Free Essays on Daniel Quinns Ishmael

In his novel, Ishmael, author Daniel Quinn (1992), uses the application sociological theories, developed by Emile Durkheim and numerous other sociologists, to illustrate the misconceptions in modern human society in a fictionalized setting. The main character of the novel, Ishmael, is a highly educated gorilla who is able to project an objective view into the societies of the world to his pupil living inside this world. The situation in the society discussed in Ishmael involves the societies of the â€Å"Takers† and the â€Å"Leavers† and the way â€Å"Mother Culture† influences their existence. The Takers indulge in a society where questions as to the origins of culture are never addressed; whereas, the Leavers are those peoples who choose not to see themselves as the center of the universe. Ishmael states that according to the culture in Taker society, â€Å"‘The Leavers were chapter one of human history- a long and uneventful chapter. Their chapter of human history ended about ten thousand years ago with the birth of agriculture in the New East. This event marked the beginning of chapter two, the chapter of the Takers’† (Quinn 1992:42). Yet, he directly contradicts this statement and issues that each of these societies are living out two different stories that are in direct opposition of one another. According to Ishmael, the Industrial Revolution c ause one society to diverge into two separate entities- the hunter-gatherers and the new industrialized society. The idea that culture is an ever-present, collective unconsciousness is stressed throughout Quinn’s (1992) novel. â€Å"‘This explanation of how things came to be this way is ambient in your culture. Everyone knows it and everyone accepts it without question’ (Ishmael)† (Quinn 1992:40). Every man, woman, and child know the story of creation in the Taker culture and automatically assume that God created man to rule the Earth. No one in the Taker society see... Free Essays on Daniel Quinn's Ishmael Free Essays on Daniel Quinn's Ishmael In his novel, Ishmael, author Daniel Quinn (1992), uses the application sociological theories, developed by Emile Durkheim and numerous other sociologists, to illustrate the misconceptions in modern human society in a fictionalized setting. The main character of the novel, Ishmael, is a highly educated gorilla who is able to project an objective view into the societies of the world to his pupil living inside this world. The situation in the society discussed in Ishmael involves the societies of the â€Å"Takers† and the â€Å"Leavers† and the way â€Å"Mother Culture† influences their existence. The Takers indulge in a society where questions as to the origins of culture are never addressed; whereas, the Leavers are those peoples who choose not to see themselves as the center of the universe. Ishmael states that according to the culture in Taker society, â€Å"‘The Leavers were chapter one of human history- a long and uneventful chapter. Their chapter of human history ended about ten thousand years ago with the birth of agriculture in the New East. This event marked the beginning of chapter two, the chapter of the Takers’† (Quinn 1992:42). Yet, he directly contradicts this statement and issues that each of these societies are living out two different stories that are in direct opposition of one another. According to Ishmael, the Industrial Revolution c ause one society to diverge into two separate entities- the hunter-gatherers and the new industrialized society. The idea that culture is an ever-present, collective unconsciousness is stressed throughout Quinn’s (1992) novel. â€Å"‘This explanation of how things came to be this way is ambient in your culture. Everyone knows it and everyone accepts it without question’ (Ishmael)† (Quinn 1992:40). Every man, woman, and child know the story of creation in the Taker culture and automatically assume that God created man to rule the Earth. No one in the Taker society see...

