Tobacco and the Origins and Domestication of Nicotiana

Tobacco and the Origins and Domestication of Nicotiana Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica and N. tabacum) is a plant that was and is used as a psychoactive substance, a narcotic, a painkiller, and a pesticide and, as a result, it is and was used in the ancient past in a wide variety of rituals and ceremonies. Four species were recognized by Linnaeus in 1753, all originating from the Americas, and all from the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Today, scholars recognize over 70 different species, with N. tabacum the most economically important; almost all of them originated in South America, with one endemic to Australia and another to Africa. Domestication History A group of recent biogeographical studies reports that modern tobacco ( N. tabacum) originated in the highland Andes, probably Bolivia or northern Argentina, and was likely a result of the hybridization of two older species, N. sylvestris and a member of the section Tomentosae, perhaps N. tomentosiformis Goodspeed. Long before the Spanish colonization, tobacco had been distributed well outside its origins, throughout South America, into Mesoamerica and reaching the Eastern Woodlands of North America no later than ~300 BC. Although some debate within the scholarly community exists suggesting that some varieties may have originated in Central America or Southern Mexico, the most widely accepted theory is that N. tabacum originated where the historical ranges of its two progenitor species intersected. The earliest dated tobacco seeds found to date are from early Formative levels at Chiripa in the Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia. Tobacco seeds were recovered from Early Chiripa contexts (1500-1000 BC), although not in sufficient quantities or contexts to prove tobacco  use with shamanistic practices. Tushingham and colleagues have traced a continuous record of smoking tobacco in pipes in western North America from at least 860 AD, and at the time of European colonial contact, tobacco was the most widely exploited intoxicant in the Americas. Curanderos and Tobacco Tobacco is believed to be one of the first plants used in the New World to initiate ecstasy trances. Taken in large amounts, tobacco induces hallucinations, and, perhaps not surprisingly, tobacco use is associated with pipe ceremonialism and bird imagery throughout the Americas. Physical changes associated with extreme doses of tobacco use include a lowered heart rate, which in some cases has been known to render the user into a catatonic state. Tobacco is consumed in a number of ways, including chewing, licking, eating, sniffing, and enemas, although smoking is the most effective and common form of consumption. Among the ancient Maya and extending down to today, tobacco was a sacred, supernaturally powerful plant, considered a primordial medicine or botanical helper and associated with Maya deities of the earth and sky. A classic 17 year-long study by ethnoarchaeologist Kevin Goark (2010) looked at the use of the plant among the Tzeltal-Tzotzil Maya communities in highland Chiapas, recording processing methods, physiological effects, and magico-protective uses. Ethnographic Studies A series of ethnographic interviews (Jauregui et al 2011) was conducted between 2003-2008 with curanderos (healers) in east central Peru, who reported using tobacco in various ways. Tobacco is one of over fifty plants with psychotropic effects used in the region that are considered plants that teach, including coca, datura, and ayahuasca. Plants that teach are also sometimes referred to as plants with a mother, because they are believed to have an associated guiding spirit or mother who teaches the secrets of traditional medicine. Like the other plants that teach, tobacco is one of the cornerstones of learning and practicing the art of the shaman, and according to the curanderos consulted by Jauregui et al. it is considered one of the most powerful and oldest of plants. Shamanistic training in Peru involves a period of fasting, isolation, and celibacy, during which period one ingests one or more of the teaching plants on a daily basis. Tobacco in the form of a potent type of Nicotiana rustica is always present in their traditional medical practices, and it is used for purification, to cleanse the body of negative energies. Sources Groark KP. 2010. The Angel in the Gourd: Ritual, Therapeutic, and Protective Uses of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Among the Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology 30(1):5-30.Jauregui X, Clavo ZM, Jovel EM, and Pardo-de-Santayana M. 2011. â€Å"Plantas con madre†: Plants that teach and guide in the shamanic initiation process in the East-Central Peruvian Amazon. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134(3):739-752.Khan MQ, and Narayan RKJ. 2007. Phylogenetic diversity and relationships among species of genus Nicotiana using RAPDs analysis. African Journal of Biotechnology 6(2):148-162.Leng X, Xiao B, Wang S, Gui Y, Wang Y, Lu X, Xie J, Li Y, and Fan L. 2010. Identification of NBS-Type Resistance Gene Homologs in Tobacco Genome. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 28(1):152-161.Lewis R, and Nicholson J. 2007. Aspects of the evolution of Nicotiana tabacum L. and the status of the United States Nicotiana Germplasm Collection. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution  54(4):727-740.Mandondo A, German L, Utila H, and Nthenda UM. 2014. Assessing Societal Benefits and Trade-Offs of Tobacco in the Miombo Woodlands of Malawi. Human Ecology 42(1):1-19. Moon HS, Nifong JM, Nicholson JS, Heineman A, Lion K, Hoeven Rvd, Hayes AJ, Lewis RS, and USDA A. 2009. Microsatellite-based Analysis of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) Genetic Resources. Crop Science 49(6):2149-2159.Roulette CJ, Hagen E, and Hewlett BS. 2016. A biocultural investigation of gender differences in tobacco use in an egalitarian hunter-gatherer population. Human Nature 27(2):105-129.Tushingham S, Ardura D, Eerkens JW, Palazoglu M, Shahbaz S, and Fiehn O. 2013. Hunter-gatherer tobacco smoking: earliest evidence from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(2):1397-1407.Tushingham S, and Eerkens JW. 2016. Hunter-Gatherer Tobacco Smoking in Ancient North America: Current Chemical Evidence and a Framework for Future Studies. In: Anne Bollwerk E, and Tushingham S, editors. Perspectives on the Archaeology of Pipes, Tobacco and other Smoke Plants in the Ancient Americas. Cham: Springer International Publishing. p 211-230.Zagorevski DV, a nd Loughmiller-Newman JA. 2012. The detection of nicotine in a Late Mayan period flask by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry methods. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 26(4):403-411.

