Tenessee Williams The Glass Menagerie - 1957 Words

TThis essay will discuss the metaphors associated with the characters in The Glass Menagerie and how each of these metaphors represents a fragment of the American Dream. She is like a piece of her glass collection, too fragile to be brought into the real world without being devastated. Because of her sensibility, she has avoided dealing with people for so long that when she finally tries to socialise with Jim, she fails to see that she is being manipulated. Amanda is a faded Southern belle who is trying to relive her past by using her daughter to mirror her former self. She represents nostalgia for the Old South in the play. Tom is a struggling poet who dreams of real adventures but has to provide support for his family. Jim, despite†¦show more content†¦However, Tom feels that he does not belong there; he feels that he belongs somewhere else. He dreams of adventures, like his father before him. On the top of that, his mother constantly tries to inflict him with a feelin g of guilt in order to make sure that he stays at home. She claims that he will end as faithless and irresponsible his father. Like his sister, he is victim of his mother’s expectations and comparisons . Unlike Laura, however, he refuses to have his life dictated by them . He protests his right to individualism: It seems unimportant to you, what Im doing--what I want to do. As if Tom’s life situation wasn’t already difficult enough as it is, it is made even worse by an important paradox. He constantly tries to escape from his work and familial responsibilities by drinking and going to the movies yet, when given the opportunity, he only uses his artistic prowess to recreate a miserable scene from his past. By writing this play, Tom becomes the victim of his own art as he is unable to use his own talents to bring happiness upon his life. Even after having escaped his monotonous life, he continues to be haunted by his past. Tom feels guilty for abandoning h is sister who depended on him. This feeling of guilt is epitomized in his final speech at the end of the play. â€Å"Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!† Therefore, Tom, the poet, becomes incapable of expressing any emotionShow MoreRelatedTenessee Williams: the Glass Menagerie1551 Words   |  7 PagesThe Glass Menagerie The glass menagerie is a superb work of art by Tennessee Williams. It is a play that highlights the various realities and desperations of its characters in their response to a confused society. Williams has an admirable talent for creating a play that’s genre is serious and has a tragic ending; yet he keeps the story interesting to the audience whether it be through reading it as a text or in the theater. The story of the Glass Menagerie is an emotional recount of memoriesRead MoreLiterary Analysis of The Glass Menagerie by Tenessee Williams1462 Words   |  6 PagesThe Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams had ordinary people in an ordinary life that closely resembled the influences of Williams’ personal life while having reoccurring themes and motifs throughout the story. The play has been done by many with some variations in the scripts and setting while still clinging to the basic ideas of the original play. Amanda Wingfield was a complex character that encompassed many facets of her personality. She longed to have the life she had as a girl and youngRead MoreAnalysis Of The Play The Glass Menagerie 1281 Words   |  6 PagesDevin Simpson Professor Carusp The Glas Menagerie 4/29/15 Within the play The Glass Menagerie, Amanda, Laura, and Tom Wingfield all of have their own dreams that are continuously destroyed by the harshness of reality. Amanda, stuck in the ease of her youth, tries to relive her life through her daughter Laura. Being crippled both physically and mentally, Laura struggles to escape the bubble she has created around herself that her mother Amanda so strongly tries to force her out of. Tom whom, althoughRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 PagesHeat and Dust Winch, Tara June, Swallow the Air Gaita, Raimond, Romulus, My Father Miller, Arthur, The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts Harrison, Jane, Rainbow’s End Luhrmann, Baz, Strictly Ballroom - film De Heer, Rolf, Ten Canoes - film Shakespeare, William, As You Like It Skrzynecki, Peter, Immigrant Chronicle Dickinson, Emily, Selected Poems of Emily Dicksinson Herrick, Steven, The Simple Gift Baillie, Alan, The China Coin Russell, Willy, Educating Rita Cleven,Vivienne et al (eds), Conte mporary Indigenous

Personal Narrative My Experience Within Classrooms Essay

Fieldwork Summary Paper Miele 1 My Experience Within Classrooms As I graduated into Concordia College I was already positive that education was going to be the major I was going to study and pursue a career in. With the motivation of my aunt, whom is a teacher, I always looked up to her. The only aspect I wasn’t sure of was what grade I would want to teach. I have always loved kids, which is why I have always been predicting I would teach within early-childhood grades. Within this course I was given the opportunity to sit and observe classrooms of grades of my choice. I resolved that I would sit within a kindergarten class, a third grade class, and a fifth grade class. With this experience I was able to get an idea of what grade I would want to preserve a career in as I followed my dream as a teacher. The first class I attended and scrutinized was a kindergarten class taught by Mrs. Brenda Buccheri Miele, who was my aunt. Not only was I thrilled to observe what it was like to teach a kindergarten class, but I was also excited to see my aunt in action for the first time. As soon as I entered the classroom at Concord Road Elementary School, I couldn’t help but smile because of all the inventiveness of the creative projects the students had put together to hang up around the room. Being that it was my first time observing a classroom, I was a little apprehensive to meet the kids and spend four hours with them. I didn’t know how they would react to me being there, or ifShow MoreRelatedDiversity in the Classroom Essay examples876 Words   |  4 Pagesdiversity within a classroom. According to Websters New Pocket Dictionary, diversity means variety, a number of different kinds. I often discuss and read about diversity in terms of cultural backgrounds; the unification of h istories and stories from people from all over the world. 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Conclusion For Frankenstein Essay Example For Students

