Titanic Analysis Essay Example For Students

Titanic Analysis Essay TitanicWhen people hear the name Titanic manyvivid and emotional images come to mind. Visions of the very lastyet frantic final moments titanic spent afloat before sinking to its waterygrave miles below the surface. No one however pictures everythingthat had happened before and after the great liner sank, or the passengersand crew who were doomed to be aboard the massive ship. Many factors madewhat was titanic, her crew the passengers and the inevitable crash. The story of titanic started in Belfast,Ireland where hundreds of hard working men spent countless hours buildingwhat was at 46,328 gross tonnage the largest moving object at the time. The R.M.S. Titanic was owned by American tycoon J.P. Morgan, but was beingoperated on the British owned White Star line. The ship was reportedto have cost some where between $7,500,000 $10,000,000. It wasto be Bruce Ismays crowning achievement and at 882 ? feet longand 100 feet high it truly was. Mr. Thomas Andrews the ship designergave her a revolutionary layout, and it appears that titanic was builtto accommodate up to 64 lifeboats yet had only 16 aboard and 4 collapsiblelifeboats were added last minute giving a life boat capacity of only 1,176. We will write a custom essay on Titanic Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Now we come to the passengers and crewwho were aboard the ill-fated liner. The captain was Edward JamesSmith a very reputable and respected captain. The maiden voyage wasto be Captain Smiths last and he has even been quoted as saying nothingexciting ever happens on my trips. As Titanic was the ship of al shipsher passengers were the whose who of the world. Aboard were Americanmillionaire John Jacob Astor and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Isador Strauss,Mr. Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress, the unsinkable Molly Brownand the Countess of Rothes. As it seems the massive liner was doomedto infamy from the very beginning. At on Wednesday April 10, 1912the R.M.S. Titanic started to depart from Southampton on its way to NewYork City. Just as titanic left port a dangerous suction started and pulledanother ship the New York into a crash course with the immense ship andit wasnt until the last possible minute that a huge surge of water pushedthe New York out of harms way. Yet just as it seemed that disasterwas averted another major problem started. In coal bunker # 5 spontaneouscombustion caused a very destructive fire that took 3 days to extinguish. Mr. Andrews was sent to examine the damages and reported that the firecompromised the steel and could have possible damaged the airtight compartments. The next topic needed to cover is the controversial events leading up toand including the crash on April 14, 1912. The day started out withclear weather and with the boat at a full 22 ? knots what seemedto be smooth sailing, but nothing could have prepared them for what wouldhappen later that night. That night the temperature suddenly droppeddown t a chilling 31 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of only 0 degreesFahrenheit in the crows nest. Titanic was travelling too fast in conditionso dangerous that other ships had stopped for the night. At 10:00p.m. Frederick Fleet took his place as look out in the crows nest, withonly one problem his binoculars had been missing since leaving Southampton4 days earlier. At 11:40 p.m. that night everything was calm includingthe usually turbulent ocean, but the calm was suddenly shattered by whatis now one of the most famous quotes ever Iceberg right ahead. .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .postImageUrl , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:hover , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:visited , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:active { border:0!important; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 { 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; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:active , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .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; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Lessons Learned from Tuesdays With Morrie EssayAlmost immediately Officer Murdoch ordered the ship to full reverse andhard to port which basically means to turn left. One major designflaw came into play here, the rudders were too small so the ship did notturn in time and so the ship hit the iceberg on her starboard side leavinga tiny trail of small punctures in the hull. These small breaks wereall that was needed to seal the fate of titanic and her passengers fornow over 400 tons of water was pouring in every minute. As soon asthe reality of everything set in Mr. Andrews was sent to inspect that damagecaused by the iceberg, the results were almost unbelievable. Theiceberg caused 5 of the 16 airtight compartments to fill with water, onemore that ever imagined in any accident. Mr. Andrews conclusion wasthat the ship everyone said, G-D himself could not sink was going tobe at the bottom of the ocean in a matter of hours. With this tragicnews the crew was instructed to start evacuating the boat women and childrenfirst and so a little past mid-night the 1st class was being awaken tohead towards the lifeboats. At 12:10 a.m. Captain Smith ordered theMarconi operators to send out a distress call that the ship was sinkingby the head. One of the first ships to respond was the German Shipthe Frankfort, but because it was operated by a competitor the operatorsignored all of the Frankforts messages. A nearby ship the Californianwas with in eyesight but the operators were off duty and asleep. Finallyat 12:45 a.m. the Carpathia responded but they were over 4 hours away. By now everyone was aware of their impending doom and chaos was startingto break out, but through it all many people came to terms with their fateand accepted it. Mr. Guggenheim and his valet dressed in their bestan were prepared to go down as gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Strauss laid intheir suite in what was to be a final embrace. Though some found peacemany were frantic and beginning to become desperate, but the ships musiciansplayed non-stop in order to calm the passengers. What made all mattersworse was that the life boat capacity was only that of ? the passengersand crew on board. Their was 318 1st class, 262 2nd class, 740 3rdclass passengers and 860 officers and crew on board a total of 2180 souls,2180 and only 1,176 were to be saved if all seats were filled. Thiswas a very scary and confusing time so one cannot put blame on the crewbut they were sending lifeboats able t fit 65 heavy men filled with only12 people in some out to sea. At 2:15 the ship stern was submergedat an 80 deg ree angle in the water and at 2:17 all power to titanic hadfailed. Just as the horrid sight of the once grand ship adhering straightup sunk in the minds of all watching the sturdy hull began to give wayand the immense body off titanic split in two and the stern came crashingback down to the surface. Slowly the stern began an eerie decent into theocean which some described as similar to an elevator ride. The once loadroaring of the ships destruction now turned into the painful cries of1,500 men, women and children who were now battling to stay alive in thefreezing ocean water. As most survivors testified to the most hauntingnoise was not the breaking or even the shrieking of all those waiting todie in the ocean but the unearthly silence once everyone eventually frozeto death. It wasnt for hours that the Titanics sister ship the Carpathiafinally arrived and pulled aboard only a little over 700 survivors. .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .postImageUrl , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:hover , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:visited , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:active { border:0!important; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 { 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; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:active , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .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; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Reasons For Being Vegetarian EssayNews headlines around the world soon readof how the Unsinkable titanic perished in the night and how over 1,500souls came to an untimely end in the middle of the North Atlantic. Mostof the blame was placed on Bruce Ismay who was reportedly the man who orderedto ignore the ice warning and for the ship to gain speed. Reportshowever of how the ship sank widely varied, some said the boilers explodedsome said the ship was in one piece and some said that crew men were sopanicked that they were shooting men who got unruly. No one knew what hadhappened or even the exact location of the wreckage until a joint U.S. ? French expedition discovered titanic 1,600 miles NE of New York, 95 milessouth Grandbanks Newfoundland @ 41.16 degrees N. latitude and 50.14 degreesW. longitude. The expedition surveyed and photographed the wreckageand reported that the ship had indeed broke in two and laid about ?a mile apart. In July 1986 a 3-man U.S. exploration team in Alvin submersiblesonce again surveyed and photographed the wreckage. It wasnt until a controversialFrench salvage team in 1987 began collecting artifacts from the ocean floor. They collected glasses, dishes, jewelry, suitcases, currency, and a bunchof little insignificant objects. This caused a major uproar what the scientistcalled preserving many people considered grave desecration, yet throughall the protests the artifacts were displayed in Paris in September 1987. Till this day scientist flock to titanic in order to determine what happenedand why, there are even countless movies which depict almost every theoryof what happened out today. With all the pain and suffering that surroundedtitanic no one stops and looks at what good came out of the tragedy. Due to all the faults aboard the Titanic there are now laws which statethat there must be lifeboat seats for all passengers on board. There mustbe full time maintenance and operating crews on radio watch while at sea. There must be lifeboat evacuation drills and there has been an internationalice patrol set up. So now when people hear the name Titanic they can visionnot only the crash and the anguish it caused but they also can envisionthe what went into titanic, the people who lost their lives that unfortunatenight, and the great achievements that came about because of it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson essays