african american lit paper

african american lit paper african american lit paper African American Literature Paper Sarah A. Perkins March 2, 2015 ENG/301 African American Literature Paper African-American literature is literature that was written and published in the United States by African – American writers. Much of this writing began during the American Revolution and has continued to flourish and thrive throughout Western society. Many of the themes and issues explored within this literature include the role of African Americans in society, racism, African culture, civil rights, slavery, and social equality. Many African American writers would expound upon these ideas through various literary conventions and forms to help build their stories and create a relationship with the readers. Some common literary conventions that can be found in African American writing are the use of imagery, character, and language. Some common literary forms were oral forms, visual forms, and auditory forms. Jourdon Anderson, W.E.B. DuBois, and Maya Angelou are three prominent African American writers that composed masterful works using some of the various literary conventions and forms stated above. Jourdon Anderson was a writer during the post – American Revolution era. His work â€Å"To My Old Master† (1865) is a letter that he wrote in response to his former slave owner requesting that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdon- , who was emancipated at the time and had moved to Ohio to find work, responded with this letter which soon became an immediate media sensation after its publication in the New York Daily Tribune in 1865 (Breed, A., 2012). In the letter Anderson tackles two themes common in African American Literature: Slavery and freedom. These themes are clearly seen through Anderson use of tone and language. At first glance the letter seems nothing more than a polite response to his former master’s request. But it is clear as one continues on that Anderson’s harbors antipathy for his former master. In the opening paragraph, he states, â€Å"I have often felt uneasy about you† (Anderson, J., 1865). He applies the word â€Å"uneas y† as a euphemism to disguise his abhorrence for his former master without explicitly stating it. By doing this, he maintains his polite language and demeanor yet successfully drives home his sense of anguish at his former oppressor with his sarcastic tone. Since this work is written as a letter, it is clearly oral in form. Which means that, by design, this work is meant to be read aloud with stress on specific syllables and words to emphasize the meaning. For example, Anderson states â€Å"As to my freedom, which you say I can have† (Anderson, J., 1865). The parenthetical he uses, â€Å"which you say I can have† provides a sense of sarcasm to the reader/listener because Anderson is underlying the fact that his former master still believes that he has control over Anderson’s life. He then continues to clarify his thought by adding the statement, â€Å"there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-Ge neral of the Department of Nashville† (Anderson, J., 1865). When read aloud, this statement is very definitive and final in nature, lending to his thesis: I am free and I never again will be a slave. W.E.B. DuBois was a poet during the early Twentieth Century. His work, â€Å"The Song of the Smoke† (1907) was a poem that was written tackling the themes of African Americans in society and social equality. It is often understood as an affirmation of Black pride and Black acceptance. This poem was first published in 1907 in the magazine known as Horizon, one which he himself edited. (Thompson, E. 2001, p.215). DuBois employs the use of imagery and language to emphasize his thesis: African American lives are important and impactful. He opens the poem with, â€Å"I am the Smoke King/I am black!† (Dubois, W.E.B., 1907, L/1-2). Here he uses the image if back smoke against a grey visage. We can see that DuBois is using the contrasting elements to show that, despite the

2000 Concorde Accident Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

2000 Concorde Accident - Essay Example This theory proceeds from the perspective that business environments are socially determined. Therefore, the levels of success of business enterprises are directly proportional to the level of attachment that exists between the social order and the company’s actions and reactions. On this score, some of the issues that have been used to determine the course of action are mostly tied to the capacity to relate to issues of general interest. Multiple perspectives agree on the fact that legitimacy theory harmonizes the relationships and connections between the society and the business in ways that provide synergies that enable the sustainability of the business environment (Buys, 2010, pp. 55-61). Other theorists suggest that the proper adoption of this theory has the effect of easing the chain of supply as the streamlined social environment provides the necessary support for easing the processes of the firm. This study shall engage the theory of legitimacy in understanding the reactions that followed the 2000 Concorde Crash. Air France reacted in various ways to the tragedy but this paper will concern itself with the formal responses as obtained from press releases, official comment, news reports, and other kinds of responses that followed the disaster (Buyck, 2010, p. 67). The assumption is that the responses could be reduced into the company’s demonstration of an underlying commitment to the service of certain values, mores, ethics, and traditions that regulate its policy framework and on which its operational framework is based. Essentially, the reactions by Air France to the disaster could be interpreted as an outward manifestation of its framework as understood within the aspect of corporate management. The case in point for discussion concerns the disastrous crash of the French Concorde flight also known as Air France Flight 4590. This paper will limit itself to some specific responses of the management of Air France to the 2000 crash of the Concorde.