Conclusion For Frankenstein Essay A Tale of Two CitiesA Tale of Two Cities opens in the year 1775, with the narrator comparing conditions in England and France, and foreshadowing the coming of the French Revolution. The first action is Jarvis Lorrys night journey from London, where he serves as an agent for Tellsons Bank. The next afternoon, in a Dover inn, Lorry meets with Lucie Manette, a seventeen-year-old French orphan raised in England. Lorry tells Lucie that her father, the physician Alexandre Manette, is not dead as shes always believed. Dr. Manette has just been released from years of secret imprisonment in the Paris prison, the Bastille. Lorry escorts Lucie across the English Channel to a house in a poor Paris suburb where her father, in a dazed state from long solitary confinement, confusedly works at the shoemakers trade he learned in prison. Dr. Manette has been taken care of by Ernest Defarge, a former servant of the Manette family, now the keeper of a wine shop. Defarge and his wife- a strong-looking, c onfident woman- appear to be engaged in antigovernment activity. Lucie is saddened by her fathers state and, resolving to restore him to himself, she and Lorry carry the doctor back to England. Five years pass. In London, at Old Bailey (the courthouse) we meet Charles Darnay, a French expatriate who is on trial for treason. Lucie Manette and Jarvis Lorry both testify that they met Darnay on their return trip across the Channel five years earlier. John Barsad, an English spy, swears that Darnays purpose in traveling was to plot treason against England. Darnay is acquitted when his lawyer, Stryver, shatters a witness identification by pointing at Darnays uncanny resemblance to Sydney Carton- a brilliant but dissolute lawyer who is wasting his talents in poorly paid servitude to Stryver. Lucie and her father- who has regained his faculties and returned to medical practice- now live happily in a quiet corner of Soho with Lucies fiercely loyal companion, Miss Pross. They are frequently v isited by Lorry (now a close family friend), Darnay, and Carton. Lucie imagines hearing hundreds of footsteps thundering into her life- a fantasy that in fact foreshadows the revolutionary strife in France. The scene shifts to France. Driving in his carriage through the streets of Paris, the cruel Marquis St. Evremonde runs over and kills a poor mans child. We learn that the Marquis is Charles Darnays uncle (out of shame for his wicked male forebears, Darnay had changed his name from St. Evremonde to the English-sounding Darnay). Meeting the Marquis at the St. Evremonde chateau, Darnay says he will renounce the family property when he inherits to show his disgust with the aristocracy. St. Evremonde expresses his hate of his nephew, and his continued support of the old, unjust order. The next morning the Marquis is found stabbed to death. Gaspard, the father of the boy the Marquis ran over, has killed him as an act of vengeance. Back in England again, Darnay becomes engaged to Lucie. Sydney Carton also declares his hopeless, lasting devotion to Lucie, and vows he would give his life to save anyone dear to her. Barsad, now a spy for the French monarchy, tips off the Defarges in Paris to the impending marriage of Lucie and Darnay. Privately and meaningfully, Monsieur Defarge comments that he hopes destiny will keep Lucies husband out of France. The marriage ceremony, together with a story Darnay has told about discovering hidden papers in a prison, send Dr. Manette into amnesiac shock. For nine days, until Miss Pross and Jarvis Lorry pull him out of it, he reverts to his former shoemaking habits. We learn later that on the wedding morning, Dr. Manette secured Darnays promise not to reveal his true name- St. Evremonde- to anyone, not even Lucie. Paris, 1789: the French Revolution breaks out. Defarge leads the attack on the Bastille, while his wife marshals the revolutionary women. In the country rebellious peasants burn down the St. Evremonde chateau. Gabelle, the propertys rent and tax collector, is eventually arrested and thrown into Paris LAbbaye prison. Rushing overseas, Darnay is at once seized by the revolutionaries as an aristocrat, and flung into another prison, La Force. Lucie, her young daughter, Miss Pross, and Dr. Manette rush to Darnays aid, lodging in Paris near Jarvis Lorry, whos there on business. As an ex-Bastille prisoner, Dr. Manette has sufficient influence to visit his son-in-law in La Force, but he is unable to free Darnay. For fifteen months Lucie stands each afternoon outside of La Force, praying that Charles may catch a glimpse of her. The Terror is in full swing, the guillotine shaving innocent and aristocratic heads alike. At last Darnay is brought up before the French Tribunal. He is released through the testimony of Dr. Manette and the long-suffering Gabelle. But the very night of his freedom the Defarges and one other denounce Darnay. On the spot, he is hauled back to the Conciergerie, the scene of his trial. Ig norant of the disaster, Miss Pross and Jerry Cruncher, Lorrys jack-of-all-trades, go shopping for provisions and encounter Miss Pross long-lost brother, Solomon. Cruncher recognizes Solomon as the spy-witness John Barsad who once testified against Darnay. Suddenly Sydney Carton is on the scene (he has come to Paris to help his friends). Leading Barsad off to Tellsons headquarters for a meeting, Carton informs Jarvis Lorry that Darnay has been rearrested, and forces Barsad to cooperate with him by threatening to reveal the spys turncoat maneuvers. Currently in the pay of the revolutionaries, Barsads job is to spy on their prisoners, and so he has access to Darnay in the Conciergerie. Carton sets a secret plan in motion, using Barsad. Darnays retrial the next morning produces a sensation. A journal discovered by Defarge in Dr. Manettes old cell at the Bastille is read aloud to the Tribunal. In his journal Dr. Manette blames his arrest on two brothers of the St. Evremonde family who ha d summoned him to their country house to treat a young peasant wife the younger St. Evremonde had raped. The womans brother lay beyond treatment, dying from a wound received when he tried to attack the rapist. After both the brother and sister had died, Dr. Manette received a visit in his home from the elder St. Evremondes wife and her small son, Charles Darnay. The Marquise St. Evremonde believed the dead woman had a sister, and wished to make reparations to her. Dr. Manette attempted to reveal the St. Evremonde brothers infamy, but they arranged for him to be arrested and put in jail. Dr. Manette ended his story with a curse on the whole St. Evremonde clan, and hid the document in a hole in the chimney. On this evidence Charles Darnay is condemned for his ancestors evil deeds, and is sentenced to die in 24 hours. After the verdict, Sydney Carton, drinking in the Defarge wine shop, overhears Madame Defarge announce that she is the missing sister, the last survivor of the family ext erminated by the St. Evremondes. She swears to complete her vengeance by wiping out all of Darnays relations- Lucie, her little girl, and even Dr. Manette himself. Carton goes to Jarvis Lorrys lodgings where both men receive Dr. Manette, who, from the shock of Charles condemnation has again slipped into his amnesiac-shoemaker role. Carton warns Lorry of Madame Defarges murderous intentions, and they plan an escape from the country. Carton tells Lorry to keep the proper papers ready, and when Carton appears at two the next afternoon, all- including Lucie and her child- will ride swiftly away. The following day, Carton enters Darnays cell, drugs him, and exchanges clothes with him. Carton intends to take Darnays place on the guillotine, and thus fulfill his old promise to give his life for anyone dear to Lucie. As agreed, Barsad hurries Darnays unconscious body- dressed as Carton- out of the Conciergerie to the coach where Jarvis Lorrys party awaits. All flee successfully. In the mean time Miss Pross, alone in the Manette apartment, has a grim meeting with Madame Defarge, who has come armed with pistol and knife to take her personal revenge. There is a struggle and the pistol fires, killing Madame Defarge and forever deafening Miss Pross. Nonetheless, she is able to meet Jerry Cruncher as they have planned, and escape. Sydney Carton goes to the guillotine with dignity. (For the first time Madame Defarges ringside seat is vacant.) He comforts a little seamstress, has a final vision of better times ahead, and reflects: It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 , .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .postImageUrl , .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 , .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:hover , .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:visited , .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:active { border:0!important; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:active , .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933 .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u232be3d883d4aa81b0773eeff7335933:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Laws of Life Essay English Essays

