Nerds Essay Example for Free

Nerds EssayAmerica Needs its Nerds In the passage from America Needs Its Nerds, author Leonid Fridman dissect his argument by comparing and contrasting Americas on-going social beliefs and perceptions of the geek and the actual positive role taken on by the nerd and why the role that they play is so vital to our society. Since we live in an anti- intellectualist society, nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized. And this all starts from elementary or middle school. We rarely have a child who ordain grow up to be the nextAlbert Einstein, but have many children in schools who will be Kobe Bryant or Ronnie Brown. This is because some children in schools take compete sports rather than studying at home. They prefer staying outside and have fun with friends rather than stay home watching Lord of the Rings or supporter Wars. In short, they prefer being socially active. But nerds and geeks are completely opposite they prefer working on homework rather than playing sports. T hey prefer being alone and non getting involved in any social activity.And this kind of behavior is the main rea intelligence why nerds and geeks are well-nigh commonly known as social outcasts or abnormal. Just because nerds or geeks dont get wasted or party hard, that doesnt mean they shouldnt be accepted in the society. They are people like us, Just with high intelligence. Sports are not bad professions to approach towards, but you dont learn anything besides making touchdowns or third pointers. But for the people who dont want sports to be their profession, their goal is to make touchdown and three pointers in their life by ontributing to America.As a result of people peevish nerds and geeks, many nerds and geeks are ashamed of themselves. Due to this, they become very upset with their life. Even parents are sometimes ashamed of their children, if they study too hard and not hang out with their friends. They expect their daughter to go to dancing class and not stay home stud ying mathematics all the time. They expect their son to go play baseball and not spend most of his time studying. These expectations are not ust from one family, but its scattering across the United States.The root word to this problem is to fght the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society. Since America is an anti-intellectualist nation, athletes are idolized more than professors. But in other countries like East Asia, professors are set as Gurus. They are the ones who are idolized. In fact they are set up as an example rather than put down or teased. In short, nerds and geeks are looked up to and supported so that their country can improve.

The Middle East Essay Example for Free

The Middle East EssayThe superpowers played a vital component part in bringing change in the Middle East, although this change was not always necessarily good. There are key example of Superpowers contri hardlying war, but equally the superpowers in like manner restricted war as well. At the start of the period in 1948 the superpowers played an important role in the creation of Israel. The regular army was the most notable country to showcase their support for Zionism, especially following the aftermath of the second war.The UN special committee on the Palestinian issue include the USA, and hence their voice was vital in echoing the voices of Palestinian Jews. The USSR also supported the creation of a Jewish state because sympathy for Jews following the final solution was also high with the Soviet Union. And when the state of Israel was finally declared in May 1948, the USA was the first country to recognise Israel. Israeli survival was also dependent upon Ameri lav support, as during the First Arab Israeli conflict to have received around 15,000 rifles from the USA which were crucial in defeating the Arabs.The voice of the super powers, in particular the USA was therefore very important the creation of Israel, and without such a powerful ally, it is likely that Israel would have ceased to exist. This links to the second change brought more or less by the Superpowers as the USA and USSR used the Middle East to compete with each other- the USA having already expressed support for Israel left the USSR backing the Arabs. chairwoman Nasser tried to exploit superpower support to gain funding for his Aswan dam and the USA fearing Soviet influence refused to loan Nasser money.The USSR however backed the Egypt which furthered tensions between Egypt and Israel. With the Soviet Union handing out weapons to Egypt, the USA saw it only approiate to fund the Israelis handing out $65 million. With the support of superpower support, both countries edged closer to war because they mat better prepared. This was a change from 1948 when the Superpowers were not directly fuelling the conflict. This links to a third change, as the superpowers realised that they could not afford to create conflict between the countries in the Middle East in case it spilled over into a large scaled war.Thats why, when the Israelis eventually attacked Israel, backed by French and British forces the USA immediately threatened Britain with financial sanctions if she refused to withdraw. The Soviet Union even threatened Britain with a nuclear weapons. So a clear change can be where the Superpower prevented conflict rather than causing it. Perhaps the most significant change brought about by the superpowers was the Six day war. Following the Suez crisis in 1956, tension began rising as war broke out in 1967. The USA had been funding the Israelis and handing them weapons whilst the Soviets had been doing the same with the Israelis.The Soviets provided false intelligence to t he Syrians that an Israeli attack was inbred and this only served to increase the tensions between the two sides eventually spilling over into a war. Israels superior equipment was showcased as they destroyed the Egyptian air force to the highest degree entirely within 6 hours. One can say that this is due to the USA and the funding provided by them. Show lagger only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE International relations 1945-1991 section.

Writing In A State Of Siege English Literature Essay

Writing In A State Of Siege English Literature EssayThe ten years between 1948 and 1958 enter the bustle and disturbance of social life and exhibited the necessity and possibility of a united fight against racial discrimination. The wide spread resentment at the pass-laws, unstated drink raids and inadequate amenities in 1950 resulted in the suppression of Communism Act. The word communist it self meant unlawful. In 1952, eight thousand people were imprisoned for argue the apartheid regulations. Chief Albert Luthuli, the President General of the African National Congress was banned for his commitment to a democratic and inter-racial future in southmost Africa.Things were in forgiveness and in 1958, as the etiolates did non require any permits, the Fugards were certified to go to Sophiatown, a freehold town, a place which combined magic and smut, reputability and crime, coloured and white and the most lively and crowded of every last(predicate) the African townspeoples, w present the low-spiriteds and the whites could move freely, with certain social constraints.As Jurger Schadeberg observes, at that place was pauperisation in Sophiatown. There were beas that were somewhat slummy. There were gangs. There were crime and in that respect were cutthroats, but it was a objective suburb. It had all the facilities a normal suburb has. Whereas when people moved to Orlando or Meadowlands, or what of all time, there was nothing there. Sophiatown was romanticized afterwards. Sophiatown was a symbol because it was a place where people were not mixed than in other places. And people owned their own property. (Schadeberg, 2002 111-112)Sophiatown was predominantly pitch blackness and also predominantly poor. The greater part of Sophiatown was a sickening slum. As Don Mattera observes the little Chicago of Johannesburg was essentially known for its cosmopolitan flavor and both conceivable space was occupied by a living thing man or animal. (Mattera 198749). Derek Cohen also observes,The small corner of the world, the all but bury township of the 1950s, Sophiatown, teems with the variety and vivacity of the world itself. Deep in the bowels of this house of hunger, where men and women tread a diurnal mill of deprivation and indignity, lie, as Fugard reminds us, humanity and strength3.