CRITICAL ANALYSIS on THE SHAWL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CRITICAL ANALYSIS on THE SHAWL - Essay Example As the story develops, the reader is compelled to ask several questions. How does Rosa tolerate the sight of her daughter in pain? Why did Rosa think that her daughter would die very soon? What is the significance of â€Å"the shawl† in the eyes of the narrator? While attempting to answer these questions, one will learn that Rosa is obsessed with her past. The description of her situation at the start of the story explains why her daughter, Magda, is suffering and why Rosa cannot be of any help to her own child. They are all captives of the concentration camp, cold, exhausted and starved. They live in â€Å"a place without pity† where even struggling to acquire the basic necessities can cause them death penalty. Being only fifteen months old, her daughter was not getting the nourishment she needed from her mother. She struggles to suck milk from her mother’s breast but gets nothing in return except the feel of the dry and cracked surface. She eventually takes ple asure in suckling on her mother’s shawl which tastes like cinnamon and almond. ... In the story, the reader finds several instances where the narrator vividly conveys the unspeakable atrocities that occurred in the concentration camp. The sights and the smells of terror are muddled up together in â€Å"the coldness of hell†: Stella, cold, cold, the coldness of hell. How they walked on the roads together, Rosa with Magda curled up between sore breasts, Magda wound up the shawl. Sometimes Stella carried Magda. But she was jealous of Magda. A thin girl of fourteen, too small, with thin breasts of her own, Stella wanted to be wrapped in a shawl, hidden away, asleep, rocked by the march, a baby, a round infant in arms. Stella’s desire for the baby’s shawl leads to Magda’s death. Ozick’s abundant use of symbolism allows the reader to envision the setting. She refers to the baby as angel throughout the novel; "smooth feathers of hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa's coat" and as "someone who is already a floating angel". Whe n her shawl is taken away from her by Stella, Magda suddenly begins to cry and wobbles out into the yard where she is picked up by a guard and thrown on the electrified fence to meet her death. The story reaches its climax through the flat character, Stella, who remains cold and cruel till the end because, being a child herself, she does not recognize the sentiments of the others, except satisfying her own need. Cynthia Ozick uses figurative language masterfully in her work The Shawl. She believes that such language is critical for literature understanding. The story is noteworthy because of its meticulous control over the view point. It requires great attention, as the details appear to be filtered through the

Roles in the Courtroom Essay Example for Free

Roles in the Courtroom Essay Everyone has been in or seen a courtroom. If not personally, they have definitely seen one on television. Shows like Law Order and the First 48 gives the generalization of how a criminal is caught, brought to justice and it’s done all within one hour. Then there are civil court shows like Judge Judy and Judge Mathis, where you can see what actually happens in a court of law when someone is sued. All in all, when you watch these shows you never get the full effect of the roles each person in a courtroom plays to bring a person to justice. Some roles are more important than others, but people like Bailiffs, Judges or even Jurors all share an amount of responsibility in making sure that justice is served. In any courtroom you will see a Bailiff, Prosecutor, Defense Attorney, and a Judge. The Bailiff is usually a sheriff or a high- ranking police officer. Their presence alone keeps order in the courtroom amongst the audience all the way to the judge. A Bailiff’s role is simple. They swear in witnesses and they also play the go between man with the judge and jury. They call court to order and announce when the Judge enters the room. Their role is minimal but important still in its own way. Next are the Defense Attorney and the Prosecution whose duties and responsibilities are basically the same. They must gather and present evidence to the jury to discredit or give reasonable doubt that a crime was or wasn’t committed. The Defense is there to advice his client on the right plea to take. He is also there to make sure his client understands what is going on and make sure his client gets a fair and speedy trial. Other than that their duties are the same. They both are there to discredit the other. They both participate in jury selection and establish witnesses that will benefit their case. Both are responsible for presenting their case to the Judge and Jury, but if the case never reaches a trial it’s usually due to both sides plea-bargaining. This is ultimately the Judges decision but is usually the reason why some cases don’t go to trial. The Judge has a key role in the criminal justice system. He is elected into office by his peers and is ultimately the last person to make any decision in regards to a case. Although they don’t say much a Judge has a lot of duties and responsibilities and is one of the most important people needed in a courtroom. They are there from start to finish in any case. At the preliminary hearing they are responsible for making sure the accused is aware of their rights, they enter a plea of either guilty, not guilty or no contest, and the Judge also sets the bail. During the trial they decide what evidence will be allowed. Their understanding of the law is important when keeping