Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent Essay Example

Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent Paper The Secret Agent was written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1908. It’s a classic novel based on actual events: the attempt to blow up the Greenwich Observatory in 1984. This fictionalized tale revolves around Mr. Verloc, a spy for his home country of France while living and working in London, Mr. Verloc’s wife, Winnie, a devoted wife and lives her life caring for her young brother, and Stevie, Winnie’s simple-minded brother who manages to get involved with Mr. Verloc’s dangerous politics. The family relationships in this novel, particularly Winnies devotion to her brother Stevie, are quite strong and relevant to the events of the story. The novel seems to be mostly about Winnie, though she appears to only be a minor character throughout the majority of the story. Winnie is the injured party when the scheme to blow up the Greenwich Observatory goes disastrously wrong, though the plan was engineered to save Mr. Verloc from the possibility of death. In a way, Mr. Verloc and Winnie are almost paralleled to one another in the story, both living behind secrets. While reading the novel, Winnie and Mr. Verloc’s relationship seemed odd and unfamiliar. Chapter VIII in The Secret Agent reveals a passage that makes the reader consider Winnie and Mr. We will write a custom essay sample on Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Verloc to be strangers to one another: [t]his head arranged for the night, those ample shoulders, had an aspect of familiar sacredness—the sacredness of domestic peace. She moved not, massive and shapeless like a recumbent statue in the rough; he remembered her wide-open eyes looking into the empty room. She was mysterious, with the mysteriousness of living beings. (Conrad 148) The imagery in the passage seems cold, and lacking the passion that a man would use to describe his wife laying in bed next to him. By calling Winnie sacred, Conrad does add a little warmth, because unlike Winnie, Mr. Verloc does love her, but she is also described as mysterious. Winnie and Mr. Verloc have been married for seven years and the fact that she can still be described as mysterious is unusual. Lying in bed together at night is a very intimate moment between two people, and the passage portrays Winnie as being a statue, not moving at all. When in a comfortable marriage, the husband and wife should be able to move freely and talk because it is their time to be alone with one another, but instead Winnie is compared to a statue that is lying down, the imagery in the passage compares Winnie to a figure made of stone. There are other images in the novel where Winnie is completely still, and maybe not directly being called a statue, she acts as one, â€Å"[s]he remained mysteriously still† (Conrad 215) or: a white-hot iron drawn across her eyes; at the same time her heart, hardened and chilled into a lump of ice, kept her body in an inward shudder, set her features into a frozen, contemplative immobility addressed to a whitewashed wall with no writing on it. (Conrad 199) The passage shows that Mr. Verloc and Winnie have not completely opened themselves up to one another, hiding behind secrets. Mr. Verloc hides from Winnie that he is a secret agent working for the French Embassy, and Winnie puts on a front for her husband as a devoted wife so she and her brother, Stevie, can live with financial security. The passage shows the reader just how little Winnie is emotionally invested in her marriage. Winnie appears to an outsider, such as Comrade Ossipon, to be a devoted wife to Mr. Verloc, but in reality she has devoted her entire life to her brother, first protecting the poor boy from his own abusive father, then caring for him when their mother became disabled, and finally marrying Mr. Verloc with the intention that Stevie would always be cared for and not have to work. Winnie has given up freedom and love for her brother and thrown all her trust on to this man, who has a secret life that he has refused to disclose to her. Winnie and Mr. Verloc each hide behind a big secret, which stands in the way of their marriage. They are parallel to one another through their deceit. Both characters are morally corrupt, Mr. Verloc is in many ways self-deceived, since he does not admit to himself how grimy his methods of making a living are, and it seems that he even wanted to be rid of the mentally deficient Stevie with his lack of sympathy for Winnie, and Winnie allows herself to be sexually exploited by marrying Mr. Verloc, whom she does not love, but does it for the sake of Stevie and her mother, and by so carelessly throwing herself at the feet of Comrade Ossipon near the end of the novel. The excerpt shows the reader that Mr. Verloc and Winnie are almost strangers in this story by calling her mysterious, but then the narrator takes it a step further by saying she is mysterious, â€Å"with the mysteriousness of living beings† (Conrad 148). The description of Winnie from Mr. Verloc’s point of view seems very general and vague, not a loving, meaningful, or even familiar depiction of Winnie. But it is not the only time that Winnie is thought of as being mysterious, â€Å"Mrs. Verloc sat still under her black veil, in her own house, like a masked and mysterious visitor of impenetrable intentions† (Conrad 211). Even in her own house, Winnie is somewhat of a mysterious visitor, and Mr. Verloc is not able to relate to his wife, especially after she finds out the truth of Stevie’s death. It is obvious Mr. Verloc does not know Winnie’s true self by the sheer fact that he thinks he’s doing Winnie a favor by sparing his own life and letting Stevie be in control of the bomb, and this shows through Mr. Verloc’s persistent defense of his actions to his wife Winnie, â€Å"‘[d]o be reasonable, Winnie. What would it have been if you had lost me? ’† (Conrad 193). When Mr. Verloc asks Winnie that question, he must be assuming that Winnie would be more sorrowful had he died instead of Stevie. Mr. Verloc is clearly unaware of Winnie’s intentions for their marriage and just how much she truly cared about Stevie. Mr. Verloc and Winnie’s deceit ultimately brought them to their deaths at the end of the novel. Both suffering from moral corruption and a loveless marriage, Mr. Verloc and Winnie were paralleled through their secrets from one another. Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent. New York: Signet Classics, 2007.

