Steinbeck Model of “Paradox and Dream: Personal Essay

Victims of Love One of the generalities most often noted about Victims of Love is that we are impatient, incomplete, and unsatisfied once we discover what love is and that is possible for anyone to have. We complain when we want it, yet take it for granted when it’s ours. We say we cannot stand to live with our lovers, yet we proclaim it is unbearable to live without them. We claim to be strong and fearless, but in the face of love we fall weak to our knees with open arms reaching for all it has to offer. Love is endless, limitless, and powerful beyond measure.It has the ability to give you the best feeling no one other thing can, yet it has the power to hurt you beyond compare to anything else. We claim love is blinding to those lucky enough to have it, but are we really blind? Can we really not see beyond love’s overwhelming nature, or do we choose to not see the bad because its potential to be such a wonderful thing outweighs its negative qualities and its faults? On ce we fall victim to love and all it’s worth, an untamed fire is lit beneath the deepest layer of our hearts, burning brightly until greeted by the only conquerer of love- death.As we as victims of love believe, when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. We, as greedy, impatient people chase after love when we want it, yet we fail to realize we don’t find love, love finds us. We can choose who we hate, but we cannot control who we love. We love those who hurt us, but hurt those who love us. Victims of Love want to grasp onto love once they find it and never let it go, yet we learn that if you love someone, you have to set them free. We long to always be with those we love yet we are blind to see that distance makes the heart grow fonder.Because of this, we are left asking ‘what? ’. What is so addicting about love? Do we love imperfection, love to feel wanted, love the vision of love that ends with a happily ever after? I t is often portrayed that you cannot love what you do not know, yet, according to Paul Valery, it would be impossible to love anything or anyone completely because love is directed towards what lies hidden in its presence. We, as living paradoxes, fear the unknown, yet we have a passion and curiosity to know what lies beyond our existing knowledge.We search for our perfect vision of love, and we are disappointed with our results. We fail to see that true love doesn’t come by finding a perfect person, but by finding an imperfect person and learning to love them perfectly. We question to why sometimes love fails, but we make no effort to see it was our fault because we have failed to love. We are slaves to pleasure and pain once we have it, and use love as a motivation to find it. We try to make sense of love and the feelings that overcome us and thus become incapable of feeling it.We foolishly live a life for love instead of a having a life with love. When we have love, we fee l we do not need anything else and when we do not have it, we feel nothing else we have really matters. To have love is to have faith; those with little faith have little love and those with a lot of faith have a lot of love. We search for love with our thoughts and eyes and forget that love lies beyond what we see and think; it exists where we feel, it exists in our hearts. Love is a strange thing; it requires no inquisition, just acceptance.Love is an inevitable force of nature. We can choose to avoid it or choose to surrender to it, either way, it strikes back like lightening, unpredictable and irrefutable. Love does not come in favor of our own stipulations and conditions, hut it comes independently of our desires and wishes as does the moon, stars, and darkness of night with no regards to the day. Just as we may obtain the ability to control the time of night and day, we risk damaging a balance of laws without fully knowing the consequences of our intentions.In the same way, we practice elements of love, such as marriage or intercourse, yet we are left dismayed and puzzled, angered and suffering, questioning as to if our reason behind our insensible actions was truly love after all. We dream of a love inexplicable beyond words-one that proves without it, we are merely individuals limited to our ability of what we can do, but with it the boundaries are limitless with possibility at its fingertips. Our dream lies beyond not only understanding what love is, but also learning the ecret to keep its burning flame lit with passion and all the qualities that make for a perfect, successful expression of all that love is. We say we wish for a love without any pain, but how can we measure the power and endurance of that love if it only endures the easy road of life? What we truly, honestly long for is a love that shows its strength, surpassing even the most difficult obstacles and the harshest pain and coming out victorious, proving to us that in the end, love does conquer all.

