific novelty lies in the fact that for this study was derived its definition of â€Å"cyberspace†, which, in the author's opinion, is the most complete reflection of all levels in it. Moreover, this study builds an independent scenario for the future development of ENISA.This work is based primarily on sources of internal organization of the work of the agency and its activities. The most important source is the charter of the agency for network and information security. In addition, an important European document is the convention on cybersecurity signed in 2001. The second most important for this study was the European cybersecurity strategy â€Å"Open, secure and reliable cyberspace†, as it provides the vector for the movement in the field of providing secure cyberspace. ?Chapter 2Literature Review2.1. Formation of the concepts â€Å"cyberspace† and â€Å"cyberthreat†. In the early 1990s, English sociologist E. Giddens proposed the theory of â€Å"reflexive modernization† of society, the main position of which is the idea of an increasing organization of society (Beck, Giddens & Lash, 1994). Modernization of society implies, firstly, an increase in the chances of choice for all members of a given society, which they implement under certain conditions, and secondly, the growth of reflexivity, which, according to Giddens, collects and processes information necessary for the adoption of various kinds â€Å"If today we choose our religion according to our personal beliefs, then we need information about other religions to make a choice,† Webster writes. There is a certain program: gathering information, conducting its analysis, making decisions based on possible risks. In a society where such a scheme exists, there will always be a high demand for information, caused by the desire to control the situation at all levels – from the political to the personal. First, at the state level, the collection and processing of information become important factors, since the main goals that cannot be overcome. To this end, the most complex systems, which by means of special computer technologies are engaged in continuous verification of the environment in all spheres of society. An example is the American system Echelon, which deals with â€Å"e-mail and facsimile mail forwarding †¦ and stores in its memory 5 trillion pages of text† (Webster, 2002). Secondly, computer technologies are widely used in the military sphere. In the new information society, the type of warfare has changed: from the industrial type to the so-called â€Å"information wars†. The main differences between the new type of war are the automation of control systems over the dispersed armed forces of the state (in cases where it is important for the state to present information in a favorable light for itself). According to Webster, to carry out a new type of war, the most modern technologies and means of protecting them are needed, careful planning of counterstrikes which, for example, is assisted by programmable weapon systems, simulation of the situation by means of computer visualization programs and system analysis (2002). Proceeding from this, the information war is, in fact, pre-programmed, because the most rapid response to a military act that contributes only to the computer, which is used in the conduct of this war. In addition, the use of information and communication technologies in the strategic sector of the economy, for example, the use of an automated milling machine in production. All of the above findings lead to the conclusion that cyberspace is becoming a kind of new â€Å"battlefield† for modern nation states. The core concepts and our understanding of international relations have its roots a decade or two back in history, which is why there created on the presumption that countries are suitable bodies in global politics, and that agreements between countries will decrease the possibility of attack and conflict. Alike historic view appreciates, takes into account the national borders and considers the cross border violation as a special case (Choucri & Goldsmith, 2012). However, few critical characteristics of the cyberspace do not go along with the historic view, it has formed a new way to complicate the tension in the world and modern options to prevent conflict. Nowadays, the modern conflicts that are based on cyberspace are happening, everything from â€Å"transnational crime and espionage to cyberwar that could disrupt military systems, shut down government servers, or damage critical infrastructure† (Choucri & Goldsmith, 2012).In addition, citizens of countries unite increasingly use the Internet for individual needs. According to the report of European Commission on 2015 on cybersecurity, 60% of EU citizens use the Internet daily for personal use (compared to 2013, the increase was 6%) and about 14% use the Internet about 5 times a week, and only 9% do not have a home Internet at all (Table 1). In general, the number of Internet users (both for personal and work needs) the growth has increased, and the percentage of people without access to the Internet has decreased, and the percentage of people who do not use the Internet has also decreased (Table 1). In addition, the percentage of people using social networks, making purchases via the Internet and using Internet banking services, has increased (Table 2). This growing trend has also led to increased public anxiety about security in cyberspace. According to the report, most EU citizens are concerned about the abuse of their personal data of third parties and the safety of online transactions with funds. In order to protect themselves from cyberthreats, the most popular of them are installing anti-virus and ignoring strange content sent to the mail or in social networks. However, it seems strange that only 38% of people try not to spread personal information about themselves to the network for their safety. Although this