The Harrowing of Hell Dialectic and Spectacle Essay Example For Students

The Harrowing of Hell Dialectic and Spectacle Essay Roland Barthess essay on The World of Wrestling draws analogically on the ancient theatre to contextualize wrestling as a cultural myth where the grandiloquence of the ancient is preserved and the spectacle of excess is displayed. Barthess critique which is above all a rewriting of what was to understand what is is useful here insofar as it may be applied back to theatre as another open-air spectacle. But in this case, not the theatre of the ancients, but the Middle English pageant presents the locus for discussing the sport of presentation, or, if you prefer, the performance of the sport. More specifically, what we see by looking at the Harrowing of Hell the dramatic moment in the cycle plays that narratizes doctrinal redemption more graphically than any other play in the cycle as spectacle offers a matrix for the multiple relationships between performance and audience and the means of producing that performance which, in turn, necessarily produces the audience. The implications of the spectacle could sensibly be applied to the complete texts of the cycle plays, and perhaps more appropriately to the full range of the pageant and its concomitant festivities. The direction of pseudo-historical criticism, especially of the Elizabethan stage, certainly provides a well-plowed ground for advancing the festive and carnivalesque inherently present in the establishment and event of theater. Nevertheless, my discussion here is both more limited and more expansive: its limits are constructed by the choice of an individual play recurrent through the four extant manuscripts of what has come to be called the Corpus Christi plays; its expansion is expressed through a delivery that aims to implicate the particular moment of this play in the operations of a dominant church-state apparatus, which is, ostensibly, a model of maintaining hegemony in Western culture. The Harrowing provides a singular instance in which the mechanisms of control of the apparatus appear to extend and exploit their relationship with the audience (i.e. congregation). The play is constructed beyond the canonized operations of the sacred, originating a narrative beyond (yet within) the authorized vulgate; it is constructed only through church authority yet maintains the divinely instituted force of the orthodox doctrine. We will write a custom essay on The Harrowing of Hell Dialectic and Spectacle specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Two introductory instances, one from the Chester cycle and the other from the Towneley cycle, situate the narrative and event of the play as a spectacle which engages the possibility of being consumed by its historical and particular mass culture a culture which was primarily illiterate in both the official and the vernacular writings of the church and being understood within the hegemonic orthodoxy. The introductory speech in the Chester Plays (The Cookes Play) describes a previous knowledge that Adam as representative for a fallen humanity apprehends exactly at the moment he articulates his speech:Nowe, by this light that I nowe see,joye ys come, lord, through thee,and one thy people hast pittyeto put them out of payne. Similarly, though now through Jesuss self-proclamation, the introduction in the Towneley cycle reveals the already known nature of its narrative:A light will thay haueTo know I will com sone;My body shall abyde in gaueTill all this dede be done. The doubled nowe of Adams speech and the perfected futurity of Jesuss speech dictate a time before narrative. By expressing the nature of narrative to be known and that the outcome of the particular battle which is hardly a battle between Satan and Jesus is already determined, both Adams and Jesuss speeches establish a code for participating in the festival. The audience is relegated within this code beyond the activity of interpretation; they are placed outside of the hermeneutic circle. Instead of calling for interpretation, the play calls for consumption, which means, in this case, to view the spectacle. The public then is subordinated to its own activity of visualization its own sense of perception to gain access to the operations of the festival. At this point of subordination to the visual, the audiences motives, according to Barthess description of the effects of the spectacle, are extinguished: The public is completely uninterested in knowing whether the contest is rigged or not, and rightly so; it abandons itself to the primary virtue of the spectacle, which is to abolish all motives and all consequences: what matters is not what it thinks but what it sees. Though Barthess explanation is particularized to explain our fascination with wrestling, his reading may become more useful if we explore exactly the points of knowing and not knowing which are significant for the audience of the Harrowing. The virtual awareness that the Harrowing is rigged becomes impertinent in comparison to the consequence of knowing the narrative as sacred as authorized and privileged text of doctrinal truth. By seeing what they know, the members of the audience affirm their own knowing that is their own capacity to know validating their own immersion in the light. As Barthes suggests, the activity then is not of thought, but instead, of repetitive affirmation. The yearly festival reincorporates the known realities of the church year into the memories of its congregation. The Harrowing happens because it always happens; its events do not change because the narrative is merely spectacle, revealing the necessity of its outcome it happens because it always happens or it happens because God (i.e. the church) says it happens. Every sign of the players and the play is endowed with an absolute clarity, since one must always understand everything on the spot. The play is constructed in and as total intelligibility, which should empower the audience to affirm and control its relationship to the spectacle to judge its authority and position. The play gains its position as spectacle through repetition and institutionalization. The pageants yearly performance, as an iteration of doctrinal litanies, hypostatisizes the narrative of redemption in the cultura l milieu. Moreover, the authority by which the play is produced and written validates the history being told. Indeed, it is not a history, but the history. Even beyond the force of the church-instituted process of validation, the play holds ceratin social values through convention, concretization, and repetition. W. A. Davenport has noted that though these scenes convey no great moral force, the morality theme, present in the cycle as it is in even lesser known morality plays such as Mary Magdalene, gains liveliness by the conventionality of its presentation. If Barthes is correct about the nature of the spectacle, then our reading of the Harrowing should allow for a positioning of the audience where it obtains to a judgement concerning the outcome. For Barthes, the audience must participate in a pure and full signification:Leaving nothing in the shade, each action discards all parasitic meanings and ceremonially offers to the public a pure and full signification, rounded like Natur e. This grandiloquence is nothing but the popular and age-old image of the perfect intelligibility of reality. What is portrayed . . . is therefore an ideal understanding of things; it is the euphoria of men raised for a while above the constitutive ambiguity of everyday situations and placed before the panoramic view of a univocal Nature, in which signs at last correspond to causes, without obstacle, without evasion, without contradiction. By the positioning and antecedent action of the Harrowing of Hell, the signification of plot articulates itself in totality an ideal understanding of things. Since the center of dramatic action hinges on Christs confrontation with Satan, the dramatic action folds to that exact point, where Satan has already been diminished as a force of opposition and the playwright had prepared for his demise. In the Chester Plays, specifically, the audience has already been told that Christ hasse overcommen the devil (Chester 224, line 176). But what Barthes f ails to negotiate or perhaps notice in ascribing a power to the full signification of the spectacle is the audiences necessary involvement in the perfect intelligibility of reality when it is predicated not on the intelligible reception but on the nature of reality. When the stage is more than the wrestling mat, but the very ground of heaven and hell, the audiences position becomes tantamount to eternal destruction or eternal bliss within this intelligible reality. It is exactly at the point where the audience loses control in the appearance of control that the operations or mechanisms of the hegemonic orthodoxy become discernible. Just as the spectacle privileges the audience and not the production of the spectacle, so the play, at least the Cookes Play in the Chester cycle, suggests a privileged subjectivity for the members of the audience a privileged subjectivity that will ultimately be rewritten in the master narrative of Gods (that is the churchs) history. As David comments o n the spectacle for the audience, he describes his own privileged position, which, in turn, escalates the position of the audience to a heightened knowledge of self-delivery or self-redemption:I, kinge Davyd, nowe well may sayemy prophecye fulfilled is, in faye,as nowe shewes in sight verey,and soothly ys seene. .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 , .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .postImageUrl , .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 , .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:hover , .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:visited , .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:active { border:0!important; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:active , .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5 .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u46097d7cf146859a8c78bebdd9e857d5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Things Are Different From Each Other, And Each Can Be Reduced To Very EssayI taught men thus here in my lyefe-dayeto worshippe God by all waye,that hell-yates he should afrayeand wonn that his hath bynne. (Chester 332-3, lines 185-192)Davids speech couples the fulfilling of his prophecy that Christ would overcome Satan and the gates of hell and his didactic function as Israels king. He has taught the act of worship, and, in the juxtaposition of prophetic fulfillment and Judaic history, Christs actions become utterly dependent on the activity of the people. Fulfillment is necessarily derived from the worshippe of God by all waye. The apparent privileging of human activity in enabling the freeing of the spirits in hells prison is problematized, however, by the synchronizing of history by the completion of the act of redemption in a single speech (or series of plays within the pageant) and by the position of the plays audience in relationship to human activity. The Corpus Christi pageant posits a temporal space that constructs human history as a priori in other words, human history exists only insofar as it can be narrativized in the playing of the historical scene. For the audience, history is not a text, but is instead, to borrow form Spinoza, an absent cause that is only accessible in textual form. Or, as Fredric Jameson says in his contesting of the master narrative of history that people desire to possess, history is inaccessible to us except in textual form, and that our approach to it and to the Real itself necessarily passes through its prior textualization, its narrativization in the political unconscious. The entire history of humankind is consequently directed by an absent cause or master narrative that is only accessible for the Harrowings audience through the offices of the church proper. Human activity is subdued beneath the force of a performative narrative that gains its position from the sacramentalizing of its word. The word is not contestable; it derives its puissance from its history and from its already known and knowing completion as narrative. The history of the Corpus Christi pageant in general and the Harrowing of Hell in particular provide a ground for the authority of the text and performance. Some scholars have debated, often with little effect, the doctrinal and historical connection between the Feast of Corpus Christi and the cyclic drama that literary historians have attached to it. Indeed, Harden Craig zealously argues that the necessary historical connection between the two is possibly an ineradicable heresy. Likewise, Glynn Wickham encourages us to question how the plays ever became attached to a procession, a form of celebration so antipathetic to their performance. Nonetheless, as Jerome Taylor has aptly noted, the feast did attract and gather the procession, and, historically, the plays as contained within the festival represent the cultural activity of re-historicizing the present in the master narrative of Catholic history. We may establish part of the Harrowing of Hells historical significance by relating the audiences participation, which is an active-passivity similar to the effects of a lack of drama under Calvinist dogma, to the congregations delimited and litanized response to the office of readings for Holy Saturday:Quid istud rei est? Hdie silntium magnum in terra; silntium magnum, et solitdo denceps; silntium magnum, quniam Rex dormit; terra tmuit et quivit, quniam Deus in carne obdormvit, et a sculo dormientes excitivt. Deus in carne mrtuus est, et infrnum concitvit. Something strange is happening there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silent because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised all who has slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. The prevailing silence controls the responsiveness of the congregation. Sovereignty is determined only through the agency of Christ a real privileged subjectivity whose sleeping or waking determines the trembling of the world. And just as the world trembles so does hell the two becomes analogous spaces marking a simultaneous harrowing of hell and harrowing of here. The congregations response