Red Convertible by OConnor and Guests of the Nation by Erdrich Essay

Red Convertible by OConnor and Guests of the Nation by Erdrich - Essay Example These stories are analyzed in this essay along with the current status of the Indian American culture. The story the Red Convertible talks about the experiences of two Indian brothers one summer prior to one of the going to war. The story focuses on the experience these two adventurers had a red convertible which was the first convertible car to arrive at their reservation. The red convertible to them was a symbol of freedom and let them escape from the struggle their people were facing. It provides insight into the tribal lifestyle and how these two learned to enjoy the simpler things in life such as nature, family, culture, and loyalty. Following that summer one of the brothers went to war. He struggled with psychological problems and could not cope with everyday life after he came back as damaged goods from the war. The brother tried to sheer his sibling up by restoring the red convertible but to no avail. War left scars on him which could not be repaired. The second story dealt w ith Irish army platoons and how the war can create friendships and destroy life and how these memories can last a lifetime. The story centers around a small group of Irish soldiers and a couple of English soldier prisoners under their care. For months they lived together in a shack sharing stories and becoming weird friends even though they were enemies. The stories go into detail about the struggles these people went through during the war and how by sharing each other lives the men took compassion and understood what each other was enduring. In the end, despite the relationship, these people had built the Irish soldiers were forced to kill the English prisoners who had become their friends under order from their superiors. These stories showed the type of struggle different cultures has gone through under tough situations.

First Steps Film Assignment Essay Example for Free

First Steps Film Assignment Essay The following assignment is based on the film â€Å"Becoming Human Episode 1: First Steps.† You may access the film in the following ways: 1. It is available for free on the PBS website at the following address: http://video.pbs.org/video/1312522241/ 2. It is available instantly through Netflix (where you may temporarily set up a free account for a few weeks if you are not a member). Please use complete sentences to answer the following questions and type your answers on this form. You should submit this assignment to the â€Å"First Steps† dropbox using the â€Å"Assignments† tab by Sun 4/1 at 11:59 P.M. Please submit this file as a .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf file. Please do not use the â€Å".pages† extension because PCs cannot open it. 1. Where is the Afar located? Afar is one of the nine Regional States of Ethiopia and is located in north eastern Africa. It is a part of the great rift valley (deep cut in earth where geological forces are ripping Africa apart). 2. How did researchers figure out how old the â€Å"Selam† fossil was? Clues to the age of the fossil came from key features in the landscape; such as the white bands of volcanic ash that dated 3.4 million years ago. If the white bands of volcanic ash are 3.4 million years old then the fossil must be younger because it was found above it. Therefore, the fossil was approximately 3.3 million years old. 3. How did researchers figure out how old the fossil child Selam was when she died? How old was she? Researchers looked at Selams teeth in order to find out how old she was when she died. They did not look at the baby teeth that were visible in her jaw; they looked her adult teeth that were growing inside the bone. From that observation researchers know Selam died when she was three years old. 4. What are the human-like components of the â€Å"Lucy† skeleton? What are the ape-like components? Lucky had both human-like and ape-like components. From the waist down lucy was like humans and from the waist up she was like apes. She walked upright like humans and her pelvis bone resembled those of a human. Lucys greater trochanter was short and human-like. Her skeleton showed evidence of small skull capacity similar to apes. 5. What was the ancient environment of the australopithecines like? How does it change by 3-4 million years ago? Researchers have found that Seguda Valley went through a huge transformation. It was once covered entirely of water, up to an elevation of approximately 580 meters. The valley was filled with a great lake that was steeper than any of the great lakes. The entire African continent used to be a lot wetter than it is present day. Long ago, before even Selam and Lucys existence Africa was a wet tropical environment covered with rain forest. Eventually Africa began to dry out and the rain forests shrank. During Selams existence, 3-4 million years ago, Africa was a mosaic of different environments. Researchers know that from the fossils that live there, they tell a story of a vanished landscape. Fossils of creatures like a pig and hippopotamus. Today it is a vast expanse of volcanic rock and burning desert. 6. What are some of the different hypotheses presented in the film for why bipedalism emerged? One theory is that the mammals stood up to be able to see over tall grass. Second theory is that they stood up to be able to pick fruit off low branches of trees. (The way chimpanzees do today.) Third theory is that they stood up to cool more efficiently. Not as much sun beating on the body. * Most compelling hypothesis is that it saved us energy. 