Saturday, August 31, 2019
Hamlet Revenge Essay
Many of the characters in Shakespeareââ¬â¢s Hamlet have an unfortunate death from the results of their entire attempt to seek revenge. First Laertes ends up killing himself and Hamlet because the death of his father Polonius has maddened him, and convinced him he need to avenge Hamlet for his father.Secondly, Fortinbras is convinced he needs to take action to gain back the land that his father lost in the battle he was killed in with King Hamlet. Last, Hamlet is the one to blame for all who were woefully killed in the process of animus acts because of his procrastination to kill the murderer of his father; Claudius.Because all of these men are angered from the death of their father and feel the need to get repayment from their murderers, Hamlet is primarily a tragedy of revenge. To begin with, Hamlet is essentially a catastrophe of revenge due to Laertes acts of anger after his fatherââ¬â¢s death.After Laertes hears of his fatherââ¬â¢s death, he travels back to Denmark immed iately. At first Laertes assumes that the new king Claudius partook in the killing of his father, but later finds out the true person to blame is young Hamlet.As the king and Laertes sit down to talk, he explains to the king ââ¬Å"Let come what comes, only Iââ¬â¢ll be revengââ¬â¢d / most thoroughly for my fatherâ⬠(IV. vii. 26). This is only the beginning to his talk about how he is going to avenge the man that killed his father.Laertes goes on to explain to the king just how far he would go to get repayment for the loss of his father ââ¬Å"to cut his throat iââ¬â¢th churchâ⬠(IV. vii. 26). For Laertes to say that he would kill a man in a church is very serious because God plays a very large role in all of their lives, and murder is already a sin, but to kill a man in a church just makes it even worse.Laertes and Claudius end up planning a very cruel way to kill Hamlet, they are going to trick Hamlet into having a duel with Laertes since he has always been jealo us of Laertes skills in duelling. To ensure the death of Hamlet, Laertes is going to poison the tip of his sword so that even if he scratches Hamlet, he will die. Thus, proving Hamlet is overall a tragedy of revenge. Secondly, Fortinbras determined mind to get back the land his father lost in battle with King Hamlet contributes to the predominant theme of tragic revenge.Fortinbras father was killed in battle fighting with King Hamlet, and lost the land that Denmark had gained. Old Fortinbras brother then took the throne, and told Young Fortinbras the he mustnââ¬â¢t try to get back the land that was lost. Then out of anger of the loss of his father.Fortinbras decides to take action to get the land back, so he and his soldiers peacefully travels into Denmark to discuss the land he wishes to regain. Fortinbras informs his captain soldier what to say to Hamlet when they encounter him ââ¬Å"Tell him that by his license Fortinbras / craves the conveyance of a promisââ¬â¢d march / o ver his kingdom.You know the rendezvousâ⬠(IV. iv. 2-4). Fortinbras believes that it is his duty to take back the land, and the only way to do that is take it from Hamlet because Hamlets father is the one who killed his father.Fortinbras captain approaches Hamlet and informs him the reason for their visit ââ¬Å"We go to gain a little patch of ground / that hath in it no profit but the nameâ⬠(IV. iv. 18-19). This quote tells us that Fortinbras does not want to take the land to benefit him and his people, but to gain back the land that was once his fathers to uphold his name.The only way to keep his fathers name around in Fortinbras mind is to avenge Hamlet by taking the land from him. In conclusion, Fortinbras persistent mind to avenge for the land makes Hamlet mainly a calamity of revenge. Last, but certainly not least Hamlets procrastination to get revenge for his fathers murder by killing Claudius plays the biggest part in making Hamlet primarily a tragedy of revenge. Hamlets big misadventure on his way to seek vengeance starts when he meets with the ghost of his father King Hamlet.The ghost explains how his father was killed then orders Hamlet to ââ¬Å"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murderâ⬠(I. v. 25). After Hamlet gets these orders from the ghost he then sets his plans of revenge into gear. But Hamlet keeps stalling at every chance he gets to avenge Claudius, in the end just causing more of a catastrophe.After Hamlets encounter with Young Fortinbras he realizes that he must take action just at Fortinbras is doing, Hamlet then speaks to himself ââ¬Å"My thoughts be bloody or nothing worthâ⬠(IV. iv. 66).From here on the only thing on Hamlets mind is how he is going to kill Claudius, but other things such as his battle with Laertes gets in the way. Before Hamlet is finally able to put an end to this crazy plan to avenge his uncle, he is poisoned by Laertes sword during their duel.But luckily for Hamlet he was able to avenge Clau dius before his own death, thus completing the task of avengement his fatherââ¬â¢s ghost has assigned to him. In conclusion Hamlets delay to kill Claudius makes Hamlet essentially a tragedy of revenge.In the end, Hamlet is predominantly a tragic misadventure of revenge. Laertes clouded mind full of anger causing him to be blind to see the outcome of his acts, Fortinbras determination to get back his lost land and uphold his fatherââ¬â¢s name, and Hamlet stalling at every opening to kill Claudius all contribute to the theme of tragic revenge. All of these men have something in common; they were all blinded by the need to avenge the murderer of their father, thus causing more and more trouble for each of them to achieve that goal.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Microeconomics of Customer Relationships
Reading: Microeconomics of Customer Relationships ? Reading: Microeconomics of Customer Relationships The follow is a critique and review of the reading of Microeconomic of Customer Relationships by Fred Reichheld. I will review the article and evaluate Mr. Reachheld. I will also apply economic theories into why and how I came to my conclusions. Overview on the Reading Microeconomic of Customer Relationships by Fred Reichheld is based on a simple survey based customer-relationship metric known as ââ¬Å"net-promoter scoreâ⬠, or NPS.The NPS divides customers into three categories based on the simple question, ââ¬Å"How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague? â⬠(Reichheld, 2006, pg. 73) Customers at the high end are labeled promoters, because of their likelihood of loyalty and positive word-of-mouth promotion. The low end of the spectrum is the opposite of the promoter and labeled a detractor. By quantifying the value the customers have the compan y can then devise action plans to solve problems, or expatiate growth. Evaluation of the AuthorFred Reichheld was very good at relating NPS in a practical and evaluative way. What I found most interesting in his analysis of NPS was the customer grid (Figure 1). Figure 1. Customer Grid. From Fred Reichheldââ¬â¢s Microeconomics of Customer Relationships. (2006, pg. 76) Reichheld came to the conclusion that the upper right was the top long-term priority. I completely agree with this conclusion. He then put the upper right and the lower right as the next highest priority. He does make some good points, such as bad word-of-mouth and high profits that could pick up ship and move on elsewhere.I, however, would put a higher priority in the upper middle section as long as this is a large corporation. A small business may very well need to stamp out the issues of the unsatisfied because they canââ¬â¢t afford the risk of losing base. In a large corporation, volume is huge and needs to be satisfied. If you can find a way to get the middle column to the right, your NPS would rise. Conversely, if you donââ¬â¢t satisfy the middle, or large volume customers, they could move to the left causing havoc. Netflix recently made a bold move of raising itââ¬â¢s prices 60% and split itââ¬â¢s services into two separate entities.This angered that middle column of subscribers that used Netflix, but didnââ¬â¢t have strong opinions toward it. Netflixââ¬â¢s stock prices have plummeted 26 percent this year(Randall, 2011). Netflix was counting on customer loyalty to prevail over the increase in prices, but instead had a huge backlash. An example of a company that focuses on the right and the middle of their NPS is Apple. Apple has created a company with an almost cult like following. Appleââ¬â¢s NPS is 79% with only 2% detractors based on a 2008 survey by Satmetrix (Schofield, 2008).Apple has been genius at getting customers to the upper right section of the customer g rid. It developed products to appeal to the masses. Criticism toward Apple has been their lack of Adobe flash integrated into their iphones(Chen, 2008). This causes anger to the left sections of customer who want flash enabled devices. Apple could easily try to appease this group and enable Flash, but because it views it as an unstable platform, it refuses to use it. Apple isnââ¬â¢t as concerned about the haters as it is about those loyal to Apple, or those who are on the fence.Recent commercials have depicted Apple as more stable and fun to used than PCs, in an attempt to grab at that market with no brand loyalty. Economic Theories I do realize my examples for my disagreement with Reichheld on priority placed on the NPS is not for all market conditions and companies. There are many factors that can sway priority away from where focus was previously. The Netflix example, for instance, was based on a company who thought it had somewhat of a monopoly, yet after it made itââ¬â¢s decision to raise prices realized costumers left for other options such as Hulu plus and Blockbusterââ¬â¢s DVD by mail service.Netflix is now forced to have its main focus on the left and pacify those who were angered. There is also supply and demand to consider. When there is a high demand for a product and a limited supply, a higher priority needs to be set on the upper right because holding a high percentage of the market share when supply is low will keep customers when or if the supply is increased and you will need customer loyalty when new competitors are able to enter due to a lower cost of entry. ConclusionFred Reichheld wrote an excellent article breaking down NPS and applying it to business. I had a slight disagreement over his priority placement mainly because it is flexible to the situation and I would focus on the masses rather and a select few. The article was well written and very practical with easy to understand data. References Chen, B. (2008, November 17). Why apple wonââ¬â¢t allow adobe flash on iphone. Retrieved from http://www. wired. com/gadgetlab/2008/11/adobe-flash-on/ Randall, D. 2011, September 19). Nflx tumbles on qwikster announcement; are netflix's best days behind it?. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2011/09/19/nflx-netflix-stock-qwikster_n_970879. html Reichheld, F. (2006). The microeconomics of customer relationships. MITSloan Management Review, 47(2), 73-78. Schofield, M. (2008, April 10). Satmetrix benchmarks net promoter scores in four key industry sectors. Retrieved from http://www. reuters. com/article/2008/04/10/idUS191482 10-Apr-2008 BW20080410
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Humans Live in a World Where Everything Tries to Make You Something Else Essay