order and how the court proceedings will be handled. During the trial the judge makes sure the accused rights aren’t violated. The Judge also makes sure that the jury understands what a person is charged with whether it is First –degree or second-degree murder. It is the Judges responsibility to make sure the Jury knows the difference. Last but not least they have control over the sentencing. This is the most important part aside from the Jury decision on whether or not the accused is guilty. Although The Judge’s role and responsibility seems to be the most important in the court, it is the role and respon sibility of the Jury that is needed more than anything. Everyone has the right to a trial by an â€Å"impartial† jury, which means that the trial will be fair. To be fair, some believe a person must be tried amongst a group of one’s peers. This means that they are from the same community/area. Sex, race and ethnicity have no bearings in any case, as far as jury selection. Jury’s bring diversity, different perspectives and views. It is up to the Defense and the Prosecution to make sure the right people are chosen, and that they will be more in favor of their case when presented in court. This is why Juror’s must go through a jury selection. People who will be beneficial to either the Prosecutions or Defenses case are kept and those who appear to have no bearings on the case aren’t selected. Once on the Jury they are given instructions by the judge on how the case will go, what they are to listen for, and what a person is charged with. Then they listen to the case and they are to determine if the accused i s responsible for their actions by a reasonable doubt. Meaning if there is any doubt in their mind that the accused is innocent, then the doubt is placed, and either they must be convicted of a lesser crime or the case must be dismissed period. All the evidence and witnesses presented in court is done with wondering how the jury will perceive it. Their impression on the evidence has the greatest impact and is ultimately what will determine the fate of the accused in all cases. That is why it is important that the Judge gives the verdict choices to the Jury and that he makes sure that the Jury understands them when they go to deliberate. They then return and give their verdict of guilty, not guilty to the offense the accused was charged or to a lesser charge period. Anyone can see that the Jury is important in any court proceedings. Jury’s will always have a key role in the court system and their role is most important. There are many roles and responsibilities in the court system. There are bailiffs, prosecutors, defense attorneys but the most important is the jury. Their roles and responsibilities are important and are needed to ensure that the criminal court system is run appropriately. That is why there is so much put into jury selection. They are the deciding factor in determining how long a person will be spending of their life in jail.

Embodied Ideology Walpoles Expression Through Characters in Castle of

Embodied Ideology: Walpole's Expression Through Characters The description of the eighteenth century gothic as ?a confused and contradictory form, ambivalent or unsure about its own aims and implications? (Kilgour 5) is an entirely fitting one for Otranto - especially with regard to domestic and gender ideology. Valdine Clemens tells us that at the time of Otranto?s publication, ?cultural conditions [?] were highly repressive for women? (31). Women were vulnerable and defenseless, unable to exercise control in most areas of their lives. Men were allowed to control where their children went to school, where they worked, and to whom they got married ? all without any input from their mother. As well, it was much easier for a man to divorce his wife than for a woman to divorce her husband. Clemens cites Lawrence Stone to give us just such an example of the inequalities women had to suffer: [?] a Lady with numerous aristocratic connections sued for divorce from her husband, who ?had been unfaithful to her on their wedding night, had debauched all the maidservants in the house, had given his wife venereal disease, and was constantly drunk.? Her application was defeated after considerable parliamentary debate on the grounds that ?divorce by act of Parliament had traditionally been restricted to husbands, except when there were peculiarly aggravating circumstances like incest.? (34) Walpole?s novel can be seen as having a feminine bias and being subversive of these social norms. There is, however, evidence that supports a conservative ideology as well. This makes it particularly difficult to give a definitive answer to the long-debated question of whether or not Walpole was trying to be conservative or subversive of societal nor... ...ranto and subsequent revelation of authorship points to a conflicting desire to circulate and to not circulate his work at the same time. It is not improbable that Walpole was also unsure about what he wanted the implications of his novel to be. Like the incongruous and ambiguous nature of the gothic (discussed in IncongruousCorpus), Walpole himself was ?unsure about [his] own aims?, whatever his views on society were. Works Cited Clemens, Valdine. The Return of the Repressed: Gothic Horror from The Castle of Otranto to Alien. New York: SUNY P, 1999. Ellis, Kate Ferguson. The Contested Castle. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1989. Kilgour, Maggie. The Rise of the Gothic Novel. London: Routledge, 1995. Marcie Frank. ?Horace Walpole?s Family Romances.? Modern Philology 100 (2003): 417-35. Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.