Impact of American Media on Caribbean Culture

Stewart-Andre Wilkinson 409001306 Impact of American media on Caribbean media culture and music Rap, Hip Hop, Pop, Fashion; all these are areas in which the culture of North America has influenced the culture in the Caribbean. To be able to determine the full extent to which American culture affects the Caribbean, we must first define what Caribbean culture is. In its broadest definition it is the actions and way of life practiced by the people who live amongst the islands of the Caribbean Sea that stretch from the Bahamas in the north to Guyana in the south. Caribbean culture as the result of the violent mixture of indigenous people from Quisqueya, Xaymaca, Borinquen and Cuba, European immigrants who invaded these territories and African slaves brought to work in the gold mines, sugar plantations and sugar mills† (Wilson 1998). The culture of the Caribbean has been developing over centuries and due to its dynamic nature it changes with the presence of external pressures. The l argest external force affecting Caribbean culture is in the form of North America; the main instrument used to cause this influence is the media.Although America’s impact is diverse, one of the major impacts it has is on the media culture and music in the Caribbean. This article will discuss how American media has affected the local media in Caribbean territories and the music industry in the region in three main ways: 1. The change in popular music in the Caribbean; 2. Treatment of local celebrities versus foreign celebrities. 3. Impact on Carnivals and television. The first major impact that American media has had on the region is on the perception of popular music.In the past reggae and calypso were the music genres of choice and the many songs produced could be heard regularly on the radios. Reggae originated in Jamaica but has found its way throughout the region so that the popular songs were sung by everyone. Calypso music which came out of Trinidad was heard throughout the region; popular artist such as The Mighty Sparrow were well known throughout the Caribbean. This is not to suggest that there was no music which came from America, because they were several popular groups and songs which originated from the United States, such as The Platters, The Drifters and The Temptations.What is noteworthy is that these songs were still popular but they would never be heard more than the local or regional music. This ratio is much different than what is heard today. â€Å"Hip hop and Top 40 tunes stream from radios as much, if not more than Soca, calypso and reggae. † (Cummings-Yeates, 2000). This can be clearly seen in the amount of airtime that the respective genres are played on the radio. Calypso is only heard in high quantities around the time of Crop Over in Barbados; reggae is heard in small amounts as is the genre of dub.In contrast to these is the fixation on American music such as Pop which is at the moment the most popular genre of music. Turn on the radio at any given time to the most popular on radio stations and you are probably going to hear music originating from the United States. There is a notion that since it comes from America the standard must be of the highest quality. Within the songs of local artists, this notion of America being the standard can be seen; their voices as well as the melody of the songs follow the pattern which is set by the United States, there is hardly any resemblance of the local customs or traits.The second impact that is observed is how local celebrities are treated in contrast to international celebrities. There is an old saying, â€Å"A king is never welcomed in his own kingdom†; this has proven true for local celebrities within the region, especially in Barbados. Local singers and actors are viewed as amateurs; this is also related to the notion of American music and film being the benchmark. â€Å"Young people idolize celebrities from ‘foreign’ more than t heir own, homegrown role models† (Cummings-Yeates, 2000).This idolizing can have a grave impact on the youth of the region. Multiple studies in Trinidad found that â€Å"The more hours Trinidadian female adolescents spent watching American sitcoms, the less satisfied they are with their body image†¦(and) also resulted in the increase in the adolescents? awareness and internalization of the American norms and expectations for thinness, as well as the pressures to adopt those norms and expectations† (Ferguson, 2011). This behavior is not shown towards local celebrities; they are seen as being no better than the other locals.On the contrary the foreign celebrities are idolized and imitated. Thirdly, the impact that America has on the various cultured festivals or carnivals is uncanny. This impact can be directly related to the importance of tourism in the region. The respective festivals within the region usually had some cultural or traditional significance to it. In Barbados for example, the festival of Crop Over had with it the Queen and King of the Harvest, these were main attractions of the festival; there were other traditional practices which had its roots in colonial days.With the switch to tourism as main source of foreign exchange for the country, the festival had to become more marketable for tourists. As a result the traditional features of the festival were no longer the focal point but rather the women and dancing of Kadooment. An example of this is the sidelining of calypso with it social commentary in favor of the more catchy Soca. Advertising on American are somewhat to blame for this because they don’t advertise the cultural side of the festival but only the sexual aspect which appeals to prospective tourists.On one hand there is the changing of the traditional festival but on the other hand there is also the introduction of new festivals from the United States which is bigger than the traditional festival. These include the materially-driven festival, Christmas as well as Easter, Father’s and Mother’s day. They are celebrated in the same fashion and characterized by the same extent of commercialism as in developed societies. It is the commercial aspect of the celebrations that marks the degree of Western influence.Finally another impact seen is through the domination of television which originates in America. Caribbean residents have become exposed to this culture difference through â€Å"the pervasive commoditization and consumption of the United States way of life via cable television and other instruments† (Baptiste, 1988). As stated by Baptiste the television has been one of the major instruments used; various shows and programs from the United States are shown. This can be contrasted to the lack of local programs that are aired. In conclusion then the impact that America has had on Caribbean media is immense.It is clear that through the popularity of the music that we lis ten to as well as how we treat our local celebrities in comparison to how we idolize the foreign celebrities that this is the case. The changes in the various Carnivals that are celebrated around the region give another testament to this. There was a change in the traditional Carnival to make it more marketable to the tourists as well as the influx of festivals from outside of the region which have become larger than traditional festivals. The change in the media coverage has also been a major impact on the region. References 1.Wilson, Carlos Guillermo. 1998. â€Å" Uprooted†. pp 43 2. Cummings- Yeates, Rosalind. 2000. Foreign invasion: American media images reshaping Caribbean culture. BlackVoices. com 3. Feguson, Clarabelle. 2011. The Relationship Between American Media Exposure and Trinidadian Female Adolescents’ Body Image Satisfaction. 4. Baptiste, Fitzroy A. 1988. â€Å"The Exploitation of Caribbean Bauxite and Petroleum, 1914-1945. † Social and Economic S tudies 37, nos. 1-2:107-42. 5. Baptiste, Fitzroy A. 1988. War, Cooperation and Conflict: The European Possessions in the Caribbean, 1939-1945. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press