7. What is the molecular clock and how is it used to determine when two species last shared a common ancestor? It is a simple idea that the rate of change in DNA sequences is more or less constant over time a way of determining if and when two species shared a common ancestor. By counting the differences in the genetic code between chimps and humans researchers can calculate how long they have been evolving away from each-other. (5-7 years ago humans and apes shared a common ancestor.) 8. What is the clue that the â€Å"Toumai† fossil (Sahelanthropus tchadensis) is bipedal? The vital clue that the Toumai fossil is bipedal is how the skull connects to the spine. Researcher Michele could confer that by the shape of Toumais skull. If the skull is placed on a neck of an ape that walks on all fours its eyes point down ward (not correct). If the skull is placed on an upright spine of a biped its eyes point straight ahead; for Michele this proved that Toumai walked upright. 9. How are the first stone tools identifiable as tools? Who is currently thought to be the first stone tool maker? The first stone tools were broken in a very particular way; there is a method behind how the rocks were broken in order to make it into a tool. Homo habilis (1.6-2.5 million years ago) are thought to be the first stone tool makers. 10. What is Rick Potts’ idea about the role of climate in hominid adaptation? How is it different from traditional ideas? Rick Potts observations let him to the new idea, rapid change as a catalyst for our evolution. 11. What was going on with the African climate when Homo habilis evolved? Africa had numerous climate changed from wet to dry, wet to dry, wet to dry all within approximately a thousand years.

The White Mans Burden, Rudyard Kipling | Analysis

The White Mans Burden, Rudyard Kipling | Analysis I aim to evaluate the use of irony and symbol in the poems The White Mans Burden and the Real White Mans Burden to see how effective both writers were in using these elements to convey meanings. In the case of Kipling, I will consider two points of views. The first point of view is that Kipling was an imperialist who supports the take over of other governments to show superiority. The second point of view is that Kipling was an imperialist who supports the take over of other governments as an act of humanity to bring civilization to the uncivilized and, that he warns of the perils of showing superiority as oppose to bringing true liberation. In the case of Crosby, since he presents a single view point, I will evaluate his effectiveness of using irony and symbolism in parodying the work of Kipling. Effectively used, irony and symbol could convey a message with more than one meaning as demonstrated in Rudyard Kiplings poem The White Mans Burden or, they could convey a single message de monstrated in Ernest H. Crosbys poem The Real White Mans Burden. In the final analysis, I submit that the effective use of the elements of poetry, in this case, irony and symbol, are vital to the correct interpretation and understanding of the meaning of both poems. In order to establish a well-rounded understanding of the basis for the two interpretations of Kiplings work and the single interpretation of the work of Crosby, I submit definitions for the terms imperialism, irony, and symbol. These definitions will also serve to show whether or not there was effectiveness in the use of the elements of poetry, in both poems. As defined by Dictionary.Com: Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. Irony is the discrepancy between what is said, done, expected or intended, and what is meant, what happens, and what others understand. Satirical irony is the exposure of the vices or follies of an individual, a group, an institution, an idea, a society, usually with a view to correct the folly. Symbol is anything that stands for something else. (Dictionary.Com) Having establishing the definitions, I will now analyze the use of irony and symbols in Ruyard Kiplings poem. While Kipling uses both irony and symbols, his use of irony is greater. Kiplings expertly uses irony to bring about the intended end result of two opposing perspectives as to whether imperialism is for human good or elitist gain. In the first view point, Kipling uses the poem The White Mans Burden to encourage America to take over the Phillipines imperialistically or, for elitist gain. Kipling writes: Take up the White mans burden / Send forth the best ye breed / Go bind your sons in exile / To serve your captives need; (1-4) The first observation of the poem is Kiplings decision to call the poem The White Mans Burden. Undoubtedly, the use of the phrase White Man is the lightening rod that sparks the view that Kiplings position was that of an imperialist having at its core the tenets of Social Darwinism. According to Kretchner, the concept of Social Darwinism purports that natural order obligates powerful, civilized nations to appropriate the limited resources of the weak. (Kretchmar) Hence, Kiplings urging of America to assist the Phillipines to reach civilization may be interpreted as him supporting the imperialistic movement. Even further, Kiplings encouragement that the empire should send forth the best ye breed has very strong racial connotations. During that time in