Honey Bee Pheromones Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Honey Bee Pheromones - Research Paper Example Pheromones are the most important chemical mediators in honeybees, maintaining the integrity of the hive and enabling interaction between queen and worker bees, between worker bees themselves, between queen bees and drones, and between the brood and the adults of the swarm. 1. Pheromone Physiology Pheromones are chemical signals or messengers that are released from specialized glands in bees. The Nasanov gland, located above the abdomen, releases attractant pheromones. The Mandibular gland, located near the mouth, and the Sting gland release alarm pheromones. These chemicals are not only important for communication but also for behavioral-control (Breed 1998). Pheromones are of two types, releaser pheromones and primer pheromones. Releaser pheromones act immediately on the recipient while primer pheromones are slow and have long-term effects (Breed 1998; Trhlin & Rajchard 2011). Breed identifies four criteria that should be fulfilled by a pheromone to be an effective interaction and recognition tool. It should be present, should be perceived, should be more identical among nestmates (family members) than random individuals of the population, and should be able to elicit a behavior-related response. 2. Intercommunication Mediated by Pheromones While the functions of honeybee pheromones are wide ranging, Trhlin & Rajchard (2011) have categorized them into four comprehensive categories based on who the elicitor and the recipient of the chemical message is. This paper discusses the importance of pheromones in these four kinds of interactions that are necessary for the optimal functioning of a beehive. The different pheromones involved in the interaction between the queen bees, workers, drones and broods are summarized in Table 1. Some of the important components of these pheromones are also listed. 2.1 Queen and Worker Bee Interaction The queen retinue pheromone (QRP) and the queen mandibular pheromone (QMP): QRP produced by the queen bee attracts worker bees. 9-ox o-(E)-2-decenoic acid (ODA) is an important constituent of this pheromone. Other chemical constituents are also produced by the queen’s mandibular glands, which blend to form the QMP. As a queen bee ages, the relative concentration of these chemicals in the queen’s pheromones changes. Apart from attracting the worker bees and helping in the differentiation of queen and worker bees, these pheromones also elicit priming effects. These pheromones maintain social harmony and calm in the beehive by altering the behavioral response of the worker bees (Conte & Hefetz 2008). These pheromones also inhibit the development of ovaries of worker bees. The QRP also acts as a releaser pheromone. Queen bee pheromones are transmitted to worker bees of the queen bee’s retinue through direct contact. These pheromones are then transmitted to other worker bees when they interact with the retinue bees. The QMP of the queen bee is not only important for binding the colony together, ma intaining social harmony in the beehive and establishing the queen’s monarchy, but also for the maintenance of the health of the worker bees (Wright 2009; Trhlin & Rajchard 2011). Studies by Fischer and Grozinger have shown that worker bees exposed to QMP resist starvation and have a more efficient lipid storage mechanism (Trhlin & Rajchard 2011). QMP enables the transition of worker bees from nursing to foraging and also regulates swarming