Identity is now so hard to define. No longer as simple as whom am I? Identity is it solid or fixed? Neither is it constantly changing from birth till death. In addition to the problems faced with growing a developing an individual also faces problems from ideas surrounding personal problems. These can be examples from the environmental influence, such as arriving into a new school or even a new culture. These experiences can be both positive and negative though, negative as they may leave an individual disillusioned with their direction and place in life, yet positive in the way that an individual may feel reinvigorated and their perception of personal boundaries removed. Growing up in Australia is a short collection of stories from various artists that entails their stories of being different to others and the challenges that they faced in order to fit in when their identities are so different. Sticks and Stones and Such Like by Sunil Badima is a story about How being different, can isolate an individual and make it difficult for them to belong. The main difference in this story is the name Sunil, it singled him out and showed his different nature compared to everyone else. The way that people couldnââ¬â¢t pronounce it only served to exacerbate his push for a more ââ¬Ëwesternââ¬â¢ name, Neil. This changing of an identity, from the Indian Sunil to the Aussie Neil, represents how people are willing to change and conform in order to fit in and be accepted by others, even going so far as to forego cultural preoccupations. How to be Japanese by Leanne Hall is a story that Discusses the stereotypes that exist, the racial prejudices that those from a culture deemed the minority are subject to. An individual cannot control how they look yet theyââ¬â¢re judged about this. The cultural differences usually hinder an individual, whereby once cultural values sporting exploits as that of success another views success educationally as high marks, yet it is the minority group which is subjected to being stereotyped. This stereotyping is an action that removes an individualââ¬â¢s identity, placing an individual into a wider group whereby they lose their identity, given a set of predetermined characteristics, which is extremely common amongst the racial groups, e. g. the Japanese love hello Kitty. Reveals how a loss of identity can occur as an individual is adjudged to be something else before qifference, alienating them, difficult to conform. A personal identity is impossible without belonging to a family, society and culture. Without Belonging to a group somewhere an individual cannot hope to find their identity, the two are inextricably linked. Without a place in the world, an individual is lost and cannot hope to find their place. This is shown progressively throughout the film of ââ¬ËSkinââ¬â¢. Because Sandra is coloured and her parents and brother are white, she is constantly confused about her identity and who exactly she is. rBelonging is an innate predisposition that majority of the populous seek the feeling of acceptance and a place in the groups ranks offers. Once Sandra relises she canââ¬â¢t find this within her family and the society she grew up in she looks to the Black people of South Africa to find a sense of belonging. Belonging to a group offers a sense of security and acceptance that people seek. It is through this environment that an individual will learn and their identity flourishes under the experiences of the group and that of their own, belonging to a group reaffirms our own identity. Whilst belonging to a group may culminate in the formation of an identity, this may not be the true potential of the individual. This influence may upon an individualââ¬â¢s identity may be detrimental, their identity a mere extension of the groupââ¬â¢s prerogative. May also lead to an individual being stereotyped and/or alienating their past. Therefore those that cannot belong or alienate themselves from the rest of society struggle to find their place in the world, they are constantly drifting, the question of who am I, left unanswered. This is emphasised throughout the film Skin as Sandra is constantly changing her state as a white South African to a colored South African, so that she is able to find a sense of identity and belonging. People are put into groups, like family and school, and this is a struggle when it conflicts with identity. Whilst belonging to a group, the choice to conform is one that most people must make, we are all born into a group of some degree. Yet it is this place within a group, the arrangement of parameters that can lead to conflict surrounding an individualââ¬â¢s identity. When we are born, we are born into a family environment, born into a group already. Yet through this group, as individualââ¬â¢s we learn and model ourselves off the actions of those in the group, the decisions and perceptions of its members are reaffirmed onto our own. Yet this predetermined group can cause problems for our identity as individuals. This family whilst providing a base from which an identity can develop, also masks an individualââ¬â¢s identity, the individual may have of been raised in the interests of the group, unfulfilling their true potential. Moreover this placement of an individual occurs through other avenues of life as well. At school an individual may be labelled, stereotyped in a particular way based upon something as simple as they way in which they dress. This stereotyping and prejudice can breed only conflict within an individual as they struggle to determine who they truly are, are they the person they are perceived as? Or are they more? Furthermore in order to fit into a group, an individualââ¬â¢s conformity may be misaligned with the values and perceptions of this group, only giving birth to further conflict surrounding an individualââ¬â¢s identity. They struggle to find who the truly are, their true identity against the restraints that conformity offers them. There is conflict between identity and belonging. Where conflict is resolved it is good for the individualââ¬â¢s identity. The need to belong is an innate predisposition for most humans. As we are social creatures we seek a place in the world, a place where we can be accepted, a place of security. Yet in our willingness to conform, conflict can arise between an individualââ¬â¢s identity and that of the group. This discrepancy something that breeds only discontent as an individual discovers that the interest of the group may be misaligned to those of their own. Furthermore in a group the needs of the group are put before those of the individual, thereby stifling the true identity. Yet this creates further conflict as some of the decisions of the group, the choices that it makes may not be reflective of those of the individual. As the individual takes second wrung to the needs of the group, the individual may become discontent about where they are, questioning their own identity.
Cultural Awareness, Understanding, Acceptance Research Paper
Cultural Awareness, Understanding, Acceptance - Research Paper Example According to Patty (2009), these distinct ways of living are usually manifestation of beliefs, convections and experiences of members of a given society. For example certain cultures practice female genital mutilation as a means of portraying their values of controlling female sexuality. On the contrary, western societies are associated with materialism and consumerism, which represent the manner in which members of those western societiesââ¬â¢ value material items as opposed to intangible aspects like female circumcision in third world African countries. According to Patty (2009), this means that culture involves application of both tangible objects like materials and intangible elements like language and practices in demonstrating customary inclination of a given society. At this juncture, it is worth acknowledging the fact that culture is not genetically inherited but learned and transformed from one generation to another. In modern societies, culture manifest in form of gender roles, aesthetical values, social structure of families and social norms. According to Banks and Cherry (2013), culture exists only in the mind of members of a given society. Consequently, it is a fragile component which can be easily lost through social integration between members of different communities. This explains why western cultures are proliferating in second and third world nations. Western education is an example of culture that has been widely adopted across the world. In addition, Christianity as a religion is another definite cultural inclination that originated from Europe and has spread to almost every part of the world. Banks and Cherry (2013) says that as culture spread, other traditional customary practices like the worship of extraterrestrial gods by the Greeks are lost and replaced by relatively superior belief systems. Multicultural Education Based on the distinctive nature of culture, modern cosmopolitan societies are striving towards creating articulate int egration between members with different cultural beliefs. Muslims and Christians have different cultural inclinations in terms of religious beliefs. On the other hand, the role of women in Indian cultures is not similar to that of the female gender in African and Anglo Americans. In this context, there is need for concerted efforts in creating a favorable environment where members from different social backgrounds can interact for a common purpose. In this regard, multicultural education is an academic discipline involved in fostering an equitable environment for learners from distinct cultural backgrounds. Banks and Cherry (2013) says that distinction in terms of cultural background could be based in terms of ethnicity, race and socioeconomic status. In addition, multicultural education entails expounding the role of women on modern social, political and economic setting. In actual practice, multicultural education encompasses application of theories and practical strategies in res ponding to educational needs of a culturally diverse society. One approach of integration multicultural principles in contemporary education includes fostering human relations between members of different races or genders. During the first half of 20th Century, African Americans were experiencing one of their most tragic incidents in their history. According to Banks (2003), racial discrimination was prevalent in political, social and economic contexts. Apart from the Black population, women were also
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
History 16 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
History 16 - Essay Example The movie specifically dwells on political happenings that were informing the decision making process of the president during the periods of the Cuban Missile Crisis (Kennedy, 45). It is of critical importance to note that the movie ââ¬Å"Thirteen Daysâ⬠is historically accurate. There are several circumstances captured in the movie that qualifies it for historical accuracy. For instance, the movie depicts one of the periods in history when the president of America, President John F Kennedy met with one of the Soviet ambassadors. This meeting took place at the Justice Department and it is a historical reality. The meeting involved the president and Anatoly Dobrynin ad it took place a certain evening of the 27 October 1962 (Ponting, 37). This makes the movie ââ¬Å"Thirteen Daysâ⬠historically accurate. It is important to note that the movie may be important to the students in several aspects. It equips the students with knowledge regarding conflict resolution. This is critical in ensuring that each every student becomes well informed in matters dealing with such conflicts in the society. The movie also focuses much on the issue of leadership (Ponting, 53). This is crucial for students since it equips them with the requisite skills and knowledge pertaining to leadership. It sheds more light on how to deal with political unrest relevant to the leadersââ¬â¢ personalities and behavior. This is critical to such students who may have interest of becoming political leaders in
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Marketing Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Marketing Communications - Essay Example Marketing communication can be described as a tool which is utilised for the promotion and branding of a firm as well as its offerings (Govoni, 2004). The impact of organisation on the overall marketing process and marketing communication identifies the factors affecting those processes. Marketing communication can also be described as an assimilation of various ideas, designs, and campaigns in order to percolate a particular message to the target audiences. According to the traditional marketing communication, there are five major tools used in communication (Kotler, 2004). These are advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, direct marketing and public relations. Media can be described as the medium through which these communication tools reach the target audience. For a long time, a predictable and formulated mix has been used, for example, different communication and media mix is used for business-to-consumers and business-to-business audience (Williams and Cutis 2012). Tec hnology and social media have complicated the traditional marketing mix and organisations have now started to explore. Recent slowdown in the economy has increased the pressure on the already overloaded marketing department. Managers are now required to create innovative strategies with even lower budget. Every department is now accountable for the budget they get. This has also led to internal competition. Apart from that, organisations are increasingly realising the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics. Businesses have started incorporating these activities in most of their marketing and communications plans. The accountability and authenticity of these programs and campaigns are still questionable, it is clear that the marketing communication is rising from its traditional form to a more innovative, creative and comprehensive approach (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). In the current essay, a review will be done on the marketing communication tools and theories . The current disadvantages of these tools and future strategies will be discussed, with the help of relevant corporate cases. Theory and principles Based on numerous studies and research work, marketing communication theories are established. They are the result of years of consumer surveys, and analyses of the perception, changing preferences etc. The importance of these theories lies in the fact that, understanding of these theories is of immense help in formulating a strong communication strategy. Below are few of the established and widely used theories of marketing communication; AIDA Model This is one of the first models of communication strategy. AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire and action. Though in the year 1911, another factor, satisfaction was also added, the model is better known by its four factors; Attention- this is the first step of a communication process. Here the strategy is to get the attention of the customers. Presentations of revealing facts and fi gures or identification of a preliminary problem are few of the strategies which can be used in this step. Interest- once the marketer has gained attention, the next step is to generate interest and maintain it. The objective is to keep the interest of the consumer