Ralph Waldo Emerson essays Many writers created during the 18th century, but none influenced so many people as did Emerson. Emerson was confused with his place in society in the beginning of his life, but as his ideas of philosophy grew, so did his reputation. Emerson turned his back on past family generations when he walked out on his career in ministry. As he absorbed knowledge and ideas of other philosophers, so did his own mind begin to expand. Before Emerson realized it, he was a well know lecturist who had people listening to him and being strongly influenced by his thoughts. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer and leader of his own philosophy, gained his recognition and knowledge through his lectures, his religion, and his own ideas as a philosopher. Ralph Waldo Emersons great lectures were based around natures ordeals and his religious and philosophical beliefs. Emerson was said to be a great teacher and lecturist by the many who heard him speak. To hear him lecture in his best days must have been a rare experience, for he required much of his audiences in concentration and understanding - more than many of the pioneer communities... (Kunitz 254). Emerson was never given the full credit he deserved for his speeches and books. He was more in it for the sheer desire of doing it. ...When he was most famous he no more then $600 a year from his books, so to support his family, his only way to do this was by lecturing (Kunitz 253). Emerson was never a popular man, but he always drew crowds when he spoke of the religion, philosophy, and society of his era. He intrigued people with his sophisticated mind and his intellectual theories on the subjects he spoke of. The people spoke highly of him once they heard his modest ideas. To them, as finally to America, he typified Man Thinking, the ideal scholar who would in the end, as in Platos Republic, be the worlds ideal king (Kuni...

