British Film Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

British Film - Research Paper Example This determination was fueled by his strong-minded mother, an out-and-out teacher, as well as his own courage and determination to overcome his physical disability. The History of the Film The Irish culture and its local setting is shown and is depicted in the conduct and actions of different characters. Apart from the physical struggle of Christy, the story also appeals to the audience emotionally, physically and psychologically. The film appeals to audiences in a way show how one can overcome a serious handicap to achieve life goals. It reveals the complexity of man, able to overcome physical disability and severe speech impediment. Christy displays a fighting spirit and intelligence throughout the film in all situations despite his lack of ability to communicate. The film begins with a setting in which Christy has been invited to a home of a wealthy sponsor, and he is given a nurse to look after him until he appears on stage. The nurse sees him with a book and is fascinated with i ts title My Left Foot, and she begins to go through it chapter by chapter. As she reads it, she discovers the life story of Christy in a flashback. The nurse however discovers that Christy is humorous, despite his background that is affected by poverty. Christy mumbles inarticulate comebacks to his father’s dinner table in a pestering manner. Christy appears not interested in many things around him but he in happy when his brothers and sisters laugh, however his father appears confused. Christy was unable be concerned with anything at all in his life and is he developed a keen interest in painting as he prefers to listen to his mother. The doctor is seen physically outside his locked bedroom and is closely whispering about Christy. However, even further than the humor Sheridan permits the hard won joy in Christy’s story. The unusual scene is where the family watches as the young at the age of five hold a piece of chalk with his toes and makes letter A. At this stage, C hristy is discovering a way of expressing himself to others, as he could not speak as a normal child. Christy later writes the word mother on the floor with a piece of chalk. This is observed quietly and sensitively as the scene reveals a real sense of completion at the end of such a pleasing surprise. In the film, the local Irish society in which Christy is born is depicted as poor and somehow genuinely religious but at times considers the handicapped as something serious. Throughout his early days, Christy played with local children and his brothers and sisters. The neighbors at times make attempts to play with Christy openly although he has not learned to speak or how to express himself. The family and the whole community of Christy is seen having deep ties to one another and are final extremely proud of Christy. His father’s is seen as a good father in his family. However, the father is at times harsh and often quarrels his children, despite himself being truly devoted to his family and their needs. The connection between mother and son runs throughout the story from its very beginning. The heavily pregnant demonstrate her love to Christy although she is alone in the small house; she struggles to carry the disabled son upstairs to his sleeping-room. She later agrees with him to keep the money meant to buy him a good

States Ought Not Possess Nuclear Weapons Essay Example for Free

States Ought Not Possess Nuclear Weapons Essay â€Å"I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete. † Ronald Reagan spoke these words in office and not for the fact that he was in office, but for the fact that these words are true do I agree with him. We used our nuclear weapons once, merely one time, saw the cause and effect, yet we keep them in our possession to potentially attack again. We not need these weapons laying around, but to be dismantled and done away with entirely, which is why I affirm the resolution that states: Resolved: States ought not possess nuclear weapons. For clarity, I present definitions and observations; States; independent nations. Ought; used to express obligation, advisability, natural expectation, or logical consequence Observation One: To have possession of a weapon is signifying the ability, preparation, and willing to execute their use, because taking lives is immoral then possession for something of that same cause is immoral. Within today’s round, we must recognize what the main goal of nuclear weapons is, to protect the nation that controls them. Because of this, we must value Societal Welfare above anything else in this round. The winner of this round must be able to recognize a world where Societal Welfare, being the maximization of a country’s wellbeing by increasing the economic, political, physical security, and prosperity of its people, are improved. For this reason with costs, consequence, and benefits of an action, we must do this through Utilitarianism, which emphasizes doing the most good for the most people. Contention One: Nuclear Weapons Do Not Improve Lives â€Å"Nuclear weapons represent a structural and existential trap, of which there are only two ways out: with bombs being exploded, or bombs being dismantled. Either we disarm, or we perish. † Jonathan Schell ’82 The Fate of the Earth 215-17. I agree with the latter we disarm we survive, because Murphy’s law states, â€Å"Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. † For one reason were nuclear weapons created, to kill, like any other weapon. Killing thousand upon millions of people is not beneficial to any society thus we must dismantle any and all nuclear weapons. As humans we try and do prevent war, diseases, and suffering, it is in our nature, but nuclear weapons do all of this at the push of a button. Instead of focusing on improving the quality of human life, we become fixated on the prevention of war, while simultaneously never attaining peace. Instead, we sit at the threshold of mass destruction in the form of nuclear war. Robert Jay Lifton, Professor of Psychiatry and Eric Markusen, Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota, wrote in The Genocidal Mentality. The threat of nuclear war will prevail as long as states possess nuclear weapons and brandish them for security. This will inevitably result in their use. The proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained and never used, accidentally or by design, defies credibility. † Ronald McCoy, Conflict and Survival. He continues by saying, Human beings are fallible. In conventional war, mistakes cost lives, sometimes thousands of lives. However, if mistakes were to affect decisions relating to the use of nuclear forces, there would be no learning curve. They would result in the destruction of nations. Contention Two: Nuclear Weapons Serve No Beneficial Purpose â€Å"If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce. † Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said that if we continue to have an arms race the eventual result will be world destruction. So thus nuclear weapons serve no beneficial purpose if the whole point of them is to obliterate their target. So if we possess them they will never serve a purpose unless we use them. Charles Glaser , Associate Professor, the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, 1998 said, â€Å"Disarmament would leave all countries vulnerable to the political demands of a successful proliferator. Whatever danger proliferators pose today would be far greater in a disarmed world, even though the previously nuclear states would eventually be able to rebuild nuclear weapons, they would be unwilling to accept a period during which a proliferator enjoyed a nuclear onopoly. † Robert Jay Lifton, Professor of Psychiatry and Eric Markusen, Professor of Sociology, PHD, University of Minnesota, wrote in their book The Genocidal Mentality, â€Å"At the psychological and material heart of the transformation in consciousness we are suggesting is the replacement of dissociatied deterrence with an integrated mind-set and a policy of national defense that is neither genocidal nor threatening. This goal requires the rejection of the entire deterrence system because that system is inherently genocidal. To reject the genocidal system requires breaking out of its closed reasoning and recognizing that destroying the world in response to a perceived attack is politically unacceptable. †