The Moors essays

The Moors essays The Moors who originated form North Africa were a military culture who started their invasions and attempted dominance in 711 ad. The purpose of the invasion was to bring their religion, politics, and their social standards to other parts of the world. But with this brought pain and suffering to where ever they went especially Spain. They were a group that were persecuted by the Christians and eventually expelled by the monarchy of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella who were Catholic. Despite the persecution that the Moors went though they left an ever-lasting impression on the development of the Spanish people as well as the culture. Many of the impacts that the Moors made during their invasion can still be seen today. The history of the Moors is an interesting one. Muslim Arab armies swept North Africa in the 7th century in a militant expedition to convert tribes to Islam. In the Northwestern corner of the continent, they encountered several indigenous peoples, collectively called Berbers. In 711 ad, A Berber-Muslim army under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the strait of Gibraltar from North Africa into the Iberian Peninsula for a military invasion. They were confronted with Visigothic inhabitants, peoples of Germanic origin who had entered the peninsula via Gaul about 300 years earlier. The Visigoths had a hierarchical system of nobles and small kingdoms, similar to that of feudalism in medieval Europe. The invading Muslim armies destroyed this system and all the kingdoms in the region, and began instituting their own kingdoms. Goderick, the last of the Visigothic Kings of Spain was defeated at the battle of Rio Barbate in about 715. By 719, the forces were supreme from the Atlan tic Coast to the Pyrenees. They attempted to invade France in 732, but were turned back by the forces of Charles Martel, a Frankish ruler who was the grandfather of Charlemagne (Fletcher 1-13). For the first year of rule, the M...

HS630 week 9 conference Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HS630 week 9 conference - Essay Example In this regard, at the onset, risk was made apparently clear. Do people know what to do and when to do it? Through the eight stages, people are made aware on what to do and when to do it through information needs assessment, communication action assessment and communication action implementation stages (Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007, p. 83). For instance, in the stage involving information needs assessment, an identified need is confirmed. Through communication action assessment, people get to know what to do since â€Å"people often rely on the news media to confirm information they received about the hazard from other sources† (Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007, p. 84). And through communication action implementation stage, people have confirmed the threat or risk and take the needed protective action, as advised. Do people know and how to get more information? Yes, people get to know the manner of getting more information through â€Å"contacting many people many people over a short period of time (Drabek and Stephenson, 1971; cited in Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007, p. 85). Through the eight stages of warning and action, information is gathered and communicated effectively to enable them to gather as much information as reliably possible and to take appropriate action, as relayed. Essay Question 2: For a business or a local jurisdiction, outline an outreach communications plan for a crisis. Identify the type of crisis first, and 5 different audiences you need to communicate with. For each audience segment, summarize the key messages you need to convey, what media or method you would use to disseminate those messages, the timing (before a crisis, immediately after, during response, during recovery), and who might be the spokesperson (e.g., e-mail or tweet from a CEO; briefing by an expert). The spokesperson is optional. Follow the template below. potential flash floods as information was received from news media and local government agencies; include

Organization implications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization implications - Essay Example The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected. This paper will discuss the merit pay system and teacher performance in public schools The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 put the merit system principles into law, specifically section 2301 of title 5 of the U.S. Code. It was set as a national policy intended â€Å"to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce...and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles† (Pfiffner & Brook, 2000). Since then, the merit system and its principles have been implemented both in the public sector and in private sector in the country. The merit system can be defined as a personnel system applied in the process of hiring and promoting government employees based on merit to obtain the highest efficiency in public personnel functions. The application of the merit system in the public education sector has brought about unending controversies especially with the merit pay issue. The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected as it has been done from the 1920s period. Reformers in the education system including the government have emphasized that the merit pay will encourage high performing teachers to do well and drive the lazy ones away, thereby improving the performance of public schools. However, teachers’ unions have continually opposed the move stating that there is no objective way of measuring the classroom performance of a teacher. In addition to this, opposing views have pointed to the fact that the merit pay system has a high chance of failing

Prosecute Billy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Prosecute Billy - Essay Example Any civil claims cannot be brought up whilst the case is in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service, which is strictly a criminal prosecution service. To begin with, it is necessary to see that Billy’s actions caused Hilda to suffer harm to an extent that she had to be taken to the hospital. These circumstances make it clear that the harm suffered by Hilda was aggravated in nature. She has been hit on the head by a chair leg and is in a condition that she is not allowed visitors. These evidential circumstances bring the harm caused into the ambit of a grievous nature which is governed by section 20 of the OAPA 1861. Section 20 of the OAPA states that: â€Å"Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict any grievous bodily harm upon any other person, either with or without any weapon or instrument shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for five years.† (Jacqueline, Chris 2011, pp 113-116) It is clear from the section that a few elements wi ll need to be proven against Billy before a case under Section 20 can be made out. The first of these has to be the actus reus. For the purposes of Section 20, the actus reus, or the guilty act, has to consist of wounding which amounts to grievous bodily harm and has been inflicted by the defendant. The requirement of ‘wounding ‘ as defined in the case of Moriarty v Brookes ((1834) 6 C&P 684) states that the continuity of the skin as a whole should be disrupted. It is here to be noted that if the blow of the chair which was enough to land Hilda in a hospital whereby she was unavailable for visitors is a sign that the damage caused to her head would well have caused blood to flow, as might any such act where the impact is so harsh do so. As also mentioned in Section 20, the requirement that a weapon or instrument may have been used also stands proved as Billy used a chair to inflict harm onto Hilda’s person. More essentially, Hilda must prove that the harm caused w as of the category of grievous bodily harm as set out in the OAPA 1861. It has been roughly defined as harm which ‘seriously interferes with health or comfort’ (Ashman, 1858 1 FF 88). Judges have also later refined this definition further in cases like Smith ((1961) AC 290), that the definition need not be confined in any sense; the jury and judge alike must take into account the totality of injuries caused and must consider liability for it accordingly. Here, it is clear that a woman who had to be admitted to the hospital had indeed suffered serious harm which cannot be taken lightly and is does qualify fully the requirement laid down in Section 20 of the infliction of grievous bodily harm. Further, it is necessary to prove that Billy has indeed ‘inflicted’ the injuries on Hilda for which he is to be held liable. It is expressly believed that in legal terms, infliction takes place when either the defendant directly and violently inflicts the injury by assa ulting the victim or, more widely, where he does something which indirectly applies force on the victim’s person to cause injury. Under this definition, Billy has clearly been direct and violent in using force against Hilda as he hit her on the head with a chair leg and hence, infliction also

