Western Civilization Essay Example for Free

Western Civilization Essay The themes dominating Netos poetry are quite indicative of the fact that the veracity and practice of luso-tropicalism, the idea that the Portuguese went to Africa to civilize and christianize Africans, and the notion that the assimilation project was a widespread one, were more myth than reality. The poems included in Sacred Hope illustrate well the oppression, apartheid, (un)civilization, and (un)Christianity brought to Africa by the Portuguese. The poem which in its English translation is called Western civilization (Civilizacao ocidental), constitutes a good example of that so-called civilization and Christianity brought to Angola (and other parts of Africa) by the Portuguese colonizers. The title of the poem might lead some readers to believe that what is to come is an apology for Western civilization and culture and for its good deeds in Africa. It could be suggested that such readers have fallen into what can be described as the Eurocentric trap that is, they went into the reading of the poem with the preconceived idea that Western colonizers did indeed go to Africa to civilize Africans. These readers will only be disappointed and even confused for what is to be painted in the poem is not civilization but rather (un)civilization. The poems title is in fact highly ironic: it is used by the poet to make the reader reflect about the true nature of Western civilization, see its many (un)civilized sites and make him/her question the motives behind the colonial enterprise. For example, in this poem, the houses of Angolans are described as Tins fixed to stakes / driven in the earth whose intimate landscape is complet[ed] by rugs (18). And these houses are full of cracks through which the sun enters just to awake its inhabitant, who is tired from twelve hours of slave / labour (18). The poet then proceeds to describe the endless hard work performed by the Angolan: Breaking stones / carrying stones / breaking stones / carrying stones (19). The repetition carrying stones / breaking stones, used three times in this stanza, is very successful in transmitting the intensity and never-ending hard work performed by the worker. The worker becomes a slave precisely because he never stops working; he works continuously without even being interrupted by harsh weather conditions; he works in the sun and in the rain (19). The poem ends by explaining and illustrating when, how and under what circumstances this slave worker dies: Old age comes early / A reed mat on dark nights / enough for him to die / thankfully / and of hunger (19). For even though the worker works very hard all his life, he ends up without the most basic necessities: no proper bed, no food and no light, and thus is grateful to die. Death represents freedom from a life of slave work; it represents the end of his physical and psychological oppression and immeasurable pain. This poem is indeed a good illustration of the (un)civilization, the (un)Christianity brought to Africans by the Portuguese: hunger, cold, physical and mental exhaustion, and alienation. To put it metaphorically, if the lights of the civilized did not reach the Angolans (as colonialists have claimed to be the case) before the arrival of the colonialist, they surely were not bright enough to illuminate the life of most Angolans after. The questions I would like to ask in relation to this poem are: will the reader feel enough revolt and disgust against Western civilization that he/she will want to work towards the independence of Angola? Will the sites of Western (un)civilization displayed in this poem be sufficient for the oppressor to see the true nature of the colonial enterprise and convince him/her to refuse to be part of such sordid business? Or will this poem just sound like the unfounded lament of an Angolan who is jealous of the so-called higher successes and intelligences of his colonial master?

Alzheimers Disease Essay -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s disease is a slow, progressive, and degenerative disease of the brain. This disease is marked by a gradual loss of memory and other cognitive functions. "Alzheimer's Disease is also known as the most common cause of dementia--a general term referring to the loss of memory and the ability to think, reason, function, and behave properly" (Medina,1999). It primarily affects adults in their 60's or older and eventually destroys a person's ability to perform simple, routine tasks or even to care for themselves. Statistics show that "as many as 10 percent of all people 65 years of age and older have Alzheimer's," and that approximately "50 percent of all people 85 or older also have the disease" (WebMD, n.d.). Originally it was thought to be a rare condition affecting only young people, and was referred to as pre-senile dementia. Today late-onset Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s disease is recognized as the most common cause of the loss of mental function in those aged 65 and over. "Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s in people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, called early-onset Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s disease, occurs much less frequently, accounting for less than 10 percent of the estimated 4 million Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s cases in the United States" (Encarta, 2004). Alzheimer's disease advances in stages, progressing from mild absentmindedness and cognitive impairment to widespread loss of mental abilities. In advanced Alzheimer's, people become dependent on others for every aspect of their care. The most common cause of death among Alzheimer's patients is infection. Even though scientists are still learning about Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s, there is no cure. Alzheimer's disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German doctor. "In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. He found abnormal clumps (now called amyliod plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary tangles) within the brain"(ADEAR, 2004). Scientists have found that tangles and plaques cause the neurons in the brains of Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s patients to shrink and eventually die. They start in the memory and language centers and finally invade throughout the brain. &qu... ... former president Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with disease, it has been a major news headline ever since. There are thousands of organizations and webpage ¡Ã‚ ¦s on the internet that are filled with valuable information helping the public be aware of this disease, what the signs are, and where to go for help. With our baby-boomers aging, the disease is sure to emerge more in the next couple of years. Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s disease has touched many people since its discovery by Alois Alzheimer. Its effects on the brain cause its victims to lose some, if not most of their memory. This causes the patient to forget things such as who and where they are, who their relatives are, how to get home, or even when or how to eat. It is a personal tragedy for the patient as well as for those whom love and bear the burden of caring for them. Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s disease is a slow, progressive disease with no known cure. The treatment for Alzheimer's is still in the early stages but there are many drug treatments available which help slow its progression, and help with cognitive functions. As our population ages, Alzheimer ¡Ã‚ ¦s is only a tragedy that will affect more and more people.