Ethics of Human Cloning Essay Example for Free

Ethics of Human Cloning Essay In 1971 James D. Watson claimed that one day human cloning would be workable and noted that â€Å"as many people as possible be informed about the new ways for human reproduction and their potential consequences, both good and bad†(Burley and Harris 2001, p. 69). Watsons statement was given little attention. In 1997, the birth of Dolly, today the worlds most famous sheep, caused widespread public excitement. Dolly became artificially produced clone and proof that cloning large animals like sheep or humans would be possible. More importantly perhaps, Dolly raises many different sorts of important questions for human beings. Human cloning has been met with widespread unease all over the world and generated a series of ethical issues that will be discussed in this paper. Main Body In opposition to productive cloning it is asserted that the method would be causing danger to human beings. For example, Dr Harry Griffin, the director of the Roslin Institute, Scotland, that successfully cloned Dolly the sheep indicates that: It would be irresponsible to try and clone a human being, given the present state of the technology†¦. The chances of success are so low it would be irresponsible to encourage people to think theres a real prospect. The risks are too great for the woman, and of course for the child (Griffin, 2001). However, while the possible success regarding human cloning may be low and there may be risks of undeveloped embryos, against this it could be claimed that similar arguments could have been directed against the potential efficiency of in vitro fertilization techniques (IVF). IVF was once considered unsuccessful but today is a well-developed and valued treatment for infertility. IVF would never have developed if negative reasons such as this were successfully used to oppose it. A second concern on the subject of human cloning is about the motivation of those who would want to clone themselves and others. On the one hand, it might be accepted that human cloning would make possible for infertile couples to produce genetically related children. On the other hand, there seems to be a worry that people may use human cloning not in order to found a family but with purpose to make a copy of themselves. In addition, there may be people who hope to produce copies of other living or dead individuals. For example, it was this motivation for cloning that was the theme of the fictional film The Boys from Brazil. In the film Hitlers genotype was cloned to produce a Fuehrer for the future (Harris 1998, p. 169). However, any clone of an existing person will not be a copy of that person. Having the same genotype as another individual does not make a clone the same individual and it is probable that effects from the egg and from the environment would make any clone considerably different from their genetic twin. While this may be so, it could be likely that those who employ human cloning with purpose to produce a copy of themselves or others will not be proper parents. As a result, the welfare of any produced child will suffer. The motivation of many parents to produce a child may also not withstand close examination. What would be a good motivation for wishing to have a sun or daughter? It could be claimed that all motivations to bring to birth a child are based, at least to some degree, on the selfish feelings of future parents. A third main concern on the regard of human cloning involves these kinds of worries about the well-being of the produced child. It may be possible that any child born as a result of nuclear somatic transfer cloning will experience disadvantage either because he/she is robbed of his/her genetic identity or because he/ she will not have an open future (Harris 1998, p. 169). To what extent is a cloned person robbed of his/her genetic identity? While most human beings are genetically unique, there seems to be no indication that permitting the birth of genetically identical twins derived from a single fertilized ovum robs anyone of their genetic identity or even that the fact that twins of this kind share a genetic identity is causing harm to these individuals. It could be stated, therefore, that it thus seems not clear why this factor should make human cloning unethical. It has been indicated (Holm, 1998) that clones created by means of nuclear somatic transfer cloning will live their lives in the shadow of their older genetic twin. As a result, the clones will not have the open future that most of ordinary people have and, it might be argued, human beings have a right to. Soren Holm, for example, argues that: Usually when a child is born we ask hypothetical questions like How will it develop? or What kind of person will it become? and we often answer them with reference to various psychological traits we can identify in the biological mother or father or in their families†¦In the case of the clone we are, however, likely to give much more specific answers to such questions. Answers that will then go on to affect the way the child is reared (Holm, 1998, pp. 160-161). Holms point of view is that producing a clone that lives life in the shadow of an older genetic twin is unethical as: It diminishes the clones possibility of living a life that is in a full sense of that word his or her life. The clone is forced to be involved in an attempt to perform a complicated partial re-enactment of the life of somebody else (the original) (Holm, 1998, p. 162). This means that while people usually claim for the importance of the moral principles of respect for individual autonomy or the power to make a decision for oneself without influence from outside, people are violating these principles by robbing clones this opportunity to live their lives in the way they want. The way the clones were produced will putt them in a position where they are living in a shadow. However, even if this claim is true that clones would live in the shadow of their genetic originals, it is not obvious that this fact should compel people to prohibit human cloning. Arguments that compel people to consider the well-being of a resulting child are questionable. It has been claimed that a person is only wronged by being brought to birth if he/she has a life so bad that it would be a cruelty rather than a kindness to bring it into existence (Bennett and Harris, 2002, p. 323). This kind of unfortunate existence is sometimes characterized as an unworthwhile life. An unworthwhile life would be a life of extremely negative experience and worsening. Other lives that may be not perfect, but not so worthless as to deprive that individual of an amazing experience of living, are termed worthwhile lives. In this regard, the statement is that as long as a person is likely to have a worthwhile life he/she is not disadvantaged by being brought to birth. Thus, even if a human clone is likely to have a life that is somehow less than ideal, his or her suffering is unlikely to be such that it makes life unworthwhile. It could therefore be claimed that while being born a clone may not be the ideal way of coming into the world, it is the only opportunity of existing in this world and to have a life that is likely to be worth living. If this position was considered, it would establish human cloning as ethically acceptable at least on the grounds of giving the child a right to exist. Conclusion The topic human cloning has a number of ethically puzzling if not problematic features. Cloning will be one of the most hotly debated and least well-understood phenomena in near future. Today human cloning meets with overwhelming opposition. However, it is clear that human cloning turns out to be the perfect embodiment of the ruling possibilities for new age.