to the Matins reading confirms its position in the present only as it is textualized and narratized in the past performance of Christ: This is the day when our Savior broke through the gates of death. The audience of the feast of Corpus Christi, like the congregation of Holy Saturday, responds to the power of the dramatic harrowing by realizing a position of deprivation. The audience cannot act; it can only be acted upon. The audiences passivity is further underscored by both the textual and visual representations of the Harrowing of Hell preceding the dramatic performances during the Corpus Christi pageant. The narrativizing of the visual in the iconography (see the Holkham Bible Picture Book, for example) again represents the completion of activity before the activity begins. As in much of medieval iconography, temporal spaces are collapsed, endings and beginnings are conflated in single representative moments, and the spatiality of the image subjugates the implicit narrative of events. Rosemary Woolfs description of the Limbo of Fathers demonstrates the conflation of crucifixion, harrowing, and resurrection in a single spatial moment: the Limbo of Fathers is depicted as a small, battlemented building: its doors with their heavy locks, have already crashed to the ground at the touch of Christs Resurrection Cross (emphasis mine). Complementing the iconographic representations of the Harrowing, the Go spel of Nicodemus, in its full mystical and miraculous detail, was the popular and textual source for the Harrowings dramatists. Yet, as Rosemary Woolf and other contextual critics have noted, the plays hardly convey the dramatic force or poetic possibility of the Gospel. Instead, the plays textualize the apocryphal source into the orthodox doctrine, creating a spectacle of excess without the empowering visual interpretation by the audience. To some degree, the iconographic and apocryphal referents of the Harrowing of Hell provide the base level for interpretive possibilities: the historical and textual referent. However, as I would hope to demonstrate, interpretive possibilities are obliterated in the dominating desire of the play and the church to control the social structure and to entrench the values and therefore laws of the church apparatus. Oscillating within the literal referential articulations of the play, the allegorical, moral, and anagogical levels or senses operate. The allegorical mode is directed through the implicit parallel between Christs history his redemption of the souls and the churchs history the break near the end of the play (Chester 337 and Towneley 305) when the audience/congregation chants the Te Deum laudamus. The moral level is the individual, where the subject in the audience is able to participate in self-interpolation, placing the individual of today in the history of both the pas t and the future simultaneously. The individuals redemption, however, remains collective, addressed to Adams osspringe:Peace to thee, Adam, my dearlynge,and eke to all thy osspringethat ryghtwise were in yearth livinge. From mee yee shall not severe. To blys nowe I wyl you bringethere you shalbe withowt endinge. (Chester 334, 205-210)Isias. Adam, thrugh thi synhere were we put to dwell,This wykyd place within;The name of it is hell;here paynes shall neuer blyn. That wykyd ar and fellloue that lord with wyn,his lyfe for vs wold sellEt cantent omnes salutor mundi, primum versum. (Towneley 294, 37-44)Identification with Adams sinfulness prefigures a (re)collection in Jesuss redeeming effort to break the gates of hell. Nonetheless, the activity is utterly collective; morality cannot be apprehended on an individual level, excluding individual interpretation from the audiences role. The exclusion of the individual places the interpretive dilemma at the anagogical level, confronting the collective meaning of history and giving authority to the spectacle of the performance itself. Earlier in this paper I identified the performance with sport a type of game in which the arbitrariness of the result is predetermined by the apparatus of its production. What the Corpus Christi pageant in general and the Harrowing of Hell play in particular present is a dialectical foundation of empowerment and control. The spectacle posits a knowing of truth, creating an audience empowered by its own capacity to know what is and to therefore possess that knowledge. The real, as it is signified in the clarity of its repetition and form, is entrusted to an audience of arbiters, who decide a personal validity for the means of its articulation (to extend Barthess reading of wrestling, the audience may judge the performance and the value of the performance even if it does not judge the necessary relationship between the body of the wrestler and the outcome of the event). The play, however, within its limited origination as church extension, reaffirms the authority of the church by limi ting the authority of the individual. The collective is privileged over and against the individual so that, indeed, an individual consciousness exists in the play only as rebellion (e.g. Judas and Cain are left to dwell in hell with Satan exactly because they positioned themselves as individuals, against the dominant domain of Adams sinfulness). The dialectic between the play as spectacle and therefore a means of enlightenment and value-producing mechanism of the collective church which institutes the myth as valid poses the problem of seeing both operations, that is both functional modes, within the play as identical. Adorno and Horkheimers potent and persuasive definition of myth and enlightenment shows how each mode of cultural operation serves to exercise power through what Lukacs calls reification:Myth turns into enlightenment, and nature into mere objectivity. Men pay for the increase of their power with alienation from that over which they exercise their power. Enlightenme nt behaves toward things as a dictator toward men. He knows them in so far as he can manipulate them. For Adorno and Horkheimer, myth and enlightenment, magic and science, mechanization and spirit, all serve as polar oppositions in a dialectically organized agenda of manipulation and control. Likewise, the pageant and the play orchestrate a subsumption of the individuals power especially the interpretive power of the masses into the collectivized agency of the church. The result of transforming the individual consciousnesses present in the audience and the congregation into a homologized and homogenized extension of orthodox values is coded in the presentation of its form. All history as it is posited within the play has already been written; the only question and here I mean the undervalued question of a member in the audience is what position is marked not necessarily predestined or predetermined, although the means of making this a self-determination have been completely rem oved from the mass culture of medieval Catholic orthodoxy for the individual. Will the audience member be a member classified as goat or sheep (a question addressed in a parable played briefly before the Harrowing? Is hell harrowed for him/her? Moreover, the result of the question interrogates mass culture itself, for the operations of the church-state apparatus are not distinctly separate in effect from the culture industry and the mechanization of the factory that Adorno and Horkheimer evaluate:Culture as a common denominator already contains in embryo the schematization and process of cataloging and classification which bring culture within the sphere of administration. And which entirely accords with this notion of culture. By subordinating in the same way and to the same end all areas of intellectual creation, by occupying mens senses from the time they leave the factory in the evening to the time they clock in again the next morning with matter that bears the impress of the l abor process they themselves have to sustain throughout the day, this subsumption mockingly satisfies the concept of a unified culture which the philosophers of personality contrasted with mass culture. Indeed, what could be more subsumptive than a mythos of redemption and salvation, constructed through a series of social and socially required events, that ultimately demand a vilification of self-value and a celebration of the church establishment. .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 , .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .postImageUrl , .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 , .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:hover , .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:visited , .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:active { border:0!important; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:active , .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6 .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7bcbb09adc104fa687e32800d03ce7d6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Harrison bergeron by kurt vonn EssayIn both the Towneley play and the Chester play, the chorus of prophets, all participating in the monolithic community of hell-to-be-redeemed, offer a collective subsumption of the individual. The greatest desire of the audience must be to share in voice with the prophets who speak of both praise and thankfulness. The consumptive and subsumptive chorus in the Towneley play moves from Moses to David to Isaiah in progressively shorter lines to silence the audience, rather ironically, by invoking their collective chorus in litany:Dauid. As I saide ere yit say I so,ne derelinquas, domine,Animum meam in inferno;Leyfe neuer my saull, lord, afte r the,In depe hell wheder dampned shall go;suffre thou neuer thi sayntys to seThe sorow of thaym that won in wo,ay full of fylth and may not fle.Moyses. Make myrth both more and les,amd loue oure lord we may,That has broght vs fro bytternesIn blys to abyde for ay. Ysaias. Therfor now let vs singto loue our lord ihesus. (Towneley 305, 389-402)Affirmation through association becomes the fulfillment of the audiences constructed desire. The members of the audience join ranks with the great prophets who have all been associated with their own histories during the action of the Harrowing. The audience must join, for it does not have access to the already written history; by being displaced from the narratizing of redemption, it can only associate with the characters who already participate in the code. By this code I intend to suggest the positioning of the already achieved narrative action which cannot be possessed as spectacle, but, instead, must be apprehended as the mechanism of the church-state apparatus to maintain power. The state apparatus is defined by the perpetuation or conservation of organs of power. The state apparatus, to borrow an analogy from Deleuze and Guattari, is a contained system with components and limits similar to the game of chess. The game is played with a definite code, the pieces are determined to be what they are by what they are. A knight is always a knight simply because he is. A king will always be protected. In the same way, as a character to be played again and again, in every year of the pageant and in every other formulation of church doctrine, Jesus is always Jesus; he must always win against Satan who is always Satan. God, in his redemptive activity must be consistent (we still have this code and its response in contemporary culture, as is ty pical in the Baptist belt where the phrase thats not my God, my God is indicates an utter lack of interpretive understanding as it is constrained by the operations of a fundamentalist approach to a univocal God in a univocal way). The consistency of the players, whether on a chess board or a medieval horse-drawn carriage platform, necessitates the homogenization of the players audience the churchs congregation. Deleuze argues that the states ability to reproduce itself exactly is determined through its own public presentation i.e. the fact that the state is and must be public: The State-form . . . has a tendency to reproduce itself, remaining identical to itself across its variations and easily recognizable within the limits of its poles, always seeking public recognition (there is no masked state).The Corpus Christi plays offer then an extension of the church-state apparatus to construct, even as the mass does, a congregation utterly unified in its interpretive understanding and consolidated in its desire for redemption and its means of happening. The collective meaning of history the anagogical level of interpretive meaning is discernible only through the allegorical which is to say that church history accurately reflects redemptive history to the point of requiring participation in one to assure inclusion in the other. These claims concerning the plays and its most dramatic representative of redemptive force, the Harrowing of Hell, attempt to discern the mechanism of producing the power of the church-state apparatus how indeed, the superstructure gains support from its base and how, in fact, the pageant is the most accessible form for disseminating the conservation of this power. The plays demonstrate as a combination of social artistry and cultural design an historical moment of political conservation and dominant authorizing. It seems we are not merely to claim, as Hardin Craig does, that the plays are a theological intelligence motivated by struc tural imagination that lasted from age to age in the development of a great cycle of mystery plays. Instead, we should interrogate the multiple dimensions of artistry and artificiality of the play; our task is to ask how these plays operate as a performative moment coming directly from the dominant arms of orthodoxy while still being influenced by the severely limited mass culture. We may find, then, at the center of the controlling mechanisms of the church-state apparatus, the necessitated desire for community that even Satan validates and proclaims: Nay, I pray the do not so; Vmthynke the better in thy mynde; Or els let me with the go, I pray the leyffe me not behynde! The desire, of course, extends past Satans plea, for the homogenized desire of the congregation ultimately which is in history written and yet to be is directed toward a different answer from Jesus: one that affirms salvation and again confirms the churchs orthodox pageantry of performance. .

