Comparisons and Contrasts of the Social Structures Essay Example for Free

Comparisons and Contrasts of the Social Structures Essay There are many comparisons and contrasts of the social structures and religious beliefs between West Africa and Europe from 700-1500 BCE. Some of these include that West Africa was mainly Islam and Europe was Catholic. Both West Africa and Europe had patriarchal societies. Both of these groups are very different but also have some similarities. West Africa was mainly Islam and Europe was Catholic. This is because West Africa was largely affected by sub Saharan trade. During this time period most of Europe was catholic although it was not as widespread as other religions. Both West Africa and Europe had patriarchal societies although in West Africa women had more influence and could actually govern people. The Muslims of Africa during this time period were typically much less strict about the roles of women than their Middle Eastern counterparts. In both Western Africa and Europe, people were born into leadership positions and higher classes. Instead of having elected officials, both of these societies have leaders that live in a royal family. In Europe the top of the social ladder are priests and in West Africa military leaders are the top of the social ladder. In Europe, the catholic religion is a main part of everyday life. The Pope elects many political leaders in European countries displaying the dominance of religion in this region. Many things about West Africa and Europe are similar, but as we can see they are also very different. This is evident in the fact that both regions are patriarchal and that West Africa was Islam and Europe is Catholic between 700-1500 BCE.

Presenting People in Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in

Presenting People in Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes, and Island Man In this essay I will compare the ways in which the poets present people in â€Å"Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes† by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and â€Å"Island Man† by Grace Nichols. In this essay I will look at the shape, structure, poetic devices and language in both poems. Firstly I will examine what the two poems are about and the ways how both poets portray the people in the poems. The poem â€Å"Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes† is about a coincidence meeting of the two working class scavengers and a beautiful, rich couple in Mercedes. This poem was set in America and was aimed to show that there is class division and was commenting on American society. In this poem there is a huge contrast between rich and poor. I know this because the description of the two scavengers and the rich couple shows us the inequality that the two classes have. The poem is not set in stanzas but can be divided into 5 stages. It is more s...