Vioxx and Merck & Co. Essay -- essays research papers

Vioxx/Merck Summary The painkiller Vioxx was introduced in 1999 by Merck & Co. It has been used by over 20 million Americans since it was put on the market. Vioxx remained on the market for approximately five years without adequate warnings about its risks. In September of 2004, Merck took Vioxx off the market after a study revealed that it doubled the risk of heart attack or stroke for patients that used it for more than 18 months. Although Merck claimed that they had no idea of these possibly lethal side effects, some internal documents imply that they had been aware of the problem for years and had not made moves to change it. Over 300 lawsuits have been filed against Merck, and it is expected that thousands more will arise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Further studies were conducted on the drug, but Merck adamantly fought Vioxx findings. Even thou Merck funded and agreed with the design of the study, it publicly discredited its findings. Other reports showed that in older patients, Vioxx made no provide as much protection as it is expected to. One study links Vioxx to 88,000 to140,000 cases of heart disease. Most of this information had been kept private for quite a long time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite the obvious health risks, in February of 2005, government advisers concluded that the benefits of Vioxx outweighed the dangers and that it was the patients decision whether or not to keep using the drugs. They stated that the prescription products should ... Vioxx and Merck & Co. Essay -- essays research papers Vioxx/Merck Summary The painkiller Vioxx was introduced in 1999 by Merck & Co. It has been used by over 20 million Americans since it was put on the market. Vioxx remained on the market for approximately five years without adequate warnings about its risks. In September of 2004, Merck took Vioxx off the market after a study revealed that it doubled the risk of heart attack or stroke for patients that used it for more than 18 months. Although Merck claimed that they had no idea of these possibly lethal side effects, some internal documents imply that they had been aware of the problem for years and had not made moves to change it. Over 300 lawsuits have been filed against Merck, and it is expected that thousands more will arise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Further studies were conducted on the drug, but Merck adamantly fought Vioxx findings. Even thou Merck funded and agreed with the design of the study, it publicly discredited its findings. Other reports showed that in older patients, Vioxx made no provide as much protection as it is expected to. One study links Vioxx to 88,000 to140,000 cases of heart disease. Most of this information had been kept private for quite a long time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite the obvious health risks, in February of 2005, government advisers concluded that the benefits of Vioxx outweighed the dangers and that it was the patients decision whether or not to keep using the drugs. They stated that the prescription products should ...

Sexual Stereotypes In Advertising

A stereotype is a standardized character, of appearance or lifestyle which people expect. For example most people if asked to describe a ‘Super Hero' would reply with, ‘strong, tall, brave and good looking,' but is this always the case? Therefore sexual stereotypes are about how people expect a person to look or act because of their gender. Men are thought of as successful businessmen in suits and striped shirts, which is a sign of wealth. In some cases the male is seen as the father figure in a family of four, but in both of these cases his is attractive to the opposite sex. Young boys are often cheeky and mischievous, they tend to wear blue as it is though of as a ‘boy's' colour. In the majority of cases they are portrayed as been sporty and even from this early age show a keen interest in cars. In advertising, a woman is seen as the mother of a family who does all of the housework and cooking for the other members of the family. They wear purple or pastel blue, which brings across the message that they are soft and feminine. If they are acting the housewife they are usually slim, attractive and extremely good-looking. The reason for this is that the company will try and sell the product using a ‘sex appeal' method which can be very effective. If this is the case, bright, bold colours such as red and pink are used so that the model stands out. Little girls are often portrayed as cute and gentle, so that viewers get emotional when they are watching. In most cases they are dresses in a pink dress, with a doll and their hair is styled into little curls. I have decided to use three ‘OXO' advertisements, which are advertising gravy to show how different sexes are addressed in different circumstances. In the first advertisement a women is cooking in a kitchen with a big grin on her face, this suggests that she is happy with what she is doing and feels at ‘home' with cooking. She is wearing a light purple top, the reason for this is that it helps the bright colours of the ‘OXO' logo to stand out. The young girl who is most probably the lady's daughter is helping her mother happily and brings across the message that she will one day become the mother and cook for her own family. Finally the little boy is watching his mother but not taking any part in the