Richman Investments- Acceptable Use Policy

Richman Investments- Acceptable Use Policy Richman Investments is the name for its installation of the Richman Investments software from Jive Software creating a virtual (type of company) community. It is a Web-based virtual community where members collaborate on documents, share insight and best practices and exchange ideas. Registered Users of Richman Investments are encouraged to be open and informal in their use of Richman Investments – one of the benefits of the system is that it attempts to facilitate the kind of candour and informal discussion that traditionally one only finds at in-person meetings.It is generally presumed that Users will conduct themselves in a professional manner; nevertheless, as membership and participation grow, it is important to outline a formal guide for conduct for this new powerful communication tool. Participation in Richman Investments is contingent upon acceptance of this Acceptable Use Policy. This Policy outlines the terms and conditions for use of the Richman Investments Areas covered include who is authorized to use Richman Investments rules for online behaviour, and guidelines for the handling of secure and copyright-protected materials.Richman Investments reserves the right to block or limit access to content deemed to be harmful, offensive, or otherwise in violation of this Acceptable Use Policy. Furthermore, Richman Investments reserves the right to monitor and to disclose any information as deemed necessary to satisfy any law, to operate its services properly, or to protect itself or its Registered Users. Authorized Use The network is provided by Richman Investments for the benefit of Registered Users in accordance with duties as an employee of Richman Investments. Richman Investments may also extend a User ID to individuals with whom it has special working relationship, such as a consultant. User IDs are not transferrable. They are intended for the exclusive use of the individual to whom they are provided. A dditional User IDs are available, upon request, from Richman Investments. The provision of User IDs to individual users is at the discretion of the Richman Investments, on the advice of the Sponsoring Organization. A User ID may be disabled due to a change in employment or committee membership status, upon the request of the Sponsoring Organization or for violation of the Acceptable Terms of Use.Confidentiality Information shared and stored within Richman Investments it is considered to be an extension of the work conducted within the normal day-to-day workings of Richman Investments and Council International. It is subject to the same requirements for confidentiality as association work conducted through email, conference calls or in-person meetings. Copyright Registered Users of Richman Investments agree to abide by all applicable laws on the use of copy written materials.Accordingly, attention should be paid to not post Copyright Protected Material — material for which an organization has not consented to its widespread distribution in channels other than its own. This includes, but is not limited to, the posting of entire media articles, or proprietary research. Items intended for redistribution, such as press releases or promotional materials, may be posted. It also is perfectly acceptable to quote portions of protected material, paraphrase the material and Hyperlink to the material in its original external location.Professional Conduct It is generally presumed that Users will conduct themselves in a professional manner; nevertheless, the following actions constitute unacceptable use of Richman Investments: * Violating any law of, or committing conduct that is tortuous or unlawful in, any applicable jurisdiction. * Displaying, performing, sending, receiving or storing any content that is obscene, pornographic, lewd, lascivious, or excessively violent, regardless of whether the material or its dissemination is unlawful. Advocating or encouraging vio lence against any government, organization, group, individual or property, or providing instruction, information, or assistance in causing or carrying out such violence. * Actively seeking to obtain unauthorized access to any part of Richman Investments network, service, or account or using Richman Investments to obtain unauthorized access to any network, service or account. * Interfering with service to any other Registered User, by use of any program, script, command, or otherwise. Introducing or activating any viruses, worms, harmful code and/or Trojan horses within Richman Investments   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  * Holding Richman Investments, its affiliates, officers, employees up to public scorn or ridicule. * Gambling Definitions (Type of company) Link Community: All content and Registered User information contained within the User ID controlled areas of Richman Investments. Community or Sub-Community: The spaces within which content is organized, usually by subject area (Communities also contain Sub-Communities).Copyright Protected Material: Material protected by applicable copyright laws, and for which an organization has not consented to its widespread distribution through external channels. Hyperlink: Provide a hyperlink to a page or item located elsewhere within Richman Investments on an external Web site. Permissions: The access rights provided to Registered Users to access particular Communities and Sub-Communities Restricted Community or Sub-Community: A Community of Sub-Community for which access is restricted to a pre-defined group of Registered Users.Registered User (Active User, User): An individual with an â€Å"Active† User ID for Richman Investments (User IDs are not deleted from the system. They are either â€Å"Active,† meaning they provide access, or â€Å"Disabled†). User: Presumed to be an Active User unless specifically referred to as a â€Å"Disabled User† User ID: A username and password for Richman Investments (Use r IDs are not deleted from the system. It is either â€Å"Active,† meaning it allows access, or â€Å"Disabled†)

