Read The Lowest Animal by Mark Twain

Read The Lowest Animal by Mark Twain Fairly early in his career – with the publication of numerous tall tales, comic essays  and the novels Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Mark Twain earned his reputation as one of Americas greatest humorists. But it wasnt until after his death in 1910 that most readers discovered Twains darker side. Composed in 1896, The Lowest Animal (which has appeared in different forms and under various titles, including Mans Place in the Animal World) was occasioned by the battles between Christians and Muslims in Crete. As editor Paul Baender has observed, The severity of Mark Twains views on religious motivation was part of the increasing cynicism of his last 20 years. An even more sinister force, in Twains view, was the Moral Sense, which he defines in this essay as the quality which enables [man] to do wrong. After clearly stating his thesis in the introductory paragraph, Twain proceeds to develop his argument through a series of comparisons and examples, all of which appear to support his claim that we have reached the bottom stage of development. The Lowest Animal by Mark Twain I have been scientifically studying the traits and dispositions of the lower animals (so-called), and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man. I find the result humiliating to me. For it obliges me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals; since it now seems plain to me that the theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one, this new and truer one to be named the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals. In proceeding toward this unpleasant conclusion I have not guessed or speculated or conjectured, but have used what is com ­monly called the scientific method. That is to say, I have sub ­jected every postulate that presented itself to the crucial test of actual experiment, and have adopted it or rejected it according to the result. Thus I verified and established each step of my course in its turn before advancing to the next. These experiments were made in the London Zoological Gardens, and covered many months of painstaking and fatiguing work. Before particularizing any of the experiments, I wish to state one or two things which seem to more properly belong in this place than further along. This in the interest of clearness. The massed experiments established to my satisfaction certain gener ­alizations, to wit: That the human race is of one distinct species. It exhibits slight variations (in color, stature, mental caliber, and so on) due to climate, environment, and so forth; but it is a species by itself, and not to be confounded with any other.That the quadrupeds are a distinct family, also. This fam ­ily exhibits variations – in color, size, food preferences, and so on; but it is a family by itself.That the other families – the birds, the fishes, the insects, the reptiles, etc. – are more or less distinct, also. They are in the procession. They are links in the chain which stretches down from the higher animals to man at the bottom. Some of my experiments were quite curious. In the course of my reading I had come across a case where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for the entertainment of an English earl. They had charming sport. They killed seventy-two of those great animals; and ate part of one of them and left the seventy-one to rot. In order to determine the differ ­ence between an anaconda and an earl (if any) I caused seven young calves to be turned into the anacondas cage. The grateful reptile immediately crushed one of them and swallowed it, then lay back satisfied. It showed no further interest in the calves, and no disposition to harm them. I tried this experiment with other anacondas; always with the same result. The fact stood proven that the difference between an earl and an anaconda is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isnt; and that the earl wantonly destroys what he has no use for, but the anaconda doesnt. This seemed to suggest that the anaconda was not descended from the earl. It also seemed to suggest that the earl was descended from the anaconda, and had lost a good deal in the transition. I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially appease that appetite. I furnished a hundred different kinds of wild and tame animals the opportunity to accumulate vast stores of food, but none of them would do it. The squirrels and bees and certain birds made accumulations, but stopped when they had gathered a winters supply, and could not be persuaded to add to it either honestly or by chicane. In order to bolster up a tottering reputa ­tion the ant pretended to store up supplies, but I was not de ­ceived. I know the ant. These experiments convinced me that there is this difference between man and the higher animals: he is avaricious and miserly; they are not. In the course of my experiments I convinced myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals. Roosters keep harems, but it is by consent of their concu ­bines; therefore no wrong is done. Men keep harems but it is by brute force, privileged by atrocious laws which the other sex were allowed no hand in making. In this matter man occupies a far lower place than the rooster. Cats are loose in their morals, but not consciously so. Man, in his descent from the cat, has brought the cats looseness with him but has left the unconsciousness behind (the saving grace which excuses the cat). The cat is innocent, man is not. Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man); he invented them. Among the higher  animals  there is no trace of them. They hide nothing; they are not ashamed. Man, with his soiled mind, covers himself. He will not even enter a drawing room with his breast and back naked, so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion.  Man  is The Animal that Laughs. But so does the monkey, as Mr. Darwin pointed out; and so does the Australian bird that is called the laughing jackass. No!  