My Autobiography about the Importance of Friendship

I have never found anything more important to the growth of my well-being than friendships. I will be talking about my friendships as a child, the heartbreak of having to lose them, and comparing that to the way I value friendships now. So, let’s go back in time to when I was a young child at the age of four. When I was four years old I found my best friend and he continues to hold that spot to this day. His name is Garrett. When we first met, he was six and I was four, so logically we didn’t get along at all. The way I met him was, my dad was dating a woman named Kristi. He was getting really close to her and saw that Kristi was getting along with my sister and I very well. So, he wanted us to meet the rest of Kristi’s family. The†¦show more content†¦He wouldn’t charge us rent or anything. So, we joyfully agreed to go ahead and do it. When we got there we soon noticed we were now outside of our element. We were now eating three full meals compar ed to before and what we thought was three full meals. In comparison what we ate before was the size of two small bowls. We drank sweet tea while we laid on the beach under an umbrella with painting and oceans all around us. We felt like we were in heaven just as the rich in Nguyen’s poem did.(Binh Khiem, 410) Since where we were living was thirty minutes away from the middle school and it was a rich neighborhood, neither me nor my sister made any friends. I soon became lonely and was willing to give anything to move back to Minnesota. We knew we couldn’t do that since we had sold our house in Minnesota and were getting a place to live for free. I became lonely fast, it seemed like only yesterday I was smelling the flower’s freshness like Gabriela Mistral did, and now I’m heavy with weeping knowing that I would probably never see Garrett or any of my other friends ever again.(Mistral, 519) This is when I realized exactly what was important to me, and I ag ree with what Hafiz writes, â€Å"Two hundred sacks of jewels were not worth thy soul’s disgrace.†(Hafiz, 408) Or in my case, there is no amount of money that could ever replace friendship. We would soon learn though that Leo Tolstoy wasShow MoreRelatedThe Spiritual Autobiography By John Knight955 Words   |  4 PagesIn going with the definition of how to construct the spiritual autobiography, I would start with the events, the people and the places that influenced the relationship with God or a higher being. According to Knight, those who were raised in a religious home their journey starts at birth and grows through age. 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Media as extension of man Free Essays

