Refusal in Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener

The apparently peculiar protagonist of Herman Melville’s short story, Bartleby, the Scrivener, is a man whose attitude becomes marked by general refusal in the end. After being a diligent scrivener for the lawyer who narrates the story, Bartleby becomes increasingly recluse and resistant, until his speech is almost reduced to a single phrase: â€Å"I would prefer not to. †His refusal to perform at his job, to leave the office and finally to eat, seems, at first, extravagant and gratuitous. However, as it shall be seen, Bartleby embodies the idea of passive resistance against oppression.The lawyer, who is here the narrator of the story as well, represents the pragmatic and materialistic life. Wall Street, which is the most famous street associated with the business world, becomes here a symbol of pragmatism. Significantly, the office where Bartleby is employed is enclosed within walls that obstruct the view at the window. Bartleby, who stares at the great wall incessantl y, is the idealist whose metaphysical revolt crashes against the pragmatic world of business he is a part of. The story is told by a lawyer, who is obviously puzzled by Bartleby’s unaccountable behavior.Because he does not know how to react to Bartleby’s refusals, the lawyer attempts to play a charitable role and let him stay on the premises, without asking him to work anymore. He gives up on his bizarre scrivener however, when he sees that his business has to suffer because of Bartleby’s presence. As many other of Melville’s characters, the copyist is a Transcendentalist, who tries to see life beyond the superficial. He refuses the lawyer’s commands and offers because he believes that business makes man obliterate his own perception of a deeper reality.Bartleby’s thesis is that human action is useless, and he wraps his thesis in the form of negative preferences, giving to understand that he couldn’t act otherwise precisely because it is not a simple matter of will. He seems absolutely paralyzed in inaction, gradually renouncing almost all occupation. As an explanation to the character’s strange behavior, the narrator recalls that Bartleby’s former employment had put him in charge of the ‘dead letters’ or the letters that have reached a dead man at their destination.The former employment obviously added to Bartleby’s belief in the vanity or uselessness of human action in the form of business or commercial employment. Bartleby’s inaction clearly contrasts with the agitated world of business: â€Å"Sometimes an attorney having business with me, and calling at my office, and finding no one but the scrivener there, would undertake to obtain some sort of precise information from him touching my whereabouts; but without heeding his idle talk, Bartleby would remain standing immovable in the middle of the room† (Melville 38).His clash with this pragmatic world is significa nt: he refuses to be involved in the superficial employments of those who do not nurture their own spirits and choose to live artificially. Melville’s association with Transcendentalism is acknowledged. Bartleby’s view on life can be therefore explained with the use of the Transcendentalists’ philosophy. Thus, in Life without Principle, Thoreau remarks that the one element that is completely opposed to poetry and life itself is business: â€Å"I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay to life itself, than this incessant business†(Thoreau 1).Thoreau continues his idea by giving example of men who were involved in businesses that are immoral, such as the â€Å"gold rush† to California. According to Thoreau, a business which implies that one man will take advantage of another, without actually performing something useful, is offensive to religion and to the divinity: â€Å"It makes God be a moneyed gentl eman who scatters a handful of pennies in order to see mankind scramble for them† (Thoreau 1). In the same way, in his lecture Man the Reformer, Emerson criticizes the practice of business and commerce, when these surpass man’s primary needs.According to Emerson, to the extent that it is possible, man should depend on his own powers for at least a part of the manual labor, in order to have a direct relation to the world: â€Å"But the doctrine of the Farm is merely this, that every man ought to stand in primary relations with the work of the world, ought to do it himself, and not to suffer the accident of his having a purse in his pocket, or his having been bred to some dishonorable and injurious craft, to sever him from those duties†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Emerson 1).Thoreau’s and Emerson’s ideas about business are illustrated by Bartleby’s attitude towards his employer’s profession and the world of Wall Street. Bartleby is sensitive to the fact tha t such an employment keeps men from enjoying life for its real value. His peculiar behavior and his absolute refusal of the lawyer’s proposals show that he holds a different view of life, than that of the common people.Bartleby’s contemplative nature is a further hint that he is immersed in thoughts and meditations and refuses to take part in the shallow activities of the men who surround him. The main character is Melville’s short story is therefore a social misfit, who refuses to acknowledge the superficial world of business that the modern man has walled himself in. With the Transcendentalists, Bartleby is focused on contemplation and understanding of the deeper reality, refusing to become involved in a world of petty and purely materialistic concerns.? Works Cited: Emerson, Ralph Waldo. â€Å"Man the Reformer. † The Transcendentalist, 2001. Ed. J. Johnson Lewis. Retrieved at July 30, 2009. http://www. emersoncentral. com/manreform. htm. Melville, Herm ann. The Complete Shorter Fiction. London: Everyman’s Library, 1997. Thoreau, Henry David. â€Å"Life without principle. † The Transcendentalist, 2001. Ed. J. Johnson Lewis. Retrieved at July 30, 2009. http://www. transcendentalists. com/life_without_principle. htm.

Ap European History Summer Assignment 2012

Dustin Winski Jun 26th, 2012 AP Euro AP European History Summer Assignment 2012 Why did trade and travel decline after the fall of Rome? After the fall of Rome, with no government to supply protection or to keep the rads and bridges repaired, travel became difficult and dangerous. This danger, coupled with ignorance and lack of desire to change the situation by the powerful lords, whose manors required little trade, led to the decline in travel and trade. Who was the first â€Å"Holy Roman Emperor† and how did he get that title?After restoring Pope Leo III in Rome from which he had been driven by invaders, Charlemagne was crowned by the Poe as â€Å"Emperor of the Romans†. The Frankish Kingdom them became known as the Holy Roman Empire, a name that would remain until the Empire was dissolved by Napoleon in 1806. What is the difference between the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire? The Holy Roman Empire was started by Charlemagne and was centered in France. It was c alled the Holy Roman Empire† due to the fact that the Pope crowned Charlemagne as the Emperor.What were the connections between â€Å"The Holy Roman Empire† and â€Å"The Church†? The Holy Roman Empire was an endeavor by the Catholic Church and Christian kings to restore in their own image the crumbled remains of the secular achievements of the ancient pagan Roman Empire. Define feudalism and describe the characteristics of its organization. Feudalism was also a social and economics organization based on a series of reciprocal relationships. The king in theory owned the land which he granted to lords who in return would give service, usually in the form of military aid, to the king.The receiver of the land became a vassal, and these grants of land were known as fiefs. Sometimes these fiefs were larger than a lord could administer. So he, in turn, granted use of part of the land to lesser lords who pledged their service in return. This system continued on until, a t the lowest level, a knight administered only small feudal estate. Why were strong kings rare and central government generally missing under the feudal system? Kings under the feudal system generally had weak methods for gathering taxes and for ensuring their rule.For both, since the King's writ didn't extend directly through a country, they were often reliant on local governing mechanisms. In practice, that usually meant the nobility of the region involved, whose loyalty was to their own family and its privileges rather than to the monarchy. What were the benefits supposedly derived from the feudal system? Who benefited the most? Feudal manors provided both political and social organization. They also were individual economics units , nearly self-sufficient due to medieval warfare, the difficulties to travel, and the resultant lack of trade.The feudal estate featured a manor-home, usually a fortified castle surrounded by protective walls, belonging to the lord, surrounded by field s, herds and villages where serfs lived and worked. What was the importance of â€Å"The Church† and the Christian religion in the lives of the Europeans in the Middle Ages? Religion and the after-life became the focal point of thought and living. The influence of religion can also clearly be seen in the art, architecture, literature, and music of the time. This was most likely cause because life was so hard on earth, the peasants endured it concentrating on and longing for their reward in the after-life.How did the ritual and sacraments of the Church establish a constant, ongoing relationship with its individual members? The believers of the Roman Catholic Church believed the seven sacraments kept an individual constantly connected to God and the Church from birth to death. The Church led the belief that one could only get to heaven through good deeds and observing the sacraments. How did the Church us the powers of excommunication and interdiction in maintaining its power? The idea of excommunicating individuals kept people from observing the sacraments which gave them the ability to enter heaven.Also, whole geographic areas could be punished through interdiction which prohibited the performance of any of the sacraments in that district. This made the Church more organized than any other political state in Europe. How was Education, learning and knowledge of Europe preserved during the lowest point of the Middle Ages, the so-called â€Å"Dark Ages†? Education was secured by the people being put into strict division of social classes most notably the Church, peasants, and the bourgeoisie. What was the dominant philosophy of the Middle Ages called? Who was its most outstanding spokesman?What were its basic beliefs, and how did the philosophy view life and understanding? The dominant philosophy of the late Middle Ages was best articulated by St. Thomas Aquinas and known as scholasticism. Who belonged to each of the three estates of medieval Europe an society and what was the primary duty of a member of each estate? How was this different from the social classes in modern society? The first of the estates were composed of the Church. The main purpose for this estate would be to claim the authority of God. The second estate consisted of the nobility of ‘society'. The primary focus of the nobility were to function as warriors.The third estate had little to no power in that time of society and composed of peasants and laymen. This changed throughout Europe with the coming of feudalism. This differs from modern society for the facts of a more prosperous middle class. Describe the guilds. Who made up their membership and what was their influence on the business practices of the late Middle Ages? In the middle ages, the ‘Guilds' were labor market intermediaries organizing training, working conditions. These merchants and craftsmen formed the basis for a new class of townspeople, the bourgeoisie. They would be the basis o f the growing middle class.How did the guilds improve the lot of freemen? How did they help business and trade? How did they restrict its growth? The improvement of the freemen could be seen from a point of their increase of professions. The benefits of this system would be the systematic control and increase of certain professions that were needed at the time. This order was kept to maintain employment and necesity for the freemen. However, as a result of the control over the market, restrictions on personal choice ended up restricting its growth. Who were the bourgeoisie? Why did they not fit in the traditional class structure of the Middle Ages?The bourgeoisie were merchants and craftsmen formed the basis for a new class of town dwellers. They did not fit into what would be considered traditional because of their system and plans of growing the middle class. Why was the social structure of Europe challenged by the growing number of free townspeople and the changing economy? With the strengthening control of the kings, powers and influence of the feudal lords led to leaving more land in the hands of fewer people. This led to the even farther decline in the idea of feudalism. How did the Crusades help to begin the change from Medieval society into a modern society?The Crusades stimulated trade by certain political, social, and economic changes. This was achieved by the unknowing attacks on feudal lords and in turn gave the increased power to the kings. The changes developed after the old nobility lacked the wealth to keep up with the kings. Why are the Crusades sometimes called â€Å"Successful failures†? The Crusaders led to the eventual fading out of feudal states in the most of Europe and is an important part of European expansion and colonialism. Why and in what ways did kings and central governments grow stronger at the end of the Middle Ages?The Kings helped facilitate the forming of countries by uniting small feudal states into large kingdoms. T hey helped develop the idea of a central government within these kingdoms. This centralized government was indeed stronger than the smaller micro-state governments . What obstacles stood in the way of the creation of strong central governments? Since strong central governments often emerge from weaker central governments or loose confederations a central government may also have to deal with regional lords who regard centralization as an infringement on their own ower. Why was the re-establishment of trade so important to the transformation of Europe? Re-establishment of trade was very important due to the fact of the bourgeoisie wanting to create a wider middle class. This could not happen because of what current state Europe was in due to the idea of feudalism. Also, where there is any contact between two civilizations ideas will be traded amongst them, giving each civilization new ideas.