Compare and Contrast the Ideas about What Happens after Death in Research Paper

Compare and Contrast the Ideas about What Happens after Death in Buddhism and Christianity - Research Paper Example Death is one entity which causes the cessation of these duties. There are many definitions of death in different scriptures and religions. The scientific world describes death as a mode when there is a permanent termination of all biological functions needed to sustain a living body. The journey does not end here as there is a mention of a life after death or the beginning of the afterlife across various religions of the world. According to the second law of thermodynamics, all energetic states in nature strive to attain the most probable state thus the more disordered and the highly undifferentiated state (Koslowski 4). As such, resurrection or gaining eternal life or Nirvana would not be possible in a world that is subject to the laws of thermodynamics. It would be possible only in a world that is free from such physical laws. The theories on bodily resurrection or eternal life are based on the assumptions of ontological transformation of the dead or the matter. Eternal life â€⠀œ its depiction across religions There are many ways by which the theories regarding after life or life after death is explained. No single belief or faith can provide an accurate concise explanation to the same. Christianity and Islam speak about the existence of the heaven and the hell as places where the dead transcend after death. Sikhism and Hinduism also believe in the concept of reincarnation and heaven and hell. According to these religions, one’s life after death or his journey in the afterlife depend on the deeds he performs in his biological life. Good deeds lead to heaven while wrong deeds lead to hell (Ellis and White, 83). Christianity, Judaism and Islam acknowledge the apocalyptic transformation of matter and thus a realization of the afterlife (Koslowski, 4). Buddhism advocated the presence of life after death. But it does not mention the existence of heaven or hell in its religion. According to the Buddhist doctrines, human life is a cycle that consists of b irth, death and rebirth. The process is a continuous one and is known as the Dharma chakra or the Samsara (Prasad, 4). According to it, living life forms a continuum of life after death that begins immediately after a person is dead. Buddhism lays great emphasis on the karma of a person. According to it, a person leaves behind his karma and his character. The force generated out of his karma brings in an entity that would be influenced by it and bear the same disposition as the dead (Prasad, 4). Afterlife as in Buddhism and Christianity Buddhism began with the teachings of Gautama Buddha to address the suffering that exists in the world. Buddhism accepts the religious philosophies of Hindu doctrines which believed in reincarnation and karma. It believes that the ultimate goal of any religious life is to attain liberation from the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Buddha said that desire and cravings for materialistic things keeps one bound to the cycle of life, death and after death . When one liberates himself completely from such material pleasures he liberates himself from the cycle and enters the state of Nirvana. Buddhism however was not focused on ultimate salvation or attaining Nirvana as the sole motive in the life of an individual. Little is said about Nirvana in the Buddhist scriptures as Buddha felt the importance of attachment, pain and sufferings. The people were encouraged to give alms to the needy, donation of goods and services, to chant or copy sutras and engage in activities to gain merit. This would lead them to think