Man  is the Animal that Blushes. He is the only one that does it or has occasion to. At the head of this  article  we see how three monks were burnt to death a few days ago, and a prior put to death with atrocious cruelty. Do we inquire into the details? No; or we should find out that the prior was subjected to unprintable muti ­lations. Man (when he is a North American Indian) gouges out his prisoners eyes; when he is King John, with a nephew to render untroublesome, he uses a red-hot iron; when he is a reli ­gious zealot dealing with heretics in the Middle Ages, he skins his captive alive and scatters salt on his back; in the first Richards time he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it; in Columbuss time he captures a family of Spanish Jews and (but  that  is not printable; in our day in England a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearly to death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without being able to satisfacto ­rily explain how he got t hem). Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals. The cat plays with the frightened mouse; but she has this excuse, that she does not know that the mouse is suffering. The cat is moderate – unhumanly moderate: she only scares the mouse, she does not hurt it; she doesnt dig out its eyes, or tear off its skin, or drive splinters under its nails – man-fashion; when she is done playing with  it she  makes a sudden meal of it and puts it out of its trouble.  Man  is the Cruel Animal. He is alone in that distinction. The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses.  Man  is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and with  calm  pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out, as the Hessians did in our Revolu ­tion, and as the boyish Prince Napoleon did in the Zulu war, and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. Man  is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country – takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him.  Man  has done this in all the ages. There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed. Man  is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who en ­slaves. He has always been a slave in one form or  another,  and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day he is always some mans slave for wages, and does that mans  work; and  this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do  his  work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living. Man  is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy ex ­pense to grab slices of other  peoples  countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of  his. And in the intervals between cam ­paigns, he washes the blood off his hands and works for the universal brotherhood of man, with his mouth. Man  is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Ani ­mal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion – several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as  himself,  and cuts his throat if his theology isnt straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brothers path to happiness and heaven. He was at it in the time of the Caesars, he was at it in Mahomets time, he was at it  in  the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France a couple of cen ­turies, he was at it in England in Marys day, he has been at it ever since he first saw the light, he is at it today in Crete (as per the telegrams quoted above), he will be at it somewhere else tomor ­row. The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste. Man  is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal. Note his history, as sketched above. It seems plain to me that whatever he is he is not a reasoning animal. His record is the fantastic record of a maniac. I consider that the strongest count against his intelligence is the fact that with that record back of him he blandly sets himself up as the head animal of the lot: whereas by his own standards he is the bottom one. In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two  days  I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately. Next, in another  cage  I confined an Irish Catholic from Tipperary, and as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian from Aberdeen. Next a Turk from Constantinople; a Greek Christian from Crete; an Armenian; a Methodist from the wilds of Arkansas; a Buddhist from China; a Brahman from Benares. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Then I stayed away two whole days. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and fezzes and plaids and bones – not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court. One is obliged to concede that in true loftiness of character, Man cannot claim to approach even the meanest of the Higher Animals. It is plain that he is constitutionally incapable of  approaching  that altitude; that he is constitutionally afflicted with a Defect which must make such approach forever impossible, for it is manifest that this defect is permanent in him, indestructible, ineradicable. I find this Defect to be the Moral Sense. He is the only animal that has it. It is the secret of his degradation. It is the quality  which enables him to do wrong. It has no other office. It is incapable of performing any other function. It could never hate been intended to perform any other. Without it,  man  could do no wrong. He would rise at once to the level of the Higher Animals. Since the Moral Sense has but the one office, the one capacity to enable man to do wrong – it is  plainly  without value to him. It is as valueless to him as is  disease. In fact, it manifestly  is  a disease. Rabies is bad, but it is not so bad as this disease. Rabies enables a man to do a thing, which he could not do when in a healthy state: kill his neighbor with a poisonous bite. No one is the better man for having rabies: The Moral Sense enables a man to do wrong. It enables him to do wrong in a thousand ways. Rabies is an innocent disease, compared to the Moral Sense. No one, then, can be the better man for having the Moral Sense. What now, do we find the Primal Curse to have been? Plainly what it was in the beginning: the infliction upon  man  of the Moral Sense; the ability to distinguish good from evil; and with it, necessarily, the ability to do evil; for there can be no evil act without the presence of consciousness of it in the doer of it. And so I find that we have descended and degenerated, from some far ancestor (some microscopic atom wandering at its pleasure between the mighty horizons of a drop of water perchance) insect by insect, animal by animal, reptile by reptile, down the long highway of  smirchless  innocence, till we have reached the bottom stage of development – nameable as the Human Being. Below us – nothing. Nothing but the Frenchman.