How Laughing Gas or Nitrous Oxide Works

How Laughing Gas or Nitrous Oxide Works Laughing gas or nitrous oxide is used in the dentists office to reduce patient anxiety and relieve pain. Its also a common recreational drug. Have you ever wondered how laughing gas works? Heres a look at how laughing gas reacts in the body and whether its safe or not. What Is Laughing Gas? Laughing gas is the common name for nitrous oxide or N2O. It is also known as nitrous, nitro, or NOS. Its a nonflammable, colorless gas that has a slightly sweet flavor and odor. In addition to its use in rockets and to boost engine performance for motor racing, laughing gas has several medical applications. It has been used in dentistry and surgery as an analgesic and anesthetic since 1844 when dentist  Dr. Horace Wells used it on himself during a tooth extraction. Since that time, its use has become commonplace in medicine, plus the euphoric effect of inhaling the gas has led to use as a recreation drug. How Laughing Gas Works Although the gas has been used for a long time, the exact mechanism of its action in the body is incompletely understood, in part because the various effects depend upon different reactions. In general, nitrous oxide moderates several ligand-gated ion channels. Specifically, the mechanisms for the effects are: Anxiolytic or Anti-Anxiety EffectStudies indicate the anti-anxiety effect from inhalation of laughing gas derives from increased  activity of GABAA  receptors.  The GABAA receptor acts as the central nervous systems principal inhibitory neurotransmitter.Painkiller or Analgesic EffectLaughing gas reduces the perception of pain by facilitating an interaction between the descending noradrenergic system and the endogenous opioid system. Nitrous oxide causes the release of  endogenous opioids, but how this happens is unknown.Euphoria EffectNitrous produces euphoria by causing dopamine to be released, which stimulates the mesolimbic reward pathway in the brain. This contributes to the analgesic effect, too. Is Nitrous Oxide Safe? When you get laughing gas at the dentists or doctors office, its very safe. A mask is used to first administer pure oxygen and then a mixture of oxygen and laughing gas. The effects on vision, hearing, manual dexterity and mental performance are temporary. Nitrous oxide has both neurotoxic and neuroprotective effects, but limited exposure to the chemical tends not to cause a permanent effect, one way or the other. The primary risks from laughing gas are from inhaling a compressed gas directly from its canister, which could cause severe lung damage or death. Without supplemental oxygen, inhaling nitrous oxide can cause hypoxia or oxygen deprivation effects, including lightheadedness, fainting, low blood pressure, and potentially a heart attack. These risks are comparable to those of inhaling helium gas. Prolonged or repeated exposure to laughing gas can lead to a vitamin B deficiency, reproductive problems in pregnant women, and numbness. Because very little nitrous oxide is absorbed by the body, a person inhaling laughing gas breathes out most of it. This can lead to risks to medical personnel who routinely use the gas in their practice.

Giza Pyramids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Giza Pyramids - Essay Example Theories of aliens having built the pyramids at Giza are far-fetched and have not been proved to date. These theories are sometimes advanced by well-known archaeologists like Abdel Gallad, but their theories often are based on conjectures and guesses that are unable to stand the test of rigorous academic work by other historians (Todd, 1993). They are often inspired by the sensational nature of researches that surround the pyramids and the conspiracy theories that surround them, accompanied by talk of the power of the dead pharaoh, which has been well-documented in popular culture through films and stories. There are however, theories that talk of the creation of the pyramids by human hands. Prominent among these is the theory that is put forward by Joseph Davidovits and Margie Morris, who talk of how the very idea of huge rocks having been hauled up could be wrong. They discuss the possibility of slurry being carried up to the heights of the pyramid and then poured into parts of it where it would solidify into the shape that was desirable. This theory tries to address the difficulty of lifting rocks to the incredible heights that the pyramids were constructed at (Morris, 1988). Andrzej Bochnacki proposes another theory that tries to explain the mystery of the pyramids.

Fleet Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Fleet Planning - Essay Example It is all because of all such various factors, it is considered that the airline industry is a vibrant and unpredictable industry. As this industry has been really dynamic of late, it has been considered by many airline service providers to alter their performance style into a private management style rather than the earlier government interfering style. (The Global airline industry program) To respond to the dynamic nature of the airline industry, many airline service providers have followed a low-cost strategy and to be able to apply this low-cost strategy, fleet planning strategies have been followed. In order to implement a successful the fleet planning strategy, companies have focused upon four different issues: Costs are a major factor that enables a company to earn profits. If the costs are controlled properly, higher profits would be earned. In recent years, costs have been an important aspect towards a company’s success. The knowledge and control of the costs provided by the latest aircraft models, engines and fleet universality are an important aspect in the assessment of future fleet necessities. Demand in the market is another aspect which ascertains the requirement of fleet for a company. The general demand by the customer regarding the services provided and the fares offered would also be necessary in ascertaining the appropriate fleet for a company. The biggest revenue/cost saving of adding more aircraft of the same type is the compatibility and similarity, for example Airbus in marketing their Aircraft claims that communality exists between their aircrafts and the of having a fleet of different type sizes of aircraft from Airbus would: Since the systems are similar and properly use the same tools and procedures for maintenance or even operation such as refueling, or baggage handling, that would have a big effect on the

