The Cellmate

â€Å"The Cellmate† by Crystal Arbogast â€Å"The Cellmate† is a text by Crystal Arbogast, and the story is set in a small town called Whitesburg Kentucky in the USA. The story takes place in the summer of 1925, and includes a protagonist and two important supporting characters. The title obliviously indicates that the story will have something to do with a cellmate; therefore we can say that the title is some sort of foreshadowing. Crystal Arbogast has used the third person limited as point of view, and furthermore her style of writing is quite detailed.Some of the themes in this short story are prejudice, death penalty or the fact that there has to be a co-existence between the good and the bad in the world. The plot is about Andy, a man who lives in Whitesburg who is known for his homemade liquor. On this exact Indian summer day in 1925 there is only one thing that seems to disturb the inner peace of our protagonist, and that is the fact that a young man called Lloyd is in prison for having killed a woman and for this reason is sentenced to death the following day.As Lloyd does not fit Andy’s idea of a killer, he continues to wonder whether he really killed this poor woman and if so, perchance someone else had anything to do with the murder. In the story some townspeople ponder that Lloyd’s mother, Annie, was the one who persuaded him to kill that woman. Later in the afternoon Andy is bound to pass the night in the same cell as the killer Lloyd, due to the sheriff’s amusement. In the following morning Lloyd was executed. Later when Andy was released, he decided to take care of Lloyd’s dearest possession; his horse, which was Lloyd’s last wish.The story begins with the author describing the beautiful nature and landscape of Whitesburg, which she also describes as â€Å"truly God’s country†. Moreover she uses the literary device circular composition, which means that the opening and the finish is s omehow linked together; in this story it is the beginning’s sunrise which is joined to the ending’s sunset. The sun can be a symbol of life, and by starting and ending with this powerful symbol, we could interpret that life will go on no matter what. There will always be a day after tomorrow.Additionally, the opening tells us that Andy sees Whitesburg Kentucky as â€Å"truly God’s country†, whereas, the ending shows us humanity at its worst and best. Andy represents the goodwill in humans, and takes on the burden of a young man’s last wish, for no other reason than feeling sorry for Lloyd. However there will always be people like the sheriff and Lloyd’s mother, and these are the people who most likely are unaware to the pleasure of helping others or the touching joy of sunrises and sunsets.There are three characters that stood out the most, and those are the protagonist Andy Sturgil and the two supporting characters, the Sheriff and Lloyd. A ndy Sturgil is an interesting character, because he is dynamic. In the opening we learn that he brews his own liquor, and the fact that the Sheriff is onto him, makes Andy look like a carefree and chancy man. On the other hand, he is the one in the story that shows empathy and compassion towards the â€Å"killer† (Lloyd), Andy is truly a goodhearted man. Men do not show emotions, however the story portrayed some quiet feelings.However, perhaps the most interesting character is Lloyd, caused by his role in this short story. Lloyd gives the impression of having a child mentality and it appears as he is non-violent, and for this reason I find it hard to believe that he could have killed that woman, without someone pulling the strings. And then there is the Sheriff, who is a power-hungry and egocentric man, and the towns bully. Besides it looks as if the Sheriff actually feels threatened by Andy, perhaps because Andy is a cherished man in his town.

Beijing’s Transformation

From a walled city to a modern metropolitan, from a closed culture to globalization and from ancient teashops to modern cafeterias and from birdcages to subways; the road to modernity has been a very long one for Beijing. There is a plethora of driving forces for the drastic changes that Beijing has undergone.There are huge contradictions about the way common people react to these changes and about how the new Beijing measures up to their vision of their city. This dilemma of choosing between tradition and modernity, between old values and new ethics and between age old culture and the world order, is not unique to Beijing.Developing countries, particularly oriental ones, are often faced with these difficult choices on the road to progress. The choice has to be made and made judiciously. Beijing’s cultural ethos is very closely related to the walls which were symbolic of so many things in Beijing’s culture, such as social status, direction, space, class, privacy and eve n prejudices. The changes that took place in the mindsets of people who were at helm, and the changes that were responsible for Beijing’s new look, can be tracked through the treatment meted out to these walls in different eras.The city was earlier enclosed within walls and the courtyards were separated from each other by walls. The walls contributed to Beijing’s mystery and charm that was part and parcel of its magnificence. But the first step towards modernization of Beijing was the flattening of these walls which had stood for so long as a symbol of Chinese culture in vogue in Beijing at that time. Right after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, the onslaught of modernization was brought on and the walls were the first to feel the brunt of this modernization.The walls were pulled down to make way for fast tracks and western style buildings. This was the beginning of the end of old Beijing with its aura, cultural heritage and glorious history. Mao, in association w ith Soviet communists who had money, technical know-how and a vision, laid out extensive plans for the modernization and industrialization of Beijing. Though the Soviet Union and China fell apart in 1960, the foundation of the plans had already been laid and the modernization proceeded on similar lines. Factories were built in and around Beijing in large numbers.Rural agricultural faced a setback because the peasants abandoned the villages in order to join the urban work force. Worker’s settlements sprang up like mushrooms and Beijing became a modern industrial city of the world. The air which was earlier pure and healthy, now became smoky and has till now not been able to regain its earlier freshness. The walls now symbolized feudalistic attitudes to the new generation who were more for rapid industrialization. Hence the remaining walls, temples, courtyards, teahouses and pleasure houses, were sheared down.Their place was taken by dull and drab official buildings, standardiz ed stores, apartment buildings and so on. Even holiday rituals were not left untouched. From folk fairs, the generation graduated to parades and rallies. Beijing was changing and changing rapidly. The walls were later sacrificed for the need of materials for civil defense and subway lines. Mao’s obsessive fear about Soviet invasion, caused tunnel digging to become the national occupation, in the 1970’s. The tunnels dug during that period still lie under the city.In a way, the walls that were once the awe inspiring feature of Beijing’s architecture now lie forgotten under the city. Historical reasons were at the forefront in the causes of Beijing’s makeover from a conservative, mysterious and culturally rich society to a modern, global village with loads of modern architecture and almost no historical heritage to speak of. Elitist Chinese architect Liang Sicheng wanted Beijing to grow to modernism but still remain in a delightful sync with its rich culture by concentrating the modernization outside the walled city.The plan was a beautiful orchestration of the divergent forces of tradition and modernity but the plan was laughed off for being too idealistic and impractical. Had it been implemented, Beijing would have had a different look altogether. The Chinese population, by and large, is divided into two major sectors- one segment consists of people who are all for modernization even if it comes at the cost of culture. The other genre is of people who believe that old cultural traditions must not be shed off like extra baggage in the long journey to progress.They must be preserved, nurtured and slowly evolved into what may be a great culture in the times to come. This conflict is foremost when we come to understand the psychology of people in developing countries about what they feel is the right way to attain development of economies and nation building. Beijing’s Urban Planning Commission member Hou, with his respectable cre dentials, firmly believes that architecture of any city should reflect the theme of the era.Chinese architecture, for centuries, was only reproducing itself and had made little progress. It had become stagnant and modernization calls for modern architecture as well. There are a lot of people who conform with the above views, people who believe that modernization is the new mantra and no country should be weighed down by its past. For many, the destruction of old values and ethics and old architecture does not amount to cultural vandalism simply because they believe they no longer serve any purpose in the modern world.All the things, artifacts, architectural wonders, rituals and values that are obsolete and impractical and unsuited to modern life styles, must die a natural death and people must not pine for them or be nostalgic. In the opinions of this new brigade of people, change is always for the better and we must learn to accept it in order to be in sync with the times. The old timers, conservationists, intellectuals and even some students, on the other hand, are less than happy about Beijing’s changing skyline. They are the cult who believes that modernization need not come at the destruction of old values and traditions.They still believe that Chinese architecture is still contemporary and practical, Chinese rituals are still relevant and Chinese values are still capable of illuminating the correct moral path to any individual. They believe that modernization of Beijing could have proceeded on different lines, tracks that would have ensured that the old traditions would have blended beautifully with the new traditions that came in with globalization. Chinese culture would then have been a colorful melange of values old and new, would have shed it weaknesses and evolved into a great culture.Development often brings with it loads of difficult choices which have to be made and made correctly by the people who hold the reins. If these choices are not made judiciously and the common people are not comfortable with them, we will get to see a divided society on the question of how good the progress is. Beijing is undergoing that phase today, where its citizens are into an intense conflict about whether the development is the need of the hour or is it just a burden on the culture and tradition which have worked for so long.The development has taken place so fast that people did not get the time to come to terms with it and were left wondering and gaping at what was happening to their system and to their ethnicity. By the time people realized that new values had infiltrated their society, it was already too late and they were left to adjust to the surroundings as far as they could for their own good. However, increasingly large numbers of people believe that development had to happen and the way it happened is of no consequence.New traditions and cultures are all part and parcel of this package and should be accepted as such. In all, this genre has no regrets about anything except the few minor mistakes like the deterioration of Beijing’s skyline which even they regret. By and large, the conflict is immense, the debate is still on and the result is eagerly awaited so that the road for future can be chartered insightfully. Such discords are common and all countries have either faced it at some point of time in history or are still into it like China.At the essence of such conflict is the vast difference in public opinions and their mindsets. Some are more akin to changes and take to them positively; others are averse to them and look at everything new with raised eyebrows and in suspicion. Hence the divided opinion about the sweeping changes accompanying the progress is somewhat expected. The people in power have to create an environment which is conducive of changes and take most of the people with them in the long voyage to progress.Public opinion will always be conflicting as such a vast number of indi viduals cannot think alike. But the operative word is ‘majority’ of the people. It is possible to create a favorable opinion in the minds of most of the people about what is happening around them and they have to be convinced that some good will come out of it. The development should be paced in such a way that the changes are not too drastic too fast and the people are allowed to adjust slowly to the changes. There are not two views about the fact that the cultural heritage of the countries is to be preserved.The rituals need to change a little bit to be more relevant and practical in the fast paced world. But the required changes in the ritualistic part to culture have to evolve and not coerced on the people. Only if the changes take place slowly will they be incorporated into the existing structure without creating ripples upon the surface of the calm water. It needs to be understood that what has been going on for a long time will take a bit of time to be mummified and we cannot and must not expect it to disappear as soon as we wish it to or as soon as something new comes up.On the road to progress, a fine balance and harmony needs to be struck between tradition and modernity. Beautiful old architecture, artifacts, and some delightful customs need to be remembered if only for the sake of tourism. The developing countries need to uphold their culture for posterity. It may sound cliched that the coming generations need to know their forefathers and their ancestral traditions; but in truth it is very important for the future that the progeny know, respect and appreciate their past.In the fast road to progress, we need to know about the values that made life livable, the customs that called for celebration and the traditions that created compassion and insight. The question Beijing is facing now is of great importance and needs to be dealt with properly by the people who have the power in Beijing. The city is in the throngs of a cultural crisis an d in order to stop another Cultural Revolution from taking place, something needs to be done and done fast. What has been destroyed cannot be replenished but whatever still remains can be preserved.Beijing has too great a culture to be left to the elements of modernity. It needs to be preserved carefully so that it can be a legacy to the coming generations. No doubt, modernity is the need of the hour but the overlooked fact is that even cultural preservation is a requirement. If this fact is realized in time, maybe Beijing can be a utopia, with the desired blend of culture and globalization; like a beautiful modern city where relics of golden past have been carefully and passionately preserved.