The Tragedy of Emma Bovary :: essays research papers fc

The Tragedy of Emma Bovary "I've never been so happy!" Emma squealed as she stood before the mirror. " Let's go out on the town. I want to see Chorus and the Guggenhiem and this Jack Nicholson character you are always talking about." Emma Bovary in Woody Allen's The Kugelmass Episode. As I sit here pondering the life of Emma Bovary I wonder what it must have really been like for her. She was young, younger than I am now when she died. She was curious and bright and probably would have been a great college student; passionate but with her head a little bit in the clouds. Opportunities for women in the 1850's were, as we all know, extremely limited. I wonder if I would have fared much better than Emma if I had been as trapped as her. I also married young, but when I realized it had been a mistake I had the option of a divorce, Emma did not. I have had the opportunity to receive a good education and to choose for myself what path my life would take. I feel very sorry for Emma. Having never been given the opportunity to discover her true self or to develop her dreams and hopes for her future, all she had to base her aspirations on were trashy romance novels. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if all of my teenage curiosity had been forced to be satisfied by nothing but Danielle Steel romance novels. Emma strove to better herself and her situation. She wanted to reach the upper echelon of society; she wanted what we in this country refer to as the "american dream." She wanted more than her parents had. Emma wanted to feel great love and own nice things and live in a wonderful city. These are not things that are alien to most of us. Although it may be amusing to read Woody Allen's‘ #' 0*((a a ‘ take on what Emma Bovary might be like if she went to modern day New York, it must also be realized that he is not completely mistaken in his ideas of her character. In a very humorous manner, Woody Allen is able to sum up Emma's lust for life and her desire to experience and learn new things; to actually go out and live. Perhaps a trip such as the one described in Mr. Allen's short story would have been the thing to save Emma Bovary, although I doubt she would have ever wanted to go back to Yonville as she does in Allen's story.

Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird Book Essay

Courage, you have probably heard of this word before but what does it actually mean? Well, according to dictionary.com, an online dictionary, courage means the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, courage is evidently portrayed when Atticus does what no white man would ever dare to do in those days, lest they be scorned by the community. Atticus had the courage to stand up for a Negro, a black, Tom Robinson. This happened in chapter 17 to chapter 22. Courage, to me previously was just being brave and nothing else. However, after reading about Atticus act of standing up for Tom Robinson, I realized that courage is actually more than bravery. It is also daring to do what no other person would have done. It is about taking risks, regardless of the outcome, that you will do your best. Atticus had himself subjected to the exile of majority of the white community after he took that risk of standing up for Tom Robinson. In To Kill a Mockingbird, courage is described in different ways. â€Å"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.† Chapter 11, Page 118. Harper Lee portrays courage in this manner, to explain for Atticus defending of Tom Robinson later on in the story. Harper Lee also portrays courage in this way, such that she tells the readers that courage is not of a physical thing, like shooting the mad dog, but rather, on a more intellectual scale. The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it – whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash. Chapter 23, Page 227. Atticus understands the lack of courage which most white men have in those days. They cheat black people everyday of their lives, for fear of being scorned by the community. As Atticus says, no matter how rich that WHITE man is, the moment he mocks a black, that lack of courage not to stand up for him, that man is trash. So it took an eight-year-old child to bring ’em to their senses†¦. That proves something – that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they’re still human. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children. Chapter 16, Page 163. This is not a direct quote but rather an indirect quote to what Scout previously did. Scout had the courage to save her father. She stood up, an eight year old, against a gang of adults and brought a gang of wild animals to their senses. Scout did bravely what her father had no courage to do. It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. Chapter 11, Page 106. Scout said this when Atticus was friendly towards Mrs. Dubose, one of the meanest ladies in Maycomb. Harper Lee, through this statement, portrays courage as being brave in the face of danger; this danger being Mrs. Dubose, who is not exactly fond of Atticus and is always criticizing him through his children. Neighbors bring food with death, and flowers with sickness, and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives. Chapter 31, Page 284. Boo Radley had the courage to save Jem and Scout, he had GIVEN them their lives. Boos courage was probably one of the most tear-jerking moments in the story. Boo Radley was portrayed as a psychopath and one that would TAKE peoples lives. He did quite the opposite with Jem and Scout. Boo finally took the courage to prove wrong the citizens suspicions and went to the rescue of Jem and Scout. Boo was a hero. Finally, the setting of Maycomb contributes greatly to the theme of courage as Harper Lee portrays Maycomb as a Negro-hating society, one which has no one that bothers to stand up for Negroes and a psychopath that has a thing  for killing. Atticus and Boo himself break this spell of a scared Maycomb by Atticus standing up for a Negro and Boo saving the lives of the two children. The setting was probably most crucial in portraying courage as one of the main themes in the story. All in all, I think Harper Lee was trying to bring across the message that courage is not just about being brave, not just physically, but also being mentally strong and ultimately, daring to take the greatest of risks just like what Atticus did when he stood up for Tom Robinson. After reading the text, I am very convinced that Harper Lee was able to bring across a stirring ad convincing message that courage is not what we actually think of it and that there is much more to that. Source(s): http://www.dictionary.comTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Research science fiction Essay