Who Am I? :: essays research papers

I am a loving mother, a faithful partner, a loyal friend and a devoted child. Love and Family are very important to me, and I struggle to find time for all my loved ones, for without these treasured relationships, my life would be meaningless. I am a pioneer on a quest of personal growth, constantly in search of truth and knowledge, always longing to travel to places unknown, whether physically or spiritually. I believe that all of our experiences help us to be the person we were destined to be, therefore, we should be thankful for our mistakes as well as our triumphs, and live our lives with no regrets. I am a diplomat, struggling to keep the peace with all those around me. I believe that we are all brothers and sisters, children of the same divine power. Sometimes I become disenchanted with society, the state of the world, and how people treat each other, and it saddens me to the point that I want to shut myself off so I won't have to see it. I am a spiritual being. I believe that we can each find a piece of heaven inside ourselves if we look hard enough. Although I'm not a follower of any one religion, I am tolerant and accepting of all beliefs. I believe that what the Christians call "God", the Native Americans call "The Great Spirit", the followers of Islam call "Allah", and the Buddhists recognize as simply "the Void", are all one and the same, different interpretations of the divine power that lives in and around all of us. I am a free spirit. I like to go where the wind takes me. I love to swim in the ocean and look at the moon. I love to ride on a galloping horse's back and feel the wind in my hair. Sometimes the responsibilities of work and family cause me to be discontented and bored with life. I have made bad choices, and chosen to escape from this discontentment and boredom with the use of certain substances.