can be explained by the fact that the percentage of people who believe that websites and the state protect any personal information has increased (For example, there is a â€Å"shift† of responsibility for the safety of data from their shoulders to others) (Table 3). But it is worth noting that in this case there arises a certain â€Å"security dilemma†: if a state or organization takes up careful protection of personal data of users, first of all they will require full access to any personal information for themselves (they will need to know what exactly protect). Will not this lead to a loss of freedom? That is the dilemma: to ensure a high level of security, one must sacrifice personal freedom and vice versa. It is possible that a certain percentage of the citizens of the European Union are ready to sacrifice this freedom, since the percentage of people who understand the danger of cyberthreats has nevertheless grown by an average of 1.5% over the previous year, hence people are increasingly aware of the importance of this sphere (Table 4). Thus, we observe that cyberspace has become an integral part of our society – the economy, public administration, people's daily lives and social interaction depend on the proper operation of information and communication technologies. That is why special attention should be paid to the protection of cyberspace from cybercrime of various kinds: abuse of frequent information, malicious activity, cyberterrorism, etc. At the same time, cybersecurity cannot be fully implemented by only one country and requires international cooperation, since the cybersphere has neither state, nor any other borders. â€Å"Cybersecurity is a global problem that requires a global response,† said N. Kroes, EU Commissioner for Digital Policy, in her speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos (2013). Cybersecurity has become the object of growing concern and attention right after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York, when it was determined that terrorists used the Internet for negotiations, intelligence, research purposes and dissemination of their propaganda. But the state immediately encountered a problem that hampered and hampered so far fruitful cooperation – no one can form a single definition of the term â€Å"cyberspace†, at least on the level of whether cyberspace is considered only the environment of the World Wide Web, or in cyberspace, various computer technologies and networks that connect them. This research could form its notion of cyberspace as difficult to understand an environment that does not have a physical form, created through the interaction of people, software and the Internet with the help of electricity, special equipment and networks associated with them. The above definitions formed the basis for understanding cyberspace for this study, and cybersecurity will be considered as the absence of threats in cyberspace.Based on the definition of cyberspace given above, you can see that the cybersphere is not homogeneous and has several levels on which it exists. David Clark, an American scientist in the field of informatics, applied a systemic approach and derived the very â€Å"levels of cyberspace† (2010):Physical level – that is, physical devices that are the â€Å"foundation† of cyberspace: it's PCs and servers, â€Å"supercomputers† and power systems, satellites, sensors, as well as other technical connectors (wired and wireless). Thus, at this level, cyberspace has some geographical location and is subject to the national jurisdiction of any state;The logical level is the code, the platform that provides the â€Å"nature† of cyberspace;Information level – it is about information that is stored, transmitted and transformed in cyberspace;Social level – people who directly transform the nature of cyberspace as a result of its use.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

American Literature Essay

When the English preacher and writer Sidney Smith asked in 1820, â€Å"In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? † little did he suspect that less than two hundred years later the answer in literate quarters would be â€Å"just about everyone. † Indeed, just a few years after Smith posed his inflammatory question, the American writer Samuel Knapp would begin to assemble one of the first histories of American literature as part of a lecture series that he was giving. The course materials offered by American Passages continue in the tradition begun by Knapp in 1829. One goal of this Study Guide is to help you learn to be a literary historian: that is, to introduce you to American literature as it has evolved over time and to stimulate you to make connections between and among texts. Like a literary historian, when you make these connections you are telling a story: the story of how American literature came into being. This Overview outlines four paths (there are many others) by which you can narrate the story of American literature: one based on literary movements and historical change, one based on the American Passages Overview Questions, one based on Contexts, and one based on multiculturalism. TELLING THE STORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE Literary Movements and Historical Change American Passages is organized around sixteen literary movements or â€Å"units. † A literary movement centers around a group of authors that share certain stylistic and thematic concerns. Each unit includes ten authors that are represented either in The Norton Anthology of American Literature or in the Online Archive. Two to four of these authors are discussed in the video, which calls attention to important historical and cultural influences on these authors, defines a genre that they share, and proposes some key thematic parallels. Tracking literary movements can help you see how American literature has changed and evolved over time. In general, people think