Personal statement for college admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal statement for college admission - Essay Example A few years since that pivotal day, I can now proudly confess that I am part of the strongest naval force in the world. I have come to the realization that I have matured more than I could ever imagine, and that my journey has just begun. Before I decided to join the military, I was neither ready for college nor the discipline it would take to reach my professional goal of becoming a doctor. I was naive and overconfident. My lack of responsibility proved to me that in life, nothing comes easy, and I blew my chance of having an education. After four years of attending college, I was dismissed and had no one to blame other than myself. However, something in me kept telling me that I was not destined for failure. I embarked on a new road in search of whatever I was missing. I soon realized that once I set my mind to it, I would be able to find my true capabilities and myself. As I now come to the end of my military career, I am ready for a new challenge. As I considered what my next achievement would be, I realized that a long time ago when I was a young boy in high school, I had made up my mind. I knew that in order to succeed, I had to take on the toughest challenge – to succeed in the best educational environment.There was only one place I could see myself pursuing that challenge: the University of Miami. Once again, I have decided to ride on a bus towards a brighter future, but this time, I am the only passenger. I now understand that the responsibility and discipline required to be successful in anything lies in my hands. I am confident that I will always rise up to face even the toughest challenge. I proved this when I was in the Navy where I was attending college, going on deployments, which had separated me from my children. I succeeded against all odds. There are many paths to our dreams, but I failed once before. I have learned the hard way that we fall so that we may rise

Propaganda in Movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Propaganda in Movies - Movie Review Example I will also analyze the techniques used in each movie to present the propagandistic content, including camera techniques, in order to determine what these propaganda movies have in common. Narrator: Significantly, the opening text of the film does not offer the spectator a clear idea about Aidid who was a clan leader that was militarily more powerful than any of the other groups contending for the control of the city. "As a clan that is seeded deep in Somalia's past and present culture, the killing of Aidid would more likely have caused citizens of the clan's areato be angry." (Smith, et al.) Ridley Scott has been highly effective in combining severe action with excruciating and building tension all through the film, which greatly influenced the overall effect of the film as a propagandist film. In one of the most catching scenes of the film, the director presents a long-drawn-out street battle between a small force of elite American troops and thousands of Somalian militia. Every frame of this scene captures the mind and heart of the audience and the director creates the tension in the minds of the viewers. Narrator: The street battle between a small force of American troops and thousands of Somalian militia can best be realized as a means of propagandist treatment. Here, the narrator presents the American troops as elite groups while much of the tension amplifies this awareness. The representation of the Somalis in the film attracts the viewers. The film is relevant to the people living in Western democracies for the way it depicts Somalis, the most recent refugee group to enter many of their countries in large numbers. Montage of clips from the battlefield: Through the helicopter shots in the film, especially at night, the director suggests the unfolding battle and these shots are greatly exciting to the audience. The mixture of sound effects and the helicopter shots help the audience recognize the internal component of the film as well as the intension of the director. Close-up scenes of war: All through the film, the director provides the carnage of war close up. Sound: The carnage of war close up scenes is adequately supported by the background music and sound mixing. Presbey: The viewers are able to recognize the power of shots that build up tension in the film and the minds of the viewers. "In Black Hawk Down, we see the carnage of war close up. We see people's heads and limbs blown off, reduced to quivering pulp Exposed to the carnage of the Vietnam War on their televisions, many US citizens decided the war was cruel and unjust. Government control of access to war areas and information is clearly an attempt to minimize coverage of the carnage, apparently fearing the pacifist prediction is correct." (Presbey) Therefore, the techniques used in the film suggest the propaganda elements in it. American soldiers vs. the Somalis villains: In the film, the director presents the A