Congress and the Articles of Confederation essays

Congress and the Articles of Confederation essays The desire for no central government during the time of declaring our independence from Britain and dissolving the rule of George III over the American colonies lead a constitution known as the Articles of Confederation. Many events leading up to the Articles left the colonist weary about the transfer of power from one tyrant to another. To avoid control of a central government, the articles of confederation allowed the majority of the power to remain with the states and left the central government with very little to no control. The central government was unable to build an army. For instance, Article VII states that when land forces are raised by any state for the common defense, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each state respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such state shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the state which first made the appointment. So, while the Second Continental Congress was able to appoint a person to head a military force, no state was made required to contribute forces. Congress could not raise an army to deal with military situations. Another major problem was money. The Congress was unable to tax the state and could only ask for those states to freely contribute and donate to the central government. Because of this, the government was unable to pay loans owed to people, businesses, and countries that had supported them in separating from Britain. Not only did the confederation not have any money, the colonist had several forms of currency and paper money that was not worth very much, and while the confederation could print its currency, it did not have the silver and gold to back it up. The government was broke. One more problem that the articles of confederation failed to consider was a national court system Issues between states were sometimes impossible to resolve or enforce, and although the...

The Kurds in Modern Iraq

The Kurds in Modern Iraq Introduction Kurds are people who originated from Indian and European races. They reside in the hilly regions of the borders between Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. This region where the Kurds live is referred to as Kurdistan. They have a different culture from their neighboring people in Iraq.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Kurds in Modern Iraq specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They also have a different language of their own. Their language is quite related to Persia, although it differs by some two dialects. Their main religion is Sunni Muslim although they accommodate some Christian, Jewish, and Yazidis religious groups among them. Their total population by the 1987 census was 19.7 million people in the Kurdistan region. Their population in the entire world numbers at 25-35 million people, although their estimated population usually varies. They are spread out especially in Russia and Europe. Kurdis policies of nationalism have continued to worry Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. During Saddam Hussein’s regime, the Kurds suffered atrocities under this administration. Their independence was minimized especially during the Gulf war of 1991. Their good relationship with Iraq became questionable when Saddam Hussein was overthrown in the year 2003. They have since been making several attempts to self govern themselves. Currently, they have around eight political parties that are actively involved in all political issues. These political parties are the major machines they use to drive them to their homelands. As we speak, the Kurds are ruled by one government called the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This government began to reign in 1991 and is still operational to date. Their success story made a major leap forward by the death of former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Since then, the United States has been helping the Kurds in reconstruction and ensuring their security is guara nteed. It is also purported that should the security of Kurds be threatened by bloodshed and destruction from Iraq, the United States will gear up in support for an independent Kurdish state. Recent History of Kurds The Kurds are sometimes referred to as a people without a nation because they are unarguably the largest ethnic group without a country of their own. From the time the modern state of Iraq was created, the Kurd’s history has been characterized with instances of underdevelopment, political turmoil and cultural repression, destruction, revolutionary revolts and ethnic cleansing. Genocide has also characterized the Kurd’s society.Advertising Looking for research paper on eastern europe? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Iraq has been engaged in major campaigns to obliterate the Kurd’s synergetic approach towards gaining independence. Many people have been killed and scores injured when Sad dam’s administration ear marked the Kurdish society for destruction. The main aim of these attacks was to thwart any efforts by the Kurds to arise against the national government. Thus, resistance movements were countered with rigorous military operations by the Iraqi government. In post-Saddam Iraq, many political and ethnic issues have arisen in relation to Kurd’s assimilation into the Iraqi state. Many opinions have been given concerning how this issue should be dealt with. Some people have been supporting the formation of five-state Iraq with the region occupied by the Kurd’s forming one of the states. Another option includes the northern self governing section organized not on ethnic basis but on regional basis. It is quite important to note that some of the neighboring countries have not been in support of an independent Kurd state. Turkey as an example has been strongly opposing this fight for freedom[1]. The modern history of the Kurdish people is theref ore examined in two phases. The first one is the phases of the fight between the Kurdish populace and the governments, which they are subject for control. The second involves the struggle of the Kurds to become a sound community[2]. The Kurds during Saddam’s Reign The contemporary Kurd’s history during Saddam Hussein’s reign can only discuss the events that happened during Saddam Hussein’s last years of dictatorship. These are the years 2000 up to 2003 in Iraqi’s history. Saddam’s reign was characterized by Kurd’s repression. There were secret police tortures, murders, forced disappearance and the use of chemical weapons. Assassinations were also common during this period. Saddam’s methods of eliminating Kurd’s resistance included gassing. Up to the year of his death, there were still many widespread imprisonments. Political participation was only allowed to those politicians who belonged to the Baath Party. It is amazin g that this political party consisted of only 8% of the total population of Iraq. Hussein’s administration had also made numerous torture centers where citizens considered resistant to the national government use to be tortured. The Kurds in Post-Saddam Iraq The Kurds have been the most pro-US group in Iraq since time immemorial. They welcomed the U.S invasion of Iraq thereafter cooperating with the U.S political and military officials. In return to this, the Kurds have been expecting the U.S to support them in their fight for self governance.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Kurds in Modern Iraq specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is the reason as to why they do not want the United States to leave Iraq without proper arrangement so that the United States does not abandon Iraq and the Kurds[3]. Turkey refused to support the U.S invasion from the beginning. However, the country has expressed her support in the withdrawal project that will end in the year 2011. Since the invasion of the U.S led troops to Iraq, the Kurds entered into active post-Saddam national politics on equal footing with Iraq’s Arabs. They did this by participating in a U.S-led occupation administration. This government operated under a ‘Transition Administrative Law’. The constitution also preserved the Kurds’ self-governing ‘Kurdistan (Religion) Government’ and its supremacy to modify the application of some (national) laws. Another provision of this constitution permitted the Kurds to continue to field their militia numbering close to one hundred thousand. The Kurds continued their support of the constitution (in the year 2005) for the reason that this charter seemed to fulfill their momentous demands. The endorsement of this constitution by the Kurds was also because it also included the Kurd’s insistence on federalism. This allowed for the formal creatio n of regions that had their own regional governments. The constitution recognized the presence of three Kurdish regions which are Dohuk, Irbil, and Sulaymaniyah as legal regions. This constitution appears to have given the Kurds more strength in relation to politics. Many controversies arose concerning the political assertion of the Kurds and the system of governance by the central government. Thus, Iraqi minority groups would later protest at this excessive assertion of demands by the Kurds arguing that it threatened Iraqi’s integrity. On the other hand, the Kurd’s believed that the central government’s system of leadership is not living up to its promises to build a diverse multi ethnic democracy[4]. Political Orientation of the Kurds A short history of the Kurdish political parties shows that the mainstream Shiite Islamic parties are the main parties that boast a huge membership of the Kurds. The main reason as to why Kurds have been politically oriented in t hese parties is because they seemed to be yielding to their demands. However, in the year 2008, the Kurds began to break with Da’wa party headed by Maliki. This was because he failed to accede to their main demands. The main demands that were not redressed were issues concerning terrorist activities in the northern parts of Iraq[5].Advertising Looking for research paper on eastern europe? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Maliki offset by reproving the Kurds that they were trying to practice issues that were unconstitutional[6] outside their protective limits and setting up Kurds envoy offices in alien nations. For these reasons, the Kurds representative and the Iraqi prime minister stayed for more than a year before meeting in 2009. Since then, it has been reported by observers that the main Kurdish factions are no longer king makers in central government politics. This was evident when the number of seats held by the two main factions was reduced from 53 to 43, between the year 2006 and 2010. Currently, there has been a lot of political bickering within the Kurdish factions. This is why up until now; there has been no executive branch that has been chosen among the main parties seven months after the elections. The effect of this relationship is that it has reduced the straggle for self governance by the Kurds. Thus, Kurdish independence is not an active source of friction between the two factions. However, the issue still remains to be of topical concern to Iraqi’s neighbors that have Kurds minorities. The Betrayal of the Kurds There have been many instances by both the local government of Iraq and foreign governments have done that have been taken as acts of betrayal of the Kurds. The Kurds have been considered as a vulnerable ethnic group existing in many countries neighboring Iraq and beyond. The U.S has been involved in major operations aimed at guaranteeing security to this marginalized community. From the time of President George W. Bush senior through the Obama administration, things have been taking different twists and turns for the Kurds. When the United States declared her mission to topple Saddam, the Kurds expressed their willingness to join in the exercise. They encouraged the United States in this operation thereby advising them to send notes in major Iraqi cities that announced that the United States were coming as liberators. In this action, the Kurds were fighting against the repression that was being propagated by the Iraqi regime and the Turkish authorities[7]. The Kurds also experienced some acts of betrayal from the Palestinian people. The argument goes this way. The Palestinian people have been strongly opposing the idea of formation of a state for the Kurdish people. Yet, as a matter of fact, the Palestinians have been in a strong demand for their autonomy in Israeli soil. Taking into consideration that the Kurdish people outnumber the Palestinians in population, the double mouthed Palestinians ought to either support the autonomy of the Kurds or they stop demanding for their autonomy from the Israeli’s. Thus the betrayals have arisen due to the souring deal between the Kurds and the U.S.A, and between the Kurds and the Turkish administration. The Kurds expected the United States to act in favor of their demand for autonomy as a way of reciprocating. Also the United States has been accused by the Kurds of supportin g the establishment of an antidemocratic leadership in Iraq. The U.S.A has also been accused further, of supporting Turkish administration in anti autonomous Kurds campaign. The Unknown Oppression of the Kurds The Kurds are reported to be treated not quite well in all the surrounding countries that they occupy. Some of the nations have been treating them badly because the Kurds have been resisting the efforts their host countries have been making in trying to assimilate them into their citizenry. The Kurds do not want to be called Arabs. They are therefore treated as second class citizens. In Iraq, the situation has seemingly subsided. However, in neighboring countries such as Turkey, the situation is worse because the Turkish administration has denied the existence of the Kurdish nation. Thus, these states have been trying to force Kurds out of Kurdish lands because they cannot put up with the truth that the states themselves are occupying Kurdish lands. The other unknown oppressio n comes in form of a place called Kurdistan. Kurdistan is that part of the country between Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq that does not have a border[8]. According to these countries, it is that mountainous region with basic natural features such as canyons. It remains unclear whether Kurdistan will revive as was the case with Poland (after two world wars)[9]. This is a fact that has been enhanced by the enactment of policies in the host countries to make the Kurds feel at home. Although the American and the British governments have been trying to protect the Kurds from such oppression, this has only been limited to human rights issues[10]. This is because military force is out of question since the action could be an infringement of the sovereignty of the states. Future Prospects of the Kurds It has become more and more difficult for the Kurds to gain complete self governance. The project has been rendered almost not feasible. Following the consequences of its effects, the Kurds woul d rather seek to improve and strengthen their position in relation to their autonomy within their regions. The restrictions from the international community especially, the European Union have worsened the situation. Worse still, the Kurds are found in other independent states like Turkey which appear to obliterate any attempts by their leaders that are geared at pushing for their autonomy[11]. However, they have been receiving support from human right activists and European Union programs that promote reforms. These programs have been pushing for the awarding of citizenship to Kurds who reside in Syria and Iran. However, the program is being slowed by the fragility of the European Union and the internal problems within the Syrian administration. The problem is also worsened by the issue of the United States troops in Iraq. The instability and murders on the Iraqi soil seem to put the future direction of Iraqi’s perspective on the Kurds quite uncertain. It is extremely hard f or there to be a peaceful multicultural administrative and political coexistence in the recently formed Iraqi government while at the same time recalling the unforgettable truths of the mass graves of the minority Kurds. It will also be difficult to oversee the raising Shia attempts, coupled with the strongly rebellious Iraqi accommodate this multicultural approach. However, should this phenomenon become feasible, it would offer a good example for Turkey, Iran and Syria to internalize this idea within their systems. By doing this, the Kurds in these countries will be saved. The Fight for Self Governance by the Kurds The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is currently ruling the northern regions of Iraq occupied by the Kurds. The KRG is however not completely autonomous because it depends on financial support from Baghdad. The KRG controls the three provinces dominated by the Kurds namely, Dahuk, Irbil and Sulaymaniya[12]. This government however has a share of its own troubles. There have been some cases of corruption and poor governance within the KRG. This government does not have its own resources. It has thus been forced to depend entirely on Baghdad’s economy for its survival. The KGR has a large measure of autonomy in these three regions. It is responsible for the primary legislative, budgetary and administrative authority. It is worth noting that the Kurdish Regional Government is still drafting a constitution even as we speak. The constitution will be tabled in the regional parliament for amendments and approval. The regional parliament is the supreme authority of the KRG. It has been in operation since the year 1992 when Saddam’s forces were largely forced out of the Kurdish region. The Kurdish Regional Government still has a weak parliament that is however, gradually growing stronger by and by. Its strength has been exemplified when in 2007, for the first time, the parliament summoned some cabinet ministers for questioning on many occasi ons. In early 2008, the parliament received a detailed current government budget with just enough lead time to allow some real debate. This was also the first time such an instance ever happened since the formation of the KRG[13]. It should also be noted that the parliament and the executive perform their functions under a form of joint management by the two top traditional Iraqi Kurdish political parties. These parties are the KDP, led by the president of KRG, and the PUK, led by the Iraqi president. Conclusion Kurds are people who originated from Indian and European races. They reside in the hilly regions of the borders between Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. This region where the Kurds live is referred to as Kurdistan. They have a different culture from their neighboring people in Iraq and other neighboring countries. From the time the modern state of Iraq was created, the Kurd’s history has been punctuated with instances of underdevelopment, political turmoil and cultural repress ion, destruction, revolutionary revolts and ethnic cleansing. Assassinations were also common during this period. Saddam’s methods of eliminating Kurd’s resistance included gassing. Up to the year of his death, there were still many widespread imprisonments. The future of the Kurds seems to be oblique in relation to their fight for their autonomy. Kurds would rather seek to improve and strengthen their position in relation to their autonomy within their regions due to internal and external factors. Internal factors include instances of corruption and other malpractices in public offices. External factors include foreign government policies that are against the formation of an autonomous Kurdish state. Bibliography Cagaptay, Soner. The Future of the Iraqi Kurds. The Washington Institute Of Near East Policy. Policy focus#85. July 2008. Carkoglu, Ali. Turkey’s November 2002 Elections: A New Beginning. Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol, 6 No. 4 â€⠀œ December 2002 Gasper, Phil. â€Å"The Betrayal of the Kurds.† Third World Traveler, April 2003,  thirdworldtraveler.com/Global_Secrets_Lies/Betrayal_Kurds.html . Izardy, Mehrdad. A Concise Handbook: The Kurds. Washington D.C: Taylor Francis, Inc, 1992. Katzman, Kenneth. The Kurds in Post-Saddam Iraq. Congressional Research Service. CRS Report for Congress. October 1, 2010. McDowall, David. A Modern History of the Kurds, 3rd Edition. London: I.B. Tauris Co Ltd, 2007. Natalie, Denis. The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, And Iran. Ed.1. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2005. O’Leary, Brendah, McGarry, John Salih, Khaled. The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. Students institute for international global affairs. Kurds: the history of oppression and future prospects. Articles and Interviews, March 15, 2009. Footnotes Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol, 6 No. 4 – December 2002. McDowall, David. P. 1 Katzman, Kenneth. P 5 The multi ethnic democracy allowed the Kurds full rights and redresses the perceived abuses of the Saddam era. This rift widened so much that one of the Kurd,s leaders would be seen on a local television program accusing Maliki of trying to monopolize power. These are the Kurds militia Gasper, Phil Izady, Mehrdad, p. 3 O’Leary, Brendah, McGarry, John Salih, Khaled. p. 7 Natalie, Denis, p. 175 Students institute for international global affairs. Cagaptay, Soner, p 2 Cagaptay, Soner, p. 4