Monday, August 26, 2019
Business Environment Demand and Supply Assignment
Business Environment Demand and Supply - Assignment Example 2. If the price of Snickers increases, then the substitute for the Mars bar has become more expensive. As a result at each price, people will buy more Mars bars. Therefore, at each price there will be a higher quantity demanded of Mars bars. So the demand for Mars bars will increase. In figure 2 suppose the initial demand curve at the old price of Snicker bars is D0. This curve shows at price ?0.6 per unit of Mars bars, Q1 units are demanded. Now if the price of Snickers bars goes up, at the same price of Mars bars, more units are demanded. So, the demand curve shifts up to D1. In this new situation, at the old price of Mars bars Q2 units are demanded. Figure 2: Effect of increase in the price of substitutes 3. In figure 3, D0 is the initial demand line for Strawberries. If the price of cream fell, then a unit of Strawberries and cream together is less expensive. Since Strawberries and cream is consumed together, the quantity demanded of strawberries and cream together rises. As a re sult, at each price, the quantity demanded of Strawberries is now higher. So, the demand curve for Strawberries shifts out to the right to D1. Figure 3: Effect of fall in price in cream on demand for Strawberries 4. If the interest rate increases, then people have to pay more to repay the same amounts of loans. As a result, the income falls. If income falls, given the same price of cars, people can afford to buy fewer cars. Therefore, at every price, the quantity demanded of cars falls. As a result, there is a decline in the demand of cars. This is shown in figure 4. The demand for cars drops from D0 to D1. Figure 4: Effect of rise in interest rates on demand for cars 5. If the cost of production of Mars bars falls, then every unit of Mars bars can be supplied at lower price. Therefore, at each price the quantity supplied increases. This leads to an outward shift in the supply on the Mars bars. The effect is shown in figure 5 below. The initial demand and supply curves are D0 and S0 respectively. The equilibrium occurs at point A where these two curves intersect one another. Note from the vertical axis that at the initial equilibrium the price is 0.6p. Now, suppose the production cost falls. As a result, the supply curve shifts out to the right to S1. The new equilibrium is point B. Note from the vertical axis, the new equilibrium price of Mars bars is lower than the initial equilibrium price. Figure 5: Effect of reduction in producing costs 6. In figure 6, the effect of a reduction in a tax on the sales of the product is shown. Suppose initially, the tax is ââ¬Ëtââ¬â¢. The relevant supply curve is S0+t. If the tax is taken off, the cost of the firm goes down, as a consequence the firm can supply more at each price. The supply curve without the tax is S0. Observe, if a tax is charged, then to supply an output of Q1 the firm has to charge a price of P0+t. But if there is no tax, the firm can supply the same output at a lower price of P0. Therefore, the ef fect of a reduction in tax is to shift the supply curve out to the right. Figure 6: Effect of a reduction in tax on the supply 7. If there is an increase in technology, the inputs become more productive. As a result, at the same per unit cost, the firm can now produce more. Therefore, at each price, the firm now is able to offer a higher quantity supplied. Therefore, due to the improvement in technology, the
Sunday, August 25, 2019
U.S Departments of Justice versus Eight Cigarette Companies Assignment
U.S Departments of Justice versus Eight Cigarette Companies - Assignment Example In addition, they stood accused of luring thousands of children to start smoking by producing enticing adverts that did not have risks attached to them. Furthermore, the companies were accused of making money illegally through unscrupulous means and hence should return their profits made since 1953 to the U.S government. According to the information provided, the tobacco companies stood accused of breaching their duty to care. In as much as they had reports of research conducted in the 1950ââ¬â¢s about the dangers of cigarette smoking, they still went ahead to market their products to consumers, created a chance to get children to smoke, and make more people addicted to the product which eventually led to deaths related to cigarette smoking (Ellet 27). By breaching their duty to care for their consumers, the companies were supposed to be sued. In the duty to exercise care, a company is required to take measures which should prevent injury or damages resulting from the use of their products. According to the US government, they sued the 8 cigarette companies since they were aware of the risks of smoking cigarettes, yet went ahead to market them. The solution, in this case, will be to ensure that the 8 companies use the amount gained through unscrupulous ways to promote the public on the dangers of smoking (Ellet 89). The government in a bid to protect the citizens from deaths caused by advertisements which are misleading wanted to give back to the people what they had lost. A lot of American citizens had been misled by their adverts since 1953 by encouraging the use of smoking and attributing it to not cause lung cancer. The US government is suing the cigarette companies was supposed to make sure that such practices are not carried out.Ã
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Research In Business Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Research In Business Management - Essay Example In this literature review, various works of literature on racism in the retail industry of the United Kingdom shall be critically reviewed. The aim of the researcher shall be to analyze the opinion of various reviewers on what racism is and how it started, laws that protect people against racism and discrimination, effects of racial discrimination on the growth of the United Kingdom retail industry and how racism in the retail industry of the United Kingdom can be stopped. Racism explained Several reviewers see and explain racism just from a perspective of ethic or racial background. To this effect, they make the discrimination against people based on their skin color as the major definition of racism. In this function, Ellis-Christensen (2011) explains racism as the discrimination against people based on their race after explaining that ââ¬Å"commonly, but not always, people are categorized into one of five races: White, Black, Latino or Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous or Native.â ⬠Racism however goes beyond the discrimination of people based on their race or ethic background. In fact, limiting racism to discrimination against people based on their race would mean that racism cannot take place among two people belonging to one of the six sects mentioned by Ellis-Christensen (2011). ... With his explanation, it can established that two people may be of the same skin colour or race but by the mere fact that one is from a different national or ethic origin can result in one of the fellows showing acts of racism against the other. Laws guiding against racial discrimination at the workplace Since racial discrimination is a human rights issue, various countries have laws that guides against it. In the United Kingdom, there are national laws that guide against racial discrimination at the workplace. These laws are very necessary because as noted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2011), ââ¬Å"everyone should have a right to equal access to employment and when employed should have equal pay and equal access to training and development.â⬠In this regard, Section 1 of The Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 gives emphatic scenarios that constitute racial discrimination at the workplace and by extension in the retail sector. As a l aw, the breach of the binding rules comes with daring consequences to offenders (The National Archives, 2003). The researcher is however concerned with the implementation of the laws as the provisions of the law can never be enough if enforcement is not ensured thereof. In 2005 for instance the Abercrombie & Fitch lawsuits sent ââ¬Å"award checks to the over ten thousand class members who submitted valid claim forms in accordance with the process set forth by the Court in the April 2005 settlement orderâ⬠, most of which had to do with racial discrimination (Alvarez, 2005). This not withstanding, Barmes and Ashtiany (2003) report of how various retail companies have their own laws and regulations that guides against racial discrimination. Effects of racial discrimination on the UK retail industry
Friday, August 23, 2019
Ethical Problems In Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Ethical Problems In Statistics - Essay Example As users of statistical data, we ought to be on the lookout for falsehoods in statistical reports. We should look for the conscious or unconscious influence that has a tendency to distort the numbers and information. Figures may be filtered for controlling factors and thereby leading to the production of curious results. We should be aware of and look for indicators of an influenced sample. These include small samples size and biased samples. Users should try to figure out if any information is missing. The absence of supporting information that directly relates to the source is enough to suspect unreliability. It comes in the form of a correlation that does not present measures of reliability like probable error and standard deviation. Also, it can be in the form of a mentioned percentage that is not backed by its numeric base materials. We should look for the possible trends present in the totals or conclusions. These trends will usually tend to give information of one case in comp arison another whereas the cases may be not similar. For all claims made based on unproven assumption, the user should always analyze whether they make sense. Though the current trends may be established using facts, the future trends can only predict successfully using a reasonable hypothesis. Another issue of ethics is, genuine data though full virtues can be manipulated, exaggerated, and oversimplified by experts and accepted by people. This compounded by the fact that people have a tendency to trust experts.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Morality in Ethan Frome Essay Example for Free
