US Correctional System Essay Example for Free

US Correctional System Essay A correctional system is a network of legal agencies with granted authority to make pronouncements on legal issues geared toward administration of justice within a prison setting or a parole system. The goals of this system are to punish the perpetrators of criminal activities through various mechanisms, to protect the general population from harms associated with crimes, and finally to transform criminals into responsible, law abiding and productive citizens through well structured rehabilitation programs. This paper will focus on how the correctional system is utilized to achieve the above mentioned objectives and investigate which strategy between punishment and rehabilitation is the most effective in reducing crime. Punishment of those proved guilty of bleaching the law is a major goal of the correctional system and serves as a deterrent against one repeating an offence in addition to suppressing criminal thoughts of others who might be contemplating evil (eHow, Inc, 2010). A good number of mechanisms are applied and incarceration is the most common. It entails imprisonment or confinement of criminals in facilities such as prisons, local jails for persons convicted in state courts, federal prisons for those convicted in federal courts, and several residential institutions including training schools for juveniles. Another form of punishment is probation which is a sentencing option for offences of lesser magnitude and offers a second chance to first time offenders to reconstruct their behavior. Criminals who serve under this sentence have been convicted of crimes but have served only a part of the sentence in prison or not at all. Persons on probation are required by the court to adhere to certain conditions and guidelines under the supervision of a probation officer. These conditions include abiding to a curfew, living at a specified place or not leaving the jurisdiction at all, subjection to community service, and obeying the orders of the probation officer among other conditions. Probation can be seen as a suspension of a sentence during which, the offender is accorded liberty conditioned on behavior change with the state having the obligation of assisting the offender to maintain commendable conduct (Sutherland, Cressey Luckenbill, 1992). Death penalty as a form of punishment was re-instated in 1976 and it is almost exclusively used for crimes of murder (Bryant, 2003). Over the course of time, several amendments on this law have been made with several states implementing new laws which allow death sentence for the rape of a minor. Other statutes allow death penalty for non-murder crimes including treason, placing a bomb near a bus terminal, aircraft hijacking, and drug trafficking, among others. Different methods of execution have been prescribed by the federal government and the 37 states that have statutes allowing death penalty (Regoli Hewitt, 2009). These methods are electrocution, lethal injection, firing squad, hanging, and lethal gas, though no states provide for either of the last three as the sole method of execution. Rehabilitation is an approach entrenched within the correctional system and is meant to punish offenders in a more positive way with the understanding that the offenders are sick and require gradual cure and reconstruction of their moral and social discipline before their release. This strategy is taken to be an effective mechanism of shifting a criminal from being a liability to the society to being an asset. It can be accomplished through vocational training, drug rehabilitation treatment, and counseling (eHow, Inc, 2010). Vocational training for instance offers criminals a chance to acquire a variety of job skills which consequently shapes them into productive members of the society and helps them to fight hopelessness, lack, and low self esteem which they might be struggling to overcome. Counseling is also a viable method of rehabilitating criminals and can be done either individually or in groups. Group counseling aims at triggering a positive influence among criminals by sharing the wide niche of experience from its members. Group activities and interactions also help significantly in providing solutions to the problems among peers such as how to break links of ealier relationships with undesirable people. Drug addiction and alcoholism is also a menace that has jeopardized cohesive existence and has threatened state security. There are a staggering number of drug rehab centres whose goal is to assist drug addicts and alcoholics heal physically, mentally, socially and spiritually and re-establish themselves in a drug and alcohol-free setting (treatment- links. net, 2010). To a great extent, capital