Death of a Salesman and Gatsby - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1045 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/03/26 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Great Gatsby Essay Did you like this example? Stories can be told in many ways while still saying the same thing. Some are plays, some are novels, some are poems. Two such examples of stories which make similar statements in opposite modes of telling are those of a salesmans death and a man named Gatsby. Death of a Salesman is more confined to reality than The Great Gatsby in its strangeness of characters and in the structure in which the story is formed. The characters, such as Gatsby and Daisy, of The Great Gatsby are unrealistic ideas of themselves which easily fall apart or disappear entirely. Near the start of the novel, Gatsby vanished, leaving Nick alone in the unquiet darkness (Fitzgerald 21). Just before this, hed been trembling as though he felt that he might stop existing altogether, foreshadowing the near future of himself. Gatsby acted like little more than an apparition, the ghost of long-forgotten idea, shimmering in and out of space and time. Later, when he finally gets close to his goal, he suddenly changes and glows (Fitzgerald 89). Gatsby goes through another sudden change in who he is much like when he named himself Gatsby in the first place. Gatsby chooses a different persona to take his place whenever he sees fit. These machinations, eventually, fall apart. Gatsby dies, and Daisy, his supposed love who said she loved him, left and left no address (Fitzgerald 164). Both Gatsby and Daisy entirely disappeared, leavi ng just a trace in the memories of those who knew them, and not even much of a trace of who they really were. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Death of a Salesman and Gatsby" essay for you Create order The characters of Death of a Salesman, unlike those of The Great Gatsby, are grounded in reality and Willys psychosis is the only thing that makes events seem unrealistic. When Willy plays a game of cards with Charley, he says that hes getting awfully tired and uses the name Ben instead of Charley with Charley asking if he was just called Ben (Miller 44). That may have sounded a bit convoluted as it was meant to be. Willy does not quite know what is really happening and what is not while Charley is fully lucid. Willy tries to fix the situation by saying that Charley reminded [him] of [his] brother Ben (Miller 45). They try to continue playing and talking but Willy keeps getting distracted by his brother who isnt there until Charley is fed up and leaves. Charley does not have time for his delusional friend; he would like to continue to live in the real world. When Willy talks to Ben, who still is not there, again, and Linda comes along, she asks, did you have some cheese (Miller 52). While Willey is off in his fantasy, his wife is thinking of something so mundane as a dairy product. She is not worrying about a hardly real brother walking into a jungle, and later coming out rich, just whether or not her husband ate cheese. When Willy loses his job, he talks about how he once averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions in 1928 (Miller 82). His boss tries to get Willey back to reality and tell him he never did that but Willy would not listen. Willy stays in his far-off version of reality while everyone else stays earthbound. The Great Gatsby is written in a loose manner which makes the story less constrained to the real world. The narrator uses broad statements about times, such as talking about his younger and more vulnerable years (Fitzgerald 1) in the beginning, instead of starting at any specific point in time. He is not placed at specific moments, just ideas of, and allusions to, moments. Nick is unconcerned with when things happened so much as that they did. He also does not stay entirely consistent with how he tells the story. In the beginning, he almost entirely just describes things happening along with metaphors for those things. Later, he starts to add himself to the story he tells, giving himself opinions of everything and words for him to speak. He only starts to voice opinions when Gatsby thinks he has achieved his goal, and then just to tell Gatsby that he is acting like a little boy(Fitzgerald 88). The addition of such opinions adds bias to the story, making it even less bound to any trut h of reality than before. This story is all in the past tense, meaning it relies on memory to be told. Nick can say that he remembers that whole story (Fitzgerald 163) but people are often more sure about such things than they should be, thinking they remember more than they do. Death of a Salesman is written in a way that makes it deeply confined to reality. This story is a play, written with specific stage directions for how everyone should speak and where everything should be. One such stage direction, at the very beginning, talks of towering, angular shapes (Miller 11). Such strict geometry is something that anchors things down to Earth even more clearly than the geometry of curved spacetime that literally holds things in place on Earth. The fact that this story is a play, in itself, also helps hold it to reality. The characters are all meant to be played by real people on a physical stage. They are not meant to stay as words on a page; they are meant to come alive in the real world. This may have happened with The Great Gatsby in its becoming a movie but that story had to be adapted to that form; it was not written like that. Death of a Salesman is in the present tense, not relying on any memory to be told. Everything that happens is considered to be ha ppening right now even though Willy may see things a bit differently than that. Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby are two stories told in highly different ways that exemplify how different the stories are. They may both deal with death, The American Dream, and the recreation of the self but the stories get these themes across through perpendicular means. In the end, it does not matter how real a story is, especially a story of morals and ideals. Such a story simply needs to get its point across to you however the author deems necessary.