The Development And Growth Of Capitalism

The Development And Growth Of Capitalism I will look in particular at the works of Max Weber regarding his Protestant Ethic Theory and Karl Marx alternative theories to explain how capitalism came about in Europe. I will first look at the historical background of both theorists and the actual historical events which influenced central Europe during the 19th century. These events such as the industrial revolution are important to understand how capitalistic modes of economic and societal arrangements developed and what were the contributing factors to this development. It is important to also look at the present Modern Capitalism of contemporary society, and compare it to the past to see how capitalism actually developed and expanded, touching the important, often interlinked concept of Globalisation. Modern capitalist society is described as: The expansion of international commerce on a large scale, also the flowering of a large scale industry, the triumph of machinery, and the growing power of the great financial houses. In a word, it is the present day union of all these phenomena which really constitutes modern capitalism. Capitalism is the rational development of capital, commodities and means of production in a network of an interconnected markets. Both Weber and Marx offer valid explanations for how capitalism came about, they base their works on historical references and suggest different theories to explain this phenomena. To create a more clear picture I will also compare the works of other theorists such as Emile Durkheim and Simmel. These will be useful as they will offer alternative approaches and different points of view which can help to understand the main mechanisms which lead to capitalism development. I will conclude by giving my own opinion based on the constructed evidence from various theorists on how Capitalism came about in Europe. I will try to asses what have been the most influential factors that brought to this development in this specific part of the world. Weber Max Weber was a sociologist, he offered a theory which basically seeks to describe Capitalism. This theory is based on the process of Rationalization which Weber believes to be at the roots of Capitalism development. In order to understand Webers Protestant Ethic Theory, it is useful to have a quick look at his family background: Weber was born in a middle class family, his father was a business man and embraced liberal values, described as a man who enjoyed earthly pleasures. On the other hand, Webers Mother appeared to have contrasting ideologies with the husband. She was a strong Calvinist who embraced puritan values and absolutist ideas. While Webers father was the typical image of the capitalist entrepreneur which invested and indulged in the luxuries of life, Webers mother reflected the conservative, minimalist puritan Calvinist spirit. It is no doubt that Weber was thorn between these to views and much of his work is influenced by the discrepancies between his parents. Weber was also interested in how religion influenced identities and values in central Europe. This interest could be linked to his mother strong religious values and how Weber saw a connection between Protestantism and Capitalism. Weber constructed his idea of the Protestant ethic to explain how capitalism came about. He bases his work on the question :Why did Capitalism begin in Western Europe rather than Asia?. He argued that the Protestant religion, among with its branches such as Calvinism, created the perfect ideals and behaviours which helped spread and promote capitalism. And suggested that the existence and development of Protestantism in Western Europe, together with the development of Capitalism in Western Europe were two interlinked events. Weberss therefore describes religion as the core process which brought to capitalism development in Western Europe. Weber used his rationalization theory to compare religions around the world and found that the most rational religious system was Calvinism. He believed other world religions such as Hinduism, Confucianism and Taoism were more irrational and therefore inhibited capitalism development. The nature of Protestantism and Calvinism does actually reflect possible rational behaviours; this is shown in the ideal of predestination which is embedded in Protestants, this means that ones position in society has been decided by a higher authority (God) and therefore individuals should not complain for their position in society. This merged very well with the development of capitalism as the process of industrial revolution in capitalist development involved large amount of property-less labourers which worked for the few rich property owners. While the concept of predestination helped to suggest an explaination for ones position in society, rationalization was manifested in Protestantism by the puritan minimalist ideology. Most protestants were afraid of divine judgement, unable to be forgiven by the priest like catholics, protestants searched for an answer in their behaviour. Many protestants lived minimalist lives to escape from lifes luxuries and therefore behaved in a rational manner by accumulating, working hard and creating wealth to prove to themselves and others that they were predestined to have success and go to heaven. A difficulty in using Webers works to understand capitalism is that his expalinations are very specific to the historical periods that he studied. Because of this it becomes more difficult to compare and place the protestant ethic theory into context with the capitalism of future periods. While the protestant ethic theory might serve an explanation for capitalism development at the time, it is harder to believe of Protestantism development as the driving factor for capitalism. Webers theory acknowledges that culture is therefore the driving factor for economic development and not vice versa. In my opinion Webers explanations are highly specific to particular historical periods and cannot be used to compare and describe capitalism at a later period in time. This is because ethical values and ideas are under constant change and evolve to fit with the contemporary society. More criticism on Webers theory is that capitalism began much earlier in history and that Calvinism alone did not serve in developing economic growth and capitalistic modes of production and consumption. Joseph Schumpeter argues that capitalism began much before the industrial revolution. Italy in the 14th century was composed of many small independent city states like Florence, Milan and Venice and these were the first forms of capitalistic societies which appeared; Through trade and high accumulation of capital these Italian city states represent the first capitalistic modes of economic organisation. Other empirical evidence shows how countries with a relative popular Calvinist religion did not always score high economically and in developing capitalism. For example Scotland and the Netherlands although predominantly Calvinist states, did not develop at the same speed of England or the mainly Catholic state of Belgium. Recent works have shown how Protestantism influenced capitalism not because of the protestant ethics and values, but more so because of the promotion of education and literacy that Protestantism brought in Europe. As capitalism was a process which had already begun before the religious Reformation, it is difficult to imagine that capitalism would not have developed under a Catholic religion. Contemporary empirical