During the summer I met up with Harinder to start building our website and to get an idea of what it would include and look like. We decided to use the program Dream Weaver since it was more flexible compared to word or Frontpage and it had many features that we could use for our website, such as different backgrounds and texts. Dream weaver enabled us to use Flash MX which has much more effective graphics which we couldn’t get on Front Page such as the flash buttons and 3-d backgrounds all to make our website suit the Sc-Fi theme. We targeted our audience immediately by choosing the theme Science Fiction which appeals to teen and young adult males. We kept the audience involved furthermore by the type of language we chose to use which wasn’t too complicated yet not too patronising. The set up of the page was kept colourful, yet formal, by not having the hyperlinks and pictures all over the page. It would therefore appeal to the younger and older generations of our audience. We also targeted the audience by adding more features to our website like voting and a guest book so they feel welcome and give feed back on what they thought of our website. The strengths and weaknesses of our production are fairly clear. Some of the strengths are that it appeals to a wide range of audiences which means that more people are attracted to our website and it would be popular. Another strength would be the different kinds of features that make up our website, from the different types of flash buttons to the backgrounds, wallpapers and pictures. The weaknesses of our website include the appearance of the homepage; it looks too cluttered at the top then too empty at the bottom. The colours don’t match especially with the different coloured buttons. Another weakness would be that on a page like the picture page all of the links are down on one side of the page and the rest of the page looks empty. We could have avoided this problem by putting more pictures and links on the page. One more weakness I could pick out would probably be that it takes quite a long time to load up the site. This could be put down to the fact that there is a lot of links and features on our webpage which slows down the connection and makes it harder for the computer to find the proxy settings. The responses from our target audience were good. We asked people between the ages of 15-30 years of age what they thought of our website. We got some good responses especially from the younger members of our audiences, such as the layout of the website and the features is good quality. They did offer some improvements, such as it needed more information put into the site. The point came up again that the home page was too cluttered and looked over crowded. The older generation of our audience also thought the site was very effective. Some proposed improvements were that we needed to take more care when writing the movie reviews since there was a lot of spelling mistakes. Also that some of the other pages seemed empty with only a few links on them. It was proposed we should have either not made a links page for the pictures page or made more links and pictures. Another improvement suggested that we should have made our website even more formal if we wanted to aim at a wider range of 25 year olds upward, by not having the colourful buttons or backgrounds but having them black and white. I feel I learnt that we needed to have deadlines between ourselves to get certain things finished and then move on to the next thing instead of going back and finishing off pictures or reviews. You need to have people in your group that you can rely on to have work finished and handed in. Appendix 1. Google – Search Engine 2. Science Fiction Websites- * Sci-fi.com * Sciencefic.com * Science Fiction Movie Reviews Pages * Science Fiction Picture Pages 3. Ask- Search Engine 4. Lycos- Search Engine

Getting 10x Results From Your Content With Garrett Moon Of CoSchedule

Getting 10x Results From Your Content With Garrett Moon Of Content marketing is a highly competitive space. Every single day, nearly 60 million blog posts are published and five billion YouTube videos are watched. Are you always trying to edge out search results to be on top? Discover how to reframe your mindset when it comes to content marketing. Today, we’re talking to Garrett Moon, CEO, about how to handle such competition when it comes to content marketing and his new book, 10X Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating Competition-Free Content That Stands Out and Gets Results. Marketers are responsible for bringing in leads, sales, people big tasks to support core business metrics. Garrett’s book describes taking the formula, process, tips and tricks, and things that work and don’t for and making them available to anybody to use and implement in their business and marketing process. Gartner’s Hype Cycle: How new technology is adopted. When content marketing took shape a few years back, all of a sudden, everyone is adopting it and reworking their marketing teams, creating content, doing blogging, building email lists, and other tasks. Content marketing made a lot of promises to us. Now, Garrett believes we are entering the trough of disillusionment. We adopted content marketing, but what about those big promises that were made? What about the results? Why are you not getting the results your were promised? How do marketing teams provide business value? Content marketing need to be reinvented. Garrett describes the copy cat epidemic in marketing. There is so much free content online where pieces of strategies, tactics, and other items are copied and pasted. However, it does not create an entire picture or blueprint. The goal is to create a framework from start to finish process on how to find something unique to your business that only you can do and be successful with. Something that stands out and gets results. Creating Competition-Free Content: Not only your business and products is in competition, but your marketing is in competition with other marketing. Find a way to break past that barrier created by competitors. The book, Blue Ocean Strategy, refers to the Bloody Red Ocean, which is full of competition and where businesses are fighting each other to stand out they’re at war with each other. However, the Blue Ocean is wide-open and uncontested. Your free to swim around and move about because you have successfully been able to differentiate yourself from the competition. To differentiate your content marketing, focus on your topics, how you create content, and how to connect that content and share it with your customers. 10X reference: look at what you are doing and ask if what you are doing will help your team multiply results, including increasing sales leads and the number of visitors to your Website. Marketing teams needs to focus on 10x growth rather than increments of 10 percent improvements. Marketing teams are designed to produce results, not worry about risks. Agile Manifesto: focuses on how software development could be better. A powerful way to cause engineers to rethink and reframe what they’re doing. 10X Manifesto: focuses on how so much of marketing is about mindset when it comes to how we do and approach things. Results or Die: 10X marketers work in a results or die oriented business, not 10 percenters allowed. Many think of marketing as a process for things they do marketing is the blog, social media channels, conference booth, etc. There’s all these deliverables that a marketing team creates and hands off to others, such as the sales and support teams. Marketers are not here to produce Web ads or build a Website. They’re here to help produce business results and help grow companies. 10X marketers understand that growth requires failure, strength is in progress, not perfection. Teams that embrace failure (fail fast) understand that it is not about failure but acknowledging imperfection. Marketing comes with assumptions: assume methods used to get the message out will work; assume there’s the right mix of email ads; assume messages are right; assume the timeline is correct. Ever realize how much you are guessing? The problem is in the marketing plan. It becomes a risk-removal tool that leads to pointing fingers and placing blame on others. Instead of a plan, start with a goal. To start down the 10X marketing path, list what work you did this week. Are these 10X or 10 percent activities? Do any of these activities have the ability or potential, in a short period of time, to multiply results by 10X? Links: Garrett Moon 10X Marketing Formula Gartner’s Hype Cycle Blue Ocean Strategy Agile Manifesto SpaceX Elon Musk If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play Quotes by Garrett: â€Å"Everyone was really excited about it (content marketing). There was a lot of energy. A lot of hype behind it, and a lot of big promises that content marketing made to all of us.† â€Å"If we’re going to really double down. If we’re really going to continue doing this, how do we really make it sing? How do we really make it pay for itself and become a true part of our results?† â€Å"For us (as a start-up), it was results or die.† â€Å"Once teams start looking at what they’re doing, how their processes are built, one thing they tend to find is that much of what they’re doing is based on mitigating risk vs. generating results.†