Nursing Leadership and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Leadership and Management - Essay Example Based on the premise that the reviewer understands how standards should be applied and that the nurse under review seeks to meet these and agrees to the process, then quality monitoring can occur. The process is designed to evaluate nursing services, quality of patient care, knowledge, skills and behaviors of nurses, against set standards. An example of this in practice could be something as simple as how a nurse relates to a patient on first meeting them. An open, friendly attitude, using appropriate language to inform or gather information, signposting and explaining what and why, allowing patient input and participation, all show that the nurse understands and uses the concept of therapeutic relationships. Peer review here would identify communication skills, history taking and record keeping, medical knowledge and care delivery and the assessment and feedback would then help the nurse to recognize strengths and areas for improvement. It would give ownership and responsibility for development, understanding of their own and colleagues' accountability and contribute to improvement in quality overall. Nurses would also complete self evaluation. Before using any method of peer review, all concerned should be consulted and involved in developing tools and processes. Nurses and reviewers need to have input in what, why, who and how peer reviews would be applied.Lower (2007) suggested that involvement and "Publicizing the standard for a designated period of time to allow for assimilation by the staff before it is utilized also may be helpful." All staff would then know what appraisal standards were and be prepared for reviews. They should also have some input into the choice of reviewer, who Lower suggests should be chosen six months ahead of the review, so they have time to get to know and observe the nurse consistently. This would make the process more relaxed and less threatening, as familiarity with the reviewer would be helpful. Though nurses might want to choose their reviewers, Lower suggests that one be picked by the nurse, the other by the manager to allow for objective assessment, yet giving control to the person to be reviewed. Further, the selection process that seemed to be fairest and to give dignity and control to staff, would be that of electing peer reviewers on an annual basis. This is an example of how nurses are given choice in selecting those of their peers whose judgement and competence they respect. In this way, less positive feedback would be more likely to be accepted and acted upon, without loss o f face or being demoralized. So design must cover what, who, when and how peer review is to be carried out, with staff input and agreement, thus ensuring nobody is threatened by loss of dignity in the process. What Kinds of Questions Do We Need To Ask in Order to Monitor Quality of Nursing Care Questions should be open, as in how, what, why, in order to elicit specific information, with no questions prompting yes/no answers. Lower (2007) states that in order to gather specific information, the following must always be included: List the three traits or behaviors you admire most about him/her Identify three major contributions to the group/unit/team List three areas you think need more work Identify a growth opportunity you think he/she would be

Socrates Fortlow, History, and Anna Deavere Smith Essay

Socrates Fortlow, History, and Anna Deavere Smith - Essay Example In Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Walter Mosley responds to the feasibilities for a person who has been incarcerated for a long time to readjust and to play a role in the society. The main character, who is Socrates Fortlow, has been contending with the life after and outside of prison after his release. By means of a series of unified and interrelated events focused on Socrates and his outlook, the reader will stumble across a system of problems, interlocked and tessellated the forms the backbone of the story. Socrates lives in the streets of Los Angeles; and from this haven reflect are the upshots of urban dilemmas such as poverty, crime, discrimination, violence, and white racism. Although Mosley leaves out the limits of mystery in writing this book, he has manifested his knowledge and observation of what really happens in real life; things that are answered by the most common questions: What is my future? Where to go? What to eat? What about racial discrimination? How do I measure up against the White gangster on the streets? These are typical questions that provide answers to what make up human history. In the book, Socrates has to deal with the many complications of human existence, especially among the Blacks in urban Los Angeles. One particular contention that is being subtly reverberated is how the truth about the severity of street violence, discrimination, and white racism towards the Blacks are reduced by the transition of these real events into texts or videos or whatever medium used to record a historical event. History does not necessarily tell the real events that have occurred in the past. There could be a lot of things that will be lost in translation or be left out deliberately. Nevertheless, the perspective or context in which historical texts are written provide clue to the network of issues or problems that blighted the past, and which can still be in existence up to this moment. Socrates stresses the importance of studying history and literature because it is in the texts that careful thinking is carried out in order to ensure that the voice of the past will still be the voice of the present. The way we understand history is based upon the ideas that we read on historical books; and without the m, there is no reason for us to critically imagine about the past. While there are many media that could keep details of history such as videos and pictures among others, oftentimes, these media are misrepresented. This is the point that Anna Deavere Smith would likewise want to stress out: â€Å"the video of Rodney King Keating, which seemed to "tell all", apparently did not tell enough, and the prosecution lost, as their lead attorney told me, "the slam dunk case of the century. The city of Los Angeles lost much more† (Smith xxi). Smith believes in the power of literature to be able to reiterate perspectives of the past to the present. However, in the case of Keating, who was a victim of beating, the jury favors to convict him even though the video clearly evokes how he was beaten mercilessly. Smith argues that â€Å"what most influences my decisions about what to include is how an interview text works as a physical, audible, performable vehicle. Words are not an end in th emselves. They are means to evoking the character of the person who spoke them.† The most ideal thing of using literature as a first medium to record

Gothic Cathedral Essay Example for Free

Gothic Cathedral Essay Gothic architecture was developed from a Christian perspective, and therefore attained its most meaningful expression in churches. Clerics began to demand taller churches with more windows than had been present in the dark, but sturdy Romanesque churches. This desire was derived from new intellectual and spiritual concepts that took a more rational view of God, and saw God encompassed many things, such as light, reason and proportion. The Gothic church displayed a visual attempt to leave behind the mysterious world of the Romanesque, and create a setting that was drawn toward light and purity that could be an image of heaven. The middle class also had a great influence on the Gothic style as they desired churches that could reflect their economic power and social status. The most magnificent characteristics of Gothic style were the use of light and relationship between structure and appearance. Other defining characteristics were that the massive thickness of the walls from Romanesque architecture were replaced with membrane-thin frameworks used for enclosure which could support nothing but their own weight. Ribbed vaults were used to allow lighter materials to be placed between stone ribs, thus reducing weight. The weight of the walls and roof were no longer supported by columns, but by external flying buttresses. They also used pointed arches and slender columns to lift the ceiling, which created an overwhelming height. Wall paintings, which had been common in the Romanesque, were now replaced with beautiful and enormous stained glass windows that allowed more light into the structures, imbuing all with a sense of warmth and color. Chartres Cathedral-Interior Chartres CathedralInterior The cathedral at Chartres was built during the Gothic period, and it showed an ideal of harmony within its structure and contents. Work on the cathedral started in 1194, and was mostly completed in 1220. It emphasizes strong vertical lines in its structure. The stained glass windows that are used in this cathedral, (it has 176), are recognized as the finest example from the gothic style. Today, 94% of the stained glass is original, and it is the largest, most extensive collection of medieval glass in the world. Rose windows were used. The primary subject of the great roses is the Virgin and the Child. The rose windows created wholeness and completeness. Indeed, it  has a special relationship to the Virgin Mary in that it portrayed more realistic and humane qualities of the Virgin Mary. The cathedral reflects the strong influence that God held over the people at that time. It shows an expression of piety and local identity to those that were proud to live in the vicinity of the cathedral itself. It enhanced civic pride, and was the focus of the town itself.

Homeless Americans Essay -- essays research papers fc

In our current time of economic prosperity in the United States, many people are enjoying greater wealth, higher earnings, and profitable investments. Unemployment rates are reported to be low, and wages high. Yet there is still an extraordinary amount of homeless people living in the United States. In an article entitled â€Å"The Criminalization of Homelessness† Celine-Marie Pascale tries to convey how the homeless are being treated unfairly by society. Criminalization might be a little too strong a word to apply to the punishment of homeless people, but Pascale is trying to make a statement about the homeless situation in the United States today. I would like to take a closer look at this article and examine the points she is trying to make. Pascale begins her article by stating that many U.S. cities are enacting laws which would punish homeless individuals for doing things many ‘ordinary’ people do all the time. For instance, loitering or sleeping in public (320). She states that the California Homeless and Housing Coalition estimates that there are around a million homeless people in California alone. Eight self governed cities in southern California and at least one city in northern California passed anti-sleeping laws, says Pascale (320). Another law in the city of San Francisco states that it is â€Å"illegal to linger for more than 60 seconds within 30 feet of an automatic teller in use† (321). The city of San Francisco spent a lot of time and money to arrest 15 people for begging in 1993 and Pascale alleges that there are several other major cities in the U.S. with similar laws (321). According to Pascale, Berkeley uses trespassing laws and loitering laws to keep people off the sidewalks and away from places like parks and laundromats. And in Santa Cruz you can be arrested for sitting on a sidewalk, sleeping outside, or even sleeping in a car (321). Pascale asserts that the reason for these laws is to protect the businesses located around these areas. She also says that â€Å"no one wants to run a guantlet of panhandlers to get to a boutique or step over people sleeping on the sidewalk to buy a cappuccino† (321). And for that reason, most business owners think it reflects badly on them if there are homeless people loitering or sleeping in front of their store (321). Pascale points out that, in general, most people believe that it is the individual’s fault tha... ... people who can’t seem to handle life’s challenges turn to crime just so they can go to prison because prison is an easy way out for them. You get free housing and free food for as long as you are there. Although this is not the case in many situations, there are some who would find this arrangement appealing. In â€Å"The Criminalization of Homelessness,† Pascale does a fair job of showing her audience that homeless people are not being treated very well. She informs us of the problem by giving cited statistics and specific examples, but she could have included more details to make her point stronger. Webster’s dictionary defines a criminal as someone who is found guilty of a serious offense by violating the law. Homelessness is far from a serious offense, and it is far from being treated as a serious offense. But she is right that we need to change the way we handle the homeless. In my opinion, Pascale’s article was more of an informative essay on the laws of some cities than a serious article about the problem in this nation concerning homelessness. Works Cited Begrens, Laurence; Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. New York, Longman, 2000. 320-322.