Summary 5 234 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary 5 234 - Essay Example Pain is also an important issue to discuss with a hospitalized toddler. The child needs to be taught that it is not his fault that he is sick or in pain and that it is okay to express it when he is hurting. Teachers and family members must help the infant or child to cope with her illness. Infants and toddlers who have been hospitalized may need extra time and encouragement to meet their developmental milestones. They may also regress to an earlier stage of development. It is the teacher's job to reassure parents that this isn't permanent and with encouragement, their child will regain these skills. Promoting active and medical play in the classroom is also a good way for children to express their frustration or other feelings about their experience. Hospitalization or a long illness is difficult for the child, but it is also difficult for the family and friends. Parents may not know where to ask for help in caring for their child and they also need reassurance from their child's tea cher on how the child is coping in the classroom. It is important for the entire family to be involved in the recuperation of the recovering infant or toddler.

Stem cells is a scientific breakthrough that's revolutionizing Essay

Stem cells is a scientific breakthrough that's revolutionizing the health care industry - Essay Example Major breakthroughs in stem cell research include developing nervous tissue and dealing with spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke. In fact, stem cell research is a scientific breakthrough thats revolutionizing the health care industry. Since they are derived in the embryonic stages, these stem cells are often called as embryonic stem cells or just ES. The role played by ES in health care industry today is solely dependent on their cultures derived in laboratories. It is well known that stem cell cultures can be maintained and proliferated in the presence of bovine serum. The cultures allow blastomeres or ES cells to be subjected to differential treatment such as nuclear disintegration of cells, nuclear injection into de-nucleated blastomeres and so on to derive the desired tissue. It has been observed that by such differential treatments, the blastomeres differentiate into the tissue of the nucleus donor cells. Thus, any damaged organ of the body can be recreated through ES cultures and differentiation. The main applicability of ES cell research is the creation of fresh organ tissue that can be inserted in the damaged area in the human or animal body to replenish the organ and restore its functions. This has been successfully conducted in treating spinal cord injuries, strokes and functional diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Yet there is a long way to go. For starters, the biggest limitation of stem cell therapy is that it is restricted to creation of commonly occurring and specific tissue masses and cannot be used to replace or regenerate an entire organ. Therefore, through systematic stem cell culture, the endoderm, mesoderm or ectoderm can be recreated to be replaced in damaged organs, but in no way can an entire organ like a heart be constructed through regenerated tissue sets. Other

Introduction to Leadership Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Introduction to Leadership - Coursework Example (Dale, Ernest, 1969) Prioritizing Tasks: Planning the work to be done is an important aspect of management. If the work isn't planned it either won't finish on time or even if finished it will lack effectiveness and efficiency. Work load can cause de-motivation and can be a reason for bad health. It is important to prioritize the work according to its importance and urgency. It isn't necessary that all important tasks are urgent but all urgent tasks are important. Importance and urgency of a task depend upon the impact that it would have if it is not completed. The work which is of high importance and high urgency should be number one on the priority list and then comes the work of high importance and low urgency, for e.g. if a person has to deal with two important projects at the same time- one with a deadline of tomorrow and other is that after a week, the project of tomorrow's deadline will be prioritized and after its completion other project will be handled. The tasks which are not important but urgent should be number three on the list for e.g. a co-worker’s request to help him with a small task and lastly the tasks which are neither important nor urgent for e.g. dealing and administrating activities. Time Management: Time is business's most important resource and plays a critical role at work place and achieving goals and tasks. Effective time management and productivity go hand in hand; the more productive you are the better time is managed. (Dale, Ernest.1969) Time should be spent on tasks according to the priorities set which will eventually lead to completion of important projects, tasks or goals. Planning and allocating your time hold the most important position in this. Time planning could be done for operational- day to day activities and for long term strategic activities. The first step to time management is to analyze how we spent our time. Second step is to analyze how should we spent our time, this should take into account all the urge nt and important tasks to be done. Third step should be to make effort to reduce the difference between what is done and what should be done. For e.g. If a certain task is completed in 2 hours and it could have been completed in 1 hour, steps should be taken to reduce all the time wasting activities so that most optimum use of time can be done and another task can be completed in the remaining one hour. This will lead to not only completion of job on the time but it will also give additional time to recheck the work and quality of work can be improved too. An attached concept to time management is delegation of work. Manager's time is the most precious resource of the organization and it shouldn't be wasted in small unproductive tasks which add nothing to the organization. Rather smaller tasks of less importance should be delegated to subordinates. This will not only help managers to spent their time on strategic and higher level activities but this will also enhance the chances of subordinates training and learning. It is important that delegation of tasks is done with clarity to avoid any conflicts. Delegation should also take place after considering the subordinates competence to do that task properly. Flexibility: Incorporating flexibility into a work plan is extremely important. Rigid plans leads to uneasiness and difficulty. A work plan should be made in such a way which could be adjusted according to circumstances.

Consumer Borrowing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer Borrowing - Essay Example On the other hand, there are users whose spending needs exceed their current income levels so they have a deficit. Therefore, they require additional funds to make up the difference. These funds can be trasferred from suppliers to demanders of money in two ways. First is through Financial institutions that are of two types including depository insitutions such as commercial banks, saving and credit unions (also known as financial intermediaries) and non-depository instituions such as life insurance companies, pension funds and finance companies. Depository institutions especially banks accept deposits from savers (lenders) of money that they can withdraw on demand. They pool customer deposits and use these funds to make loans or investments to demanders or borrowers of money (consumers and businesses). These institutions make money because of interests rate that they charge from demanders, which is higher than what they to pay to savers or depositors of money. On the other hand, non-depositry institutions such as insurance companies accept business risks of their customers in return for a series of payments called premiums. They then invest their excessive funds after meeting their operating expenses (insurance claims, salaries etc). Finance companies offer short-term loans to borrowers. They usually sell securities or borrow funds from commercial banks therefore they tend to charge higher interest rates as compared to banks. Second is through financial markets where people and organizations wanting to borrow money are brought together with those having surplus funds. Financial markets are primarily divided into primary and secondary markets. Primary market are those in which corporations raise funds by issuing new securities. In Secondary markets, on the other hand, previously issued securities such as mortgages, bonds and stocks are traded among investors. Stock exchanges are perhaps the best example of these type of markets.

Production and Market behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Production and Market behaviour - Essay Example se classical scholars continue to influence contemporary scholars as they attempt to discern the major factors influencing productions and market patterns to enhance efficiency and best economic systems. Our study of production and market behavior will therefore be based principally on neoclassical and institutionalism models that have existed since the last century and will explore the new-institutionalism impact on the theme as well as the recent trends in fair trade and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Neoclassical theories supported by Keynesian economics are the dominant approaches prevalent in mainstream economic theories from the mid twentieth century (Clark, 1998). The theory however can be traced to 19th century after the Industrial Revolution as capitalism ignited intellectual ideas among all disciplines. One prominent neoclassical analyst was William Stanley Jevons and his marginal utility theory of value in 1862. Neoclassical theories are mainly based on individual or microeconomics by exploiting utility as explained in the rational choice theory (Ehrenberg, 1997). Neoclassical economist Marshall’s treatise Principles of Economics (1890) described price disparities in terms of the intersection of supply and demand curves. He also introduced diverse ‘market periods’ as follows: Short period – business faculty is specified, the level of yield, service, assets, and value oscillate to link marginal cost and marginal revenue, where returns are maximized. Economic rents only survive for short duration for unchanging aspects, and the velocity of earnings is not contrasted across segments. The neoclassical model has also engendered the First Theorem of Welfare Economics that emphasis that indirect marginal utility for all the market players is similar. This also depicted in a Pareto-efficient condition that states any enhancement in the utility of one user might jeopardize another’s value. The organizations operating in such a scenario do

Politics (the founding fathers) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Politics (the founding fathers) - Essay Example They attempted hard to erase the concept of elitism and worked hard to bring equality in the nation. America through the enlightenment achieved great homogeneity and unity. They committed the entire nation to a single language unlike the Europeans. This homogeneity that was generated out of the enlightenment became the greatest strength of America and founded the base for what it is now. The powerful dreams of the American Enlightenment paved the way for America's independence. This alone created the basic principles of the American Government. The enlightenment concepts made people understand that a ruler or a government needs to strictly adhere to the higher laws of the republic. Political geniuses like Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and James Madison successfully built up a government that was supported by the people of the republic. These founding fathers were able to put the foundation of such an unconquerable kingdom that is still keen in protecting the natural rights of man. They made lasting impacts on the democracy of America. The encouraging ideas of the classical writings and the atmosphere that helped people develop a craze for wisdom and knowledge were the major feature of the enlightenment period. Developments started putting in the fields of science, religion, and politics and thinkers supported the entire process with their exploding thoughts. Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of Independence" were some of the outcomes of the radical Enlightenment assumptions. Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" was one of the results of the enlightenment period. The pamphlet that was published during the American Revolution stimulated the revolution and criticized the British rule harshly. The thoughts of the pamphlet became extremely popular and echoed in the minds of the American citizens. Paine gave the copyright for Common Sense to the states, thereby becoming the greatest volunteer of the enlightenment movement. Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of Independence" is another written proof of the enlightening thoughts of the period. â€Å"Declaration of Independence† which is the most important reform of American history said that the Thirteen Colonies were independent of Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the declaration has clearly stated the reasons for the separation from the British power. This â€Å"Declaration of Independence† is the ultimate reaction of the enlightenment period that earnestly sought freedom from the powerful hands of the British Empire. It is the written form of the desire of the early Americans. The thirst for independence that developed through the ideas of the enlightenment thinkers culminated into the United States Declaration of Independence. The philosophical background of the â€Å"Declaration of Independence† is nothing but the spirit of republicanism that was born during the enlightenment period. Repu blicanism or the basic framework of liberty is the core of the enlightenment philosophy. George Washington’s name can never be omitted if we speak about the history of democracy in the United States. George Washington had in his hand the choice to make America a democracy, dictatorship or kingdom. More than thrice he had the