(1984273-284))The township also had a surprisingly stunning intellectual atmosphere as the black journalists were trying to express their feelings. Jim Baileys stand up magazine covered the township life. Drum ran articles almost every month, reporting on crime figures, the circumstances forcing ordinary citizens into a life of crime, and the shebeen culture, which fed these turnedences.Benjamin Pogrund, a liberal friend of the Fugards advised Fugard that he would find the right atmosphere in Sophiatown for his mulct.The only job Fugard could find was that of a clerk in a Native Commissioners Court where offenders of the pass-laws were tried. The crimin al conditions gave birth to his pessimism and his earlier incomplete novel (Tsotsi) found its voice in the two tactical maneuvers of his apprenticeship years, No-Good Friday and Nongogo which represented the travails of the black township.Though they were his early plays and though they lacked the spectacular charm and vision of his ulterior plays, they indicate the struggling mind of Fugard to represent his stance as a manoeuvretist. If No Good Friday looks the impact of bad stinting conditions on the individuals who aspire for better social conditions and education, Nongogo reflects the aspirations of the people who dream for better living and individual dignity. These two early plays belong to the formative stage of Fugards matureness as a dramatist.No-Good Friday and Nongogo both represent the apartheid trauma of the South African Society. An exploration (Gray,198156-63) into the manuscripts of the first novel of Fugard, (which he threw into the Fiji lagoon) Tsotsi, which was published in 1980, reveals Fugards fretfulness during his apprenticeship years to present the problems within the existing conditions. Fugards early plays, No-Good Friday and Nongogo also share some of the aspects of Tsotsi as they were set against the same milieu. Stephen Gray5(198156) feels that the characters of Tsotsi appeared in the succeeding plays of Fugard ilk The Blood Knot, Hello and Goodbye, People Are Living There, Boesman and Lena and in many of his plays written during the 1970s.Fugard presents the burning zeal of an incipient black revolutionary against the exploitation confront by the blacks in No-Good Friday (1958). This play drills at two levels at the surface level, it appears to be a mere representation of the conditions of the blacks but at deeper levels, it records the helplessness of the blacks in the face of exploitation by their own fellow men during the conditions of the apartheid. Fugard presents the oppressive politics working on the life of the to wnship in respective(a) forms.Crime by African against African was an everyday reality in Sophiatown. For example an article in the November 1951 issue of Drum, The Birth of a Tsotsi, describes the virtuous circumstances under which a young boy takes the wrong turning With grinding poverty and the sea of squalor that surrounds the Gold City, it is not difficult to recognize the rest. There is a push for existence, and the individual intends to survive.Fugard records this struggle in a naturalistic manner in his early plays homogeneous No-Good Friday and Nongogo.Willie Seopela, the independent and cross-grained protagonist is an aspiring youngman and he cleaves with Rebecca, his lady love. Willie, an intellectual in the making, with hopes for a brighter and better living, is a student pursuing his undergraduate studies through correspondence. He represents the image of the desperately stubborn black young men of South Africa. patronage hard circumstances, Willie is optimistic and highly independent. He is liked by render Higgins, the white humanist who visits the black ghettos to tenderize solace. Father Higgins introduces Tobias, an loose villager, who comes to Sophiatown for a better living, to Willie and asks him to fix him somewhere, as he is badly in need of gold for his living. Willie, aware of the catastrophic situation that awaits black people in the township, asks Tobias not to entertain big dreams. He does not charter any promise to Tobias.The residents of the black township are frequently nagged by cheat, a black gangster who appears every Friday, the day of their weekly bement. The innocent residents ought to offer a share from their pay packets either to chisel or quasi(prenominal) other gangsters in trains and on roads. They cannot even make a complaint against them to the police, for, they do not have the pass-books to stay in that town. In a way, they buy their protection from Shark, their fellow black South African.Even the inde pendent Willie makes a passive living allowing the share for Shark from his Fridays pay-packet. Tobias, unaware of these facts innocently argues about the share and gets killed in the hands of Shark. It is only after the death of Tobias, Willie realises the gravity of the situation, the result of their passive attitude and decides to oppose Shark in spite of the murderous consequences. In the operate, he sacrifices his love for Rebecca. The play ends with Willie getting prepared for the challenge.The play projects a story of loss of relationships, loss of determine and loss of security or protection in the white repressive world.Willie, the protagonist condemns the situation in Johannesburg and very often he appears to be the mouth-piece of Fugard. We are frequently reminded of the life-situation described in Peter Abrahams Mine Boy ,Alan Patons Cry, the Beloved Country and Alex La Gumas A Walk in the night and And a triple Cord. Life is not easy there and it has become unbeara ble, as observed by Father Higgins, a character in No Good Friday. The grimy situation of an unprotected life is summed up by Guy very well. Speaking about Shark, he saysDont you understand? Hes got shares in the police station. . . . . . You can barricade about the police. They protect a fellow like Shark. You see they are only interested in our passes. But a Kaffir laying a charge against a criminal-that would be a joke. We are all criminals. Look, Father, do not be hard on us. You know what I have entirely said better than any other white8. (1977 146)As in The Blood Knot and other plays here too Fugard arranges his scenes and the protagonist to present the conditions which reflect their predicament. Asked by Guy to explain their sad life, Willie says that the music of their life is a song of melancholy, loneliness and despair (1977125) and this is reflected in every scene, every chapter and every dialogue.The play portrays the hard realities of the life in Sophiatown, especial ly on Friday, which is a fertile acre for troubles (1977126). Father Higgins, though aware of the all pervading nature of sorrow, expresses his helplessness when Willie asks him if he wants to plant a daffodil in his yard.As Don Mattera describesThe ghetto-like township was unpredictable and dangerous. There were times of searching for a loved one in some bowling alley finding him or her wounded in a hospital or jail, or utter in a morgue. Or checking for husband or father, a brother or a son who had never returned home from work. Or waiting for a mother, an aunt or sister who did not get off the bus or tram where you usually waited for them. Then the anguish and anxiety that would follow reports of a woman raped, beaten and robbed by the jobless and wont work brigades of tsotsis who owned the days and ruled the nights.