evidence shows how capitalism modes can be applied to almost any country disregarding religious differences. The spread of capitalism throughout the world does not need the protestant values in order to be ethically tolerable for people, therefore it is hard to believe that Protestant culture influenced the economy. Rather more plausible is Karl Marxs approach which describes how economical development and growth shapes cultures and values in society. Marx Karl Marx offers us a different approach than Webers which is useful in understanding capitalistic development in Western Europe. Marx was born in a middle class family, he was strongly influenced by Hegel. Unlike Weber, Marx sought to influence the masses rather than the elites of power. His ideas offer a theory of a capitalist society based on the simplistic nature of human beings. He believed that it is in the nature of human beings to be productive in order to survive, provide for themselves and live life. Marx argues that it is only in capitalistic society where the breakdown of human actions becomes so acute and rational that it creates negative effects. Marxs describes the process of Alienation as the crux of the problems with capitalist society. By Alienation he means the process where the worker feels alienated/foreign to his labour. He contrasts how previously workers were in close contact with their costumers and to a fuller part of business experience which supplied more gratifying incentives and values for the worker. Capitalism brought the alienation of the worked as with the industrial revolution masses of people became employed in jobs where producers do not have contact with consumers, therefore creating a dehumanising effect. Marx in the fetishism of commodities describes how the worker is alienated from his product because he no longer owns that product. This shift in ownership from the individual producer to a single individual (boss) who controls the production creates the alienation of the worker. Marx focus was directed more at the individual rather than to culture in understanding capitalism. He believed that economic development shaped culture and that religion was merely an epiphenomenon. The general Marxist view is that of a capitalistic boss which is lazy, tyrannical and demanding. This had a negative influence on the workers which were abused and largely exploited by capitalistic owners which benefited from this mode of production. This can be interpreted as a process of rationalization, this is shown in the way that it is more rational to have mass production instead of individual production. Workers required abilities were reduced and their tasks became more and more simple, repetitive and uniform, leaving most of the benefits of rationalization to the property owners, while negatively affecting the low class workers which were alienated from their labour and society. Simmel Simmel in his works touches what Marx had achieved with his works on alienation. Providing a micro point of view Simmel suggests that the Urbanization of society ( movement of masses from countryside to cities) which began with the industrial revolution, created capitalistic centres for finance, business and trade. This offers a theory which is based on the topic of migration. In my opinion it offers a more plausible explanation than Weber as it analyses broader events such as the industrial revolution and population density shifts which more strongly than religion influenced economys need for rationalization and more efficient modes of production in order to provide for all. The focus of Simmel on individual interactions rather than Weber and Marx preoccupation with large scale issues such as Capitalist Development and Rationalization of society, helped to actually create a broader point of view which stems from the individual to represent the reality of an entire society which is becoming more Blasà ©. This means that individuals, overwhelmed by the large amounts of commodities and stimuli present in urban environments are becoming more unaffected by society and the world around us. Basically it describes a process of increased individualisation where everything has become commoditised and capital is used in almost every relation in our life, making society blasà ©. This blasà © theory finds similarities with Marx theory of alienation. Both describe a problem of individuals relations in a capitalist society where feelings and ethics are given up for greater rationality, calculability and uniformity. These are the negatives of the process of capitalism which is growing more and more in contemporary society. Émile Durkheim Born from a high class background, Durkheim theories of Durkheim developed a theory of individual behaviour. He divided social facts in material and non material facts. Durkheim described non-material social facts such as institutions and culture and material social facts such as bureaucracy and law. In his work the division of labour in society Conclusion Looking at the four theorists which seek to understand capitalism development in Western Europe I have came up with critiques and praises for various theories. I find it hard to support Webers protestant ethic theory as it assumes that cultural development shapes economic development. There is a lot of empirical evidence which suggest that economic development was already running in West Europe under a capitalistic mode of production prior to the religious reformation which brought the rise of Protestantism, Calvinism and other branches. Weber fails to address the importance of migration, urbanization and the increase of rationalization as the main factors for capitalistic development, instead he seeks to find the origins of capitalism in a set of values and ethics belonging only to a section of society. Evidence shows that not always Protestant states dominated economically compared to Catholic states. The origins of capitalism date back to much earlier historical periods and can be explained by Webers theory of rationalization, but the empirical importance on religion in capitalism development is overstated and perhaps a broader view taking into account religion, economic development and rationalization is perhaps more useful. Marx theory of alienation is also useful in understanding capitalism development, indeed the increased rationalization brought by capitalism had a strong influence in workers alienation and in a increase of productivity in exchange for a loss in creativity and lead to the development of a mass production mass consumption system which laid out the foundations for a labour-capital intensive economic system that we call capitalism. Marx focuses on universal ethical values that clash with capitalism, these are Justice, Liberty and Equality, and sees capitalism as the process that undermines these ethical values. Marx solution involves the eventual rebellion of the masses against their capitalist employers, this phenomenon has not happened in most of the capitalist world and it seems that capitalism as we know today is the most Just system that is available today. Marxism perhaps gives too much importance to economic development failing to broaden itself to include cultural development and transformation in society during capitalism development, this cultural development is linked to increased rationalism which is embedded in human nature and the increased individualization of the individual which is a process which greatly influenced the development of capitalism together with economic development and profit maximisation.