Drag Performance during the 1980's in NYC Research Paper - 1

Drag Performance during the 1980's in NYC - Research Paper Example Drag performance must be given deeper understanding to be able to see the superficial meaning and from this, we would understand the hidden structures of society. History of Drag Drag is originally used for clothing, significant and symbolic usually associated with the role of a certain gender when worn by the opposite gender. The term was originated Athens, Greece somewhere in the fourth century BCE, as a form of punishment across the streets. Drag is a symbolic word which does not simply means clothes. Men portrayal as women are manifested even way back thirteenth centuries when the church forbade females appearance on the stage and theaters. For hundreds of years, men are manifested to be dressing as women as a disguised to the opposite sex in theatrical presentations and stage shows. This has also been first traced back to the dawn of the theater as a sort of survival and since then, found to be manifested in all the corners of the world especially in Japan and in China. When the drag practices became popular in some parts of the world and accepted as a form of art among the men as drag artist, categories were defined according to professionalism in rendering drag artistry into the public. Kinds of drag artists like those who starred in movies vary professionalism. There are also called drag queens and mostly vary from their culture of their respective places. However, drag queens are always tagged as gay men or transgender but it is also relevant to say that there are also drag artist who do this for a reason considering the fact that they are a straight people or transvestites. Transvestites belong to different categories compared to drag queens who belong to the gay world, they are cross-dressers who generally straight men and were just dressing women’s dress for erotic reason. The appearance of the drag queen in print was first seen in 1941. Late 20th century defined the drag as an abbreviation of â€Å"dressed as girl† and as a counter pa rt, â€Å"drab† is the â€Å"dressed as boy† but this was never published and unrecorded. Drag is being practiced by people of all sexual orientations as well as gender identities. Charles Busch and Theater in Limbo Laying down some important information about Charles Busch, he is born in August 23, 1954 in New York, NY. Busch is an American, an actor and a playwright. Since he have started in the industry, he already achieved 25 stage appearances, 5 in films, 6 TV appearances and 26 stage plays. For around a longer period of time of Busch in the industry, in 1984 he was able to break the wall of competition and stand out among the rest in theater-in-Limbo. This was presented at the Limbo lounge at East Village’s. This was followed in the Avenue C and when the show hits a record as high, this was transferred to the Provincetown Playhouse in the West Village where it ran for around five years consecutively. The continuous exposure of Busch brought him to enormous success that made him held as the queen of drag among the theaters in the city. Moreover, he was also nominated in 2001 at the Tony award for the Best Play â€Å"the Tale of the Allergist’s Wife that ran for 22 months in Broadway. Over the years, Busch shows craftsmanship in doing and sharing his talents not only in the American

Truth Essay Essay Example for Free

Truth Essay Essay The writer Oscar Wilde once said that â€Å"The truth is rarely pure and never simple. † Wilde claims that truth is hardly wholesome and unadulterated, but rather tainted, or polluted. Wilde also states how truth is never straightforward and effortless. Truth could come with questions, ambiguous feelings, and abstract thoughts. Three pieces of literature exemplify Oscar Wilde’s quote about truth. In The â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† by Plato, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, and â€Å"Dover Beach† by Matthew Arnold the concept of a vague, confusing, and tainted truth is depicted widely throughout the works of literature. In â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave† Plato uses the theme of appearance versus reality to portray his perspective on truth. In this piece of literature men lay restrained underground in a cave with no way out. In their cave reality is â€Å"nothing but the shadows of those artificial objects. † The man’s life, his reality, his truth, is based among shadows cast on the walls by the fire burning behind them. They know nothing else to be true. Therefore, it may appear that the truth for these men is very simple and pure, staring them right in the face, the shadows. When one man is freed from his shackles and forced to look into the light for the first time, what he thought was reality was fictitious now. He has become enlightened in a way and breaks away from using his five scenes that he used in the physical world of the cave. The man starts to have faith, believing in something even if you can’t see it, and he looks inside to his immortal soul. He starts to reach this higher level of existence that no one in the cave is experiencing because they are trapped in a false reality guided by scenes and not by intuition. What was once pure is now tainted with his true beliefs. He realizes that physical objects aren’t real at all. Only the idea of that object is real, and forms of the object are only imperfect. Going back into the cave only leads to darkness because he doesn’t believe in this false reality anymore. The other men in the cave would become agitated that one person is defacing and berating their beliefs without any proof that his reality exist. They would kill him. Literary techniques greatly help illustrate the meaning of the quote to the short story. Along with theme, symbolism is vital to portray Plato’s idea of truth. The cave in the story signifies a huge covering of the real truth, a barrier from reaching that higher plane of existence. The shadows denote the idea of what appears to be reality, what one perceives reality to be based only the physical, materialist aspect and not the spiritual one. The darkness that Plato refers to in the short story signifies the men’s narrow-mindedness with their mind set on the bodily world focusing on the external appearances and not true nature. Lastly, the sun represents the form of goodness. Plato quotes, â€Å"once it is perceived, the conclusion must follow that, for all things, this is the cause of whatever is right and good; in the visible world it gives birth to light and the lord of light, while it is itself sovereign in the intelligible world and the parent of intelligence and truth. † Since the whole short story is an allegory, everything is symbolic. The story can represent Plato’s life. Early in his life, before he was taught, he sees what reality is by senses. After the famous philosopher, Socrates, taught him, he became enlightened and started to form his own ideas of reality that contradicted the common beliefs. Thus, he was deeply criticized for holding these beliefs that were unexplainable. The rest of the Greeks were like the men in the cave, living in a false reality, while he was the one man who escaped and became enlightened. Don Quixote is another story that helps exemplify the quote by Wilde. Cervantes depicts Quixote as a person who lost his mind from reading too many books. Cervantes uses symbols to get the truth across. Books represent the importance of fiction and literature in everyday life. Books instruct and inform the ignorant people and provide an imaginative outlet for characters with otherwise dull lives, like Quixote. Quixote’s hand- made visor on his helmet denotes the idea of alienation from his physical world by hiding his face. Everybody he encounters on his journey thinks he is totally irrational and insane. Cervantes brings the theme of appearance versus reality into the light. It appears that Don Quixote is living a false, ridiculous reality, but he creates this new reality based on his actual world and this dream world he is living. Therefore, truth isn’t pure or simple; it becomes a mixture of his plain life and his ideal life. While it may appear that he has no real purpose, in reality he is enlightened and helps raise the level of society by changing their old beliefs. He starts to live in this ideal world of his. He doesn’t want to be fettered by society. He transforms this mundane reality into something better, based on books he read about the ancient chivalry that doesn’t present any reality. Thus, another theme is present, morality. His view is totally different then a person stuck in the physical world. Contradicting morals, at times, can lead to an impasse making truth that much harder to establish. Quixote believes his morals are true while the others are wrong. It appears in Quixote’s odyssey that he is crazy and foolish like when he comes across an inn. Cervantes states, â€Å"when he caught sight of the inn, it at once became a castle with its four turrets and its pinnacles of gleaming silver†¦and then a swineherd came along†¦he gave a blast on his horn to bring them together. † Characterization plays a role in portraying the quote. Quixote has good intentions but this ideal world challenges the world which the majority of the people think is reality. He tries to be noble and knight like but he receives no sympathy or compassion for his actions. He makes the matter worse at times because he lives in this ideal world. When he encounters a farmer beating his servant, he tries to intervene but makes it is to no avail. When he leaves, the farmer continues to beat the servant because he is even angrier. When Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panzo, come across windmills, Quixote reacts by saying, â€Å"you see there before you, some thirty or more lawless giants with whom I mean to do battle. I shall deprive them of their lives, and with the spoils from this encounter we shall begin to enrich ourselves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Therefore, his perception of truth is not simple; it is cursed with constant conflicts with the parallel reality he is living beside. â€Å"Dover Beach† also illustrates the meaning of the quote. Matthew Arnold shows the meaning of Wilde’s quote by also using the theme of appearance verses reality, mood, free verse, and imagery. The poem starts off with a peaceful, tranquil scene with â€Å"sweet is the night air! Only, from the long line of spray, where the sea meets the moon-blanched land†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Arnold invites the reader to journey into what appears to be true and clear. If one rises above and becomes more spiritually connected, he would see the true reality of the beach. The mood changes to sadness by stating, â€Å"But now I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, retreating, to the breath of the night wind, down the vast edges drear and naked shingles of the world. † Adjectives like drear, melancholy, and sadness indicate a shift in Arnold’s attitude. The true reality appears. People are stuck in this physical world during the Industrial Revolution and are moving away from the spiritual world. Arnold uses the image of the Sea of Faith and how it was once â€Å"at the full and round earth’s shore lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. † Now the sea is withdrawing because people do not believe in what they can’t see. They only want to believe what is physically in front of them. Plato’s idea of people being stuck in a physical world is displayed in the poem. Even at the end, Arnold suggests that being honest means that this false reality is not real at all. The world has neither joy, love, light, peace, certitude, nor help for pain. Arnold creates an even more dismal mood by revealing what is really reality. The truth can be very hard and unclear considering that most people ignore it to live their happy, tranquil, fabricated life. Images like the calm sea, the tranquil bay, the moon-blanched land, land of dreams show the innocence of this untruthful world. The shift in mood occurs when images are brought to life. Images like ignorant armies clashing, the turbid ebb and flow of human misery, the roar of the ocean, and the eternal note of sadness all portray what true appearance of reality. Free verse also explains the meaning of the poem. Free verse is written with no set pattern followed from stanza to stanza, or from line to line. The lengths of lines and stanzas can vary. Arnold uses free verse to bring out the true nature and reality of the world, imitating the irregular ebb and flow of waves on the beach and using irregular rhyme pattern. Thus representing how truth is hard to follow, and never simple. â€Å"Dover Beach†, Don Quixote, and â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave† all depict how the truth is never pure and simple. All three pieces indicates a theme of the appearance, false reality, and the reality, internal and deeper meaning in life. This false appearance, coupled with the greed and ignorance, according to Plato, of the physical world, denotes the fact that truth is polluted, and difficult to obtain. The truth appears one way but one has to search for what is really the truth. All three works of literature epitomize the accurate meaning of truth.