Investment Options Essay

Mutual funds remain the central instruments investors use to achieve their financial goals. Whether for retirement or in the search for additional profits, individual and corporate investors choose mutual funds as a relatively reliable and non-volatile method of making investments. It appears, however, that apart from satisfying the needs of individual investors, mutual funds can successfully work to secure corporate market players from changes and shifts in external markets. In this context, J.  P. Morgan is the bright example of the way mutual funds are used to reduce the negative impact of financial crisis and to overcome the difficulties faced in tough bond markets. J. P. Morgan has probably been the first to use mutual funds as the instrument of protection against the negative impacts of financial crisis. In his article, Michael Pollock (2009) sheds the light on the way J. P. Morgan Strategic Income Opportunities fund helps the company deal with tough bond markets. It appears, that the fund â€Å"has few restrictions typical of bond funds that are marketed to general public† (Pollock, 2009); as a result, it is better equipped to help investors survive through the difficult financial times. The fund functions according to a predetermined set of principles, of which putting money only into places where potential profits overweigh potential risks is probably the most important. The mutual fund at J. P. Morgan does not avoid keeping a portion of assets in cash, so that investors can materialize their investment opportunities when the right moment comes. Short selling is just another instrument the fund uses to generate additional profits; Pollock (2009) also notes that short selling is becoming a widely spread investment tool among bond funds. The list of investment instruments J. P. Morgan uses to manage its mutual fund is not limited to short selling and cash operations. Here, investors are also given a chance to make short borrowings and then to sell these borrowed shares; â€Å"investors can also make similarly bearish bets by buying credit-derivative instruments whose value increases if the price of an underlying corporate bond declines† (Pollock, 2009). To a large extent, the fund relies on the whole set of quantitative techniques that work to identify significant investment opportunities. The fund is actively involved into managing long-term high-yield corporate securities and nonagency mortgage-backed bonds. As a result, the fund has been able to achieve the total return rate of 4. 3% this year (Pollock, 2009). Does that mean that beyond using mutual funds as investment targets and the sources of additional profits, companies can also utilize the benefits of portfolio investment to protect themselves from external crisis threats? There is no definite answer to that question, but J.  P. Morgan obviously tries to change traditional opinions about investment options available to consumers. The truth is that everything we currently know about mutual funds does not make them look as an ideal investment solution. Given that mutual funds are not usually guaranteed by the FDIC and are not insured by any government agency; that mutual funds’ past performance is not always indicative of its future positive prospects; and that to be a member of a mutual fund also means to bear certain costs associated with investments, the whole picture of a mutual fund does not look as much attractive. However, where J. P. Morgan was able to reach the point of total return rate of 4. 3%, investors may have some sort of confidence that the company will pursue the same set of investment principles, being extremely cautious in its investment options and using the mutual fund as an effective means of anti-crisis protection. Conclusion Mutual funds are included into the list of the most widely used investment options. It appears, however, that mutual funds can also be successfully used to protect companies and investors from the negative impact of the financial crisis. Despite the costs investors have to carry as well as unpredictability of external environments, which mutual funds cannot control, the latter remain relatively stable and non-volatile means of dealing with tough bond markets.

Geology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Geology - Essay Example We were surprised at how effortless it was to arrive at the place. Without mountain ridges to cross, Idaho Springs was a perfect half day tour for us since we wanted to have a taste of actual Colorado mountain society. Made wealthy by gold and still rich with history, Idaho Springs is a significant site for anybody visiting Colorado. We discovered that Arapaho and Ute Indians normally use the hot springs for their curing powers (Burg, Earl, Rich and David 2010). The next visit was to the Lucky rock. We travelled for thirty miles west of Denver. We discovered that the Lucky rock is a narrow, steep and technical mountain, which is fun and challenging (Zschau, Gries, Ameron, Zambrano and Nash 2009). With more convenience and minimal congestion, Lucky rock is an ideal place for educational and leisure trips. The site provides a white fall for advanced, intermediate and beginner abilities. In summary, the Phoenix Gold Mine tour was a fascinating experience. The site is one of the reachable mines in a snowy climate, which is overwhelming when an individual gets a correct tour guide. Therefore, the Phoenix Gold Mine trip is suitable for individuals who intend to learn the history of mining, obtain some hands on experience and have a fun with their families. Zschau, T., C. Gries, Y. Ameron, A. Zambrano, and T.  H. Nash. "Historical and current atmospheric deposition to the epilithic lichen Xanthoparmelia in Maricopa County, Arizona." Environmental Pollution 10.7  (2009):

Tourism in Turkey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism in Turkey - Essay Example Also, the industry provided employment to around 7% of total employed workers (estimated 1.8 million) either directly and/or indirectly. These people include transporters, artisans (who produce and sell traditional Turkish handicrafts), tour guides, airline(s) employees, commercial agencies, hotels’ and restaurants’ workers and others etc. In addition, the number of tourists in turkey has jumped from around 5 millions in 1990 to over 20 millions in 2005 which is mainly attributed to improvement in infrastructure, tourism regions and sites. The growth rate of this industry remained over 10% in the recent years, despite the fact that economic meltdown and credit crises deteriorated the business outlook. More specifically, Hotel Industry has observed tremendous growth of nearly 6% per annum from 1998 to 2008 as the owners or groups have continuously expanded their bed capacities. The country has an intention to increase the tourists’ arrivals and revenues to 63 mill ions and US $86 billion respectively by 2023. Various new projects are in pipeline to hasten the development of tourist regions that will be discussed below. (Eco Report, p.14), (Invest Support and Promotion Agency Report, pp. 4-9) and (Aslan, Kula and Kaplan, pp.66-67) The country enjoys the reputation of having culturally and historically rich places (its ancient civilization and archeological sites), enticing lakes as it has long (5,000 miles) coastline / sea shore, mountains, a relatively well-developed infrastructure and recent improvements, innovations and updating in hospitality. The major cities that have attracted more than 60% of tourists include Istanbul (federal capital), Ankara, Konya, Bursa, Adana and Ä °zmir (‘with destinations such as Antalya MuÄŸla and AydÄ ±n’). As highlighted in Investment Support and Promotion’s report, Turkey is ‘surrounded by 3 different seas with

Geothermal Energy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Geothermal Energy - Case Study Example ates electrical power by utilizing the thermal energy from earth and converting it to the electrical energy by utilizing the methods utilized in a thermal power plant. To generate the power, long alloyed pipes that have higher resistivity against the corrosion and high temperatures and pressure are bored deep down into the earth’s crust to make the geothermal energy usable. When water is allowed to run into theses pipes, the geothermal energy makes the temperature of the water to shoot to a level where it converts into steam. Several geothermal power plants are working in the world to provide an uninterrupted power to different locations in the world. Geothermal grounds are parts where two tectonic plates meet. However, the energy can also be gathered without having the geothermal grounds by boring the pipes into the earth crust and marinating a heat exchange. Geothermal energy can be utilized for the majority of energy application like electricity generation, heating the water to be supplied to the homes and industry (DeGunther 2008). If considering the economic aspect of the energy source, it has enough potential to provide the energy to the world. It is type of green power and has a potential that cannot be counted but it has more than the potential to meet the all the energy requirements of the world (Mock, Tester & Wright 1997). In hotter regions it can also be utilized to maintain the temperature of home lower to certain degrees, as the temperature of the earth remains constant to 20-25o C. The operational cost associated to the geothermal power plants is comparatively low. While having so much advantages of the geothermal energy, there are some disadvantages of utilizing the geothermal energy. As the geothermal energy is made usable by digging deep down into the earth, the cost of the digging sometimes rises to an unmanageable way. Sometimes the expected amount of geothermal energy differs to the actual amount due to the lack of technology. Sometimes

Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors Paper Research

Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors - Research Paper Example In turn, they opt to maximize their work productivity thereby using organizational ‘resources, investments, inputs and infrastructure facilities’ in an efficient manner. The second type actually represents the external side and known as ‘Effective productive’ behaviors. Indeed, this type of workers’ behavior could be defined as one through which employees opt to accomplish short and long run business goals that in turn enable the organization to create value for its potential customers and build relationships, while to reap monetary gains and profits simultaneously. (Anshoria and Suhariadia 2007, p. 1256) On the other hand, Counterproductive behavior can be defined as the deliberate behavior of an employee in an organization who does not abide by organizational values and does not aim to accomplish defined business goals and objectives. This type of behavior is also known as Negative Behavior because it is against organizational and economic well being. (Impleman 2008) Productive behavior put a positive impact on an individual’s job performance. An employee becomes motivated and committed to attain organizational ‘mission and vision’ and thus opt to showcase its optimal performance. In simple words, a worker communicates and collaborates with its organizational co-workers, peers, bosses and business partners to discuss assigned tasks or jobs and to openly share information and personal opinions for betterment of business practices. In addition, the probability that conflicts or disputes among the organizational members could occur is also minimized. As a result, this type of positive behavior is appreciated and endorsed by strategic managers and planners that in turn lead to greater ‘normative and affective commitment’ (with their job) among the workers. In short, the workers maximize their work

Account Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Account - Essay Example Return on capital employed or Return on Total assets measures the firm’s overall effectiveness in generating the profits. This ratio has gone up a little from 0.6 in 2005 to 0.7 in 2006. This increase does not signify much. The assets of the company are underutilized. Similarly return on net assets (also known as return on equity- ROE) measures the return earned on owners’ investments. Arriva Plc. earned 0.22 on equity or net assets in 2005 and 0.21 of net assets in 2006. The earnings are certainly not encouraging. Debtors’ collection period and Creditors’ payment period reflects average age of accounts receivable and accounts payable respectively. These collection and payment periods have shown a little improvement. Average collection period has come down from 47.98 days in 2005 to 46.04 in2006. Also average payment period has also come down from 95.78 days in 2005 to 82.67 days in 2005. This reflects the working capital problems or cash shortage being faced by Arriva Plc. Creditors have started doubting the company because of its dwindling liquidity position. That is why creditors have reduced the credit period. Gross profit ratio cannot be calculated as there are no trading activities involved. But the net profit ratio shows an improvement from 5.9% in 2005 to 6.06% in 2006. This is certainly an achievement despite cash crunch and difficulties in meeting short term obligations faced by Arriva Plc. during the year 2006. Finally it has been observed that Arriva Plc. is a low geared company. With complete reliance on equities Arriva Plc. is finding it difficult to mobilize funds. It is suggestible for Arriva to reconsider about capital mix. It may be beneficial to bring in more debts not only to improve working capital position but to utilize assets to their full capacity. One of the fastest growing industries in world is travel and tourism. Its financial managements assume importance as under noted issues impact the volumes and costs

Critical Literature Review on Gender In Leadership Essay

Critical Literature Review on Gender In Leadership - Essay Example Broadly speaking, when a leader motivates his subordinates, it means that one structures the work environment in such a way that their drives and needs are brought into play, instead of being neglected. This environment should be conducive to the satisfaction of those drives and needs so that workers may act in desired ways. However, leadership theories and concepts evaluate the effect of gender in leadership in terms of according the same prerogatives and benefits on equal terms. In this regard, the objective of the essay is to proffer a critical literature review on the topic of gender in leadership. Relevant research studies on the subject would be cited and significant points would hereby be highlighted, analyzed and evaluated in terms of presenting supporting or opposing viewpoints on gender in leadership. A study conducted by Christine R. Gedney, Major, USAF, entitled Leadership Effectiveness and Gender aimed to determine a correlationship between leadership effectiveness and gender through secondary sources of authoritative materials while seeking some explanation to her inquiry on identifying â€Å"why there is still a considerable absence in top military leadership by female officers† (Gedney, 1999, v). Initially, she provided essential qualities of effective leaders with the objective of indicating that â€Å"leadership effectiveness is not gender-specific, but there seem to be many attributes that are found in both males and females that lend themselves to becoming an effective leader† (Gedney, 1999, 2). Through her discussion of gender in leadership, the revealed that traditional views content a biased view of leaders to predominantly favor men over women. The author cited Kolb as indicating that â€Å"when we reviewed this literature we were struck by the prejudice against women. Research has demonstrated that there are

Reaserch Paper on Othello the Moor of Venice, as a tragedy Research

Reaserch on Othello the Moor of Venice, as a tragedy - Research Paper Example Aristotle’s concept of tragedy is based on a sum total of a few essential fundamentals that are a complex plot with a suitable beginning middle and the end, organic unity, appropriate length, the unities of time and place, apt relationship between the character and plot, goodness, consistency of characterization, hamartia, peripity, anagnorisis or discovery, feelings of pity and fear and catharsis.1 Based on the parameters as established by Aristotle for a worthy tragedy, William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice is an ideal Aristotelian tragedy. Othello is a specific tragedy of passion and to label it as an Aristotelian tragedy is certainly appropriate. Of all Shakespeare’s tragedies, Othello is the most painfully exciting and the most terrible. As one goes through it, one experiences the extremes of the feelings of pity, fear, sympathy, disgust, sickening hope and dreadful expectation. Outline I. Introduction A. Cursory analysis of Othello B. Aristotle parameters for a tragedy and a â€Å"tragic hero† II. Body A. Tragedy and plot B. Attributes of a â€Å"tragic hero† as per Aristotle B. Catharsis and tragedy III. Conclusion A. Othello, the Moor of Venice satisfies all attributes of a tragedy enunciated by Aristotle Essay Introduction Othello, the Moor of Venice, could and should essentially be classified as a typical Aristotelian tragedy and Othello is the most worthy tragic hero of Shakespeare who satisfies almost all the credentials of a tragic hero as evinced by Aristotle. As one goes through the play Othello, one experiences the extremes of the feelings of pity, fear, sympathy, disgust, sickening hope and a dreadful expectation.2 Evil is displaced before the reader in such a way that one simply watches its progress in an awed and fascinated manner. A lot of factors contribute to the exciting and painful impact of this play as the conflict in Othello’s mind, the ensuing sexual jealousy, Desdemona’s h umiliation and murder, the accompanying intrigue and so much.3 Besides, the role played by ‘accident’ in Othello produces not only a strong sense of the working of fate, but makes the play more terrible. In Othello, so many things happen by chance to aid Iago’s plot that one feels that his victims are also the victims of fate. Then there is the little comic relief in the guise of Iago’s humor, which is most of the times grim rather than amusing. In the context of the tragedy and a tragic hero, Aristotle in his work Poetics elucidated on some specific requirements as to the nature and form of plot and the qualities of a tragic hero. It will be really interesting to gauge Othello, the Moore of Venice, on the parameters set by Aristotle as to establish that it is a worthy tragedy with a suitable tragic hero. Plot In the context of a tragedy, Aristotle stresses the primacy of plot.4 He begins his ranking of the six parts of the tragedy with the assertion that â€Å"The most important of these parts is the arrangement of incidents, for tragedy is not an imitation of a man, per se, but of human action and life and happiness and misery.†5 Aristotle further reinforces the need for the right plot by declaring the human life to be a process. Aristotle holds that the human life is constantly changing and the changes that a man experiences tend towards happiness or unhappiness. Thus a tragedy is not possible

Sweet Desdemona Essay Example for Free

Sweet Desdemona Essay Iago strategically arouses Othello’s jealousy by allowing Othello to come to the conclusion that Desdemona is carrying on an illicit affair with Cassio. Iago states in a barely audible voice, as though he didnt really mean to say anything, Ha! I like not that (3. 3. 35). Othello asks him what he said, and Iago brushes him off and replies that it was nothing. After Othello inquires whether it was Cassio they had just seen, Iago replies, Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I cannot think it, / That he would steal away so guilty-like, / Seeing you coming (3. 3. 38-40). In these statements, Iago is already laying the groundwork for his scheme. He has pretended to be reluctant to discuss Cassio with Othello, and he has not explicitly accused Cassio of anything, but he has depicted Cassio in a manner that would cause Othello to be suspicious. While Desdemona is speaking to Othello, Iago remains silent. However, when Desdemona leaves, Iago asks Othello if Cassio knew of Othello’s affection for Desdemona during their courtship. Othello answers that yes, and then wants to know why Iago asked. Iago replies, But for a satisfaction of my thought; / No further harm (3. 3. 97-98). Iagos use of the words further harm reassures Othello that he was merely wondering, but does so in such a way that shows he has already had harmful thoughts. Iago’s feigned reluctance to discuss the topic makes him seem more credible as he is not outright attacking or doubting Desdemona’s character or loyalty. His seemingly harmless comments were made to incite Othello’s suspicion. Throughout the act, Iago’s continued reluctance only makes Othello more curios and paranoid. Iago seems credible because he pretends to have Othello’s best interests at heart. He even warns Othello against jealously. Because Iago is an old friend, Othello believes him to be honest and trusts him. In order to convince Othello of Desdemona’s disloyalty, Iago concocts a story about a dream. After claiming the only reason he is telling Othello is because he loves him, Iago says that when he was sleeping with Cassio, Cassio said in his sleep, Sweet Desdemona, / Let us be wary, let us hide our loves (3. 3. 419-420). When Othello doubts Iago’s tale, Iago once again disarms Othello by pretending to share the same doubts. Iago finally convinces Othello by telling him that Cassio wiped his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief. Iago’s statement convinced Othello because it was not a direct accusation. Iago did not directly attack Desdemona or Cassio. He merely lied and stated that he saw Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief. Iago planted seeds of doubt with regards to the loyalties of Desdemona and Cassio by asking Othello seemingly innocent questions and pretending to be reluctant to discuss the matter. In reality, Iago’s comments and questions prayed on Othello’s insecurities and aroused his emotions to jealousy.