Biography of Catherine Howard, Queen of England

Biography of Catherine Howard, Queen of England Catherine Howard (c. 1523–February 13, 1542) was the fifth wife of Henry VIII. During her brief marriage, she was officially the Queen of England. Howard was beheaded for adultery and unchastity in 1542. Fast Facts: Catherine Howard Known For: Howard was briefly the Queen of England; her husband Henry VIII ordered her to be beheaded for adultery.Born: 1523 in London, EnglandParents: Lord Edmund Howard  and  Joyce CulpeperDied: February 13, 1542 in London, EnglandSpouse: King Henry VIII (m. 1540) Early Life Catherine Howard was born in London, England, sometime around 1523. Her parents were  Lord Edmund Howard  and  Joyce Culpeper. In 1531, through the influence of his niece Anne Boleyn, Edmund Howard obtained a position as comptroller for Henry VIII in Calais. When her father went to Calais, Catherine Howard was placed in the care of Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, her fathers stepmother.  Howard lived with Agnes Tilney at Chesworth House and then at Norfolk House. She was one of many young nobles sent to live under Agnes Tilneys supervision- and that supervision was notably loose.  Howards education, which included reading and writing and music, was directed by Tilney. Youthful Indiscretions About 1536, while living with Tilney at Chesworth House, Howard had a sexual relationship with a music tutor, Henry Manox (Mannox or Mannock). Tilney reportedly struck Howard when she caught the two together. Manox followed her to Norfolk House and tried to continue a relationship. Manox was eventually replaced in young Howards affections by Frances Dereham, a secretary and relative. Howard shared a bed at the Tilney home with Katherine Tilney, and the two were visited a few times in their bedchamber by Dereham and Edward Malgrave, a cousin of Henry Manox, Howards former love. Howard and Dereham apparently did consummate their relationship, reportedly calling each other husband and wife and promising marriage- what to the church amounted to a contract of marriage. Manox heard gossip of the relationship and jealously reported it to Agnes Tilney. When Dereham saw the warning note, he guessed it had been written by Manox, which implies that Dereham knew of Howards relationship with him.  Tilney again struck her granddaughter for her behavior and sought to end the relationship. Howard was sent to court, and  Dereham went to Ireland. At Court Howard was to serve as a lady in waiting to Henry VIIIs newest (fourth) queen, Anne of Cleves, soon to arrive in England. This assignment was probably arranged by her uncle, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and one of Henrys advisors.  Anne of Cleves arrived in England in December 1539, and Henry may have first seen Howard at that event. At court, she caught the kings attention, as he was quite quickly unhappy in his new marriage. Henry started courting Howard, and by May was publicly giving her gifts. Anne complained of this attraction to the ambassador from her homeland. Marriage Henry had his marriage to Anne of Cleves annulled on July 9, 1540. He then married Catherine Howard on July 28, generously bestowing jewelry and other expensive gifts on his much-younger and attractive bride. On their wedding day, Thomas Cromwell, who had arranged the marriage of Henry to Anne of Cleves, was executed. Howard was publicly made queen on August 8. Early the next year, Howard began a flirtation- perhaps more- with one of Henrys favorites, Thomas Culpeper, who was also a distant relative on her mothers side and who had a reputation for lechery. Arranging their clandestine meetings was Howards lady of the privy chamber, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, widow of George Boleyn who had been executed with his sister Anne Boleyn. Only Lady Rochford and Katherine Tilney were permitted into Howards rooms when Culpeper was present. Whether Culpeper and Howard were lovers or whether she was pressured by him but did not acquiesce to his sexual advances is unknown. Howard was even more reckless than to pursue that relationship; she brought her old lovers Manox and Dereham to court as well, as her musician and secretary. Dereham bragged about their relationship, and she may have made the appointments in an attempt to silence them about their past. Charges On November 2, 1541, Cranmer confronted Henry with the allegations about Howards indiscretions. Henry at first did not believe the allegations. Dereham and Culpeper confessed to their part in these relationships after being tortured, and Henry abandoned Howard. Cranmer zealously pursued the case against Howard. She was charged with unchastity before her marriage and with concealing her precontract and her indiscretions from the king before their marriage, thereby committing treason. She was also accused of adultery, which for a queen consort was also treason. A number of Howards relatives were also questioned about her past, and some were charged with treasonous acts for concealing her sexual past. These relatives were all pardoned, though some lost their property. On November 23, Howards title of queen was stripped from her. Culpeper and Dereham were executed on December 10 and their heads displayed on London Bridge. Death On January 21, 1542, Parliament passed a bill of attainder making Howards actions an executable offense. She was taken to the Tower of London on February 10, Henry signed the bill of attainder, and she was executed on the morning of February 13. Like her cousin Anne Boleyn, also beheaded for treason, Howard was buried without any marker in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. During Queen Victorias reign in the 19th century, both bodies were exhumed and identified, and their resting places were marked. Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, was also beheaded. She was  buried with Howard. Legacy Historians and scholars have struggled to reach a consensus about Howard, with some describing her as a deliberate troublemaker and others characterizing her as an innocent victim of King Henrys rages. Howard has been depicted in a variety of plays, films, and television series, including The Private Life of Henry VIII and The Tudors. Ford Madox Ford wrote a fictionalized version of her life in the novel The Fifth Queen. Sources Crawford, Anne.  Letters of the Queens of England, 1100-1547. Alan Sutton, 1994.Fraser, Antonia. The Wives of Henry VIII. 1993.Weir, Alison.  The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Grove Weidenfeld, 1991.

