The Aztec Empire History Essays - Aztec Gods, Aztec, Tenochtitlan

The Aztec Empire History annon The center of the Aztec civilization was the Valley of Mexico, a huge, oval basin about 7,500 feet above sea level. The Aztecs were formed after the Toltec civilization occurred when hundreds of civilians came towards Lake Texcoco. In the swamplands there was only one piece of land to farm on and it was totally surrounded by more marshes. The Aztec families somehow converted these disadvantages to a mighty empire known as the Aztec Empire. People say the empire was partially formed by a deeply believed legend. As the legend went, it said that Aztec people would create an empire in a swampy place where they would see an eagle eating a snake, while perched on a cactus, which was growing out of a rock in the swamplands. This is what priests claimed they saw when entering the new land. By the year 1325 their capital city was finished. They called it Tenochtitlan. In the capital city, aqueducts were constructed, bridges were built, and chinapas were made. Chinapas were little islands formed by pilled up mud. On these chinapas Aztecs grew their food. The Aztec Empire included many cities and towns, especially in the Valley of Mexico. The early settlers built log rafts, then covered them with mud and planted seeds to create roots and develop more solid land for building homes in this marshy land. Canals were also cut out through the marsh so that a typical Aztec home had its back to a canal with a canoe tied at the door. In the early 1400s, Tenochtitlan joined with Texcoco and Tlacopan, two other major cities in the Valley of Mexico. Tenochtitlan became the most powerful member of the alliance. Montezuma I ruled from 1440 to 1469 and conquered large areas to the east and to the south. Montezuma's successors expanded the empire until it extended between what is now Guatemala and the Mexican State of San Luis Potosi. Montezuma II became emperor in 1502 when the Aztec Empire was at the height of its power. In 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes landed on the East Coast of Mexico and marched inland to Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards were joined by many of the Indians who were conquered and forced to pay high taxes to the emperor. Montezuma did not oppose Cortes because he thought that he was the God Quetzalcoatl. An Aztec legend said that Quetzalcoatl was driven away by another rival god and had sailed across the sea and would return some day. His return was predicted to come in the year Ce Acatl on the Aztec Calendar. This corresponded to the year 1519. Due to this prediction, Montezuma II thought Quetzalcoatl had returned when Cortes and his troops invaded. He did not resist and was taken prisoner by Cortes and his troops. In 1520, the Aztecs rebelled and drove the Spaniards from Tenochtitlan, but Montezuma II was killed in the battle. Cortes reorganized his troops and resurged into the city. Montezuma's successor, Cuauhtemoc, surrendered in August of 1520. The Spaniards, being strong Christians, felt it was their duty to wipe out the temples and all other traces of the Aztec religion. They destroyed Tenochtitlan and built Mexico City on the ruins. However, archaeologists have excavated a few sites and have uncovered many remnants of this society. Language: The Aztec spoke a language called Nahuatl (pronounced NAH waht l). It belongs to a large group of Indian languages, which also include the languages spoken by the Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and other tribes of western North America. The Aztec used pictographs to communicate through writing. Some of the pictures symbolized ideas and others represented the sounds of the syllables. Food: The principal food of the Aztec was a thin cornmeal pancake called a tlaxcalli. (In Spanish, it is called a tortilla.) They used the tlaxcallis to scoop up foods while they ate or they wrapped the foods in the tlaxcalli to form what is now known as a taco. They hunted for most of the meat in their diet and the chief game animals were deer, rabbits, ducks and geese. The only animals they raised for meat were turkeys, rabbits, and dogs. Arts and Crafts: The Aztec sculptures, which adorned their temples and other buildings, were among the most elaborate in all of the Americas. Their purpose was to please the gods and they attempted to do that in everything they did. Many of the sculptures reflected their perception of their gods and how they interacted in their lives. The most famous surviving Aztec sculpture is the

Improvements Essays

Improvements Essays Improvements Essay Improvements Essay Kevin Cao Professor McQueeney English Composition 1 24 October 2012 Annotated Bibliography In the beginning of her essay Organ Sales Will Save Lives, Joanna Mackay says that there are thousands of people that are in need of kidneys and thousands that are willing to sell their kidneys. So what’s stopping these people from getting the kidneys? We are. Our government has prohibited the sale of human organs. The government should not ban this. In fact, they should actually regulate it.People’s lives are on the line because they need these organs immediately. A family member who offers to donate a kidney to another family member could not do so because the government has banned it. The government should regulate the sale of human organs because people are being forced to wait in line for a cadaverous kidney for ten years. â€Å"Were losing some 6,000 people per year to the organ shortage - more than twice the number killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,† says Dav id L.Kaserman, a professor of Economics at Auburn University in Alabama. â€Å"Its completely unethical to let so many people die every year simply because some people think its wrong to pay donors. † People that are in need of a kidney will do anything to obtain one however they could. Once a kidney has stopped working, nothing can be done to revive it. When a person’s kidney has failed, there are only two options to treat it: dialysis or kidney transplantation. Dialysis is temporary and acts as an artificial kidney. Dialysis is very expensive and harsh.Dialysis filters your blood the way a kidney would. It doesn’t work 100%, but it works. People who are being treated with dialysis will be hooked up to a machine for the rest of their lives. When patients undergo dialysis, they should not add any stress because it will make them feel very faint and tired. Adding stress will keep you from doing your daily routines. Joanna MacKay says in her essay, â€Å"in the y ear 2000 alone, 2,583 Americans died while waiting for a kidney transplant; worldwide the number of deaths is around 50,000 (93).If governments had regulated the sale of human organs, these people would have lived. People who offer to donate a kidney should be able to. The government should not be able to deny these people’s request. Mackay, Joanna. â€Å"Organ Sales Will Save Lives. † Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. Ed. Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 92-96. Print. Hansen, Brian. â€Å"Organ Shortage. † CQ Researcher. 21 Feb. 2003. Web. 24 Mar. 2003.