Has Technology Made Life Easier or Harder Essay

Has Technology Made Life Easier or Harder - Essay Example This paper will be committed to outlining how technology has made life easier from the perspective of a business executive, stay at home parent, and a high school student. To begin with, technology has made the life of a business executive easier through innovation. For a company to have a competitive edge in business, it has to be innovative. Necessity is the driving force for every organization since every business executive wants his business to be among the best. Technology has enhanced innovation since it provides business executives with a wide range of information that they can use to invent an idea. Innovation is a symbol of growth that pulls customers toward an organization and gratitude to technology; this has become easy for most business executives. It is through efficient innovation streaming from technology that business executives are able to maintain a competitive edge for their organizations (Business Technology Office 1-6). Additionally, technology has made the life of a business executive easier through effective marketing. Marketing is a business strategy used by an organization to make the consumers aware of its products and services. It is through marketing that consumers become aware of an organizations existence and become interested in its services. It is important that a business executive invests time and finances to upgrade its advertising strategies. Technology has made the marketing strategies of a business executive easier since an organization can subscribe online to a marketing agency. In addition, the business executive can open a blog site where he can post articles with key words and upon search by the consumers; they can access the organization products. Technology has made it cheaper to market since all a business executive need is access to the internet and a computer to use to post his articles. It is indeed evident that technology has made the marketing life of a business executive easier (Business Technology Office 1-6) . Technology has also made the life of a business executive easier through quick access to information. Knowledge is essential to a business executive since one has to keep abreast with recent information. Technology has made this possible enabling a business executive to have fast access to information via technological devices. This information is essential in planning and in implementing strategies to give the business executive a competitive edge. Information accessed through technological devices is credible and up to date and is from scholars who might not be accessed in local libraries. Easy access to credible relevant information with the help of technology has made the life of a business executive easier (Business Technology Office 1-6). Moreover, technology has made the life of a business executive easier by giving him higher revenues at minimum cost. This is achieved in a variety of diverse ways. To begin with, technology has made communication for the business executive cheaper, cutting on communication cost. Prior to technology the business executive had to either go personally to his business colleagues or send letters that may delay in arrival. With technology, the business executive just sends an electronic mail that is delivered immediately and urgent meetings can be convened with no difficulty. This reduction in communication costs translates to higher revenues since the business executive will in turn invest the saved cost in his business. The increased revenues which is the main goal as

What would you do as an educator to make spanish speakers (parents and Assignment

What would you do as an educator to make spanish speakers (parents and students) feel comfortable when they meet you in a school setting - Assignment Example onal domains that are being instilled in them and hence it would be a point of advantage to take into consideration their grey areas and highlight the shortcomings for their own betterment in the long run. I believe I would do them a great service if I look after their needs and requirements and then devise a way which could eventually take care of their learning mechanisms in the long term scheme of things (Goff 2003). This would facilitate them in their quest to achieve greater things within the fields of education and learning. I would also devise the exact ways and means through which they could be assisted in the most feasible manner as far as their learning methodologies and mechanisms are related. These elements are indeed significant as these dictate the kind of optimism that is needed on the part of an educator which I have to take care of at the end of the

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Project Management - Essay Example Eurotunnel could not afford to delay the work as it had to incur huge loses of it. But the work got delayed due to the design problems of the Shuttle Wagons. The safety norms were very important as the channel tunnel was a 20 Km long enclosed tunnel under the sea. Fire accidents were very common in such situations. The IGC was responsible to evaluate the safety, security and environmental standards of the project. They found flaws in the design of the Shuttle wagon. Due to this fact, the project was getting delayed. The company had to again redesign its Shuttle by installing fire doors to secure the shuttle in times of fire accidents. The other changes in design led to modifications in other parts of the shuttle wagon. Eurotunnel, the owner of the channel tunnel had to incur extra cost and pay high interest due to such delays (Kirkland, n. d.). Project Background The Channel Tunnel was prepared keeping in mind the fire and the life safety issues. The designs of the channel tunnel and the shuttle wagon travelling through it were approved by the IGC. The channel tunnel comprised of two tunnels for shuttle wagons and in between these two tunnels there is a path or road mainly used for surveillance. These tunnels and the path are interconnected at three intervals and proper ventilation system was also there within the channel tunnel (Whitaker, n. d.).The shuttle wagon is the largest vehicle in the railway systems of the world. These shuttle wagons cover almost half of the tunnel space. The shuttle trains were about 776 m long and had 28 wagons and 2 locomotives. The shuttle wagons were manufactured by the Euroshuttle Wagons Consortium. These shuttle

Sports Essays Eating Disorders Athletes