punishment and long term imprisonments play a significant role as deterrent and incapacitation approaches against crimes. However, these strategies do not serve to heal the society from all facets of social relationships. According to Braithwaite, a legal system that relies on punishing criminals as the major approach of curbing crime, is destined for failure since it does not incorporate the voice of the victim (2002). From my point of view, the rehabilitation approach carries a lot of potential in reducing criminal activities as it provides the criminal with a second chance of becoming a better and resourceful person through acquisition of skills and advice that fits his or her needs. Rehabilitation scores a major goal of ensuring that the offender gets a chance of acquiring some form of education, phsycological support, and treatment in case of drug addiction. Consequently, this can be more effective in eradicating the urge to go back to criminal activities. In addition, rehabilitation generates a sense of healing and new life both to the offender and to the community after successful reformation. With regard to punishment, fear of being punished does not offer any better solution to criminal activities Braithwaite(2002). Rehabilitation therefore goes an extra mile in meeting the goals of the correctional system. References Braithwaite, J. ( 2002). Restorative justice and responsive regulation. Newyork: Oxford University Press US. Bryant, C. (2003). Handbook of Death and Dying. New Orleans: SAGE. eHow, Inc. (2010).Role of the Correctional System. Retrieved June 4, 2010, from http://www. ehow. com/about_5087269_role-correctional-system. html Regoli, R. , Hewitt, J. (2009). Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials. Boston: Jones Bartlett Learning. Sutherland, E. H. , Cressey, D. R. , Luckenbill, D. (1992). Principles of criminology. Newyork : Rowman Altamira. treatment-centers. net. (2010). Drug Addiction Treatment Centers, Alcohol Rehab Programs, Dual Diagnosis and Addiction Treatment Resources. Retrieved June 4, 2010, from http://www. treatment-centers. net/

Why I Selected a Career Path as a Special Education Teacher Essay Example for Free

Why I Selected a Career Path as a Special Education Teacher Essay A career in special education offers challenges and rewards, and plenty of opportunities for those interested in the field. Special education teachers have a wide range of choices which determine the specifics of their tasks. They have the choice of working with children of any age, from infancy through high school graduation, for instance. They might choose to work with physically challenged children, or they might choose to focus on children who are mentally or developmentally challenged. Special education teachers help children grow socially and emotionally as well as intellectually. They attend to the special needs of challenged children, and teach their students basic life skills suitable to their level of development and learning capability. Special education teachers require a special set of interpersonal skills. They must be patient, organized, motivating, positive, passionate, flexible, tolerant and compassionate. They must respect, even celebrate, differences among people. They must be assertive and resourceful enough to obtain the services their students need. They should be good at analyzing situations and solving problems, and they should have strong leadership qualities and a good sense of humor. As a special education teacher, I believe that it is of the utmost importance for our society to value and provide for those less capable, especially disabled children. I also believe that as an educator, I should provide a positive example from which others can follow and learn. Therefore, I will provide a small scale societal model in my classroom. If others observe that disabled children are capable and desirous of learning, they will have less fear of including and incorporating them into society on an everyday basis. In return, productive and happier people will reward our society. Through providing accommodations, resources and the means for disabled people to participate, fewer handicaps will develop which hinder both the disabled and society in general. Teaching is my passion, and I pursue it with a great deal of energy. I continuously look for ways to improve my teaching, through innovative materials and processes. I always ask my students for suggestions on how to improve the class, and every semester, I incorporate some of their suggestions. I want the students to view their learning experience in my class as something different, something that holds their interest and helps them to learn. I want them to look forward to the class, to come to class ready to learn.