I will put it later Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I will put it later - Essay Example She reminisced how they, as a young couple, experienced the difficulties they have been through as a consequence of their student loans and related it to how the president feels toward students’ needs and what he did to help them get better services. The content of her speech were mostly based from her familial background and experiences. The speech seems well rehearsed because even though the speaker’s own stories were told, the result was short and to the point. If the speech was done extemporaneously, there is the great possibility that Obama could have gotten around the bush but it was not. Her stories were carefully chosen and her statement were meticulously versed to sound as formal as possible but personal enough to create the drama that made her listeners agree with her thoughts and applaud her. Taking into consideration the fact that the first lady is already used to delivering speeches, one might say it could have been an impromptu. However, the speech seems to have been purposefully made to impress the audience by reaching out to them with the message that the family is not any different from all the other families represented by the participants. Moreover, the stories have been strategically arranged not just to present a smooth flow of the narration but to allow also the speaker to put in the essence of why she was telling the stories. For instance, she talked a lot about their parents so that a listener might wonder about their roles in what she was trying to tell them. Eventually, it was made clear that her speech was also a call to the people to continue working despite the hardships they experience, thinking not about their present situation but hoping that their children or grandchildren’s future would be better. The First Lady made an impressive speech. It was so effective that it accomplished its goal of having the

Falling oil prices are bad for the economy Essay

Falling oil prices are bad for the economy - Essay Example This includes that of United States, which is one of the major consumers of oil and oil related products (Pahl & Anne, 33). This paper argues that the low prices of oil, as they are witnessed currently, are very harmful to the economies of the world. One of the major impacts of the falling oil prices is the destruction of economies that are heavily relying on oil. Examples include the Russia, Venezuela, Iran, and even Saudi-Arabia. In a recent rating of the Venezuelan debt capability, the country was downgraded, and this is because of a drop in the oil prices, by more than 40% (Johnson, 5). This is because the country had a very low level of international reserves and foreign exchange. Furthermore, Venezuela is also experiencing economic declines, and this is because it is unable to pay off its government workers, and offer essential services such as health care services. In fact, President Maduro was able to tour most oil producing countries, in a bid to influence them to reduce the production of oil, but he was unsuccessful. Russia is also another country that is negatively affected by a low price of oil (Johnson, 5). Just as Venezuela, the Russian economy is dependent on oil; as a result, the value of the Russian currency has depreciated. Just as Venezuela, the Russian bonds are trading at a very low price, and this means that the two countries are experiencing a recession. In a recent credit rating of Russia, the rates of defaults were very high, and this means that trading in Russian bonds or debts was very risky. This is an indication that the Russian economy is experiencing a recession, mostly because of oil, and partly because of the economic sanctions that the European Union has placed on Russia. Pahl & Anne (44) explains that cheap oil are not only hurting the economies of states that are relying on the production and exportation of

Lessons of the Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lessons of the Cold War - Essay Example Notably, the leaders from both sides changed after a year of the war, but the war continued. Cold war led three main political blocks globally: the pro-America policies, the pro-Soviet Union policies, and the nations that never supported either side. In fighting the war, the first president of the United States into the war, President Harry Truman used a doctrine that was referred to the Truman Doctrine (Carafano, Cox, and Rosenzweig 64). In his doctrine, Truman supported communism effectively. This made him take control over Greece and Turkey. Additionally, the United States used the Marshall plan that strengthened the government and economies of the countries within Western Europe. The main reason why the nuclear war occurred despite the presence of nuclear weapons in Cuba was that the Soviet United agreed to remove them after the United States had detected their presence. Additionally, both sides agreed to end or ban their nuclear weapon tests above the ground, in space, and under water (Carafano, Cox, and Rosenzweig 231). There was further ban of deployment and testing of the long distance missiles. Despite the series of agreements, the United States was seen as the winner of the war since during the war it formed ally with numerous, powerful nations and supported numerous other nation that strengthened it support. Moreover, it international or foreign policies seemed to have worked well for it. Though it seems too difficult to achieve, the United States should aim at seeking allies with some Muslim world.  