Crash and Privilege, Power, and Difference

Matthew Miller Paper #1: Privilege, Power, and Difference* and *Crash The Movie Crashis set in Los Angeles and begins when several people are involved in a multi-car accident. From there the movie skips to the day before where we see the lives of several of the characters who were involved in the crash and the racial problems they encounter that day. The moviebegins by showing an Islamic man and his daughter going into a gun shop to by a gun. When the Islamic man speaks in a different language to his daughter the store clerk says to him â€Å"Hey Osama, plan your Jihad on your own time. An argument ensues and the daughter ends up staying in the store and buying the gun, and instead of bullets she accidentally buys blanks asammo, however the clerk does not tell her this. The movie then skips to a couple of young black men who are complaining about the service they received at a restaurant. One of them says it is because of the stereotype that blacks don’t tip very well, and th ensays that he didn’t tip anything because of the poor service. As the two black men are walking down the street they come across a white politician and his wife. When the politician’s wife sees the black men coming towards them she gets closer to her husband. One of the black men noticesthis and points it out. Shortly after they pass each other the young black men steal the white couples’ car at gunpoint. The politician’s wife is really upset about being carjacked and has all of the locks in their house changed. When the locksmith comes and she sees that he is Hispanic she takes her anger out on him. The movie then shows a white LAPD officer who is trying to get medical help for his ailing father. The officeris having problems with a black clerk who won’t give the officers father permission to see another doctor. The white officer takes his frustration out on a black couple during a traffic stop and ends up sexually assaulting the woman. Next the Persian from the beginning of the movie calls the Hispanic locksmith to have him fix the lock at the shop that he owns. The Hispanic locksmith tells the Persian that he changed the lock but it wouldn’t do any good because he needs to replace the door. The Persian gets mad and tells the locksmith to fix the door and the locksmith said that he doesn’t do that, he just fixes locks. The Persian shopkeeper gets really mad about this. Shortly after this,the Persian man’s shop is robbed, and because he didn’t replace the door insurance will not cover the damage. The Persian man is extremely upset about this and blames it on the Mexican Locksmith. The white police officer has another run in with the HMO clerk. The white police officer basically tells the clerk that she only got that job because of affirmative action and that she probably beat out eightmore qualified white men for the job. He also tells her that despite the fact that his father’s janitorial service employed only black men he was forced out of business by affirmative action laws. The movie then goes to the crash where the black lady that was assaulted earlier in the movieis trapped in her car and surrounded by gasoline. It is only a matter of time before the car will explode and the first officer on the scene is the white officer who assaulted her earlier. The black lady initially tells him to go away, but he is very nice to her and ensures her that he is only trying to save her. He pulls her out of the car just before the car explodes. The movie then shows the Hispanic locksmith getting home from work, where he is then approached by the angry Persian shopkeeper, who blames him for his store being robbed and pulls a gun on him. The Hispanic locksmith’s daughter sees the gun pulled on her dad and runs in front of him just before the Persian man pulls the trigger. The shot is fired and everyone thinks the young girl has been shot, but since the Persian man’s daughter accidentally bought blanks in the beginning of themovie the young girl is fine. The movie ends with one of the young black hijackers being shot by the partner of the racist white police officer over some confusion. The first time I saw Crash my initial response was that the movie is incredibly sad. It is upsetting that so many of the racial issues we are faced with today stem from ignorance and fear. Part of me thinks this movie goes a little overboard with the racism issues in the movie because I don’t know if it is likely that so many people’s paths would cross in such a way where so many of them have such deep rooted racism and misunderstanding. It almost seems like the movie takes the racial stereotypes a little too far, but I think that was the point. It shows stereotyping and racism to an extreme and it makes you think that these peoples’ actions are ridiculous. I don’t think most of us are racist to the degree that is shown in the movie, but showing it to such an extreme really makes you aware of how ignorant racism is on any level. While the movie takes these examples to extremes, I do think a lot of the racial issues that occurred in the movie do happen on a regular basis, the movie just ties themtogether in the span of two hours to make a movie. At first I thought this was a little too much, but now I get the point of it. I really think the point of this movie was to raise awareness of the problem because awareness is a major step in the right direction towards solving the problem. One thing that stuck out to me because I’ve heard a lot about it is in the beginning of the movie when the young black men are talking about the poor service they received and that it was because of the stereotype that black people don’t tip very well. I have been dating a server for a few years, and she really isn’t racist at all, but she says this is true. She says she hates it because anytime she is serving a table of black people this stereotypegoes through her head and she hates thinking that but it’s true. I seriously doubt she is a person who would ever give them poor service because of the stereotype but I am sure that in some cases that happens. I think sometimes stereotypes are reinforced because of people’s preconceived thoughts. I am sure there are cases where a table of black people may receive poor service because the server assumes the table will tip poorly and then because the table receives poor service they probably do tip poorly, and the stereotype is reinforced. I thought the movie Crash and the book Privilege, Power, and Differencewere similar in many ways, but also very different in some ways as well. I think both the book and the movie take racial issues to extremes. I think they both do this to raise awareness of the important issues. In the book Johnson states â€Å"People can’t help fearing the unfamiliar—including people of other races† (2006, p. 4), Johnson goes on to say this isn’t necessarily true, but I think the movie tries to highlight this aspect of the problem. In the movie when the politician and his wife are walking down the street, the wife gets closer to her husband when the young black men approach because she is afraid of them. She is a person that has probably not dealt with very many you black men and sheprobably thinks that all young black men are criminals. In the movie she turns out to be right about these two menand is carjacked by them, but real life isn’t really that way. At some points I thought the movie kind of reinforced negative stereotypes like the young black men stealing the white couple’s car after she seemed racist for thinking they would do that. The book talks a lot about white racism and makes it sound as if it is white privilege that is holding back black people. I think the movie does a better job of showing racism from all aspects. The movie makes it seem like all races are racist against races other than their own, while concentrating heavily on the relationship between whites and blacks. In the movie one of the young thieves says that he would never rob a black person, and goes on and on about how white people hold black people down. Another important issue that the movie brought up is affirmative action laws. The white police officer who is dealing with the black HMO clerk brings up the issue in an argument with her. I think obviously the officer is out of line with what he says,however he brings up a pretty good point. The book goes on and on about the advantages of be â€Å"privileged†. When Johnson talks about the â€Å"privileged† he is referring to white men. Johnson says that the privileged have access to better jobs and will usually be hired instead of a black person or a woman. He is completely ignoring the affirmative action laws when he states this. Johnson states that â€Å"watching movies and television the message came across loud and clear that white men are the most important people on the planet† (2006, p. 79). I think the idea of the white man being â€Å"ideal† can be seen in the movie. When the black couple is arguing after the woman is sexually assaulted by the white police officer , the women says to her husband, you didn’t want to do anything because you didn’t want your name to be in the paper and all of your friends to know you really are black. I think she is implying to him that he hangs around with all white directors and acts white like them so that he will be more successful, but in the process has lost his â€Å"blackness†. Overall I thought both the book and the movie do a good job of raising awareness of the many racial issues that we are face with. They both take these racial issues to an extreme to make it clear that they do exist to a large extent. I thought the movie did a better job of giving a realistic portrayal of racism from all sides while the book seemed to be stuck on the concept of â€Å"white racism†. White racism† is certainly not a topic to be ignored and if you want to understand the racial issues we are faced with today it is not a bad place to start. However, the race issue runs much deeper than just white racism and can really be seen in cultures all around the world. I thought that Crash did a really good job of showing racism, and the negative affect it has in our society. Bi bliography Haggis, Paul (2004). Crash.