The Bamboo And Construction With Bamboo Biology Essay

The Bamboo And Construction With Bamboo Biology Essay The world is at the jaws of crisis in many sectors in the near future. One of the most important of them is the availability of timber. World is becoming more and more urbanized. There must be some sort of solution which can give some relief to the hunger towards the need of timber. We need to look for a solution which must have few characteristics such as A product which can substitute wood in the widest range of purposes of uses.. A product which doesnt have negative environmental impact or is eco-friendly.. A product which can be made in a rural environment to assist in reducing the pressure of urbanization in the current world. A product whose production scale must be such that it shouldnt displace the rural people from its reach. A product which is very much meaningful in the activity. Bamboo is definitely one such solution we got for the near future. Bamboo products can substitute wood-based products in a very wide range. The cultivation and maintenance of bamboo is very easy in comparison with wood. Bamboo can be grown as clumps in most soils and is very cheaper which makes it a feasible material for poor people and in rural regions. More and more people can be involved in this process to make them aware of the possibilities with bamboo. Bamboo based industries must be encouraged by maximum villager involvement as it even requires very low capital. Bamboo based industries can therefore provide the time and space for evolutionary development of the rural economy. 1.2 THE PROBLEMS (1) The world produces 3.5 billion tons of wood from roughly 3.5 billion hectares of forest. Approximately half of that is used as firewood. In the developed world, less than one billion people consume an average of approximately 1 ton per capita per year, hardly any of it as firewood. The richer the country, the higher this amount (in the USA it is 2.3 tonnes). Thus, in the poorer parts of the world, people consume far more firewood than industrial wood (by a factor of at least three to one). The overall objective of world development is that standards of living should rise. At the present, Chinas annual per capita wood consumption is only 0.16 m3 much lower than the global average of 0.65 cubic meters (China Daily, 13 April 2000). Will the developing world start to consume wood in a manner similar to the developed world as it becomes richer. The evidence is not clear but South Korea has seen a quadrupling of its per capita consumption between 1950 and 1990. Although Chinas per cap ita lumber consumption remains much lower than the global average, its demand for lumber has increased drastically over the last few years, while its supply has remained steady or decreased slightly (China Daily, 13 April 2000). Will new technology (email and Internet) reduce the amount of paper used? Again the evidence is not clear but there seems to be no strong trend as yet. The consequences for world wood consumption are therefore very serious if rising standards of living lead to an accelerated usage of wood products [10]. If the world population (six billion now trending towards eight billion in 25 years time) moved to consume wood in a pattern similar to the more developed countries (e.g. 1 m3 / capita in Germany [11]) the consumption of industrial wood (excluding firewood) would need to at least quadruple (as it did in South Korea). It is unlikely that the wood currently consumed as firewood could assist much, for well-known technical reasons (it is often dead wood, small si zed and sparsely distributed). (2) The area of forest is being reduced by continuing deforestation. This is compounded by a growing consciousness that forests have values over and above their timber value (for carbon retention mature forests may not actually sequester extra carbon-for biodiversity shelter and for soil, water and air quality values). Thus the supply of timber-producing forest is decreasing, through preservation, in such diverse economies as the USA, Australia, New Zealand, India and China. (3) In the last two centuries, improving standards of living have been preceded by large increases in population and increasing urbanization. It is paradoxical that the population appears to increase rapidly before gains in living standards appear and that steeply rising population can threaten to cancel out those gains. Developing countries are following along the pattern first established in Britain 250 years ago but with some differences. The English population rose from 6 million in 1750 to 40 million in 1900 but would have increased to over 60 million were it not for the huge outward migration to the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Even with that safety valve, small villages like Birmingham increased from populations of only 4000 in 1680 to 400 000 in 1881, as people left the countryside for the towns. They had little choice. There was not enough free land in the countryside for farming. Living conditions for most of the population in these cities were very poor and their working conditions dehumanized. Todays developing countries do not have the possibilities of overseas migration; they face the same pressures towards urbanization but do not wish to reinvent the dark satanic mills of the 18th and 19th century. It would be good if sufficient employment could be found in a rural environment to reduce the pressure towards urbanization. (4) Studies in both the developed economies and the developing economies have come to the conclusion that people work best in small to medium size firms/enterprises where they can see the impact of their own efforts and where they feel that they can have an effect on decision-making. These conclusions find their expression in the general concept of participation. -IAN R.HUNTER, 2002, Bamboo and Rattan, Vol. 1, No.2, pp.101-103, Available at: www.vsppub.com Its not like bamboo can be the only solution for all these issues outlined above but experiences in few places indicate that bamboo can make some meaningful contribution. 2.1Bamboo as a wood substitute The bamboo culm, reduced to its finest parts, is an excellent industrial fiber. As such it has been shown, both in the laboratory and in practice, to be an excellent substitute for wood fiber in such things as paper, medium density fiber board and veneer. There are very few technical difficulties in utilizing normal wood-working machinery to work with bamboo. One difference that does need to be accommodated is the higher silica content of bamboo which can dull cutting edges. With good physical and mechanical properties, low shrinkage and average density of 0.7 g/cm3, bamboo is well suited to replace wood in several applications, especially in panel form. Bamboo mat board and bamboo strip board have been exploited on an industrial scale, and products marketed for various end uses such as flooring, roofing, and other housing components, furniture, packing cases, etc. At present, in China, over 1,000,000 m3 of panels of various types are produced annually in some 200 mills, whereas in India, industrial-scale production of panels is confined to bamboo mat board with about 2000 m3 board by seven mills. The global use of paper is reported to be increased by 5% annually. Today, Asia, and mainly India and China, make the most use of bamboo for pulp and paper. India uses about 3 million tons of bamboo per year in pulp manufacture and China about 1 million tons, and both are set to increase their use of bamboo for paper pulp manufacture (China targets 5 million tons per year). Bamboo pulp is also processed into incense paper in the Philippines for export. Brazil is presently the only American country that uses bamboo for making cellulose and paper. However, bamboo has certain characteristics that are superior. It has a high surface hardness such that laminated bamboo flooring is equal in wear to the hardest American hardwoods. Many of the products made from bamboo can be and are made in small factories with very limited capital requirements; hence these factories can be distributed around the country-side close to their raw material. Bamboo also has a unique role to play in constructing strong light-weight houses. It has been known for a long time that light weight timber frame construction houses offer the greatest safety against earthquakes and also greater safety on earth slips. Lightweight timber framing housing is the norm in New Zealand. In 1987, the small town of Edgecombe in the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand was shattered by force 7 earthquakes. The force of the earthquake was sufficient to tip a railway engine on its side. Yet no-one was killed and all of the houses remained standing. There are two technologies utilizing bamboo that can be adapted to provide similar kinds of houses. In one, bamboo poles can be used in a similar way to timber studs to provide a similar space-frame construction. Work needs to be done improving the joins before the result is as strong as a timber frame house. In the other, a bamboo frame or hurdle can be woven out of split bamboo and plastered on either s ide. The bamboo hurdle effectively reinforces the concrete plastering. This second style of building produces a result which is more culturally familiar in many countries and possibly therefore more acceptable. 2.2 Properties of Bamboo: 2.2.1 Tensile strength: The bamboo fibers run axially. outer zone constitute of highly elastic vascular bundles, which have a high tensile strength. The tensile strength of these fibers is higher than that of steel, but to construct connects which can transfer load axially is merely impossible. 2.2.2 Shrinking: Bamboos shrinks a lot more tan wood when it loses whole of its water. Nodes are very vulnerable during this shrinking. Bamboo shrinks in the cross section 10 to 15% 2.2.3 Fire resistance: Due to the presence of the high content of silicate acid it offers a very good resistance towards fire.. Filled up with water, it can stand a temperature of 400 ° C while the water cooks inside. 2.2.4 Elasticity: Bamboos enormous elasticity makes it a very good building material in earthquake prone zones. Its is very light in weight and can be easily worked on. -Bamboo as a building material, 2002, available @ www.bambusnewengreportsbuildingmaterialbuildingmaterial.html 2.3 Bamboo for construction: There is a substantial role of bamboo in the construction field as it grows naturally, it has strength, flexibility and versatility and is very suitable material in every part of a house when treated and is used properly. Not only there are technical advantages with bamboo but it is very economical as it is a local product in many places of the country and is amongst the cheapest materials available. Recently there are hikes in the prices of bamboo but with proper cultivation and increased production these inflations in the fields of bamboo can be handled. Cultivating of bamboo properly gives high yields. Moreover bamboo can replace usage of timber in many areas. It can contribute towards the solution for the deforestation which is a very major concern in the world. 2.3.1 Roofing: Bamboo shingles whose lengths are almost as long as rafters. The bamboo canes are first halved along their diaphragms and are bisected. Then they are threaded as alternative facing units and are tied. They are held in the supports by their own weight. 2.3.2 Trusses Fabrication of roof trusses is about the most promising use of bamboos. Literally, any span of truss is possible, and as indicated in Section 5, a Fink truss of about 8.5m span can be carried by three workmen and installed by about 5 workmen. The property of lightweight with strength and stiffness is manifested here. Also, substantial savings in the non-use of heavy lifting equipment. (ii) Scaffolding (iii) Disaster Mitigation The lightness of bamboo, wide availability and possibility of building shelter from modular units lends it for use for post-disaster shelter. A project is in the offing by the UNHCR where temporary shelters are fabricated from A-shaped bamboo support frames with horizontal members at the apex and at mid-heights of the A-frame. A water-proof sheet is draped over this frame for cover. 2.3.3 Bridges Bridges attempted consist of: (a) Footbridges: Simple cross-braced frames with the walkway formed at the crutch. Culms of 50-75mm diameter are bound by bamboo lashings. They are suited to rivers with muddy or sandy bottoms where the height above bed does not exceed 5m. A typical crossing might be 20m long. (b) Handcart Bridge: The construction is more elaborate with abutments and pilings. The abutments are formed from pairs of culms staked to the ground. A pair of horizontal culms forms the pile cap and diagonal braces stabilize the assembly. To form the roadway, three longitudinal bamboo beams of 100mm Ø are lashed to the caps and tied together at the center of each bay with a cross-member. 22.3.4 Scaffoldings Bamboo can be used for the construction of safe scaffoldings for very tall buildings because of the favorable relationship between the load-bearing capacity and weight. Bamboo has been used for centuries as scaffolding in Asian countries and, despite competition with many metal scaffolding systems, remains one of the most preferred system in both China and Hong Kong (Fu, 1993). Owing to its high adaptability and low construction cost, it can be constructed to any layout to follow various irregular architectural features of a building within a relatively short period of time (Chung, et al., 2003). They are used in construction sites to provide temporary access, working platforms for construction workers and supervisory staff, and to prevent construction debris from falling on passers-by. In Hong Kong, they are used as Single Layered Bamboo Scaffolds (SLBS) for light work and Double Layered Bamboo Scaffords (DLBS) for heavy work (Chung and Sin, 2002). Bamboo scaffolding, like any other, must possess integrity and must be laterally stable. The foregoing is ensured by the provision of bracing. The bracing is by two pieces of bamboo fixed in an X shape and at an angle of 60o-70o over the section of bamboo to be braced. For multi-storey structures it is required to tie the scaffolding to the building often through 6mm dia mild steel bars (putlogs) pre-fixed to concrete at every floor. A prop is also required between the building and the scaffolding to prevent the leaning of the scaffolding towards the building. The canes are not treated even at their connections and only lashed joints are used. The cane extension is carried out by lashing the cane ends together by using several ties. The ties are arranged in such that force acting vertically downwards wedges the nodes in the lashing. By tightening the ropes between the canes the friction can be increased to the maximum. The vertical and horizontal canes used for scaffolding are joined using soft lashing. This technique has a great advantage that the joints can be tensioned to the right degree without difficulty and even released quickly. -Dunkelberg, Klaus: Bamboo as a building material, in: IL31 Bambus, Karl Krà ¤mer Verlag Stuttgart 1992. 3.1 Mechanical and Structural Properties Bamboo, being a circular, hollow structure has certain mechanical and structural advantages and disadvantages as compared to a rectangular solid timber of the same cross-section. These advantages/disadvantages are, in other instances, complemented or accentuated by the cellulose fiber make-up of the bamboo. These comparative analyses are tabulated in Table 1.0. Some rules of thumb for the relationship between the mass per volume of bamboo and some mechanical properties have been derived by INBAR and Janseen (1991). These are given in Table 2.0. Also, various tests for strength and mechanical properties and design rules have been put forward by INBAR (ISO-22156, 22157, ISO/DTR-23157.2). Comparative Mechanical Properties of Bamboo and Rectangular Lumber (Janssen, 2001) Table 1.0: Comparative Mechanical Properties of Bamboo and Rectangular Lumber (Janssen, 2001) Property Bamboo Rectangular Lumber Assumptions 1. Moment of Inertia, I I = 0.40A2 I = 0.16A2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ For most bamboos, d = internal diameter = 0.82D à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ For timber, mostly h = 2 x b 2. Optimum Material Use, EI 4900A2 2240A2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cellulose = 70,000N/mm2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ E fiber = 35,000N/mm2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 50% of cross- section of fiber is cellulose. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Eà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€ 350x% of fibers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In bamboos, fiber is 60% on outside and 10% on inside, hence E outside = 35060 = 21,000N/mm2 and E inside = 35010 = 3500N/mm2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Edahoma = 14,000N/mm2 Bending à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Compression stress during bending may result in transverse strain in fibers of top face of culm. Lignin in fibres is weak in strain. Coherence in cross- section is lost and EI drops dramatically. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ If load removed culm returns to original straight form. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Timber will not regain original length when load is removed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Poisson coefficient for bamboo = 0.3. 4. Shear à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Shear in neutral layer = 1.3x shear for timber à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Smaller thickness to resist shear. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Larger forces on bolt fasteners at joints. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advantage of not having a ray structure is nullified by hollow nature. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Larger thickness to resist shear. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Has rays. Rays are mechanically weak. Hence, timber material is weaker in shear than bamboo material. 5. Torsion à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Better torsional resistance due to circular shape. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Poorer torsional resistance because of sharp corners. Table 1.0 (Contd) Property Bamboo Rectangular Lumber Assumptions 6. Wind Resistance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Bending stress due to wind is constant over height of culm. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ At top (near skin) vessels decrease and cellulose replaces vessels, leading to increase resistance to bending stress. 7. 8. Compression Density à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Because of hollow nature and thus greater distance of solid mass from center, longitudinal shortening is greater and thus greater the likelihood of lateral strain in lignin. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Friction due to clamping at top and bottom of culm reduces lateral strain. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Amount of lignin deter- mines compressive strength not cellulose. 700 800kg/m3 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Solid nature makes for better compression resistance and reduced lateral strain. 850kg/m3 Table 2.0: Rules of Thumb Factors for Mechanical Properties of Bamboo Air-dry bamboo Bending Compression Shear E 0.14 0.094 0.021 24 Green bamboo 0.11 0.075 Ultimate stress (N/mm2) = Factor x mass/volume (in kg/m3) 1 Allowable stress à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  7 x Ultimate stress JANSSEN, J.J.A., 2000. Designing and Building with Bamboo. INBAR Technical Report No.20, page no. 18-23 3.2 Earthquake Resistance Bamboo, being lightweight and hollow, makes it naturally highly resistant to earthquake (because it has high stiffness in relation to its weight). That, it does not shatter at failure means that when the earthquake is over the building can be left standing with relatively minor damage; providing shelter whiles the damage is being repaired. In a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in April, 1961, in Costa Rica, 20 bamboo houses were left standing near the epicenter (Janssen, 2000). 4.1 Problems related to Bamboo. 4.1.1 Structure The available bamboo tends not to be very straight, have variable diameters, culm thickness and show marked tapering. These attributes have a costly effect on preliminary attempts at construction in bamboo, as will be indicated later. 4.1.2 Insect and Fungi Attack More than anything else, the problem with bamboo is pest and fungi attack. Insect attack is through the relatively softer tissues in the inside wall of the cavity wall and at the budding points in the nodes. Fungi attack is severe when the bamboo is exposed to damp conditions. Various methods exist for prevention of these attacks (Jayanetti and Follet, 1998). They range from the sophisticated modified Boucherie process, through immersion in a boric acid/borax mixture in water, injection and painting with creosote, to hanging in a flowing stream immediately after harvesting for at least a week for the sugary ingredients to be washed out. Traditional preservation methods also exist such as curing, smoking and lime-washing. The real effects of such traditional methods are not known since they have not been documented and quantified. 4.1.3 Fire risk 4.1.4 No standardisation possible: no 2 culms are alike 4.1.5Maintenance 4.1.6Difficulty of making the junctions of the culms 4.1.7 No construction skills with bamboo culms in non-bamboo available countries 4.2 Measures to be taken 4.2.1Treatment of the surface For small parts this information about bleaching and dyeing are determined for kite-constructions. though it can ´t support enough weight. Bleaching and dyeing possibly can change the structure of the bamboo that far, nevertheless these methods should be introduced. 4.2.2 Bleaching: For removing traces of resin or wax bleaching in hydrogen peroxide can be done. The bamboo will get perished if it stays long. 4.2.3 Dyeing: There are different traditional styles of bleaching in different countries. In principle: 1. The color can ´t penetrate into the bamboo if at all the wax is removed. 2. The color will become more regular if it is bleached before dying. 3. Fix the color in a solution of vinegar after dying. 4.2.4 Other methods: In Japan, the surface will be peeled off, hydrochloride acid is put on the bamboo and the canes are put in an oven. The canes get a brown color. treating the canes with copper sulfate will give a green color to the bamboo and protects it from mold. These methods only dye the surface of the bamboo. To get a through and through dyeing, the bamboo can be carbonized. The bamboo is put into a boiler and is incubated with a pressure of 5 kg/cm ³ and a temperature of 150 ° C for 20-30 min. After that, the bamboo will be brown through and through. -K. A. Solomon-Ayeh,USE OF BAMBOO FOR BUILDINGS, Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), page no 5-7