history, blacks were not considered as equals to whites in America. The unequal treatment of blacks was so prevalent in Americas economic, political, and social systems that James Weldon Johnson, writes Lift Every Voice and Sing also known as the Black National Anthem, to encourage black people to sing and march until victory is won. This cry for equality continues in 1968, with Martin Luther King still only having a dream of equality. Though, in 2008, Barrack Obama becomes the first black President, there still remains the cry for true equality. In addition to the charges to Take up White Mans burden / Send forth the best ye breed(1-2), Kiplings use of phrases such as To veil the threat of terror / And check the show of pride. (11-12) asserts that the Empire must do what is necessary to eliminate resistance and to subdue insurrections against Imperialism. Not only should the Empire silence the voices of the captives, but she must also limit or remove any signs of pride that they might muster. Further, Kiplings characterizations of the people as On fluttered folk and wild / New caught- sullen peoples, / Half-devil and half-child. (6-8) may be easily construed as connatively condescending. Kipling seems to imply that the empire must be prepared to reinforce her stance By open speech and simple / A hundred times make plain (13-14). Kiplings distinction of the empire seem to be lofty in its tone. By marrying the symbols of the captives as being inferior people to the santimonious responsibility of the Empire to bring civility to the uncivilized, one can conclude that Kipling supports that the Empire is superior and hence has the responsibility to bring civility to the uncivilized. Ironically, the same body of work that interpretively champions the Empire as being superior to the captives, implores the empire to be fair and complete in its liberation of the captives. The second point of view to the work of Kipling in the The White Mans Burden is 4that he advocates for the fair treatment of the captives. Kiplings urging of the empire to liberate the captives and to take care of their needs can be found throughout his poem. According to Bonamy Dobree, while speaking to Canadians in 1907, Kipling said: I have, I confess it now, done my best for about twenty years to make all men of the sister nations within the Empire interested in each other. Because I know that at heart all our men are pretty much alike, in that they have the same aspirations,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and when all is said and done we have only each other to depend upon. (Dobree 80) Kipling demonstrates a view consistent to those who believe that true liberation is not oppressive. For example, he writes: Take up the White Mans burden / The savage wars of peace- / Fill full the mouth of Famine / And bid the sickness cease; (17-20) Further, Kipling warns the Empire that all of its actions or inactions, all that it say or not say will help to determine how the captives view the Empire and its God. Here is what Kipling says: By all ye cry or whisper, / By all ye leave or do, / The silent, sullen peoples / Shall weigh your gods and you. (45-48) In addition to how the captives view the Empire and its God, Kipling writes that other countries and future generations will also look at the treatment of the captives and judge the Empire. Kipling goes on to tell the empire not to celebrate its victory or relish in the praise, since these acts are childish, but that the Empire should be more concern with how the work would be judged by the Empires peers for years to come.To encapsulate the view that Kipling wanted the Empire to bring civilization without showing superiority, his closing verse from the poem is submitted. Kipling writes: Take up the White Mans burden / Have done with childish days / The lightly preferred laurel, / The easy, ungrudged praise. / Comes now, to search your manhood / Through all the thankless years / Cold. Edged with dear-bought wisdom, / The judgment of your peers! (49-56) These words clearly indicate that Kipling encourage the Empire to be honorable in its dealings with the Natives. Contrary to the school of thought that Kipling advocates civilization with true liberation, is Crosbys position that the Empire uses blessings as a doorway to go in and take away the true riches of the people and in exchange gives them an oppressive life style. Unlike Kiplings rendering of his poem, The White Mans Burden where he shows his trust for the Empire, Crosby in his parody The Real White Mans Burden, blatantly shows his mistrust of the Empire. Most importantly, though he employs heavy use of irony and symbols to demonstrate his opposing view of the Empire, Crosby does not dillute the single message of his poem. First, Crosbys title of the poem is a clear indicator of his dissent from Kiplings views. He uses the term White Man to solidify the object of his remarks, but, he goes further by using the word Real which ironically implies that there is a masking of the truth. Crosbys title speaks strongly of his judgment against the Empire. Historically, his point of view is drawn from his experiences as a social activist and as a black man living in America at the time of the Spanish American War. According to an essay by Andrew Hebard, Crosbys position on Imperialism mirrors that of Amy Kaplan who says imperialism is as a network of power relations that changes over space and time and is riddled with instability, ambiguity, and