Morality in Ethan Frome Essay In The Morality of Inertia, Lionel Trilling argues that Ethan Fromeââ¬â¢s inability to make his own ethical decisions ultimately makes his ââ¬Ësmash-upââ¬â¢ a tragic event caused by the inactivity of morality. The nonexistence of this moral inertia is the explanation, for Trilling, for the outcome of Frome; the lack of moral responsibility in any of the main characters from the beginning of their lives paralyzes their decision making process they simply exist and do what is their duty. Trillingââ¬â¢s aspect that Frome was a morally inadequate man is a valid fact affirmed by Edith Whartonââ¬â¢s provided background of him; the idea that he was unable to make choices and is only capable of enduring can be proven inaccurate with his Fromeââ¬â¢s actions throughout the story. The notion that Ethan Frome is incapable of making ethical decisions based on his background can also be countered with his background and actions. Trilling uses Fromeââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"duties as a husbandâ⬠and son as support for his claim that ââ¬Å"[c]hoice is incompatible with [Ethanââ¬â¢s existence]â⬠(from Morality of Inertia). However, the reader is exposed to Ethanââ¬â¢s ability to recognize choices, and decisions not to act on them, throughout the story. Frome acknowledges his dilemma of running away with Mattie or staying with Zeena, but is inefficient in seeing past the initial consequences of each choice and exploring other possibilities of escape besides the basic. Ethanââ¬â¢s central decision in the book, to commit suicide with Mattie, is made with free will; although it is Mattieââ¬â¢s idea, Ethan agrees and takes the reins in the front of the sled. Although Ethan Frome is a broken man perpetually frozen in a bleak Starkfield, one cannot disregard his inaction when he is presented and acknowledges choices. He constantly contemplates expressing his love for Mattie, looking for ââ¬Å"the all-expressive word,â⬠but fails to, even when alone with her, making ââ¬Å"free choiceâ⬠a moot point (Ethan Frome; from Morality of Inertia). Morality is not caused by inertia in Ethanââ¬â¢s case but personal authorization Ethanââ¬â¢s decision to commit suicide proves this point; the act proves that he was capable of confessing his love to Mattie, but failed to up to that moment. Although Frome can be held responsible for his moral inactivity, he can be considered a morally inadequate man in his present state. His inadequacy, however, was not a constant in life or a sudden occurrence it snowballed from his youth and finally solidified through the ââ¬Ësmash-upââ¬â¢. His earlier experiences in a university and the joy it brought him was quickly interrupted after a year by his sickly parents. The unfortunate circumstance forces Ethan Frome to move back to the depressing Starkfield he had just escaped. His parentsââ¬â¢ illnesses bring along Zenobia, who would be another future, unseen oppression along with Starkfield. For years, Ethan lives in depressing conditions that decline as time goes on. The chance to finally leave them behind, however, comes in Mattie, Zenobiaââ¬â¢s cousin and maid. Ethanââ¬â¢s inability to act on this chance of escape finally seals his fate when Mattie is paralyzed and he is critically injured. Although jinxed with unfortunate circumstances, Ethan Fromeââ¬â¢s life could have been bettered if one small step or action was taken by him for himself with the intention to create personal joy or pleasure. The importance of taking steps in life betterment can be seen in Ethan Frome. Although one may lack a history of ââ¬Å"making moral decisions,â⬠the human instinct to do so is always there (from Morality of Inertia). Ethan Frome was able to rationalize and recognize choices inside of his head; it was his inability to act on any one until his attempted suicide that created his depressing circumstances. The irony of his only decision with Mattie being one of the most deciding ones in his life underscores the fact that if he had taken this initiative before this instance, his life might have taken a different track. This was not a forced or accidental occurrence; Ethan Frome was in fact an unfortunate individual in undesirable circumstances, but with a free will and mind developed enough to make
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Therapeutic Psychology Essay Example for Free
Therapeutic Psychology Essay Introduction. William Glasser(1925) has developed this approach as he believed that looking into your past and dwelling on the past is not beneficial for the therapeutic environment. He believed that one should look at the present reality in order to achieve happiness or be content in life. He was also convinced that one should take responsibility for oneââ¬â¢s actions and not project it onto other issues. ââ¬Å"The basic assumption is that all any of us can control is our present livesâ⬠(Corey;2009. p 316) The approach is based on the Choice Theory. Reality therapists have a believe that people has a need to have relationships with other people and that they cannot be happy if they do not have satisfactory relationships with other people. The reality therapist therefore helps to shape and manage the clients behaviour to make it more acceptable to society and to the people that they wish to have relationships with. ââ¬Å" The more the clients are able to connect with people, the greater the chance that they have to experience happinessâ⬠.(Corey;2009.p 316) When looking at behaviour from a Reality Therapy approach it is said that ââ¬Å"client choose their behaviours as a way to deal with the frustrations caused by unsatisfying relationshipsâ⬠(Corey;2009.p 316) . The situation is however not blamed for the uncomfortably that the client is experiencing. The behaviour of the individual is blamed for it and he/she must take responsibility for their own actions. Glasser does also not agree that one should diagnose mental illness as he thinks that people with behavioural abnormalities are not sick and ââ¬Å"people suffering from brain abnormalities, should be treated primarily by neurologists. (Corey;2009.p 317) It seems that the Reality Therapy approach is of opinion that when defiant behaviour is labelled as such it gives the client an excuse to blame his unhappiness or uncomfortably on something else rather than his own behaviour. Choice theory states that we have been born with five intrinsic needs, namely ââ¬Å"survival, love and belonging, power or achievement, freedom or independence, and fun.â⬠(Corey;2009.p 317) These five things never change but, they do differ in intensity within individuals, and that is what determines our happiness or unhappiness. ââ¬Å"Choice theory is based on the premise that because we are by nature social creatures we need to both receive and give love.â⬠(Corey;2009.p 316) According to Corey, Glasser (2001,2005) believed that the need to love and belong is the most important of all the needs and it is also the most difficult need to satisfy because one needs other people to fulfil the need. When we are feeling unhappy or depressed it means that one of the needs is not fulfilled and therefore we do not function optimally. This can manifest in different emotional and physical symptoms. There are five characteristics of reality therapy. Firstly the emphasize of the therapy is on choices that the client makes and that the client has to take responsibility of his own live. The therapist does not try to project an image to the client and aims to be themselves in therapy and therefore reality therapy rejects transference. Some therapy approache focusses on the past and what has happened in the past and how it influences the clients behaviour, reality therapy rejects that notion and only focuses on the present as the past can not be changed and it is over and done with. The past is however not completely ignored but it is not a focus point. Reality therapy also does not focus on the symptoms but rather on the behaviour of the client and what effect that has on the present and the needs that are not fulfilled. Lastly the reality therapy approach challenges theà traditional view of mental illness in the fact that they do not label the person that is presenting with anti-social behaviour with a diagnose of mental illness but rather focus on how the behaviour could be shaped into more acceptable behaviour.(Corey;2009.) Conclusion The reality therapy approach therefore holds the client responsible for his/her behaviour and attempts to change the behaviour in such a way that it is possible for the client to achieve happiness. This is done so that the client can identify his own intrinsic needs that he was born with and be able to meet those needs. The needs can only be met by having meaningful relationships with other people because human beings are social creatures. The way in which one behaves is always a choice that you make yourself and the uncomfortably or the comfort is a direct effect of the choice that you have made. Question 2 This approach had a big influence on my self-understanding. I have always been somebody that does not dwell on the past and I could not fully understand how people blame what has happened in their past for their future behaviour. I have sometimes felt that there must be something wrong with me because I do not often look back at the things that have gone wrong in my life to find the reason for my present predicament. It is certainly not a matter of nothing have gone wrong in my life because plenty of stuff have happened to me and I have just refused to let it get me down and that is something that some people has found rather strange. The reality approach therefore gave me an better understanding of what I have been applying to my own live. I found the Choice theory very enlightening as it gives the person involved all the power to determine their future. I have also learnt that therapy does not have to evolve around a personââ¬â¢s past as it is generally accepted. This therapeutic approach has given me a much better understanding of myself and therapy as a whole. Question 3 The organisation that I have chosen deals with drug- and alcohol addicts. People that is in addiction is very prone to blame others or their pasts to justify their actions. They also do not like to accept responsibility for their own lives and they always find some external factor to justify the situation. At H.O.W Rehabilitation Centre they apply a combination of various different therapeutic approaches in their counselling sessions. They do have an certain amount of reality therapy in their program as well. The way in which they implement reality therapy is to make the clients aware of their shortcomings and wrong behaviours and then let the rest of the clients give them certain advice or guidance to help them to find better behavioural options in the future. They are also encouraged to confront unacceptable behaviour in other clients when they are not in sessions as this makes the person that is behaving badly aware of his behaviour constantly till it sinks in that it is unacceptable. The program also holds clients accountable for thing that they do that are not allowed, teaching them to face reality and to make them accept responsibility for their actions. Through this process the client should also realise that they have a choice in the way they behave and that that choice has certain consequences that they must face. Bibliography Corey, G.T (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy(8th ed). Belmont: Thomson Brooks/Cole Section B 49028049 1. Reality Therapy 2. H.O.W Rehabilitation Center 196 Main Road Strand 7140 3. S. Davids 021-853 3579 4. 560 hours which was spread over 70 days in 8 hour shifts. Section C 49028049 Question 1 1. When I started doing voluntary work at H.O.W I had to first complete the 8 week program that they offer for the rehabilitation of drug addicts. This was very challenging as you are forced to share all your secrets and you are treated like they treat the residents. It is emotionally very draining and it leaves you tired. I was also part of a group and that is something that I am not use to. I believe that going thru this experience has made me a stronger person and it has also made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses. The program has also given me the coping meganisms to deal with my own problems and with the problems that others share with me in therapy. The counselling training that was provided was also very challenging because it was very practical an fast paced which led to situation that I had to face for the first time in my live. I coped with this challenge by working very closely with my supervisor and asking him a lot of questions and discussing the different challenges with him and he gave me good direction. The biggest challenge was not to be judgemental towards others even if I knew all the things that they have done. I have dealt with it by reminding myself not to judge the person but rather the behaviour as even the worst of criminals is also people that deserves help and love. Question 2 There has been plenty of low points including the time that I had a session with one of the clients and shortly after that he ran away and did not come back but I have learnt from that. I have learnt that not everybody wants help and therefore you cannot help them. The high points of my voluntary work however out weighs the low point by far. The highest point was when I was offered a position as a staff member at H.O.W!!! Section D Question 1 a. 10 b. 9 c. 8 d. 10 e. 8 f. N/A g. 9 h. 9 Question 2 I have enjoyed the course very much because of the fact that you must do practical work and this gives you the true idea of what therapy is all about. This is why I am studying Psychology. // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=,o=0;o e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return studymoose.com},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf(http)==0){return p}for(var e=0;e
Transgenic Plants and Their Applications