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Automatic imitation – copying observed actions without intention – is known to occur, not only in neurological patients and those with developmental disorders, but also in healthy, typically-developing adults and children. Previous research has shown that a variety of actions are automatically imitated, and that automatic imitation promotes social affiliation and rapport. We assessed the power of automatic imitation by comparing it with the strength of the tendency to obey verbal commands. In a Stroop interference paradigm, the stimuli were compatible, incompatible and neutral compounds of hand postures and verbal commands. When imitative responses were required, the impact of irrelevant action images on responding to words was greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. Control group performance showed that this asymmetry was not due to modality effects or differential salience of action and word stimuli. These results indicate that automatic imitation was more powerful than verbal command. 1 Actions speak louder than words Introduction Even when we do not intend to imitate others, we are inclined to copy their body movements. This tendency, known as ‘mimicry’ or ‘automatic imitation’, was once thought to be confined to patients with frontal brain damage (Lhermitte, Pillon, Serdaru, 1986), atypically-developing individuals (e. g. Charman Baron-Cohen, 1994), ‘savages’ (Darwin, 1989) and nonhuman animals (Thorndike, 1898). More recent research has shown that automatic imitation is also common in healthy, typically-developing adults (e. g. Wallbott, 1991; Lakin Chartrand, 2003; Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, Prinz, 2000) and children (Simpson Riggs, 2007). The purpose of the present study was to estimate the strength of our tendency automatically to imitate the behavior of others by comparing it with the strength of our tendency to do what we are told; to perform actions on verbal command. Most previous research on automatic imitation has been concerned, not with the strength of this tendency, but with its pervasiveness and effects on social attitudes. Carefully controlled laboratory studies have found automatic imitation of facial expressions (e. g. Wallbott, 1991), as well as finger (e. . Brass et al. , 2000), hand (Heyes, Bird, Johnson, Haggard, 2005) and arm movements (e. g. Kilner, Paulignan, Blakemore, 2003). Studies investigating the ‘chameleon 2 Actions speak louder than words effect’ in semi-naturalistic social situations have shown that gestures such as eartouching and foot-wagging are automatically imitated, that this kind of mimicry can occur without the imitator’s conscious awareness, and that it prom otes affiliation and rapport between social partners (e. g. Lakin Chartrand, 2003). Indirect evidence of the pervasiveness of automatic imitation has been provided by functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). For example, imaging has shown that the observation of hand, foot and mouth movements activates the same areas of premotor cortex active during their execution (Buccino et al. , 2001). Revealing yet further specificity, the observation of hand and arm movements selectively increases TMS-induced motor evoked potentials from the particular muscles involved in executing these movement (e. g. Strafella Paus, 2000). In behavioral studies, stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) procedures are often used to detect automatic imitation. These procedures provide some indication of the strength of the automatic imitation tendency by showing that it can interfere with performance based on task instructions. For example, Kilner et al. (2003) instructed participants to make sinusoidal arm movements in a vertical plane while observing a model perform the same vertical movements (compatible condition) or sinusoidal arm movements in a horizontal plane (incompatible 3 Actions speak louder than words condition). Although participants were, presumably, equally motivated to obey instructions in the two conditions, their movements showed more, counterinstructional deviation from the vertical plane in the incompatible than in the compatible condition. Other SRC studies have shown that automatic imitation interferes, not only with the spatial properties of movement, but also with its timing. Participants instructed in a simple reaction time (RT) task to open their hand as soon as an observed hand began to move, initiated the opening movement faster when the stimulus hand opened than when it closed (Heyes et al. 2005). Similar studies have shown that automatic imitation can influence the timing of hand and finger movements even when the observed movements are taskirrelevant, i. e. when participants are instructed to respond, not to the observed movements, but to arbitrary stimuli such as digits (Brass et al. , 2000), crosses (Bertenthal et al. , 2006) or colors (Sturmer, Aschersleben, Prinz, 2000 ). As far as we are aware, only one study has explicitly compared the strength of automatic imitation with that of other response tendencies (Brass et al. , 2000). This study found that the impulse to imitate finger movements was stronger than the tendency to respond with finger movements to arbitrary symbols and to static spatial markers. The results were important in providing evidence that automatic imitation is genuinely automatic (i. e. that it occurs contrary to task instructions), and that it is not reducible to spatial compatibility (see also Heyes et al. , 2005; 4 Actions speak louder than words Bertenthal et al. , 2006), but Brass et al. (2000) provided only a very conservative estimate of the strength of automatic imitation. Theories of imitation assume that it is based on stimulus-response connections that are either innate (e. g. Meltzoff Moore, 1997) or the product of long-term learning (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000). If this is the case, it is not surprising that the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency, based solely on task instructions, to respond differentially to symbolic cues. Like imitation, spatial compatibility effects depend on innate or learned response tendencies (Tagliabue, Zorzi, Umilta, Bassignani, 2000). However, Brass et al. s study did not show that automatic imitation is generally stronger than the tendency to respond to the site of stimulation; only that automatic imitation is stronger than spatial compatibility when the spatial cue is smaller and less dynamic than the body movement cue. The present study provided a more stringent test of the strength of automatic imitation by comparing it with that of the tendency to obey verbal commands. Like imitation, verbal command is a common method of instruction in everyday life, and the power of words to evoke actions is a product of deeply engrained mechanisms. Indeed, one theory of imitation, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000), suggests that the two response tendencies become engrained in the same way; that we learn to imitate through correlated 5 Actions speak louder than words experience of observing and executing action units, just as we learn the meanings of words through correlated experience of the words and their referents. We used a Stroop procedure to compare the strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command. There were four groups of participants. In the focal group (Manual-Auditory), participants were required in each trial to open or to close their hand in response to a compound stimulus. The compound consisted of an image of a hand in an open, closed or neutral posture, and the sound of a word: ‘open’, ‘close’ or a neutral nonword. In one condition, participants were instructed to imitate the action and to ignore the word (action-relevant task), and in the other condition they were told to obey the verbal command and to ignore the action (word-relevant task). In any given trial, the stimulus on the taskirrelevant dimension (the word in the action task, and the action in the word task) was compatible, incompatible or neutral with respect to the stimulus on the taskrelevant dimension. For example, in the action task, an image of an open hand was accompanied equally often by the word ‘open’ (compatible), the word ‘close’ (incompatible) and by a nonword (neutral). If the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, then, in this focal group, one would expect the impact on performance of action stimuli in the word task to be greater than the impact of word stimuli in Actions speak louder than words the action task. More specifically, one would expect the compatible taskirrelevant stimulus to speed responding, and /or the incompatible task-irrelevant stimulus to slow responding, more in the word task than in the action task. However, an effect of this kind would not be sufficient to show t hat automatic imitation is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, for two reasons. First, it could be that the action images used in this experiment were more salient or easier to discriminate than the word stimuli. In this case, one would expect action images to be more potent stimuli, not only for automatic imitation, but also for nonimitative responding. To address this issue, we included a second group of participants (Vocal-Auditory) who were presented with exactly the same stimuli as the focal group, action images in compound with word sounds, but they were required to make vocal rather than imitative responses. For example, in the action task, this group said ‘open’ when they saw an opened hand, and ‘close’ when they saw a closed hand. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) found that irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. Therefore, we expected that, in contrast with the focal group, the performance of the Vocal-Auditory group would be affected equally by irrelevant actions in the word task, and by irrelevant words in the action task. 7 Actions speak louder than words The second issue concerns modality of stimulus presentation. In the focal group, actions were presented visually and words were presented in the auditory modality because those conditions are typical of everyday life. In the course of development, it is likely that simple verbal instructions, consisting of a single word, are more often heard than seen. However, because spoken words unfold over time, whereas images are instantaneously available for processing, auditory presentation of verbal commands could put them at a disadvantage. In other words, if irrelevant actions have a greater impact than irrelevant words in the focal group, this could reflect, not the relative strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command, but faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. To address this issue we included two further groups in which the word stimuli were written rather than spoken. One of these groups (Manual-Visual) made hand movement responses, and the other (Vocal-Visual) made vocal responses. Thus, there were four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, ManualVisual and Vocal-Visual. We predicted that in the focal Manual-Auditory group the effect of irrelevant actions on speed of responding to words would be greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. If this asymmetric effect indicates that the automatic tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, rather than an effect of nonspecific features of the stimuli or stimulus-response mapping, then it should also be present in the Manual-Visual group, but not in the Vocal-Auditory or Vocal-Visual groups. 8 Actions speak louder than words Method Participants Forty-eight right-handed volunteers (15 men, mean age: 22. Â ±7. 5 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, Manual-Visual and Vocal-Visual. All had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal hearing. The experiment was carried out with local ethical approval and written consent. Stimuli and Apparatus Warning and imperative stimuli were compounds of hand action s and words with coincidental onsets. Hand actions were life-sized images of postures made by a male right hand, taken from the angle at which one normally views one’s own hand, and presented on a laptop computer screen (60Hz, 400mm, 96DPI) in color on a black background. For the warning stimulus, the hand was in a neutral posture, with the fingers closed and pointing upwards in parallel with the thumb (visual angle: 6. 96Â ° x 13. 33Â °), and was shown for a variable duration between 800ms and 1520ms. For the imperative stimuli, the hand was in an opened (15. 5Â ° x 13. 5Â °), closed (7. 0Â ° x 11. 2Â °) or inverted neutral posture (see Figure 1D for examples), and was shown for 640ms. Word stimuli were either sound files presented via the laptop’s internal speaker (auditory) or superimposed in white 9 Actions speak louder than words nk on the hand stimuli in the centre of the screen (visual; 6. 5Â ° to 7. 1Â ° x 2. 6Â ° to 3. 