disorder, rather than as a monolithic system of domination that the very word empire implies. (Hebard) Next, are observations of the blending of symbol and irony used by Crosby to demonstrate his view of the Empire. Crosby believes that the motive of the Empire is ill-willed. He also believes that their chaiotic sytems bring failure, and the Empire dangle proverbial carrots in exchange for far more valuable gains. Crosbys position is that the eventual outcome of imperialism will be social, economical, and political oppression. At this time, a detailed look at Crosbys use of irony and symbols to depict the social climate that prevailed in America, the climate which he opposed to being introduced to the Natives, is warranted. Crosby asserts: Take up the White Mans burden; / Send forth your sturdy sons, / And load them down with whisky / And Testaments and guns. (1-4) Ironically, these lines subliminally say that the drinking of whiskey mask the truth, since it is widely known that people who consume too much alcohol are not as cognitively aware as they should be and, therefore, not able to think correctly are apt to believe anything told to them. Further, being loaded down with whiskey causes a usually sturdy person to stagger, and even fall. More overtly though, is the fact that Testament represents truth and wholesomeness, and guns represent power and destruction. But, because the minds are altered with alcohol, the masking of the real motive is easily perpetrated. There is a strong possibility that the soldiers will introduce the social ill of alcoholism to the natives, and will also help to spread propoganda about the good of imperialisim thereby causing the natives to become drunk and misinformed. The abililty of the natives to think reasonably correct about their condition will be diminished. To further support his view of social failure and to show that the Empire thinks that the Natives have limited information and can be easily captured if not military, certainly they can be captured through the spread of socially communicable diseases. Crosby writes: Throw in a few diseases / to spread in tropic climes, / For there the healthy niggers / Are quite behind the times. (5-8) Crosby bolsters his position of social oppression by saying: Give them electrocution chairs, / And prisons too, galore, / And if they seem inclined to kick, / Then spill their heathen gore. (21-24) The symbols of electrocution chairs, prisons, and gore ironically speaks of death both physically and mentally. Physically speaking, there is the death of the person whether by electrocution, or the spilling of the blood. Then, there is death of having freedom of space, since prisons limit movement. While subtle, based on Crosbys account, the intention to kill the dreams of the natives, screams from the pages of history. Crosby knows from his experience, that if any form of resistance, whether through word or action, is shown, if any attempt to pursue any dreams, ideologies, or customs that threatens the goals of the Empire is made, that the Empire would by any means necessary, ensure that the pursuit of those dreams was deferred and dry up like A Raisins in the Sun. (Diyanni 1870 ) In addition to social oppression, Crosby purports that the Natives will be opressed economically through hard labor as well as through the Empires system of taxation and debt. The view point of oppresive labor is aptly projected through the use of irony. Crosby claims: And dont forget the factories. / on those benighted shores / They have no cheerful iron mills / Nor eke departmemnt stores / They never work twelve hours a day, / And live in strange content. (9-14) Through his masterful use of irony, Crosby argues that the natives, who did not work as long hours as did the Americans, were very content with what little they thought they had. However, the bigger issue for Crosby appears to be that Empire knew that the natives were actually very successful and wealthy and sought to make them believe that their way of life was inadequate, and to turn them from being owners of the land to laborers in the land so that the Empire may be expanded. (A perfect combination of imperialism and colonialism!) Even more indicative of his stance against economic oppression, Crosby decried the imposing of taxation and debt. He writes: Take up the White Mans burden, / And teach the Phillipines / What interest and taxes are / and what a mortgage means. (17-20) Again, in Crosbys minds eye, there is the irony of a people who are successful in their simple but, independent way of life who being militarily inferior are consequently forced to become failures by their dependence on a monstrous financial system. In a final attempt to show the fallacy of the Empire, Crosby highlights the political climate that the Empire embraces. He pens: They need our labor question, too, / And politics and fraud. / Weve made a pretty mess at home; / Lets make a mess abroad. (25 -28) The irony in these lines humorously evaluate the endeavor of the Empire to fix anothers problem, when it cannot solve its own problems. In a nutshell, Crosby believes that Imperialism is a preposterous veiled attempt to cloak greed in kind deeds by using methods that are disfunctional. In summarizing his single message of the failure and hypocrisy of the Empire, Crosby does three things. First he mocks what the Empire regards as a valiant mission, Next, he shows the unparrarel trade that the Empire wants, and