The development of Women in India

The development of Women in India Dr. Raj Kumar acquired his Law degree from Delhi University and PhD from Kurukshetra University. He served Haryana Education Service from 1970 to 1973. He published a 7 volume series on Women and Indian Freedom Struggle and 15 volume series on Women, Society and Culture. He has contributed a number of articles in historical journals and commemoration volumes. He, justifiably, edited the present work of various scholars which provides a panoramic survey of women studies, based on latest research. He scrutinizes the status of women in India during Vedic times-a period of golden era for women and Brahmanic times. He mentioned the factors affecting the female psyche along with womens self-concept developed by Mohan (1988), which revolves around the confidence that woman is a weaker gender and her weakness can be converted into strength for her development by considering the womans basic needs and solicitudes about success and power in this regard. Women are involved in role conflict part icularly in the field of work and after marriage. Regarding rural development in India, out of 79% female work in agriculture, 46% are agricultural laborers, 33% are cultivators, and 5% are industrial workers. In Himaachal Pradash- a rural state, women know every task regarding the field of agriculture and livestock, despite of domestic work. According to 1981 census, 91.3%, out of total working women are agriculture workers against 63.3% of males in the state. Rural development is concerned with multi-sectorial programs like agriculture dependent upon industrial activities, transportation, commercialization, infrastructure, health and education services. According to world economic profile, women are 50% of the population, out of which official labor force is 30% and those women utilize 60% working hours and receive 10% world income. In Asia, there are a high proportion of women in agriculture. Regarding some determinants of women development, it was mentioned that on the second ha lf of 20th century, first, UN Declaration on Women rights, adopted on 7th Nov, 1967, mentioned appropriate measures for women rights in Article 1-11. Second, World Conference on International Womens Year in Mexico City on June 1975 issued a world plan of action and focused on human role of women. Some other factors like education, female health status and female economic participation as a determinant of social development as in India female literacy rate is 24.8% against the male literacy rate which is 46.89%. ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) provides additional nutrition, health check-up, medication of minor illness, immunization, nutrition and health education to women and supportive services like water supply and sanitation. Asia- Pacific region is also multiform in terms of womens role in the economy because development and womenlabour participation are based on the overall female economic activity rates. As well as the participation in modern sector naturally incre ases with economic development. In India, 90% of women belong to agriculture life so future development of Indian womanhood must be examined in terms of village women. There is need for new cadre of women ICS and their inclusion in local panchayts. The topic women and development has been discussed at several gatherings within UN at conferences of non-aligned countries, governmental and non-governmental meetings. At ministerial conference of non-aligned countries in Lima in August 1975, the ministries of these countries programmed on Mutual Assistance and Solidarity repeated that full development of developing nations require maximum participation of women and men in all spheres of national activity. NIEO (New International Economic Order)s cornerstone is the participation of women along with men in the development of country is indispensable for successful development. UN decade for women has facilitated the identification and overcoming the impediments to integrate women in societ y, resulted in the wastage of human resources needed for development. The areas for specific action aimed at the advancement of women are employment, education, health, food, water, agriculture, industry, trade and commercial services, science and technology, communications, housing settlement, community development and transport, energy and environment. There are most commonly used sources of energy utilized by women but the sources like coal, oil, gas, hydropower and bio-gas are commonly used in industries so the users can not be easily distinguished by gender. Participation of women in energy conservation requires education, training and consumer information in the field of energy. Self-reliance as a development strategy, treat women as an integral part of overall development. Technical (TCDC) and economic (ECDC) cooperation in developing countries should aim at reaching the largest number