Medical Advances

Medical Advances Three of the most significant medical advances of the last two centuries are sanitation, vaccination, and antibiotics. Each of these advances has engendered enormous positive social and economic impacts in developed societies. Sanitation has successfully impeded pathogenic growth in human living spaces, vaccines have protected humans from historically prolific diseases such as smallpox, and antibiotics have also saved countless human lives through daily sanitation and disease cure. However, the impact of these three advances has not been fully realized because they have not yet reached substantial portions of the developing world, vaccines for several prolific diseases continue to elude researchers, and misuse of antibiotics has led to resistant bacterial strains and other health hazards. The rudiments of urban sanitation systems have been developed several times throughout human history but was nowhere near fully realized until the era of western industrialization in the 20h century. Once urbanization in the bronze age began to increase population densities in urban centers, increases in waste production required the use of outflowing systems like rivers to properly dispose of waste. The first documented system for sanitation was developed in the city of Mohenjo-Daro in 2600 BCE, and consisted of slits cut in the floors of houses to allow waste to drop into containers next to streets, and bath houses with covered channels that led to the nearby Indus River (â€Å"Mohenjo-Daro†). In addition, cities in the Roman Republic built the first documented sewer networks; for instance a massive combined sewer and storm drain called the Cloaca Maxima, or â€Å"The Great Drain† that carried waste and runoff water from Romes civilian houses, public buildings, and b ath houses to the Tiber River (Rich). However, the era that followed the fall of the Roman Republic saw a regression in sanitation technology in which most of the worlds civilizations operated without sanitation systems. For instance, the most common method to remove waste from living spaces in medieval Europe was to dump it into the street, where materials such as urine, feces, and wastewater from other domestic activities gathered and fostered bacterial, viral, and pest growth (Faria). Exponential growth of populations around industrializing centers without planned infrastructures made the immediate need for sewer systems evident. Citizens had heretofore relied either on dumping waste directly into waterways or simple cesspits, and the rapid growth of households using primitive sanitation methods increased the rate of contamination of groundwater, rivers, and other sources of fresh water. Stagnant sewage in cramped urban living conditions provided ideal conditions for growth of pathogens and caused outbreaks in many m ajor cities in the mid-19th century; the most common were those of cholera and typhoid fever. It was clear that the need for advances in sanitation was imminent. The most famous outbreak of the industrialization period is that of cholera linked to the London Broad Street water pump in 1854, in which a nearby cesspool had leaked sewage into groundwater and contaminated the well the water pump was drawing water from. The statistical analysis of cholera cases by physician John Snow that determined the connection between disease and contaminated water from the river provided irrefutable evidence that separating water resources and sewage is key to maintaining public health (Johnson). Outbreaks such as these in combination with the proliferation of the strong repulsive odor of sewage across all major industrialized cities prompted government authorities to take action and begin implementation of large sewer networks to isolate sewage from local water supplies. Arguably the greatest advance in sanitation came about in 1908, when Jersey City Water Works began to add chlorine to its water supply network in a practice now called chlorination. The process involves the addition of chlorine to water to form an equilibrium solution composed of chlorine, Hydrochloric acid and Hypochlorous acid, the last of which plays the main role of disinfection. Systemic chlorination drastically decreased the incidence of water-borne illnesses such as typhoid and cholera (Kitsap Public Utility District). The final major advance came in the 1950s, when the United States government provided funds for states to build wastewater treatment plants, which resulted in the majority of U.S. cities discharging treated water into rivers and oceans instead of raw sewage, an important component of sanitation that minimizes re-uptake of water harboring harmful pathogens and microorganisms. Development of modern sanitation systems has a significant effect on economic growth because its presence dramatically reduces the incidence of water-borne diseases and precludes their burden on worker productivity, student absenteeism, and medical costs. In addition, the reduction of sewage contamination in the developed world saves governments the cost of cleaning up environments to protect resources for human use. These benefits place in stark contrast the crude state of sanitation in parts of the developing world, who fail to reap these benefits because sanitation systems have not been implemented. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, investing in sanitation technology in developing countries is cost-beneficial and results in a â€Å"US$5 [to] US$11 economic benefit per US$1 invested† (Walter, and Hutton 39). Thus, cost-benefit analysis clearly favors investment by humanity for the whole of humanity. The social benefits of effective sanitation are not as tangible as economic ones but are no less significant. Accessible facilities for private and sanitary hygienic activities preserves human dignity and encourages sanitary habits. The relationship between cleanliness and moral purity has been culturally accepted throughout human history, and scientific support that clean environments promote moral behavior is presented in an upcoming paper in Psychological Science (Elton). The social harmony that proper sanitation promotes supports the idea of implementing sanitation in the developing world to deal with social unrest and violence. The second medical innovation, vaccination, is a more recent and specific advance in disease prevention. Its conceptual predecessor was inoculation, which was first documented credibly in 15th century China. The practice involved implantation of a disease agent such as pus from smallpox into a healthy individual who had never been infected to produce immunity (Needham 134). Vaccination replaced inoculation in 1796 when Edward Jenner used pus from a cowpox patient to inoculate a child; the child was then exposed to smallpox and subsequently did not exhibit infection with the virus. Shortly afterwards the British government mandated vaccination of children from smallpox, the first government push for mass vaccination in history; by 1800 â€Å"100,000 people had been vaccinated in Europe, and vaccination had begun in the United States† (Minna Stern, and Markel 613-614). In 1885, Louis Pasteur developed a rabies vaccine using samples obtained from dried infected rabbit tissue, wh ich was the first to be manufactured from weakened microorganisms. Further advances in biology and understanding of germs from the 19th century led to widespread research, development and implementation of vaccines to spread immunity from prolific diseases in the 20th century. A vaccine is now known as a preparation of attenuated or dead bacteria or viruses to stimulate production of antibodies in a patient. Although weakened pathogens carried a greater risk for infection than dead ones, they generally induce a stronger immune response and longer lasting immunity. A principal medical advance that allowed the production of durable vaccines is attenuation, the practice of passing the target virus through a nonhuman host to encourage adaptation through mutations when the virus replicated. Subsequent introduction into a human host to which the virus is not adapted to replicate allows the immune system to produce antibodies to recognize the same pathogen in future exposures. The development of consistently effective vaccines led to systematic mass immunizations against several worldwide diseases such as smallpox starting in the 19th century and polio in the mid-20th century. Government oversight in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) was essential to these worldwide efforts, and smallpox was in fact declared eradicated by the WHO in 1979 . Polio and measles are currently in the process of eradication (â€Å"Smallpox†). However, not all viruses are created equal, and certain viruses have eluded attempts by scientists to engineer an effective vaccine. The HIV virus is one such example; its high mutability and genetic divergence complicate attempts to design a vaccine in the same fashion as that of historically successful ones. To address this need, research to develop new types of vaccines that utilize only protein subunits of pathogens or delivery of viral DNA is ongoing. The elimination of globally endemic disease has been key to lowering mortality and raising life expectancy around the world, but has also engendered an interesting array of social and economic developments. For instance, the unequivocal success of vaccines against globally prolific viruses has undermined the economic motive for further production for vaccines for diseases more prevalent in the developing world. Because citizens in poorer nations cannot come close to affording the price of a vaccine in developed nations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies lack the financial incentive to expand their markets. Solutions to lack of economic incentives include academic research and government incentives for vaccine development. Mass vaccination against the worlds historically endemic viruses has altered social attitudes in many ways. For instance, during the Middle Ages life expectancy was short due to the rampant disease and epidemics; death was accepted as a necessary part of life, and often as an act of God (Dumond). The drastic drop in mortality due to diseases such as smallpox in the late 19th and 20th centuries raised the life expectancy of the average human and replaced the cultural acceptance of death with a cultural appreciation of life. In other words, living longer and delaying death is now a universal goal because disease has dramatically improved the prospect of living up to biological potential. Thus, the success of vaccines has