then, he addresses the faà §ade of the scripting of the mission that the Empire prefer to be written in the annals of history. The use of satirical irony and symbols are well armoured vehicles to deliver these points. Crosby declares: Take up the White Mans burden; / to you who thus succeed / In civilizing savage hordes / They owe a debt, indeed; (33 -36) Crosby questions the validity of the mission. He goes on to weigh the exchange between the Empire and the Natives. He adds: Concessions, pensions, salaries, / And priviledge and right, / with outstretched hands you raised to bless / Grab everything in sight. (37 -40). In terms of irony, not only is there a contrast between how much is given verses how much is taken, but, also of what is given verses what is taken. The natives receive a few limited handouts like agreements, benefits, and paychecks and, in exchange the Empire takes ownership of the natives land and naturual resources. Interpretively, Crosby demostrates this transaction as a falling leap by going from owning to owing; which is very much an uneven trade. Finally, he attacks the hypocrisy of using the art of writing to distort the issue and hide the true motive of the Empire. It is necessary to present the catalog of words Crosby uses to expose what he views as being socially, economically, and politically incorrect . Crosby concludes: Take up the White Mans burden, / And if your write in verse, / Flatter your Nations vices, / And strive to make them worse. / Then learn that if with pious words / you ornament each phrase, / In a world of canting hypocrites / This kind of business pays. (41 48) Fittingly, Crosby uses satirical irony to reveal the true motive of the insincere enthusiam that Crosby believes Kipling is showing for the Empires high ideals of pious goodness. Crosby is successful in presenting the single viewpoint of the Empires greed disguised as bringing civility to the uncivilized. In conclusion, the expert use of irony and symbol by both Kipling and Crosby prove to be excellent conveyors of the poets messages. Kiplings use of irony and symbol brillantly delivered two very contradictory positions. He lauds Imperialism by advocating that it is the responsibility of civilized nations to help to bring civilization to underdeveloped nations. He also decries the pride of thinking to be superior and being unfair to people perceived to be less finanically fortunate, not as socially advanced, and not as politically savvy. Like Kipling, Crosby employs irony and symbols to deliver his solo message. Crosbys message is that the Empire is hypocrital in its motive and that the gist of what they really wanted to do was camoflagued by missions to humanity, and described as helping to bring civilization to the uncivilized. Clearly, the poets use of irony and symbol shaped the understanding and interpretation of the poems intended meanings. The use of Irony and Symbol was so wel l executed, there remains no argument as to the value of these elements in both poems.

The Role of Sacred Space in Judeo-Christian Religions Essay -- Religio

The Role of Sacred Space in Judeo-Christian Religions Certain physical locations take on important meanings in the world’s religions. Religions consider various geographic elements such as different cities, regions, mountains, and rivers to be sacred. For example, Hindus travel to the Ganges River to cleanse themselves from their sins (Momen 157). One of the requirements of all Muslims is that they make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca (Eastman 398). Judeo-Christian religions also have certain places that are held sacred to their followers. The concept of sacred space is important to Judeo-Christian religions, because it helps to explain the questions of existence. Sacred space provides something tangible to represent religions while reducing the obstacles that prevent religious people from having religious experiences. Judeo-Christian religions have extensive histories in which the concept of sacred space has been instrumental to their developments. Today, sacred space remains important in separating these religion s from the rest of the world. As seen in historical stories and reflected through the symbolism of religious architecture as well as in nature, sacred space is an important aspect of Judeo-Christian religions. One reason that believers of Judeo-Christian religions find certain locations to be important is that God has declared that certain places should be considered sacred. In the Book of Exodus, the Lord speaks to Moses on the mountain of Horeb, saying â€Å"Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground† (Exo. 3.5 NAB). In the Book of Genesis, God sends Abraham to the land of Moriah. â€Å"When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar t... ...stance religions from each other by fostering a feeling of superiority among some religions and inferiority among others. Judeo-Christian religions rely on sacred space to do these things for believers. Works Cited Barbour, Ian G. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997. Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., 1987. Holy Bible, New American Bible (Iowa Falls, Iowa, 1986) Johnson, Kevin Orlin. Why Do Catholics Do That?: A Guide to the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church. New York: Random House, Inc., 1994. Momen, Moojan. The Phenomenon of Religion. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 1999.