Artificial lung Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Artificial lung - Research Paper Example The respiratory system is a complex yet beautiful system to behold. The breathing that the body does cannot take place without the respiratory system. This system consists of the nose, throat, voice box, wind pipe and the lungs. â€Å"We live because we breathe. Inhaled breath brings life sustaining oxygen into our body. Oxygen is the fuel that makes our body function. Every minute we breathe in about 13 pints of air. Our lungs are essentially 2500 km of airways, through which oxygen is delivered to all parts of the body from the lungs, and carbon dioxide exhaled from the lungs is sent out into the atmosphere† (Colon, San Miguel and Zayas, 2004). â€Å"With this in mind, the scientists have developed devices that can help or replace the natural lung. These devices help our respiratory system during an operation or afterwards, but can only be used for a recuperation time† (Colon, San Miguel and Zayas, 2004). â€Å"People who need a lung-transplant can only wait and hope that a donor organ will materialize in time. But all too often, time runs out. In response to the United States' critical shortage of donor organs, researchers have been racing to develop artificial organs that would serve as a "bridge" to transplantation. One such device is the Bio Lung, which may be tested in people soon† (Downs, 2011). This device is called, the artificial lung. The only purpose of the artificial lung is to make sure that the blood has oxygen. This device is not the same as the heart-lung machine, because this one is placed inside the body and it is supposed to replace the work of the natural lungs for a long duration of time. In contrast, the heart-lung machine is outside the body and it is used for short periods, only when needed. According to Marcus (2008), â€Å"Early artificial-breathing devices include the tank respirator, or "iron lung," introduced in the late 1920s and known for its role in treating polio victims. Current treatment for lung failur e is to hook patients up to an artificial respirator. It is costly, immobile and requires intubation, a process that can cause infection, says John Conte, a heart-and-lung transplant surgeon and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. ‘You don't want to take a patient who's been flat on his back, with poor muscles and infection at the IV site, and do a transplant. That's a recipe for disaster.’ Artificial lungs are small and portable, however, and are designed to allow patients to remain mobile and therefore stronger for surgery.† How the Artificial Lung Works With lungs that are healthy, the vessels that carry blood take in the oxygen that has been pumped from the heart, and after that, they let go of carbon dioxide by breathing out. â€Å"The idea was to develop a new way to study the lung that would be useful in drug development and might serve as a replacement for animal studies. The device, about the size of a pea, mimics the func tion of air sacs called alveoli, which transfer oxygen through a thin membrane from the lung to the blood. The device has three parts -- lung cells, a permeable membrane and tiny blood vessel or capillary cells† (Steenhuysen, 2010). According to Downs (2011), â€Å"The system now used in hospitals is known as ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ECMO machines take over the