Masculinity and Evolutionary Psychology Essay -- Gender Roles

When attempting to explain something as intangible and complex as human behavior it is difficult to devise experiments that lead to conclusive results. Sometimes complex problems are easier to solve when they are broken down into smaller pieces or into simpler problems that are more approachable. Using human evolution to explain human behavior is such an example. Evolutionary psychology reaches for the roots of human development when they were in their most basic stages to explain why people behave the way they do. Specifically, explaining human masculinity through science has been a major focus of evolutionary psychology. This paper seeks to explain why masculinity cannot be explained by sociology alone and will present evidence that certain male behavior such as aggression can be explained through evolutionary psychology and sexual selection. When considering the source of human behavior people often argue about how much human behavior is encoded genetically and how much is learned through interaction with society and the environment. This â€Å"nature versus nurture† debate arises frequently when discussing many aspects of human behavior. In an essay entitled â€Å"The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over,† Pulitzer Prize-winning professor of journalism Deborah Blum draws the conclusion that both nature and nurture must be taken into account to explain human behavior. Her conclusions are drawn principally from childhood behavior and her discussions with noted scientists. As a parent she observed that her son loved dinosaurs from the early age of two-and-a-half years old. However, she noticed that â€Å"he loved dinosaurs, but only the blood-swilling carnivores. Plant-eaters were wimps and lose... ...odern male behavior. Works Cited Blum, Deborah. â€Å"The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?† Signs of Life In the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Crawford, Charles and Dennis L. Krebs. Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology: Ideas, Issues, and Applications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998. Daly, Martin and Margo Wilson. â€Å"Darwinism and the Roots of Machismo.† Scientific American (2002). Kenyon, Paul. â€Å"Overview of Evolutionary Psychology and Mating Strategies.† Human Behavior and Evolution Society. 2000. University of Plymouth. 4 Apr. 2000 . Peterson, Dale, and Richard Wrangham. Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence. Mariner Books, 1997.