Transgenic Plants and Their Applications Aim of study Rice is one of the main staple foods in this world. It is particular interesting that studies be done on enhancing the rice production. There are biotic and abiotic factors that can reduce the production of rice but the aim for this study is to examine further into genes that can enhance rice tolerance towards drought as drought one of the main factors that decreases the annual production of rice in the world. In addition, genes conferring tolerance to transgenic rice will also lead to other positive phenotype effect such as salt tolerance (Hu et al., 2006), disease tolerance (Chen and Guo, 2008) and many more. The research of transgenic plants is still in its infant stage as technology progress to further extend. As this transgenic research is still new, there is a lot problem surrounding this new research and it is particularly important for one to know every aspect in transgenic rice. Aspect such as benefits and setbacks should be provided so that the aspects can be reviewed and to find a balance point. Balance point is where the benefit will overweight the setbacks. Furthermore, review would be more wholesome and informative and the information provided will lead to invoking thought of scientists that are interested to study further in the transgenic field. Rice Production According to Food and Argriculture Association (FAO) of United Nation, rice is the second largest produced cereal in the world. Around 350 million tons of rice was produced in the early 1990s and by the end of the century it had reached 410 million tons. Asia countries are the major rice producer in the world (90%) with China and India producing one-third of global population supply (ref?). Currently, rice is grown and harvested on every continent except Antarctica, where conditions are not suitable for rice growth. Other major rice producer includes India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philipine, and Bangladesh. Currently, more than 550 million tons of rice is produced annually around the globe. Few thousands of new strains of rice are produced till today. That includes those grown in the wild and those which are cultivated as a crop. Globally, more than 3 billion people from Asia and other countries depend on rice (Oryza sativa) as their staple food, and by 2025 at least 60% more rice must be produced to meet the demands of the growing human population (Yarasi et al., 2008). Currently, rice yield around the world are just barely enough to support the people that depend on rice as food (Karaba et al., 2007). This problem has become worrying because food shortage related to rice may escalate out of control and sends billions into starvation. Factors affecting rice production This shortage may be caused by biotic and abiotic factor (Capell et al., 2004). Plants had to face periodic or unpredictable biotic and abiotic stresses, such as salt, drought, cold, pests, and disease. The most significant abiotic stresses faced by plant are high salt environment and drought. These stresses inhibit crop growth and development and usually result in plant death. As crops fail, the production of food will decrease accordingly. Biotic Interference Production of rice is negatively impacted by numerous biotic factors includes insect infestation and microorganism invasion. An approximate 52% of the global production of rice is lost annually owing to the damage caused by biotic factors, of which around 21% is attributed to the attack of insect pests (Brookes and Barfoot, 2003). Insects belonging to plant hopper (Delphacidae) and leaf hopper (Cicadellidae) are hard to control and monitor. So, a lot of rice yield are lost due to insect infestation. Insects not only cause direct losses to the agricultural produce but also act as vectors for various plant pathogens that causes disease (Dahal et al., 1997; Foissac et al., 2000)The most known pests of rice are viz, brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens, BPH), green leafhopper (Nephotettix virescens, GLH) and whitebacked planthopper (Sogatella furcifera, WBPH) are known to cause severe damage. They have a hugh appetite for plant sap, and in large numbers, they can suck the sap of plants to the point where plants will lose important nutrient in sap and die. They also act as vectors for major viral diseases (Yarasi et al., 2008). Abiotic Interference Plants are non motile organism and needs to find suitable environment to continue on growing. Sometimes the environmental conditions are not suitable for them. So the challenge is the plants had to adapt to its environment by some biological mechanisms that are able to help plants to flourish in stressful environment. They manage to do so by series of event. First sensing a stress, and then signaling the stress through a series of components, leading to activation of a large number of stress-related genes and synthesis of a variety of functional proteins. This includes transcription factors, enzymes, molecular chaperones, ion channels, and transporters (Zhou et al., 2009). Functional proteins helps the plant can change in their physiological and metabolic reaction according to the stress endured. This ensure the plant continue to triumph in stressful abiotic environment (Bray, 1997). Counter Measures There are numerous physical ways to counter these problems. For example, pesticides can be use for the prevention of insect infestation. However, this counter measures are not without any negative consequences. Chemical control of insect pests is an effective method but not efficient. Pesticides cause a lot more today and the usage depends mainly on the weather conditions. Uncontrolled usage of chemical pesticides will not only build up resistance in insect pests but also affect other beneficial organisms such as pollinators, nutrient cyclers and natural pest-controlling predators (Yarasi et al., 2008). They can pollute the environment and as well as depleting other natural minerals of soil. As to solve drought problems on plants growth, government had tried counter measure such as cloud seeding. Cloud seeding Cloud seeding works by the use of airplanes to spray expensive chemicals such as silver salt into the sky in hope for rain. Cloud seeding is not preferred method to reduce the effect of drought on food production because the silver salt used are very expensive and success percentage of seeding clouds are very low. Now scientists are looking forward in finding the best solution to increase the production of rice. The most interesting and the most widely studied is the t ransgenic method. Transgenic Approach Transgenic comes from the word trans-gene, which means introduction of foreign gene that is consider beneficial to the wild type species. Any foreign genes that are considered a help to confer stability of rice to environmental stress are being studied. Genetic enhancement of rice through conventional methods is often constrained by narrow gene pools. So, transgenic technology can be used as better alternative approach for hybridization of wild species genes with foreign gene to produce a better rice species in term of survivability in nature (Yarasi et al., 2008). With current advancement in biotechnology, we can look forward to produce transgenic rice that can have higher survival chance from biotic and abiotic interference. Beneficial Transgenic Effect In Rice Through transgenic method, rice will be more resistant to diseases and insects when foreign genes are introduced into the wild type rice gene to express certain proteins that repel insects (Yarasi et al., 2008). For example, is the introduction of Tobacco OPBP1 gene into rice may improve the disease resistance of rice (Chen and Guo, 2008) and the introduction of Allium sativum leaf lectin gene into rice to repel sap-sucking insect (Yarasi et al., 2008). Besides that, rice will become more likely to survive abiotic catastrophe such as drought and high salinity condition as introduction of new genes confers the ability of rice to mediate metabolic ways to react to these stresses. For example, insertion of Arabidopsis HARDY (HRD) gene in rice improves water use efficiency, the ratio of biomass produced to the water used, by improving photosynthetic assimilation and reducing transpiration (Karaba et al., 2007). There is also the insertion of Triticum aestivum salt tolerance-related gene (TaSTRG) derived from salt-tolerant wheat mutant RH8706-49 enhances salt and drought tolerance of rice (Zhou et al., 2009). Other than that, transgenic process can be used to insert a bacterial chlorocatechol dioxygenase gene into rice so that rice plants are able to degrade pesticides (chlorinated compounds) to less harmful form. Several herbicides and pesticides containing chlorinated compounds have been used and have spread in the environment. They will destroy the delicate balance of nature by many ways. If left unattended, the environment will have some non reversible consequences. Therefore, bio-remediation of these chemical compounds will be a powerful technique to degrade chlorinated pollutants in soil. Transgenic rice plants that express foreign genes encoding enzymes to degrade chlorinated chemical compounds would enable farmers to remove these harmful chemical compounds from soil and water surrounding the fields (Alexander, 1981). By applying transgenic research, rice pla nt can be further enhanced to be able to survive stresses and as well to help remediate the environment. Indirectly, the rice production will also increase so that food crisis will not happen. The Super Green Rice Project Currently, scientific community are on the verge to produce transgenic rice called Super Green Rice which possesses numerous beneficial properties such as resistances to multiple insects and diseases, high nutrient efficiency, and drought resistance (Zhang, 2009). So this new kind of hybrid rice are hoped to reduce the consumption of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and water. Super Green Rice also needs to have high yield quality regardless of multiple stress environments (Zhang, 2009). For this production of Super Green rice to realized, they are undergoing enormous efforts to focus on identifying allthe hereditarymaterialin a single species and discovering genes for resistance to diseases and insects, nitrogen and potassium use efficiency, drought resistance, grain quality, and yield. The steps adopted include screening of germplasm collections and mutant libraries, gene discovery and identification, microarray analysis of differentially regulated genes under stressed conditions, and functional test of candidate genes by transgenic test (Zhang, 2009). Genes that are considered beneficial to the production of rice are now been isolated and are gradually incorporated into wild type rice gene. It is anticipated that such strategies and efforts would eventually lead to the development of Green Super Rice (Zhang, 2007). Problem of transgenic plant in food Transgenic research seems to have a bright and brilliant prospect ahead to help solve the world food crisis problems, but, the introduction of foreign genes into wild type rice does not come without any major public concern (Yarasi et al., 2008). In all new scientific projects worldwide, there will be problems because of the technologies and knowledge is yet to be fully explored. There are some worries that the lack of transgenic effect on food crop may have negative consequences. For example, effect of the transferred foreign toxic gene such as the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insect-resistance gene to other species other than rice (Yarasi et al., 2008). This induces the rice to produces endotoxin to repel insect from eating the crops. This Bt gene inserted into food crop can help to reduce insect destruction and increase the food yield, but, there are concerns that the inserted gene into food crops will have adverse effect on the nutrient quality of crops produced (Yarasi et al., 20 08). The gene may induce the plant to undergo different metabolic process and produces toxic substances as by-product. Although with the insertion of Bt gene into rice will increase its yield, but the rice produced are not suitable for human consumption. This may cause the crops produced not fit to be consumed. Transgenic Plant and Environment Concerns Through the introduction of transgenic plant in our environment, scientist began to think about the consequences that might occur. There is concern about the consequences of transgene escape to wild type relatives. Transgenic plants have genes that are different from the wild type gene but both transgenic and non-transgenic plants are still able to communicate and transfer genes (Lu and Yang, 2009). Communicate in this term means the ability to interbreed with each other. So, the transgene can flow to the wild type species. There are three pathways for gene flow to occur which is pollen-mediated, seed-mediated and vegetative propagule-mediated gene flow (Lu and Yang, 2009). Transgenes can escape from a genetically modified (GM) crop to its wild