about literary movements as reacting against earlier modes of writing and earlier movements. For T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E 3 example, just as modernism (Units 10–13) is often seen as a response to realism and the Gilded Age (Unit 9), so Romanticism is seen as a response to the Enlightenment (Unit 4). Most of the units focus on one era (see the chart below), but they will often include relevant authors from other eras to help draw out the connections and differences. (Note: The movements in parentheses are not limited to authors/works from the era in question, but they do cover some material from it. ) Century Fifteenth– Seventeenth Eighteenth Era Renaissance American Passages Literary Movements. (1: Native Voices) 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise (3: Utopian Promise) 4: Spirit of Nationalism (7: Slavery and Freedom) 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 6: Gothic Undercurrents 7: Slavery and Freedom (1: Native Voices) 6: Gothic Undercurrents 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism (1: Native Voices) 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 12: Migrant Struggle 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Enlightenment Nineteenth Romanticist Nineteenth Realist Twentieth Modernist Twentieth Postmodernist Each unit contains a timeline of historical events along with the dates of key literary texts by the movement’s authors. These timelines are designed to help you make connections between and among the movements, eras, and authors covered in each unit. 4 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Overview Questions The Overview Questions at the start of each unit are tailored from the five American Passages Overview Questions that follow. They are meant to help you focus your viewing and reading and participate in discussion afterward. 1. What is an American? How does literature create conceptions of the American experience and American identity? This two-part question should trigger discussion about issues such as, Who belongs to America? When and how does one become an American? How has the search for identity among American writers changed over time? It can also encourage discussion about the ways in which immigration, colonization, conquest, youth, race, class, and gender affect national identity. 2. What is American literature? What are the distinctive voices and styles in American literature? How do social and political issues influence the American canon? This multi-part question should instigate discussion about the aesthetics and reception of American literature. What is a masterpiece? When is something considered literature, and how is this category culturally and historically dependent? How has the canon of American literature changed and why? How have American writers used language to create art and meaning? What does literature do? This question can also raise the issue of American exceptionalism: Is American literature different from the literature of other nations? 3. How do place and time shape the authors’ works and our understanding of them? This question addresses America as a location and the many ways in which place impacts American literature’s form and content. It can provoke discussion about how regionalism, geography, immigration, the frontier, and borders impact American literature, as well as the role of the vernacular in indicating place. 4. What characteristics of a literary work have made it influential over time? This question can be used to spark discussion about the evolving impact of various pieces of American literature and about how American writers used language both to create art and respond to and call for change. What is the individual’s responsibility to uphold the community’s traditions, and when are individuals compelled to resist them? What is the relationship between the individual and the community? 5. How are American myths created, challenged, and re-imagined through this literature? This question returns to â€Å"What is an American? † But it poses the question at a cultural rather than individual level. What are the myths that make up American culture? What is the American Dream? What are American myths, dreams, and nightmares? How have these changed over time? T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E 5 Contexts Another way that connections can be made across and between authors is through the five Contexts in each unit: three longer Core Contexts and two shorter Extended Contexts. The goal of the Contexts is both to help you read American literature in its cultural background and to teach you close-reading skills. Each Context consists of a brief narrative about an event, trend, or idea that had particular resonance for the writers in the unit as well as Americans of their era; questions that connect the Context to the authors in the unit; and a list of related texts and images in the Online Archive. Examples of Contexts include discussions of the concept of the Apocalypse (3: â€Å"Utopian Visions†), the sublime (4: â€Å"Spirit of Nationalism†), and baseball (14: â€Å"Becoming Visible†). The Contexts can be used in conjunction with an author or as stand-alone activities. The Slide Show Tool on the Web site is ideal for doing assignments that draw connections between archive items from a Context and a text you have read. And you can create your own contexts and activities using the Slide Show Tool: these materials can then be e-mailed, viewed online, projected, or printed out on overhead transparencies. Multiculturalism In the past twenty years, the field of American literature has undergone a radical transformation. Just as the mainstream public has begun to understand America as more diverse, so, too, have scholars moved to integrate more texts by women and ethnic minorities into the standard canon of literature taught and studied. These changes can be both exhilarating