Why Fat People are Funny In Hollywood

The quote listed in the title comes from 2009 box-office hit The Hangover. The events that incite Mr. Chow (played by Ken Jeong) to say laughing â€Å"it's funny because he's fat† feature Alan Garner (played by Zach Galifianakis) charging at Mr. Chow, who is stomping on Alan's satchel, and exclaiming â€Å"Hey! There are skittles in there! † (Hangover 76:55; 76:45). In return Alan is punched in the stomach by one of Mr. Chow's henchmen, causing Mr. Chow to laugh hysterically and simultaneously slip â€Å"it's funny because he's fat† out of his mouth (Hangover 76:55).Clearly in the scene, the overweight character, Zach Galifianakis, is the butt of the joke as he is punched very hard in the stomach and then laughed at for his stupidity and weight. In modern movie making, overweight comedians have had a critical role in humor in films. Stars such as John Black, Seth Rogen, and Zach Galifianakis are modern examples of such characters, but in the last thirty years, ma ny other large comedians have developed and popularized similar roles in films.The overweight funny man in film has evolved into a more personal, relatable character due largely in part to their accurate reflection of the United States obesity problem. These characters have also created their own genre, a genre that has evolved out of slapstick comedy, yet remains in the realm of realism. This genre, which often involves immature and physical pain, yet remains plausible and not fake (like earlier slapstick humor), continues to bring new fans to the cinema and create greater love for this group of comedians.This paper will explain funny fat people's emergence, humor, and popularity in American cinema. Evolution of Slapstick Comedy in Films When was the first comedy film? John Montgomery suggests it â€Å"may well have been Fred Off's Sneeze, filmed in 1894 by William K. L. Dickson. The film was produced for Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope Company in the ‘Black Maria' Kinetographic Theatre which Dickson built for Edison in West Orange, New Jersey† (Montgomery 17). This film was released just three years after Edison's invention of the Kinetoscope in 1891.It is not a coincidence that a comedic piece of film was released soon after the production of the moving picture, but it simply suggests the necessity of comedic entertainment in American culture. From the early days of film, comedy became a staple on American cinema. In the early twentieth century, films were silent and featured many comedies. The initial type of comedy featured was slapstick comedy, which â€Å"was a gift to America from France† (Durgnat 67). The term slapstick evolved from â€Å"the double paddles formerly used by circus clowns to beat each other.The loud crack of the two paddle blades as they crashed together could always be depended upon to produce laughter and applause† (Dale 1). Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence and activities wh ich exceed the boundaries of common sense. The first American slapstick comedy producer was Mack Sennett, who with the help of actor/producer Charlie Chaplin, created many hilarious films loved by the American people (Durgnat 70). In these films, there was no audio component, requiring all humor to be dependent on physical actions (Montgomery 18).Raymond Durgnat states that â€Å"in early Chaplin, Dough and Dynamite (1915), the human body is all but reduced to an apparatus for punching, kicking, ducking and dodging† (Durgnat 69). Chaplin has been considered the â€Å"master clown† and in 1916, Chester Conklin, an actor and comedian, stated â€Å"without a doubt the one person who has been most successful in making people laugh is Charlie Chaplin† (Montgomery 108). Chaplin and others continued to produce silent slapstick comedy films through the Roaring Twenties, a time when film became increasingly popular and very successful.In 1926, Warner Brothers introduced the first film with audio attached. Because of the imperfections of the initial product and smaller budgets in the 1930s due to the Great Depression, films with an audio component remained imperfect, allowing silent films to retain their popularity and stay popular and not outdated. Following Chaplin and the others of the first generation of slapstick comedy was the Three Stooges: Larry Fine (born Louis Fienberg), Moe Howard (born Moses Horwitz), and Curly Howard (born Jerome Horwitz) (Matlin 163). This trio continued to produce popular short films and a few feature films until the late 1950s.The Three Stooges were the last true slapstick comedians, where Leonard Matlin argues that the use of â€Å"clever scripting and direction places the physical burden on others but still gives the Stooges elbowroom in which to clown† (Matlin 168). The Three Stooges were some of the last slapstick films, which essentially