cooking. He has a big smile on his face, as he waits for his lunch to be made. The fact that he is not helping is significant because this is the case in most advertisements that include males and cooking. On the whole this is a stereotypical advertisement with the mother cooking the dinner and the male not taking part. The text in the advert is emboldened and bright, this is so that the logo stands out and if someone has a quick glance at the poster the logo is the image that will stay in their mind. The second advertisement is different from the first for the simple fact that this time it is the farther in the kitchen not the mother. The father has done the cooking for his two sons but he has made a mess, this shows that most people have the idea then men can not cook but women can and this is another stereotypical idea which is obviously not true at all. The two sons are looking at their father in disgust and as most likely thinking, ‘What will mum do?' The advertisement shows that even though the father does not know how to cook he still knows that ‘OXO' is the best and if a man who can not cook knows this, its obvious to a woman who can cook that ‘OXO' is the best gravy to use. There is no ‘OXO' logo on this advertisement and I think that is because it is a ‘still' from a television advertisement unlike the first which was a poster. The third and final ‘OXO' advertisement uses both male and female characters. It contains a stereotypical image of a women who has done the cooking and serving the food to the other three family members two of which are male and are sitting at the table waiting for their dinner. The father figure, in the scene is just reading his newspaper and the fact that he is doing nothing else is a stereotypical idea of a father waiting for his dinner. All of the family is smiling as they receive their dinner and this is because they are about to receive ‘OXO' gravy, which brings across the message that it is good. The way in which the advertisement uses both male and female characters in a stereotypical form is important because it sets a common family scene and people think that it also applies to their family. On the whole all three of the advertisements used both male and female characters and I think that is because the product is for both sexes but I also think that even though this is the case women are still portrayed as the cook. There are some adverts, which use only male models, and these usually advertise products such as cars, aftershave, DIY products and shaving equipment. One example of an advert, which uses just a male character, is advertising Hugo Boss Aftershave. The man in the advert is brought across as a successful businessman and we can tell this by the way he dresses. I think that the striped shirt, which he is wearing, is a sign of wealth and success. The man's hands are clean and his nails have been professionally manicured which suggests to me that he has a surplus of money. He is holding a file-fax in his hands, which would mean that he, is heading for a meeting and therefore adding to the ‘Businessman Image'. The advert contains a typical stereotype image of a man and I think that he dresses like this so that a man will buy the aftershave because he will think that it will make him rich and successful. If this is not the case and the mans wife or girlfriend is buying him a present she may buy this because her sub-conscious will tell her that her man will end up looking like the model in the advert. In the same way that men are used solely in advertisements, women are also used in order to sell products to males using sex appeal or to sell products to women through a sub-conscious method. In an advert for ‘Hot Choc Drinks' an attractive woman is dressed in red and has a slim figure and this is another example of stereotyping. The reason that the woman is dressed in red is to attract the customers' attention and the colour red is good at doing this. The attractive face and slim figure suggests to other women that if they drink ‘Hot Choc' they too will get a body like the model, which unfortunately is untrue. To a male buyer it suggests to his sub-conscious that he will be likely to encounter girls like the model. The cup in the model's hand is the same shape as her body to remind the customer of what's in store in the unlikely event that they will forget. After looking at the five different adverts I have decided that companies use different types of models and stereotype these models to grab the customers attention or to act on their sub-conscious, which will hopefully result in an increase in sales. Nowadays most advertisements are shown on television and here are two examples showing how television also uses stereotyping. The Yorkie advert has a slogan, which states, ‘Yorkie; it's not for girls.' This shows that the chocolate is so big and chunky that it is only for men. The idea of the big chunks of chocolate suggests that women are too small and weak to handle this. It may be also portraying the same message as in the ‘Hot Chocs' advertisement meaning that women are not allowed it because it will cause them to become fat and unattractive. During the adverts a women dresses as a man in order to purchase the chocolate, she wears male clothing and a fake beard as it would be extraordinary for a woman to have so much facial hair. The woman also speaks in a deep voice so that the shop owner does not realise because women are expected to talk in a soft voice