Archaeology: Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism

Archaeology: Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism How does archaeology interact with Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism? Have they contributed to archaeology in any way? Discuss with examples. When we look at the history of the archaeology, it can be said that the archaeology have always been a part of political activities however the most sensational and the conspicuous time of this interaction between archaeology and the politics can be dated after the French Revolution. With the French Revolution, the nationalism ideology raised and swiftly spread around the world with industrialization. At the first round, rising Nationalism awaken the curiosity of the people about their ethnicity. With this curiosity, people focused ethnicity researches to find out their origins and for this reason many archaeologist take a place in this quest. Governments started to support the archaeological excavations and many institutes started to be opened and many archaeology students started to be educated. In this manner, archaeologists’ interest began to turn form historic times to pre- historic times. With the emergence of Darwinian evolutionary theory, all these ethnicity research a nd the focus on the pre-historic excavations prepared foundation of Colonialism and Imperialism. Nationalism is defined by Trigger as â€Å"an all embracing sense of group identity and loyalty to a common homeland that is promoted by mass media, widespread literacy, and a comprehensive educational system.†(Trigger, 2007). As a result of Nationalism, in the 18th and 19th C. ,the ethnicity concept gained a significant role among the most European states and they started to courage pre- historic archaeologist to study the origins and early ethnic groups. Although all the European states made archaeology which serves to the nationalistic ideology, for me the most striking and passionate studies are done by Germans who carried nationalism into the fascism level in the Word War II. With the establishment of German Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistoric Archaeology, Germans began to be professional in the pre-historic archaeology and they introduced culture-historical approach to the archaeology (Trigger, 2007). For the nationalistic archaeology, Kossina is the most striking name for that period in German archaeology. He claimed that the Germans are the noblest topic for the archaeological research and criticized the archaeologists who were studying classical and Egyptian archaeology (Trigger, 2007). He seeks for the origins of Germans and he wrote â€Å"Die Herkunft der Germanen†. He evaluated his archaeological data in a biased way and this evaluation encouraged â€Å"Germans to regard Slavs and other neighboring E uropean peoples as inferior to themselves and which justified German aggression against these people† (Trigger, 2007). Although Kossina died in 1931, he continued to be effective on the nationalistic and racist actions of Germany. For example, Nazis supported their discourses by using the works of Kossina. As a result of the nationalistic and ethnic researches, people became more aware of the different nationalities -such as the French, Germans, and English etc. It encouraged thinking that the people are biologically different from one another; therefore their behavior was determined by these racial differences as opposed to social or economic factor. This kind of thinking led people to think about â€Å"the inequality of the races†. Gobineau, who was a part royalist French family, claimed that â€Å"the fate of civilization was determined by their racial composition† (Trigger, 2007). Also in this time, Darwin’s evolutionary thought started to interact with the ethnicity oriented and nationalistic archaeology. Darwin claimed that plants and animals pass on their characteristics to their offspring however different offspring vary from each other. He believed that some of these offspring suited to their environment than others. This idea was explaining tremendous variety and the complexity of the natural world. He published his ideas in â€Å"Origins of Species†. This book was highly effective on the Herbert Spencer who introduced the idea of â€Å"survival of the fittest† and applied this view into the archaeology to explain the human societies in uni-linear evolution concept. He claimed that all human societies move from simple to complex (Johnson, 2010). As a result of this interaction â€Å"inequality of races† idea had gained scientific credibility. Additionally to these ideas, in 19th century Lubbock suggested that as a result of natural section human groups had become different from each other not only culturally but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture (Trigger, 2007). He regarded Europeans as the product of intensive cultural and biological evolution. His idea used to legitimize the British colonization and the establishment of political and economic control on their colonies. He also vindicates British and American colonialist from the moral responsibility for the rapid decline of native peoples in North America, Australia and the Pasific. This decline of these peoples was not because of what colonialists were doing them but because of the natural selection. This type of modality toward the native people increased the colonialism and the imperialism all over the world. As a result of colonialism, â€Å"historians of archaeology have sometimes justified acts of colonialist usurpation in adopting ethnocentric viewpoints which presuppose that archaeological pieces are better conserved in Western museums.†(Abadà ­a, 2006). For an example, the situation of Elgin marbles can be mentioned in this matter. Evans says, in 1816, Elgin Marbles were brought to the British Museum and all the drawings, excavation and the exhibition coast like  £35,000 to the British government. In 1821, Greece separated from Ottoman Empire and it created an endless controversy about the propriety of the ‘marbles’. What is beyond all of this discussion most people think that they would have great damage if left in their original home (Abadà ­a, 2006). With the increasing industrialization, which is the period inventions and developments, created the ideas in diffusionism and the migration to explain the cultural differences in past cultures. Many of the researchers rejected the culture evolution theory. As result of this, the idea of psychic unity, which is introduced by Adolf Bastian, lost its importance. It made racism much more powerful because the belief that every culture has a potential to develop their culture is collapsed. The idea that indigenous people were viewed as biologically inferior to Europeans became much more solidified. Writers and social analysts claimed that human beings were not inherently inventive. If there is a development in culture it should be a reason of diffusionism or migration. Also they said that the change was naturally belong to the human nature and it was not beneficial to people. Therefore it is supported that unchanging societies are the most convenient to human being. In this manner, indepen dent development idea in the cultural changes ignored and a belief emerged which is particular inventions were unlikely to be made more than once in human history. This kind of discourses solidified perceptions about the savage people inferiority. In the United States, the ‘myth of the mound builders’ was aroused and it has been thought that these mounds could not have been built by the Native People of America, who were considered too savage. Instead, they were built by a ‘civilized’ race that disappeared a long time ago (Abadà ­a, 2006). When the people see the mounds in Zimbawe and investigators claimed that this similarity is the proof pf prehistoric white colonization in Southern Africa (Trigger, 2007). To sum up, the interaction between archaeology and Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism developed after the French Revolution. Archaeological studies and the scientific developments to answer the questions in the archaeology have been abused by the politicians. The archaeological studies which suit the politician were encouraged and supported financially. Although this mutuality helped the archaeological developments, the results that archaeology reached had been used to satisfy the nationalist, colonialist and imperialist actions. Bibliography Abadà ­a, Moro O. 2006. The History of Archaeology as a ‘Colonial Discourse’.Bulletin of the History of Archaeology16(2):4-17 Johnson, Matthew. 2010. Archaeology Theory an Introduction. Trigger, Bruce. 2007. A History of Archaeological Thought.