Medical Care in the United States Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medical Care in the United States - Assignment Example That said, the cost of providing that care that falls upon the government will always be a consideration and cannot be disregarded. Finding a balance that is pleasing both to the healthcare need and to the country’s costs will be extremely difficult to achieve. A solution that will be successfully pleasing to all parties involved will be even harder. There will always be a level of imbalance present given the numbers of Americans who are financially unable. This will leave a perpetual area of imbalance in the need for and the economics of healthcare. The healthcare system that currently exists is definitely flawed and positive change can only benefit the country. However, unless the replacement is more functional and provides better outcomes for both the application of the healthcare system and economic cost to the country than the changing would be expensive to implement to have little change and therefore pointless results. Obamacare is hugely different from what Americans a re currently accustomed to in that it will require individuals to obtain health insurance or be fined for not doing so at tax time. Americans will find that insurance costs will rise. The cost will be even higher for Americans with pre-existing conditions previously denied by insurance companies. Again, I am not saying the reforms are not in order or that Americans do need to take a more responsible role in their own healthy living and healthcare, but Obamacare is simply not the reform that will succeed in the United States.

Whatever matches the essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Whatever matches the - Essay Example The fundamental root of morality and ethics in the society is the teachings of religion. While different religions may have different stakes on suicide, it is forbidden in most of the religions particularly the Abrahamic religions including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The social structure of most nations, their norms and values, trends and traditions can be traced back to the prevailing religion of a vast majority of people making up those nations. Something like suicide that is inconsistent with the teachings of religion is ethically questionable. Suicide is violence and all forms of violence are ethically significant issues. Like in every act of crime, there is an offender and a victim in suicide. What makes this form of crime unique is that both the offender and the victim is the same person. This complicates suicide as a form of violence because the involvement of the will of the victim in being victimized serves as a hindrance for others to intrude even if they want to. Others are essentially caught in a dilemma. On one hand, they feel responsible not for stopping the person committing suicide because they probably could if they used force. On the other hand, they feel responsible for stopping the person committing the suicide and thus making that person take more tension and distress. The effects of suicide are not limited to the person who commits it, but extend beyond him/her to affect the family and friends and most other people who learn about the unfortunate event. In many cases, family members take extreme steps in emotional distress and also commit the suicide in an attempt to end the agony. Since a suicide has bad psychological effects on the friends and family in particular and the society in general, its ethical significance is not questionable. To conclude, suicide is undoubtedly an ethically significant issue on the grounds of religion, violence, and social effects. Suicide is a

Reader response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reader response - Essay Example Moreover, the searches they conduct as well as detainment is racially biased. The authors posit that the border patrol is a venture that has proved unsuccessful and is likely to prove so in the future. Despite the efforts made by the patrol border, masses of people still migrate into the American territory. This paper will present a response to Silko’s text. In my opinion, the border patrol exercise only serves to limit the freedom of movement enjoyed by many Americans because of the numerous stops in different places. My view conforms to the opinion of the author expressed in the first paragraph of the text when she says, â€Å"As proud citizens, we grew up believing the freedom to travel was our inalienable right, a right that some Native Americans had been denied in the early 20th century† (115). Evidently, American citizens have a right to enjoy the freedom of movement, however, the stringency of the border patrol only serves to contravene this right. With the border patrol in places, Americans are frustrated by the numerous stops impromptu searches and in the worst cases imprisonment. From the author’s experience during the fateful night when they were stopped, it becomes evident that the border patrol is a source of frustration to the Americans (Archuleta 115). The experience of the author after being stopped by the border patrol is not an isolated case because the border patrol agents are stopping people at a higher frequency than any other time in history. The author highlights that, â€Å"Unfortunately, what happened to me is an everyday occurrence here now† (118). This statement is meant to place emphasis on the increasing rates of patrols at different checkpoints. The border patrol has increased its activity and extends its control to all the highways and roads that lead to the border o emanate from the border in states such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It is disturbing to learn about the different cases highlighted by the