relative species via pollen-mediated gene flow. There are many factors that can affect the pollen-mediated gene flow such as wind, animal, water current and other factors. Moreover, types of vectors for pollination and environmental conditions , such as the strength, and direction of wind, temperature, light intensity, and air humidity, will also influence pollen-mediated greatly (Lu and Yang, 2009). It is natural to have pollen-mediated gene flow because it helps in plant evolution. However, the movement of transgenes from genetically modified plant to wild type species may have adverse effect. This is because wild or weedy plants that acquire transgenes will continue to evolve, subject to natural and artificial selection in the agricultural ecosystem and beyond, posing potential ecological consequences (Lu and Yang, 2009). Once transgenes have moved into populations of wild or weedy species, it is nearly impossible to remove them from the environments if the transgenes can persist and spread in the populations. Different consequences will arise if the wild type relatives acquire transgene from genetically modified plant relative. If the transgene is able to confer favorable traits such as pest resistance, drought tolera nce, and enhanced growth ability, the transgene followed by gene flow would persist to and quickly spread in the populations of wild relatives through introgression. Then individual plants which contain the transgene are out surviving the individuals without the transgene in natural selection. This will indirectly increase the invasiveness of transgenic plant and sooner or later, the habitat will be filled with transgenic species rather than the wild type species (Lu and Yang, 2009). On the other side, if the transgene reduces the survivability of wild relatives, the frequencies of individuals that contain the disadvantageous transgene will decrease gradually. This process will cause the extinction of local populations by the so-called swarm effect (Ellstrand and Elam, 1993). Therefore, transgenes escape via pollen-mediated gene flow from a GM crop to populations of wild relatives and its ecological impacts have been a major concern. Another concern over transgene escape from GM ric e to its wild relatives is for the consequences of genetic diversity. The presence of transgenes in the germplasm of wild rice relatives may represent a form of pollution. It is theoretically possible that strong selection for fitness enhancing transgenes could generate selective sweeps, in which portions of the crop genome that are linked to these transgenes displace corresponding portions of wild genomes (Lu and Yang, 2009). This can be particular dangerous as the transgenic plant displaces its wild type relatives, the gene pool will be less diverse. So, if there is a new disease caused by new type of bacteria or viruses, and coincidently the transgenic plants lack of gene to fight off the disease, the whole population of the plant species are endangered of being wipe out and becomes extinct. Besides that, with the reduction of gene variety, there will be surely affect the plants natural evolution. As gene pool decreases, the evolution of transgenic plant in the future will not be as vary and diverse as the plants of wild type gene. The newly introduced transgenic rice may alter the soil composition and its microbes community due to its different physiological need compared to its native species. These might render the soil useless and unsuitable for other plants to grow in. Transgenic plant and health concerns Majority of people are starting to get worried about the consequences of the transgenic genomes transferred into the native species and other major complication caused. Those complications include health concerns where foreign genes are transferred into the rice gene may cause health complication. Some scientists have argued that protein products are not the only potential source of toxicity in transgenic plants (Connor and Jacobs, 1999). An experiment had been conducted when researchers fed rats either wild-type, wild-type containing lectin or transgenic potatoes expressing the lectin protein. Lectins are of commercial interest because of their pesticidal properties. The result shows that only the transgenic potato-fed group experienced physiological changes such as intestinal damage and they concluded that the genetic transformation process itself caused the observed complications. By getting the result from the rats, we can subsequently predict the analogous effect of unsuitable t ransgene on human health. Humans health is in great danger if they consume such transgenic crop. Other than that, people around the world are more alerted to the food safety of GM food that introduces allergens into the food supply. The allergenicity of the GM food is determined by the allergenicity of the substance. This means that gene products that are not allergenic normally will not become allergenic when expressed in a transgenic plant. For example, plant ferritin has no allergy cases reported, so, transgenic iron-enriched rice that contains the plant ferritin gene (Goto et al., 1999) poses no allergenicity risk. On the other side, if the gene product is a known allergen, then it will also be an allergen in a transgenic plant. As an example, when a Brazil nut albumin was expressed in soybean to boost methionine content, it resulted in nut-allergic individual reacted to the transgenic soybean(Nordlee et al., 1996). Therefore, people with an allergy to Brazil nuts would now also be allergic to those GM soybeans, even though they were not allergic to native soybean before. Ho wever, allergenicity of food is much more complicated when the allergenicity of a transgenic protein is unknown. For example, if a substance is not tested for allergenicity before, then the question may be asked if people started to consume food with the unknown substance, will they develop food allergy. There are more than 200 food allergens have been identified and sequenced (Gendel, 1998), but there is no definite sequence of protein are determined to be the source of allergenicity. Most known food allergens are stable to digestion (Ashwood et al., 1996). Therefore, proteins digestion stability test in the digestive process environment is one way to identify potential allergens. It is unlikely to reach immune cells to cause a hypersensitivity response if a protein is degraded in the stomach and small intestines. Stable proteins should be examined further. These experiments can be coupled with a comparison of sequence similarity to known allergens. Novel proteins with a significan t sequence similarity can be tested for reactivity with serum from subjects who are allergic to the homologous allergen. Although these tests may not be comprehensive in identifying potential allergenicity, the limited variety of source foods suggests that the vast majority of transgene proteins will be safe for consumption (Lehrer et al., 1996). More than 90% of the people who have food allergies are allergic to one or more of either cows milk, wheat, nuts, legumes, eggs or seafood. Transgenic plant and effect on non target species Transgenic crops that express insecticidal transgenes to control agricultural pests may also affect non-target organisms (Hilbeck et al., 1998; Losey et al., 1999; Saxena et al., 1999). Studies using corn transformed with a Bt-insecticidal transgene have non-target effects. For example, Lacewings (Chrystoperla carnea), an insect predator, suffered from higher death rates by feeding on corn destructive insect, European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) reared on Bt corn. The result shows lower and more significant less death rate using corn borers raised on non-Bt-transformed plants (Hilbeck et al., 1998). However, this was a laboratory study. It would seem a low probability for lacewings to be exposed to European corn borers that have ingested Bt toxin in the field. In another study, Monarch butterfly larvae (Danaus plexippus) that consumed milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) leaves dusted with Bt-containing corn pollen had decreased feeding, growth and survival rates, compared to larvae that consumed leaves with non-transgenic corn pollen (Losey et al., 1999). This result may indicate that the usefulness of some genes to deter some destructive insect may have some adverse and unwanted consequences of other species within the food chain. This indirectly will cause some species to be greatly in danger by this newly introduced transgenic plant. If the problem persisted, some species affect maybe extinct and then it will generate cascade of negative effec t on the fragile natural food chain. Transgenic plant and resistance issue There is also the issue of insect developing resistance to the transgenic plant and thus render the transgenic plants useless. For example, the diamondback moth, an important pest to Brassica crops worldwide, was the first documented pest to develop resistance to Bt toxins applied as microbial formulations in open-field populations (Tabashnik, 1994). Until now, there is no dominantly inherited Bt resistance genes have been documented. Using this information, various resistance management strategies have been proposed to delay the resistance building by insect, with plantation of a high expressing transgenic plant coupled with a non-transgenic plant (Shelton et al., 2000). The non-transgenic plant allows Bt-susceptible pests to survive on the field population and mate with Bt-resistant individuals. The goal of this strategy is to keep the recessive Bt resistance genes at low levels in the target populations and thus limit the rate at which the entire population will acquire Bt resista nce. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on the population size (Shelton et al., 2000). Transgenic plant and ethical issue Besides that, there are also some ethical issues where transgenic rice contains foreign genes that cannot be consumed. For example, the vegetarian will think twice before consuming the transgenic rice containing animal genes inside the transgenic rice. There is a strong sense of consumerism where consumers want to know what is in their food. Transgenic plant and its economic issue Economically, there are also a few setbacks regarding the production cost and the research cost for the transgenic rice. It is true that the transgenic rice will give us more yields but there are some worries that the money needed for the production and research of transgenic rice may overcome the benefit. As commercial crops are the main applicator for transgenic research, it may be hindered to progress in poor nation. So indirectly, the transgenic rice project might be not economically feasible. However, there is still no exact amount that can be taken into account but there is a bright prospect that the benefit of higher yield will overcome the cost needed. Transgenic rice is something to look forward to in the future because it may put a stop to the world food crisis. By mastering transgenic technology, there is a hope where the perfect rice plants can be produced greatly without much interference abiotically or biotically. It also have good prospect for better future study of alteration of rice nutritional value to suit the ever more demanding human population.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Reader Response Essay - Slave Purchases and Breeding: Unruly Slave :: Reader Response Essays
Reader Response Essay - Slave Purchases and Breeding: Unruly Slave My initial response to G. B. Wallaceââ¬â¢s letter was one of confusion. As I reread the piece given the title ââ¬Å"Slave Purchases and Breeding: Unruly Slave, Wallace, G.Bâ⬠I realized that it was nothing more than a business letter between a slave owner and an associate of his that could presumably help him out of his situation. The language of the letter created a small barrier, since it was out of date in comparison to contemporary American language, but with a little effort, I could see the authorââ¬â¢s intentions. For example, I have never heard the word ââ¬Å"aforesaidâ⬠used before. Using the context of the letter, I could deduce that it simply means mentioned earlier or said beforehand. This reaction doesnââ¬â¢t surprise me because I rarely read literature from this time period, and anything you donââ¬â¢t do often takes a little time to get used to. I adjusted to the language easily, because the letter was short and simple, thus requiring little patience to understand. As far as my reaction to the actual subject matter of the letter, I was not overly shocked or repelled by the inhumanity concerning the slaves. I donââ¬â¢t support slavery or reconcile any prejudices. I think human property is very wrong. Americans should be ashamed to bear its disgraces as part of our history. The truth should be known, though; that is part of our history, and many horrible things happened because of it. This short letter, however, did not arouse any of the anger that comes with the portrayal of such injustice. I am a sensible person, but I am also very sympathetic and sensitive to the needs of others. When extreme prejudices occur, such as slavery, and I read stories or watch movies about it, it really does sadden me. I didnââ¬â¢t feel this way at all after reading this letter about slave trading. Maybe it is because nothing in the letter, such as the tone or word usage, led me to believe that these slaves were being mistreated. Obviously, slavery in itself is mistreatment, but it was also part of the southern culture of that time period. I mean, just because someone owned slaves doesnââ¬â¢t necessarily mean he is a horrible person. People do things that I consider to be immoral all the time, but I donââ¬â¢t condemn them as bad.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Cyber Bullying Essay -- Why we must stop cyberbullying