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay Example for Free

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay In his Second Treatise on Law and Government, John Locke outlines clear and coherent standards for what constitutes a legitimate government and what persons one such government would have authority over. Both are determined by citizens acts of consenting to relinquish to the government part of their natural authority over their own conduct. Unfortunately, the situation becomes much less clear once we consider how his standards would apply to the political situation existing in the real world today. If we continue to subscribe to Lockes account without altering its standards, we would see a precipitous drop in the number of people whose interests existing governments are responsible for serving. In this paper I will show that with certain changes and clarifications to Lockes standards, the responsibilities of existing governments need not be allowed to shrink so drastically. This creates a tradeoff, however. Changing the standards to apply more closely to actual functioning governments has the consequence of making it more difficult to determine the legitimacy of those governments. Some of the clarity of Lockes theoretical model is lost in translating it to apply to actual instances of government. A cornerstone of Lockes political philosophy is the idea that a government holds power legitimately only through the consent of the governed. A civil society consents to grant a particular government rule over it, and each person chooses on an individual basis to become a member of a particular civil society (II, 117). As giving such consent has far-reaching consequences over a persons life, Locke provides further explanation of what consent entails in this context. Only one way exists to become a member of a civil society: express consent. From Lockes account this would have to be a fairly formal business, which the individual enters by positive Engagement, and express Promise and Compact (II, 122). Lockes original wording is important because it seems to imply that unless a person actually makes a public agreement to submit to government law in return for protection of person, liberty, and property, she has not expressly consented. He makes it clear that there are no alternatives to this official process if one is to become part of a civil society, (II, 122). Even if one is not considered part of a particular civil society, she must submit to its authority to the extent of her involvement in that society. Someone who owns land within the territory occupied by a civil society is obligated to obey the law of whatever body has ruling authority in that territory as it applies to ownership and use of property. Someone merely travelling on a public road through a country will have less contact with the civil society of that area and so fewer laws of that society will have application to her behavior. Still, those laws that do cover what activities she carries out have binding force on her (II, 120-121). These people incur the obligation to submit to local authority because that authority is protecting them, perhaps by preventing the citizens of the area from acting in ways that would harm other people including the outsider. For the outsider to be free of those restraints and take advantage of the areas citizens would be unjust; therefore she is obligated to comply with the legal restraints observed by citizens the area. In neither of these cases would the person in question be considered a member of the civil society whose laws she is obeying unless she expressly consented to join that society in addition to her tacit consent to follow its laws. An immediate criticism of Lockes account thus far is that in practice, hardly anyone expressly gives consent to join any civil society. Even in most real-world cases where a person does announce submission to a particular government, the declaration would not meet Lockes conditions of consent that would give legitimacy to the rule of government over that person. Oaths such as the U. S. Pledge of Allegiance are usually only indications that the speaker is prepared to obey directives from the government of a particular state. Consent in the strict sense would have to make explicit what the person is consenting to. Someone joining a civil society under Lockes conception would need to spell out that she is giving up the right to make and enforce her own judgments to the government of that society, in return for that governments protection of her interests. Even promises of blind obedience are far from universally practiced, and in most countries are the practice of reciting such pledges is confined to schools and youth groups as a form of education rather than contractual agreement. (The idea that most civil societies do not consider young people mature enough to consent to become members is discussed later in this paper). Explicit contractual consent is far rarer than these questionably binding declarations. If most people fail to give explicit consent to trade away some of their natural rights, under Lockes terms they have not joined any civil society, and so should not be counted as the citizens of any state or the subjects of any government. This has profound significance because of the relation between civil society and government. The agreement of a civil society is the force and justification behind its governments authority (II, 149); in return for the mandate that grants it power, the government exists to protect the interests of that particular group of people. Anyone not the member of a particular civil society has no legitimate voice in the form or operation of the government that society creates, and she has no right to expect that government to protect her interests. This does not mean that the government will not take any actions that are to her benefit; the laws of that nation which prevent its citizens from killing and robbing may also prevent them from killing or robbing her. When the government enacts laws, however, it need only do so with the interests of its constituency in mind, and has no obligation to create laws conducive to the interests of an outsider. Any benefits the outsider enjoys as a result of the laws of a particular country are purely coincidental to those laws intent. Someone who is not a member of any civil society at all will accordingly have no power over any government, and her interests will deserve the consideration of no government. Since the vast majority of people have not given express consent to join a particular society, the majority of humanity has no right to expect its interests to be served or protected by any of the governments existing on earth. Everyone, however, is required to submit to the control of one government or another depending of where they live, since basically every part of the earth inhabited by humans is under the dominion of one state or another. Rule is solely in the hands of those few people who have actually signed some kind of formal social contract, and needs only to consider their interests. Any government with which no living person has made a formal consent agreement rules illegitimately. The fact that Lockes model leads to an implication that most of humanity is neither the legitimate authors nor the deserving beneficiaries of government does not prove the model is logically flawed. However, the very great majority of people consider themselves members of a civil society, and are considered as such by other people and, most importantly, by governments. However real governments define their constituency, few if any set express consent as the standard. Enslavement of the tacitly consenting masses by the expressly contracted few thus fails to provide an accurate theoretical model of governmental institutions in the real world. Locke himself describes of the formation of government as an action taken by and for the community (II, 149); this wording suggests that he would have disagreed with the idea that citizenship by express consent leading to dictatorship by a de facto minority is, in practice, the most typical form of legitimate government. It is possible that those without citizenship (the majority of people under our present definition) actually benefit by not being contractually bound to any particular civil society. As long as someone who is not an official citizen resides within the territory of an existing government which fulfills the duties expected of government (II, 131), its laws discourage both citizens of the civil society and other outsiders from threatening her life, liberty, and property. Thus someone could enjoy much of the security that membership in a civil society would provide simply by living in a well-governed area without joining in civil society. In PHI 309 lecture, Prof. Sreenivasan pointed out a possible advantage that such a living arrangement could provide for the unaffiliated: in cases where it was in ones best interests to abandon a country beset by war, pestilence, or economic or other disaster, noncitizens could jump ship without that act being considered an injustice. Those who had by express consent tied themselves to the civil society might well be obligated to remain with the community, and would not have the option of fleeing the war or hardship. Yet in most of the world, nomadic living is considered the exception, not the rule. Citizens of the worlds various nations must be considering factors not included in Lockes account. One of the most significant of these is a convention that has introduced a new kind of consent enabling people to become citizens of particular states. Most civil societies have found it desirable to designate officially who is a member of that society, i. e. a member of that state. As a governments power depends on its constituency, government function is expedited by the governments having accurate knowledge of the extent of its power base, that is to say the extent of its citizenry. At the same time, concern for its own integrity and distrust of outsiders drives a civil society to delineate who is and is not a member. These and perhaps other factors have led to the creation of conventions (usually expressed as laws passed by governments) by which a person is declared to be a member of a particular civil society (i. e. citizen of a country) regardless of whether or not that person has actually expressed consent to what such membership entails. The most typical example is a law declaring that anyone born in the territory of a particular nation is a citizen of that nation. When still a juvenile, that person of course has not actively consented to anything, and so is usually considered not complete member of civil society; although part of a community, the juvenile generally lacks certain rights and powers given to full members of the society. Upon reaching the age when she can make her own decisions, laws indicate what society the person is considered a member of in the absence of active consent by that person. The person continues to hold that default membership until she makes an active decision to join another civil society. The conventional reflection of this active decision is generally a naturalization process by which someone can become a citizen of a country she did not belong to by default. By going through the naturalization process, a person is understood to consent to the tradeoff which would make her a member of that civil society. It could be objected that being considered the member of a civil society by default is another matter entirely from consenting to join that society and willingly relinquish ones rights. Where is the consent in this instance? This question is less troubling before the person has come of age, because most would agree that a juvenile generally lacks the judgment to be signing any kind of binding social contract. But can a government legitimately assert that a person has consented to cede her rights to it simply because she has not actively protested? This question could be answered affirmatively. A person can choose not to consent to membership in her default civil society, or give up her membership in a civil society she already belongs to, by joining another civil society through a more active process such as naturalization. This means that if she does not take such an action, she is accepting the convention that interprets her inaction as an expression of consent to join the civil society she was assigned to by default. By systematizing and codifying standards for consent, then, states in actual practice ensure that the great majority of people are not lone agents. One might still question how conscious most people are that they are held to be making this sort of contract, even in the most open societies. A case can be made that essentially, they are aware. No one is unaware of what society she belongs to. Each person is effectively the member of whatever civil society exerts control over her, usually through its government. As soon as that person is conscious of the control being exerted over her, she is made unmistakably aware of what her citizenship is. With the realization of what government she is under comes the option to change her membership. The final and most damaging criticism of the consent model is the question of what happens when a person does not have the option to move to a new territory and join a new civil society. This may occur because of a persons own lack of means to carry out or simple ignorance of the options ostensibly available to her. It may also be the result of oppression by the government, preventing citizens of the country from leaving. Any of these conditions can force a person to remain an official member of a particular civil society. However, the standard of conventionalized explicit consent introduced above is only able to maintain that most people consent to join a civil society because it assumes those people have options besides their initial citizenship. If people are not being given other options, the model is still not logically flawed. Rather, it suggests a situation similar to that originally introduced as the consequence of applying Lockes model to the real world: the people in such situations are not really part of the civil society that created the government to whose control they are forced to submit. As such, they retain undiminished the right to join another civil society through a new social contract. If they do so, they may create a new government to follow instead of the one they currently submit to by tacit consent. Of course, there is no guarantee that the government ruling them in the status quo will allow them to replace its control. If it retains control over them by force, Lockes model would still hold them to be tacitly consenting to its authority by enjoyment of its dominion. This counterintuitive conclusion is avoided by the model requiring choice for real consent. If we follow that paradigm, we come to the conclusion that the government is ruling without any consent from the governed in those cases. According to Locke, such government is mere enslavement and so is illegitimate. To say that a government is wholly illegitimate if it hold power over even one person without her consent is clearly excessive; probably no government could ever achieve legitimacy under that criterion. However, we can say that a government is legitimate to the extent that its citizens are aware of other options and consider membership in their current civil society with its ruling government preferable to those options. The problem with such a standard is that it depends on what is thought by the citizens of a country, and to ascertain a persons mentality is difficult. The most reliable test is to provide citizens with realistic options and observe whether they remain with the status quo or seek a change in their situation. That change may involve leaving their current civil society, or it may mean seeking to change the structure or behavior of that societys government. The countrys citizens can be said to consent to the government ruling them to the extent that they posses the power to change their situation, but still maintain the status quo. Thus, the legitimacy of a government can be measured by the effective options available to its citizens. If we had held to Lockes standards for consent to membership in a civil society and submission to government rule, we would have concluded that most people in the world are tacitly consenting to the rule of governments created by very small groups of explicit signers of social contracts. This would lead to a bizarre picture of the political landscape very much at odds with intuition and with modern reality. By changing standards for consent to mean compliance with official requirements for citizenship when other options are available, we are able to account for those who consider themselves and are considered members of a civil society without having given explicit consent, while at the same time freeing those not given a choice from the appearance of having given consent. A government is then legitimate to the extent that its citizens have given consent according to these standards. It is one of those rare examples where laws have made the situation clearer. Sources: Locke, John. Second Treatise. From Two Treatises of Government, Laslett, Peter, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