and doing so would give her game away. This is an example of sexual stereotyping saying that men have facial hair and speak in deep voices, which may not always be the case. Towards the end of the advertisement the women's real identity is revealed which is another example of sexual stereotypes. The second television advertisement that I have chosen is advertising an insurance company, which is just for women. The company says the if you chance your insurance to them it could be cheaper because it is just for women. This brings across a stereotypical image that males, young and old, are dangerous drivers who push their car it its limits. This of cause is untrue and there, as just as many bad female drivers as there are bad male drivers. In the advertisement there is a women who is presenting the information and the company logo contains the colour pink, these two points are significant if the company wants to keep with the idea that women are better drivers. The reason for this is that the people who are watching the advertisement will be getting the information from another women, which they will probably value more. Pink is a stereotypical colour which as always been associated with females of every age. Both of these advertisements express stereotypical images of men and women in completely different ways, but these are just a small selection of the many ways men and women are portrayed. The roles of men and women have changed considerably over time, but in peoples sub-conscious they appear to have stayed the same and therefore have also not changed in advertising. For example most males are portrayed most successful businessmen and nowadays women go to work rather than staying at home doing the housework.

Analytical Essay Sample on the Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards

Analytical Essay Sample on the Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards Natural hazards are naturally occurring phenomena that have disastrous impact on humanity. These phenomena had been in existence even before the advent of humanity. The hazardous dimension of these natural phenomena are in the context of the impact that such a phenomenon would have on human population in the area affected by that phenomenon. In this essay, the effect that human activity has on these natural hazards would be analyzed. Some human activities may be exacerbating the factors that cause the natural hazard, like the impact of excessive and unplanned logging on floods and droughts. In certain other cases the human activities may cause subsequent or supplementary hazards to a primary hazard event, like building dams in earthquake prone zones may lead to flash floods and landslides in the event of a rupture. A hazard can be defined as an event that has the potential to cause harm. This potential may be on account of its unexpected timing of occurrence or the actual intensity of the event itself. Human societies can withstand these events within a normal scale of occurrence. However, human societies become vulnerable when these events occur unexpectedly or are of an intensity or duration that falls beyond that normal scale (O’Hare and Rivas, 2005). Natural hazards can be broadly classified under the heads of geological, hydrological, climatic and diseases. This essay would limit its scope to analyzing causal relationships, if any, of human activities on landslides, floods and drought and the secondary hazards triggered by those activities in the event of an earthquake. Of all human activities that have a direct or indirect impact on natural hazards, deforestation is by far the most significant. Deforestation is the removal or destruction of forest cover of an area. It may occur due to unscientific logging practices without regeneration and may be accompanied by subsequent conversion to non-forest usage like agriculture, pasture, urban, mining or industrial development, fallow or wetland. At a very broad level, it has been argued that deforestation is a major cause of global climatic changes. It has been predicted that removal of forest cover will lead to violent and unpredictable environmental fluctuations. At a smaller landscape, deforestation has a direct bearing upon the climatic, hydrological, edaphic and biological aspects of that area. Deforestation is associated with higher levels of soil erosion and landslides, sedimentation in river beds and changes in fluvial geomorphology (Haigh, 1984). Quite a few of these effects of deforestation have a direct bearing on the natural hazards that will be covered in this essay. One of the major functions of a forest is to maintain the humidity level in the atmosphere. Trees withdraw groundwater through their roots and transpire the excess water through their leaves. Forests return a major part of the rainfall received by them through evapotranspiration. Annual evapotranspiration in tropical moist lowland forests ranges up to 1500 mm per year, with transpiration accounting for a maximum of 1045 mm per year (Bruijnzeel, 1990). This process of evapotranspiration in the leaves of trees takes the latent heat of evaporation from the surrounding atmosphere. Thus evapotranspiration has a cooling effect on the atmosphere that aids precipitation. Deforestation denies the atmosphere of this cooling effect and is thus a contributing factor to lowering of annual rainfall in an area. Further, the effects of deforestation generally compound the severity of drought. Lack of trees translates