Marshall McLuhan is widely considered as one of the most important intellectual figure of 20th century and widely noted for his contribution on media culture and philosophy of media studies. McLuhan rose to international fame in 1960s when his work on mass media and its effect on social and individual behavior was published. . We will write a custom essay sample on Media as extension of man or any similar topic only for you Order Now His remarkable observations on nature of simple things those have central importance in defining the cultural and behavioral outlook of society. In predicting the role of media, especially through modern revolution of electronic revolution and use of computers, views of McLuhan adopted futuristic tone in stating the extended role of medium itself as the message, from its earlier perception of just being a carrier of the message. He realized the importance of electrical processes in shaping and defining the reality of world, views that have been validated especially after computer revolution and increasing integration of world through internet as chief medium of communication and medium of message Medium as Message As a prelude to understanding the media as the extension of man, McLuhan puts particular emphasis on the importance of medium itself that is generally regarded as just a carrier of messages or information as playing the role of message. This implies that the medium through which the messages are being communicated is not an inert entity, rather it participates in the process by extending the role of man and contributes by adding further dimension in affairs with help of technology. In the context, McLuhan uses his famous example that dwells on nature and role of electric light. Light, as McLuhan points out, is not just a medium of information, but also complete information in itself. Although the general and common view puts actual significance on the content of the message that light visibly carries and ignores the role of light itself, the fact remains that it is the medium itself that defines the scale and nature of human association with the information (McLuhan, 151). McLuhan illustrates this by signaling out major corporations such as IBM, GE and ATT who took time to realize the fact they are not in the business of producing machines and equipments but in the business of channeling information. McLuhan argues that media also similar and defining effect on social and cultural psyche of people. Notwithstanding the content that it carries, it’s the media that has transforming powers on the society and people. Thus McLuhan dispenses with the notion that media as a medium can be treated as a passive entity, unresponsive and non-participative in the entire process of information processing that it is facilitating in its capacity as a medium. A television, radio, or telephone engage people irrespective of the content that they deliver and thus extends the role of man through their technological inputs. Before the advent of electrical age, the age of computing and information technology there was ambiguity over the role of medium as the message. But with the instant speed and extent that electricity has provided, media as a medium has certainly become as the message and it contains the potential to institute change, alter the paradigms and establish new cults irrespective of the nature of the content that it carries and delivers. Assisted and buoyed by technology, media extends the role of man. Media as extension of Man Technology plays a central role in McLuhan’s theory of media as extension of man. The extension, as it is apparent, is the extension of the mental faculties, knowledge, approach and culture of the man in the changing world. The electric technology has helped man to grow his conscience and mental capacity to attempt to comprehend things on a far greater scale than ever possible. In words of McLuhan, the stimulation provided by electronic technology represents the final extension in role of man where creativity, knowledge, and consciousness will collectively grow and extend over entire humanity in affecting the extension of man. The role of technology is evident in the process as it’s the diligent pursuance of technology that has brought transformation of world into a global village. People are interacting with each other on changed scales and electric speed, by causing a rapid contraction of social and political forces to create an implosion that increases people’s sense of responsibility and acts on different groups of people to alter their previous positions and integrate them in the new order of things. Commenting on the expanding field of human desire of knowledge, McLuhan says that electric speed and reach has made concept of partial and incomplete knowledge an obsolete thing. Mankind now vie for wholeness, completeness and depth of knowledge, in conformation with the changing form of electric age over its pervious mechanical world. There is a renewed sense of finding out the world once again, armed by newly realized power of electric and computer technology and in its new extension, mankind doesn’t want to accept things in their previous forms. Rather it aims to overthrow imposed patterns and declare the individuality of things and events in totality (McLuhan, 149). The role of new technology in media has always created conflicts and challenges in the society until finally it extends the role of man and then overtaken by new emergent technology. McLuhan presents two strong instances of this fact (McLuhan, ). First when he quotes Alexis De Tocqueville, who was first to master the understanding of print and typography technology, to inform that De Tocqueville had predicted rise of America and relegation of England from their approach and reaction towards the new technology of print in media. England, burdened with its tradition of oral laws, did not fully accept the new technology of print and as such choose to ignore the power of new media. America on the other hand embraced the new technology and hence was benefited immensely by the uniformity and continuity that new technology of print culture had to offer thereby extending their role in the contemporary world. Taking this argument further, McLuhan theory can be stretched to further dimensions that a similar transition is taking place with the advent of new electronic mediums of computer and information technology. In fact, McLuhan himself states that to many people in the contemporary literate world the new media technology would appear as unsettling as the technology of print would appear to tribal natives of remote Africa. Thus the new electric technology guiding media in forms of television, computers, movies, information technology, Internet and mobile phones demands a similar extension of man over rudiments of past age of mechanical technology, detribalizing society senses through its blinding speed and seemingly infinite capacity to channel and process information. In a very pertinent analysis of the new emergent media, riding on electric and communication technology, McLuhan states the new media presents a possibility to completely overrule the cognitive, analytical and cultural traits of the societies it affects because this medium is made much more strong by having its content as another medium which is usually print or speech. The new media gives the power of vision, voice and interaction to an already potent media of print that it integrates in its own design, and in the combined synergy it overpowers the viewers who are left numb and awestruck (McLuhan, 114). The nature of the modern media also plays a very important role in extending the role of human mind and consequentially the whole society.   McLuhan presents his important and famous demarcation of mediums as ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ mediums. A hot medium as defined by McLuhan is one that involves high definition, high data processing, and requires little imagination on the part of viewer. On the other side a cool medium is one that is not high definition, has low amount of data and users have to apply considerable imagination and their own creativity to comprehend the whole picture. Thus categorizing media in these two categories, McLuhan points out that by this definition a radio is a hot medium and a telephone is a cool medium, a movie is a hot medium and TV is cool medium, a photograph is a hot medium and a cartoon is a cool medium. A very important feature of the hot and cool medium emerges by virtue of their definition. A hot medium demands little participation by viewers, in the sense that it is so complete in information that it leaves little for imagination. Similarly, the cool medium is involves a higher participation by people because it leaves many gaps to be filled by audience. Hot and cool media play very different role in affecting the psyche and culture of the society where they unfold. In this context McLuhan states that developed countries having specialized themselves with mechanical technology of past age face the fear of retribalizing by the new electric media whereas the less developed nations that encounter the new technology extend their role by detribalizing themselves. Thus the less developed countries in themselves cool medium, while the developed and highly urbanized western countries are hot medium. The role of media has extended the role of man by changing his very perception of world. While the preceding mechanical age was focused with expanding the horizons of world, rediscovering and redrawing the limits of human knowledge and hence affecting a cultural and knowledge ‘explosion’, the modern technology pushing ahead media has reversed the process by bringing everything together, thus affecting a kind of implosion where entire world practically faces itself through the media. People, willingly or unwillingly, have been clubbed together, sharing the same space with more and more people. The electric media, it can be safely said, thrown every one is every one’s else life. In what can be surely reckoned today as one of the most prophetic statements, McLuhan clearly said that the new electric media has a remarkable capacity to decentralize the functioning of society, a fact that is more than evident in our modern world. But writing in 1960s, McLuhan had predicted that whereas mechanical system requires some fixed centers of operation and hence lead to development of great urban centers, electric power would decentralize the social-cultural space by providing equal opportunity to every place and hence as any place, equipped by power of electric media can act as center. This change and extension of social roles is almost complete today as we can see that through a combination of electric mediums of computer, telephones, video conferencing, Internet, and electric power any room or place can act as the center of large operations. This is the power of new media that is implicit in McLuhan’s writing, transforming every one’s earlier role and nature of functioning. The nature of modern media, acting through computers, Internet and information technology, is all encompassing and sweeping, just in lines of its predecessor forms of media. The theatre, when it emerged took over written form of drama; movies took over all the novels and written work and TV took over the movies. Today computers are perfectly poised over to take over all the forms of media. Radios, Televisions and gramophones helped many hitherto obscured persons for example poets, artists, speakers, and writers to gain recognition world over. Today the power of information technology expands this role further by bringing further convergence of world as we see it. In affecting this convergence it is simultaneously delegating new roles to people that has the responsibility to interact and evolve in much closer proximity of every body else.                            How to cite Media as extension of man, Essay examples