Stem Cell Research :: Controversy, Debate, Politics

Stem cells are cells that can form into any type of cell, they are found in bone marrow, embryos, fetuses, and blood from the umbilical cord. Early in development, a human embryo is made up of a hollow ball of cells called a â€Å"blastocyst†. Blastocyst cells divide and eventually develop into all of the tissues and organs of a human being, a process called â€Å"differentiation†. Embryonic stem cells can be grown in the laboratory from blastocysts and made to differentiate into nerve, liver, muscle, blood, and other cells. Scientists hope to control the differentiation of the cells to replace cells in diseased organs in human beings. Embryonic stem cells can also be used to test the effects of new drugs without harming animals or people. In adult human beings, stem cells are found in many places in the body, including the skin, liver, bone marrow, and muscles. In the organs, stem cells remain inactive until they are needed. The stem cells supply each organ with cells needed to replace damaged or dead cells. Bone marrow stem cells divide to produce more stem cells, additional cells called â€Å"precursor cells†, and all of the different cells that make up the blood and immune system. Precursor cells have the ability to form many different types of cells, but they cannot produce more stem cells. Scientists can isolate bone marrow stem cells to use as donor cells in transplants. Adult stem cells, however, are rare and more difficult to detect and isolate. The discovery and isolation of embryonic stem cells has led to debate over whether it is right to use cells taken from human embryos for research. People have expressed concern about using human embryos and collecting some of their cells. Some people consider embryos already to be human beings. The embryos are destroyed in the process of isolating the stem cells. Once removed from an embryo, stem cells alone cannot form another embryo or develop into a human being. Many people consider it wrong to destroy human embryos, but other people believe that the potential medical benefits of stem cells justify their use. Scientists have found that stem cells can grow into 210 types of cells in the human body. Scientists believe that these cells can be used to cure many diseases that they have tried to find a cure for. Stem Cell Research :: Controversy, Debate, Politics Stem cells are cells that can form into any type of cell, they are found in bone marrow, embryos, fetuses, and blood from the umbilical cord. Early in development, a human embryo is made up of a hollow ball of cells called a â€Å"blastocyst†. Blastocyst cells divide and eventually develop into all of the tissues and organs of a human being, a process called â€Å"differentiation†. Embryonic stem cells can be grown in the laboratory from blastocysts and made to differentiate into nerve, liver, muscle, blood, and other cells. Scientists hope to control the differentiation of the cells to replace cells in diseased organs in human beings. Embryonic stem cells can also be used to test the effects of new drugs without harming animals or people. In adult human beings, stem cells are found in many places in the body, including the skin, liver, bone marrow, and muscles. In the organs, stem cells remain inactive until they are needed. The stem cells supply each organ with cells needed to replace damaged or dead cells. Bone marrow stem cells divide to produce more stem cells, additional cells called â€Å"precursor cells†, and all of the different cells that make up the blood and immune system. Precursor cells have the ability to form many different types of cells, but they cannot produce more stem cells. Scientists can isolate bone marrow stem cells to use as donor cells in transplants. Adult stem cells, however, are rare and more difficult to detect and isolate. The discovery and isolation of embryonic stem cells has led to debate over whether it is right to use cells taken from human embryos for research. People have expressed concern about using human embryos and collecting some of their cells. Some people consider embryos already to be human beings. The embryos are destroyed in the process of isolating the stem cells. Once removed from an embryo, stem cells alone cannot form another embryo or develop into a human being. Many people consider it wrong to destroy human embryos, but other people believe that the potential medical benefits of stem cells justify their use. Scientists have found that stem cells can grow into 210 types of cells in the human body. Scientists believe that these cells can be used to cure many diseases that they have tried to find a cure for.

A research proposal

Children always gesture while explaining what they have to answer, narrate or describe. Almost all the studies, which have been made on children gesture, concluded saying gesture is a vehicle through which children express their knowledge.When children are asked explain a concept they are acquiring, they will always gesture discordant, which means conveying one message in speech and another in gesture. These children are shown to be in a transitional state in the sense that they are particularly receptive to instruction- in fact, more receptive to instructions than the children who convey the same procedure in speech and gesture (1993).Although it is important to be able to describe the learner’s state before and after the task has been mastered, characterizing the process that bridges these two states is the key to understanding learning. Unfortunately, in many studies of learning in both adults and children, performance, procedures, and mental representation are described be fore and after learning.While little attention is paid to the transition between these states (1989). One potential source of information about unverbalized mental processes is the spontaneous gestures that accompany speech.Studies have also shown that child’s gestures can be used to predict child’s performance on a learning task. When a child produces gesture – speech mismatch on a given problem, that child by definition conveys deferent information in gesture and speech.Surprisingly the information child expresses in gesture in such mistakes is typically not ever conveyed in speech during that assessment period, even across a series of test problems(1995). This finding suggested that the child who produces mismatches posses at least some knowledge that he or she cannot verbalize but can only express it in gesture, that is, knowledge that is uniquely expressed in gesture.The studies concluded this assumption saying this concept necessarily rest on the assumptio n that the child’s gestures are an accurate reflection of what the child knows (1998). If the gestures are the accurate expression what the child knows the gestures will have a great deal to do with the source of the knowledge the children have. Studies have not discussed much about the source of knowledge child has really influencing the gestures the child make.Indeed, all of the gesture – speech mismatch studies reported have been based on the assumption that gesture is a vehicle through which children can express meaning. And the fact that these studies have yielded coherent results provides indirect evidence for this assumption (1998).The studies also undoubtedly state that gesture has the potential to offer a unique source of insight into the mind of a child. This proposed study is to seek empirical evidence to make sure that the source of knowledge a child has would always have an influence on the gestures the child make while expressing that knowledge. It is bec ause, one must assume that if gesture is the vehicle through which children can express meaning, gesture is the vehicle through which adults can transport knowledge to the children for comprehension.The speech – gesture mismatch children would make in the expression can be caused from the variations the child observes in the adults expressions. These variations in the adults gestures also cause the difference in the duration of this transition period. Children pay attention to information conveyed in gesture, the y learn from it. Children instructed in mathematics equivalent problems (e.g., 3 + 4 + 5 = _ + 5) are more likely to learn when the instruction includes speech and gesture than it includes only speech (2005).This experience beyond doubt proves that children pay attention to the gestures the see and grasp information from them. Gestures have an indexical function. This indexical function of the gestures is what particularly enabling the children to benefit from the ge stures and comprehend more. There can be deference in this indexical actions in gestures of different people in deferent cultures and different climatically and social conditions. Gesture thus serves the purpose of visual in a learning process.This study here experiment that Conditions under which indexical gestures convey lessons to the children by the adults has anything to do with the speech – gesture mismatch children produce in their expressions.   Participating in an interactive section the enhancement of comprehension is vital. Enhancing the comprehension will mean the duration of above said transition will be reduced. Helping children to be effective communicators.It will definitely be possible when the studies on the obvious reasons for the speech – gesture mismatch are dealt with. In order to make this study work the experiment should include narrations and description of intangible object with gestures.And concrete things and theories also can be framed to experimental questions. All three of this categories in two sets, one with gestures seek comprehension and answers from children of two age groups,   while other seek comprehension and answers from children of two age groups of the same participants, without gestures.