Sports Essays Eating Disorders Athletes Eating disorders can be common among athletes. This may be due to the pressure of the sporting background that commonly precipitates the beginning of these problems. In this day and age certain obsessive behaviour such as extreme exercise and also erratic eating habits have become a normal part of society. Williamson et al suggests that (â€Å"Concern about an athletes body size and shape has become greater than ever before due to the pressure for thinness from coaches and also from athletic performance, and negative self appraisal of athletic achievement†) It has been suggested that the majority of successful athletes are strong minded, and set almost impossible targets for themselves and work long hard hours to achieve these targets. However these factors can bring on eating disorders that can often be found in anorexia and bulimic patients. Disordered eating is possibly found in most sporting activities. The athletes most at risk from developing or indeed having an eating disorder are those who engage in sports that require certain characteristics. For instance gymnasts and also figure skaters are under extreme and constant pressure to preserve a chid like body. Chaotic eating disorders are prevalent in girl athletes but not so much in boy athletes. In 1992 the NCCA conducted a survey of athletes. The NCCA stated (â€Å"93% of the programs reporting eating disorders were in womens sports) (Dying to win 1994 suggests that † Some male athletes do use extreme methods for losing weight, but an important difference exists between these and the self-starvation strategies of anorexics)† For instance, a weight lifters view of his body is not warped. When the weight lifter is not in competition he can regain the weight easily. This suggests that it is possible for the body to return to normal when the athletes sport ing career comes to an end. But unfortunately this is not the case in females. Eating disorders often happen to young girls who become obsessed with avoiding the progression of becoming a woman. These girls will go to extreme measures to keep a child like physique. This is what gymnastics are told they must do in order to stay in gymnasts competition. Because of this it is a gymnastics biggest fear of developing a womanly shape that might obstruct their performance. Sundgot-Borgen 1994 states that † This could provoke a conflict in which an athlete struggles to prevent or counter the natural physical changes precipitated by growth and maturity† many gymnasts have been training since early childhood. In taking part in such specific training before the body reaches maturity these girls risk losing out in a which another sport that they could do in adult hood when their gymnastic career ends. The leading UK charity for people with eating disorders is called B-eat. This stands for beating eating disorders. Beat surveyed 600 young people who suffer from an eating disorders-eat results were: Only 1 percent of children felt they could talk to their parents about their eating related concerns. 9 percent of children felt they might be able to talk to someone at school. 17 percent of children felt they might be able to talk to a doctor or nurse 92 percent of children felt they couldnt tell anyone. B-eat states that† currently the number of people receiving treatment for anorexia or bulimia to be near 90, 000, while many more people have eating disorders undiagnosed†. So of these 92%, the 17% who felt they might be able to talk to a doctor or nurse. So might benefit from the programme. If 92 percent of children feel that they could not tell anyone that they had an eating disorder then it is obvious that there is a need for young people to be educated about the dangers of eating disorders. There is also a need for counsellors or something similar to the Samaritans. So that children have the opportunity to talk about eating disorders to people who will not judge them. The will just listen and give advice if it is asked for. Gymnasts are only too aware about how their slender body shape can mean winning or losing a competition. This one of the main reasons why gymnasts are more at risk from developing an eating disorder. The qualities that make a good gymnast such as high expectations, being compulsive and also striving to be the best are all key characteristics connected to eating disorders. These statistics suggest that there is a need for a well being programme targeting female gymnasts of secondary school age. In beats survey 92% of children felt that they could not tell anyone that they have an eating disorder.17% said they might be able to talk to a doctor or nurse about it. In order to combat this discussion groups could take place on a monthly basis, as part of the gymnastic curriculum in local clubs such as the YMCA (The YMCA is part of the voluntary sector that rely mainly on good will donations and also club membership. It is a non-profit organisation). However conducting a programme surrounding eating disorders should be done with caution and awareness that the people most vulnerable will take any comment or criticism to heart. For example taking a persons weight and vital statistics is not a good way to try and combat eating disorders. This will only make the person mare aware abut body issues even more so if others in the group are thinner or have a smaller body mass index. For this reason, YMCA volunteers should receive training on how to approach and discuss the subject. In 1992 Claire Vickery founded the Butterfly Foundation. In Australia. The Foundation offers support to those people who suffer from an eating disorder and also poor or negative self body image. Claire was said to have discovered â€Å"gaps† in the† public health system† for the people who are and continue to suffer from eating disorders. The Butterfly Foundation suggests that† there is more pressure than ever before on young people who are exposed to highly stylized unrealistic images in the media at an alarming rate every day† This in turn can lead to thoughts of failure unsafe expectations, resulting in little confidence negative thoughts about body image. The Butterfly Foundation can offer support to educational establishments and also local community groups in the structure of workshops presentations to aid youngsters to develop their body image, self-esteem media understanding. The Eating Difficulties Education Network is another organisation that deals with eating disorders. EDEN is community service, which is based in Auckland New Zealand. The organisation is run by a group of women who can provide information and also assistance for those individuals who suffer from eating disorders, and also support their family and close ones. Eden can provide counselling and also workshops for Health professional, the community and also educational establishments. Edens main focus is for the promotion of â€Å"body satisfaction† and takes the approach that