A Clash of Beliefs Essay -- Science Creationism Religion Essays

A Clash of Beliefs The earth and all the life on it was created in seven days, at least this is what I was taught growing up in a Catholic family. This was everything I knew, until in fifth grade when I first heard about evolution. I could not understand the concept, and my mother would not tell me what it was because she did not believe it could be true. Over the next few years I gradually learned more and more about evolution. As I learned about Darwin’s magical thing called â€Å"descent with modification† my upbringing began to come into question. How could everything I had grown up learning be true if there was all this concrete evidence against it? Gradually, this questioning began to fade away. I had reached an impasse and my religious beliefs fell by the wayside. Sure, I went through the motions, going to mass and achieving my confirmation. However, the end of my sophomore year in high school I had really begun to doubt my faith. Soon after my confirmation I completely stopped going to church since I felt that I could no longer believe what they were telling me. Evolution has become my basic belief about how every organism in the world has become what it is today. Darwin’s Origin of Species basic premise is that species have evolved (descended) from a common ancestor. The strictest Catholic belief is that all species are exactly the same as they always have been which ignores any and all fossil evidence. Even the remarkable similarities between reptiles, birds, and dinosaurs are not acknowledged. An excerpt of Jack Holt’s essay The Dinosaur with a Thumb on Its Nose shows exactly the things that the Catholic Church is not willing to accept: â€Å"Cuvier realized that each major group of animals had its own distinctiv... ...efuse to believe in evolution. There is an overwhelming amount of fossil data that supports this. Even the speed at which a virus (for example the influenza virus) can change supports evolution. It is this evidence that completely changed my belief system. Works Cited Darwin, Charles. 1979. The Origin of Species. Gramercy Books: New York. Holt, Jack. 2002. The Dinosaur with a Thumb on Its Nose. 22 January 2005 Available: http://www.susqu.edu/satsci/Paths-of-Science/DINOSAUR-WITH-A- THUMB-ON%20ITS-NOSE.pdf National Academy of Sciences. 1999. Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences. 25 January 2005. Available: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/religion/revolution/index.html Paul II, Pope John. 1997. Evolution Revolution. PBS. 25 January 2005. Available: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/religion/revolution/index.html

Hamlet †What Makes Polonius Indispensable? :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Hamlet – What Makes Polonius Indispensable?      Ã‚  Ã‚   Polonius, father to Laertes and Ophelia in the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet, is vitally important to this play. Without his involvement there would be something seriously lacking. Let us dwell on the lord chamberlain in this essay.    In â€Å"Tragic Alphabet† Lawrence Danson explains Polonius’ use of â€Å"lie-detector† acting:    For the lie-detector use of acting is one we see much of in Hamlet, and though it shares certain characteristics with Hamlet’s use of acting, it is decisively not the same. Polonius is the great master of it – of using, that is, the indirection or downright falseness of acting to discover a truth. Polonius was in his time an amateur actor himself; appropriately, he played Caesar and was killed in the capitol. But we now see Polonius either as a theater critic (and it is a flat sort of criticism he practices, multiplying rigid categories while demanding that he be kept entertained), or as a director – of Laertes, Reynaldo, Ophelia, Gertrude. To each he recommends the use of seeming: in the case of Laertes it is to be nothing short of a life-style, but with the others it is specifically a means for getting at a hidden truth. (83)    In the Introduction to Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet, David Bevington presents Polonius as similar to Hamlet in various ways:    Polonius, his [Hamlet’s] seeming opposite in so many ways, is, like Hamlet, an inveterate punster. To whom else but Polonius should Hamlet direct the taunt of â€Å"Words, words, words†? The aged counselor recalls that in his youth he â€Å"suffered much extremity for love, very near this,† and he has been an actor at the university. Polonius too has advice for the players: â€Å"Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light.† When Hamlet jibes at â€Å"so capital a calf† enacting Julius Caesar, killed in the Capitol, he reinforces the parallel to his own playacting and anticipates the slaying of Polonius behind the arras. (4)    Polonius’ entry into the play occurs at the social get-together of the royal court. Claudius has already been crowned; Queen Gertrude is there; Hamlet is present in the black clothes of mourning. When Laertes approaches Claudius to give his farewell before returning to school, the king asks Polonius: â€Å"Have you your father's leave? What says Polonius?† And the father dutifully answers:   