The rise in technology has influenced our lives with the use of social networking sites and electronic devices predominant with todayââ¬â¢s youth. What many adults are unaware of is bullying exists in many forms and is more common in the cyber world. In 2012, CBC news reporter Joan Leishman , aired ââ¬Å"Cyber-bullying,â⬠she describes a story about a student named David Knightââ¬â¢s unbearable life entering the Internet. Later in 2014, Rachel Simmons, a former Rhodes Scholar and the founding director of the Girls Leadership Institute, wrote an article titled ââ¬Å"Cyberbullying Is a Growing Problem.â⬠Simmons article addressed the impact of cyber bullying in the 21st century and actions school officials and parents overlooked when they are unaware of their childââ¬â¢s Internet activities. The increasing use of social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and numerous others allows bullies to go beyond verbal bullying to become cyber bullies. Leishman takes a closer look into a victim of cyber bullying and interviews David, from Burlington, Ont., about his life living through cyber bullying. In Davidââ¬â¢s case, bullying did not begin on the Internet, but at school. The taunting, teasing, and punching for years later led to harassments on the Internet, including the humiliation and unbearable struggle David had to endure. David was uninformed about what someone put on the Internet about him until his classmates sent him a message on the Internet. Davidââ¬â¢s life took a drastic turn when he found an entire website dedicated to him where he is made fun of with photos and vile comments. Not only was Davidââ¬â¢s humiliation starting to escalate, but also the cyber bully asked others to evoke the same insults by posting lewd and sexual comments. D... ... our ideas where people cannot actual see you. The surge of technology creates enablers of cyber bullying, who do not have to approach their victim directly, but resort to online communication without any interference. I think cyber bullying is a way of cyber bullies not apprehended for their actions, and consequences are not used; since, adults are not there to actually see the bully and the victim unless in person. Cyber bullying inflicts harm on the individual causing the individual humiliated in front of the global web where people are constantly conversing and looking up stuff on the Internet. Works Cited Leishman, Joan. "CBC News Indepth: Bullying." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 02 Mar. 2015. Simmons, Rachel. "Cyberbullying Is a Growing Problem." Policing the Internet. The Washington Post Company, 28 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown â⬠Poverty in the Tale and Authorââ¬â¢s Lif
ââ¬Å"Young Goodman Brownâ⬠ââ¬â Poverty in the Tale and Authorââ¬â¢s Lifeà à à à à à à à à à à à Roy Harvey Pearce in ââ¬Å"Twice-Told Tales: A Blend of Storiesâ⬠makes reference to the widely-known poverty of the aspiring writer,Nathaniel Hawthorne: ââ¬Å"True enough, Hawthorne planned more than once to write groups of tales and sketches somehow linked into a whole; but he could not get a publisher for them. When he did get a publisher in 1837, it had to be through the help of the hack-editor, Samuel Goodrich. . . .â⬠(107) Nathaniel Hawthorneââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"Young Goodman Brownâ⬠includes traits of the modest lifestyle which the author was forced to endure in his personal life. Besides this, there was also an artisitc-resources impoverishment because of the tiny town in which he lived. à Henry Seidel Canby in ââ¬Å"A Skeptic Incompatible with His Time and His Pastâ⬠mentions of Hawthorne that ââ¬Å"human failures and their causes were more interesting to him than prophecies of success, one might truly say than success itself. â⬠¦He was not, I think, really interested in escape, except in moods of financial discouragement. . . . (57). Such moods of financial discouragement were to plague the author for nearly his entire lifetime. à Hawthorneââ¬â¢s financial impoverishment probably began with the untimely death of his father, and continued for most of his life. Gloria C. Erlich in ââ¬Å"The Divided Artist and His Unclesâ⬠states that ââ¬Å"Robert Manning made the essential decisions in the lives of the Hawthorne children and is well known as the uncle who sent Hawthorne to collegeâ⬠(35). After graduation from Bowdoin College, Hawthorne spent twelve years in his room at home in an intense effort to make something of himself literarily. The Norton Anthology: American Literature state... ...6. à Hawthorne, Nathaniel. ââ¬Å"Young Goodman Brown.â⬠1835. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/goodman/goodmantext.html à James, Henry. Hawthorne. http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/nhhj1.html à Lewis, R. W. B. ââ¬Å"The Return into Time: Hawthorne.â⬠In Hawthorne ââ¬â A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. à à ââ¬Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.â⬠The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al. à New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995. à Pearce, Roy Harvey. ââ¬Å"Twice-Told Tales: A Blend of Stories.â⬠In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. à Swisher, Clarice. ââ¬Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.â⬠In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. à à Ã
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Technological Environment Analysis of Cathay Pacific Airways
Technological Environment Analysis of Cathay Pacific Airways: Technological factors include forces that create new technologies, creating new product and market opportunities. It is based on considerations as to whether the local market has sufficiently developed technologies to take full advantage of the product. It should be noted that high technologies are required to make full use of the variety of promotional methods using alternative advertising media such as television or websites. 3 1) Information Technology of Cathay Pacific 4Cathay Pacific has devoted to technological advancement all the time. By e-business, Cathay Pacific is using information technology to improve communications with customers, passengers, business partners and staff. It also offers online ticketing, check-in, and online flight schedule, which deliver the updated flight information to customers via email or on their mobile phones. Therefore, the information technology enhances working efficiency and the cu stomers can enjoy flexible and reliable services.Besides, certain electronic devices must not be used on the aircraft at any time such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and remote controlled products but now customers can use mobile data on the plane, which is called eXConnect. 4 It provides limited network service to costumers. Moreover, its in-flight entertainment system offers video channels, audios, games and reading materials on demand system for First and Business class passengers. Cathay Pacific is exclusively showing popular Cantonese television drama series onboard from last year.It can attract new customers onto the plane to try the entertainment system onboard. The series, produced by leading local TV station Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), further enhance the entertainment selection available for passengers. To conclude, the information technology can improve internal and external communications, raise revenue, cut service costs and improve the quality of services. 2) Technologic al advancement on weather forecasting Weather change is one of the reasons that lead to increase costs of Cathay Pacific.It may causes damage of the fleet and waste of fuel because of the unpredictable climate change. Nowadays, airlines could move flight times to avoid storms since the technology of in-flight weather forecasting is getting more accurate continuously. The improvement of radar and other weather-sensing technology complements become more accuracy then before. Not only for 7-day weather forecasting, it can even sense that there is an airstream instantaneously. Therefore, the pilots can adjust the route of the airline to avoid unnecessary damage, and assure the passengers that it is safe on their trip. ) Energy Use of Cathay Pacific Energy uses is one of the technological factors. Cathay Pacific is committed to promoting environmental protection and limiting carbon emissions by investing in technology. Nowadays, the fleet of Cathay Pacific is fuel-efficient but flying un avoidably release carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Cathay Pacific has participated in a voluntary programme called Fly Greener. 5 Passengers who want to take part in this programme may use cash to buy offset the carbon emissions of their flight.The online calculator will calculate the quantity of carbon emission is released by the passengersââ¬â¢ trip. The passenger can decide to pay for one flight only or make a lump sum contribution. It shows that Cathay Pacific obey the polluter pays principle to support environmental production. Moreover, those payments by passengers will be dedicated to Fly Greener for the improvement of the local environment. Although it raises the cost for limiting carbon emissions, it can show its good image to public. 4) Waste managementSince Cathay Pacific is committed to promoting environment protection, solid waste management and disposal is one of the most significant issues in the environmental management of the airline industry. Some of wastes come from in-flight catering service. However, Cathay Pacific is trying to do recycling and removal of waste management. For example, aluminum foils can be collected during food cart washing for recycling; some of the food waste would pass to the waste disposal factory to reprocess for animal feeds. ) Promotion Cathay Pacific makes use of hi-tech promotional method by moving its inflight magazine from prints to pixels. 6 The monthly Discovery magazine is available as an iPad app and everyone can download it from Appleââ¬â¢s iTunes Store for free. Such an app features the same content as the print edition, and it also includes embedded videos, high-resolution images. Those customers of Cathay Pacific can get the newsstands from their tablets and the content of magazine will automatically update each month.The customers are allowed to download the magazine onto their tablet to read in-flight. Conclusion of Technological Environment Analysis of Cathay Pacifi c Airways: Some of technological factors are beneficial to the development of Cathay Pacific even it costs a large amount of expenditure. Cathay Pacific has made use of the technological factors on such aspects that include communication, weather forecasting, energy use, waste management and promotion. For communication, the information system is flexible and reliable in Cathay Pacific.It is effective to enhance the interaction between the customers and the company. The customers can get the information and check their schedule conveniently. Moreover, Cathay Pacific provides a safe and comfortable trip for each flight. The accuracy of in-flight weather forecasting is keep improving. Cathay Pacific takes environmental and social responsibilities seriously. Limiting the emissions of greenhouse gas, recycling and reprocessing of food waste are its daily tasks. Moreover, it takes part in a long-term campaign called Fly Greener to support environmental protection.Technological environmen t changes might bring both positive and negative impact to the company. It alerts strategic managers to impending challenges and promising opportunities. The key to beneficial forecasting of technological advancement lies in accurately predicting future technological capabilities and their probable impacts. 2 Therefore, the technological factors that Cathay Pacific adopted bring opportunities and threats to the company. The entire operations of Cathay Pacific can run efficiently by adopting technological factors.