What Did We Learn from the Vietnam War? Essay -- Vietnam War Essays

â€Å"Teaching the Vietnam War makes one realize how the shape of a narrative determines, and is determined by, its content† (Franklin 246). The Vietnam War was one of America’s most controversial wars. Many of its aspects are still plagued with great uncertainty. Those aspects of the Vietnam War are argued and debated about, they were argued during the time of the war and the arguing has continued. The Vietnam War was indeed a time of confusion. Why did the war start? What was the United States’ real reason for getting involved? What was the objective of the war? What were the American soldiers really fighting, or in reality, dying for? How do you explain a war to someone who has not experienced firsthand, especially if you were not around yourself? There is no real answer. You can give the facts and figures, but that leaves out the true grit of a war. The human perspective must also be given. As with any war, the Vietnam War had many perspective: th e protestors, the politician, and lastly, but most importantly, the soldier (Although there are many other stories that could and should be told). Through the facts and figures and the eyes of those who were there, an individual could learn about the Vietnam War, although how many actually want to understand war is uncertain. The facts and figures are one of the first things that should be learned about the war (Although many would argue the facts). The Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France between 1945 and 1954. They received $2.6 billion in financial aid from the United States to aid their efforts. The Geneva Convention followed the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, where Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all received independence. Vietnam was momentarily divide... ...n Vietnamese deaths. Still today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in the Vietnam War was necessary, a sin, a mistake, or a noble cause, or an idealistic, if failed, effort to protect the South Vietnamese people from the North. In order to truly understand the war you and to determine your own answer to the many questions it is still pending, you must look at the war from every perspective and understand the many facts it produced. Dr. Carl Sagan wrote, â€Å"You have to know the past to understand the present†. The Vietnam War is a large part of America’s past. It is important to know of the Vietnam War and to know of those who experienced, so you may learn of how America came to be as it is today and were it may be heading, of whether or not we learned from our mistakes or if we are destined to repeats those made during the Vietnam War again.

Tesla: Internal Combustion Engine and Electric Vehicle

Situation Analysis Tesla Motors incorporated is recognized as a leader in quality innovation for its electric powertrain engineering, performance and battery technology. Tesla was founded in 2003 with a conceptual thought of a fully electric, lithium ion powered vehicle that is eco-friendly, aesthetic appealing and a premier performance competitor. Their business plan was simple and had three steps. First, develop a high-end performance sports car to prove that electric vehicle (EV) were both cool and feasible and also can product economically.Second, develop luxury sedan/SUV that would compete with high-end brands like Mercedes, Audi and BMW. Third, mass produce low cost electric vehicles to compete in general category. In 2004, the company raised initial venture capital, while designing their first vehicle, the â€Å"Roadster†, later that year. Initially, the company was primarily funded my Elon Musk and other venture capital investors. The pooled funds fell short of the cap ital needed to fund the manufacturing facility and the latest Model S project. In 2009 Daimler bought preferred stock in Tesla for $50M and in 2010 Toyota invested $50M and Panasonic $30M in stock options.Three months after the Model S unveiling the Department of Energy announced in Jan 2010 that it would loan Tesla $465 million to bring the sedan to market as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, other major manufacturer received substantially higher loan amounts, Ford was awarded $5. 9 billion, and Nissan got $1. 6 billion . In 2010 company acquired New United Motor Manufacturing Inc (NUMMI) factory in Fremont, California, which was developed as joint manufacturing facility between GM and Toyota. It’s a 5. 5 million square feet plant and contains plastics molding factory, two paint facilities, 1. miles of assembly lines, and a 50-megawatt power plant . Tesla Motors Company is trying to transform the future of electric cars by providing new mea ning to fully electric vehicles as not just only eco-friendly but also attractive and fun to drive. Most other companies tried and introduced all electric vehicles in late last century but none was able to mass produce it economically. Tesla Motors has sold over 2300 Roadster across the world, delivered its first Model S in June 2012 and is currently building its electric sedan at a rate of 80 per week rate (Sep 2012).This vehicle completely set itself apart from its competitor with its efficiency, performance and technology breakthroughs. The company plans is to build 5,000 by the end of 2012 and increase its production to 20,000 cars in 2013. Being a small and startup player in electric auto industry, Tesla Motors has freedom to build the sales model from ground zero that’s very untraditional. Forget traditional dealerships, their Tesla’s main sales locations are in malls and their cars are delivered directly to customers. 2. 1 Market Summary Why electric vehicle?Ris ing gasoline prices, depleting oil reserves, growing pollution, increasing environment awareness, is creating the market for clean and efficient vehicles. There’s no doubt in my mind that in near future this will become the preferred mode of transportation across the world. Currently EV technology is at its infancy but commitment from government and manufacturer will soon take it to next level by building the infrastructure for next generation vehicles. 2. 1. 1 Market Demographics a)Geographics Tesla Motors is a California based company that currently operates in Northa America, Europe, and Japan.All sales are handled through its headquarters in North America, with brokerage service centers located in major metropolitan areas, such as Paris, London, Munich and Tokyo. Tesla has a minute number of stores, when compared to other automobile competitors. A large portion of Tesla’s sales are handled online, which minimializes costs, and adds to the company’s overall e fficiency. Shopping malls, in upscale city centers, in addition to affluent regions of the country that with have a high technological demandappreciate the latest technological developments, are among a few other key points the company considers when entering a new market.With gas prices continuing to move upwards, Tesla’s sale centers will most likely spreadfan to less populated regions as the demand for more economically efficient vehicle increases. b)Demographics Targeted customers are educated affluentrich males who are early adopters in their 30s, 40s, and 50s+ who are in market for performance sports car with pricing range $50,000 and up . c)Psychographics Environmentally conscious customers who want great performance car with zero tailpipe emission manufactured and assembled in U. S. d)BehaviorsModel S will provide customers the option who want alternative to traditional gasoline engine sports performance car with next generation technology. 2. 1. 2 Market Needs Electr ic Vehicle (EVs) technology presents a ready, viable and clear way to reduce our emissions. also tTheir design is very simple compared to other conventional gasoline power automobiles as they don’t need traditional drive shafts and gear box to transform the power from engine to wheel. EVs have electric motor directly coupled to drive wheels, which is powered by rechargeable battery packs.EVs have some key advantages over internal combustion engines . †¢Electric vehicle efficiency is 3. 75 times that of internal combustion engine. †¢Eco-friendly as no tailpipe gases output. †¢Very smooth operation due lack of gear box. †¢Quiet driving experience. 2. 1. 3 Market Trends In 2011, the total sales of electric vehicles reached 18,000, with the help of GM’s Volt and Nissan’s Leaf. When comparing the 2011 U. S. total sales for each electric vehicle manufacturer, with the 2012 sales forecast, the growth potential looks quite impressive.Expectations are assumed to increase upwards to 300% year over year . According to â€Å"Global & United States Electric Vehicles Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2017† the electric vehicle market will witness phenomenal growth in the near future . In 2011 total global revenue from this market was close to 54 Billion USD, showing some promise for environmentally friendly vehicles. For the most part, consumers are cautious when a unique product is introduced to the market. As more electric cars are introduced, consumer confidence will rise, assuming the quality is still maintained.Tesla has a worldwide presence, which means economies, foreign and abroad, need be taken into consideration. The 2013 worldwide trend for auto manufacturing will be incorporating efficiency and connectivity in current and new vehicle models. Electric vehicle design and creation came in third on the auto industries radar. The economic conditions worldwide pose some risk to the automotive industry. When looking at GDP for developed market, aggregately, it has been on a declining more then increasing since 2006.With the contraction, comes a fiscal squeeze to the consumers’ disposable income. In tangentConsequently, inessential items, such as performance electric vehicles, are put lower on consumer demand list. This section should include some information in all the subcategories listed. Demographic trends: Babyboomers have more disposable income than Gen X and Gen Y. There are lots of sources of that. Technological: Include some information about expensive technological innovations consumers have accepted such as iPads, LCD TVs, etc. While many people in the U.S. are suffering from the effects of the recession, others are able to buy expensive technologies for their personal enjoyment. Cultural: Increase in environmental awareness. Lots of articles about that. Regulatory: Tax breaks for electric cars. Economic: Not everyone has been equally affected by the recession. The increase in the co st of gasoline provides an incentive to choose more fuel efficient vehicles. 2. 1. 4 Market Growth All major automakers are preparing to launch electric and hybrid vehicle in wide-range of categories in next five years.The market for electric vehicle will be very competitive and depend upon economy and primarily on gasoline price. Model S fills a void in current luxury market for electric vehicle as currently there’s no real competitive product out in market to compete that could match its performance, style and efficiency. Overall cost of ownership will definitely draw buyers from similar priced gasoline models from BMW, Mercedes and Audi. Model S looks out to be a successful product as company has sold out Model S production orders for 2012 year.Projected market growth for next 4 years. Source: CSM Auto and J. P. Morgan 2. 2 Competition Tesla Model S is designed to position as high-tech luxury sedan car that deliver the sports performance without compromising it efficiency while maintaining zero tailpipe emission. Model S will also challenge the traditional dealership sales model as its based upon Apple retail approach that position the company as independent and innovative. Tesla will compete with all other EVs, hybrid and also gasoline vehicles in automobile market.Overall in current luxury market its competitors will be Audi, BMW and Mercedes. While Tesla has no direct competitors at this time, some prestigious automakers have achieved remarkable levels of fuel efficiency. You need to look at some of the German car makes such as BMW and Audi. You should also see what electric cars are being planned for the future. 2. 3 SWOT 2. 3. 1 Strength’s Tesla is currently one of the only high performance electric vehicles on the market, with exception to the Fisker Karma, allowing for the company to be first in line for consumers as well as investors.Being that it is the first of its kind; the company has attracted a number of young, talented engineers , a highly qualified CEO, and a number of interested third parties. With a Department of Energy loan, helping subsidize its facility, and orders piling up, the company is not short on market orders. Tesla has already established a worldwide presence with dealerships located in many of the major cities. The product itself is fully customizable, allowing each individual consumer to have a hand in the overall process at a price that rivals other premier sports vehicles such as Porsche, Mercedes and BMW. 2. . 2 Weakness’s The company itself is young and thus holds some immaturity in the automobile market today. It has 24 locations in North America and an additional 14 worldwide . It plans to open an additional 10 stores this coming year with costs estimated at $500,000- $1,000,000 depending on the market. One key disadvantage to the automobile maker is its unreliable cash flow. The current roadster model is too expensive for the average consumer, and in the current economic envir onment sales are essential. With additional capital flowing into store construction, future earnings could be affected downward.The low availability of electric charging stations. 2. 3. 3 Opportunities The Model S is the next generation of Tesla Motors incorporated. The lower price point, starting at $49,900, is much more attractive to the average consumer. The Model S has opened additional doors for Tesla; on March of 2012, Athlon Leasing signed an agreement to purchase 150 vehicles for its inventory across Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Once acquired, 50% of Athlon’s Model S inventories were immediately put on hold by their consumers .Consumers today are more aware of their individual carbon footprint and are thus in search of a more sustainable option when it comes to vehicles. With future technology being smaller, faster and cheaper, we can expect the charge rate for the lithium-ion technology to improve, becoming more attractive to your dista nt commuter and or additional energy sources to be invented. As of now, there is a 300 mile cap on the new Model S. Assuming our economy continues to rely on foreign oil supply and not up our efforts in North America; the price of gasoline is expected to climb above and beyond inflation. INSERT GRAPH) As the cost of owning a hybrid, and or full combustion vehicle trends upward due to the gasoline variable, you’ll see a shift from these vehicles to full electric due to the foregone opportunity. Tesla is also looking to develop additional models at lower price points. They have and SUV, the Model X, which isn’t cheaper, but on the right track to consumer needs with expanding their inventory. Lastly, Tesla Motors incorporated not only looks to be branded by as an auto manufacturer, but also as a resource to other industry leaders.It currently supplies electric powertrains to other automakers, including Toyota for its RAV4 Electric. It is also working with SolarCity, anoth er company Musk has invested in, to supply batteries to back up WalMart’s solar panels at 90 stores . 2. 3. 4Threats Other companies will be Tesla’s biggest threat. With consumer demand continuing to grow for a low cost, fully electric vehicle option, it’s only a matter of time before major auto manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Nissan, and Toyota enter the market. With visible market share already present, this poses a huge threat to Tesla’s continued demand and thus bottom line.The comparable expected production from these major automakers will be more expensive than average gasoline fueled vehicles, but all less than the Model S. Elon Musk stated, â€Å"We can show that it's technologically possible to other manufacturers. If Tesla doesn’t make it I hope we have nonetheless served that purpose. I don't want to sound dour but it's definitely going to be a tough six months. † In addition, there are some possible downsides to using a fully electric vehicle. One, being if the Model S is left uncharged for greater than 11 weeks and the battery itself is rendered useless.Not covered under warranty, this could pose some issues for major rental arenas such as airports, who do not have the charging capacity for their entire inventory. Once the battery is discharged, it is rendered useless and would need to be replaced in order for the vehicle to be fully operational. The costs to maintenance in replacing the lithium ion battery can be upwards to $40,000 per vehicle . Two, manufacturing and labor costs, inefficient production and high prices for parts, could shy investor and consumers from the company as a whole.On that note, TSLA shares fell 9. 78%, after possible sale rumors surfaced, and ill production numbers hit for the third quarter 2012 for Tesla Motors incorporated. With this lowered guidance, expected gross margins could be impacted negatively due to the Model S delivery limitations. A total of 2,700 to 3,2 50 units are expected to be produced, down from the previous expectation of 5,000. Consumers may find the inefficient use of capital a point of weakness in the young company, and thus hold off on purchases until Tesla maturity is rendered.