you can be happy whatever your size may be. It may be that girls will respond better to women speakers and counsellors. EDEN works in two main areas. These being, working with the people who have eating problems and also working towards the prevention of eating disorders among young people. . EDEN states that† dieting is ineffective and potentially leads to weight and body image difficulties in all their forms. Aiming to work with individuals to develop body satisfaction and seek to create environments that are accepting of size diversity and which support body trust†. At present in the United Kingdom there is little support for vulnerable children including athletes in relation to eating disorders. Only B-eat tries to help combat eating disorders-eat is relatively unheard of and is not well publicized. If the Butterfly Foundation in Australia has been in operation since 1992 then this would suggest that the foundation is working well in helping combat eating disorders. The United Kingdom would profit to follow a similar programme. The programme could include areas such as: Workshops, which are interactive, group discussions activities on Self Esteem Body Image: group discussions are a good way to get people to open up and discuss their ideas/feeling on the relevant subject. Open-ended questions tend to get the best response from people. Open-ended questions ask specific questions which cannot be answered with a simple yes/no or a specific piece of information. In extreme cases, referal to a mental health practitioner. Using a series of cards with different statements is a good way to help children open up and discuss their feeling. It is also a good way of getting children involved in self-esteem group activities. Media literacy uses an â€Å"inquiry based instruction model† This model helps motivate people into asking questions in relation to what they see in the media whether they watch it or read it. Media literacy provides different means of assessment tools to help people look at the media and to help people become aware of one sided views in the media. Media Literacy can help provide people with greater perceptive of understanding the role of mass media and bias media in blocking views of reality. Presentations are a good way of getting important information across to the audience 15mins or 20mins presentations could be used, as the audience will be young teenagers and/or children and may not have a long attention span that an adult would have. These presentations would include questions to/from the audience, but do not involve activities. For this reason they can be delivered to large numbers of students for example up to 50 at a time. The following topics could be used in presentations: Self Esteem Body perception and Image: Body image and perception is how a person feels and views their physical appearance. A lot of young people, mainly in their early teens, suffer from low self -esteem this is because as children develop into adolescents, they become aware about how others see and perceive them. Media Influences: recently, in the past few years it has become† politically correct† for the media to make some attempt to fight eating disorders. Magazines and TV shows and adverts featuring the misfortune of anorexia and bulimia, but this hard work is proving to be unsuccessful when they are presented in the usual perspective. For instance, how can one think that a teenage magazine is actually motivated to beat eating disorders when the stories relating to that area are covered by advertisements featuring childlike looking role models. People often feel that the do not â€Å"measure up† this is attributable to the anxiety of trying to live up to unhealthy† cultural expectations† of physical body perfection. BUPA suggests â€Å"Children and young people need to do 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day. This needs to include at least two weekly activities that produce high physical stress on bones, such as dancing, jumping or aerobics to aid development†. (Muscat, 2002). Suggests† Another method that coaches, parents (family) and athletes may use to help prevent disordered eating in sport is to avoid making derogatory comments about the female body.† Research shows that female athletes who report critical comments, compared with those who do not, also report greater disordered eating. Such athletes clearly suffer from body-image anxiety. Findings indicate that critical comments related to disordered eating behaviours are from multiple sources (Rieves Cash, 1996) rather than limited to coaches and peers (Beals, Manore, 1994; Berry Howe, 2000; Sundgot-Boren, 1994; Williamson et al., 1995). In addition to comments from coaches and peers, female athletes reported critical comments from parents, grandparents, medical professionals, siblings, and teachers (Muscat, 2002) Therefore this makes the task of altering their self-image extremely complex. Evaluation of the programme could be in the form of anonymous post cards that would be posted in a box. The cards would allow for comments and feedback both positive and negative, which will be essential to the success of the programme and will allow for changes to be made if needed. So the foregoing is the proposed programme. The media is partly to blame for placing a huge importance on what a person looks like and also what size they are. The television and also glossy magazines continually flood our brains with images of body perfection and images of attractive perfect looking people. These messages, which are specifically targeted at females, motivate people into believing that in order to be successful you have to be good looking and slim. This media stereotyping is thought to be the causes why of only ten percent of men have eating disorders, while 90 percent are women. Eating disorders are said to stem from addictive and compulsive behaviours.Other people who have the same or similar traits may turn to alchol,be drug users,self abuse or gamble.People who suffer from eating disorders also suffer from low self esteem,and also a lack of direction in life.This may be a reason why gymnasts are prone to eating disorders.They realise their careers will be over when they reach their mid 20s and do not know what their life will hold from them beyond then. McPherson et al. (1989) states, â€Å"Deviant Behaviour is a product of numerous interacting social and cultural forces. These include an inadequate socialisation process; lack of, or failure of social controls; perceived inequities in a situation; the individuals definition of the situation; and the labelling of individuals who engage in deviance. More specifically, one learns deviant behaviour by directly and indirectly acquiring opportunities†. Over