Food Poisoning Essay Example For Students

Food Poisoning Essay You know, when you eat an egg, and it doesnt taste right, look right or smell right? Well that means that it could be contaminated with a dangerous substance (Like Chelsea). Food poisoning is the result of ingesting organisms or toxins in your food. Food poisoning can affect one person, or it can occur as an outbreak among several people who all ate the same thing. Even though food poisoning is quite rare in North America, 60 to 80 million people get affected by food poisoning each year, and 6 to 8 million die from it each year. It mainly occurs at picnics, school cafeterias, or at big social events, like parties with food at them. These are all cases where food is contaminated by something, or it isnt prepared correctly. Most of the time, people get contaminated by under-cooked meats or expired dairy products. Bacterias also cause deadly poisoning. Most cases are caused by common bacteria (see Jonathans speech) like Staphylococcus or E. coli. The main evil ones are Staph Aureus, E. coli enteritis, salmonella, shigella, campy lobacter, cholera, botulism, listeria, bacillus cereus and yersina (gee, funny names!). Kids (like me) and the elderly, (like Mr. Bark), and people with diabetes, heart disorders or kidney disease, have a much higher chance of having deadly symptoms from bacteria in our food. In places like Africa, there are many more diseases that can affect Canadians, because there are many bacterias that our bodies arent used to. It is also warmer and there are lots of insects that can carry the diseases around. And now for the symptoms of being poisoned (this is my favorite part). Depending on what exactly your stupid brain told you to eat, the symptoms vary. They can last form 2 hours, to days, weeks, months, years, decades! OkI shouldve stopped at weeks, but thats still a long time. You can have nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever, or head ache. Those are only the good ones! More serious effects include respiratory distress, kidney failure, bleeding disorders, arthritis, nervous system disorders or death!!!