1Â °). For the warning stimulus, the nonword clepo was presented for 650ms (auditory) or between 800 and 1520ms (visual). For the imperative stimuli, the word ‘open’, ‘close’ or the nonword pocle (see Figure 1C for examples) were presented for 640ms (visual) or between 600ms and 640ms (auditory). The nonwords clepo (warning stimulus) and pocle (neutral stimulus) were phonotactic amalgams of phonemes contained in the two words ‘open’ and ‘close’. Pocle contained the same syllables as clepo, presented in reverse order. For the manual response groups, response onset of opening and closing hand movements was measured by recording the electromyogram (EMG) from the first dorsal interosseus muscle of the right hand (see Heyes et al. , 2005). For the vocal response groups, onset of voice responses was measured via a free-standing electret microphone (Vivanco EM 32, Vivanco-direct. com). The RT interval began with the onset of the imperative stimulus, and ended with EMG onset (manual responses) or the activation of the microphone (vocal responses). Design and Procedure Participants sat at a viewing distance of approximately 700mm from the stimulus presentation screen. For the manual response groups, the participant’s right forearm lay in a horizontal position across his/her body, supported from elbow to wrist by an armrest. The wrist was rotated so that the fingers moved 10 Actions speak louder than words upwards during opening responses, and downwards when closing. Thus, the plane of response movement (up-down) was orthogonal to the plane of action stimulus movement (left-right), controlling for any effects of left-right spatial compatibility. After making each response, participants returned their hand to the neutral starting position; their fingers closed and parallel to the thumb. Each trial began with the presentation of the warning stimulus. After a variable duration it was replaced by the imperative stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the imperative stimulus as quickly as possible, without making errors, by opening or closing their hand (manual response groups) or by saying ‘open’ or ‘close’ (vocal response groups) as soon as they saw an open or closed hand posture (action-relevant task), or heard or saw the word ‘open’ or ‘close’ (word-relevant task). They were instructed to ignore the irrelevant dimension. After the presentation of the imperative stimulus, the screen went black for 3000ms before the next trial. Four action-relevant and four word-relevant task blocks of 60 trials were presented in alternating order, counterbalanced between participants. Relevant and irrelevant stimulus compounds were compatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘open’), incompatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘close’) or neutral (e. . an open hand accompanied by the nonword pocle). The six trial types, defined by compatibility (compatible, neutral or 11 Actions speak louder than words incompatible) and relevant stimulus (open or close), were equiprobable and randomly intermixed within each block. Results Mean RTs are plotted as a function of task and compatibility in Figures 1AD. Incorrect responses and RTs less than 100ms or greater than 1500ms were removed (3. 1%). Figure 1 about here As predicted, in the focal Manual-Auditory group (A) the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on responding to actions; there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This asymmetry was not observed in the Vocal-Auditory group (B), who responded to exactly the same stimuli using vocal responses rather than hand actions, suggesting that the asymmetry was not due to greater salience of the action than of the word stimuli. The asymmetry favoring actions over words was present in 12 Actions speak louder than words the Manual-Visual group (C), who saw rather than heard the word stimuli, indicating that it did not depend on faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. Providing further confirmation that this asymmetry was not due to nonspecific factors, the Vocal–Visual group (D) showed the reverse asymmetry; irrelevant actions had a lesser effect on responding to words than did irrelevant words on responding to actions. These impressions were confirmed by an initial ANOVA, in which task (action-relevant, word-relevant) and compatibility (compatible, neutral, incompatible) were within-subject factors, and response mode (manual, vocal) and word modality (auditory, visual) were between-subject factors, and by subsequent analyses in which a 23 ANOVA (task x compatibility) was applied to the RT data from each group separately. The initial analysis indicated a significant three-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode: F(2, 94) = 35. , p lt; . 001), and a nonsignificant four-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode x word modality: F(2, 94) = 1. 1, p = . 341). The separate analysis of the data from the focal Manual-Auditory group yielded a significant interaction between task and compatibility (F(2, 22) = 20. 8, p lt; . 001), confirming that there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This interaction was also significant in the Manual-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 25. 5, p lt ; . 001), but it was 13 Actions speak louder than words bsent in the Vocal-Auditory group (F(2, 22) = 1. 5, p = . 252), and reversed in the Vocal-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 5. 5, p = . 017). In the two groups where there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words, mean RT in the action-relevant task was shorter than in the word-relevant task (Manual-Auditory: F(1, 11) = 48. 7, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 172. 3, p lt; . 001). To check whether the action-dominant asymmetry was dependent on this main effect of task on RT, the data from these groups were subjected to bin analyses. For each group, RTs of each participant in each task were divided into five bins of equal size (Ratcliff, 1979). Three quintiles were selected in which, within group, mean RT on neutral trials was approximately equal in action-relevant and word-relevant tasks. The data from these quintiles were subjected to 2x3x3 ANOVAs (task x compatibility x bin). These analyses showed that, in each group, although there was no main effect of task on RT (Manual-Auditory: F lt; 1; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 1. 1, p = . 16), there was a significant task x compatibility interaction (Manual-Auditory: F(2, 22) = 11. 8, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(2, 22) = 11. 9, p = . 001). Thus, the action-dominant asymmetry observed in the Manual-Auditory and Manual-Visual groups did not depend on faster responding in the action task than in the word task. 14 Actions speak louder than words Discussion Previous research has shown that healthy adult humans have a pervasive and automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others, but this is the first study to provide a stringent test of the strength of this tendency. Using hand actions in a Stroop procedure, the power of actions to elicit imitative responses was compared with the strength of our tendency to obey verbal commands. The results from the focal group, who made manual responses to simultaneously presented actions and spoken words, showed that the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on imitative responding to actions. The same asymmetry was observed when written, rather than spoken, words were presented, indicating that it was not due to faster processing in the visual modality. The same asymmetry was not observed when participants made vocal, rather than imitative, responses, indicating that the action-dominant asymmetry was not due to greater salience or discriminability of the action images than of the verbal stimuli. Therefore, these findings suggest that the human tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands. Previous studies have indicated that irrelevant actions influence the control of movements made in response to color, spatial and symbolic cues (Sturmer et al. , 2000; Bertenthal et al. 2006; Brass et al. , 2000). The present findings show for 15 Actions speak louder than words the first time that automatic imitation effects occur, not only when the imperative stimuli bear an arbitrary or purely spatial relationship with responses, but also when they are verbal commands; that is, when the relationship between the imperative stimulus and the response is both specific and overlearned. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (199 6, Experiment 5) used a Stroop procedure to compare the power of actions and words, but they did not examine imitative responding. Instead, they required participants to make vocal responses to directional gestures (a person pointing up, down, left and right) and to their verbal equivalents, and found symmetrical compatibility effects; irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. We found the same symmetrical pattern in our Vocal-Auditory group, when participants were making nonimitative responses, but a contrasting pattern, indicating action dominance, when participants were making imitative responses. Thus, comparison of the two studies i) confirms that action dominance is specific to imitation, and ii) indicates that, in the case of nonimitative vocal responding, actions and words have comparable impact both when the action stimuli are pointing gestures and when they are opening and closing hand movements. 16 Actions speak louder than words In a variant of the game ‘Simon says’, played at teatime in Victorian England, children were required to grip the tablecloth when an adult, gripping or releasing the cloth, said ‘Hold tight! ’, and to release the cloth, regardless of the adult’s action, when he said ‘Let go! . Presumably, amusement derived from the fact that, like the participants in the present experiment, children could not resist the influence of automatic imitation, and were therefore compelled flagrantly to disobey the authority of verbal command. However, the results of the present study do not merely vindicate the disobedient behav ior of Victorian children. They show that automatic imitation is much more than a parlour game, or a device that experimental psychologists can use to investigate the processes involved in stimulus-response translation. These findings show that automatic imitation is not only pervasive but also powerful. Even among healthy, typicallydeveloping adults, it is more powerful than the tendency to obey verbal commands. In this context, actions do indeed speak louder than words. 17 Actions speak louder than words References Bertenthal, B. I. , Longo, M. R. , Kosobud, A. (2006). Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32, 210–225. Brass, M. , Bekkering, H. , Wohlschlager, A. , Prinz, W. 2000). Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain and Cognition, 44, 124-43. Buccino, G. , Binkofski, F. , Fink, G. R. , Fadiga, L. , Fogassi, L. , Gallese, V. , Seitz, R. J. , Zilles, K. , Rizzolatti, G. , Freund, H. J. (2001). Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study. European Jour nal of Neuroscience, 13, 400-404. Charman, T. , Baron-Cohen, S. (1994). Another look at imitation in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 403-413. Darwin, C. (1989). Voyage of the Beagle. London: Penguin Books. 18 Actions speak louder than words Heyes, C. M. , Ray, E. D. (2000). What is the significance of imitation in animals? Advances in the Study of Behavior, 29, 215–245. Heyes, C. M. , Bird, G. , Johnson, H. , Haggard, P. (2005). Experience modulates automatic imitation. Cognitive Brain Research, 22, 233-240. Kilner, J. M. , Paulignan, Y. , Blakemore, S. J. (2003). An interference effect of observed biological movement on action. Current Biology, 13, 522–525. Lakin, J. L. , Chartrand, T. L. (2003). Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334-339. Langton, S. R. H. , OMalley, C. , Bruce, V. (1996). Actions speak louder than words: Symmetrical cross-modal interference effects in the processing of verbal and gestural information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 1357–1375. Lhermitte, F. , Pillon, B. , Serdaru, N. (1986). Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part I: Imitation and utilization behavior: a neuropsychological study of 75 patients. Annals of Neurology, 19, 326-334. 19 Actions speak louder than words Meltzoff, A. N. Moore, M. K. (1997). Explaining facial imitation: A theoretical model. Early Development and Parenting, 6, 179-192. Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461. Simpson, A. Riggs, K. J. (2007). Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions? Developmental Psychology, 43, 417-428. Strafella, A. P. Paus, T. (2000). Modulation of cortical excitability during action observation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Neuroreport, 11, 22892292. Sturmer, B. , Aschersleben, G. , Prinz, W. (2000). Correspondence effects with manual gestures and postures: a study of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 1746-1759. Tagliabue, M. , Zorzi, M. , Umilta, C. , Bassignani, F. (2000). The role of longterm-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 648-670. 20 Actions speak louder than words Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No. 8). New York: Macmillan. Wallbott, H. G. (1991). Recognition of emotion from facial expression via imitation? Some indirect evidence for an old theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 207-219. 21 Actions speak louder than words Author note AB is now at Faculte de Psychologie et des Sciences de lEducation, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 22 Actions speak louder than words Figure caption Figure 1. RTs in compatible, neutral and incompatible trials for word-relevant (solid line) and action-relevant (broken line) task conditions. Results are presented separately for the four different participant groups: (A) ManualAuditory, (B) Vocal-Auditory, (C) Manual-Visual and (D) Vocal-Visual. Vertical bars indicate standard error of the mean. Images show compatible, neutral and incompatible stimulus compounds in action-relevant (Panel C) and word-relevant (Panel D) task conditions for the visual word modality groups (C and D). For the auditory word modality groups (A and B), words were spoken. 23