A Review on Lifeboat Ethics Essay

Lifeboat ethics: the case against helping the poor is a famous essay written by Garret Hardin, a human ecologist in 1974. This article aims to re examine the lifeboat ethics which was developed by the author to support his controversial proposal. In the theory, the world is compared to a lifeboat with a carrying capacity of 60. There are totally 50 people on board, representing comparatively rich nations, while the 100 others swimming in the ocean outside the lifeboat stands for the poor nations. To solve the dilemma of whether the swimmers should be allowed to climb aboard at the risk of lifeboat’s safety, Hardin suggested that no admission should be granted to boat, or to interpret it in a straight way, no humanitarian aids should be offered to the poor countries. Regardless of the additional factors which the author took into consideration from the real world in the essay, in my opinion, the basic metaphor itself is questionable. Firstly, the status of the lifeboat is not an accurate reflection of reality. Arguably, natural resources of the earth are finite, however, this does not equal to the scarcity of resources in the control of the rich nations. On the contrary, nowadays in the developed countries, what the rich have used is out of proportion to their actual needs, which not only leads to colossal waste each year but also creates disposal problems. A familiar example is the popularity of losing weight among the western world, which is not solely a way of pursing beauty but also a clear indication of the growing number of obese people who consume food excessively. In contrast, in the third world especially poverty-stricken nations like Ethiopia, millions of people are filled with untold suffering. They drag themselves on the street from day to day, begging for only a slice of stale bread. Due to the unfair distribution of resources caused by the affluent people’s favorable political position, most rich nations currently obtain more than enough resources and they are still casting their greedy eyes on the untapped poor regions. In the light of the facts above, in the lifeboat metaphor people on board actually occupy  more room than normal and the real carrying capacity of a lifeboat is more than 60. With no admission given to those swimmers who are in need, the room is not allocated â€Å"to each according to his needs†, a principle the author cited in explanation of the rationale behind the lifeboat ethics. The second doubtful point is related to Hardin’s computation of conscience. In defense of the survivors’ guilt arising from not helping the poor, he claimed that â€Å"the net result of conscience-stricken people giving up their unjustly held seats is the elimination of that sort of conscience from the lifeboat†. He defined guilty about one’s good luck as a type of conscience and the newcomer’s lack of guilt about the rich people’s loss as conscience drain; but the author deliberately omitted the morality of rich people’s indifference to the poor asking for help. Counting the negative effects on total conscience in the lifeboat if no rescue is attempted, the final solution to the lifeboat dilemma might be changed. Essentially, the author’s negligence of social injustice against impoverished people and the ethical issue indifference is just a result of his bias for the rich countries. To improve the general population quality, the author repeatedly emphasized the necessity of reproduction control in poor nations and increasing the proportion of rich nation’s population. This suggestion in fact is based on the assumption that the people in rich nations are innately superior to their counterparts in poor countries, which is an apparent violation of the creed that everyone is born equal. In conclusion, the poor people should not be the sacrifice of the population growth in the developed regions. Logic and rigorous as the essay Lifeboat ethics: the case against helping the poor may appear to be, the author wrote more on behalf of the countries on board, group of which he belonged to. The author urged people to get rid of sentiment and make rational decisions, but ironically he himself deceived his mind with prejudice and sense of superiority.

Happiest Moment

Everyday I wake up feeling grumpy . It ‘s a brand new day , but I know nothing new will happen . It ‘s the same old school-house routine and I ‘ve grown tired of it . School can be really boring sometimes . Or maybe most of the time . One day , in one of our group works in school , an outreach program actually , we were asked to visit a home for street children . The group ‘s task was to conduct some sort of a peer tutorial session with the street children in subjects like math and science.We were to teach them just the basics — addition , subtraction , the human body . Stuff like that . In the process , we were also to observe their behavior and how they respond to us . I thought to myself , great . So I ‘ll spend my whole morning with a bunch of street kids . From what I know , street kids are mostly ill-mannered . What a waste of time , I know I won ‘t get anything from it anyway . I might even get into a fight with those kids . But still I went to the home just to comply with the school requirement . I almost dragged my feet when we entered the home.The home supervisor met us at the entrance and led us to a room which she called their play area . When we opened the door , about 20 kids gleefully greeted us , â€Å"Good morning , visitors ‘ I was surprised , and so were my group mates . I saw and felt the excitement of the children knowing that visitors were arriving in their home . Then they all sat down quietly , eager to listen to whatever we will be teaching them that day . My group mates and I introduced ourselves to the children and we started with the lessons right away.Good thing my group mates prepared some games that were related to the s we taught to the kids . I had so much fun , I even found myself cheering on the kids during the relay games . Time passed quickly that morning . Before we knew it , it was already time to go . As we were packing up our things , a kid approached me and said ,  "Thank you ‘ and hugged me tightly . She smiled to me then left to join the other kids who were already in the dining area having their lunch . It was my happiest moment.I ‘ve never appreciated school activities like that before , and I ‘ve never felt appreciated like that before either . Perhaps my grumpiness has always engulfed me . Since that day at the home , I started to notice things that I never minded noticing before . I observed that my mom always smiled at me while she ‘s preparing my breakfast , and that my classmates always greeted me whenever I see them . My teachers praise me when I get A ‘s in my tests . I realized there are so many beautiful things happening around me and I am surrounded with wonderful people . There are a lot†¦