of social groups like women and youth in rural and urban populations equally. By critically analyzing, in the past, women were treated as mere slaves. Though, India is changing politically, economically and socially, at a swift pace. The condition of women is also changing, as they have begun to take their due place in free India by educating themselves, inducing the right of voting and heartedly participating in country development. In 2010 March 9, one day after International Womens day, Rajyasabha passed Womens Reservation Bill, ensuring 33% reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies. In modern India, women have adorned high offices including that of the President, Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of Opposition, etc. The current President of India is a woman. In the last five years, the Government of India made amendments in law and formed a ministry of social and womens welfare in 1985, while, Article 14 of the constitution emphasis on the discrimination of gender. In Himachal Pradash, there are a number of welfare organizations besides Manila Mandals is working for the elevation of women in state while other departments are also working for the women development like health, social welfare and family welfare. Regarding ICDS influence, there is decline in malnutrition from 19.1% in 1976 to 7.8% in 1983 and mortality from 15% to 3%. All India Spinners Associations cottage industry gave new life to millions of female workers. Collective self-reliance encourages the transformation of womens position in the world, so that it can become an integral part of each countrys long term development strategy. There is a high rate of womens participation and other stakeholders (e.g. Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services) during program formulation. The last few decades have seen a mushroom growth of organizations struggling for women to get their dues, but, how far has this helped in the improvement of the status of women in the home, in society, in office or in the country as a whole, is still a debatable is sue. Gender training is still very weak, while, regarding the cultural values; women tend to be shy during group meetings. Women have no access to modern machines and other technology. In any program formulation, there is a lack of gender considerations, untrained staff in gender analysis skills, gender-blind budget, and weak business skills among women. All Indian Kisan Movement and All Indian Ryots Association are improving human conditions but few female join them. Muslim womens legal position is better than Indian ones in terms of right to inheritance, divorce, marriage and religious education. For the establishment of NIEO, policy of economic independence and collective self-reliance is necessary because lack of progress in NIEO establishment requires that greater attention is paid to the collective efforts and cooperation of non aligned and developing countries. There is no strict implementation of certainty about the right abuses of women. The National Crime Records Bureau re ported in 1998 that the growth rate of crimes against women would be higher than the population growth rate by 2010. Earlier, many cases were not registered with the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation cases. Distracted from other areas such as womens low socio-economic status, labor market inequalities and legal bias, literacy programs are a relatively inexpensive and politically expedient palliative in their present form. While, 80% rural and urban females in India receive little medical care, so there is a need to strengthen professional and health education to face challenge of promoting female health. In conclusion, in a developed nation, female education is imperative for their self-sufficiency. For the rural development, a national perspective plan for the rural women and fighting discrimination will improve the social and economic status of women. In accordance with the social policy in public and private sectors, society is not supposed to explo it the dual role of women but acknowledge it as a contributor to socio-economic perspective. South Asian countries showing a lower level of female participation in non agriculture sector as compared to other countries at the same level of per capita GDP. This pattern of increase does not imply gender equity in the work place or in earnings. The availability of disaggregated information on the training and employment of women in energy related fields just like in US would enable planners and decision makers to formulate better strategies for energy supply and development. According to most of the governments, prejudicial attitudes towards women are fundamental obstacles towards the integration of women in national and international life. The role of educational planning, raising the level of skills and directing aspirations of both men and women is necessary for a developing nation.