Vietnam Essays (821 words) - Vietnam War, Indochina Wars

Vietnam Vietnam is a country 9000 miles away from the United States. Yet America felt that its national interest to protect the peace in south Asia and stop communist was threatened strongly enough to fight a war there. Therefore, American considered that the establishment of the Iron Curtain of Europe must be stopped to happen again in Asia. Meanwhile, the communist take over of China, the Korean War and the communist victory over the French in Vietnam all led many Americans to fear that The communists were taking over the world and America must dispatch force to stop their expansion. At that time, most American believed in the Domino Theory, suggesting that if one Asian country fell to the Communist the others would quickly follow. The U.S. government believed that by helping the South Vietnamese government to resist the invasion of the North Vietnam and prevent the spread of communism to throughout the world to stop advance of communist is the only one and most important perspective for A merican strategy in the Cold War. After the WWII, US government considered that the communism pose a great threat to world peace. For example, communist easily established so-called Iron Curtain in the east Europe and overthrew Chang regime in the China and drove out France from Vietnam. Therefore, with France withdrawal from Vietnam, American wants to prevent a Communist takeover as well as reluctance on apart of American presidents to assume of primary responsibility for fighting Vietcong and their North communist Vietnam allies. Meanwhile, From Truman, American presidents all had done enough to avoid charge as who lost Vietnam to communist. by 1954, instead of keep the promise of Geneva of taking place a free elections in order to elect a leader to rule the united Vietnam, American assisted Nyo Dinb Diem as the president of Vietnam, established American- style government in the southern Vietnam. By the mid-1950s, the Vietcong pose a great threat against South Vietnam, and the North began to pump weapons, advisors , and other resource into the southern cadres, which were reorganized as the National Liberation Front in 1958. At this time, losing the Vietnam to communist also strikes into American presidents heart, therefore, in the late 1950, US government dispatched hundreds of special advisers (later in war the numbers was up to thousands) to assist S. Vietnam military to fight with Vietcong. Vietnam had become entangled in the cold war maneuvers of the United States and Communism. With United States backing, American found out the president of Vietnam who didnt have ability to fight with communist in the countryside and to start social and economic reforms. Meanwhile, his repressive tactics directed not only against Communists but also against the Buddhist majority and other critics. Therefore, US government decided to overthrow Diem regime and support pro- America of generals regime. However, America also resolved on Americanize for Vietnam War, because most people believe American forc e could defeat the ill-prepared Vietcong and their North allies. However, it was also clear to Johnson and his government that American military involvement must not reach levels that would provoke the Chinese and Soviet into direct intervention. Therefore, although fighting with helicopters and gunship chemical defoliants, and napalm, became like the trench warfare of World war one ----a war of attrition. As Clark Clifford of new secretary of defense said: we have no military plan to end the war. The American intervention of in Vietnam in 1965, the danger and blind foolishness of ideological war become increasingly obvious for about 25 years. The US faced an internal crisis in anti-war and anti-government movement. As the war dragged on and opposition mounted students and others developed sophisticated ways to avoid evade, or resist the draft. Over 20000 young men simply refused to accept obey their draft notices and 4000 of those young men served prison sentences. Meanwhile, hundreds of young men instituted court challenges to the draft. The result was a much broader interpretation of them conscientious objector so as to allow exemption for those with moral and ethical objections to war rooted in secular rather than spiritual principles. Some 56,000 men qualified for conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War,