(198750)No-Good Friday portrays all these problems in Sophiatown, absence of precaution by the government, unemployment, frustration, poverty, insecurity, gangster ism, evils of pass-laws, broken bonds of love and the cheapness() of life seen through the lives of various characters. Despite the hard work, they can hardly reach homes safely with their Friday pay-packets. Reflecting the problems of township life, the play is presented in the back yard of Willie and it indicates their poverty amidst iron shacks. The play has black as well as white characters, like Father Higgins, who resembles Rev. Trevor Huddleston, who made a crusade against the stringent laws of the apartheid in the townships. It also records the migration of the innocent youth to the townships to find employment. The play records the raging gangsterism, a social evil, an oppression by the notoriously stronger ones, which has no opposition. It also shows how the underprivileged ones are dupeised. The race-laws worsen the conditions of living and the Group Areas Act had curb the blacks in the name of the pass-books. The pass laws had been a permanent threat to the African peop le. As observed by Edward RouxThe pass laws held the people in conditions of abject poverty and subjection were the cause of sharp racial friction between the peoples of South Africa upheld the cheap labour system which resulted in malnutrition, starvation and disease and filled gaols with innocent people, thus creating wide-spread crime19.(1964320).Fugard also projects the hidden social angle the White police mans hidden understanding with the black gangsters like Shark.Speaking about the crime of Sophiatown fissure Modisane writes,I learned there in Sophiatoown,that one looked at the killing and never at the faces of the killers one also knew that the law is white and justice casual, that it could not protect us against the knives of Sophiatown, so we tolerated the murders whilst the law encouraged them with its indifference.( 198663)The residents of Sophiatown cannot approach the police, who are obviously on the side of law. The blacks continue their survival in hellish condit ions. These and similar conditions are portrayed in a more powerful manner in Sizwe Bansi is beat(p).If Tsotsi traces both gangsterism and the realisation on the part of the protagonist in a single individual, No-Good Friday projects the evils of gangsterism through Shark and the realisation appears in the protagonist, Willie.Having understood the significance of life and the way it is being bust in Sophiatown, Willie mourns over the mishap of their lives and the impossibility of living. He realizes that life is not a fairy tale with a happy ending. The absurdity of living forces him not only to be forth from Rebecca but from his own life itself. To make his life more purpose-built and less mundane, he wants to oppose Shark by informing the police. His dreams of living merrily ever after get shattered and he says.I gave up dreaming. Tobias reminded me of too much, Guy. He was going to make some money and live happily ever after. Thecosy little dream like this, Willie and Rebec ca lived happily ever after Thats how the fairy stories end and its stupid because, out there is life and it is not ending happily14. (1977155)He feels that life is vain and useless without a protest against the problem. He blames the individuals within his society including himself for allowing such problems.Willies opposition to Shark and the words of the cunning politico Watson project Fugards anger against such conditions. When life becomes majestic and unprotected, it becomes meaningless. The death of Willie is not the end of the sequence, but it makes a bold beginning of opposition against gangsterism. It is also the frustration and struggle for a better life.The action of the play takes place between two Fridays and the play carries various emotions like humour, satire, shame, anger, frustration and tragedy, the representative feelings of an impoverished, fragmented and violent society20. (Sheila Fugard 1993408).Watson, the politician stands as a satirical portrait of the to wnships black politicians, who demand a sacrifice from the innocent blacks, for their own betterment. The ironical dedication of the song of Guy, Friday Night colour itself speaks about the theme of the play. Shark, the gangster with a significant name swallows people like Tobias and ironically praises those who pay him regularly. The play brings out the fact that the people of the township should not have cosy dreams about comfortable living.Going against the tradition of depicting the gangsters from the romantic viewpoint, as was done by other writers of his time, Fugard presents Shark, the gangster, as a cruel reality. As observed by Don Mattera,No story about gangsterism or violence in the townships of Johannesburg can be complete without that of Kort Boy- real name George Mbalweni the five-foot-nothing knifeman from Benoni, a former mining town on the East Rand near JohannesburgKort Boy was a legend in his day much dislike , much loved it all depended on which end of knife you were at.(1987102)Characters in No-Good Friday are many, representing the unlimited problems of his society. Each character stands for a problem. Fugard does not offer any solution but he represents things as they are, for an understanding of what was going on in South Africa. As a symphathising white liberal he expresses his sense of helplessness in the wake of events and the act of writing itself becomes an act of courage and commitment as an individual and as a writer. Despite the remotion of the apartheid condition, they enjoy their validity, for, these plays stand as records of the 1950s. Fugard brings out his message best the problem of survival in the wake of hopelessness, dejection and destruction.No Good Friday had its premiers on thirtieth August 1958 after ten years of the initiation of apartheid in South Africa on the primitive stage of the Bantu Mens Social Centre and Fugard was praised by the African monthly Zonk for giving his unknown actors, a wonderful opportuni ty to show their talents. Apart from the shows in Bantu Mens Social Centre, the play was also staged amidst church building walls in the townships, to black audiences and in the White suburbs. Fugard was refused permission to see even the productions he directed. During the run of No-Good Friday Fugard established friendship with important directors like Barney Simon and looking at Brulin. Not only to the actors, but to the people (both blacks and whites) of Sophiatown, it offered a scope to see themselves and their problems on the stage.Although the play has its own technical faults, as observed by critics -like heavy(a) plotting, unlimited characters etc, the play brings out the shaping mind of Fugard as a dramatist with social concerns. The characters apart from representing the troubled people of South Africa become potential difference images if Willie, Tobias, Rebecca and Guy stand as the victims, Shark and Watson stand as the wicked political images of the cruel exterior of South Africa. The repeated use of the fairy-tale image with its recognition to the impossibility of comfortable life speaks about the predicament of the life of the blacks in South Africa under the pressure of the cruel racist law.Fugard does not present this drama as a mere piece of entertainment. It is a realistic document about the sorrowful living of the black people of Sophiatown who suffer from inter-and intra-racial oppression. Fugard recognises that to be black in South Africa is to be poor, and that black existence is imbued with the struggle to find release from the cycle of poverty and the mean quality of life indigence creates. (Albert Wertheim) It provokes us to think and Fugard makes his observations and statements come alive through the characters he brings on to the stage. As observed by Sheila Fugard19, the