Transformative Learning in Adulthood :: Adult Education Educate Essays

Transformative Learning in Adulthood A defining condition of being human is that we have to understand the meaning of our experience. For some, any uncritically assimilated explanation by an authority figure will suffice. But in contemporary societies we must learn to make our own interpretations rather than act on the purposes, beliefs, judgments, and feelings of others. Facilitating such understandings is the cardinal goal of adult education. Transformative learning develops autonomous thinking. (Mezirow 1997, p. 5) Since first introduced by Jack Mezirow in 1978, the concept of transformative learning has been a topic of research and theory building in the field of adult education (Taylor 1998). Although Mezirow is considered to be the major developer of transformative learning theory, other perspectives about transformative learning--influenced by the work of Robert Boyd--are emerging. Following a discussion of transformative learning as conceptualized by Mezirow, this Digest describes research and theory building by Robert Boyd and its influence on current perspectives of transformative learning. Some suggestions for fostering transformative learning conclude the Digest. Mezirow and Transformative Learning The theory of transformative learning that has been developed by Mezirow during the past 2 decades has evolved "into a comprehensive and complex description of how learners construe, validate, and reformulate the meaning of their experience" (Cranton 1994, p. 22). Centrality of experience, critical reflection, and rational discourse are three common themes in Mezirows theory (Taylor 1998), which is based on psychoanalytic theory (Boyd and Myers 1988) and critical social theory (Scott 1997). For learners to change their "meaning schemes (specific beliefs, attitudes, and emotional reactions)," they must engage in critical reflection on their experiences, which in turn leads to a perspective transformation (Mezirow 1991, p. 167). "Perspective transformation is the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our assumptions have come to constrain the way we perceive, understand, and feel about our world; changing these structures of habitual expectation to make possible a more inclusive, discriminating, and integrating perspective; and, finally, making choices or otherwise acting upon these new understandings" (ibid.). Perspective transformation explains how the meaning structures that adults have acquired over a lifetime become transformed. These meaning structures are frames of reference that are based on the totality of individuals cultural and contextual experiences and that influence how they behave and interpret events (Taylor 1998). An individuals meaning structure will influence how she chooses to vote or how she reacts to women who suffer physical abuse, for example.

The Petersons Home ICT Devices

The Petersons have a limited amount of equipment in their homes and all the items are unsuitable for the family. Here is a conclusion as to why the devices are unsuitable, and how the situation could be improved. The family is equipt with a Pentium II computer with a 32mb of ram, a 2Gb hard drive and a 2mb graphics card. This is very unsuitable for this busy family as the computer would be extremely slow and has very little space to install new programs and save the documents the family would need. This is a very old type of computer, and would not be able to run some of the latest software. A faster, and more update computer, such as a Pentium 4 Processor would be much more appropriate for this family. With the computer is a 14-inch monitor capable of 640 x 480 screen resolutions, which is also inappropriate for the likes of this family. A 14-inch screen is very small and most of the more dated computer monitors are less able to adjust. With a low and small screen could cause health problems for the family, such as neck and back pains. The low screen resolutions would be a problem when trying to run newer software, which needs a higher resolution. A more suitable choice would be a larger, and higher resolution screen, and possibly flat screen too. The computer has a black and white dot matrix printer, which is very unsuitable for members of the family who wish to print documents in colour. Dot matrix printers produce a low quality print too, the document may seem unclear and patchy compared to a laser colour printer, which would be more advisable for the families needs. The computer only has a 28k modem that is not capable of sending faxes. The most obvious disadvantage to this is that the family cannot send faxes form the home office. However, with a 28k modem, the computer would also have ridiculously slow Internet connection. Most computers on sale at the moment have a modem included in the package, however they can be bought. The standard modem is 56k, which would provide fast access to the Internet. Windows 95, and Office 95 are both very dated versions and desperately need to be updated. The setup would be slow and unable to cope with large quantities of data and the users would be restricted on what software they could use. Office 95 would have a very limited amount of programs available, and would not satisfy all the day-to-day needs of a family. Most new computers come with Windows XP, which would mean a fast setup and more programs available for the family to use. The family only have floppy disks as a backup for the computer, which is an unwise choice. If the computer fails, and the disks cannot be located or the disk does not work, it is sure that the data will be lost. However, a larger problem would be fitting large files onto a floppy disk, which has on a 1.4k capacity, which would not be enough for the likes of graphics files, or picture files that are very large. Also, if there is a large amount of data to be stored, one would have to use many disks to store all the information, this may make the data hard to locate. A more ideal solution would be to store the information on re-writable disks, which store a large amount of data. However, this would also mean the family would need to invest in a CD-ROM drive, which now comes free in addition with all computers sold. With no gaming equipment the family would be unable to play games to their full satisfaction, or in some cases, the game may not run at all. This would mean that the computer could not be used as a gaming machine. There is a lot of gaming equipment available at the moment, but the most popular is a Joystick, which is useful for the majority of games. Many games and programs that are on the market have sound features for added effect. Of course with no speakers attached to the computer, no sound can be heard. This is a problem for interactive programs, where instructions are given verbally. Also, watching DVD's, or listening to music form CD's or MP3's is impossible. With no speakers, you also cannot use recording equipment such as microphones, as there will be no feedback. All modern computers now come with a speaker sound system, sometimes including sub-woofer, but they can also be sold separately. The family have access to a standard TV with no digital capacity and an analogue satellite receiver. This means that the family can only pick up some satellite and analogue stations that are broadcasted. The digital channels would not be available on the television or via the satellite, as they have no digital capacity. The family could invest in a digital decoder or a new television with digital capacity. If the family bought a digital decoder, then they would not be able to interact with some of the features available on the channels, however with a new television, or a digital channel receiver, the family would be able to interact. There is an old hifi which has no CD player, or mini disc player, which is not suitable for this family. Most music on sale at the moment is sold on CD; therefore it may be hard to get hold of music on cassette or record. Cassettes and records produce a low quality of sound, and are not as reliable as a CD. More and more records are now becoming available on mini discs, which are compact, and can store a lot of music, and record music easily, also providing quality sound. All good stereo systems come complete with a CD player, and some with minidisk players, along with tape players and radios.