Childcare and Education Essay

B) Evaluate the role of play in meeting the meeting the individual needs of children who are ill Role play is one way in which you can meet the individual needs of children who are ill as it allows the children to freely express themselves and their feelings without the worry of being told what to do and how to do it in a safe environment free from harm an example from one of my day nursery placements was when the room supervisor had the role play area changed to a doctors surgery because quite a lot of children where ill with the chickenpox, so that they weren’t worried about going to the doctors and could act out different scenarios with their friends. Role play is very adaptable and can be changed to meet each individual child’s specific needs an example would be if one of the children in the practitioners care had to go through very serious treatment at the hospital then the practitioner would change the role play area to a mock hospital set up so that the child can express themselves and find out information on what going to hospital is like and for them to be able to explain to their friends what is going on with themselves. Child-led activities and Adult-led activities are another way in which the practitioner can meet the individual needs of a child who is ill, this type of activity allows the child who is ill some control on what their role is in the activity and how they go about completing that role throughout the activity an example from my current primary school placement would be when we did a science experiment on materials. The teacher explained what the children needed to do and showed them a visual demonstration, then the children split into groups of three on separate tables about the classroom. The children then following what the teacher had said carried out the experiment with the different roles split between themselves. One would record the information and draw around the surface splat, another would be dropping the plasticine and the last one would be holding the three different length rulers. Observation and planning helps in meeting the needs of a child who is ill because as a practitioner it allows them to be able to see where the child needs further assistance and for the practitioner to plan the further assistance.

Marketing and the Fast Food Industry Essay

The ultimate themes of fast food chains are high visibility and global recognition. The earliest establishments, ostentatiously designed in an attempt to attract attention, were strategically placed alongside highway off-ramps in order to draw in customers. Simplistic logos, such as the legendary golden arches, began to bring recognition to the fast food chains. The fast food industry’s ability to sell convenience and taste then allowed the popularity of fast food to gain momentum. Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation, explores the various tactics used by the industry in order to achieve global recognition, target children, and why it is more productive to reach children than to target other age groups. One method used to achieve global recognition was to apply the concept of synergy. Synergy can be defined as the cooperation between two or more organizations to produce results greater than the sum of their separate effects. In simplistic terms, two or more companies combine forces in order to benefit themselves more than they could have done individually. Two companies who have effectively utilized this concept are the Walt Disney company and the McDonald corporation. They were able to propose marketing deals, provide giveaways, and swap executives amongst their companies. The cross promotion strengthened ties between Hollywood and the fast food industry, allowing the McDonald corporation to gain global recognition. Studies show that children have an easier time identifying characters such as Ronald McDonald than major political figures such as the president of the United States. Half of Australian nine and ten year olds thought that Ronald McDonald was an authority on what they should eat. In Beijing, all of the primary school children recognized Ronald McDonald, saying that he ‘understood their hearts’. Germany has more than one thousand McDonalds, many popping up inside of Wal-Marts, because they know lots of children get lugged to Wal-Mart every day. (Schlosser 231). The McDonald corporation had accomplished its goals to reach ‘global realization’, and this achievement paved the way to pursue early targeting. Children became the target group within advertisement, â€Å"the decade of the child consumer† (Schlosser 43). In order to exploit children effectively, focus groups were created solely for the purpose of finding effecting means of targeting ads towards children and collecting demographic information. â€Å"89% requested personal information from kids† through the internet and most children supplied it without parental consent (Schlosser 45). Soon, products such as Coca- Cola and Dr. Pepper were marketed to schools and fast food advertisements were littered throughout the education system. Advertisements were placed on school buses, in school newspapers, written on stadium banners, and announcements were made over the stadium’s public-address system during games (Schlosser 51). Children were not only faced with these ads during their time period at school, but at home too. The media played a huge role in promoting fast food. Television commercials, the internet, and the radio were employed to â€Å"get kids to nag their parents and nag them well† (Schlosser 43). The adults set out to prey on children’s immaturity and to â€Å"exploit their present- mindedness† (Schlosser 46). Unsurprisingly, fast food companies became recognizable household trademarks. Ronald McDonald, Mickey Mouse, and McDonald’s renowned golden arches are a few of the most identifiable symbols today. Companies believed that by propagandizing children at an early age, they would influence the children to remain loyal customers to their company. This leads to ask why marketing to children is the most worthwhile tactic. Foremost, children are impressionable. According to Consumer Reports magazine, young children have difficulty distinguishing between advertising and reality in ads, and ads can distort their view of the world. â€Å"Children are still establishing their tastes and habits†, making them ideal customers because they have many years of purchasing ahead of them (Schlosser 54). â€Å"America’s fast food culture has become indistinguishable from the popular culture of its children† (Schlosser 48). The coalition of the fast food and entertainment industry allowed fast food companies to market toys based on current trends in entertainment. â€Å"The key to attracting kids is toys, toys, toys† (Schlosser 47). In return, the entertainment industry promoted their current trend. Children’s identities should not be defined by their consumer habits. Yet, that is the main way their are portrayed in the media– as consumers. Children were also described as â€Å"surrogate salesmen† (Schlosser 43). Schlosser explains that children need to persuade others in order to get what they want which again, gets kids to â€Å"nag their parents and nag them well† (Schlosser 43). As an incentive to get children to want to eat at their restaurants, the McDonald corporation created playlands in their establishments based off of Disney’s theme park, Disneyworld. â€Å"Playlands bring in children, who bring in parents, who bring in money† (Schlosser 47). Since children need to be accompanied in order for them to get what they want, more customers, such as parents and siblings of the child, are brought into the company as well, thereby benefiting the company. Schlosser argues that the fast food industry’s marketing tactics aim to achieve global recognition, victimize children, and explains the importance behind targeting children. He portrays children as naive individuals who are drawn into fast food through the fast food industry’s strategic efforts, and in most cases, they are. Children are bribed with playplaces, toys, cartoons, movies, and videos, and are reached through contests, sweepstakes, games, clubs, and the media. Schlosser questions the ethic and moral values of the advertisers in the fast food industry for feeding off of the children’s naivety. However, children, susceptible to the world of advertisement around them, continuously fall prey to the marketing industry.