The integration process of immigrants in Spain

The integration process of immigrants in Spain Immigration Spain Emigration A social analysis of the integration process of immigrants in Spain. The way in which ‘the problem’ of immigration in Spain affects the integration of immigrants. Over the last fifteen years, Spain has gone from being a country of emigration to a country of immigration. In recent years few European countries have experienced as dramatic a rise in immigration as Spain. Spain has been among the most open countries in the European Union, admitting 650,000 immigrants last year alone and granting residency permits to 560,000 more who were in the country illegally. Although the percentage of immigrants is still relatively low compared to other European countries (6.1% of the population in 2005) the growth of immigration experienced over the last five years has led experts to consider the country as a â€Å"new immigration centre.† The economic and historical connections with North Africa and South America have been the principal triggers of immigration flows, with almost 2/3 of immigrants coming from outside the EU. Europeans also represent a large number of immigrants in Spain. Attracted to the Costa del Sol’s climate and low cost of living, many come to retire. There are three basic causes for this substantial change in the position of Spain as a new centre of immigration. The first is the continuous economic development of the country and the fact that it belongs to one of the most developed regions in the world, the EU. Secondly, Spain is considered as an alternative to other European countries with high levels of immigration where there now exist increasingly strong restrictions on immigration, especially those originating from outside Europe. Thirdly, Spain’s geographical situation means that it has become the ‘back door’ for immigrants’ intent on reaching the rest of Europe. The significant increase of the foreign population since 2000 has resulted in a growing awareness that immigration is a structural phenomenon and Spain: a multicultural country. Recent Spanish opinion polls reveal the distortion between the reality and nationals’ perception of the extent of this immigration. In the book ‘Europeos e Inmigrantes,’ the authors study local’s opinion on immigration and conclude with the following results: approximately 55% of Spanish society perceive Spain as having ‘a lot’ of immigrants- though not too many- and 25% of them consider the number of immigrants to be too high. The number of immigrants, but more specific still the presence of immigrants, is suggested to be a ‘problem.’ This study will be looking at the perception of immigration as a ‘problem,’ and the consequence of this perception on the integration of immigrants in Spain. I am interested in the integration of immigrants on a social level: the ways in which social constructions of the ‘other’ are reflected in the social integration process of the immigrant population. In the end, I hope to make sense not just of immigrants’ marginal status in Spain; but also how the concept of culture and society shapes the integration process. Despite common belief that Spain is being met by an invasion of newcomers, the percentage of immigrants to the total national population remains the lowest within the EU. By 2001, immigrants in Spain made up 2.5% of the population, contrasted with 4.2% for the UK, 4.3 for the Netherlands, 5.6 for France, and 8.9 for Germany. Overall, the European average is three times higher than the Spanish average. Despite the fact that illegal immigrants are seen as a threat to the growing population, illegal entrance into Spain counts for only 4% of the immigrants entering legally. Yet today, immigration is among the top three mentioned problems and has been referred to as a cultural problem. The media has had, and continues to have, a great influence on the nation’s interpretation of immigration and the prominence of immigration in national politics and people’s consciousness reflects the extent to which the subject of immigration is covered by Spanish media. No other medium is able to send a determined message out to the masses, or has so much power as to make everyone value their freedom of speech. Those who have studied ‘public opinion’ have said, â€Å"Although people think they have formulated their own opinion, in actual fact their opinion and argument is more or less echoed from a favoured political leader or party.† National newspapers go as far as to include a section on ‘the immigration problem’ aimed at keeping track of the number of illegal immigrants apprehended by the police. The Spanish newspaper, ‘El Paà ­s’ uses headlines such as: ‘Interceptados 76 inmigrantes en las costas de Granada y Canarias en las à ºltimas horas, and frequently describes the arrival of ‘nueva oleadas de pateras que intentan alcanzar Espaà ±a. On television, the Spanish public are supplied with regular images of illegal immigrants attempting to enter the country illegally. The constant focus on immigration in political discourse and in the mass media has created a sense of migratory pressure amongst the public, a sense that there are floods of people banging on the border doors to get in. â€Å"Las puertas de Europa Espaà ±a y nueve paà ­ses europeos han acordado establecer un operativo para patrullar toda la zona del à frica atlà ¡ntica susceptible de ser punto de origen de pateras y cayucos que viajan hacia Europa y, sobre todo, hacia Canarias, que acusa casi cada dà ­a la presià ³n de esta avalancha migratoria.† This pressure is fuelled by both a fear of security and a fear of immigrants affecting the Spanish labour market (which I will discuss later on). This fear is often translated into panic and irrational conclusions for those ignorant of the reality of the situation. Evidence of illegal immigrants in Spain has created confusion between attitudes towards illegal and legal immigrants, and often the two groups are treated as one. Following the 9/11 tragedy, race stereotypes have once again become commonplace and through pure ignorance and fear, immigrants are seen as a threat to the public’s safety, often being associated with Islamic fundamentalism. Public insecurity due to misinformation has manifested itself in violence and xenophobic feelings against the immigrants. An example of this took place in 2000, in El Ejido (Andalucia), where locals violently attacked newly settled immigrants, following a young girl’s murder by a Moroccan. The dissemination of these negative perceptions has helped conjure up a sensation of invasion, which does not mirror the reality of the situation. The reality of the situation (which I have already discussed) is that this existing fear is unjustified. It is a representation of the ignorance surrounding the perception of immigration linking the race of an immigrant group with the safety of a country. Immigration has also been considered a threat to the structure of the labour market. During the 1980s and 1990s, when immigration to Spain was at its highest, the country was experiencing a profound economic crisis characterized above all by high levels of unemployment. The presence of immigrants and the misconception that they were invading the Spanish labour market, added further tension to the relationship between the two groups, and was therefore considered an economic and social problem. â€Å"More than any other factor, unemployment is generally seen as the root cause behind the electoral successes of the radical Right across Europe and is credited with casing an existence of a negative, anti immigrant attitude in Spain.† Immigration in Spain has also been treated as a cultural problem â€Å"where the idea of having immigrants in the country is not perceived as a positive multicultural phenomenon but as a threat to the integrity of the Spanish cultural identity.† The Spanish fear that the increasing presence of other national cultures will overshadow and stifle their own traditions. The immigrants have brought their own culture to Spain, which they expect to be respected and recognised so that they may practice their traditions in harmony with the rest of society. Spaniards fear that the integration of immigrants will entail the growth of alien religious infrastructures and more conflict between locals and immigrants. The social integration of Muslims in particular is perceived as difficult, because of the demands for their own religious infrastructure. The constructions of mosques render the development of a multicultural society even more obvious. Since the terrorist attacks in Madrid 2004, Islam has been presented as an alien civilization, with mosques feared as centres of terrorism. This fear often translates into irrational conclusions. â€Å"As it generally does in other European countries, the association of North Africans with Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism and crime tends to breed hostility and suspicion from the Spanish public.† In summary, the immigration problem revolves around an insecurity bred by the sense of invasion. People feel threatened by the implications of immigrants in the labour market, and what ‘integration’ really entails for the culture and society dynamics of Spain. I am now going to address the concept of integration and how the perception of immigration already discussed has affected this process. In order to assess how this is affecting the integration process I will be looking at the topic from an anthropological perspective. Among those who attempt to define the concept of integration, there is considerable disagreement. In the context of Spanish immigration it has taken on many meanings, some implying that it is reached when the immigrant is able to ‘fit in,’ others suggesting that it hinges on natives’ open-mindedness and tolerance, and still others prioritising the accessibility of social services and basic necessities. Often, the term is simply used as a synonym for settlement, or establishing physical and social roots. A Spanish social scientist and immigration expert defines it this way: ‘We can say that immigrants are integrated into a host society when they do not face additional obstacles due to their foreign origin in the main aspects of their social, economic, and family life, when compared to the native-born population.’ Law plays a central role in the immigrants’ integration on all levels and has been seen as â€Å"formally codifying them as different at several levels.† Spain had several attempts at immigration legalisation: the first, ‘the Ley de Extranjeria,’ focussing primarily on control over immigrants rather than integration. Immigration laws designated some people as non-citizens with a limited set of rights and privileges. Others were declared to be illegal and unwelcome altogether and those who did achieve legal status found their position unstable, as they are vulnerable to frequent changes in legislation and status. When in 1998 the issue of integration was finally addressed, the focus was still on the integration of ‘non-EU foreigners’ rather than the immigrant group as a whole, stigmatising the non-EU immigrants as the problem group. Perez, in his article, â€Å"Spain: Forging an Immigration Policy,† goes as far as to say that the ‘Law on the rights and Freedoms of Foreigners in Spain and their Integration’ passed in January 2000, was not so much ‘because of the law’s acknowledgement of immigrant rights but because of its conception of immigration as a permanent phenomenon.’ Still today immigrants struggle against policy restrictions. Despite the common belief that immigrants create problems in the Spanish labour market, the reality of the situation is that the immigrant work force is largely responsible for Spain’s economic growth. This growth, over the last decade, has been among the fastest in the EU. â€Å"It is not a coincidence that the strong economic growth and increase in employment rate has increased with the arrival of immigrants into Spain.† Having said this, statistics show that in 2006 the unemployment rate for Spaniards was 8% compared to 12% for foreigners. The lack of facilities for Spanish employers to contract foreigners and the difficulty such employers face accessing Spanish labour has resulted in irregular immigration flows and labour markets. In addition to the disparity between the unemployment rates for Spanish and Immigrant workers, there is also a difference in the nature of work. The restructuring of the Spanish economy after the accession to the European Community has resulted in an increase in the demand for labour in sectors of the economy where nationals no longer wish to work. Spanish laws make it virtually impossible to gain admission as legal residents outside of the quota system that is largely confined to those willing to work in agriculture, domestic help, and construction, i.e. those sectors where wages and working conditions are inadequate to attract sufficient local workers. These laws thus guarantee that immigrant workers labour under conditions that are shunned by most of the working class, an arrangement that furthermore highlights their economic alienation and their exclusion from reasonable housing, health care and other basic necessities further distancing there chances on reaching integration. Furthermore, there is little stability for immigrants in the labour market with most of them receiving only temporal jobs. There is also a significant difference in wages. It has been noted that non-communitarians earn 33% less than Spanish citizens. These forms of discrimination have resulted in the exploitation of undocumented workers: considerably lower payments, a lack of safety standards, labour security and worker rights. One of the main problems with the way in which immigration is perceived in Spain is that not much is known about the immigrant as an individual. Because of this lack of knowledge, realities are distorted and often the outsider is assumed to be the culprit for society’s ills. â€Å"In endeavouring to reduce environmental complexity to a manageable size, when bombarded with environmental stimuli, untested cognitive short-cuts come to be employed which have a tendency to become self fulfilling.† In order for immigration to be perceived accurately by any social group there must be a basis of knowledge; not hearsay. As most of the media coverage on the immigrant population relates to violence and delinquency, it is understandable why the average Spaniard, adopts a defensive stance. To gain an accurate, or at least fair representation of the immigrant population, these negative portrayals ought to be contested with representations from the minority groups. A lack of organisation and funds are said to explain the lack of minority media produced in Spain. Whether this is the case, or whether the lack of initiative to produce a platform for the minority groups to speak out from is the manifestation of another social inequality. The danger of a ‘general’ perception of the immigrant group is that incorrect assumptions are made and stereotypes formed. Generalisations on immigrants’ nationalities create a belief that each nation has one culture shared by all inhabitants. Similar generalisations are made towards the second generation of immigrants. The children of the immigrants, who have never immigrated, and who were born in Spain are assumed to be of foreign origin. These stereotypes also include the concept that others’ cultural traits are strange and not worthy of exploring because they are not necessary to the already comfortable, established concepts that the society possesses. The cultural traits that cause the most ‘problems’ are those most different, usually those from non-European countries. This is because, in everyday life, they are the most conspicuous (with regards to the fact that in Spain the colour of one’s skin is still associated with being ‘foreign’) reminding nationals that Spain is becoming a multicultural country. Spanish researcher and anthropologist, Damian Omar Martinez, explores the concept that on a social level, non- European immigrants are discriminated against more because they are considered further away from integration: the integration that sees immigrants conforming to the Spanish way of life. With the transformation of the European Union, the free movement of Europeans between borders means that to a certain extent relationships between different European cultures are less tense. European citizens are increasingly viewed as being part of a European community. The borders between themselves and ‘the others’ have almost been extended up to the exterior borders of Europe. McGrance argues that there is a distinct Western thought process. He argues that: ‘there is the superior Western culture, and then there are all the rest as contrast. A sharp divide is created, with epistemological privilege always on the side of the West. With these analyses in mind, one realises the extent of the difficulties immigrants face in becoming integrated into Spanish society. Adding to the discussion on integration and what impedes this process for immigrants, I am interested in how a national population is able to control a minority population. When talking of integration, it is impossible to say when an immigrant is fully integrated as an essential part of this process is determined by non- controllable factors such as the native population’s response. It seems the first step to any kind of integration for minority groups (the immigrants), is acceptance from the majority (the nationals). However, when integration can be defined as a concept that calls for the absence of racism and tolerance for minority groups, the question is raised as to whether it is integration we are talking about or tolerance. Is the immigration in Spain a case of ‘integrating’ immigrants or merely ‘tolerating’ them? If it is a case of tolerating immigrants, there is little hope of integration for immigrants on a social level. This brings me onto the concepts of ‘society’ and ‘community,’ which seem to influence the process of integration of immigrants. Calavita writes that the concept of culture and community is difficult to define. She quotes Walzer’s attempt at defining the term: â€Å" that at a minimum a community consists of like-minded members, with some special commitment to one another and some special sense of their common life.† The term community deals with the concept of belonging and not belonging: the member whom is accepted and part of something, and the outsider whom is striving to be part of something that is not necessarily clear. The Europe we see developing today is a prime example of a ‘community’ of nations pushing for one identity. Cris Shore explores the idea that this very existing identity is one of the main culprits for the problem of integration of immigrant. â€Å"Identity is represented as a process of classification involving boundaries of inclusion and exclusion.† Shore goes on further to explore the terms European and non- European. Though there is no official definition for these terms, ‘ a more coherent applied definition can be seen emerging at the borders and boundaries of the new Europe.’ With the distinction of European and non-European groups becoming clear, so to is the distinction between the insider and the outsider. These terms are used to reiterate the fact that the immigrant is from outside, it is used to make the distinction between the group of ‘Us’ (national population) and ‘Them’ (the immigrant), and it has been used by Spaniards to remind themselves of what they are not. One must ask to what extent the integration of immigrants is a process of selection, and to what extent the national population influences this process. Nowadays the significance and relevance of being a member of a community has been devalued somewhat, as it is increasingly difficult to define this term. Calavita quotes Bauman and others as arguing, â€Å"that this kind of community is on the decline, as globalisation, with its collapsing cultural boundaries, and the diminishing significance of the nation-state, erodes its boundaries and disintegrates its ties, leaving little structure to the foundations of this group.† ‘The diminishing significance of the nation state’ refers to the developing ‘European identity’ the EU are pushing for today. This united centre requires the breaking down of national barriers to ensure full communication between nations in an effort for them to work together and be successful as one. Arguments put forward suggesting immigration is a ‘cultural problem’ because of its effect on the authenticity of Spanish culture, are unsound, as the very Europe that Spain forms part of, is doing just that. Considering immigration as a ‘problem,’ has severely affected the process of integration of immigrants in Spain. The real concern lies in the general public’s perception of immigrants. The strength of a nation’s perception is based on a sentiment cultivated over many years; can this national sentiment towards immigration be changed? It does not make sense to see a city or country as an integrated body of citizens, a group you can enter once you have completed cultural, economic requirements. It is the discussion of immigration as a problem, and the questioning of whether immigrants integrate or not that creates the phenomenon of immigration and puts such pressure on the social groups involved to form a position on the issue. When analysing the immigration issue in Spain, it should not be the question of whether the immigrants are a problem, or whether they are integrated or not, but what there role is in society.