Free Essays on The Great West And US History

Great West The expectation proved false, for during the next generation, the South became solidly united behind the institution of slavery as new economic factors made slavery far more profitable than it had been before 1790. Chief among these was the rise of a great cotton-growing industry in the South, stimulated by the introduction of new types of cotton and by Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin, which separated the seeds from cotton. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution, which made textile manufacturing a large-scale operation, vastly increased the demand for raw cotton. And the opening of new lands in the West after 1812 greatly extended the area available for cotton cultivation. Cotton culture moved rapidly from the Tidewater states on the East coast through much of the lower South to the delta region of the Mississippi and eventually to Texas. Northerners rallied to oppose Missouri's entry except as a free state, and a storm of protest swept the country. For a time Congress was deadlocked, but Henry Clay arranged the so-called Missouri Compromise: Missouri was admitted as a slave state at the same time Maine came in as a free state. In addition, Congress banned slavery from the territory acquired by the Louisiana Purchase north of Missouri's southern boundary. The frontier did much to shape American life. Conditions along the entire Atlantic seaboard stimulated migration to the newer regions. From New England, where the soil was incapable of producing high yields of grain, came a steady stream of men and women who left their coastal farmsand villages to take advantage of the rich interior land of the continent. In the backcountry settlements of the Carolinas and Virginia, people handicapped by the lack of roads and canals giving access to coastal markets, and suffering from the political dominance of the Tidewater planters, also moved westward. As more and more settlers penetrated the wilderness, many ... Free Essays on The Great West And US History Free Essays on The Great West And US History Great West The expectation proved false, for during the next generation, the South became solidly united behind the institution of slavery as new economic factors made slavery far more profitable than it had been before 1790. Chief among these was the rise of a great cotton-growing industry in the South, stimulated by the introduction of new types of cotton and by Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin, which separated the seeds from cotton. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution, which made textile manufacturing a large-scale operation, vastly increased the demand for raw cotton. And the opening of new lands in the West after 1812 greatly extended the area available for cotton cultivation. Cotton culture moved rapidly from the Tidewater states on the East coast through much of the lower South to the delta region of the Mississippi and eventually to Texas. Northerners rallied to oppose Missouri's entry except as a free state, and a storm of protest swept the country. For a time Congress was deadlocked, but Henry Clay arranged the so-called Missouri Compromise: Missouri was admitted as a slave state at the same time Maine came in as a free state. In addition, Congress banned slavery from the territory acquired by the Louisiana Purchase north of Missouri's southern boundary. The frontier did much to shape American life. Conditions along the entire Atlantic seaboard stimulated migration to the newer regions. From New England, where the soil was incapable of producing high yields of grain, came a steady stream of men and women who left their coastal farmsand villages to take advantage of the rich interior land of the continent. In the backcountry settlements of the Carolinas and Virginia, people handicapped by the lack of roads and canals giving access to coastal markets, and suffering from the political dominance of the Tidewater planters, also moved westward. As more and more settlers penetrated the wilderness, many ...

Lysander the Spartan General

Lysander the Spartan General Lysander was one of the Heraclidae at Sparta, but not a member of the royal families. Not much is known about his early life. His family was not wealthy, and we dont know how Lysander came to be entrusted with military commands. The Spartan Fleet in the Aegean When Alcibiades rejoined the Athenian side towards the end of the Peloponnesian War, Lysander was put in charge of the Spartan fleet in the Aegean, based at Ephesus (407). It was Lysanders decree that merchant shipping put into Ephesus and his foundation of shipyards there, that started its rise to prosperity. Persuading Cyrus to Help the Spartans Lysander persuaded Cyrus, the Great Kings son, to help the Spartans. When Lysander was leaving, Cyrus wanted to give him a present, and Lysander asked for Cyrus to fund an increase in the sailors pay, thus inducing sailors serving in the Athenian fleet to come over to the higher-paying Spartan fleet. While Alcibiades was away, his lieutenant Antiochus provoked Lysander into a sea battle which Lysander won. The Athenians thereupon removed Alcibiades from his command. Callicratides  as Lysanders Successor Lysander gained partisans for Sparta amongst the cities subject to Athens by promising to install decemvirates, and promoting the interests of potentially useful allies amongst their citizens. When the Spartans chose Callicratides as Lysanders successor, Lysander undermined his position by sending the funds for the increase in payback to Cyrus and taking the fleet back to the Peloponnese with him. The Battle of Arginusae (406) When Callicratides died after the battle of Arginusae (406), Spartas allies requested that Lysander is made admiral again. This was against Spartan law, so Aracus was made admiral, with Lysander as his deputy in name, but the actual commander. Ending the  Peloponnesian War It was Lysander who was responsible for the final defeat of the Athenian navy at Aegospotami, thus ending the Peloponnesian War. He joined the Spartan kings, Agis and Pausanias, in Attica. When Athens finally succumbed after the siege, Lysander installed a government of thirty, later remembered as the Thirty Tyrants (404). Unpopular Throughout Greece Lysanders promotion of his friends interests and vindictiveness against those who displeased him made him unpopular throughout Greece. When the Persian satrap Pharnabazus complained, the Spartan ephors recalled Lysander. There resulted in a power struggle within Sparta itself, with the kings favoring more democratic regimes in Greece in order to diminish Lysanders influence. King Agesilaus Instead of  Leontychides On the death of King Agis, Lysander was instrumental in Agis brother Agesilaus being made king instead of Leontychides, who was popularly supposed to be Alcibiades son rather than the kings. Lysander persuaded Agesilaus to mount an expedition to Asia to attack Persia, but when they arrived in the Greek Asian cities, Agesilaus grew jealous of the attention paid to Lysander and did everything he could to undermine Lysanders position. Finding himself unwanted there, Lysander returned to Sparta (396), where he may or may not have started a conspiracy to make the kingship elective amongst all Heraclidae or possibly all Spartiates, rather than confined to the royal families. War Between Sparta and Thebes   War broke out between Sparta and Thebes in 395, and Lysander was killed when his troops were surprised by a Theban ambush.