The Effects of Drug Abuse

The Effect of Drug Abuse Jason Russ The Effect of Drug Abuse Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It can be wrongfully assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions. In fact, because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those who are ready to do so.Through scientific advances, we know more about how drugs work in the brain than ever, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and lead productive lives. Today, thanks to science, our views and responses to drug abuse has changed dramatically. â€Å"Groundbreaking discoveries about the brain have revolutionized our understanding of drug addiction, enabling us to respond effectively to the pr oblem,† (Volkow).Addiction is a developmental disease that begins in infancy and adolescence and is influenced by a combination of factors involving genes, environment, and an individual’s age at first drug use. The genes that people are born with in combination environmental influences of their addiction defenselessness. To addition that, gender, ethnicity, and the mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction. â€Å"Scientists estimate that genetic factors account for between 40 and 60 percent of a person’s vulnerability to addiction, including the effects of environment on gene expression and function.Adolescents and individuals with mental disorders are at greater risk of drug abuse and addiction than the general population†, (Volkow). Few weakness genes have been found for alcohol dependence and nicotine addiction. Alcoholism is a genetically inherited disease. There are several evidences proving that â€Å"Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine conducted a genome-wide association study in 2006 and identified several novel genes involved in nicotine dependence.In 2004, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found a protein, called Arc, which may be a culprit in drug addiction. The protein helps the brain retain memories for longer than an hour or two†, (Association of American Medical Colleges). â€Å"In 1994, scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University were the first to clone the mammalian gene for the D2 dopamine receptor. Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter that is thought to be essential to the brain’s response to drugs like opiates and psycho stimulants,† (Association of American Medical Colleges). Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers reported in 2006 that men’s brains show evidence of up to three times the amount of the brain chemical dopamine as women’s brains when exposed to amphetamines. This is the first clinical study that explains why more men than women abuse amphetamines and could lead to tailored treatments for drug abuse and neurological diseases†, (Association of American Medical Colleges).On the other hand, many people believe that â€Å"Addiction is a choice†, meaning anyone can stop or moderate their use of addictive drugs anytime they want to by just going to Meditation, Yoga, Exercise, Acupuncture and Counseling. However, drug addiction is a certain disease because one of the main reasons is called dopamine. â€Å"Addictive drugs trigger the release of the brain chemical dopamine, which in turn creates a reward circuit in the brain. This circuit registers that intense experience as â€Å"important† and creates lasting memories of it as a pleasurable experience.Dopamine changes the brain on a cellular level, commanding the brain to â€Å"do it again,† which heightens the possibility of relapse even long after the behavior (or drug) has s topped. Dopamine also helps to explain why intense experiences can be just as addictive as drugs,† (Smithstein). A person’s environment includes many different influences, from family and friends to quality of life in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and quality of parenting can greatly influence the occurrence of drug abuse and the growth to addiction in a person’s life.Many people today do not understand why some become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster obsessive drug abuse. Parents who abuse drugs or engage in criminal behavior can increase children’s risks of developing their own drug problems. Use of substances by parents and their children is strongly correlated; generally, if parents take drugs, sooner or later their children will also. Teenagers who use drugs are more likely to have one or more parents who also use drugs. Children who depend on illicit drugs usually have poor social skills or academic failures. In 2004, researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computational brain mapping to reveal structural abnormalities in the brains of chronic methamphetamine users†, (Association of American Medical Colleges). â€Å"A 2005 study at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine showed that functional MRI might be used to predict relapse in substance-dependent individuals. A simple two-choice test correctly predicted 20 of 22 subjects who did not relapse and 17 of 18 subjects who did†, (Association of American Medical Colleges). In one study, 41% of addicted parents reported that at least one of their children repeated a grade in school, 19% were involved in truancy, and 30% had been suspended from school†, (National Association for Children of Alcoholics). People, who believe that drug addiction is not a disease, claim that have nothing do with the environm ent. But the scientist says that a people were influenced by a combination factors including genes and environment increased drug abuse. â€Å"In 1995, nearly 3. 1 million children were reported to child protective services as abused or neglected. Approximately one million of these reports were substantiated.Substance abuse was found to be a factor in a majority of these cases†, (sparkaction. org). Behavioral treatments help engage people, modifying their attitudes and behaviors related to drug abuse and increasing their life skills to handle complicated, stressful life circumstances and environmental cues that may trigger intense cravings for drugs. Additionally it can enhance the effectiveness of medications and help people remain in treatment in the longer term. The combination of genetic and environmental, factors with serious developmental stages in a person’s life to affect addiction vulnerability.Even though taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the ear lier that drug use begins, the more likely it will progress to more serious abuse, which teenagers will suffer more. Because their brains are still developing in the areas that choice, and self-control, young people may be especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse. Babies may be born premature and underweight were exposed to legal and illegal drugs in the womb. This drug exposure will damage and slow the child’s intellection and behavior later in life. Adolescents who abuse drugs often, do poorly academically, and drop out of school.They are at risk of unplanned pregnancies, violence, and infectious diseases. Adults have problems thinking clearly, remembering, and paying attention because the drugs damaging their brain cells. They often develop poor social behaviors as a result of their drug abuse, and their work performance and personal relationships suffer. Parents’ drug abuse often means chaotic, stress-filled homes and child abuse a nd neglect. â€Å"Such conditions harm the development of children in the home and may set the stage for drug abuse in the next generation. It is a proven fact that substance abuse is the leading cause for people to commit crimes.Drugs and alcohol can mess with a person’s mind and cause them to do stupid things, as in robberies, murders, become violent, etc. Drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, narcotics and non-narcotics (prescription pills), opium, ecstasy, and mushrooms can all lead to psychological effects on a person’s mind. â€Å"Amphetamines and cocaine increase wakefulness, alertness and vigilance, improve concentration, and produce a feeling of clear thinking (Barton R&M, 2008). There is generally an elevation of mood, mild euphoria, increases sociability, and a belief that one can do just about anything. Depending on the drugs that are being used and the way they are being used, depends on how long the effects from it will last. Some can last from a few minutes to a few hours. Usually the prescription pills last for hours and cocaine effects last for only a few minutes. Any drug can lead to problems with a person’s brain; it can make one mentally disabled. It can also lead to regular nose bleeds, loss of smell, swallowing problems and inflammation of nasal septum. This can occur if one abuses drugs by snorting it through their nose.The abuse of prescription drugs are the second most abused drugs in our Nation, with Marijuana being first and Cocaine being third, heroin fourth, and methamphetamine fifth. This list will give an idea of exactly how serious this type of drug addiction is to our Nation today and how it will impact our future. According to the National Health Institute about 20% of people have used prescription drugs for non-medical issues (National Institutes of Health). When you are prescribed pain medication for an injury you may be told to take one pill every 4 hours but you feel that one is not work ing so you take two this is prescription drug abuse.You may not think that it is that big of a deal but studies say that if you abuse it once you are more at risk of abusing prescription drugs again. Although most people who abuse prescription drugs abuse pain killers there are other types that are abused also. Drug addiction is a chronic yet preventable. According to NIDA-funded research, they have shown that prevention programs relating families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many actions and cultural factors affect drug abuse trend, when people recognize drug abuse as harmful, will stop taking drugs.Thus, education is key in helping people and the public understands the risks of drug abuse. Teachers, parents, medical and public health professionals must keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if one never takes drugs. References: Barton R&M 2008. , â€Å"Mexico's Drug-Related Violence,† Congressiona l Research Service â€Å"Drug Use and Abuse: Fighting the Destructive Grip of Addiction† Kirst-Ashman, K. (2011). Human behavior in the macro social environment (3rd ed. ). Brooks Cole.ISBN: 9780495813651. Kolar, A. F. , Brown, B. S. , Haertzen, C. A. , & Michaelson, B. S. , CHILDREN OF ADDICTED PARENTS: IMPORTANT FACTS. National Association for Children of Alcoholics, 1994 Nora D. Volkow, Science of Addiction. National Institutes on Drug Abuse, April 2007 Samantha Smithstein, Dopamine: why it's so hard to â€Å"just say no†. Psychology Today, 19 August 2010