The Significance of Islamic Calligraphy in the Muslim Culture Essay

Abstract Although it could be considered an insignificant part of society, Islamic calligraphy is crucial to its culture because of its role in religion and architecture, and its help in creating unity among Muslims. Calligraphy's function in religion is mainly due to the Muslim forbiddance of the "representation of living beings" (Schimmel, Islamic 11) in art. In architecture calligraphy is used to decorate the interior and exterior of buildings to help remind citizens of the purpose of the architecture: to glorify God. Lastly, calligraphy helps to unite Muslims because everyone must learn the Arabic language to participate in prayers and recitations. Introduction Islamic calligraphy is considered to have developed into an art during the time of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph and the son-in-law of Muhammad (Schimmel, Islamic 3). Not only a religious leader, Ali ibn Abi Talib was a great calligrapher and artist. The use and importance of Islamic calligraphy grew rapidly after his extensive development of the art. Muslims are cautioned against producing illustrations of living beings, therefore much of Islamic art is calligraphic. Although it is not seriously considered a real art form by many western societies, Islamic calligraphy is essential to its own culture because of its crucial role in religion, architecture, and creating unity among Muslims. Background Islamic calligraphy is unique in several distinct traditions. The letters of the alphabet can be written in different forms, making the writings difficult to read (Piotrosky 27). It is considered a noble art form, and has its own rhythm and harmony (Khan 7). It is written from right to left and lacks capitalization and punctuation marks (11). Each o... ...ans. Rosanna Giammanco Frongia. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 2001. Khatibi, Abdelkebir, and Mohammed Sijelmassi. The Splendor of Islamic Calligraphy. Paris: Thames and Hudson, 1994. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Art and Spirituality. New York: State University of New York Press, 1987. Parry, James. "Calligraphy as a Contemporary Art Form." Arts & the Islamic World 31 (1997): 54-55. ---. "First International Calligraphy Festival in Tehran." Arts & the Islamic World 31 (1997): 50-53. Piotrovsky, Mikhail B. Earthly Beauty, Heavenly Art: Art of Islam. Ed. John Vrieze. Amsterdam: De Nieuwe Kerk, 1999. Rosenthal, F. Four Essays on Art and Literature in Islam. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971. Schimmel, Annemarie. Calligraphy and Islamic Culture. New York: New York University Press, 1984. ---. Islamic Calligraphy. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Review