Im not sure about the topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Im not sure about the topic - Essay Example Cardio-respiratory exercise engages and relies on the type of exercise, period, concentration and the speed. Examples of aerobic training activities are swimming, basketball, running among others while weightlifting is an example of anaerobic exercise. Preventable diseases that result from lack of exercises include obesity, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular ailments. Body composition is the bodily fitness aspect that is determined from the relative quantities of body organs, body fat content, muscle, and skeleton. Determining body composition is crucial in the establishment of the baseline measurement, conducted prior to the launch of the exercise program. The analysis of body composition is also vital in evaluation of the progress in the course of the fitness program. Several methods of establishing body composition exist. A simplified method relies on the use of the thickness in skin folds to establish subcutaneous fat. This method is however less accurate when compared with the hydrostatic testing which involves underwater weighing. Hydrostatic testing is nonetheless expensive and as such is not easily available and certain individuals do not tolerate this

Hitch Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hitch - Movie Review Example This discussion stresses that Smith emphases the use of non-verbal cues such as how to make one’s eye look heroic, what to tell women at the first ate and what one should not say to such women. The date doctor’s advice involves many strategies, both long and short term that acts through different ways to achieve the same objective. Other strategies are much subtle and require patience. Will Smith gives an array of recommendation that eventually assist his friends in their romantic life. Such non-verbal cues remains foremost in establishing comic effects and romance within the movie.From this paper it is clear that  Hitch receives his first client, Albert (Kevin James) who has been having many troubles in initiating romantic relationships. Kevin is in love with a very affluent and powerful cute lady, Allegra, whom he is not able to get. Allegra is hesitant in dating a young, boring and shy accountant because it will be demeaning her ego. Kevin consults Hitch on the way to go about the problem.   Kevin uses non-verbal cues by resigning when Allegra gets angry in a board meeting. He is trying to win Allegra by implying that he cares about her emotional turmoil due to wrong advice that she has just received from the investors. Allegra notices how caring Kevin is and gets attracted to him.  Kevin’s non-verbal trick seems to have worked perfectly for him in winning the beautiful lady.

To what extent are the poems Nothings changed and Half-caste a message of protest Essay Example for Free

To what extent are the poems Nothings changed and Half-caste a message of protest Essay The two poems, Nothings changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika and Half-caste by John Agard, both deal with issues of race. Nothings changed describes the return to district six after the apartheid in South Africa it presents a voice angry that nothing has changed since the apartheid has been abolished, and that racial segregation still exists. Half-caste also communicates a protest against racial prejudice. It questions the use of the term half-caste and promotes more open views. The discontent behind both messages is clear in their tones. From the start Afrika sets a bitter and angry mood, the hot, white, inwards turning anger of my eyes the use of how deeply resentful he is about what is going on. Also the alliteration of the strong t consonant enhances the frustrated quality of this phrase. On the other hand Half-caste challenges the reader with a mocking phrase Excuse me standing on one leg Im half-caste. This appears to set up a more relaxed atmosphere in first three lines. The poet makes this more assertive with his use of imperatives such as excuse and explain. Throughout the poem he continues to play with the term half caste but the light atmosphere is soon over ridden by the seriousness of the message. Nothings changed is written in six main stanzas which draw attention to the harsh reality of district six. Interestingly there is a mini stanza of two lines no sign says it is but we know where we belong. this could show the racial segregation enforced and illustrates that although it is not official everybody accepts the unwritten rule. Afrika uses the power of three and the skin and the soft and the hot to demonstrate how complete and overwhelming the anger is. Also use of the refrain like phrases no board says it is and no sign says it is continue to emphasise how embedded the segregation is in society. The structure in Half caste is less obvious although it has strong implications. For example the unequal line lengths so spiteful deem dont want de sun pass/ ah rass suggest an odd untidiness and imbalance. As in nothings changed Agard uses refrain to reinforce an idea, explain yuself/ what yu mean. Although here is is more aggressive and upfront. It is repeated as he demands for an answer. There is a flow to the poem created by enjambment with no punctuation. This could reflect the release of anger. The forward slashes add pauses ? is a half-caste weather/ well in dat case which keep the reader aware of the theme of standing up against society. Both poets continue to develop the themes through rhyme and rhythm. In Nothings changed there is half rhyme, for example trees and cuisine. This could symbolise inequality and a sense of uprising against what society imposes. The rhythm is heavy and strong with hard consonant sounds like trodden and gatepost this gives a feeling of oppression. Also there is enjambment, which is shown when the poet says seeding grasses thrust/ beaded seeds/ into trouser cuffs this suggests urgency to release anger it is building up to the last line, nothings changed the short sentence ends the flow and implies defeat as the protest is replaced by acceptance that the separation still stands. Similarly the rhyme in Half-caste is random which continues the theme. The main images highlighted by rhyme such as mix a black key with a white key is a half-caste symphony. The rhythm is uneven which again emphasises the concept of half. The interesting use of colloquial language provides lots of focus on the sounds of words for example yu, de or dem which makes the rhythm more confident and direct. In nothings changed the poet begins with monosyllabic language. The first line is small round hard stone click which echoes the sound of walking on gravel this sensory language draws in the reader to the message. He uses words showing oppression like trodden on, crunched, and crushed this conveys the aggressive nature of district 6. Afrika also uses lots of heat associated words like flaring, hot white and burn. These immediately portray a build up of anger. He uses pronouns such as I press my nose making it a more personal account which engages the reader with the personal emotions. On another level he could be expressing the voice of black people against discrimination. Similarly Agard uses pronouns he engages the audience by saying yu which is directing the poem to a wide audience. He also uses colloquial language like wha, yu and on dem cloud this is Jamaican slang which sets up a background and displays his pride to be from that culture. His repeated use of the term half-caste reminds us of the taboo of the term inflicting guilt upon the reader. The clever use of half links all the imagery listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear. This is all leading up to the last line when he challenges the reader to accept him as a whole person. Afrika uses subtle imagery like tall purple flowering amiable weeds The word weeds suggests inferiority but a struggling to stand tall against segregation. He uses personification to describe the whites only inn it squats shows how unwanted the white people are, because they impose on the black people. A strong metaphor clear panes is like a physical representation of the social barrier. It lets the wealth of the white people be seen. This is emphasised by the contrast of images created. Linen falls, the single rose are compared to bunny chows and plastic tables. Here a clear gap of living standard is shown. I think the most important image in the poem is leaving a small mean O of small mean mouth which describes the circular mark of breath on the window. This shape will disappear, and metaphorically describes how his voice of protest is lost within him. The imagery that Agard uses imagery is based around these of mix and half. Opposites like black and white and light and shadow shows two extremes which in people should be accepted as equals. He also says things like half of mih ear , half of mih eye and half-hand these are unrealistic concepts which is mocking the term half-caste. He uses a metaphor of Tchaikovsky writing a symphony and Picasso mixing colours. The use of an artist and a composer gives out a message universally. Also using art and music, pleasant things, shows how wrong and unpleasant using the term half-caste is. Finally, the change in imagery at the end of the poem shows Agards encouragement of open mindedness. He uses whole and tomorrow which suggest in the future the prejudice can change. Overall both poems show a protest although I think half-caste is defiant outwards protest that chalenges the reader with clever imagery and language. Nothings changed seems to show protest and anger held within or inwards turning anger. It also shows frustration of accepting the harsh life of being an inferior in South Africa.