germinative brains of a nascent playwright got fortified in his later plays like The Blood Knot, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, The Island, Master Haroldand the boys. Fugard incorporates his intellectual and individual stances of rebellion in Willie the black protagonist. Through him, he voices out his feeling, which necessitate the reason for opposition against the dreadful forces like gangsterism which bear the impact of several cruel racist laws but according to Nkosi, the play had very little concern with the politics behind the inveterate violence and gangsterism in the ghetto. (Vandenbroucke,Russell).Nkosi feels this as a limitation. On the other hand, white writers like Alan Paton and Fugard had observed frugality in depicting their conditions. As analysed by Albert Wertheim it was their moderation that drew world attention to the outrages of apartheid. The final speech of Willie is universal in its appeal, as it explains the reasons for the birth and growth of such evil forces within a society. By making the apartheid tragedy ACT on the stage, Fugard has achieved the theatrical and political meaning of two words acting and imagination.A lthough Fugard sets many of his plays in South Africa and more specifically in Port Elizabeth, he is not writing specifically South African tragedy, for he uses his South African setting and this presentation of South African life under apartheid rule to define a tragic situation imbued with meaning far beyond the geographical boundaries of South Africa.21 (Albert Wertheim)The play is not curb to South Africa alone it appeals to the living conditions of all common people who live in poverty ridden slums and ghettos of all parts of the world. As observed by Albert Wertheim, the play is set against a realistic background-it is a statement against oppression, a feature that is found everywhere in the world.REFERENCESSchadeberg,Jurger(ed).2002. Intervies, Johannesburg 15 March 2002105-108(Transcript)Mattera,Don.1987.Gone with the twilight A report card of Sophiatown. London,Zed Books.3.Derek Cohen, Beneath the Underworld Athol Fugards Tsotsi, World Literature Written in English, Vol. 23, No.2, (1984) 273-84.4. Stephen Gray, The Coming into the print of Athol Fugards Tsotsi, Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Vol. XVI, No.1 (1981) pp 56-63.5. Ibid.P.566. Athol Fugard, No-Good Friday, Dimetos and Two Early Plays, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1977. All subsequent references are to this edition.7. No Good Friday, p 144.8. ibid, 146.9. ibid, 152.10. ibid, 152.11. ibid, 154.12. ibid, 155.13.Modisane,Bloke.1996.Blame Me on History, Goodwood,Western Cape A.D.Donker14. ibid, 155.15. ibid, 160.16. Albert Wertheim17. No Good Friday, p 15518. Mattera,Don.19875019. Edward Roux, Time longer than Rope, 2nd ed. (Madison University of Winconsin Press, 1964) p. 320 Quoted by Mbulalo Vizikhungo Mzamane, Sharpeville and its Aftermath The novels of Richard Rive, peter Abrahams, Alex La Guma and Lauretta Ngcobo, Ariel, Vol. 16, No. 2, April 1985, pp. 30-44.20. Sheila Fugard, The Apprenticeship Years, Twentieth Century Literature, Ed. By Jack Barbera, Vol. 39, No.4, Win 1993, p . 408.21. Mattera,Don22. Albert Wertheim23. Russell, Vandenbroucke, Truths the Hand can Touch, p.24. Albert Wertheim,**************b) NONGOGO(1959)Like No-Good Friday, Nongogo also, but in a opposite way exposes the travails of the black people in Sophiatown. It exposes the anguish of the women who ran shebeens for livelihood and who longed for decency, though impossible. If Willie of No-Good Friday gets ready to face death with existential courage, Queeny of Nongogo laughs in the face of indecency and shame after a stubborn struggle against them. Nongogo, like No Good Friday also deals with the external and internal aspects of the troubled individuals against the desktop of troubled economic conditions and suppressive rule.The unique quality of Sophiatown was further enhanced by its shebeen culture. Although blacks were not allowed to drink in the 1950s, they were not stopped by the prohibition. The Sophiatown shebeens change illegal booze, both store-bought European liquor as w ell as home brewed skokian. But the shebeens were not merely informal drinking clubs. They were homy places where everyone knew each other. As apartheid ceased to exist, intellectuals like Can Themba, Nat Nkasa and others used to spread circles of literature in these shebeens. As Anthony Samson recallsThe shebeens, however, were another story. here was what Nat Nakasa called that noble institution, those hospitable homes. Here was a place outside of apartheid as the names reflected Back Othe Moon, Cabin in the Sky, Little Heaven, The Sanctuary, Kind Lady.(Nicol 199197)Modisane recalls how his mother, after the death of his father, was forced to become shebeen queer in order to keep body and soul together. Her customers, he remembers, drank for one reason only to get drunk, as for them, getting drunk was a purposeful destruction of the pain of their lies, a drowsing of themselves in this orgiastic expenditure. They were breaking out, escaping from themselves. (198639)The bad econ omic conditions forced the black women to take up beer-brewing and shebeens to support their families and to publicise their children to schools.Apart from the naturalistic portrayal, Fugards play focuses light on the hidden ugliness of evil economic setting. As observed by Gerald Weales (1978) both plays deal with the enfeebling force of the black situation in South Africa, but they do not so directly as an agitprop would. As in the novels of Peter Abrahams we study shebeens, drunkards, squalor, hunger, and prostitution- as results of oppression. Dennis Walder(1993414) in The Genesis of the Township plays observesThe Sophiatown plays nevertheless reflected the aspirations, violence, and vitality of urban black people,offering a window into the world of the correspondent student, Shebeen Queen, Tsotsi (gangster) and rural migrant for predominantly white, liberal audiences.They may now also be seen to have helped to legitimate everyday urban black stupefy the experience of the m ajority of South Africans as a subject, for blacks as well as whites.Nongogo presents the conflict between hope and despair, the celebration of life in all its beauty and the devalued existence without virtues. As observed by Russell Vandenbroucke Nongogo is a play about the actuality of the recent and forlorn hopes for the future ( 22). The conflict is the result of victimisation. The play has two acts-with the first act getting prepared for decency and reputability, the second act plays a dirge upon the death of these two qualities decency and respectability. The play as a whole exposes the guilt-racked victims of South Africa in both physiologic and psychological terms. Their physical destruction culminates in their psychological crisis, where their souls wail with the anguish for being the victims of the rough exterior of South African society.The play Nongogo exposes two individuals who experience such angst and a sense of guilt. Both of them are spoiled by social condition s of South Africa. maverick is badly used by the masochistic, sex-starved mine workers and Queeny-is exploited by the carnal appetite of the South African masculinity, during her fight to eke out a living. Both of them dream for betterment -for a life of decency and respectability which remain to be dreams-the dreams of impossibility. Johnny and Queeny both stand as the physical images of destruction of the psychological self. Like La Gumas A Walk in the Night this play projects the brutalisation that has corroded the moral faculties of the poor.