Friday, August 16, 2019
Primacy of Survival in Life of Pi
The urgent crave to survive at all costs is known as the primacy of survival. Survival is essential for every animal, and there is no shortage of lengths they will go to in order to survive. Yann Martelââ¬â¢s Life of Pi portrays the theme of primacy of survival based on Piââ¬â¢s determination and courage throughout his journey. Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi, is a Hindu boy who embarks on a journey to Canada along with his family and their zoo animals. Midway through his journey, the boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and Pi is left stranded on a lifeboat.However, Pi is not alone on the raft; in his presence are a zebra, orangutan, hyena, and a fearsome Bengal tiger. Once he is aware of what happened, Pi understands that giving up on his life is not an option. This lust for survival is expressed by examining how all animals are naturally dangerous, how man will do cruel things in order to survive, and how all of our morals are lost when we feel threatened . Early on in Piââ¬â¢s life, he is taught by his father that all animals are naturally dangerous.Piââ¬â¢s father, who is the owner of a zoo in India doesnââ¬â¢t want Pi to be too comfortable around the animals at the zoo, since they could harm him if they feel threatened. In order to protect his son, he tells him ââ¬Å"Life will defend itself no matter how small it is. Every animal is ferocious and dangerous. â⬠(Martel, 41). This is crucial for Pi to understand, since he may think that some animals are harmless, meanwhile due to their natural instincts, they can be vicious if they feel threatened.However, after Piââ¬â¢s father explains this to him he still isnââ¬â¢t convinced that Pi is fully aware of the consequences if he becomes too comfortable with the animals. Therefore he decides he needs to prove exactly how dangerous some of the animals can be. One day, he takes Pi and his brother to the big cats section of the zoo, to find a massive 550 pound female Be ngal tiger; the king of the jungle. He tells them how Mahisha, the tiger, hasnââ¬â¢t eaten in 2 whole days. Then, he says ââ¬Å"I want you to remember this lesson for the rest of your livesâ⬠(Martel, 47). He then threw in a live goat into the tigerââ¬â¢s cage.With a sudden flash of orange and black fur, Mahisha demolished the goat with a single blow. Blood splattered everywhere, and Pi and his brother Ravi were utterly appalled by the sound of the dying goat. Pi himself is also an example of his fatherââ¬â¢s words that ââ¬Å"Life will defend itself no matter how small it is. â⬠( Martel, 41). Pi, a very skinny Hindu boy is faced alone with a hyena, orangutan, zebra and tiger on a lifeboat with no weapons. For the majority of his journey, he knows that death could be present at any given moment, but he still manages to protect and preserve himself.In certain situations, the primacy of survival of animals and humans alike can have an immensely powerful feeling, ur ging us to do anything in order to survive. This urge to survive can sometimes drive us to do cruel and unimaginable things. Pi experiences the cruelness of our hunger for survival when the boat Pi and his family are on begins to sink, and crew members throw Pi onto the lifeboat. Pi was thankful for them at first, since he thought being on the lifeboat would ensure his safety; however he wasnââ¬â¢t alone on the lifeboat.An adult hyena that was being shipped had managed to escape its cage and make refuge on the very same lifeboat as Pi! He soon realizes that the crew members didnââ¬â¢t throw him on the lifeboat to save his life, but rather as bait. Shocked, Pi says ââ¬Å"They were using me as a fodder. They were hoping the hyena would attack me and that somehow I would get rid of it and make the boat safe for them. â⬠(Martel, 121). This shows the extent to which humans will go to in order to survive, since there is ultimately nothing more drastic than human sacrifice. La ter on in Piââ¬â¢s journey, he surprisingly runs into another lone survivor on another lifeboat.At this point in Piââ¬â¢s journey, his body is severely dehydrated, and is beginning to deteriorate, which results in his loss of vision. The man on the other raft is blind as well, but once Pi begins to talk with him he is able to identify his accent as French. The man, much like Pi, hasnââ¬â¢t had food in days and is starving. Craving his own survival, the man attempts to attack and kill Pi for food. Pi is sure this is the end of his life, ââ¬Å"I could feel him moving off the tarpaulin onto the middle bench and, fatally, bringing a foot down to the floor of the boat. ââ¬ËNo, no, my brother! Donââ¬â¢t! Weââ¬â¢re not-ââ¬â¢ â⬠(Martel, 283).Right before the man begins to attack Pi, Richard Parker; the mighty but weakened Bengal tiger on Piââ¬â¢s lifeboat attacks the man and kills him. If it hadnââ¬â¢t been for Richard Parker, the man would have without a d oubt killed Pi and ate him in order to secure his own survival. Killing someone of the same species as you is sickening and cruel, but doing so to eat them is absolutely insane; something an animal would do. The truth is ââ¬Å"We're animals. We're born like every other mammal and we live our whole lives around disguised animal thoughts. â⬠(Morace, 1).Humans are essentially animals, but once separated from our race, faced with the possibility of death, we will do anything in order to survive. Not only will humans do unimaginable things in order to survive, their morals are all lost to a craving selfishness for survival. Pi experiences this first hand when the hyena on the lifeboat attacks the zebra and wounds it. He is initially horrified at this, but then he expresses how his sense of empathy was quickly overtaken in the fear of his own life: ââ¬Å"When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival. â⬠(Martel, 133).This is natural for humans, something that comes instinctualy to us. Later on, Pi feels remorse for the zebra, unlike how he felt in the moment. His instincts however could have saved his life, since he proceeded to hide once the hyena attacked instead of watching and mourning the zebra. Pi even knew that what happened was normal, and that it may have kept him alive. Before he set sail on the ship through the pacific, he learnt about this madness for survival, ââ¬Å"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; itââ¬â¢s part and parcel of the ability to adapt.Without it, no species would survive. â⬠(Martel, 45). One may argue however that humans are different, that we should not turn into animals when we feel threatened. This is in fact false, since society is what holds us back: ââ¬Å"Deprived of the zoo-like structures (society) that sustain them in their daily lives, humans retur n quite naturally to lives guided by basic instincts and animalistic impulses. â⬠(Dominic, 143). Once Pi leaves society all together, he essentially becomes an animal like figure guided by instinct that only does things that are necessary for his survival. Because of Piââ¬â¢s instincts, he is able to survive.Even though it may seem that Pi just witnesses these acts of human cruelty and loss of morals, he in fact suffers from the loss of morals and is extremely cruel himself. From as early on as he could remember in his life, Pi was a very strict vegetarian. Once he realized he was stranded on the life raft, he knew he would have to give up on his old habits, and that he would have to eat meat in order to survive. Pi quickly learns that he canââ¬â¢t be picky with the food he gets, and with his stomach rumbling of hunger, he proceeds to devour raw fish eyes, turtle blood and Pi even says that ââ¬Å"I tried once to eat Richard Parkers feces.â⬠(Martel, 237).He quickly learns that tiger feces isnââ¬â¢t suitable for humans to eat, and doesnââ¬â¢t attempt to eat it again. Even though it is entirely disgusting that he would do that, he didnââ¬â¢t have many more options. After these events it is said that ââ¬Å"Pi also begins to recognize, much to his disappointment, that his own behaviours are becoming more animal-likeâ⬠(Dominic, 143). Once Pi does realize that he is simply living off his instincts, he is surprisingly content with himself.However, on the verge of death, Pi does something that is questionable even in order to survive. One may wonder if there is anything worse that Pi could have done on his journey. The answer is cannibalism. After the man that Pi meets at sea is killed by Richard Parker, Pi actually eats some of the manââ¬â¢s raw flesh. Pi confesses that, ââ¬Å"Driven by the extremity of my need and the madness to which it pushed me, I ate some of his flesh. â⬠(Martel, 284). Having not eaten in nearly 12 day s, he even claims that ââ¬Å"they slipped into my mouth nearly unnoticed. â⬠(Martel, 284).This cruel, sickening and unacceptable act simply shows how we will do absolutely anything and everything in our power to survive. As a whole, the primacy of survival is thoroughly expressed within ample instances of Piââ¬â¢s journey. What else could show the will to survive better than a teenage boy stranded alone on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Nothing, except if there perhaps was a giant Bengal tiger aboard. Well in that case Piââ¬â¢s journey is the ultimate story of survival, since he faced hunger, thirst and death with the king of the jungle in his presence the entire time.Along his way, Pi learned how dangerous all animals naturally are, how humans can do such cruel things, and how our morals are lost when we are threatened. Some may speculate that what Pi did to survive is just plain wrong and unacceptable. Nevertheless Pi survived a record 227 days on the dreadful Pacific Ocean before his journey finally came to a close. From Pondicherry, India, all the way to Tomatlan, Mexico, Pi had to do many undesirable things that all point to an animalââ¬â¢s primacy of survival.
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