Slaughter Houses

Mason, for years, pig production had been a big part of the slaughterhouses, but as time went on, the demand for pork went up. In 1975, pig production was at sixty-nine million a year; in 2004, pig production skyrocketed to one hundred three million pigs. The increase in pigs caused environmental problems because the average adult pig produces four times as much waste as an adult human. With the amount of pigs in each farm (for example, a farm in Nebraska has over forty-eight thousand pigs), and their waste leaking into nearby bodies of water, many fish and other animals were killed.Pigs like to move around and explore their environment in the wild which they are unable to do that in captivity because of how cramped the pens are. On one farm in Nebraska, there are over forty-eight thousand pigs in only twenty-four barns (Mason and Singer 339). The video â€Å"Torture Inside Slaughterhouses Suffering Untold (The Ugliest Methods of Torture) Not for Weak Lyons 2 Hearts† shows tha t this environment causes pigs to develop open sores. When a pig is pregnant, it is kept in a gestational crate which is barely bigger than their body.Following birth, the babies are immediately castrated and have their tails cut if without anesthesia. To make the pigs move, the workers kick, hit, and yell at them. Many of the pigs die from mutilation. If the pig is sick, injured, or has not been growing as fast as the other pigs, it is killed. Pigs tend to live for only five to six months. The most popular ways to kill the pigs include throwing the pigs into bins and painfully gassing them with carbon dioxide, slamming their head on the floor, and being hung on a forklift and suffocated (â€Å"Torture†).With chickens used to produce eggs, directly after birth, the males and females are separated and the males are killed because they don't lay eggs. To kill them, they are either thrown into giant grinding machines or thrown into trash bags and suffocated. With the females, to avoid pecking in overcrowded pens, the tips of their beaks are cut off which causes acute and chronic pain. When they are grown to a certain size, they are moved to even more overcrowded cages and lay eggs for their whole life. Workers abuse the hens by stepping on them, throwing them in garbage cans, and mangling their spines to break their neck.After their egg production is too slow, they are plucked from their cages and put into carts where they are suffocated tit carbon dioxide (â€Å"Torture†). Poultry that is used for meat are stuffed in overcrowded sheds. Genetically, chicken and turkeys have grown so big, they become crippled, have chronic joint pain, and heart attacks. Poultry that are sick or injured are clubbed to death or have their neck broken. When finally in the slaughterhouse, the workers handle the poultry very violently leaving injuries and bruises.The workers hang the poultry upside down by their feet in shackles and dragged through an electric vat Lyons 3 of water to paralyze them. To kill them, they are pulled against a blade that outs through their neck and if that doesn't work, there is a worker that cuts their neck (â€Å"Torture†). On cow farms, cows are fed BEST, bovine commiseration, a genetically engineered growth hormone strictly used in the USA because Canada and England fear the side effects on the cows health. Along with BEST, cows are fed antibiotics in their meals.Their meals, that should contain forage, actually contains corn and left over cow meat (Mason and Singer 349). Calves on dairy farms are dragged away from their mother and either made for veal or, if they're strong enough, are kept for beef. Cows are kept confined n stalls on concrete flooring. Workers torture the cows by cutting off their tails and burning their skull to get their horns out without pain killers. When a cow becomes too sick or injured to stand, called downers, they are left alone too slowly and painfully die. Cows used for beef are cas trated then branded with a hot iron.Beef cows are contained in overcrowded feedlots which is covered with their waste. To kill a cow, the workers tend to cut their throat (â€Å"Torture†). Wild cows' life expectancy is about twenty years, where a confined cows' life expectancy is five to seven years (Mason and Singer 350). There is one person that noticed how inhumane these factories are, mainly for cattle, named Temple Grinding. From a small article â€Å"Temple Grinding Biography,† she was born on August 29, 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was diagnosed with Autism at the age of four and didn't learn how to talk until the age of four.To get her to talk, she went through extensive speech therapy with her mom. She also had a hypersensitivity to noise and other stimuli. According to the movie â€Å"Temple Grinding,† doctors said she should be institutionalized, but the mother refused. She went to a boarding school, here she still bullied. In this school, thoug h, she befriended a teacher who saw how she learned in pictures and helped her realize her true potential. Lyons 4 One summer she went to her Aunts farm which is where she got her interest in cows. Throughout her life, she liked to build things.She saw a machine she called a â€Å"hugging machine† and saw how much it helped to calm the cows. She built her own to calm her down saying she gets the same release a regular person gets from an actual hug from another person (â€Å"Temple†). For her masters degree in Animal Science, she went to Arizona State. As she would be in tours of different cattle farms and saw the cows being poked