Explorers of Africa :: Geography

Explorers of Africa Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer who led one of the first expeditions to investigate the course of the Niger river in Western Africa. Mungo Park was a 23 year-old scottish surgeon who had just returned from a journey to Sumatra on a ship of the East India Company. There he had discovered 6 species of fish, and he had published descriptions in a Scientific Journal. In 1795, Park had gone to Piscina, on an offer to research further into Africa. Park had accepted and a severe fever overcame him during his journey. Park also had been captured by certain muslim leaders. After he had gotten out of the Prison he had wandered around and had finally found the Niger River. Park was amazed at how beautiful the River was. Park had stated "I saw with infinite pleasure, the object of my, mission". Park had returned home to London where became famous on his publications of his voyage across Africa. Later in 1806 he sailed downstream to the Bussa rapids, where he drowned, trying to escape an attack by the Africans. Rene Callie was a 27 year old man who was fascinated by the stories told about peoples travels to Africa. His readings of Mungo park also stimulated his fascination. Callie had entered a contest for the first person to reach Timbuktu and reach back. He had reached Timbuktu. During Callie's trip he did not find it easy to prove to the French Authorities that a young man with no experience could discover Timbuktu. On his way back Callie had joined a Arab Caravan preparing to cross from Western Sahara to Morocco. Callie had stated "I am the first European to cross from the sandy ocean from the south to the north". On his return to Paris, Callie was known as a hero. Later, questions were asked if he was telling the truth or not. Johann Rebmann Johann Rebmann was a German missionary, who was not like Mungo Park or Rene Callie. The purpose of Rebmann's explorations is to find a place where he might serve God. His most helpful weapon was a umbrella, which he used to fight off lions and would be attackers. Rebmann was the european explorer who kept a careful record of his journey. Together with his

Are Gmos Good for Our Health Essay

So, its been a long day, your exhausted, really hungry, and don’t think too much about what you want to eat. You just know that you will go for anything tasty that is fast and easy to make. Choosing what we we want to eat in this way should be familiar to all of us, its the American way: We want it and we want it now, and it always has to be better, faster, and last longer. Due to our forever growing population this demand only gets stronger and stronger; alas our creation of genetically modified organisms. The dominating corporate in charge called Monsanto promised to create this ‘miracle’ food that will feed countries around the world, last longer, and make our diets healthier. After finding out that these genetically modified foods can cause health problems and aren’t provided enough for the malnourished, third world countries, can we really say that the creation of GMOs are living up to what Monsanto is telling us? One of the main defenses for GMOs is to help out third world countries; places where starvation and malnutrition hit the hardest. An article for Times magazine titled Grains of Hope illustrates all the excitement and hope that GMOs will solve world hunger. Reporting that the new GM strain in rice creates a new species of rice called Golden Rice. â€Å"This new rice produces beta-carotene, which the human body converts into Vitamin A. † â€Å" Nearly a million children die every year because they are weakened by Vitamin A deficiency and an additional 350,000 go blind† (Robbins, 2012, pg 1). You would think that this golden rice would be the answer to all malnutrition problems, but unfortunately it is not. According to a New York Times article titled Can GMOs Help End world Hunger? , â€Å"golden rice will not grow in the kinds of soil that it must to feed the hungry. To grow properly, it requires heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides. For the poor, developing countries it is unaffordable. Plus the heavy amounts of pesticides could travel into the bloodstreams of people and make them resistant to essential antibiotics. Research shows that â€Å"an eleven year old boy would have to eat twenty-seven bowls of golden rice a day in order to satisfy his minimum requirement for the vitamin† (Robbins, 2012, pg 2). The Monsanto Corporation and other biotechnology companies have invested billions of dollars to gain control over what we eat. Their main goal is not to feed the world but to retrieve maximum profit. Part of how their doing so is by ‘monopolizing’ farmers. They do so by creating a Technology Protection System. This system creates â€Å"terminator seeds. †These seeds are altered so that they are sterile. Meaning that after the crop grows, it will not produce more seeds for farmers to harvest and grow next season. Instead, they have to buy more seeds over and over again. Due to the corporate patenting and monopolization of GM seeds, farmers also have to use excessive amounts of chemicals on their crops. â€Å"It is frequently argued that the high debt incurred by Indian farmers and resultant farmer suicides (over 250,000 since 1997) have largely resulted from the need to purchase costly pesticides and expensive seeds each year because they contain a ‘terminator’ gene† (Todhunter,2012). In the earlier times of GMOs, many farmers couldn’t wait to try out these products because the World Health Organization came out and said that they benefited agriculture productivity, human health and revived infertile crops. The World Health Organization stated in their article, Weighing in the GMO Arguments: For, â€Å"Genetically engineered resistance to pests and diseases could greatly reduce the chemicals needed for crop protection. Farmers are already growing maize cotton and potatoes that no longer have to be sprayed with bacterial insecticide. They also included that removing lignin found in trees will get rid of toxic chemicals in paper and wood made products, being healthier for people and the environment. WHO also goes on to add that â€Å"Genetic modification to become more tolerant of salt [found in infertile soil] and drought. † An article I found to support these findings called GM crops ‘aid plant neighbours’ talks about a study done in ch ina where they modified strains of cotton DNA so that the crops could make their own insecticide and solve pest problems. The results were positive, the insecticide Bacillus Thuringiensis, caused a reduction in the use of insecticide because it got rid of the cotton bollworm, a major pest to cotton. The newly engineered cotton also created greater biodiversity by attracting more lady bugs, causing the population of aphids, another cotton pest, to decrease. In the article, an advocate for organic farming shares that she agrees with the modified cotton because â€Å"organic farmers avoid pesticides by using natural processes to encourage beneficial predators. Getting rid of pests by introducing predators and reducing the use of pesticides is very similar to organic processes. † The new pest resistant crop may have been beneficial for a little while but as time went on they are began to build up in our bloodstreams. A recent study done by researchers from the University of Sherbrooke Hospital Centre in Quebec, Canada found that ninety-three percent of maternal blood and eighty percent of fetal cord blood test positive for the Bt toxin Cry1ab, Proving that transgenic materials are not effectively broken down and eliminated during digestion. Another harmful chemical 3-MMPA, showed up in 100 percent of pregnant women’s bloodstreams. The chemical 3-MMPA is produced when our bodies metabolize gluphosinate, also found in GMOs. A study done in Europe found that gluphosinate can cause cancer, DNA damaged, and reproductive toxicity. Another recent study done by European researchers found that after feeding rats a diet of GM corn through out their lifetime have developed tumors all over their body and died prematurely. One thing Monsanto might try to tell you is that there are no long term affects to genetically modified products. Truth is, over years and years of Americans eating meat been changed overtime so that it is plumper and lasts longer has caused a growing epidemic that especially effects children. The additives we have been consuming were designed to have longer shelf lives, but the chemicals added also mimic human hormones that have estrogenic qualities and anabolic steroids. Because of these increased uses in poultry production children are starting puberty earlier and earlier. The article, Additives and Hormones in Our Food: A Growing Epidemic that effects Our Children, Includes a table showing how the trend of the onset age for puberty decreasing; showing that in 1970 the onset age for puberty was 12. 6 years old. In 2000, that number decreased to 9. 8 years old. Another growing the epidemic that is not only effecting America’s children but America as a whole is obesity. And guess what, chemicals added to our food are linked to that too. Based off of what Stephen Perrine, author of New American Diet, â€Å"We have all sorts of chemicals put into our newly, genetically engineered foods. † The Pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones that make our food more resistant to diseases and environmental stress contain obesogens. According to Perrine, â€Å"obesogens can cause heart disease,diabetes,obesity and high cholesterol. Most of the obesogens come from pesticides, non-organic produce, and GM corn-fed beef and chicken. For many years, GMOs seemed to be a great idea because they benefited agriculture productivity, human health and revived infertile crops. The whole intention for the creation of GMOs are great, they have proven to last longer and get rid of major pests and all but the fact that these modified organisms have caused major health problems to our people and haven’t benefited our poorer countries as they were suppose to, the invention of genetically modified organisms have done more bad than good. With that, people should be more careful about what they choose to eat. So, the next time you head out to go grocery shopping, look for labels for 100 percent organic foods, or go to the farmer’s market where everything is locally grown.