“If We Must Die” by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay Example

â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay Example â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude Mckay, We Must Fight!! Essay Charles Bailey â€Å"If We Must Die† by Claude McKay, we must fight!! The poem â€Å"If We Must Die, by Claude McKay† is about a certain group of people who are hated and hunted by another group of others. I believe that the poet has made this poem to speak to his fellow African-Americans, who are being mistreated by the white slave owners. The speaker tells his people not to go easily, but rather fight as long as possible and don’t ever give up before they are killed. The poet believes that the worst things that these people can do is giving up and stop trying; he wants them to fight until the very end of their lives. Right from the beginning of the poem the speaker reiterates the title of the poem and the message that he is trying to convey. â€Å"If we must die, let it not be like hogs hunted and penned in an inglorious spot while round us bark the mad and hungry dogs† (1-3). This passage instills the thought in our minds that these people are being hunted and suppressed by others. The speaker knows that the end inevitable, but for himself and others he does not want them to give up. Being corned by hungry dogs should not put fear into their souls, but rather entice them to fight back even more. Following the lines from before, the speaker establishes the same message as before. He states that letting the hunters of these people kill them in vain is not an option; they were not put on this earth to die for nothing. â€Å"If we must die, O let us nobly die/ so that our precious blood may not be shed in vain† (5-7). The speaker states his opinion of the situation very clearly; he wants none of them to believe that they are dying for nothing. African-Americans at the time that this poem was made were dealing with horrible conditions from their white suppressers. The speaker is trying to convey to his fellow African-Americans that letting the white man dominate them completely is the worst thing that they can do, not just for themselves but also all of those who will come after them. He wants them to know that they are fighting for the greater cause of the whole African-American race. Next he states that monsters that do this horrible deed to them will have to honor them when dead. He believes that fighting back and not giving up will make them honor them, and not think that they were nothing. Then even the monsters that we defy shall be constrained to honor us though dead! O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe! † (7-9). The speaker strongly believes that fighting against their suppressers is the best thing to do; the suppressers will honor them indefinitely if they fight for their lives all the way to their end. The next part starts â€Å"Though far outnumbered let us show us brave/ and for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! Wh at though before us lies the open grave? †(10-12). The speaker emphasizes the impact that fighting back against these suppressers will have. He talks about them being outnumbered, most of the time that would spark something in someone to just stop and give up. The speaker states that even if they are outnumbered, that has nothing to do with giving in. He tells them to be brave and fight until the last breath they will breath in this world. Finally, he states that â€Å"Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack† (13). He wants them to remember that this is wrong what the white man is doing to them and that fighting back is the best thing that they can do. He says, â€Å"Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! † (14). That is the theme of the poem and ends the poem as he started it, â€Å"If We must die. † Claude McKay wrote â€Å"If We Must Die† to motivate blacks to fight back against the white man and not die for nothing. He believed in every human life on this planet, and thought that no one should be hunted and killed for doing no wrong. He knew that the racism would not stop for years to come, but he wanted to make an attempt to inspire African-Americans to not give up.