(197355)As Fugardxx himself observes, man is more concerned about hunger physically and mentally. Johnny and Queeny become the victims of the hunger of pubes and of the poor conditions of the neglected lot. There are other characters like Sam, Blakie and Patrick, who make a parasitic living and work against decency and who are also in a way, the helpless victims of the poor conditions which can not be bettered, and they in turn victimise t heir fellow beings-Johnny and Queeny and their dreams of better living for their selfish purposes. The process of victimisation here as in No Good Friday, is the result of both the internal and external aspects of South Africa.Queeny, a nongogo a woman for two and six- the proprietress of a shebeen gets enthused by the arrival and speech of an unexpected salesman Johnny at her door-step. His mode of address makes her feel that she should regain her lost sense of decency. His legitimate living makes her think of dispensing with her shebeen and make a cleaner life with a sense of decency and respectability which remain to be dreams- the dreams of impossibility. Her trust in Johnny encourages her to start a legitimate cloth-business. Her idea of legitimacy creates distaste in Sam, her business partner and her earlier pimp and Blackie, her attendant.With the help of Patrick, a way-ward drunkard, Sam and Blackie spoil the mind of Johnny by sowing the seeds of suspicion. Johnny and Queen y come face to face and compelled by Johnny, Queeny unwillingly digs into her past and in this process, hates Johnny for his inability to understand a womans heart. The play ends with Queeny re-opening the shebeen.Fugard has taken care in portraying the character of Queeny. Her desire for better life with a sense of decency and her despair for not finding it form the crux of the plot.If No-Good Friday presents the process of victimization on the physical plane, dealing with the death of Tobias and of Willie, Nongogo deals with the same process, on the mental plane, indicating the death of the self, when there is the sense of guilt and helpless acceptance of the past life of filth. The crisis of Johnny and Queeny, the victims of the South African society gets interiorized in Nongogo. As Robert M. Post observes, in other plays of Fugard too we find these victims(19853-16). Morris and Zachariah in The Blood Knot, Frieda and Errol in the Statements John and Winston, the political brothe rs in The Island Gumboot Dhalami in Tsotsi Sizwe Bansi in Sizwe Bansi Is Dead Boesman and Lena in Boesman and Lena Piet in A Lesson from Aloes and the title character of Dimetos-all of them have been victims in various ways.Queenys curiosity in shaping her life as she had wanted gets shattered. She stands helplessly alone before her own life, a testament of time, as a victim of circumstances. Her disappointment as a living being against past, present and future life is made explicit through the use of two images indicating time the apprisal wall-clock and the wrist watch. Fugard very keenly exhibits the absurdity of human living against the unchanging nature of time in the South African context. Johnny and Queeny remain as the victims of their conscience.The two plays Nongogo and No-Good Friday exhibit the emotional involvement of Athol Fugard in the problems of the township. The pathetic predicament of man and woman in the South African townships comes alive on the stage. Fugard displays no political purpose in his portrayal of the characters in this play. His artistic involvement as a writer and his personal reaction as a liberal individual made him represent them in a realistic manner. As he observes No-Good Friday and Nongogo are inflated verse dramas by a liberally-informed white-but both the plays are in prose. (Quoted by Russell, Vandenbroucke, THCT, p.25) The gold mines stand as a contrasting back drop to represent the cruel exterior of South Africa. As in No-Good Friday, in this play too, we find the process of victimization. Johnny and Queeny stand as the victims of external conditions with a battered conscience and shattered inner self.Johnnys extreme craving for pure life makes him blind to his circumstances. He fails to treat Queeny as a human being like himself with a ardent for perfection and for a life of decency. Queeny dominates the whole scene with her knowledge of life and an awareness of the nature of men. Her shrewd thinking and her ma ture opinions about womanhood against the backdrop of her unfortunate murky past as a nongogo elevate her.She saysThere is now. But there was a time I thought I had all I wanted when I got this. But when I had it that was the end. There has been times I never knew what day it was in here and I never required to know. Id wake up and think is it Monday or Tuesday, be Friday? It did not make any difference. Giving it a name did not make it any different from the rest. (p.91)She exhibits a dignity in the climactic scene when she is found re-opening the doors of her shebeen. Her poor conditions had made her a nongogo her desire for betterment made her think of the life of decency and respectability and the presence of Johnny had made her once again the Queeny of shebeen. Her resurrection as the proprietress of shebeen makes her a tragic figure.She bursts outWhat do you think Ive been doing for five years? It had ended Johnny, it was dead and buried when you walked in here. But you wont let it stay that way, will you? Youd be worse than Sam, who just sighs when he passes the grave. Youve dug it up. Youve performed a miracle, Johnny. The miracle of Jesus and Dead body youve brought it back to life. The warmth of your hate, the breath of your disgust had got it living again. Im not too old . . . not too fat . . . even you looked at me like you never looked at another woman. Gods put a lot of streets Ive not walked, lampposts Ive not stood under, faces Ive not smiled at. (p.11

Advancing Nursing Practice Current Role and Personal Learning

Advancing Nursing Practice Current Role and ad hominem LearningThe idea of go Nursing Practice (ANP) is reported to aim commenced in the USA in the early parts of the 20th century (Mantzoukas, 2006) and its victimisation has been well recorded in the literature (Ketefian, Redman, Hanucharurnkul, Masterson Neves, 2001 Furlong Smith, 2005). But lack of clear definitions for the concept, its scope of praxis and standards has resulted in a great diversity in practice (Woods, 1999 Pearson Peels, 2002 Daly and Carnwell, 2003). Furlong and Smith (2005) identifies that several attempts have been made to conceptualise advanced treat practice. This has resulted in some consensus on the core concepts that underpin ANP much(prenominal) as clinical autonomy, schoolmaster and clinical feedership, research capabilities, diligence of theory and research to practice and graduate level study requirement (Ketefian et al., 2001 Furlong Smith, 2005 Mantzoukas, 2006). Knowledge level, skill level and tribe of response model developed by Calkin (1984) and from novice to expert model by Benner (1984) are some of the models that were developed unless n single of these analysed contextual influences on advanced nursing practice.Manley (1997) developed a conceptual model that describes four integrated sub social occasions (expert practitioner, educator, researcher and consultant) necessary skills and processes as well as contextual prerequisites for the advanced nurse practitioner to achieve outcomes strove for. This framework was developed from a model by Hamric (1989) and shares similarities in the four sub roles, some skills and processes. However, the framework by Manley (1997) establishes a relationship between the ANP role, its context and its outcomes, giving it an advantage over the models of Calkin, Benner and Hamric. It is worth stating, at this point, that the term ANP is not for a single role but for different advanced nursing roles such as nurse practition ers, certified nurse midwives, nurse anaesthetists and clinical nurse specialists (Ketefian et al., 2001)I have worked for one year as a general nurse (Nursing Officer rank) after completing my four-year nursing training in Ghana. My responsibilities include