Picasso Essay -- essays research papers

Pablo Picasso. Self-Portrait. 1907. Oil on canvas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The formal and visual elements most utilized, recognizable, and original in Pablo Picasso’s Self-Portrait 1907 are line, texture, time, and color. As far as principals of design go, emphasis on proportion and scale of certain features makes them stand out, thus enhancing the expression of his face. I chose this artwork because the simplicity of the painting, especially the bold use of line, is appealing to the eye and looks like something I’d draw.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It appears as though Picasso started the painting with a heavy outline describing and exaggerating the shape of the head and its features, then went on to fill in the body and background. The lines outlining the eyes, cheekbones, and nose are much heavier than the lines making up the mouth. Perhaps this is because he saw himself as more the observer who expresses himself better through his art than through his words. With the eyes and nose overstated, the expression is one of curiosity and constant awareness, as well as optimism and enjoyment. Picasso makes great use of directional lines in this self portrait. His forehead slants at the same angle as his jaw and ear, collar, and lapel. His hair is combed at an angle that matches with the neck, left cheekbone and collar. His right cheekbone is a continuation of the line representing where his shirt buttons up which also matches the line of his left lapel. It looks like he...

Euthanasia And The Robert Latimer Case :: Free Euthanasia Essay

Euthanasia and the Robert Latimer Case Euthanasia is undoubtedly an issue that plagues the minds of those living with children or adults who are severely disabled. Rarely is one found to have a ‘ neutral' outlook upon it; that is, a side must be chosen, for or against. It is too delicate a topic to be ‘in the middle' about. Over the years, cases involving euthanasia have caused massive controversies as to whether or not it is feasible to take the life of another human being in order to ‘put them out of their misery'. One of the strong questions raised in my mind is: Does the killer really want to put the victim out of their misery? Or is it the killer who is under the extreme pressures of living with the victim, and is it their own lifestyle that they are truly fed up with? In the Robert Latimer case, as in many other cases of euthanasia, it can never be proven whether or not Latimer killed his young daughter Tracy to ‘save' her, or to save himself. While I have never experienced living with someone who is severely disabled, I have had the chance to discuss the issue with many friends and associates. From what I have learned, it is, indeed, an extremely tough matter to deal with. While no-one I have spoken to has been suicidal over the matter, they have seen the true pain and misery that some severely disabled individuals are forced to deal with every day of their lives. Still, many agree with myself on the point that a human life is just that, a human life; and that everyone alive has the right to live, no matter whether or not it is under tougher circumstances than another person. Nobody has the right to take the life of another person, and technically, the law states that nobody has the right to take their own life as well. A severely disabled person may have to deal with much pain in their lives, but they are entitled to the right of simply enjoying being alive, and denying them that right would be an infringement upon their freedom. Latimer should have taken the law into deeper consideration before taking his daughters life. He may have seen the suffering that she went through, but it is evident that he had some sort of strange love for his daughter. Indeed, he did want ‘what was best' for Tracy, but possibly what he was after was what he thought was best. He valued her rights as his daughter, unfortunately he did not value her rights as