to the lack of root fibers that hold the topsoil. In the event of a drought, the topsoil flakes and gets blown by the wind, leading to severe dust storms. This phenomenon had devastated the American Great Plains for close to a decade in 1930s. The dust bowl covered farming areas in Colorado, Kansas, north west Oklahoma, north Texas and north east New Mexico. The fertile soil of the plains was exposed due to lack of vegetation cover and actions of the plow. These farming techniques that led to severe soil erosion, coupled with prolonged periods of extremely low rainfall, led to a series of severe dust storms that ranged up to the Atlantic coast. Much of the fertile topsoil was lost in the Atlantic (Cartensen et al., 1999). Direct causal relationship between human activity and drought is yet to be conclusively established. However, there are studies available that point to a positive correlation between the two. For example, climate-modeling studies have indicated that the 20th century Sahel drought was caused by changing sea surface temperatures. These changes were due to a combination of natural variability and human induced atmospheric changes. The anthropogenic factors in this case were rise in greenhouse gas levels and aerosols (GFDL Climate Modeling Research Highlights, 2007). The effect of human activities like deforestation is rather more direct and pronounced in case of hydrological hazards like fluvial floods. Fluvial floods occur when the discharge of a river exceeds its bankfull capacity. Forests create deep, open textured soils that can hold large quantities of water. When the forest cover is removed through logging, the soil becomes compacted. More rainwater is converted to runoff or near surface flow and less proportion percolates as groundwater. Research has shown significant increase in monthly runoff following logging activities (Rahim and Harding, 1993). The runoff rainwater carries with it considerable amounts of loose soil particles. Removal of vegetation cover through excessive logging activities or overgrazing leaves the soil bare. In such a situation, the upper layer of the soils becomes susceptible to erosion by surface runoff. These suspended soil particles are deposited on the riverbeds. The effect of this type of soil erosion by surface runoff is even more pronounced when the deforestation happens in the riparian zones as well. With time, this sedimentation decreases the depth of the riverbed and, thereby, the water carrying capacity of that river. When the flow of water in the river increases due to a variety of reasons like rainfall, seasonal melting of ice etc, that river can no longer contain the flow within its channel due to reduced drainage efficiency. This excess water inundates adjoining areas causing floods. The effect of soil erosion and subsequent sedimentation of the riverbeds enhances both the occurrences of floods and the area affected by floods. The impact of deforestation driven soil erosion is particularly severe in mountainous terrain. In the western Himalayas, comparison of bedload sediments trapped from parallel streams found that the sediment loads from undisturbed forest were five-seven times smaller than from deforested areas covered by grass and scrub. Deforested areas had a much smaller depth of soil and in many places large patches of underlying bedrock had become exposed ( Haigh et al., 1998). The result of this type of soil erosion on floods is amply demonstrated in the river systems in peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia is located in the equatorial belt and receives very heavy rainfall throughout the year. Peninsular Malaysia has a dense river network. The largest of around one hundred river systems is the Pahang. The runoff along exposed hillsides on the upper courses of the rivers lead to heavy soil erosion and major silting in the lower courses. Peninsular Malaysia has a major tin mining industry and disposal of unwanted tin mining tailings in watercourses has greatly accentuated the silting process. This has majorly worsened the flood situation, both in terms of inundation area and duration of flooding. The effect is particularly severe in Perak and Selangor (Chan and Parker, 1996). The type of natural hazard that is most closely linked to human activity is the landslide. A landslide can be defined as the movement of a mass of rock, soil or debris downward a slope. These occur on steep slopes of hilly terrains that demonstrate certain inherent factors like susceptible rock structure, weak material or slope form. The preparatory factors actively produce the changes that make slopes more vulnerable to a slide, without actually causing it. Some preparatory factor may ultimately become the triggering factor and start the landslide. In some other cases, geological or climatic events like earthquakes or rainstorms initiate the movement. Human activities cause some of the more widespread preparatory factors. Removal of forest cover from mountain slopes deprives the soil of the binding force of the roots of vegetation, thereby making it more vulnerable. Removal of the toe of the slope renders the mass above, unstable. This is because the lateral buttressing support for the bulk of the slope that lies on top of the excavated area is removed. Human activities like building of roads or quarrying of minerals are responsible for this type of preparatory factor. In many cases, human settlement on the slopes alters the original surface