ensuring adequate nutrition and elimination, administering medicine and reporting on patients response, allocating task based on skill of staff, supervising staff and students in the ward, and participating in ward rounds (GHS, 2005). Henry (2007) states that Ghanaian nurses have automatic promotion after every five years of service until they reach the rank of Principal Nursing Officer. It seems that this is changing. My experience is that, recently, higher upbringing security measures as well as evidence of continuous professional and personal development is a requirement for certain roles in the nursing profession. Moreover, research, leadership and application of theory to practice are some of the advanced nursing skills that are not well developed in my current role. I have, therefore, enrolled in the MSc. Advanced Nursing course to develop these skills to advance my nursing practice.It appears that the four advanced nursing roles described by Ketefian et al. (2001) are bequest in Ghana, although the term ANP is not used. East and Arudo (2009) identifies that due to shortage of wellness personnel, nurses in sub-Saharan Africa perform certain roles and tasks that would be classified, in other countries, as advanced practice. Ghanaian nurses in these roles have some degree of clinical autonomy, especially in the district hospitals, but not necessarily a graduate level bringing up. Instead, a post-basic diploma is required for some of them (nurse anaesthetist and clinical nurse specialist roles). Until recently, post-basic diploma was the qualification for medical assistants (similar to nurse practitioner role). Thus, ANP roles in Ghana developed as a result of shortage of health personnel and th e health sine qua nons of the population. However, the roles are different from those in the UK and USA in areas such as research, professional and clinical leadership, academic qualification, and clinical autonomy.Therefore, with the ANP conceptual framework of Manley (1997) as the commission, I promise to achieve the following objectives in advancing my practiceDevelop a teaching package to slow progression of inveterate kidney disease (CKD) among patients with diabetesAdvance myself as a nurse educator and the other sub roles identified by Manley (1997)Develop leadership and efficacious change management skillsContribute to the professional development of my colleagues.The Project Introduction and Rationale for SelectionIn advancing my nursing practice, my focus for this cypher is to develop a teaching package to slow progression of chronic kidney disease among patients with diabetes. Other patients at risk of developing kidney bankruptcy, including those with high blood pre ssure would also benefit from this project. The package would, also, be used among patients with stages 1 4 chronic kidney disease.In the final year of my nursing training, I had to submit a care study to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana. The patient I worked with had been diagnosed with type II diabetes. The care study required that I participate in the diligent management of the patient and present a report on that, as well as a literature review on the condition. I ricochet on the entire process now and I realise that complications of diabetes were just mentioned to the patient, with no adequate information on how they can be prevented.This project is, therefore, judge to create awareness of chronic kidney disease as a major complication among patients with diabetes in Ghana and how to delay its progression, if not avoid it. My primary focus would be to develop a strategy that would reach out to all patients, including those with low literacy skills. This would adva nce the nursing care and health education given to such patients, thereby, delaying the need for dialysis (Thomas et al., 2008).Literature ReviewWHO (200211) defines chronic conditions as health problems that require ongoing management over a period of years or decades and has denominate them as the biggest challenge faced by the health sector in the 21st century. While the economic cost of managing chronic diseases is high, Suhrcke, Fahey McKee (2008) identify some potent economic arguments that may be made in support of the need for societies to invest in their (chronic diseases) management. They identify some primary benefits such as modify health (in terms of patients quantity and quality of life in years), long-term cost savings from complications avoided and workplace productivity experienced by patients and their employers. Nevertheless, preventing their occurrence is telephone exchange in the general management of chronic conditions (Nolte McKee, 2008) and this is a r esponsibility for all, including governments, private sectors, health care systems and individuals (Novotny, 2008).Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is becoming a global pandemic (Mahon, 2006 Chen, Scott, Mattern, Mohini Nissenson, 2006 Clements Ashurst, 2006). The disease causes gradual decline in kidney function (Silvestri, 2002). It has been categorised into 5 stages according to the glomerular filtration rates (Johnson Usherwood, 2005) and the progression through these stages is influenced by several processes, mostly lifestyle-related (Riegersperger Sunder-Plassmann, 2007). heed of stage 5 (end stage) is either by dialysis or kidney transplant (Johnson Usherwood, 2005, Chen et al., 2006). Patients with CKD stages 4 and 5 experience other complications such as anaemia and metabolous acidosis that must, also, be managed efficiently (Silvestri, 2002 Murphy, Jenkins, McCann Sedgewick, 2008). This, in takeition to dialysis, accounts for the reported higher costs of managing CKD (G onzalez-Perez, Vale, Stearns, Wordsworth, 2005 Kaitelidou, Ziroyanis, Maniadakis, Liaropoulos, 2005).Presently, more than 23,000 adults in the UK undergo dialysis treatment as a result of kidney failure and this number is expected to increase yearly (World Kidney Day, 2009). Korle-Bu Teaching infirmary (Ghana) recorded 558 cases of CKD between January 2006 and July 2008 in the orbit (All Africa, 2009) and this may represent less than 30% of the follow disease burden as the hospital serves a few regions in the country.Several studies have identified diabetes mellitus and hypertension as the major causes of CKD (Clements Ashurst, 2006 Rosenberg, Kalda, Kasiuleviius Lember, 2008 Marchant, 2008 Stropp, 2008 Thomas, Bryar, Mankanjuola, 2008 Ul mysterious, 2009). Amoah, Owusu and Adjei (2002) report of little, but outdated, statistics on the prevalence of diabetes in Ghana. other report is on the assumption that diabetes is uncommon in Ghana (ibid.). However, it appears that my clini cal experience at KATH alone suggests otherwise to the latter. Amoah et al. (2002), again, report that data on diabetes in Ghana is unreliable and this is confirmed by incongruent data observed in the literature. For example, Abubakari and Bhopal (2008) report that prevalence of diabetes in Ghanaian adults (25years and above) was 6.3% in 1998 while the Ministry of wellness, Ghana (2001 cited by Aikins, 2004) estimates diabetes in 4% of Ghanaians between 15 to 70 years. Notwithstanding, Aikins (2004) reports of increase in the prevalence rates of chronic illnesses in the country, and diabetes is no exception.Primary care management delays nephropathy and other complications of diabetes (Thomas et al., 2008). They add that there could be a lot of potential savings if the need for dialysis can be delayed, even if for a short period for a few patients. Since prevention reduces healthcare costs (Booth, Gordon, Carlson Hamilton, 2000), Ghana, not being a rich country (CIA, 2008) stands to benefit from such an approach. Chen et al. (2006), also, identify that delaying the progression of CKD improves clinical outcomes and moderates costs. Strategies to delay progression include good glycaemic control, blood pressure control, smoking conclusion and