and disconcerting, as the breadth of American literature appears to be almost limitless. Each of the videos and units has been carefully balanced to pair canonical and noncanonical voices. You may find it helpful, however, to trace the development of American literature according to the rise of different ethnic and minority literatures. The following chart is designed to highlight which literatures are represented in the videos and the units. As the chart indicates, we have set different multicultural literatures in dialogue with one another. Literature African American literature Video Representation 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation Study Guide Representation 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 6 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Native American literature 1: Native Voices 5: Masculine Heroes 14: Becoming Visible 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 2: Exploring Borderlands 5: Masculine Heroes 10: Rhythms in Poetry 12: Migrant Struggle 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 9: Social Realism 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity 9: Social Realism 11: Modernist Portraits 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 6: Gothic Undercurrents 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity 2: Exploring Borderlands 5: Masculine Heroes 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Latino literature 2: Exploring Borderlands 10: Rhythms in Poetry 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity Asian American literature 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity Jewish American 9: Social Realism literature 11: Modernist Portraits 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Women’s literature 1: Native Voices 2: Exploring Borderlands 3: Utopian Promise 6: Gothic Undercurrents 7: Slavery and Freedom 8: Regional Realism 9: Social Realism 11: Modernist Portraits 12: Migrant Struggle 13: Southern Renaissance 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity Gay and lesbian literature 2: Exploring Borderlands 5: Masculine Heroes 10: Rhythms in Poetry 11: Modernist Portraits 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E 7 Literature cont’d Working-class literature Video Representation 2: Exploring Borderlands 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 9: Social Realism 12: Migrant Struggle 16: Search for Identity Study Guide Representation 2: Exploring Borderlands 4: Spirit of Nationalism 5: Masculine Heroes 7: Slavery and Freedom 9: Social Realism 10: Rhythms in Poetry 12: Migrant Struggle 14: Becoming Visible 15: Poetry of Liberation 16: Search for Identity LITERATURE IN ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT When you study American literature in its cultural context, you enter a multidisciplined and multi-voiced conversation where scholars and critics in different fields examine the same topic but ask very different questions about it. For example, how might a literary critic’s understanding of nineteenthcentury American culture compare to that of a historian of the same era? How can an art historian’s understanding of popular visual metaphors enrich our readings of literature? The materials presented in this section of the Study Guide aim to help you enter that conversation. Below are some suggestions on how to begin. Deep in the heart of the Vatican Museum is an exquisite marble statue from first- or second-century Rome. Over seven feet high, the statue depicts a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid in which Laocoon and his sons are punished for warning the Trojans about the Trojan horse. Their bodies are entwined with large, devouring serpents, and Laocoon’s face is turned upward in a dizzying portrait of anguish, his muscles rippling and bending beneath the snake’s strong coils. The emotion in the statue captured the heart and eye of critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who used the work as the starting point for his seminal essay on the relationship between literature and art, â€Å"Laocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry. † For Lessing, one of the most common errors that students of culture can make is to assume that all aspects of culture develop in tandem with one another. As Lessing points out, each art has its own strengths. For example, literature works well with notions of time and story, and thus is more flexible than visual art in terms of imaginative freedom, whereas painting is a visual medium that can reach greater beauty, although it is static. For Lessing, the mixing of these two modes (temporal and spatial) carries great risk along with rewards. As you study literature in conjunction with any of the fine arts, you may find it helpful to ask whether you agree with Lessing that literature is primarily a temporal art. Consider too the particular 8 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? strengths of the media discussed below. What do they offer that may not be available to writers? What modes do they use that complement our understanding of the literary arts? Fine Arts Albrecht Durer created some of the most disturbing drawings known to humans: they are rife with images of death, the end of the world, and dark creatures that inhabit hell. Images such as The Last Judgement (below) can be found in the Online Archive. In Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), a devout Christian knight is taunted by the Devil and Death, who gleefully shakes a quickly depleting hourglass, mocking the soldier with the passing of time. Perhaps the tension and anxiety in Durer’s print resonated with the American poet Randall Jarrell in his struggle with mental illness. In â€Å"The Knight, Death, and the Devil,† Jarrell opens with a description of the scene: Cowhorn-crowned, shockheaded, cornshucked-bearded, Death is a scarecrow—his death’s-head a teetotum . . . Jarrell’s description is filled with adjectives in much the same way that the print is crowded with detail. The poem is an instance of what critics call ekphrasis: the verbal description of a work of visual art, usually of a painting, photograph, or sculpture but sometimes of an urn, tapestry, or quilt. Ekphrasis attempts to bridge the gap between the verbal and the visual arts. Artists and writers have always influenced one another: sometimes directly as in the case of Durer’s drawing and Jarrell’s poem, and other times indirectly. The Study Guide will help you navigate through these webs of influence. For example, Unit 5 will introduce you to the Hudson River [7995] Albrecht Durer, The Last School, the great American landscape painters Judgement (1510), courtesy of the of the nineteenth century. In the Context focusprint collection of Connecticut ing on these artists, you will learn of the interCollege, New London. connectedness of their visual motifs. In Unit 11, William Carlos Williams, whose poems â€Å"The Dance† and â€Å"Landscape with the Fall of Icarus† were inspired by two paintings by Breughel, will draw your attention to the use of ekphrasis. Williams’s work is a significant example of how multiple traditions in art can influence a writer: in addition to his interest in European art, Williams imitated Chinese landscapes and poetic forms. When you encounter works of fine art, such as paintings, photographs, or sculpture, in the Online Archive or the Study Guide, you may find two tools used by art historians helpful: formal analysis and iconography. Formal L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 9 [3694] Thomas Cole, The Falls of Kaaterskill (1826), courtesy of the Warner Collection of the Gulf States Paper Corporation, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. analysis, like close readings of poems, seeks to describe the nature of the object without reference to the context in which it was created. A formal analysis addresses such questions as Where does the central interest in the work lie? How is the work composed and with what materials? How is lighting or shading used? What does the scene depict? What allusions (mythological, religious, artistic) are found in the work? Once you have described the work of art using formal analysis, you may want to extend your reading by calling attention to the cultural climate in which the work was produced. This is called an iconographic reading. Here the Context sections of the Study Guide will be useful. You may notice, for example, a number of nineteenth-century paintings of ships in the Online Archive. One of the Contexts for Unit 6 argues that these ships can be read as symbols for nineteenth-century America, where it was common to refer to the nation as a â€Å"ship of state. † The glowing light or wrecked hulls in the paintings reflect the artists’ alternating optimism and pessimism about where the young country was headed. Below are two possible readings of Thomas Cole’s painting The Falls of Kaaterskill that employ the tools of formal analysis and iconography. W R I T E R A : F O R M A L A N A L Y S I S In this painting by Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole, the falls that give the painting its name grab our attention. The shock of the white falls against the concentrated brightness of the rocks ensures that the waterfall will be the focus of the work. Even amidst this brightness, however, there is darkness and mystery in the painting, where the falls emerge out of a dark quarry and crash down onto broken tree limbs and staggered rocks. The descent is neither peaceful nor pastoral, unlike the presentation of nature in Cole’s other works, such as the Oxbow. The enormity of the falls compared to the lone human figure that perches above them also adds to the sense of power the falls embody. Barely recognizable as human because it is so minute, the figure still pushes forward as if to embrace the cascade of the water in a painting that explores the tension between the individual and the power of nature. W R I T E R B : I C O N O G R A P H Y I agree with Writer A that this painting is all about the power of nature, but I would argue that it is about a particular kind of power: one that nineteenthcentury thinkers called the â€Å"sublime. † Cole’s portrait of the falls is particularly indebted to the aesthetic ideas formulated by Edmund Burke in the eighteenth century. Burke was interested in categorizing aesthetic responses, and he distinguished the â€Å"sublime† from the â€Å"beautiful. † While the beautiful is calm and harmonious, the sublime is majestic, wild, and even savage. While viewers are soothed by the beautiful, they are overwhelmed, awestruck, and sometimes terrified by the sublime. Often associated with huge, overpowering natural 10 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? phenomena like mountains, waterfalls, or thunderstorms, the â€Å"delightful terror† inspired by sublime visions was supposed to both remind viewers of their own insignificance in the face of nature and divinity and inspire them with a sense of transcendence. Here the miniature figure is the object of our gaze even as he is obliterated by the grandeur of the water. During the nineteenth century, tourists often visited locales such as the Kaaterskill Falls in order to experience the â€Å"delightful terror† that they brought. This experience is also echoed in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay â€Å"Nature,† in which he writes of his desire to become a â€Å"transparent eyeball† that will be able to absorb the oversoul that surrounds him. The power that nature holds here is that of the divine: nature is one way we can experience higher realms. How do these readings differ? Which do you find more compelling and why? What uses can you see for formal analysis or iconographic readings? When might you choose one of these strategies over