How Technology Affects Youth

Technology Affects Youth? s Life The young people of today are constantly using technological devices, such as cell phones, X-Boxes, laptops, or iPods. Do you think Technology is effecting our youth today? Do you think it is a bad influence? Do you think it’s becoming a problem with their learning? I think youths are facing a bad moment with the technology without noticing.One effect the technology has is a negative influence on the social lives of youth, because it keeps people from experiencing reality. Youth are losing contact face to face because even they are at a party, family reunion or hanging out friends, most youth cannot leave their technological devices on the side and enjoy the moment. If youths are constantly being cut off from people and new experiences because of technology, our generation is dying in social life.If we never face reality by making personal relationships, experiencing things, and solving problems, we will never know how to solve any problem with out help of technology. Another effect of technology on youth is youth are no paying enough attention in class or when they are doing homework. Youths are always thinking in what their friend or boyfriend are doing instead of being paying attention to class or homework. Youth has to have balance in how much time to spend on Facebook, YouTube, or any social media.For example youth are allowed to get on any social media but all school work and chorus have to be completed The indiscriminate use of technology is making youth not enjoy the best of life like have a nice moment with their family, friends or boyfriend or girlfriend. In the other hand technology has too many benefits like helps to be in touch with people that are far. Technology is an excellent tool to learn. Youths needs to learn how to uses technology for their own benefits no technology uses youth.

Harrison Bergeron Theme Analysis Essay Example

Harrison Bergeron Theme Analysis Essay Example Harrison Bergeron Theme Analysis Paper Harrison Bergeron Theme Analysis Paper Harrison Bergeron Analysis This clear inequality teen them is unfair and creates competition, so the government decides to place a noise machine in Georges ear which will go off every so often to keep him from thinking too hard. Hazel, on the other hand, doesnt have to wear any such devise. As it turns out, this couple has a son named Harrison, however when he was younger he was so overly talented that they couldnt restrain him with normal ways, so the Handicapper General (the organization in charge of making all equal) decided to imprison him, as they believed he was planning a government overthrow at the age f 14. At the present day George and Hazel are relaxing watching some restrained ballerinas perform poorly when a government announcement interrupts the show. Harrison has escaped prison, and surprise surprise, hes at the ballerina show. He rips of the hundreds of pounds of restraints, his mask, and all of the other restraints, and he declares himself emperor. He then claims one of the ballerinas as him empress and they dance together in an unbelievably beautiful fashion, culminating with an extended kiss in which they ignore gravity. Finally theyre shot with a shotgun by the Handicapper General and they die. George and Hazel shortly afterwards forget what was sad on the television. There are many themes which this short story brings up in order to make the reader question how far he or she wishes government control to go. These themes include equality, competition, and censorship. However they can all be summed up into one theme statement. : To restrict the freedom and hide the talents of the gifted in order to stop unfair competition ends up benefiting body, as it creates a society in which nobody works to improve the world, the untalented get even more untalented, and rights which equality should protect end up being destroyed by censorship. As demonstrated by George Burgeon perfectly, all those with an unfair talent are handicapped and prevented from showcasing their talent properly. While this does end up keeping the smart from beating out the dumb, it also prevents society from improving. When George has a thought about maybe not handicapping ballerinas so the show improves, it is immediately pushed way by his ear handicap. Hence, a potentially beneficial idea is shut down before it can even be discuss. In addition to harming society by not allowing potentially beneficial ideas to be discussed, these handicaps Just make the dumb dumber. Although many people arent mentally talented, they can improve their capabilities through hard work and education from people such as teachers and parents. Despite never being able to match those naturally more gifted then them, people would be able to become educated and capable of critical thinking. As is evidenced by Hazel, none of this improvement happens in 2081. She in no way would be considered average today, as she constantly forgets things and never thinks for herself, resulting in a below average thinker never improving, and therefore being less capable of deep thoughts then todays below average IQ person, who can improve his or her abilities. By creating equality many believe this would be the ultimate fulfillment of natural rights, not say in this scenario. Rights which are treasured in modern day society are rumpled upon, most notably free speech. The way in which people are made average in this world requires those who think not to do so, and when something happens to initiate a thought, a television station is temporarily shut down or a noise is sent through the brain. Freedom of expression is not allowed, as anyone who questions the system is thrown in Jail, such as Harrison. This story is all about how far one is willing to go to achieve equality, and the slippery slope scenario which it poses it quite frightening.