Slaughterhouse-Five and the Psychological Consequences of War :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

â€Å"How nice- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive† (Vonnegut 181). In Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five the main character Billy Pilgrim experiences few emotions during his time in World War II. His responses to people and events lack intensity or passion. Throughout the novel Billy describes his time travel to different moments in his life, including his experience with the creatures of Tralfamadore and the bombing of Dresden. He wishes to die during most of the novel and is unable to connect with almost anyone on Earth. The fictional planet Tralfamadore appears to be Billy’s only way of escaping the horrors of war, and acts as coping mechanism. Billy seems to be a soldier with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as he struggles to express feelings and live in his reality. At the beginning of the novel the narrator proposes his reason for writing the book is to explain what happened in the Dresden fire bombing, yet he focuses on Billy’s psyche more than the bombing itself. PTSD prevents Billy from living a hea lthy life, which shows readers that the war does not stop after the fighting is over and the aftermath is ongoing. Billy Pilgrim’s story portrays the bombing and war in a negative light to readers, as Vonnegut shows the damaging effects of war on an individual, such as misperception of time, disconnect from peers, and inability to feel strong emotions, to overall create a stronger message. Billy Pilgrim time travels to various moments in his life at random, which suggests he has no power over his mind and the memories that haunt him. He â€Å"is spastic in time, (and) has no control over where he is going next† (Vonnegut 43), as he struggles to make sense of his past. Billy’s ability to remember events in an erratic sequence, mirrors the happenings of war. War is sudden, fast paced, and filled with unexpected twists and turns. Billy cannot forget what he experienced during his time as a soldier, and in turn his mind subconsciously imitates this hectic quality of war. This behavior proves that although the war is over, â€Å"psychologically, Billy has never fully left† (Vees-Gulani). For many soldiers, especially those who were prisoners of war (POW), it is inevitable that their mind will not be like it once was (Vees-Gulani).