the other? History  As historian Ray Kierstead has pointed out, history is not just â€Å"one damn thing after another†: rather, history is a way of telling stories about time or, some might say, making an argument about time. The Greek historian Herodotus is often called the father of history in the western world, as he was one of the first historians to notice patterns in world events. Herodotus saw that the course of empires followed a cyclical pattern of rise and fall: as one empire reaches its peak and self-destructs out of hubris (excessive pride), a new empire or new nations will be born to take its place. Thomas Cole’s five-part series The Course of Empire (1833) mirrors this Herodotean notion of time as his scene moves from savage, to pastoral, to consummation, to devastation, to desolation. This vision of time has been tremendously influential in literature: whenever you read a work written in the pastoral mode (literature that looks back with nostalgia to an era of rural life, lost simplicity, and a time when nature and culture were one), ask yourself whether there is an implicit optimism or pessimism about what follows this lost rural ideal. For example, in Herman Melville’s South Sea novel Typee, we find the narrator in a Tahitian village. He seeks to determine if he has entered a pastoral or savage setting: is he surrounded by savages, or is he plunged in a pastoral bliss? Implicit in both is a suggestion that there are earlier forms of civilization than the United States that the narrator has left behind. Any structural analysis of a work of literature (an analysis that pays attention to how a work is ordered) would do well to consider what notions of history are embedded within. In addition to the structural significance of history, a dialogue between history and literature is crucial because much of the early literature of the United States can also be categorized as historical documents. It is helpful, therefore, to understand the genres of history. Like literature, history is comprised of different genres, or modes. Historian Elizabeth Boone defines the main traditional genres of history as res gestae, geographical, and annals. Res gestae, or â€Å"deeds done,† organizes history through a list of accomplishments. This was a popu- L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 11 lar form of history for the ancient Greeks and Romans; for example, the autobiography of Julius Caesar chronicles his deeds, narrated in the third person. When Hernan Cortes and other explorers wrote accounts of their travels (often in the form of letters to the emperor), Caesar’s autobiography served as their model. Geographical histories use travel through space to shape the narrative: Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative is an example of a geographical history in that it follows her through a sequence of twenty geographic â€Å"removes† into Indian country and back. Annals, by contrast, use time as the organizing principle. Information is catalogued by year or month. Diaries and journals are a good example of this genre. These three genres can also be found in the histories of the Aztecs and Mayans of Mesoamerica and in those of the native communities of the United States and Canada. For example, the migration legend, a popular indigenous form of history, is a geographical history, whereas trickster tales often tell the early history of the world through a series of deeds. Memoirists also mix genres; for example, the first section of William Bradford’s Of Plimouth Plantation is a geographical history, whereas the second half is annals. Today the most common historical genres are intellectual history (the history of ideas), political history (the story of leaders), and diplomatic history (the history of foreign relations). To these categories we might add the newer categories of â€Å"social history† (a history of everyday life) and â€Å"gender history† (which focuses on the construction of gender roles). Finally, history is a crucial tool for understanding literature because literature is written in—and arguably often reflects—a specific historical context. Readers of literary works can deepen their understanding by drawing on the tools of history, that is, the records people leave behind: political (or literary) documents, town records, census data, newspaper stories, captivity narratives, letters, journals, diaries, and the like. Even such objects as tools, graveyards, or trading goods can tell us important information about the nature of everyday life for a community, how it worshipped or what it thought of the relationship between life and death. 12 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Material Culture [6332] Archibald Gunn and Richard Felton Outcault, New York Journal’s Colored Comic Supplement (1896), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZC4-25531]. When you look at an object, it may call up associations from the past. For example, for the first-time viewer the clown figure in the image above may seem innocuous, yet at the end of the nineteenth century his popularity was so intense that it started a newspaper war fierce enough to spawn a whole new term for sensationalist, irresponsible journalism—â€Å"yellow journalism. † Objects such as this comic supplement constitute â€Å"material culture,† the objects of everyday life. In Material Culture Studies in America, Thomas Schlereth provides the following useful definition of material culture: Material culture can be considered to be the totality of artifacts in a culture, the vast universe of objects used by humankind to cope with the physical world, to facilitate social intercourse, to delight our fancy, and to create symbols of meaning. . . . Leland Ferguson argues that material culture includes all â€Å"the things that people leave behind . . . all of the things people make from the physical world—farm