Corporate Operations of the BMW Group Case Study

Corporate Operations of the BMW Group - Case Study Example The BMW Group is a global manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. According to the BMW Group website (2008) the company concentrates entirely on premium standards and outstanding quality for all its brands and across all relevant segments. The BMW Group owns the BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce brands and it defines its strategic objective: "The BMW Group is the leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility" (BMW Group 2008). . The BMW Group's headquarters are in Munich, Germany where activities in over 150 countries are coordinated. It has 8 research and development centers - BMW Group Research and Innovation Center (FIZ), Munich; BMW Group Research and Technology, Munich; BMW Group Car IT, Munich; Innovation and Technology Center in Landshut Plant; BMW Group Designworks, Newbury Park, USA; BMW Group Engineering and Emissions Test Center, Oxnard, USA; BMW Group Technology Office, Palo Alto, USA; BMW Motoren GmbH Steyr, Austria; BMW Group Technology Office, Tokyo, Japan; BMW Group Development Office, Beijing, China. It has 17 production facilities in 6 countries: Berlin plant, Dingolfing plant, Eisenach plant, Contract production in Graz (Austria), Goodwood plant (GB), Hams Hall plant (GB), Landshut plant, Leipzig plant, Munich plant, Oxford plant (GB), Regensburg plant, Rosslyn plant (South Africa), Shenyang plant (China), Spartanburg plant (USA), Steyr plant (Austria), Swindon plant (GB), Wackersdorf pla nt. Assembly is done with external partners in different countries - Jakarta, Indonesia; Kaliningrad, Russia; Cairo, Egypt; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Rayong, Thailand; Chennai, India. Sales and marketing subsidiaries are also present in many countries, helping maintain and enhance BMW's presence in key markets - Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, USA. (BMW Group, 2008). The BMW Group deals not only with automotive products, it also develops, produces and markets motorcycles, as well as comprehensive financial services for private and business customers. For its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the BMW Group it is the only "car maker to pursue a purely premium strategy for all market sectors covered by its brands, from exclusive smaller cars to top-of-the-range luxury limousines", according to the group website (2008). For motorcycles, aside from the strategy to build the best motorcycles, the company has set standards for technology, environmental protection and safety, and customer service in the pre- and after-sales phases. Seeing financial services as a key factor in BMW's successful operations, it has established financing and leasing, asset

Sickle Cell Disease Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sickle Cell Disease - Research Paper Example Due to the abnormal haemoglobin formation, this oxygen delivery is affected. The red blood cells also lose their normal functional capacity and acquire a sickle shape and this leads to anaemia in the patient. These individuals are also more prone to infections (Bloom 1995; Govan et al 1995; Ganong 2005). The image above shows the difference between the normal shaped red blood cells and the red blood cells of sickle cell disease (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute 2011). Each parent contributes to the genetic makeup of an individual. Half of the genes are inherited from mother and the other half from father. Some traits are completely governed by the type of genes present in the body like colour of eyes and height while others may be influenced by the environment like athletic abilities. Although the parents make an equal contribution of genes but their effect is not always the same. Some genes are dominant and some are recessive. The dominant gene produces its effects in all cas es while the recessive gene has to be present in a pair to produce the desired effects. HbS which is the gene implicated in the causation of sickle cell disease is a recessive gene. ... ase If one parent is diseased and the other is normal If both the parents are carriers of the defective gene If one parent is carrier and the other is normal Both the parents are neither carriers nor do they suffer from the disease The chance of transmitting the disease is 100% in the case when both the parents of a child suffer from sickle cell disease. If one parent is diseased and the other is carrier of sickle cell trait, the chance of developing disease is reduced to 50% and if one parent is diseased and the other is normal then there is 0% chance of disease development however it will produce sickle cell traits in the children (Bloom 1995). The figure above shows the â€Å"Genetic pedigree† of sickle cell disease.( Shiverdecker 2005) The clinical manifestations of sickle cell disease vary with the age. The major complication associated with the disease is chronic low levels of haemoglobin while some other complications include bacterial infection, splenic sequestration w hile stroke, renal disease, pulmonary hypertension, leg ulcers depict the organ damage in long standing disease. The infection from bacteria results from the reduced functioning of the spleen or asplenia. Asplenia occurs due to the continuous destruction of sickle shaped red blood cells in the spleen which results in the affecting the normal functional capacity of the organ. Hence, spleen is the first organ to be damaged. Splenic sequestration is characterized by the enlargement of the organ and decreased Hb levels along with thrombocytopenia present occasionally. This has been a common cause of death due to sudden circulatory collapse. Acute chest syndrome affect almost 50% of the patients and it is the second leading cause of emergency. Adults are generally more affected. In acute chest syndrome,