cultured a social ignorance of the danger of viruses because deaths due to disease are so much rarer than in previous historical eras. The last of the three medical innovations, antibiotics, has been used since humans have experimented with chemicals and substances from plants to discover remedies for diseases. Disinfection typically involved use of either plants believed to have healing properties or chemicals known to inhibit or kill organisms. Arsenic was one such remedy, and its broad toxicity meant that patients would also suffer serious side effects. Thus, the discovery of substances with high specificity and few side effects in humans was one of the great historical developments in modern medicine. The first discovery in modern antibiotics was of penicillin in 1928 by Alexander Fleming due to a coincidence now famous in science: a Staphyloccocus sample mistakenly left in the open had been growth-inhibited by a Penicillium mold. However, a German scientist named Gerhard Domagk was the first to develop a commercial antibiotic called Prontosil with broad action against Gram-positive cocci. Mass production of antibiotics was simple and relied on fermentation in large containers of growth medium for the target organism to produce the secondary metabolite. Modern development of partially synthetic or entirely synthetic antibiotics involves either chemical modification of metabolites after fermentation or synthesis from a naturally occurring skeleton. Unfortunately, the misuse of antibiotics is leading to increasing prevalence of resistant strains of bacteria around the world. Incorrect diagnosis, improper administration, improper disposal, and overuse in livestock often lead to antibiotic resistance because bacteria can perform horizontal gene transfer through plasmid exchange. Thus, resistance genes can rapidly proliferate in a population of bacteria once one has genetically mutated and become immune to a particular antibiotic. For example, if a patient using a prescribed antibiotic stops taking it before the infection is completely eradicated, horizontal gene transfer will allow the few bacteria who have developed resistance throughout the duration of the infection to pass on the resistance gene and prolong the infection. One of the most alarming cases of resistance is that of Staphylococcus aureus, or the staph infection; the bacterium has shown historically to be extremely adaptable. For example, 40% of patients with staph i nfections were resistant to administration of penicillin by 1950, less than 10 years after the antibiotic was introduced (Chambers 178). Staphyloccocus aureus is now also resistant to a variety of other antibiotics such as tetracycline and methicillin. Although this problem has traditionally been isolated to hospitals, Community-acquired MRSA is now expanding in urban communities, and is responsible for several fatal conditions such as necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh eating disease. The economic benefits of antibiotics, which are similar to vaccines because it deals with pathogens through a direct biological pathway, are complicated by the rise of bacterial resistance. However, this has also provided economic impetus to invest in development of synthetic antibiotics as demand for alternatives rises. More specifically, the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA has spurred the development of oxazolidones, a newer class of antibiotics against Gram-positive bacteria. The first generation of this class of antibiotics is Linezolid, which disrupts the protein synthesis of Gram-positive bacteria; its mechanism for disruption occurs at a much earlier step than most other protein inhibitor antibiotics (Brickner 175). Linezolid is currently utilized as a last resort against MRSA and resistance has been low ever since its introduction in 1999 (Jones, Ross Castanheira, and Mendes 424). It is likely that research into synthetic drugs, the newest development in th e antibiotic industry, will continue as long as antibiotic resistance persists. The widespread use of antibiotics in medicines, soaps, and household cleaning supplies has created the social perception of a sterile domestic environment for human activities. This perception is partially justified in that regular use in daily routines and sicknesses has dramatically reduced illness and engendered a social paradigm shift away from the concept of death comparable to that of vaccination. In fact, use of antibiotics may have brought about a complacency towards bacterial threats to the human body because its use is ingrained in human hygienic habits. However, the recent revelation of superbugs like MRSA has also brought about a social awareness of antibiotic resistance, and this may result in another shift towards understanding how to handle antibiotics responsibly. In sum, sanitation, vaccination, and antibiotic implementation has drastically reduced the prevalence of classic diseases in modern society. Previous scourges of humanity such as smallpox, cholera, and the black plague that ravaged human life are now essentially historical footnotes in the chronology of human medical achievements. Medical advances have brought about generally positive economic and social changes through reduction of health care through prevention, and a culture less concerned with death on a daily basis. However, these advances have not been distributed equally among all peoples of the world; many citizens of developing countries without effective sanitation, medical supplies, and access to vaccines of antibiotics continue to be at the mercy of the aforementioned scourges of humanity. References Brickner, SJ (1996). Oxazolidinone antibacterial agents. Current Pharmaceutical Design 2 (2): 175–94. . Chambers, HF (2001). The changing epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus. Emerg Infect Dis 7 (2): 178–82. . â€Å"Chlorination of Drinking Water. Kitsap Public Utility District. 