CompareContrast Nathaniel Hawthorne's heroines in The BirthMark and Essay

CompareContrast Nathaniel Hawthorne's heroines in The BirthMark and Rappaccini's Daughter - Essay Example This has led to a few of them being described as "dark heroines" (Bell, 20); Beatrice Rappaccini, the bewitching daughter of the brilliant, but sinister scientist Rappaccini and to a lesser extent, Georgiana Aylmer, the beautiful young wife of the obsessed scientist Aylmer, are examples of poignant, yet powerful 'dark heroines'. This short essay shall compare and contrast the heroines of two of Hawthorne's short stories, 'The Birth-Mark' and 'Rappaccini's Daughter' respectively. This essay shall cite appropriately from them and other secondary sources to show that, while both the heroines testify to their purity of character by their ultimate sacrifices, Hawthorne's portrayal of Beatrice Rappaccini more than Georgiana Aylmer, aptly suits a 'dark heroine'. Both 'The Birth-Mark' and 'Rappaccini's Daughter' of Hawthorne warn the society regarding the excessive pursuit of science and technology without morality. The stories end as tragedies with the heroines falling victims to the evil obsessions of the dominant men around them. In 'The Birth-Mark' Hawthorne depicts his heroine Georgiana as a powerful image of beauty, that she is praised by her husband Aylmer as one who "came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature" (The Birth-Mark 1021). She is young and beautiful, but for one "visible mark of earthly imperfection" (The Birth-Mark 1021) on her cheek. ... er husband in particular, and the male world in general perceived as negative - "Masculine observers contented themselves with wishing it away, that the world might possess one living specimen of ideal loveliness without the semblance of a flaw" (The Birth-Mark 1022). Indeed this becomes the focal point of the story itself, and ultimately causes her death. Hawthorne introduces the element of evilness in the form of Aylmer, young Georgiana's science-loving husband; what was trivial matter to him before marriage, appears "more and more intolerable with every moment" to him after marriage, and he is obsessed with removing it, so as to make her perfect. "I am convinced of the perfect practicability of its removal" he retorts to her innermost fears of it being fatal. Here again Hawthorne introduces the element of fantasy in the form of Georgiana's dream, of approaching doom. He scorns, scoffs, chides, coaxes and cajoles her (The Birth-Mark, pp. 1027-8) to have trust in his science, and even tries to hide the fact that it may be "dangerous" (The Birth-Mark, p.1030). Though Hawthorne's heroine is aware that the experiment may not be to her advantage, she is sweet and pure in character, loves her husband so much that she is unable to see him pained over the blemish in her cheek. She would rather give her life than allow it to stand between their happiness, and begs him "Remove it, remove it, whatever be the cost, or we shall both go mad!" (The Birth-Mark 1030) That her love is pure and untainted is explicitly brought out by Hawthorne through her quiet words "There needed no proof; Give me the goblet I joyfully stake all upon your word" (The Birth-Mark, 1031). She remains true in her love for her husband, till her dying moment, though she allows him to realize his folly of