Primate Society and Human Society Essay

The present paper is intended to discuss the similarities between the social behaviors of baboons and humans according to the book â€Å"Almost Human† by Shirley Strum. The first manifestation of social behavior Shirley Strum noticed is threat signals the animals convey when a newcomer appears (Strum, 1987, p. 24). Furthermore, as the newcomer approaches, juveniles and adult females circle around him and carefully examine him. The animals introduce themselves in an interesting way: â€Å"A female â€Å"presents† to a male when she approaches and turns her bottom toward his face; then the male will generally sniff her to see if she is sexually receptive. Two males can also present to each other with no sexual intention at all, and the same greeting is frequently exchanged by females, juveniles and even babies when they can manage it. † (Strum, 1987, p. 25). In several days upon the arrival of the newcomer, he remains an outcast, yet the other tribe members keep their eyes on each movement he makes. When a female comes closely to a male, the latter narrows his eyes, shakes head and smacks his lips – this physical manifestation is quite common among baboons. However, if the male is not considered â€Å"popular† in the group of animals, the female might simply flee without introducing herself, – then male continues grimacing as described above and accompanies the grim with soft grunting. The couple play this game for quite a long time – the female approaches and then quickly distracts and escapes, whereas the male continues to exhibit his â€Å"infatuation†. Such social â€Å"games† are played between men and women in our society. For instance, when a woman presents herself to a man, she smiles and shakes hands with him. They also verbally exchange their introductory information – name, occupation, hobbies. At the same time, the man, who considers marriage or searches for a sex partner, processes the information about the woman’s appearance and . If he is attracted to the woman, he begins to make slight hints and social gestures – e. g. , he might distinguish her amongst his friends and become more sincere, invite her to a theatre, cinema or dinner, give her gifts and flowers and so forth. However, if the woman notices the man has low social position or does not meet her social requirements, she is likely to lose interest in his â€Å"candidacy†. However, if the man persists and manages to present his interest as genuine and stable, the intimate relationship might begin. Human and baboon behaviors in cross-gender relationships are quite similar. Primarily, baboons present themselves to one another in order to learn more about a stranger; similarly, humans introduce themselves both verbally and through smiling, shaking hands. This introductory stage allows gathering the basic information and determining the primary sources of threat in the â€Å"interlocutor† (e. g. , contagious disease, among humans – armor etc). Among humans, smile acts as a sign of the person’s peaceful intentions, as humans are less proficient in the use and understanding of body language. Further, as a female baboon approaches the male and gives him an opportunity to inhale her odor, she shows to him that she is sexually mature and can have intimate contact. Moreover, such close introduction allows the male to examine her appearance, or â€Å"beauty† – this factor is extremely important, given that â€Å"beauty† in primate groups is associated with physical health and fitness. The healthier the female is the stronger progeny she can bear and the fewer problems with bearing and birth she will experience. Similarly, human males assess the female during the first seconds of encounter, – in particular, they pay attention to such criteria as age, physical beauty and erudition, as they half-consciously select (not always intentionally) a potential sexual partner or spouse and subconsciously believe younger (to reasonable degree, but generally younger in comparison to the male), smarter and more gorgeous women are fitter and better prepared for life in this society. Female baboons show their bottoms when they seek to lure a male, perhaps because appropriate building of this body part serves as a proof of the female’s sexual maturity and health. Human females, who wish to look â€Å"attractive†, also demonstrate their bodies, not necessarily naked, but always underlined by stylish clothes, make-up and accessories. After evaluating the female and determining whether she fits his criteria of physical development and appearance, the male baboon himself seeks to attract the female by displaying his interest and showing his own fitness and strength. Similarly to the primate society, among humans, there is also a behavioral pattern which consists in male’s responsibility for making the first step towards a stable relationship (e. g. inviting the woman he is infatuated with to a dinner, entertaining her, paying a lot of attention to her personality). If the female baboon realizes that male is outcast, she will continue ignoring him for some time, as the fittest males, whose inheritance will be most favorable to the future progeny in terms of survival, are normally popular in the tribe and have a high degree of authority. Furthermore, popular member of the tribe is more capable of providing for his female when she is consumed by â€Å"childcare†. Like female baboons, women become quite suspicious when meeting social outcasts or men of lower social status, who are potentially less likely to meet the needs of the family after the baby appears. However, in both societies, if the male manages to prove his dependability and keeps attending to the female for a long time, the latter might change her mind and find him eligible. As one can assume, human social behavior in cross-gender relationships is driven largely by instincts exhibited by primates. The factors humans and primates consider when selecting a sexual partner are in many cases the same, as males of both groups first and foremost evaluate physical fitness, whereas females in both baboon and human societies make a more complex analysis and also look at the male’s social position envisioning the necessity of taking care of defenseless and dependent progeny (or children). Both humans and animals are greatly concerned about the physical characteristics of the next generation, which partially backs Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest and the inborn striving for the survival of the species.

Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk - Essay Example As the discussion stresses the Souls of Black Folk represents a collection of fourteen historical and sociological essays framed by the Forethought and Afterthought. In the Forethought and Of Our Spiritual Strivings Du Bois outlines the primary metaphorical concepts of his work, the â€Å"veil† and â€Å"double consciousness†, through which, according to the author, American blacks face the world. Hence, the â€Å"veil† represents â€Å"Negros’† innate feature, an indication of color line, historically conditioned lack of ability of white people to accept blacks as equals and at the inability of African-Americans to exceed the poor limits society establishes for them. The â€Å"double consciousness† is closely related to the concept of the â€Å"veil† and refers to the existence of two conflicting identities of African-Americans, that is to say the one of emancipated American citizen and the other of former slave continuing to experien ce inequality and restrictions.This paper discusses that  social tendencies of the post-emancipation epoch aggravated a lot African-Americans’ plight then. For example, in Of the Black Belt Du Bois cites his experience of travelling in so-called Jim Crow Car giving readers the insight of how poorly the discrimination on the ground of skin color legalized by Jim Crow Laws affected the blacks’ life conditions and their self-appraisal in particular.  Du Bois also outlines the prejudicialness of American society toward the Black people.

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 66

Discussion - Assignment Example Apparently, people tend to mix the political ideology of people with that of the religion and tend to take into consideration the faith of candidates while deciding on whether to vote for someone or not. 1People tend to prefer to know the core beliefs of the political candidates before deciding whether to vote or not and as such Mormonism is not yet accepted at mass level. Though it is more related with the Christianity however, its core differences make it different from the mainstream Christian religion. What is however, important to note that the religion has links and proximity with all major three religions which can easily make it the mainstream religion in the country? The religion’s similarity with all major religions is its major appeal whereas its certain practices such as secrecy maintained while conducting prayers sessions is something which can be considered as not having universal appeal to many who view these practices with more