Definition and Discussion of General American English

Definition and Discussion of General American English General American English is a somewhat vague and outdated term for a  variety of spoken American English that seems to lack the distinctive characteristics of any particular region or ethnic group. Also called network English or newscaster accent. The term General American (GA, GAE, or GenAm) was coined by English professor George Philip Krapp in his book The English Language in America (1925). In the first edition of History of the English Language (1935), Albert C. Baugh adopted the term General American, calling it the dialect of the Middle States and the West. General American   is sometimes broadly characterized as speaking with a midwestern accent, but as William Kretzschmar observes (below), there has never been any single best or default form of American English that might form the basis for General American (A Handbook of Varieties of English, 2004). Examples and Observations The fact that I conjugate my verbs and speak in a typical Midwestern newscaster voicetheres no doubt that this helps ease communication between myself and white audiences. And theres no doubt that when Im with a black audience, I slip into a slightly different dialect.(U.S. President Barack Obama, quoted by Dinesh DSouza in Obamas America: Unmaking the American Dream. Simon Schuster, 2012)The term General American is sometimes used by those who expect for there to be a perfect and exemplary state of American English . . .. However, in this essay the term Standard American English (StAmE) is preferred; it designates the level of quality (here of pronunciation) that is employed by educated speakers in formal settings. StAmE pronunciation differs from region to region, even from person to person, because speakers from different circumstances in and different parts of the United States commonly employ regional and social features to some extent even in formal situations.(William A. Kret zschmar, Jr., Standard American English Pronunciation. A Handbook of Varieties of English, ed. by Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider. Mouton de Gruyter, 2004) [T]he standard assumption for American English is that even educated speakers, from certain regions at least (most notably New England and the South), at times use regional pronunciation characteristics and thus speak with an accent; hence, despite the persistent belief in a homogenous General American accent or notions like network English there is in fact no single norm of pronunciation that corresponds to RP [received pronunciation] in England, being a non-regional class dialect.(Edgar W. Schneider, Introduction: Varieties of English in the Americas and the Caribbean. A Handbook of Varieties of English, ed. by Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider. Mouton de Gruyter, 2004) Variants in Network English It is important to note that no single dialectregional or socialhas been singled out as an American standard. Even national media (radio, television, movies, CD-ROM, etc.), with professionally trained voices have speakers with regionally mixed features. However, Network English, in its most colourless form, can be described as a relatively homogenous dialect that reflects the ongoing development of progressive American dialects (Canadian English has several notable differences). This dialect itself contains some variant forms. The variants included within this targeted accent involve vowels before /r/, possible differences in words like cot and caught and some vowels before /l/. It is fully rhotic. These differences largely pass unnoticed by the audiences for Network English, and are also reflective of age differences.(Daniel Jones, English Pronouncing Dictionary, 17th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006) ​​General American vs. the Eastern New England Accent A few examples of differences between some regional dialects and General American or Network English are in order here, though these are necessarily selective. In the characteristic speech of Eastern New England, for instance, rhotic /r/ is lost after vowels, as in far or hard, while it is retained in all positions in General American. A rounded vowel has been retained in Eastern New England in words like top and dot, whereas General American uses an unrounded vowel. Another Eastern New England characteristic is the use of /É‘/ in words like bath, grass, last, etc., where General American uses /a/. In these respects the New England accent shows some similarities with British RP.(Diane Davies, Varieties of Modern English: An Introduction. Routledge, 2013) Challenges to the Concept of General American The belief that American English consists of General American and the Eastern (Northern) and Southern dialect varieties was called into question by a group of American scholars in the 1930s. . . . In 1930 [Hans] Kurath was named the director of an ambitious project called The Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada. He patterned the project on a similar European undertaking that had been completed some years before the American project started: Atlas linguistique de la France, which ran between 1902 and 1910. Given the results of their work, Kurath and his co-workers challenged the belief that American English had the varieties Eastern, Southern, and General American. Instead, they suggested that American English is best viewed as having the following major dialect areas: Northern, Midland, and Southern. That is, they did away with the elusive notion of General American and replaced it with the dialect area that they called Midland.(Zoltn Kà ¶vecses, American English: An In troduction. Broadview, 2000) Many Midwesterners are under the illusion that they speak without an accent. They may even believe that they speak Standard American English. But most linguists understand that there is not a single, correct way to speak English. So, yes, even Midwesterners speak with an accent.(James W. Neuliep,  Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 6th ed. SAGE, 2015)It should be emphasized that everyone speaks with an accent; it is as impossible to speak without an accent as to speak without making sounds. When people deny they have an accent, this is a statement of social prejudice and not linguistics.(Howard Jackson and Peter Stockwell, An Introduction to the Nature and Functions of Language, 2nd ed. Bloomsbury Academic, 2011) Also see: Standard American EnglishAccent PrejudiceEthnic Dialect,  Idiolect,  Regional Dialect, and  Social DialectMarkednessPrestigePronunciationStandard English