“A Raisin In A Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry Essay

I have a dream†¦ â€Å"A dream deeply rooted in the American Dream.† â€Å"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live without the true meaning of its creed: â€Å"we hold these truths to be self- evident: that all me are created equal.† â€Å"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judge by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.† â€Å"I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with white boys and white girls are walk together as sisters and brothers.† Martin Luther King Jr. In the play â€Å"A Raisin In A Sun† by Lorraine Hansberry is essentially about dreams, including the American Dream. The play takes place around the 1950’s in Chicago’s south side, when segregation was still around. In this play you meet a cast of people with dreams of a better life that compares the novel â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† with Martin Luther King’s speech â€Å"I Have a Dream.† It Analyzes the similar themes found in play like racial injustice, socio-economic discrimination, dream fulfillment and the fact that it takes place during the same time. There are many aspects that are discussed in both â€Å" A Raisin in the Sun† and â€Å"I have a dream† speech. Perhaps the most important of those are racial injustice, socio-economic discrimination, unity, and the struggles for the American dream. In this play there are many different dreams, Mama’s dream is to create a better life for her family. The American dream, which is the idea of success that involves owning a house, being able to provide a better life for your family and to attain certain material objects. Mama’s dream is the American dream of moving her family out the small cramped house and into a bigger house, that is perfect for a family of five with a yard children can play and where she can tend a garden. For many African Americans during the 1950’s â€Å"The American dream† was to be treated equally and before that their dream was freedom, an end to slavery.Martin Luther King’s famous â€Å"I Have a Dream Speech† and the play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† have many similarities. They both have the  desire for black and white equality. They also want to make a change and live the way they feel is right for them to live. They both willing to take chances in doing so and begin to achieve by trying. A Raisin in the Sun and â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech both deal with many issues but none more important than injustice. Racism was the root cause of all the discrimination and injustice African Americans faced. Martin Luther King Jr. speech and Lorraine Hansberry both are examples of the starving freedom of black American and both speak the truth of the realities of life and dreams for the future of all Americans. Even after many years of African Americans being released from slavery and became free Americans, they were still treated the same and that they are not actually free until the people are all equal regardless to skin color. Walter Lee and Martin Luther King Jr. both make the same points because they both have their big dreams and are willing to do anything to make their dreams come true. A dream is to envision another life or characteristic that could be better or worse than what the person already has. In the case of most people it is a dream that is positive. People mainly are selfish dreamers who dream only about themselves but there are some who dream about the world or others such as friends and family. Two examples of these types of dreamers are Mama and Martin Luther King Jr. In Dr. King’s speech he brings up that his dream is not only for him but also for others with the same problem. He is a caring dreamer, one who believes others come first then him. Mama is this type of dreamer because her dreams are for her family and the well being of them. Even though Mama’s dream is not as deep or motivational as Dr. King, it is still a non-selfish dream. Mama’s dream was to get a house that was more suitable to live in then the current house that the Youngers live in. Which was dirty and small. They were cramped up and highly uncomfortable, it was defiantly not a proper house for five people and a baby on the way. Therefore Mama’s dream of having better living qualities was a smart investment. â€Å"Them houses they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. She found a nice house for a good price in a White neighborhood; white neighborhoods had bigger and cheaper homes then black neighborhoods. She found the best deal as she said her self: I did the best I could† (Act 2. Scene 1.93) Mama thinks she chose the best option for the family and she did. This can be related to Marin  Luther King Jr.’s dream as well.He dreamed of a world where black and whites and all races would live in peace. He envisioned that there would be no hate because of skin tone or place of origin. He dreamt that â€Å"We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one† (â€Å"I Have a Dream† by Martin Luther King Jr.) By this line he meant that they should not stop fighting for equal rights until they move out of little suburban areas classified as ghettos. Once again that speech can relate to Walter Lee, when he finally takes a stand in his â€Å"manly hood† and shows his pride in his family. The story ended as him being the head of the family because he took control and became a family man by rejected an offer from a white businessman to stay out of a white neighborhood and to stay with all blacks. When Travis smiles up at his father; this is when Walter Lee has a sudden change of heart. He explains to Mr. Lindner that his family members are plain proud people and how his father worked for decades as a laborer, which his father basically earned the right for his family to move into their new home in Clybourne Park. They have come so far and worked so hard why turned it down, they have earned it, its only fare. Walter realizes and rediscovers his self-worth, Self-respect and self-esteem and he proves this when he said to Mr. Lindner that â€Å"the sixth generation of our family in this country.† He finally reclaims his personal pride, defends his family’s historical right to be treated fairly in their country, and to protect his family’s dignity. They both reflect the conditions that African Americans had to go through to get equality from discrimination and segregation.It was clear that in both accounts of dreams that there was a time to strike and in both accounts that time was now. Both the Youngers and black people of the Civil Rights Movement had one common dream hidden by many materialistic desires: dignity, equality, and progress. Dr. King said, â€Å"I have a dream today!† Walter Younger wants to make a business deal that could help him obtain dignity, equalit y, and progress for his family, and the insurance money that Mama will get is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. A rare opportunity, that opens the door to propositions that could help his family acquire those qualities. Both Walter and Dr. King are telling their families and followers that the time for change is now and that change is a now or never deal.While one was real and one was not, the desire, dreams, and struggles mentioned in the speech matched those of the novel perfectly. Martin Luther King and the characters of â€Å"A Raisin In A Sun† had the same ambitions, which included a better life for future generations, liberation from the unfair living conditions of African-American citizens, and the importance on the urgency necessary for making these dreams happen. Both pieces represented a fight, one for a family, and one for a group of millions. As well as wars against inequality, injustice, and unfairness were won.Mama historically represents Rosa Parks because she acts as a leader through out the story. They both spoke up for what they believed in. Mama speaking up gave he courage and wisdom. The courage Rosa Parks had was when she got arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus because of what she believe and in the human rights. Just like Mama when she stood up for her husband, when Walter Lee was not setting an example for his rights. She didn’t not want him to take Mr. Lindner offer of money in exchange of his family not to moving in to its dream house in a white neighborhood because she believed in her and her family’s rights. Therefore she also stood up for what she believes in and the human rights.The Great Migration was a period in American history where blacks moved north to escape the Jim Crow laws and prejudice of the South. The civil rights movement brought enlightenment towards the abolishment of segregation laws. Although the laws are gone, one might ask, â€Å"does segregation still exist? â€Å" Yes it does but our segregation problems now aren’t just about race. They’re about income too, and the web of connections between what it means to be poor and a person of color in the city. Not only are people segregated by race and by income, meaning that people of color are likely to live with other people of color and poor people are likely to live with poor people. For example in East Harlem there isn’t really any healthy places to eat just fast food and the supermarkets are pricy. If you were to go downtown were wealthy people live thru have a variety of healthy places to eat that is affordable as well as their supermarkets like Trader Joes. In today’s society one can agree with Walter Lee that life now is about money, t is now the rich vs. the poor.In the beginning of the play it mentions their dreams being deferred, which means their hope of full equality is postponed.† What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Langston Hughes wrote the poem, and Lorraine Hansberry was inspired by both by the poem and by her own real-life experience to write A  Raisin in the Sun. This play was the first play on Broadway that was written by an African-American woman as well as the first African American to direct a play on Broadway. The play was inspired by Hansberry’s own experience with racism and housing discrimination. Her father was tried to buy a house in a white neighborhood much like the one in the play but he was blocked because in the 1950’s African American could not get housing in good neighborhoods because of the color of their skin. They were still segregated, and many times they were treated violently. They were unable to find good paying jobs as they were overlooked in favor of white people. Often times, they received inadequate medical care, and were made to wait for treatment in hospitals while white folks got treatment first. As a ch ild, Hansberry’s family became one of the first to move into a white neighborhood. When their neighbors rebelled, both with threats of violence and legal action, the Hansberry’s defended themselves; Hansberry’s father successfully brought his case all the way to the Supreme Court. Her father sued and won a partial victory in the US Supreme Court. Lorraine Hansberry used her play A Raisin In A Sun to tell people about her own life struggle with racism and female discrimination. Her play shows us her problems were handled with determination and a will to keep striving for her goal of becoming a writer. Langston Hughes anticipated such an uprising in his poem, just as Hansberry illustrated the effects of a dream deferred by the Youngers. Raisin answers the last line of Hughes’ poem: â€Å"Or does it explode?† Indeed it did, and Raisin became a beacon for a changing nation. Hansberry was also the first black playwright as well as he youngest to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Since then, the drama about a black family’s dream to move into a white neighborhood in pre-civil-rights-era Chicago has been translated into 30 languages and has been continually produced in church basements, community halls, school auditoriums, and professional theaters.A dream deferred is a dream put off to another time, each character from A Raisin in the Sun had a deferred dream, and their dreams become dried up like a raisin in the sun. Not just dreams are dried up though; Walter Lee and Ruth’s marriage became dried up also. Their marriage was no longer of much importance, like a dream it was post-phoned and it became dry. Their struggle for happiness dried up because they had to concentrate all of their energies on surviving. Their needs seem no longer  to be satisfied by each other. But they both saw a resolution in the insurance check arriving in the mail. The money would let Ruth fulfill her dream of owning her own house and leaving the apartment. Money seemed to get in the way of all of their dreams. It was the force that controlled their lives. The money is like the sun that leaves no choice to the grape but to dry up until a raisin never the less it does not mean that the raisin is no longer good, it is still sweet. Dreams are good to shoot for, but don’t let them ruin your life trying to fulfill them (Robinson). At the end Ruth and Walter Lee reconcile because they still loved each other, Walter took her out a date to the movies, where they finally had some quality time. Ruth sees hope in their marriage as she describes her date to Beneatha: Ruth: â€Å" we went to the movies. We went to the movies. You know the last time ma and Walter went to the movies together?† Beneatha: â€Å"No.† Ruth: â€Å"Me either. That’s how long it’s been (smiling again) but we went last night. The picture wasn’t much good, but that didn’t seem to matter. We went and we held hands.† (Act 1 . Scene 2.51) this shows that once Walter has control over money, he becomes much more affectionate with Ruth and that there is still love between them. Many dream in raisin in the sun were deferred like Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor and to save her race from ignorance. The first part of her dream may be deferred because of the money Walter loses. Her dream is also one deferred for all women. Beneatha lives in a time when society expects women to build homes rather than careers. In other words play the role of a housewife. Women were also discriminated around this time, women weren’t really admitted to medical school, same with law school, teachers and they were not even allow to sit in jury.Walter’s dream of owning his own business has been so long deferred and left â€Å"festering† of his family. The â€Å"open sores† of his deferred dream blind him to the consequences of his actions and to the ache he causes Mama Younger. After Willy Harris convinces Walter that investing in the liquor store is a great idea, Willy takes Walter’s money and runs. It is because of the thieving Willy Harris that Walter’s dream is deferred.The dream of owning your own business and having all the money you will ever need is a goal held by many in society, then and now. Walter Lee Younger becomes obsessed with his dream of a business venture that will give him financial and social independence, after getting and losing the  money that will help this dream become reality he realizes that pride and dignity are more important for him and his family. There are also many symbols in â€Å"A Raisin In The Sun† but one important symbol that represented dreams was Mama’s plant. It was weak but resilient; it represented her dream of living in a bigger house with a lawn. Whenever she tends to her plant, she symbolically shows her dedication to her dream. The first thing that Mama does in the morning as mention in the beginning of the play in Act 1 towards the ending of Scene 1 is that is that she goes to the window, opens it, and brings in a feeble little plant growing doggedly in a small pot on the window. The plant is just as important as her dream. Mama admits that the plant has never had enough sunshine but still survives. In other words, her dream has always been deferred but still remains strong. When Beneatha asks why Mama would want to keep that â€Å"raggedy-looking old thing,† Mama Younger replies: â€Å"It expresses me.†(Actv2. Scene 3) At the end of the play, Mama decides to bring the plant with her to their new home. While it initially stands for her deferred dream, now, as her dream comes true, it reminds her of her strength in working and waiting for so many years. Her plant will also have a new home and beginning for it may now get more sunlight in its bigger home.In conclusion for all these reasons, A Raisin in the Sun is an ideal work to discuss in terms of the American dream. It shows how the admirable idea that everyone can achieve their ambitions if they work doesn’t always stand up in the face of real life, and how people can redeem them as Walter Lee does when he refuses the buyout offer through moral courage. Society in the 1959 was full of racial discrimination. Martin Luther King and Walter Lee both have the starvation to stop the desolation of discrimination. Hansberry, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. all have inspiring stories and if they were still alive today they can see how far there dreams have come that has inspire many. Hughes asks whether a dream is deferred is like â€Å" A Raisin In The Sun† and he specifically asking whether a dream will â€Å"dry up†. Grapes in the South dry into raisins, but it never lose their sweetness, no matter how much they dry up.