005 2004. Department of Health, Web. 5 Nov 2009. . Development and Cooperation SDC, Web. 6 Nov 2009. . Dumond, Katie. Attitudes Towards Death: Past to Present. University of Maine at Machias. 12 005 2009. Web. 2 Nov 2009. . Elton, Catherine. Do Clean Smells Encourage Clean Behavior? TIME 23 010 2009: n. pag. Web. 5 Nov 2009. . Faria, Miguel A. Medical History Hygiene and Sanitation. Hacienda Publishing, Inc.. 2002. Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Web. 5 Nov 2009. . Hodges, L. (1977). Environmental Pollution (2nd ed.). New York: Rinehart and Winston. p.189. Hutton, Gary, and Lawrence Haller. Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. 2004. World Health Organization, Web. 1 Nov 2009. . Johnson, Steven (2006). The Ghost Map: The Story of Londons Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World. Riverhead Books. p.206. Jones RN, Ross JE, Castanheira M, Mendes RE (December 2008). United States resistance surveillance results for linezolid (LEADER Program for 2007). Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease 62 (4): 416–26. doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2008.10.010. Minna Stern, Alexandra, and Howard Markel. The History of Vaccines and Immunization: Familiar Patterns, New Challenges. Health Affairs 24.3 (2005): 612-614. Web. 1 Nov 2009. . Mohenjo-daro. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. 25 Oct. 2009 . Needham, Joseph. (1999). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology, Part 6, Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Page 134. Olesen OF, Lonnroth A, Mulligan B (2009). Human vaccine research in the European Union. Vaccine 27 (5): 640–5. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.11.064. Rich, Hamper. Roman Sanitation. The Rth Dimension. 20 001 2008. Rich Hamper, Web. 5 Nov 2009. . Smallpox. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology: Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009141639/http://www.afip.org/Departments/infectious/sp/text/1_1.htm. Waksman, Selman A. (1947). What Is an Antibiotic or an Antibiotic Substance?. Mycologia 39 (5): 565–569. doi:10.2307/3755196.

Essay on Homers Odyssey - Comparing Odysseus and Telemachus :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos in Odyssey      Ã‚     In Odyssey, Homer creates a parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos, father and son. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. One parallel was the quest of Telemachos, in correlation with the journey of his father. In this, Odysseus is developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his father's side. This is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping-stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.    Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn concerning Odysseus and Telemachos: the physical journeys, the mental preparations they have produced, and the resulting change in emotional makeup. These play an immense role in the way the story is set up, due to the purpose of each character's journey, their personal challenges, and the difficulties that surround them.    As Homer makes it apparent, there are other underlying themes embedded in the story that would just confuse the reader if they were not there. An example of this is the emotional aspects of both characters. If one does not understand this key element, their is no way that the sequence of events would cohere. "Why didn't Telemachos look for his father earlier? Why did Penelope wait twenty years to consider remarrying? How did this affect Odysseus in his journey?".    These are questions that would go unanswered unless the reader reaches within the emotions of the character. In the case of Telemachos, his emotions shaped his well being. For example, had it not been for Athene giving him confidence, by no means would he ever have thought of taking such a voyage, hence, Telemachos would have never participated in his "final test" against the suitors either. His sorrow and anger from the loss of his father and his mother constantly being attacked and proposed to by piranha-like suitors were also driving forces towards his journey.    Some of these are brought out in different situations, both positive and negative, such as Menaleus's mention of his father, which caused a sudden out-burst of tears, and the proud and accomplished feeling he received from leaving Sparta.. Odysseus's situation was only slightly different. He, like Telemachos had his worries about family-life, and his kingdom at stake, but also had concerns about his wife, possibly triggered by the mention of Agamemnon's by Proteus, who was killed by the hands of his own wife.