Ballistics Essays

Ballistics Essays Ballistics Essay Ballistics Essay Paper Ballistics Bullets traveling over two thousand feet per second and having more energy than one normal person can perceive. Can you imagine tracking where, how, when, and what from angle this bullet was shot. Ballistic scientists can. Ballistics is the study of any projectile used as a weapon. This can certainly make or break a case Involving a guru Great ballistic scientists can even provide how far the bullet was shot from before It makes contact with the target. To me this is one of the most Important tools in a case where a firearm is used. The definition of ballistics is very simple, the study of projectiles from a weapon, mainly referring to bullets out of a gun. That Is a dulled down definition. My definition is a little lengthier in depth. Forensic ballistics includes the examination of bullets and firearms in an attempt to identify particular weapons used at any particular time. Guns and bullets leave small signs behind when fired, which professional ballistic scientists can pick apart and define what gun, bullet, energy, and even charge of the casing. This makes ballistic scientist one of the most important keys on a law enforcement agency. Pistols and rifles are categorized by what the inside diameter of the barrel measures. This is called caliber. An example would be, a 22 caliber rifle has a much smaller diameter barrel than a . 370 caliber rifle does. In turn, the bullet of a . 22 caliber is going to be considerably smaller than that off . 370 caliber, Pistols are categorized the same way. A . 40 caliber is much smaller than a . 460 caliber. Shotguns, however, are not categorized Like this. Shotguns are categorized by gauge. Unlike the rifle, the smaller the gauge of a rifle the bigger the inside diameter is. Such as, a twelve gauge has a much larger barrel than a twenty-eight gauge. Now that I have explained sizes and categorization to the guns, next Is the operation of the guns. When a gun is fired it takes many parts to make the gun fire and also for the bullet to hit Its target. When you pull the trigger on a gun, the firing pin strikes the bullet to set tot the gunpowder. That leaves a mark on the casing as unique as a fingerprintno two guns strike the bullet in exactly the same way. Furthermore, the barrels of every gun are rifled, which means they contain grooves, wanly Nell ten Dulled spun Ana make It more accurate. In turn, ten Dulled NAS ten marks from the rifling in the barrel, which can be matched up to the weapon that fired it. There is one exception to the rifling in the barrel. That exception is smooth bore shot guns. They are smooth, Just like the name implies. Now to talk about the term most people deem as ballistics, the speed, drop, and energy off bullet. Charge, weight, and muzzle length are three things that affect the speed and drop off bullet. Something most people don?wet know is that a bullet does not shoot straight horizontally. When I bullet is shot it is shot at a raising angle. Which means the bullet breaks the plane of the muzzle once before hitting the target. A . 22 caliber rifle breaks the plane of the muzzle at twenty-five yards, if the rifle is zeroed at 100 yards. Not all rifles cartridges cross at these measurements. That all depends on the weight, charge, and velocity of the bullet. Weight can also be described as knock-down power. A high caliber rifle will shoot heavier bullets and have more knock-down power. The more weight means that there is more kinetic energy. For example, a . 357 caliber rifle shoots a lighter, much faster bullet than that off . 5 caliber. Although the . 57 is faster and more flat shooting, the . 45 caliber has more knock-down power because of the weight of the bullet and the kinetic energy. Although this information is more helpful too hunter, it is useful to any shooter. Charge is described as the amount of black-powder used to fire the bullet. The more the charge, the bigger the bang. Every gun uses black-powder to be fir ed. Black-powder was the first explosive, and used in every gun in the history of fire- arms. From the oldest muskmelons to the most high tech sniper rifles used today. Now that the velocity of the gun is covered, next will be to explain what happens o the bullet once it hits the target. There are many different types of bullets. Such as soft tip, hollow point, and wad cutters. There are also a few types of hollow points. Hollow points are bullets that expand, (or mushroom) once they have impacted the target. These are most common and also the most harmful. Not only do you have a bullet traveling at over 1 500 feet per second, but they also expand and leave gaping entry and exit wounds, and can also leave trace amounts of the bullet inside the target. One type of hollow point is a slow expanding bullet. It works exactly like it is babbled, it is a harder bullet that still expands, but may not fully expand until it is very far into the target. These do a lot of damage, but not as bad as a fast expanding bullet. Fast expanding bullets expand as soon as contact is made with the target and is the most lethal type of bullet. Because they open so quickly you get the mushroom effect completely through the target. Wad cutters are nothing more than a solid piece of lead. They are mainly used for target practice because they are very cheap and do not have the charge nor the velocity of a hunting load. Although they arena t as powerful they are Just as harmful. Since they do not expand they stay a solid completely through the target and also after if there is an exit wound. These are Just as deadly because they can ricochet inside off target such as a human. Wad cutters are used in a lot of gang fights because they will not kill someone, but they will penetrate the skin and once inside the person they will ricochet off of the ribs and sternum, doing much internal damage. On each and every gun manufactured, there is a serial number stamped into it. It Is made Day pressing ten metal so even Day Telling Tontine serial under Trot ten inside, the scientist can still use ultra-sound to find out the serial number. Filing off serial number is a crime in itself and is very common in gangs, drugs, and acts of violence. By acquiring this serial number ballistic scientists can find out the caliber, make, model, store it was sold from, and even the owner. This is a huge factor in ballistic science. If you can place a gun with an owner/operator, as a ballistic scientist you have won half the battle of solving the crime. Ballistic scientists not only work with the operation of the gun, but also the distance and angle the bullet was shot from. For instance, the entry hole on a target well be much smaller than the exit hole because of the expansion of the bullet and the velocity that it exited at. In this case if you can determine and entry and exit wound you can tell what angle the bullet was shot from and determine the vicinity that the shooter was when the bullet was fired from the firearm. Distance is a huge key to figuring out what happened at a crime scene. A bullet fired from point-blank range out to a very close range will leave a black-powder burn on the target. A shot a point-blank range will have a tighter more distinct burn than en of a shot from a further distance. Another determining key to distance is penetration. If a bullet has not completely passed through a victim it could have been fired from a farther distance than what the proprieties of the scene allow. Some of the tests and examinations of ballistics include a few different types of test shooting. The ballistic scientist will test shoot the gun to find out its markings and striations on certain types of bullets to try and match a bullet with a gun and even a gun with an owner. That type of test can obviously only be done if either remains of the bullet or the gun is found. If neither the gun nor bullet is found at the scene the scientist can shoot different types of guns into what is called ballistic gel. This gel is comparable to the skin, muscle, and fat off human. It is a clear gel so you can compare the wound channel of the victim to that of the gel. This is also helpful with studying expansion of a bullet considering the gel is clear. Collecting evidence from a crime scene is very important. You do not want to hurt any evidence that could hinder the case. When collecting evidence such as a gun, never place a pencil inside of the barrel or trigger guard. Not only is that not proper rearm safety it is also harmful to any evidence that is located there. The firearms can be picked up by the textured part of the grip, while of course wearing rubber gloves to leave no extra fingerprints behind. Before picking up the firearm, make sure it is pointing in a safe direction. Most criminals do not unload the firearm before they drop it at a crime scene. Keep notes on the condition of the gun, the location, and time it was found. These call all be key factors in telling when, where, why, and how the victim was shot. If the barrel is damaged in any way, it will affect the outcome of test shooting. The same goes for the firing mechanism. The firearm should be contained in either a large envelope or a paper bag. It should be kept separate from the bullets, casing, or magazine. Putting all of these pieces of evidence in one container can lead to scratching and damaging any piece of evidence. As for collecting the bullet or casing from a scene, you must be very careful and collect it right or it will be no good as evidence. Since casings and bullets are metal, IT tenure Is any metal on metal contact ten specimen can De rule Ana scratches. This is why you would want to collect the evidence by hand with gloves on. Also one thing that most criminals don?wet think about is when you are loading your weapon you are leaving your fingerprints on the casings as you load them into the magazine. This is why casing are very important to any case. You would not want to use metal tweezers. If the bullet is scratched it could lead to false reading in test shooting or examination. Bullets and casings should be placed in a separate small cardboard box or a small envelope at the least. When collecting a magazine you should take the same precautions as you do with the gun, bullets, and casings. The magazine can be a very important part of the rime scene. Let?was possible that the magazine that was left behind could still have cartridges in them that have not been fired. If so that could narrow down the search for the caliber of gun and also the type of ammunition that was shot. Also with finding the magazine you can examine it for fingerprints from when the magazine was loaded and unloaded. With finding such things as the magazine, bullets, and casing you can determine many things such as, position, distance, caliber, gun, and even an escape route if the magazine was dropped. When I had first chosen the topic ballistics I thought I would be more focused on he science part of ballistics. But once I researched and put some of my own knowledge to work I realized that I was more interested in the way guns work and the way bullets travel. Although I don?wet see myself as the laboratory type, if I could only work on firearms cases it would not be that bad of a Job. I know as a student I learned very much in my research of bullets, guns, and ballistics. ?catheter are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents, and undisciplined children.