a) Charismatic Leader: McMurphy shows characteristics of a charismatic leader in various ways. McMurphy is transferred to a mental institution for evaluation after he had been convicted of statutory rape. When McMurphy gets to the institution, he feels as the institution is very supressed and has a strict regimen that everyone is expected to follow. Unpleasant medical treatments are used to supress the patients. When McMurphy sees this, he realizes that the environment needs to be lightened up and the patients should be treated like real people. He becomes a leader to several patients at the institution teaching them how to have fun and enjoy themselves in an environment that doesn’t allow them to do so. McMurphy convinces his friends to enjoy themselves by playing cards, breaking out of their shell, and watch baseball games. The patients follow his footsteps and hope to be like him as he displays such charisma that people want to conform and have the confidence he has. This example is evident when the patients are sent up for shock therapy which many patients are afraid of. McMurphy goes up for the treatment and comes back down assuring the patients that the therapy has only charged him up for the next women he will be with. McMurphy also challenges Mildred to change the ward policy which furiates her as no other patient has ever had the courage to. b) Alienation/Outsiders: The patients within the mental institution are alienated from the outside world. They are considered the people who are looking from the outside in. The Institutions head Nurse Mildred treats the patients in a harsh manner, not as If they were people. These people haven’t experienced life to their fullest due to where they are but they still want to enjoy their life. When they look outside they realize the world has much to offer but they are alienated by being contained within the facility. They are also not allowed many visitors which is essentially alienating them from the outside world. c) Rebellion against social norms: When McMurphy realizes what he has gotten himself into as well as seeing his fellow patients he decides to rebel the social norms within the facility. The patients begin to drink, lay cards and bet cigarettes which Nurse Mildred gets furious, evident when she confiscates the cigarettes and rations them out. McMurphy also steals the hospital bus and gathers his friends to pick up a party girl. The group also parties one night sneaking in two female visitors with alcohol and enjoy the night away even though McMurphy has a plan of escaping which fails as he is drunk and fatigued. One of the patients even loses his virginity within the facility which is frowned upon. The rebellious attitude gets the patients into a lot of trouble especially McMurphy as the patients were â€Å"well-behaved† but now are not. ) Changing Group Dynamics: Before McMurphy arrived, the group of patients who were previously present were very â€Å"well-behaved† as Nurse Mildred would say. They followed rules and strict regimen that was provided without questioning anything. They took any punishment and also agreed to unusual medical treatments that were said to help the patients even though they were just a method to suppress them. The patients were very unhappy but just followed the orders that were given as no one had the courage to stand-up. When McMurphy came along, with his Charismatic and daring personality, the patients wanted to conform and be more like him so that they could live their life to the fullest while being contained within a facility. The patients forgot what life was like outside the facility but when McMurphy came along he proved that life could be lived the way you wanted to no matter where you are. e) Authority’s response to rebellion: Nurse Mildred tried to contain the rebellious behaviour by increasing the unusual treatment like shock and hydro therapy. She confiscates cigarettes and does not allow freedom to the patients. When patient Billy is found with a girl in a room within the facility she threatens to tell his mother, using the method of embarrassing the patient so he will regret what he has done and straighten up and refuse to rebel but unfortunately Billy takes his own life. She tightens her grip on the group and has â€Å"humiliation sessions† which furiates many patients but they don’t defend themselves. After a thorough examination of various facilities, I have come to the onclusion that many of these facilities treat their patients in a harsh manner which is completely unnecessary as it may stall the improvement of their current mental state. Mental institutions are meant to aid patients positively and help them become better physically and mentally. As an advocate to reform mental institutions, I propose changing various methods of treatments used on patients as well as the atmosphere they are treated in, to help the patient becoming better rather than worse. The first change I propose is changing the decor of the building. Patients come to the institution to get better. It is proven that visuals and colours affect moods. By changing decor and colours we can make the institution visually seem like a positive atmosphere rather than a dingy one. The second change I would propose is the change in attitude amongst the workers. In the film the staff was shown as a strict, very harsh group. The attitude greatly affects the people you work with and how they respond to you. In the movie the patients were very fearful and quiet due to the intense rules and regulations. As a staff it would be appropriate to make patients to feel at home as they might be staying at the institution for a while. Exuding positive behaviour will change the atmosphere itself. Patients with mental health issues need the positivity around them to get better as well as feel comfortable with being themselves. The third idea I would like to propose is that staff is not allowed to conduct unnecessary treatments to supress the patients just so they will behave. This stalls the improvement in health and just causes fear amongst patients. As said before mental institutions are supposed to aid patients not make them worse. And absolutely NO LOBOTOMY! This is a very serious matter and it will not be tolerated. If a patient is to show rowdy behaviour, he shall be placed in a room alone to think about his actions and if unable to do so they will be given medication so they do not pose a threat to anyone else within the facility. The fourth idea I would like to propose is that, the patients should be allowed visitations and also be allowed to go out. Staying in one place can cause a person to become depressed and feel lonely. This can also provoke thoughts of escaping as seen within the movie. Exploring the outside world and enjoying the world as a human being will allow the patient to feel that they are not contained but are very much like normal human beings. The Last idea I would like to propose is allow â€Å"free days†. Free days allow patients to enjoy themselves such as smoke, drink and party within the facility. A designated room with supervision would allow the patients to enjoy themselves with food, music, drinks. Having these ideas would help the facility work smoothly as possible, with barely any acts of rebelling and any serious issues. The movie could act as an agent of social change and reform as the movie excellently portrays what can happen when patients are in a supressed environment. Patients are people and they have all the rights that people outside the institution do. By watching this movie people can see how such repression can cause patients to act out and this can be used as a precautionary device to see what can be changed in mental health institutions to make them better. Mental institutions can make note on the staff and how facility works and instead of using it as a guide, they can make the institution better. Nurse Mildred and her staff are very strict which doesn’t help the patients if they reformed to a kinder, gentler approach to patients with a positive attitude will help their institution for the best. Personally I enjoyed watching the movie as it displayed the hard truth about some institutions and it made it evident that the institution that was portrayed is in fact a very much part of reality. Many institutions during that period of time or even today may be like that which is very sad. Personally I love Jack Nicholson and his portrayal of the character of McMurphy was very convincing. Nicholson, a charming persona on his own, made the character McMurphy very lovable and understanding even though the crime he was convicted of in the beginning may beg to differ. The charisma Nicholson displayed made it evident why he was chosen to play McMurphy. I felt as he was a very relatable character as a charismatic leader. The portrayal of Nurse Mildred Ratched was also very good. The intense, raw persona portrayed by Louise Fletcher made her seem like in reality she was indeed the same person as Mildred. The intensity between McMurphy and Ratched was totally believable. As for the story, I felt like it was very touching. An individual trying to help others realize their own potential and enjoy themselves within a contained environment with mishaps along the way just depicts the reality of life and friendship. McMurphy realized and felt the fear amongst his colleagues and decided it was time for change. With his rebellious ideas, attitudes and actions he captivates the hearts of his friends and viewers making them want to be more like him; outgoing and courageous. Although the ending is very sad resulting in the death of McMurphy after having a lobotomy, he leaves his legacy, showing the other patients that there is not point of being afraid, life is too short so you must enjoy it to the fullest not matter where you are. I felt like many characters could have been more evident in the movie such as Martini, portrayed by Danny DeVito, an amazing actor who shouldn’t have been limited to his talents. I felt as if most characters were not memorable such as Martini, which is sad as I love Danny DeVito. The Characters beside McMurphy that were evident were Billy and Chief. Chief was only evident because he was a fairly larger man then the rest of the group and also of different ethnicity. He was also the one who put McMurphy out of his misery after McMurphy had received a lobotomy. Billy only became evident to me personally, after he had sex with Candy and he killed himself. Other than that I had not paid much attention to his character. In the film’s defense I would say yes that the attention was mainly on McMurphy, but I was hoping for more from the secondary characters seeing how each one as an individual conformed rather than as a whole group.