House of Spirits – Epigraph by Pablo Neruda

How does the epigraph relate to the greater message in the novel? An epigraph is a quotation, phrase or motto at the beginning of a piece of literary work, thus setting forth a theme for the piece of literature. In this case, this epigraph gives the readers a small gist and theme of what to expect when they read the novel. â€Å"The House of Spirits† is a novel which was written by Isabel Allende. This story revolves around family life, mainly around two upper-class families; the Del Valle and the Trueba family and was originally written in Spanish, then translated to many different languages, English being one. The story is set in a Latin-American country. The epigraph by Pablo Neruda has a much deeper meaning which the reader has to implore. In a nut-shell, the epigraph talks about two things; life and death. Pablo Neruda is Chilean by nationality, which may also suggest that this ‘Latin country’ we thing the novel is set in, may very well be Chile. The first line asks a question which when thought about, not many people have an answer to. Together with the second line, we can reflect to the novel because even though we may exaggerate and say we live a thousand years, the crucial events that define an individual’s life take place in the matter of just a few days and at the end of the day it is those events that decide the fate of a person’s life. We can connect this to the novel by using the example of Esteban Trueba and Clara, when after he hits her, she decides not to speak to him, nor to use her maiden name and never to wear their wedding ring ever again. It was that one moment that sealed their fate, and their real personality was reflected. â€Å"For a week, or for several centuries? †- this line makes us think, how one small contribution to the world can change a person’s life. He will be remembered for years and years to come, just for that one small thing he may have contributed to the world, in a matter of minutes. The fourth line makes us reflect back on life. All along, as individuals we have thought of death just ‘happening’ and getting over. Like an event. But this novel makes us thing otherwise. It portrays itself as a long process. Dona Ester is a very good example from the novel regarding this. Her life is already declining and there is nothing that she can do to change that fact. It is like she has already begun to die, a slow process, she is just counting her days till that ‘moment’. We can also look at death in another way. In a certain situation, death may also mean not physically leaving the world or your mortal body, but killing something, leaving something behind. We can use the example of Esteban Trueba and Clara, as when he hits her and she decides not to converse with him anymore, it is the beginning of the ‘death’ of their relationship. Another comment on the epigraph I would like to make is that everywhere, Pablo Neruda has used â€Å"he† and â€Å"man†, suggesting that at the time he wrote it, the society he was living in was a male-dominated society. This is also reflected in the book as the inequality to women is clearly shown all through. Ironically, this poem has 5 lines and also there are 5 generations in one of the most important families in the book; the Del Valle family: grandmother, Nivea, Rosa, Clara, Blanca and Alba. This epigraph gives us a surface picture of what to expect in this novel, but as we have seen, if we go deeper to explore, there can be so many more meanings to it.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Analysis Essay Example