Historical context of 1984 †George Orwell Essay

George Orwells 1984 is one of the most important pieces of political fiction; it is a timeless political satire that demands to be read to be truly appreciated. Published in 1948, and set 36 years into the future, 1984 eerily depicts where the world is going, where the truth is shunted and lies are promoted by all mainstream media. Perhaps one of the most powerful science fiction novels of the twentieth century, this apocalyptic satire shows with grim conviction how the protagonist Winston Smiths individual personality is wiped and how he is recreated in the Partys image until he does not just obey but loves Big Brother. Some critics have related Winston Smiths suffering to those Orwell underwent before the writing of 1984. Orwell maintained the idea that the novel was written with the intention to alter other peoples ideas about the society they should strive after. But perhaps, to truly understand the concepts explored and the purpose it was written, we should first consider the historical context of the novel, the period leading up to the writing of 1984 in order to answer just what kind of book he was writing. One of the things that make 1984 such an important work of political fiction is the fact that it was written in a period of unprecedented political instability. It was the end of the worlds great imperial powers and the rise of a new age of politics. Democracy, fascism and communism were vying for dominance and the outcome of their struggle could not be predicted. Most people at the time were content to read 1984 as a straightforward allegory of the about the melancholy fate of the Russian revolution. From the minute Big Brothers moustache appears in the second page of the book, people were immediately reminded of Stalin just as how the despised part heretic Emmanuel Goldstein is like Trotsky. This however did not prevent the novel being marketed in the US as an anticommunist tract. Written in 1948, 1984 arrived in the Mccarthy period where communism was seen as a worldwide menace. The Korean War (1950-53) would soon follow and highlighted the alleged communist practice of ideological enforcement through brainwashing. That something very much like brainwashing happens in  1984, in lengthy and terrifying detail, to its hero, Winston Smith, did not surprise those readers determined to take the novel as a simple condemnation of Stalinist atrocity. This however was not Orwells intention. Though 1984 gave comfort to generations of anti communist ideologues, its main purpose was to condemn the ill effects of totalitarianism. But to understand what fueled his hatred of totalitarian regimes we must first consider the life George Orwell led and the world at that time. George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair, in India 1903 into a middle class family. The name George Orwell was a pseudonym that he wrote his novels under. He was the son of a British civil servant and was brought to England as a toddler. The boy became aware of the clear class distinctions while attending St Cyprians preparatory school in Sussex where he received a fine education but felt out of place. He was often humiliated and looked down on as he was not from a wealthy family like the others. This experience made him sensitive to the cruelty of social arrogance. As a partial scholarship student whose parents could not afford to pay for his scholarship, Orwell was often reminded of his lowly economic status by the school administrators. Conditions improved at Eton where he studied next with Aldous Huxley as his French tutor. Later, Orwell wrote of being relatively happy at Eton as the school allowed students much independence. But instead of continuing his university classes, in 1922 Orwell joined the Indian imperial police. Stationed in Burma, his class consciousness intensified as he served as one of the hated policemen enforcing British control of the native population. He was troubled by the caste and racial barriers that had prevented him from getting to know a wider cross-section of the people there. Disgusted at his role as an imperialist; he returned to England in 1927 and resigned his position. Orwell planned to become a writer, a profession which he had originally not shown much interest in. Perhaps, to erase the guilt from his colonial experiences, he chose to live among the poor of London, and later in Paris.  His own life provide the material for his first book published in 1933 Down and out in Paris and London which was based on his time living in those two cities with social criticism. The pseudonym George Orwell was used so his parents would not be shocked by the horrific living conditions described in the book. Subsequent novels contained autobiographical references and served as vehicles for Orwell to explore his growing political convictions. In 1936, Orwell traveled to Barcelona to write about the Spanish civil war but ended up joining the battle, fighting against Spanish Leader Francisco Franco and his Nazi supported fascists on the side of the Republicans, supporting the socialist left. There he had quickly learned the difference between real and phony antifascism. Orwell said: ‘This fascism †¦ somebody’s got to stop it’. To Orwell, liberty and democracy went together, guaranteeing, among other things, the freedom of the artist; the present capitalist civilization was corrupt, but fascism would be morally calamitous. It was the Spanish Civil War that played the most important part in defining his socialism. Having witnessed the success of the anarcho-syndicalist communities, and the following brutal suppression of the revolutionaries by the Soviet-backed Communists, Orwell returned from Catalonia a staunch anti-Stalinist and joined the Independent Labour Party. The Spanish war and other events in 1936-7, he wrote 10 years later, turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I know it. His experiences in the Spanish civil war especially arrow escape during a Communist purge in Barcelona made him a lifelong anti-stalinist and a strong believer in democratic socialism, socialism with free elections. In the novel, Winston Smiths job at the ministry of truth consists of falsifying historical records in such a way to make the Party appear incapable of mistakes. This kind of systematic eradication was also present most notably in the Stalinist era in the 1930s. After Joseph Stalin rose to power, the names of the once honored leaders of the Russian revolution men like Leon Trotsky, Nikolai Bukharin, and Lev Kamenev were deleted from the  history books, their faces destroyed even on historical photographs. Articles written in encyclopedias were removed and new pages were written to replace those the subscribers had to cut out. But the Soviets were not the only one who engaged in such practices. The British government also undertook its own propaganda as well, in which Orwell was an unintentional participant. From 1939-41, Stalin was portrayed as villain who had sacrificed Poland by signing a non aggression pact with Germanys Adolf Hitler. But on the day Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin was instantly remade into a friend of Britain. In the British Broadcasting corporation (BBC) which stressed the fortitude of the Russian people and the bravery of the red army. Orwell had worked for the BBC at the time Stalin was made a celebrity. Orwells satirical novel Animal Farm which condemned was rejected by publishers. It was only after World War II, when Stalin was no longer an ally, was his book finally published. In Orwells fictional Oceania, radio broadcasts consists of special announcements of victories and large doses of martial music. This bears a similar resemblance to the successful tactics used by Germanys minister of propaganda under Hitler, joesph Goebbels. Also, Orwells concept of Newspeak, a critical element of degrading the society in 1984, bore a similar resemblance Goebbels’s Sprachregelung (â€Å"language