conformity is a behavioral characteristic commonly found in sport. Overcomformity goes way beyond normally accepted rules or regulations that it interferes with the persons health and well-being. Over conformity is behavior grounded in a naive acceptance of rules and regulations. According to Coakley p.166† deviance grounded in overconformilty is often identified as an indication of commitment and dedication, even though it may be dangerous and have serious consequences for the health and well being of self and others†. According to Dying to win 1994 â€Å" a large percentage of gymnastic coaches are constantly instructing the girls on how to count calories, how to act, what to wear, and what to say in public† Because of this these girls feel that the only part of their lives that they are able to control is the food and drink that they consume. Because these coaches are authority figures to these gymnasts any remark made will have deep impact and be taken to heart. One of the main reasons that these girls embark on such drastic diets is because their coach suggests that they need to lose some weight in order from them to look their best. These girls are young and vulnerable to such comments and remarks that they be seen as a basis for enhanced routines. Athletes can be under the illusion that to be a real athlete they must make sacrifices whether it is to your own body or to others and pay the price to increase skills in order to stay in the industry as long as they can. Judging gymnasts ability is not objective. Each of the Judges makes a score according to what they believe makes a good routine. The look of the gymnast may control their perceptions and in doing so affect their final verdict. This reinforces the idea that in order to be at the top of their game a gymnast has to maintain a childlike body. This encourages deviant behaviour, as these girls will do anything to be a winner including going way beyond the norms of society. A terrible example of when a judges decision helped destroy a girls life is an event with gymnast Christy Henrich who was a top contestant in gymnastics in the latter part of the 1980s. She died of a multiple organ failure due to her fight with anorexia and associated eating disorders. At a meeting in Budapest, an American. Judge stated that† Henrich would have to lose weight if she wanted to make the Olympic team.† When Henrich returned to America her mum remembers the first words out of her daughters mouth:† she was fat and she would have to lose weightthat was the only way she would reach her dreams†. Because of these judges tough rules coakley p174 suggests that the roots of deviance go deeper than the individual desire to win or make money. These roots are grounded in the very values promoted through the sport ethic itself. Therefore, much of the deviance in sports is most accurately identified as a social issue rather than just a personal problem of indi vidual athletes. Eitzen, 1988, States that† Within sport, deviance involves violating the rules of a game or organisation, going beyond commonly accepted definitions of fair- play and sportsmanship, and intentionally using illegal means to intimidate or injure an opponent† This means athletes are willing to do anything to get to the top of their game e.g. drug use for weight control and/or stimulants for endurance. No matter how bad the end consequence is. Christy Enrich died as a result of her deviant behaviour spiralling out- with her control. The increase of commercialism in sports has lead to more rules and more pressure to win and be at the top of the game. This in turn has lead to deviance becoming widespread due to the fact that the top judges are reluctant or powerless to punish all acts of deviance. Due to government intervention and equal rights in athletes participation in sports female participation has increased. The first law in America to disallow sex discrimination in any shape or form among people of educational establishment was named† title X†This law was enforced to allow greater gender equality. This means that no one can be discriminated against in relation to gender. Under the â€Å"Title X law both men and women must be treated the same and fairly without judgment. †Title X† covers all areas of government policy including recruitment, housing, insurance and athletics. In the United Kingdom similar law to â€Å"Title X† this law is called â€Å"The Brighton Decleration.†The main aim of the declaration is to â€Å"develop a sporting culture which enables and values the full involvement of women in every aspect of life†. When sport is practiced equally and also fairly it can help make society a better place and also encourage equality. A good example of this is the Olympic games. Sport is a cultural activity, which, practiced fairly and equitably, enriches society and encourages friendship between nations. â€Å"Sport is an activity which offers the individual the opportunity of self-knowledge, self-expression and fulfillment; personal achievement, skill acquisition and demonstration of ability; social interaction, enjoyment, good health and well-being†. (The Brighton declaration) In society, sport plays a part in the culture of every nation. Sport participation in women varies vastly between nations. Females make up more than half of the worlds population. However in sport participation is still predominately male. In recent years despite growing participation of women in sporting activities and also improved opportunities due to laws being past on equal opportunities such as â€Å"Title X† and â€Å"The Brighton Declaration† women in high positions within sport has not followed. Females continue to be undermined and miss- represented in relation to management roles within sport especially at the top ranks. Equal opportunities will continue not to exist and be achieved within sport because of the lack of these role models. For example, women aducation and their ensuring comments might persuade young female athletes away from deviant behavior in relation to body weight and image. In conclusion, eating disorders can happen to anybody. It seems to be most prevalent in young teenage girls. Gymnasts, more than any other athletes are more at risk from eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. This may be due to the fact that gymnasts, especially the females, are put under regular stress to keep to a very low body weight for visual presentation to the judges. Many judges award points for small body size alone. Because of this there is a need to educate young teenage girls to the dangers of having an eating disorder. As Coakley states â€Å"deviance grounded in overconformilty is often identified as an indication of commitment and dedication, even