The History of Ice Cube Trays

The History of Ice Cube Trays It is not known for certain who invented the first ice cube tray, a refrigerator accessory that can make and remake small uniform ice cubes. Yellow Fever In 1844, American physician, John Gorrie, built a refrigerator to make ice to cool the air for his yellow fever patients. Some historians think that Doctor Gorrie may have also invented the first ice cube tray since it was documented that his patients were also receiving iced drinks. DOMELRE- the Refrigerator That Inspired Ice Cube Trays In 1914, Fred Wolf invented a refrigerating machine called the DOMELRE or DOMestic ELectric REfrigerator. The DOMELRE was not successful in the marketplace, however, it did have a simple ice cube tray and inspired later refrigerator manufacturers to include ice cube trays in their appliances as well. During the 1920s and 30s, it became common for electric refrigerators to come with a freezer section that included an ice cube compartment with trays. Ejecting Ice Cube Trays In 1933, the first flexible stainless steel, all-metal ice tray was invented by Guy Tinkham, the vice-president of General Utilities Manufacturing Company. The tray flexed sidewise to eject the ice cubes. Tinkhams invention was named the McCord ice tray and cost $0.50 in 1933. Flexing the tray cracked the ice into cubes corresponding to the division points in the tray, and then forced the cubes up and out. Pressure forcing the ice out is due to the 5-degree draft on both sides of the tray. Modern Ice Later, various designs based on the McCord were released, aluminum ice-cube trays with a removable cube separator and release handles. They were eventually replaced by molded plastic ice cube trays. Today, refrigerators come with a variety of ice cube making options that go beyond trays. There are internal automatic icemakers and also icemakers and dispensers built into refrigerator doors.