died out as many other forms of comedy emerged onto the film scene. One of these styles of humor Louise Dobson describes in a 2006 edition of Psychology Today as ‘hate-me humor', a style in which â€Å"you are the butt of the joke for the amusement of others† (Dobson 76).She continues stating this character is often the â€Å"familiar clown† or â€Å"fat guy† and includes examples like John Belushi and Chris Farley (Dobson 76). Dobson directly identifies the â€Å"fat guy† as an example of such comedy because of how popular these comedians have become. From this article it is evident that funny fat people are essential to American comedy, so much so that the author is able to classify them as the ‘fat guy' and American readers are able to identify with popular overweight comedians. Although there appears to be a reasonable argument that this comedy genre  falls into ‘hate-me-humor', I would suggest that these comedians exist as an of slapstick comedy.The laughs these characters receive come from the sa me qualities the original slapstick comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, shared. Raymond Durgnat describes this stating â€Å"Slapstick comedians are childlike, and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress† (Durgnat 72). If you replace Durgnat's word ‘slapstick' with overweight, the sentence would read: overweight comedians are childlike, and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress.Looking at many overweight comedians we see that this very well could be the case. The characters impulsive and childish actions are very common in their films (many examples to follow in next section) and generate laughs similar to those of traditional slapstick humor. In recent years, no director has released a true slapstick comedy film. The genre has been avoided (except in children's cartoons) in movies perhaps because the producers believe that the modern American culture is too advanced for this immature, simplistic, outdated humor.In reality, current comedy has progressed into a new form of slapstick comedy, where the exaggerations have been toned down and the humor has become a little more realistic. Looking through the last four decades we can see countless examples of films featuring this realistic slapstick humor. These characters tend to be lovable, goofy, wild and consistently overweight. Modernization of Slapstick Comedy: Realistic Physical Humor. In order to analyze the continuation of slapstick humor in American cinema, a look at the period immediately following the Three Stooges (the last true slapstick productions) is essential.In 1963, the release of the first Pink Panther film, starring Peter Sellers marked a new era for slapstick comedy. The Pink Panther series stretched nearly two decades with Sellers as the star, relied on slapstick humor, yet remained plausible. Most scenes from the Pink Panther movies are absurd and over the top in every manner, yet the events of the plot could be realistic, creating a new breed of slapstick comedy. At the end of the Pink Panther's dominance, National Lampoon released Animal House in 1978, starring several actors including John Belushi.Following the release of the film, Belushi evolved as the work’s centerpiece providing countless hysterical events. In the movie, John ‘Bluto' Blutarsky (played by John Belushi) appeared in about a dozen scenes, yet is the most memorable character of the film through his ridiculous actions. In the movie he rarely speaks, and acts very childish, both parallel pieces of the earliest slapstick comedians. Belushi has a handful of memorable quotes and scenes, most of which are truly ridiculous, yet believable.He has several immature one line quotes including: â€Å"Toga! Toga! †, â€Å"Blow-job!†, â€Å"Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! †, and â€Å"Food Fight! † (Animal House 44:00; 63:55; 30:25; 35:37). All of these quotes fit perfectly into the description of â€Å"childlike a nd in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress† that the classic slapstick comedians possessed (Durgnat 72). Bluto continues to act wildly doing many things including falling off of a ladder trying to peep in a sorority window, crushing a beer can on his head, smashing a guitar someone else is trying to play, and chugging an entire bottle of Jack Daniel's and smashing it on a car.All of these actions are absurd and exaggerations of what any human might do in a similar scenario, yet all are possibly plausible. A last scene from Animal House that demonstrates the evolution of slapstick comedy begins with Bluto (Belushi) going through the lunch line where he stacks a ridiculous amount of food on his tray and in his pockets. While doing this he also stuffs enormous amounts of the food in his mouth, including a hamburger in one bite. He then proceeds to sit down at a table filled with some