though it may be dangerous and have serious consequences for the health and well being of self and others†. These gymnasts believe that the have to be the thinnest to be at the top of their game. Their coaches reinforce this idea. According to (Dying to win 1994) a large percentage of gymnastic coaches are constantly instructing the girls on how to count calories, how to act, what to wear. Because of this these girls feel that the only part of their lives that they are able to control is the food and drink that they consume. Because these coaches are role models to these gymnasts any remark made will have deep impact and be taken to heart. One of the main reasons that these girls embark on such drastic diets is because their coach suggests that they need to lose some weight in order from them to look their best. These girls are young and vulnerable to such comments and remarks that may be seen as a basis for enhanced routines. And so if there were more females in positions of authority, e.g. judges, they could counteract this perspective. According to Health magazine, April 2002,†32% of female TV network characters are underweight, while only 5% of females in the U.S. audience are underweight†. In contrast, actors who are older, frumpier, scruffy, perhaps physically challenged, represent evil and also stupid people. The majority seem to be heavy. Once more according to Health magazine,† only 3% of female TV network characters are obese, while 25% of U.S. women fall into that category† This shows that the media is partly to blame for eating disorders in young people. No one wants to be known as heavy, overweight or scruffy. We need more realism for example the normal size for a woman is more like Opra Winfery. According to B—eats survey of 600 young people with eating disorders 92% of children felt that they could not tell anybody that the had an eating disorder. This suggests that there are a large number of children that need help and also someone to talk to and discuss their feelings in relation to eating disorders. However, of these 92%, 17% would seem amenable to help. The Butterfly Foundation in Australia and also EDEN in Auckland, New Zealand are both for non-profit which help young girls combat eating disorders. Both organisations offer support and counselling. Though different means of evaluation such as presentations to schools on the dangers of eating disorders. By following a programme similar to both the Butterfly Foundation and also Eden Britain can begin to tackle the growing problem of eating disorders. In which takes a multidisciplinary approach in schools, the voluntary sector, sports establishments and also G.P, mental health referrals. Government funding could be ring-fenced money for programme funding. More women of authority and also approachable councillors and training may require women instead of men. References About eating disorders/what is an eating disorder. Beat [internet]. Available from: [Accessed on 07 April 2008]. Berger, John. (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: BBC/Harmondsworth: Penguin. Body image. Hms Harvard. [Internet]. Available from:www.hms.harvard.edu [Accessed 18April 2008] Coakley, J (2007) Sports in Society: Issues Controversies. International edition. 9th edition. McGraw Hill, New York. Coakley, J. and Dunning, E. (2002) Handbook of Sports Studies, London, Sage. Eating disorder statistics. [Internet]. Available from: [Accessed 03 May 2008]. Eitzen, D.S. (1988). Ethical problems in American sportJournal of Sport and Social Issues. Garner DM, Garfinkel PE. (1980) Socio-cultural factors in the development of anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med. Hargreaves, J. (1994) Sporting Females, London: Routledge. Hargreaves, J. (1986) Sport, Power Culture, Cambridge: Polity. Holt, R. (1989) Sport the British: A Modern History, Oxford, University Press. Horne, J, et al., (1999) Understanding Sport: An Introduction to the Sociological and Cultural Analysis of Sport, London, EFN Spon. McPherson, B.D.; Curtis, J.E.; and Loy, J.W.; (1989), The Social Significance Of Sport, Human Kinetics Books Illinois. The Butterfly Foundation. [Internet]. Available from,http://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org/ [Accessed 12 May 2008] Ideal weight varies across cultures, but body image dissatisfaction pervades [Internet] Available from, http://www.physorg.com/news [Accessed 12 May 2008]

Hound Of The Baskervilles :: Hound Of The Baskervilles Essays

Hound Of The Baskervilles Setting - About 1884-85, most of story takes place at Baskerville   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hall in Devonshire.   The introduction and the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   conclusion of this classic mystery occur at Sherlock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Holmes' residence on Baker Street in London. Plot -   Ã‚  Ã‚   We begin our story on Baker Street where Holmes and Watson talk to James Mortimer.   He gives him the history of the Baskerville family starting with Hugo, the first victim of the hound, all the way up to the most recent slaying, of Sir Charles Baskerville.   The next of kin is notified and he is to carry on the family legacy and live his remaining years at Baskerville hall in Devonshire.   Now of course this was the place whereupon Sir Charles Baskerville was slayed by this vicious hound.   Ã‚  Ã‚   As the story begins to develop, Holmes sends Watson to Devonshire with Sir Henry to gather information on the recent murder.   During his inquires he came across many figures, there was a Mr. & Miss Stapleton who were naturalists and also lived on the moor.   They portrayed themselves as brother and sister, but as you will find out later, they were more intimate than that.   Ã‚  Ã‚   At about this time, a convict escaped who was referred to as "The Notting Hill Criminal", his real name though was Selden Barrymore.   Ã‚  Ã‚   One night while Watson and Sir Henry were in the Hall, they observed Mr. Barrymore (the Butler) sending signals through the window using a candle. Through questioning he divulged that he was really doing a favour for his wife for the escaped criminal was his brother in-law.   Baffled by this Sir Henry and Watson went to go and arrest this villain, they reached him in time, but Selden managed to evade the authorities once more.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Through remenents of a letter written to Sir Charles Baskerville prior to his death, it was written by a Miss Laura Lyons from Coombe Tracey.   She wrote this letter to finance her divorce and seeing how Sir Charles was a nice man she thought he would agree.   The meeting was in Yew Alley in front of the gate at around 2am.