Biography of Eva Gouel, Lover of Pablo Picasso

Biography of Eva Gouel, Lover of Pablo Picasso Eva Goeul (1885–December 14, 1915) was Pablo Picassos lover during his Cubist collage period in the early 1910s, one of several influential and romantic partners in Picassos life. She inspired a few of his most famous pieces of art, including Woman with a Guitar, which is also known as Ma Jolie (1912). Fast Facts: Eva Gouel Known For: Muse and mistress of Pablo Picasso, 1911- 1915Born: 1885, Vincennes, FranceParents: Adrian Gouel and Marie-Louise Ghà ©rouzeDied: December 14, 1915, ParisEducation: unknownSpouse(s): noneChildren: none Early Life Eva Gouel was born Eve Gouel  sometime in 1885 to Adrian Gouel and Marie-Louise Ghà ©rouze of Vincennes, France. At some point, she adopted the name Marcelle Humbert and claimed to have been married to a fellow named Humbert, but that doesnt seem to have been the case. Like most of the women Picasso met at this time- indeed like many people in the late Belle Epoque (1871–1914) of Paris- Eva kept her background purposefully mysterious, going by different names which came from various sources. In the correspondence of Picassos friends at the time of their alliance, Eva was considered both sweet and calculating, described as a small spicy girl who looked like a Chinese doll by Italian painter Gino Severini (1893–1966). Meeting Picasso Picasso met Gouel in 1911 at the cafe Ermitage in Paris, when she was going by the name of Marcelle Humbert. She was living with the Jewish-Polish artist Lodwicz Casimir Ladislas Markus (1870–1941), a satirist and minor Cubist better known as Louis Marcoussis. At the time, Picasso had been living with his first muse, Fernande Olivier, since 1904. He was diligently absorbed in studies developing Cubism with painter Georges Braque, and Fernande was hotly jealous of that absorption. Fernande and Picasso often went to the Paris cafes with Marcelle and Louis. On a number of occasions, they were all invited to the writer Gertrude Steins home on the rue de Fleurus, which was a popular place for artists and writers in Paris at the time. Stein and Picasso were close friends, but she and her longtime partner Alice B. Toklas didnt spot the relationship between Picasso and Gouel until February 1912. Fernande and Marcelle became fast friends: Fernande confided her miseries to Marcelle, including her unhappiness with Picasso. In 1911, Fernande began an affair with the young Italian Futurist Ubaldo Oppi (1889–1942). She asked Marcelle to cover for her in order to deceive Picasso, but it was a mistake. Instead, Marcelle began a clandestine affair with Picasso herself. Picassos Eve Picasso began his affair with Marcelle- now going by Eva Gouel at Picassos request- in late 1911. He began adding coded messages into his works, using allegorical imagery like bowls of peaches (thats Eva) and jugs with large spouts (thats Pablo). He also added written phrases like Jaime Eva (I love Eva) and Ma Jolie (My pretty one) as elements of the paintings. The famous Woman with a Guitar, the artists first work in Analytical Cubism, painted between 1911 and 1912, contains Ma Jolie, a nickname he gave to Eva after a popular song at the time. Picasso asked Marcelle Humbert to return to a version of her birth name, in part because he wanted to distinguish this mistress from the wife of his friend and fellow Cubist George Braque, also named Marcelle. He transformed Eve into the more Spanish-sounding Eva, and, to Picassos mind, he was the Adam to her Eve. Fernande On May 18, 1912, Picasso told Fernande that he had discovered her affair with Oppi and was leaving her for Eva. He moved out of her apartment, fired the maid and pulled his financial support of her; Eva moved out of her flat with Louis Marcoussis; and the new pair left Paris for Cà ©ret in southern France. In June of 1912, Picasso wrote friend and art collector Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler that I love [Eva] very much and I will write this in my paintings. Horrified, Fernande left the penniless Oppi and decided to seek out Picasso to rekindle their relationship- or so Picasso feared. Tucked away from the frantic Paris lifestyle in Cà ©ret, close to the Spanish border, Picasso and Eva got wind of Fernandes impending visit. They quickly packed and left instructions not to let anyone know of their whereabouts. They headed for Avignon and then met Braque and his wife in Sorgues later that summer. Death and Legacy In 1913, Picasso and Gouel visited Picassos family in Barcelona, Spain, and talked about marriage. But Picassos father died May 3, 1913, and that same year, Eva either contracted tuberculosis or developed cancer. By 1915, she spent weeks in the hospital. Picasso wrote Gertrude Stein describing his life as hell. Eva died in Paris on December 14, 1915. Picasso would live until 1973 and have dozens of affairs, a handful of which were well-known relationships with women, all of whom affected his art and life. Known Examples of Eva in Picassos Art: Picassos period of  Cubist collages  and papier collà © flourished during his affair with Eva Gouel; he also took two photographs of her. A number of his works during this time are either known or thought to be of Eva, the best-known of which are: Woman with a Guitar (Ma Jolie), 1912.Woman in an Armchair, 1913, Collection Sally Ganz, New YorkSeated Woman (Eva) Wearing a Hat Trimmed with a White Bird, 1915-16, private collection.Eva on Her Deathbed, 1915, pencil drawing, private collection Sources McAuliffe, Mary. Twilight of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends through the Great War. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman Littlefield, 2014.Otterstein, Pola. Pablo Picasso And His Women. Daily Art Magazine, November 28, 2017.Richardson, John. A Life of Picasso: the Cubist Rebel, 1907–1916.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, New York.  Tucker, Paul Hayes. Picasso, Photography, and the Development of Cubism. The Art Bulletin 64.2 (1982): 288-99. Williams, Ellen. Picassos Paris: Walking Tours of the Artists Life in the City. New York: The Little Bookroom, 1999.