and prodded, she started to think about how she could make the farms more humane. She saw how the ways used at that time made the cows scared and how some of them were killed and wanted to fix it (â€Å"Temple†).She first wanted to do her thesis on mooing, and she concluded how the cows use different moos at different times. She figure d out that the cows are actually warning each other when something is going to happen. Her professors wouldn't sign off on her thesis. She switched her thesis to control yester and cattle and why some work better than others and how they can tell the difference. To see what the cows see, Temple Went through the chute cows go through and was able to figure out what scared them and makes them uncomfortable. She soon wrote many articles on her findings (â€Å"Temple').A farmer read her articles and liked her ideas and asked her to design a dip for his farm. The dip she designed starts with a chute that is curved so that the cows feel like they're going in circles, which calms them. They follow each other into a tunnel that makes them into one line and they go down a incorrect ramp that allows them to go into the dip at their own pace to keep tem relaxed. The day before it was going to be shown, a reporter witnessed it and called it brilliant. The day it showed though, the farmers chan ged it and had already killed three cows by the time Temple got there (â€Å"Temple†).Lyons 5 She tried to enter the Abbot Slaughterhouse to talk to the head and show him her plans for a more humane factory. They would not let her in. At the store though, Temple met a woman who helped her trough the automatic doors that Temple was afraid to go through. That woman turned out to be the wife f the head of Abbot Slaughterhouse who was able to get Temple in to see her husband. He accepted Temple's plans (â€Å"Tempe'). Temple went on to get her doctorate at the University of Illinois in Animal Science.She then became a professor at Colorado State University and lectures worldwide on autism and animal handling. In North America now, half of the cattle is handled by the systems made by Temple Grinding (â€Å"Temple†). Today, a lot Of Temple's beliefs are used. She believed that the correct stunning is extremely important, it leads to better meat. If the stunning is one incor rectly, bloodspots in meat and bone fractures can happen. She stated that an agitated steer can be very dangerous and shouldn't be tampered with. Also, an escaped cattle should never be chased.If you leave it alone, it will return. Lastly, stay away from the cattle's blind spot, if it can't see you, it might kick you. Temple has specific guidelines for livestock holding facilities. First, the animals should be moved in small groups. Also, the pens should never be overcrowded. They should be filled only halfway. Handlers should understand the basic concepts of flight zone and the point of balance on a owe. Ranches and facilities must have non-slip flooring. Lastly, workers should keep the animals calm, when the animals are calm, they move more easily.Temple said that at all different types of facilities, there should be proper unloading ramps so the trucks can unload properly. Larger facilities should have two or more ramps. The ramps should have a level dock before the ramp goes dow n so the animals have a level surface to walk Lyons 6 on when they exit the truck. Also, the ramp should not exceed twenty degrees, this will allow the cows to go down the ramp easier. If the ramp is incorrect, stair Steps should be there to provide better traction for the animals.

The Rosetta Stone essays

The Rosetta Stone essays In 1799, when Napoleons army was dismantling a wall in Rashid, Egypt, they discovered the Rosetta Stone. Little did they know that this 11-inch thick piece of rock would be one of the greatest discoveries in history! It contained Egyptian scripture, with Greek also on the stone. This was used to decode the once lost Egyptian writing system. Before the 1800s, attempts at trying to uncover the secrets held by the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics found on walls inside numerous tombs were useless. The pictures were falsely believed to be symbolic, representing some sort of object or idea. Something soon changed all of this misconception. 1799 was the year of a great breakthrough in Egyptology. French troops, under Napoleons command, were destroying a wall when they found a black, basalt stone. The stone was inscribed with three different forms of writing: Egyptian hieroglyphics, a shorthand form of hieroglyphs, and Greek written in 196 BC. The Rosetta Stone then became instrumental in decrypting the long forgotten Egyptian writing system. The stone was first discovered near Rosetta, Egypt, by one of Napoleon's soldiers, named variously as Bouchard, during his expedition to Egypt in August of 1799. In no time, this discovery was mentioned to all the top scholars who were immensely interested since there was no way to decode the hieroglyphs. In 1802, Johan David Akerblad was the first to break ground in identifying the first demotic symbols. He identified a few of the proper names in the demotic text, after comparing them with the same names found in the Greek text. (Ogg 78) Next on the scene was Thomas Young, an English physicist, who took an interest to the deciphering the Rosetta Stone as well. After much researching, Young was able to prove that the proper names in the hieroglyphics section of the stone did in fact have phonetic value, and were not made up of symbols. He then introduced the idea o ...