Fredrick Douglas Paper

Fredrick Douglass The analysis By Justin Ruano 11/14/11 Hist Am Civ 1607-1877 [pic] Have you ever wondered to yourself if you firmly belief in something that you could understand the opposite side of it? Well if you just so happened to believe in slavery and I were to tell you a story about an American born slave that is making his case to abolish I, would you listen? In the book Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, An American slave & Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Fredrick Douglass in his portion of the book goes on to make his case that slavery should be abolished.The way he goes about reasoning why it should be abolished is first he tells us about his experience during his period of slavery and in that experience it explains with a main point why and how it works. Secondly, he uses this book as a tool to help expose the true evil of slavery and uses once again experience which is a helpful thing. Lastly, he uses the fact that slave owners make the slaves ignorant o f their age, where they were born, and who their parents are. Fredrick Douglass throughout this book uses experiences to show why slavery should be abolished.Fredrick Douglass was born in 1818 and he died in 1895, and he was born into slavery in Talbot Country, Maryland. (Fredrick Douglass facts page) In chapter 1, Fredrick Douglass said that he had witnessed these beatings and that it had happened often. â€Å"I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remembered it. †¦ It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 21) For example, the last paragraph of( page 21) going to( page 22) is the first experience of the beatings he witnessed. He took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back entirely naked†¦. † By using experiences, he is able to show people that even some s lave owners kill their slaves from beating. Murder is a sin especially for the religious people who were not so affected by this. For example on the bottom of (page 25) Fredrick Douglass Notes that Mr. Severe was called a very cruel man. Also noted that he had seen him whip a woman and take great pleasure in doing so. Since when does anyone take pleasure in torturing people is my question.For Fredrick Douglass, this book was his greatest resource to convincing people to abolish slavery because, slavery did not affect many people and especially for white people, they of course were not going to care. The challenge fir Douglass was that people didn’t know and they didn’t care. That was his biggest challenge. Books don’t lie. For Fredrick Douglass, he would have liked to be alive during the time slavery was officially gone. For example why this book helped him make his case is because he went through these things and witnessed these events. His biography of how sla very really was like back then.Beatings to the point slaves would die due to a lot of bleeding. The main point for this reason of how he went about to explain his case is this book. He wrote it with events, names, dates. Things that define what history is. Another example of how his book was a tool to help him make his case is that throughout this whole book he talked about a lot of violence from the beatings that he witnessed. In the First chapter he mentioned how he was roughly 7 years old and he witnessed a brutal beating his master gave one of the salves that was with Fredrick Douglass. Pg 21) Finally, by using this book as a tool he exposed evil by once again talking about his experiences about slavery. Fredrick Douglass a few times in the book says that the slave-owners tend to make the slaves ignorant of their age, where there from, and even their parents. For example, he says on the very first page of chapter one that, â€Å" By far the large part of the slaves know as litt le of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. †(Douglass pg 17) For someone to not know their age or mainly anything about themselves is pretty ridiculous.He also says on the same page that he doesn’t really know anyone who even knows their own birthday, nor is he knowledgeable of his age. For him just trying to make his case about slavery should be abolished is hard enough. To even have a hard time to find out his age is also pretty unbelievable. Also for him once again trying to make a case that it should be abolished was very difficult but to not even recall his mother’s death or anything is pretty sad. For the people he is trying to convince is also an advance fro his case because he must know that none of them would want to be like him not remembering or knowing anything about himself.Lastly, For Fredrick Douglass to be able to learn his year of birth from a conversation he overheard from his master when trying to make his case would in his mind help him to win the audience he has. Throughout the course of the book Fredrick Douglass makes his case about how slavery should be abolished. The way he goes about that is he talks about his experiences so that his audience will get a good view of exactly what is going on and then determine what works. He then uses the book as a tool so that he has an even stronger case about why it should be abolished.Finally, he talks about how the slave-owners would rather have their slaves to be ignorant about how exactly they are and when they were born, age, and even parents. Hes uses these three things to make his case of why slavery should be abolished and the biggest â€Å"how† is using the book as a tool. Personal Reaction to Fredrick Douglass Part of reading My personal reaction to the book is that I thought there was a lot of emotion that he spilled out into this book and that is what truly made this book enjoyable for me to read. Biographies are my favorite types of books.When I first picked up this book I though it wasn’t going to be a very good book because reading books about someone’s slavery story isn’t what I like to read but as I started to get into the book I thought it was very hard to put down and it was one of the best books that I have read. It was something new to me by reading it but to me it was very good about learning how his life basically went dealing with being a slave and then trying to argue how slavery should be abolished. Very good narrative and I would defitnely recommend this book for someone to read.