drainage of that area, eventually rendering it hydrologically unstable. The effects of human activity in the preparatory factors of a landslide were demonstrated in the landslide at Abbotsford, South Island, New Zealand on 8th August 1979. Deforestation, quarrying and modification of surface drainage further endangered the geologically unstable slope. Heavy rainfall and leakage from city water supply pipeline finally triggered the massive landslide (Pacione, 1999). Human activity like construction of roads can have a major impact on the vulnerability of a mountain slope. For example, the Indian Central Himalayas have seen major increase in road construction activities after the war with China in 1962. Many of these roads are poorly designed and constructed. This has dramatically increased in the occurrences of landslides in the region (Ives, 2004). Human intervention on the natural drainage of a slope as a major contributing factor to a landslide is amply demonstrated in the multiple occurrences of landslides on the hill slopes of La Paz city in Bolivia. La Paz region has considerable human settlements that are on unconsolidated slopes. These slopes are frequently wetted to saturation and forced to move. Some of these factors are natural, like seasonal convective showers of high intensity, flooding of lowers slopes by the rivers and streams draining that rainfall and water seepage from fluctuating water tables of adjoining lake Titicaca basin. However, the water saturation of the slopes is exacerbated by the human settlement on the slopes. Much of such settlements are unplanned, self-help housing that have no access to public sanitation and drainage systems. Waste water from such houses are drained directly on to the slopes. These factors have led to repeated landslides in the La Paz region in the past (O’Hare and Rivas, 2005). Another type of mass movement that is seen in plain areas is subsidence. Subsidence is vertical sinking of materials. In many unplanned cities, the city has sprawled into areas not covered by municipal water distribution network and indiscriminate ground water usage through bore wells have severely depleted water tables. In some cities like Mexico and Bangkok, the drained soil has compacted, leading to subsidence. In some other regions like the Raniganj – Jharia coal belt in India, improper mining excavations and inappropriate filling of excavated tunnels have led to widespread subsidence. In certain cases, though human activity does not cause a natural hazard, it may lead to secondary hazard events subsequent to the occurrence of a primary hazard. A case in point is the building of a very high multipurpose dam at Tehri in the Himalayan region in India that may be susceptible to seismic activity. In the eventuality of an earthquake and subsequent rupture of such a high dam, a tremendous flash flood is inevitable on the lower courses of the river, accompanied by major landslides as well (Ives, 2004). Thus, it can be concluded that human activities have some impact on occurrence of natural hazards. For some hazards like landslides and subsidence, there is direct, causal relationship between human activity and hazard occurrence. In some other cases like drought and floods, unscientific and unplanned exploitation of natural resources exacerbate natural hazards. In yet other cases, human activity compounds the effect of a natural hazard by triggering other hazard events that follow.

Writing in the Electronic Age essays

Writing in the Electronic Age essays Although Lev Manovich presents several relevant issues in his essay, his work was utterly impossible to understand. After days of blank stares at incomprehensible words, I finally had a breakthrough. Could he be discussing databases in relation to our everyday lives and new media? That is exactly what he is saying, just in ten pages longer than it really had to be. In the first few dozen pages of his work, Manovich discusses narrative style. Narrative style tends to be a linear, or chronological, way of explaining an event or process. Typically this is done orally in the form of a story. Narrative style is syntagmatic, or following a natural order. The story is easy to understand and normally is arranged chronologically. For example, when someone is describing their day, they would explain the highlights in chronological order using narrative style. Another way Manovich thinks we present information is by the use of database. He defines databases as a structured collection of data. Databases can be linear or non-linear. Simply put they are files of information stored in a computer. The information is easily retrievable, but is not in chronological order. Instead it is situated using paradegmatic form, which is organization into natural categories. For example, if a database were used to organize my life story, there would be individual files for my birth, childhood, public schooling, and college. Of course more would be added as my life went on. There are few similarities between narrative and database forms. They both communicate to the reader, or viewer, with words or images and try to, as Lev Manovich states, "make meaning out of the world." Being competitors they tend to contrast each other in many aspects while fighting for dominance in the field. Narratives follow a certain order, usually linear, and have explainable reason behind that particular order. Databases have a random order, but all the individual files have so ...