Engineer in Society

Engineers work to develop economic and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics, scientific knowledge and ingenuity while considering technical constraints. The term is derived from the Latin root â€Å"ingenium,† meaning â€Å"cleverness†. The industrial revolution and continuing technological developments of the last few centuries have changed the connotation of the term slightly, resulting in the perception of engineers as applied scientists. The work of engineers is the link between perceived needs of society and commercial applications. As for engineering definition it is a discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or invention. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of more specialized sub disciplines, each with a more specific emphasis on certain fields of application and particular areas of technology. The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects. The term engineering itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word engineer, which itself dates back to 1325, when an engine’er (literally, one who operates an engine) originally referred to â€Å"a constructor of military engines. † In this context, now obsolete, an â€Å"engine† referred to a military machine, i. e. , a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). The word â€Å"engine† itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c. 250), and meaning â€Å"innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention. † Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializin g in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military engineering (the original meaning of the word â€Å"engineering,† now largely obsolete, with notable exceptions that have survived to the present day such as military engineering corps, e. g. the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Engineering, much like other science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. With the rapid advancement of technology many new fields are gaining prominence and new branches are developing such as materials engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, nanotechnology, tribology, molecular engineering, mechatronics, etc. These new specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches such as mechanical engineering and mechatronics and electrical and computer engineering. A new or emerging area of application will commonly be defined temporarily as a permutation or subset of existing disciplines; there is often gray area as to when a given sub-field becomes large and/or prominent enough to warrant classification as a new â€Å"branch. † One key indicator of such emergence is when major universities start establishing departments and programs in the new field. For each of these fields there exists considerable overlap, especially in the areas of the application of sciences to their disciplines such as physics, chemistry and mathematics. Engineering is a subject that ranges from large collaborations to small individual projects. Almost all engineering projects are beholden to some sort of financing agency: a company, a set of investors, or a government. The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open design engineering. By its very nature engineering is bound up with society and human behaviour. Every product or construction used by modern society will have been influenced by engineering design. Engineering design is a very powerful tool to make changes to environment, society and economies, and its application brings with it a great responsibility. Many lists of engineering societies have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the public at large. Engineering projects can be subject to controversy. Examples from different engineering disciplines include the development of nuclear weapons, the Three Gorges Dam, the design and use of Sport utility vehicles and the extraction of oil. In response, some western engineering companies have enacted serious corporate and social responsibility policies. Engineering is a key driver of human development. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular has a very small engineering capacity which results in many African nations being unable to develop crucial infrastructure without outside aid. The attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals requires the achievement of sufficient engineering capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable technological development. Safety is the state of being â€Å"safe† (from French sauf), the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-desirable. This can take the form of being protected from the event or from exposure to something that causes health or economical losses. It can include protection of people or of possessions. Safety engineering is an applied science strongly related to systems engineering and the subset System Safety Engineering. Safety engineering assures that a life-critical system behaves as needed even when pieces fail. Continuous changes in technology, environmental regulation and public safety concerns make the analysis of complex safety-critical systems more and more demanding. Safety is often seen as one of a group of related disciplines: quality, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. These issues tend to determine the value of any work, and deficits in any of these areas are considered to result in a cost, beyond the cost of addressing the area in the first place; good management is then expected to minimize total cost. Theoretically, safety-engineers take an early design of a system, analyze it to find what faults can occur, and then propose safety requirements in design specifications up front and changes to existing systems to make the system safer. But actually, safety engineers are assigned to prove that an existing, completed design is safe. If a safety engineer then discovers significant safety problems late in the design process, correcting them can be very expensive. This type of error has the potential to waste large sums of money. The exception to this conventional approach is the way some large government agencies approach safety engineering from a more proactive and proven process perspective, known as â€Å"system safety†. The system safety philosophy is to be applied to complex and critical systems, such as commercial airliners, complex weapon systems, spacecraft, rail and transportation systems, air traffic control system and other complex and safety-critical industrial systems. The proven system safety methods and techniques are to prevent, eliminate and control hazards and risks through designed influences by a collaboration of key engineering disciplines and product teams. Software safety is a fast growing ield since modern systems functionality are increasingly being put under control of software. The whole concept of system safety and software safety, as a subset of systems engineering, is to influence safety-critical systems designs by conducting several types of hazard analyses to identify risks and to specify design safety features and procedures to strategically mitigate risk to acceptable levels before the system is certified. Additionally, failure mitigation can go beyond design recommenda tions, particularly in the area of maintenance. There is an entire realm of safety and reliability engineering known as Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), which is a discipline that is a direct result of analyzing potential failures within a system and determining maintenance actions that can mitigate the risk of failure. This methodology is used extensively on aircraft and involves understanding the failure modes of the serviceable replaceable assemblies in addition to the means to detect or predict an impending failure. Every automobile owner is familiar with this concept when they take in their car to have the oil changed or brakes checked. Even filling up one's car with fuel is a simple example of a failure mode (failure due to fuel exhaustion), a means of detection (fuel gauge), and a maintenance action (filling the car's fuel tank). For large scale complex systems, hundreds if not thousands of maintenance actions can result from the failure analysis. These maintenance actions are based on conditions (e. g. , gauge reading or leaky valve), hard conditions (e. . , a component is known to fail after 100 hrs of operation with 95% certainty), or require inspection to determine the maintenance action (e. g. , metal fatigue). The RCM concept then analyzes each individual maintenance item for its risk contribution to safety, mission, operational readiness, or cost to repair if a failure does occur. Then the sum total of all the maintenance actions are bundled into maintenance intervals so that maintenan ce is not occurring around the clock, but rather, at regular intervals. This bundling process introduces further complexity, as it might stretch some maintenance cycles, thereby increasing risk, but reduce others, thereby potentially reducing risk, with the end result being a comprehensive maintenance schedule, purpose built to reduce operational risk and ensure acceptable levels of operational readiness and availability. The two most common fault modelling techniques are called failure mode and effects analysis and fault tree analysis. These techniques are just ways of inding problems and of making plans to cope with failures, as in probabilistic risk assessment. One of the earliest complete studies using this technique on a commercial nuclear plant was the WASH-1400 study, also known as the Reactor Safety Study or the Rasmussen Report. Once a failure mode is identified, it can usually be prevented entirely by adding extra equipment to the system. For example, nuclear reactors contain dangerous radiation, and nuclear reactions can cause so much heat tha t no substance might contain them. Therefore reactors have emergency core cooling systems to keep the temperature down, shielding to contain the radiation, and engineered barriers (usually several, nested, surmounted by a containment building) to prevent accidental leakage. Most biological organisms have a certain amount of redundancy: multiple organs, multiple limbs, etc. For any given failure, a fail-over or redundancy can almost always be designed and incorporated into a system. Health is the general condition of a person in all aspects. It is also a level of functional and/or metabolic efficiency of an organism, often implicitly human. At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, health was defined as being â€Å"a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity†. Only a handful of publications have focused specifically on the definition of health and its evolution in the first 6 decades. Some of them highlight its lack of operational value and the problem created by use of the word â€Å"complete. Others declare the definition, which has not been modified since 1948, â€Å"simply a bad one. † In 1986, the WHO, in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, said that health is â€Å"a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. † Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), which is composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) also define health. Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle. Health and working together safety engineers plan, implement, and coordinate safety programs to prevent or correct unsafe environmental working conditions. They promote workplace and product safety by identifying and monitoring potential hazards to people or property. They then apply an advanced knowledge of industrial processes and human performance principles to reduce or eliminate the risk of injury or damage. To create a safe and environmentally sound workplace, engineers coordinate with outside organizations, such as fire departments or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA); design and install safety devices on machinery or clothing; and investigate causes of industrial accidents to prevent further incidents. They also conduct tests to ascertain air quality, noise level, temperature, or radiation. Once the analysis is complete, they then consult with governmental organizations on how to handle such problems in compliance with safety regulations. Health and safety engineers then coordinate the training of workers on safety procedures using safety equipment, devices, and clothing. Working under the Health Department and the work involves is the planning, administration and performance of public health engineering duties concerned with the execution of one or more phases of the environmental health program. The work entails advising public officials or individuals on problems requiring professional public health engineering expertise, including measures for improvement and compliance with legal requirements, assisting in the promotion of public health through application of environmental health practices, assisting in the enforcement of the provisions of local and State health matters and investigations of related conditions and problems. The work is performed under general supervision of a Senior Public Health Engineer with leeway allowed for exercise of independent judgment in carrying out details of the work. Engineers also played a relatively indirect role in medicine until the last 40 to 50 years. They produced instruments and articles specified by doctors and medical practitioners. There was however an interesting contribution made by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1855. He responded to the scandal of the appalling conditions of the Crimean War military hospital, publicised by Florence Nightingale, by designing the first portable hospital of one thousand beds within six days of receiving a request for help from the War Office. The project was completed in five months from design to admission of the first wounded soldier. The introduction of anaesthetics in 1846 fundamentally changed surgery by suppressing pain. This gave surgeons more time and allowed for the developments of new techniques which made surgery more constructive. However modern medical developments really began in 1876 when Robert Koch, a German doctor, proved for the first time that microorganisms could cause disease. The first chemical agent to attack infection, salvarsan or ‘606’ (arsenobenzene) was developed by Paul Ehrlich in 1910 and although it had many side effects, remained the only means of curing acute infection until the second world war when penicillin was introduced. Although penicillin was originally discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928, it was the innovation and ingenuity of chemists and engineers such as Ernst Chain, who built for Beechams the fermenter which enabled bulk semi-synthetic penicillins to be produced. Whilst chemists and engineers were involved in delivering the benefits of microorganisms such as antibiotics and vaccines, electrical engineers were advancing and applying technology to the benefit of healthcare. Of special merit was Godfrey Hounsfield’s singular contribution in the 1960s of the development of three dimensional reconstructions from two dimensional (2D) X-rays, namely the brain scanner, later to be developed into the body scanner. Engineering in medicine has been an important and it’s believed that the role of the engineer in many areas of healthcare will grow. Constant innovation and development is needed to avoid the generations of the 21st century looking back at our surgical and medical techniques with the same appalled fascination in the 19th century. The ever-expanding array of medical technologies includes artificial hips and organs, endoscopy (enabling minimally invasive surgery), intelligent prosthetic devices (artificial limbs, hearing aids) and implantable devices (pacemaker, defibrillator), novel technologies used in cardiac catheterization, patient monitoring, and medical imaging. These developments have had a tremendous impact on the medical industry and have led to numerous technologies and medical devices without which modern medicine would be unthinkable. Today’s activities range from nano- to information technology and involve such diverse applications as microsensors, artificial organs, physiological modelling, genomics, molecular imaging, home care monitoring, ergonomics, information processing, data management, and patient safety. Environment in this case is natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by two components. Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, animals, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries. Others is universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity. The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment (with an indefinite article), if the human impact on it is kept under a certain limited level. In engineering, is more related with environmental engineering whereas define as the application of science and engineering principles to improve the environment (air, water, and/or land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites. Environmental engineering involves water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health issues as well as knowledge of environmental engineering law. It also includes studies on the environmental impact of proposed construction projects. Environmental engineers conduct hazardous-waste management studies to evaluate the significance of such hazards, advice on treatment and containment, and develop regulations to prevent mishaps. Environmental engineers also design municipal water supply and industrial wastewater treatment systems as well as address local and worldwide environmental issues such as the effects of acid rain, ozone depletion, water pollution and air pollution from automobile exhausts and industrial sources. At many universities, Environmental Engineering programs follow either the Department of Civil Engineering or The Department of Chemical Engineering at engineering faculties. Environmental â€Å"civil† engineers focus on hydrology, water resources management, bioremediation, and water treatment plant design. Environmental â€Å"chemical† engineers, on the other hand, focus on environmental chemistry, advanced air and water treatment technologies and separation processes. Additionally, engineers are more frequently obtaining specialized training in law (J. D. ) and are utilizing their technical expertise in the practices of Environmental engineering law. Most jurisdictions also impose licensing and registration requirements. Modern environmental engineering began in London in the mid-19th century when Joseph Bazalgette designed the first major sewerage system that reduced the incidence of waterborne diseases such as cholera. The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized countries reduced waterborne diseases from leading causes of death to rarities. In many cases, as societies grew, actions that were intended to achieve benefits for those societies had longer-term impacts which reduced other environmental qualities. One example is the widespread application of DDT to control agricultural pests in the years following World War II. While the agricultural benefits were outstanding and crop yields increased dramatically, thus reducing world hunger substantially, and malaria was controlled better than it ever had been, numerous species were brought to the verge of extinction due to the impact of the DDT on their reproductive cycles. The story of DDT as vividly told in Rachel Carson's â€Å"Silent Spring† is considered to be the birth of the modern environmental movement and the development of the modern field of â€Å"environmental engineering. † Conservation movements and laws restricting public actions that would harm the environment have been developed by various societies for millennia. Notable examples are the laws decreeing the construction of sewers in London and Paris in the 19th century and the creation of the U. S. national park system in the early 20th century. Briefly speaking, the main task of environmental engineering is to protect public health by protecting (from further degradation), preserving (the present condition of), and enhancing the environment. Pollutants may be chemical, biological, thermal, radioactive, or even mechanical. Environmental engineering emphasizes several areas: process engineering, environmental chemistry, water and sewage treatment (sanitary engineering), waste reduction/management, and pollution prevention/cleanup. Contribution to society is engineers and scientists assess the impacts of a proposed project on environmental conditions. They apply scientific and engineering principles to evaluate if there are likely to be any adverse impacts to water quality, air quality, habitat quality, flora and fauna, agricultural capacity, traffic impacts, social impacts, ecological impacts, noise impacts, visual (landscape) impacts, etc. If impacts are expected, they then develop mitigation measures to limit or prevent such impacts. An example of a mitigation measure would be the creation of wetlands in a nearby location to mitigate the filling in of wetlands necessary for a road development if it is not possible to reroute the road. Engineers and scientists also work to secure water supplies for potable and agricultural use. They evaluate the water balance within a watershed and determine the available water supply, the water needed for various needs in that watershed, the seasonal cycles of water movement through the watershed and they develop systems to store, treat, and convey water for various uses. Water is treated to achieve water quality objectives for the end uses. In the case of potable water supply, water is treated to minimize risk of infectious disease transmittal, risk of non-infectious illness, and create a palatable water flavour. Water distribution systems are designed and built to provide adequate water pressure and flow rates to meet various end-user needs such as domestic use, fire suppression, and irrigation. Most urban and many rural areas no longer discharge human waste directly to the land through outhouse, septic, and/or honey bucket systems, but rather deposit such waste into water and convey it from households via sewer systems. Engineers and scientists develop collection and treatment systems to carry this waste material away from where people live and produce the waste and discharge it into the environment. In developed countries, substantial resources are applied to the treatment and detoxification of this waste before it is discharged into a river, lake, or ocean system. Developing nations are striving to obtain the resources to develop such systems so that they can improve water quality in their surface waters and reduce the risk of water-borne infectious disease. There are numerous wastewater treatment technologies. A wastewater treatment train can consist of a primary clarifier system to remove solid and floating materials, a secondary treatment system consisting of an aeration basin followed by flocculation and sedimentation or an activated sludge system and a secondary clarifier, a tertiary biological nitrogen removal system, and a final disinfection process. The aeration basin/activated sludge system removes organic material by growing bacteria (activated sludge). The secondary clarifier removes the activated sludge from the water. The tertiary system, although not always included due to costs, is becoming more prevalent to remove nitrogen and phosphorus and to disinfect the water before discharge to a surface water stream or ocean outfall. Engineers apply scientific and engineering principles to the design of manufacturing and combustion processes to reduce air pollutant emissions to acceptable levels. Scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators, catalytic converters, and various other processes are utilized to remove particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), reactive organic gases (ROG) and other air pollutants from flue gases and other sources prior to allowing their emission to the atmosphere. Scientists also have developed air pollution dispersion models to evaluate the concentration of a pollutant at a receptor or the impact on overall air quality from vehicle exhausts and industrial flue gas stack emissions. To some extent, this field overlaps the desire to decrease carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from combustion processes. Technology is an application of knowledge to the practical aims of human life or to changing and manipulating the human environment. Technology includes the use of materials, tools, techniques, and sources of power to make life easier or more pleasant and work more productive. Whereas science is concerned with how and why things happen, technology focuses on making things happen. Technology began to influence human endeavour as soon as people began using tools. It accelerated with the Industrial Revolution and the substitution of machines for animal and human labour. Accelerated technological development has also had costs, in terms of air and water pollution and other undesirable environmental effects. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from science. The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, mathematical, linguistic, and historical knowledge, to achieve some practical result. Technology is often a consequence of science and engineering — although technology as a human activity precedes the two fields. For example, science might study the flow of electrons in electrical conductors, by using already-existing tools and knowledge. This new-found knowledge may then be used by engineers to create new tools and machines, such as semiconductors, computers, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists; the three fields are often considered as one for the purposes of research and reference. As for conclusion, engineer and engineering plays vital role in our life. Engineer has contribute a lot with the careful research and development using all the mathematical and science related in creating, solving and also improve our daily life. In existent of engineer also we are aware in the safety, health and environment. In ways, engineers identify what is safe and what not. Engineer create something in aided the medical profession thus improving the quality of life. Engineer also contributes in preventing pollution to occur and also find alternative for not destroying the environment. With more technological advancement, engineer have unlimited to what they can do in contribution to the society. Engineer must bear in mind, that everything must have it weakness and consequences. As such, engineer with obligation to serve the society must have good research and have think all the effect that could have happen before doing anything.