other lifestyle modification (Nicholls, 2005 Clements Ashurst, 2006 Rosenberg et al., 2008). Patients knowledge on these factors may lead to a change in behaviour which, in turn, would yield constructive outcomes in the management of their conditions.Health education is one of such strategies to achieve positive outcomes and prevent complications, especially if the method used is appropriate for the age group as well as their cultural background (Funnell et al., 2008). It is often used interchangeably with health promotion in the nursing literature and criticisms have been made on that (Whitehead). The argument has been that health promotion has shifted from preventing specific diseases or detecting risk groups towards health and well being of whole populations (Naidoo Will, 2000). Hitherto, health education remains primeval to health promotion (Whitehead, 2), and, because of the dominance of the medical model, health promotion is mostly equated to prevention of disease, through primary, secondary or tertiary prevention in clinical settings (Naidoo Wills, 2000).Secondary and tertiary prevention interventions prevent complications such as chronic nephropathy development in patients with diabetes and health education is one of such interventions (Rosenberg et al., 2008 Naidoo Wills, 2008). Diabetes is, predominantly, self-managed (Collins et al., 1994 Funnell Anderson, 2002), qualification education very necessary as it empowers the patients to take charge of their health behaviour and other factors that influence their health status (Piper, 2009). Whitehead (1) adds that health education focuses on lifestyle-related and behavioural change processes, making it an integral part of comprehensive diabetes care (type II education).The above implies that when patients with diabetes receive health education, it enhances their ability to collaborate with the effective management of the disease and, consequently, avoid its complications. However, very little knowledge on CKD as well as misunderstandings of illness and treatment has been reported (Jain, 2008 Holstrm Rosenqvist, 2005). Patients may not appreciate the role that lifestyle modification, in addition to pharmacological interventions, can play in effective management of diabetes. Since diabetes, usually, do not present any physical symptoms, patients tend to distance themselves from it and, as a result, ignore the education being provided because they do not feel ill (Holstrm Rosenqvist, 2005). complexness of self-management of diabetes may also be a major contributor to the reported misunderstandings (Szromba, 2009). The primary concern then becomes who should educate these patients and what strategies should be used to achieve positive outcomes?Making time to educate patients and their families on everything that they need to know is seldom easy because of the busy schedules of nurses in the ward (Rankin Stallings, 2001). Yet, Hamric (1989) and Manley (1997) have documented the integration of health education into the roles of advanced nurse practitioners and Rankin Stallings (2001) have attested to this. Advanced nurse practitioners are able to draw on their knowledge and skills related to higher education as well as their expertise from practice to achieve positive outcomes in the clinical settings (Manley, 1997). Szromba (2009) suggests that alternative methods to the traditional lecture method of health education should be utilized to enhance self-care. Babcock and Miller (1994) suggest that discussion, demonstration, modelling, group activities and role playing are other teaching strategies that the health educator can employ. However, they add that consideration should be given to the strategy that best fits the objectives, content, the clients, the health educator and the reality of the learning situation. This underscores the importance of client needs assessment in health education.Literacy skills of the clients should, also, be taken into consideration during health education. This project is to be implemented in Ghana and WHO (2009) estimates an adult illiteracy rate of about 35% of the essential population. The use of written materials may be a difficulty in such settings, especially as the literates may not understand the jargons used in health very well. Therefore, the health educator should ensure that materials are simplified so readers do not have difficulties in understanding the content. Rankin Stallings (2001) suggest that health educators should, therefore, focus information on the core of knowledge and skills that clients need to survive and cope with problems, teach the smallest amount possible, make points vivid, present information sequential ly and kick patients to restate and demonstrate what has been learnt. They also suggest the strategic use of educational media such as flipcharts, photographs, drawings and videotapes to enhance understanding.Aims and Anticipated OutcomeThe primary focus of this project is to develop a teaching strategy to slow the progression of chronic kidney disease among patients with diabetes in Ghana. Consideration would be given to strategies that would reach out to and labor understanding among patients with low literacy skills. It is anticipated that when patients have enough information on their disease condition, they would collaborate with the healthcare team in the management of the condition.I hope to enhance my knowledge on the management of chronic kidney disease and my role as a nurse educator. This experience would, also, be transferred to my colleagues in Ghana and lead to general improvement in the management of chronic kidney disease in the hospital.This collaboration would, t herefore, reduce complications of the disease and enhance patients quality of life. As has been identified by Thomas et al. (2008), when complications such as kidney failure and the need for dialysis is delayed for a short period among few patients, a lot of financial savings is made. Therefore, in addition to providing quality care for patients and enhancing their quality of life, this project would reduce the cost of managing complications of diabetes and chronic kidney disease in Ghana.The Professional and Organizational ContextKomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is the second largest teaching hospital in Ghana, training many doctors, nurses and other paramedics in the Ashanti parting of Ghana. It is an autonomous service delivery agent under the Ministry of Health of Ghana (MOH, 2009a). In addition to training many of the health personnel in the Ashanti Region at KATH, many people within and outside the Ashanti Region seek healthcare there. As a result, provision of quality h ealthcare has always been the focus. An organisation that recognises the need for change, weighs costs and benefits, and plans for the change when the benefits outweigh the costs is wangle for a change (Dalton Gottlieb, 2003). KATH is, therefore, ready for change because some of its employees are sent overseas or to other parts of the country, whenever there is the need for a sore skill or knowledge to be gained, to bring about a positive change within the institution. This may be a factor that would expedite my agenda to implement some changes within the institution upon my return to Ghana.However, Ghana, as a country is underdeveloped (CIA, 2008). Therefore, financial support, many a time, becomes a difficulty. Another challenge may be the fewer nursing staff. The Ministry of Health (2009b) estimates that there was a nurse-to-population ratio of 12024 in Ashanti Region and 11451 for the entire country in year 2007 while the WHO estimates that there are 9 nurses/midwives per 10 ,000 of the Ghanaian population (WHO, 2009xxxxx).Nevertheless, the desire to provide quality patient care and reduce healthcare costs, and dedication from the health personnel are factors that would supersede the anticipated obstacles to the implementation of this project.