Personal Research Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Personal Research Project - Essay Example Strindberg et al. (2011), said that it brought challenges as well as opportunities to the region’s Islamist movements through a wave of uprisings and revolutions. Amin et al. (2012), was somehow tempted to ascribe it to unemployment especially among the youths and suppression of political options. However, Beinin & Vairel (2011) believed that it acted as a transition from dictatorship to democracy. In addition, Pollack et al. (2011) believed that it might have been brought up by the continuous reign of some individual for a long period due to lack of democracy. Lastly but not least Peter (2012) shows that this Arab Spring enabled the European Union and the United States to collaborate with various stakeholders in the region to promote human rights as well as bring democracy in those region. So far, none of the scholars has studied the role that the international bodies play in the Arab spring. In addition, none of the scholars has studied on whether the intervention of this international organization on the Arab spring is necessary or not and whether the results that were achieved showed success or failure in the process. This makes this research to be a very important one and that is why I decided to undertake it. This research was conducted using observation and review of various relevant literatures as the methods of information collection. We also collected some data from the internet about the countries that have experienced the Arab Spring to determine which percentage of them was successful. Using these methods the researcher identified a group of Arab states and used observation technique to discover what has been going on in those states as a result of the Arab Spring. To supplement his information the researcher will visit the internet and find the most current literature related to the Arab Spring written by other scholars. The information that will be collected using these three means will be combined and will help us

Race Relations in America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Race Relations in America - Research Paper Example Thus, the eventful history of race relations in the Western Hemisphere, and in North America in particular, appears not only an important part of a larger trend worldwide, but also the genuine article of such relationships, insofar as three major human races – Europeans, Native Americans (or Indians, which appellation became much more familiar, albeit entirely wrong), and Africans – ‘met and mingled’ in the New World (Norton at al. 2). The centuries following the first Spanish campaigns in the Valley of Mexico, the marshlands of Florida and along the coast of California, have witnessed, according to Arthur Mann, both territorial expansion and massive influx of immigrants from almost all over the world (68). Having left their countries of origin for particular reasons – whether economic, religious or political, as well as in different manner – warlike, peaceful, group or individual – these immigrants inevitably got entangled in the canva s of what would slowly and obscurely evolve into the present-day multi-faceted society of the United States. A bit weird combination of two prima facie incompatible with one another motives – the aspiration of spreading Christianity around the world and a desire for the wealth of the East – appears to have driven the fifteenth-century European explorers of the New World, who, by the way, had obviously seen no conflict between the two (Norton at al. 10); just as their predecessors from the time of the Crusade. Not less bizarre notion of what the world’s size might be indeed brought Columbus to a Caribbean island on October 12, 1492, which he named San Salvador (Holy Savior), and made him to claim success in the goal of reaching the Indies. Quite understandably, the native inhabitants had been called ‘Indians’. Three more voyages to the west failed to dispel this delusion and till his death in 1506, Columbus remained blissfully unaware that he had actually discovered a new