An Investigation on the Selection of Social Service Provider and Buyer Dissertation

An Investigation on the Selection of Social Service Provider and Buyer Behaviour - Dissertation Example According to (Pires and Stanton, 2002), social services are of key importance to the society as these help in strengthening the quality of life of individuals. Although, social service provision is more popularly linked to governmental organizations, there are in fact, a number of non-governmental social service providers as well. Some of these are professionally managed by trained personnel working full-time and paid adequately while others may be formed by volunteers working in their leisure time (Munday, 2007).The users of social services may vary in terms of the urgency of their needs and degree of their dependency on service providers. There may be a dying day-laborer requiring immediate medical care from the nearest possible provider on one hand, while a child laborer in the need of proper education for a bright future on the other. The need and dependency of the former does not leave him much scope to dwell on choices and selection criterion whereas the latter can improve his chances of continuous support and future employment by making a prudent choice. A consumer of general commercial or other services follows certain steps, knowingly or unknowingly, in order to reach a decision while making a choice of a service provider. One of the models defining such a process is the EKB (Engel, James, David Kollat and Roger Blackwell) model with stages of problem recognition, internal and external search, alternative evaluation, purchase and outcome (Engel, J., Kollat, D. and Blackwell, R. (1968). But a consumer of social services differs from the general consumer on a number of significant parameters including sources of information, aptitude and spending capacity (Pires and Stanton, 2002). This affects the process followed adversely more often than not.The selection process of these consumers may be influenced by familiarity, proximity, endorsement and acceptance of claims prima facie without due diligence (Schiffman et al, 1997). This paper therefore proposes t hat there is a need to understand the decision making process and criteria employed by the buyers of social service, so that more targeted promotion or reach out programs can be developed by the social service providers. Social service providers across the UK are funded by the government and private donations and it is essential that the funding is justified in terms of concerted and targeted help made available to those who are in real need. However, the selection of a service is largely dependent on the individual who needs it, and therefore it is important that the service providers are aware of how this selection process occurs. 2. Research Objectives -To evaluate the factors that influence the selection of service provider It is expected that there will be both external situational factors as well as internal, psychological or personality factors that impact which criteria are adopted by the consumers. -To explore the specific criteria that the consumers of social service emplo y in selecting a service The proposed objective of the research is to understand the criteria that social service buyers adopt in selecting a social service for themselves. -To develop a framework for consumer behaviour for selection of social service provider Another aim of the research is to develop a framework that can be used to predict consumer behaviour for consumers of social services. 6. Literature Review A preliminary review of the available literature has

Chinese and Filipino American History in America Essay

Chinese and Filipino American History in America - Essay Example Both Chinese and Filipino immigrants followed different paths but faced similar hardships when coming to America. They also had their own unique experiences. Chinese sailors arrived in Hawaii in 1778 where many settled and married Hawaiian women. Immigration continued into the 19th and 20th century as additional Chinese and Filipino workers were brought in to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations. The mid-1800s saw a surge in Asian immigration as many were brought in to work in California. Along with this surge in Asian immigration came a growing discrimination, anti-Chinese activism, and a fear called yellow peril. A relatively large group of Chinese came to the United States beginning in 1849, the start of the California gold rush. They stayed on and increased in numbers to work on the Transcontinental Railroad. Their work ethic is best described by Mary Cone writing in 1876 when she says they were, "[...] far more earnest and faithful than any other miners. [...] [T]hey enjoy the universal reputation of conscientious fidelity" (as cited in Mary Cone, 2003). However, when the economy faltered in 1870 the loss of jobs and competition for scarce jobs brought, "dislike and even racial suspicion and hatred. Such feelings were accompanied by anti-Chinese riots and pressure, especially in California, for the exclusion of Chinese immigrants from the United States" (Chinese immigration, 2004). During this period, a political party called The Workingman's Party was started in San Francisco with the slogan, "The Chinese Must Go" (The workingmen's party). This political pressure resulted in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which virtually ended Chinese immigration for over a century. With the loss of employment and mounting discrimination, the Chinese moved to a safe sanctuary in San Francisco that would later become known as Chinatown. In this neighborhood, they were able to provide a close knit social structure and offer community support to families and each other. It also allowed them to organize into a political faction that opposed anti-Chinese laws. Here, the Chinese community has maintained the Chinese values and cultural traditions and has developed a thriving Asian-American community inside San Francisco. Though the Filipinos took a different route to their American destination, their experiences and challenges were similar to the Chinese. The first permanent settlement of Filipinos was in the marshlands of Louisiana in 1763 as sailors escaped Spanish ships to escape their brutal treatment (Claudio-Perez, 1998). Steady immigration continued into the west coast throughout the 19th century, but the largest wave came between 1924 and 1935 when more than 100,000 Filipinos flooded into America to work in the booming agricultural business (Asian Pacific American studies, 2005). Filipinos settled mostly in large West Coast cities such as San Francisco and Seattle where the ships from Manila would land (Bautista, 2002). Most of them worked in the fields of California and Washington harvesting seasonal crops. In general, they were a migrant group that followed the crops through the seasons, and only settled for short periods in near ghetto conditions of 'Little Manilas". During the season, the population of the Little Manila in Seattle would shrink to a few hundred people, but in the winter it would be home for 3,500 occupants (Bautista, 2002). Here they would be located near the center of vice and entertainment. Because