manipulation†). In Sprachregelung, for example, Churchill was referred to by officials as â€Å"that brandy-sodden alcoholic Winston Churchill,† and Roosevelt â€Å"that syphilitic degenerate Roosevelt†. The media’s manipulation of the masses in Nineteen Eighty-Four, then, is drawn not only from Soviet and Nazi propaganda tactics, but also from Orwell’s own experiences as a propagandist in the BBC’s English-language service to India as well. In 1984, the world is subdivided into three great powers, Oceania(united states), Eurasia(Europe and Russia) and Eastasia (china and south east Asia) . This scenario is the same as the actual political alignment that followed WWII. At a conference in the city of Tehran 1943, Roosevelt, Stalin< Churchill met to discuss postwar occupation and demilitarization of Germany. At this meeting it was decided that a secret Allied assault on German  occupied France would take place in 1944. This would cause Germany to fight a war on two fronts both east and west. This was the strategy that would win the war in next 18 months and also allowed the total soviet domination of Eastern Europe. By the time the leaders met again in 1945 at the Yalta conference, Stalin had driven the Nazi forces back and taken control of Eastern Europe. In 1948, when 1984 had been published, World War II had just ended. One of Englands allies was Russia, ruled by the repressive dictator Joseph Stalin. Stalin had launched an economic system in the Soviet Union where he had forced rapid industrialization of the large rural country. While the Soviet Union and its empire had transformed from an agrarian economy to an industrial powerhouse in a short span of time, millions of people died from hardships and famine that occurred as a result of the severe economic turmoil and party policies. During the continued repressions in the country under Stalin millions of people who were a threat to the Soviet politics or suspected of being such a threat were executed or exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of Siberia or Central Asia much like how the citizens of 1984 were vaporized. A number of ethnic groups in Russia were forcibly exiled for political reasons. Orwell seems to have been particularly annoyed with the widespread allegiance to Stalinism. The Communist Party under Stalin, he felt, were movements agreeing to fight for the working classes against capitalism, but in reality concerned only with establishing and perpetuating their own power. The masses were only there to be used for their idealism, their class resentments, and their willingness to work cheap. Fearful that the Soviets would impose a totalitarian political system on the vast area the soviets occupied, Roosevelt and Churchill pressed Stalin to establish governments through free elections. He conceded but did not allow international supervision of these elections. In the decade following the wars end, a ravaged Europe became the battleground for the two ideologies of communism and capitalism, and nowhere was their inability to agree more  evident than in the political division of Berlin. It was also at Yalta where the leaders set up the United Nations to maintain peace and security. But this coalition had little effect in preventing the growing tension between the US and the Soviets as they both tried to become the leading superpower. The ongoing ideological clash between these nations came to be known as the Cold War. The third great power to emerge after the war was the Peoples Republic of China. Communists captured power from the Nationalists in 1949 and established the People’s Republic of China, totalitarianism again appeared in the newly formed communist state although its appearance seems less indicative of communist ideology than a long history of despotic rulers in both Russia and China. Mao and his lieutenants manipulated all organs of information for indoctrination purposes. Political education was accompanied by mass arrests and executions, forced labor, and the liquidation of anticommunist opponents. Political opponents were rehabilitated rather than eliminated, and often permitted to return to positions of responsibility. The fact that the majority of these events, which are strikingly similar to those recounted in Nineteen Eighty-Four, occurred after the publication of the book is a testament to the novel’s prescience. Other dictators of the time included Benito Mussolini of Italy. These dictators controlled citizens through propaganda and violence. These state of affairs prompted Orwell to create Big Brother, the ultimate totalitarian leader who dominates political, social, and economic activities. Orwell was also concerned about an important invention that came into place after WWII and would eventually become a dominant force in Western culture: the television. Television first appeared in America in 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair. Its popularity continued to grow and today most households in America owned at least one colour television set. Orwell recognized the potential and the influence it can have of this communication tool which eventually everyone would own. He imagined that the television would broadcast propaganda non stop and eventually allow the broadcaster to spy on  the viewers hence the reason for establishing the telescreens in 1984. Political tragedies, such as this, are published constantly, but 1984 is one of the few that has remained timeless and will always be regarded as not only historical, but also prophetic. The book reminds us of what has gone wrong, what can go wrong, and what will go wrong when government becomes all-powerful. It is because of this political and social insight that 1984 is one of the best books of all time. BIBLIOGRAPHY www.wikipeia.org- Spanish civil war-cold war-George Orwell-Joseph Stalin-Mao tse Tungwww.bartleby.com/65/to/totalita.htmwww.britannica.com/eb/article-9073017/totalitarianismww.answers.comhttp://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/introduction.htmlhttp://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/scw/scw.htmwww.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade50.htmlbooks.google.com.au/bookswww.online-literature.com/orwell/www.george-orwell.org/www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-totalitarianism.htmFinding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin1984 by George Orwell (foreword by Thomas Pynchon) 2003 editionLiterature and its times by joyce moss

Movie Review A Sci Fi, Directed By Christopher Nolan

Inception a sci-fi, produced in 2010, Directed by Christopher Nolan. Inception has many veteran film actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Ellen Page (Ariadne), Ken Watanabe (Saito), and many other renowned actors. According to IMDB Inception has 166 nominations and 144 win for awards (http://www.imdb.com/). The Film Inception is about Dominic Cobb who is a master thief, not your everyday thief stealing from homes, banks, and offices and such. Cobb work is extraction of ideas in dreams. He is an international fugitive that is not allowed to go home and see his children. After the attempt of a heist, Cobb is offered a job in corporate espionage of implanting an idea, if he succeed he may go back home and see his children. In order for Cobb to pull off this heist he must bring together a special team to pull off the perfect crime. Unfortunately Cobb keeps his team in dark about something that could jeopardize the mission. Cobb (performed by Leonardo Di Caprio), the protagonist, is man who is willing to do anything to see his children. Cobb is a round character, with many personality traits. He is a great leader, he is an explorer, and an outlaw. Cobb main want is to see his family again, but he has a deeper internal conflict which is him resolving involvement of his wife death. Usually the main character internal conflict is not clearly visible, but I believe since the movie involves exploring the subconscious the internal conflict make