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Analysis Essay Example Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Analysis Essay Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Analysis Essay The novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, depicts the life of Stephen Deals from his disjointed youth to his clarifying adulthood, In a stream of consciousness approach that reveals his Inner thoughts. Throughout the novel, he perceives the world around him In an unusually keen way, considering he Is extremely aware of his senses, particularly his sense of smell. People by nature have Involuntary connections between their physical world and their mental state, just as Stephen fleets his own subconscious in the everyday smells he encounters. In James Jockeys, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephens solidarity allows him to perceive the world in a detached, but consequently, more sensory and observant fashion, demonstrating the theme that isolation leads to self-discovery. Stephen endures a youth filled with disconnection and confusion, followed by an adolescence trite with rebellion, angst, and a superiority complex. As a boy living in Clones University, he feels a sense of detachment that Isolates him from the other boys, but In his naivety he doesnt understand why he Is so different and unhappy. Because of his young age, Stephen doesnt have a fully developed analytical mental process, so he reflects on only what he observes. None-the-less, It Is evident Stephen Is not In a peaceful mental state upon comparing how he perceives the smells at school versus how he perceives those of his family in his memory. Stephen thinks about his mother, correlating her to such a lovely warm smell (22). Contrastingly, he mentions how the infirmary at Clones came a smell of medicine, (34). This is furthered a few pages later when Stephens peer says, They said you got stinking stuff to drink in the infirmary (38). Stephens time at Clones is ridden with unpleasant associations, whereas his memory of being at home, particularly with his mother, is much more positive. Though, Stephen is too young to verbally associate the smells with being bad, his subconscious does It for him. Stephens disdain for his school Is evident, not only by him saying he wants to go home, but also by his reflected emotions wealth his senses. As Stephen becomes a teenager, he becomes depressive and painfully aware of halls unhappiness. HIS sense of smell again reflects how unhappy he is, now even more grossly emphasized. During one of his particularly dark moments, Stephen is talking about how much he loathes the church and those he sees going. He describes them, The dull piety and the sickly smell of the cheap hair-oil (112). Hi hatred for them is reflected in the vividly unpleasant description he consciously gives them. Aside from knowing what Stephen is feeling through these sensory perceptions, his detachment also is revealed. He is more preoccupied with sensory perceptions than he is with social or even scholarly issues. His priorities do not coincide with those of other boys his age, tenting him apart from everyone else and making him a social pariah. Furthermore, he is less prone to distractions and has a narrower focus on his own reality, making him a prime candidate to become an artist. HIS Incredible awareness of his surroundings, evident In his meticulous sense of smell, contributes to the qualities that make up an artist. Of fear, guilt, and shame, which lead to his feelings of rebirth, discovery, and repent. His sense of smell connotes these emotions through the descriptions of the things he smells. This is the portion of the book that includes his most depressive and stubbed thoughts, so the smells he experiences are the most exaggerated. When Stephen has a nightmarish fantasy, after hearing the vividly impacting sermons, he fears for his soul and recognizes smells as being evil and foul (144). His dream is so horrifying, ridden with a reeking dour poring down his throat, clogging and revolting his entrails, that he wakes up and profusely in agony (144). Stephens sense of smell is being affected by his emotions. His subconscious is identified through the grotesque descriptions of these smells, making it clear that he is battling with severe fear and unrest. But, its also showing the magnitude to which his senses operate. Stephens sense of smell, even that of his dream, pushed him to the point of physical illness. His senses are much stronger than most peoples, which makes the sermons he had to sit and listen to much more impacting to him. He could physically experience what the Father was saying, making his radical transformation understandable. His sensory capacity also contributes to his artistic potential. Considering he has a sense of smell that is capable of inducing sickness, his senses are insurmountable in their power and exactitude. Stephen undergoes a frantic need to expense this torment, and he sees that holiness is the only way to do so. He describes his path to faithfulness and with quiet fragrance he made a covenant with his heart (145). He undergoes a momentary sense of peace, evident in this olfactory description of faith. However, this lapse into religion is as lasting as it is genuine. He quickly revolts, not consciously yet, but his senses again reveal his true feelings. As he further delves into saint-hood, he becomes more and more aware of his discomfort, though at the forefront of his mind he remains content. Upon thinking about becoming devout, he associates more foul smells than he does nice ones, showing the growing disdain for his assumed path. He connotes his troubled mental state with smells, describing The troubling dour of Clones (166). He doesnt want to revert to his lifestyle back at school, revealing that he isnt as happy as he claims. He has therefore not yet discovered himself. Finally Stephen embodies a ponderous, insightful, and peaceful persona. His sense of smell coincides admittedly with his emotions, and for the first time, they are positive. Stephen has identified himself as an artist. This self actualization resonates peacefully within him as the things he smells are described in a calming, lyrical fashion. He develops a questioning nature, pondering and challenging everything. This is what defines him most as an artist, and is what finally sets him apart from the others. His keen senses are not the only divider, but his passion and pursuit also define him as different. Its apparent he has escaped emotional turmoil in his sensory descriptions as well. When he thinks about the girl from the train, his descriptions no longer connote anxiety or unrest; in fact they create a sense of peace ND beauty. His imagination runs ramped in desire as he thinks of her, Her nakedness yielded to him, radiant, warm, odorous and lavish-limbed, enfolded him like a shining cloud (225). There is no mention of anything foul or anything else unpleasant, even the word odorous suggests something pleasant. From this quote depressing disconnection that he endures throughout most of the book. Though he still isnt Just like all the others in his life, he isnt sad anymore. Being different is acceptable for him so long as he understands himself. He finally immerses himself n the artistic world he is destined for, making him content. His sensory perceptions, though still equally powerful as they have been all his life, are no longer reflecting his uncomfortable subconscious, but instead emulating the creative and unique individual he is. Stephen Deals, a rebellious and disconnected boy, grows into a suddenly devout teenager, until he becomes an adult who finally discovered his calling. His differences isolate him from those around him, allowing him to observe the world in a more sensory-based fashion, and evidently leading to his self-discovery as an artist.

Business intelligence Technologies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business intelligence Technologies - Assignment Example In addition to that, the patterns are viewed as summaries of the input data, hence used in further analysis or in predictive analytics and machine learning. For instance, it may identify manifold groups in the data, which are then used to acquire more truthful prediction results by decision support systems. Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process is generally defined using the following stages: selection, preprocessing, transformation, data mining, and interpretation. However, it exists in many variations of this theme such as the Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM). This theme defines knowledge discovery in six phases; understanding of business, understanding of data, preparation of data, modeling, evaluation, and deployment of the results (Ling Liu & Tamer 2009). Another example of theme follows a simplified process such as pre-processing of data, mining of data and validating the results obtained. Pre processing involves assembling a target data- since data mining only covers the patterns that are essentially present in the data, the dataset targeted should be e big enough to hold these patterns while at the same time remaining brief enough to be extracted within an acceptable timeframe. Common data sources are data warehouses and data marts. Pre-processing of data is indispensable in the analysis multivariate datasets before the mining of data. Therefore, the target set is cleaned. The data cleaning involves the removal of all observations containing the missing data as well as noise. Data mining engage six general groups of tasks. The first task is anomaly detection- this refers to the identification of extraordinary but interesting data records or erroneous data that needs further investigation. Secondly, an association search is the next task. This task involves the relationship existing between variables (Ling Liu & Tamer 2009). The third task is known as classification; it involves all the undertakings

Hw 3-2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hw 3-2 - Essay Example Management, however, in other organizations, deal with organization, planning, staffing, leading and controlling a company. Barton’s trip to the bookstore and late night studying expounded his knowledge on IT. The materials, though educative, were confusing Barton. He got to learn just how the IT world is complicated (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 48). Barton understood now why there were so many layers of OSI cables. After reading the book, he also understood why the cables were so complicated. Barton’s meeting did not go as plan due to various reasons. First and foremost, people at the meeting did not welcome Barton’s proposal of an off-site company meeting. He did not expect anybody to reject his proposal. He also expected a quick acceptance and then a session of planning for his event (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 36). However, Barton was wrong. His thoughts were all in vain. For instance, Fenton made it clear that he did not fancy incorporating people such as John Cho in the off-site meeting and Gordon also supported him (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 36). Barton also did not expect the members at the meeting to make the situation of the company more badly than it was, but since they did not agree on anything matter went the way he did not expect. IT organizational structure is set the way it is because the overall business model for an IT organization comprises of lots of sections due to the complexity of the business itself. This is to make sure that all technological elements are dealt with in the company (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 48). An IT organization is structured the way it is because this complex structure tends to offer exceptional synergy as it offers many means of achieving organizational goals. IT is also connected directly to finance. Therefore, a CIO is a direct report to a CFO in an IT