tools, ceramics, houses, furniture, toys, buttons, roads, cities. † (2) When we study material culture in conjunction with literature, we wed two notions of â€Å"culture† and explore how they relate. As critic John Storey notes, the first notion of culture is what is often called â€Å"high culture†Ã¢â‚¬â€the â€Å"general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic factors†; and the second is â€Å"lived culture†Ã¢â‚¬â€the â€Å"particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group† (2). In a sense, material culture (as the objects of a lived culture) allows us to see how the prevailing intellectual ideas were played out in the daily lives of people in a particular era. Thus, as Schlereth explains, through studying material culture we can learn about the â€Å"belief systems—the values, ideas, attitudes, and assumptions—of a particular community or society, usually across time† (3). In reading objects as embedded with meaning, we follow Schlereth’s premise that â€Å"objects made or L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 13 modified by humans, consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, reflect the belief patterns of individuals who made, commissioned, purchased, or used them, and, by extension, the belief patterns of the larger society of which they are a part† (3). The study of material culture, then, can help us better understand the cultures that produced and consumed the literature we read today. Thomas Schlereth suggests a number of useful models for studying material culture; his â€Å"Art History Paradigm† is particularly noteworthy in that it will help you approach works of â€Å"high art,† such as paintings and sculptures, as well. The â€Å"Art History Paradigm† argues that the interpretive objective of examining the artifact is to â€Å"depict the historical development and intrinsic merit† of it. If you are interested in writing an â€Å"Art History Paradigm† reading of material culture, you might look at an object and ask yourself the following questions, taken from Sylvan Barnet’s Short Guide to Writing about Art. These questions apply to any art object: First, we need to know information about the artifact so we can place it in a historical context. You might ask yourself: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is my first response to the work? When and where was the work made? Where would the work originally have been seen? What purpose did the work serve? In what condition has the work survived? (Barnet 21–22) In addition, if the artifact is a drawing, painting, or advertisement, you might want to ask yourself questions such as these: 1. What is the subject matter? What (if anything) is happening? 2. If the picture is a portrait, how do the furnishings and the background and the angle of the head or the posture of the head and body (as well as the facial expression) contribute to our sense of the subject’s character? 3. If the picture is a still life, does it suggest opulence or want? 4. In a landscape, what is the relation between human beings and nature? Are the figures at ease in nature, or are they dwarfed by it? Are they one with the horizon, or (because the viewpoint is low) do they stand out against the horizon and perhaps seem in touch with the heavens, or at least with open air? If there are woods, are these woods threatening, or are they an inviting place of refuge? If there is a clearing, is the clearing a vulnerable place or is it a place of refuge from ominous woods? Do the natural objects in the landscape somehow reflect the emotions of the figures? (Barnet 22–23; for more questions, see pp. 23–24) Material culture is a rich and varied resource that ranges from kitchen utensils, to advertisements, to farming tools, to clothing. Unpacking the significance of objects that appear in the stories and poems you read may help you better understand characters and their motives. 14 W H AT I S A M E R I C A N L I T E R AT U R E ? Architecture. Most of the time we read the hidden meanings of buildings without even thinking twice. Consider the buildings below: Above: [9089] Anonymous, Capitol Building at Washington, D. C. (1906), courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-121528]. Right: [6889] Anonymous, Facade of the Sam Wah’s Chinese Laundry (c. 1890 –1900), courtesy of the Denver Public Library. Even if we had never seen either of these buildings before, it would not take us long to determine which was a government building and which was a smalltown retail establishment. Our having seen thousands of buildings enables us to understand the purpose of a building from architectural clues. When first seeing a work of architecture, it is helpful to unpack cultural assumptions. You might ask: 1. What is the purpose of this building? Is it public or private? What activities take place within it? 2. What features of the building reflect this purpose? Which of these features are necessary and which are merely conventional? 3. What buildings or building styles does this building allude to? What values are inherent in that allusion? 4. What parts of this building are principally decorative rather than functional? What does the ornament or lack of it say about the status of the owners or the people who work there? 5. What buildings surround this building? How do they affect the way the building is entered? 6. What types of people live or work in this building? How do they interact within the space? What do these findings say about the relative social status of the occupants? How does the building design restrict or encourage that status? 7. How are people supposed to enter and move through the building? What clues does the building give as to how this movement should take place? L I T E R AT U R E I N I T S C U LT U R A L C O N T E X T 15 These questions imply two basic assumptions about architecture: (1) architecture reflects and helps establish social status and social relations; and (2) architecture