Compare and Contrast Song of Roland and The Iliad. Similarities and Term Paper

Compare and Contrast Song of Roland and The Iliad. Similarities and differences - Term Paper Example The poems are long works and so they are broken into shorter verses and chapters, which makes it easier for the performers to remember. There are many repeated phrases that are used to refer to individual characters or places. Athena is usually referred to in terms of her grey eyes, for example, and there are a lot of references to Roland’s youth and nobility. The content is also similar. Both poems tell the stories of heroic warriors who fight with each other on behalf of great kings. There is a lot of focus on battles, and the women play a secondary role, usually being taken captive like Helen in the Iliad and Bramimonde in the Song of Roland and displayed as a trophy for the winner of a battle. There is a strong narrator who reports what happens, what people are thinking and saying, and even what gods and other divine messengers are doing. The contrast between the human and divine dimensions is very important in epics. There are obvious differences in terms of the historica l period and culture of the two poems. Homer talks about war between Greeks and Trojans, while the Song of Roland deals with the Frankish followers of Charlemagne and their enemies the Muslim Saracens. In the Greek/Trojan world there are many different gods who take an active part in the battles.

Voting Behaviour in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Voting Behaviour in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Furthermore, some of these factors play more important role than the other ones, and different voting campaigns show different tendencies. This paper will argue that such factors as age, gender, income, ethnicity and some others can influence voting behaviour in the United Kingdom, and that it is very important for sociologists, politicians and PR specialists to take into account the combination of these factors. 2. The most significant factors of voting behaviour in the United Kingdom are social class, geography, age and background, public opinion and media. Social class of voters is concerned as the most important factor: "When voting analysis began in 1945 it became clear that social class was the most important factor in the way people traditionally voted. People tended to vote according to their natural class" (Voting Behaviour). It is evident that upper and middle classes tend to vote Conservative, while upper and lower working class votes for Labour, but actually this tendency has changed - it is connected to the media activity and the politics of Conservative party which tries to attract the population of lower income, while the Labour party politics moves to the right.1 This tendency can also be explained by the changing of the population structure in the last half of the 20th century: "Since the 1970s, the number of manual workers has fallen from nearly 50% of the population to jus t 33%. This is because of the changes in employment patterns, educational opportunities and the rising standard of living" (Voting Behaviour). But in spite of that the factor of social class is still rather strong in British voting behavior. In addition to that, the household also plays very important role in voting pattern in the United Kingdom. People who live together traditionally vote for the same party, and this factor should also be taken into account: "Since we expect members of households to vote together, this means that the number of households in which all members vote for the same party should be greater than expected, whereas the number in which different members vote for different parties (or abstain) should be less than expected" (Johnston et al., 2003). Geographical location of voters also affects voting behaviour in the United Kingdom. The north of the UK, as well as Wales, tends to vote for Labour, while the southern part of the country usually votes for Conservative: "In 2001, the southern part of England voted 56.3% for the Conservative Party whilst the north of England, Scotland and Wales voted 82.4% in favour of the Labour Party" (Voting Behaviour). This tendency is connected to the historical and industrial development of different regions in Great Britain: the north and Wales are industrial regions where trade unions activity is traditionally high, and the population mostly votes for Labour. The factor of age also plays role in political preferences in Great Britain. Often people under 35 vote for Labour while older people vote for Conservative. This tendency can be explained by the Labour party politics directing younger population: "Those under 35 tend to vote Labour and the Conservative