The Age of Innocence :: Age of Innocence Essays

The Age of Innocence   The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton, contains many flat, static characters representing Old New York society. At the apex of that society is Mr. and Mrs. Henry van der Luyden. As the narrator describes, their appearances are rare, but yet these few appearances provide more than enough information for the reader to "know" the characters. This information comes from several sources. The first is the narrator, when most of Old New York society is described. The second reference involves Newland Archer and Mrs. Mingott’s seeking of approval of the van der Luydens and the exchanges that took place. The final instance is the rare occasion of a dinner at the van der Luyden home and the occurrences here. From the information here, readers develop a complete picture of the van der Luydens. At the end of chapter VI, the narrator describes the hierarchy of Old New York. The last family described is the van der Luydens. The narrator writes, "†¦the van der Luydensâ⠂¬ ¦stood above all of them" (50). The narrator blatantly tells us that the van der Luydens are the highest "ranking" family of Old New York society. Just previous to this, the narrator informs the reader that they descended from both British and French aristocracy, supporting the fact that the van der Luydens are the most revered family. Next the narrator makes it known to readers that "[Mrs.] and Mr. van der Luyden were so exactly alike†¦ neither had ever reached a decision without prefacing it by [a] mysterious conclave" (52), this conclave being, "I shall first have to talk this over with my husband/wife." This shows that, one, the van der Luydens cannot be characterized separately for they are exactly alike, and, two, they consult each other before making decisions. Once again the narrator brings forward, quite openly, information about said characters. The narrator’s informing the reader of such facts sets up the reasoning behind the character’s motivations, and the reactions of other characters. One of such instances involves Archer and Mrs. Mingott’s seeking of the advice of the van der Luydens. First, it is important to note that double-checking one’s plans, as Archer does here, indicates the high status of the van der Luydens. Archer and Mrs. Mingott’s having to ask another family for the "proper" thing to do proves their dominance over society and that they are the experts of "good form.

kamikaze :: essays research papers

During the era of the weak emperor Taisho (1912-26), the political power shifted from the oligarchic clique (genro) to the parliament and the democratic parties. In the First World War, Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. At the following Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Japan's proposal of amending a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor for the deterioration of relations in the decades preceeding World War 2. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan. After WW1, Japan's economical situation worsened. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the world wide depression of 1929 intensified the crisis. During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted. Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister. Already earlier, Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. Furthermore, Japan's influence over Manchuria had been steadily growing since the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In the following year, "Manchukuo" was declared an independent state, controlled by the Kwantung Army through a puppet government. In the same year, the Japanese air force bombarded Shanghai in order to protect Japanese residents from anti Japanese movements. In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations since she was heavily criticized for her actions in China. In July 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out. A small incident was soon made into a full scale war by the Kwantung army which acted rather independently from a more moderate government. The Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the whole coast of China and committed severe war atrocities on the Chinese population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking. However, the Chinese government never surrendered completely, and the war continued on a lower scale until 1945.

The Song Dynasty: Interactions Essay

The Song set up supervised markets along the border to encourage trade between them and its neighbors. In 971CE the government established the first Maritime Trade Supervisorate followed by four others. Its roles included the taxation of imported goods, government purchase and sale of imported goods, and to issue foreign trade permits for local merchants. Chinese goods that flowed north in large quantities included tea, silk, copper coins, paper and printed books etc. The return flow included horses that Song needed desperately for its armies but also other animals and goods that had traveled across the Silk Road. There was also vigorous sea trade with Korea, Japan and lands to the southwest. During Song times this maritime trade for the first time exceeded overland foreign trade. About fifty countries carried out overseas trade with the Song Dynasty. Chinese ships were seen all throughout the Indian Ocean and began to displace Indian and Arab merchants in the South Seas. Shards of Song Chinese porcelain have been found as far away as eastern Africa. ?The Song Dynasty: Interactions The Song set up supervised markets along the border to encourage trade between them and its neighbors. In 971CE the government established the first Maritime Trade Supervisorate followed by four others. Its roles included the taxation of imported goods, government purchase and sale of imported goods, and to issue foreign trade permits for local merchants. Chinese goods that flowed north in large quantities included tea, silk, copper coins, paper and printed books etc. The return flow included horses that Song needed desperately for its armies but also other animals and goods that had traveled across the Silk Road. There was also vigorous sea trade with Korea, Japan and lands to the southwest. During Song times this maritime trade for the first time exceeded overland foreign trade. About fifty countries carried out overseas trade with the Song Dynasty. Chinese ships were seen all throughout the Indian Ocean and began to displace Indian and Arab merchants in the South Seas. Shards of Song Chinese porcelain have been found as far away as eastern Africa.