Looking For Alibrandi, Analysis

Looking For Alibrandi, AnalysisHowever, the Italian adolescents, and in Josies case, rent guidelines and family expectations they have to live up to, for example, later school she has to vi amaze her Nonna, dress, friends and the reputation of her family and the Alibrandi name. This is against the expectations of her Italian culture of the assumption that she will marry someone of the Italian background. It is though these regulations that Josie has to fight, these cultural boundaries are revealed. Respect is a cultural demarcation line that Josies family holds upon her, and is presented through the characters of Josephine and Nonna Katia. Josie crossed this boundary and hit her with her science book. This is seen in the Italian eye as disrespect to her Italian heritage. Josie in addition shows gall at Easter when other children receive chocolate eggs and as an alternative, Josie must help her Nonna prepare for a large family food-gathering event. We were all caught up in the m iddle of two societies. Josie crosses this boundary when she would rather join her friends in other places than to stay and contribute in the Italian sauce-making day. Melina Marchettas purpose to educate the readers of the discrimination and prepossession of todays society on a cultures values, beliefs and traditions, and that crossing boundaries brings greater self knowledge leading to growth and emancipation. The Italians and the Australians try and keep separate, and there is always a leave out of interaction between, kinds and communication is always minimised. This cultural boundary is crossed through the unaccepted relationships between Italian Josie and Australian Jacob, and Nonna Katia and Marcus Sandford. Through the conflict of the characters, this cultural boundary of interaction is exposed. The reader is satisfied as Josie breaks free, unshackles the chains of the cultural restrictions her mother and grandmother place upon her, and scrams her true identity.Jossie s intelligence and confidence are two erratic qualities portrayed in this young girl, struggling with her identity. She is a remarkably imaginative young person possessing a quick temper. She is a confused girl inquisitive to find where she belongs in the two different cultures. These cultures, being Australian and Italian, are very demanding on such a young girl, having to mould herself for each and find an equilibrium of both. She has major difficulties coping with the harsh reality of prejudice and these problems soon take their toll on her. These pressures continue with her living a life in a prestigious private school, battling to balance herself in a middle class life. Josies aspirations reach much farther than that of her families ambitions for her life. It is at this point in magazine where a classic example of culture clangor begins. Josie feels the need to rebel against the stereo-typical female in an Italian culture. This determination stems from her education and desi re to step international from her Italian life and responsibilities, breaking away non only from her family and their narrow mindedness but also the entire Italian culture. This is a major leap for Josie who aspires to be the first Alibrandi female to take control of her life. This motivation of freedom is strong in Josie and her rebellious ways demonstrate this. Christina is the result of the Italian culture and the clash it has with the Australian identity. From the time she was thr take in out of home at 17, Nonna has always blamed Christina for Josies birth. Up until Francesscas death, Nonna was forbidden to have any contact with her daughter. this exemplifies the authority an Italian male can exert on the women in his family. Josie would have seen this and blinded with her motivation from her Australian identity could not stand for such a culture. It was not until Francesscas death that Nonna could be reunited with her daughter and grand daughter.Josies father has had very li ttle immediate impact on her life thus far. When her father did arrive in back in Sydney Josie is naturally angry at him. This is a totally acceptable form of behaviour considering the circumstance, but her anger not only stems from her own personal experience. Josie had to grow up knowing that her father had abandoned her and her mother, pushing her Christina into being a single parent bringing up her child alone. Because of this humiliating fact Christina and her daughter were outcast from the Italian community. Her hatred also delved into the way the Italian community treated Christina and Josie through gossip and intentional humiliation of the family. crimson though Josie rebels against her father initially, she eventually begins to grow closer to him. This initial bonding occurs when Josie needed her dad, when she broke Ivys nose. This allowed for some trust to be restored between her and her father, making their relationship stronger and giving them a new start.Second siteJo sie is very rebellious to the Italian way of life, which has a lot to do with Nonna and her constant remarks such as you brake my heart and i deserve respect. She also hates the fact that nonnas friends are always reporting things that she does. She undervalues Jossie as a person by not allowing her to sit in the lounge room with the air conditioning, as this is for visitors only. She is also blames by her mum for anything that jossie does such as yous let her go out like a gypsy. When she finds out that christina is not Francesas daughter but also a bastard, she confronts nonna and is very angry because she feels the hypocrisy in her argument. Its not until nonna explains her situation and the hardships she has endured in her that she begins to understand nonna and have some compassion for her she begins to understand the Italian family life. Nonna also starts to compromise her attitude to Jossie and begins to accept some of the Australian ways of life.Josies life has many prominen t issues relating to multicultural Australia today. The prejudice and need to be normal in any minority society is tremendous and this book covers that issue very intensely. But there is also a lot more to this novel than simple bigotry. Looking for Alibrandi also attacks very important issues at the foundation of the Australian culture. These range from teenage maternalism to the social hierarchy at a private school. All these issues are entwined to create a very revealing book about all aspects of Australian life, not necessarily from a purely Australian view.http//wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/alibrandi.htm

Heroism in Beowulf Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essay

Heroism in Beowulf A hero is one who is not only strong, but one who uses his strength to uphold others. A hero is humble, philanthropic, magnanimous and selfless, a humanitarian at best. In the unprecedented epic Beowulf, the tales namesake exemplifies every characteristic befitting an Anglo-Saxon hero. He is honest, loyal, and courageous. He portrays these characteristics in the battle against Grendel, the affray with Grendels mother, and the fight against the dragon that inevitably ended his life. Beowulf was a man of admirable exploits. He had the strength of xxx men in his fortifys, and would use this strength to aid anyone in need. Upon hearing of the plight of Grendel and the ill happenings in Hrothgars kingdom, Beowulf immediately gathered his entourage to function the king and defend Heorot. When Beowulf encountered the beast that had terrorized for 12 years, he single-handedly ripped off Grendels arm, an act ultimately killing the creature. To further delineate his heroi sm, Beowulf kept the arm as a trophy of his victory. Upon learning of her sons death, Grendel...

Creating a Star Wars Lightsaber is not Possible Today :: physics science star wars weapon sword

The light saber is a artillery unit used in the Star Wars Galaxy. It is basically a saber/sword-like weapon that comprises of a hilt that contains a crystal which is used to focus shines of plasma into a tangible blade which has a finite length and is sure-footed of harsh through a myriad of different materials. Its capacity to cut through material as well as the length of the actual blade of plasma sight be altered and reconfigured to severally individuals personal liking. The saber is powered through an internal rechargeable battery. No two lightsabers are alike because each individual build his own lightsaber(s) to his or her own liking.There are several parts to a lightsaber * Handgrip * Activation Plate * Safety slip * Emitter Matrix * Lens Assembly * Power Cell * Power Conduit * Recharge Socket Originally, lightsabers were built using crystals harvested manually an individually from the planets of Ruusan and Ilum. In the current univers e however, processes for synthesizing crystals baffle become fairly common and several lightsabers are built using these synthetic crystals. The crystal is wired to the conduit and power cell such that the user can alter the length, width and intensity of the emitted blade. When the fully constructed lightsaber is activated, the internal power cell generates photo-electric energy by which the plasma blade is focused through the crystal. a non-thermal ray of light of plasma is packed tightly and focused through anywhere from 1 to 3 crystals with multiple facets. The formed beam is positively charged and is attracted back to the emitting hilt by way of negatively-charged high energy flux apertures. A power cell superconductor is then used to recycle individually emitted plasma packets into one long beam which continues to self regenerate during the time duration over which the lightsaber remains activated. The blade is tangible and because both blades on two dueling sabers are pos itively charged, the blades are capable of repelling one another. Ordinarily, the emission of the plasma blade for long durations of time would drain the power cell on the saber fairly quickly as was the case with older sabers from several millenia back in the past. However, through use of The Force, a Jedi is capable of combining all of the elements of his saber into one hightly efficient weapon such that the only major power drain occurs from the blade coming in contact with another material.