clean cut preppy students.There he is ridiculed for his eating habits and called a â€Å"P. I. G. pig† (Animal House 34:35). In response to being classified as a pig, he attempts to be a zit, stuffing his mouth with mashed potatoes and spraying everybody at the table by mashing his cheeks with his hands as seen in the following picture (Animal House 34:55): The focus of the scene is the unrealistic quantity and grossly unhealthy quality of food Belushi eats as well as the animalistic, childish manner in which he feasts.Following the incident he proceeds to be chased around the cafeteria, ultimately ending in a brawl and food fight. The sequence of events in this scene all are extremely humorous, yet very childish and exaggerated beyond what any viewer would expect from a twenty year old man. However, all of the actions in the scene are perfectly capable of being true, making this portion of the film extremely humorous in its realistic slapstick fashion. Nearly a decade later, in 1987, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles featured John Candy, another ov erweight comedian.In this film, the progression of slapstick comedy continues paralleling Belushi's contributions to the genre. Candy acts extremely childish and wildly, yet his actions remain plausible, exhibiting similar humor to that of John Belushi. In Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Candy's humor can fully be grasped in a scene on a commercial plane flight. On the plane, co-star Steve Martin has just been downgraded from first class to coach seating, and finds his seat next to John Candy. It quickly becomes clear that Candy fills up way too much of the seat, creating an uncomfortable situation.To make things worse Candy proceeds to take off his shoes in order to help relax, clearly releasing a disgusting odor observed by others in seats around him. He continues his gross movements by taking off his socks and spinning them around to air them out. When doing so, his dirty sock is very close to Steve Martin's face, and based on the expression on Martin's character it is clear that the sock smells wretched. This act is unbelievable, childish, and ridiculous, all similar characteristics of slapstick comedy.Later in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, John Candy continues to provide humor through another similar evolution of slapstick comedy, where he accidentally spills several beers on the bed in which he (who barely fits on the bed alone because of his enormous frame) and a complete stranger share. The move is very careless and results in an incredibly uncomfortable situation that makes the audience laugh hysterically because of the continuation of unfortunate events all linked to Candy's childish careless actions.A last scene from this film takes place in a rental car, after the duo (Martin and Candy) have managed to run into every problem possible on a trip to Chicago to get home for Thanksgiving. In the car, Candy attempts to get comfortable by tampering with the seat position. He uses the buttons on the side of the seat, jerking the seat around for a few mi nutes, failing to find a satisfactory position. Although Martin has persistently told him to stop and that he will break the seat, he continues on until ultimately he breaks the seat, making it uncomfortable and unmovable.Following the seat incident, he continues his path of destruction. After smoking a cigarette, he drops the butt out the window. However due to the wind, it blows into the back seat of the car ultimately sending the back seat up in flames and roasting the entire car. In this quick scene, Candy manages to act immaturely and rambunctiously resulting in the destruction of the car. The remains of slapstick comedy are clearly evident in this scene, climaxing with the unreasonable fate of the rental car.The absurdity of someone so overweight that he breaks a seat and the reality of seeing a car explode in flames seem like a moment from a slapstick cartoon, yet the film is completely plausible due to the overweight and clumsy nature of Candy. Following John Candy's death i n the early 1990s, Chris Farley emerged as the next overweight star, both on television and in a few Hollywood films. His humor was similar to that of John Candy and also very comparable to the works of John Belushi.In an article praising the life of Chris Farley following his death in Rolling Stone magazine, the author states â€Å"we talked about his hero and Saturday Night Live predecessor, John Belushi. It was well known that Farley had been obsessed with Belushi, and people loved making much of this fact, since the two seemed to share a love of certain rather common excesses† (Hedegaard 39). Looking at Tommy Boy, produced in 1995, John Belushi's influence on Chris Farley becomes apparent through Farley's role and performance in the film.In Tommy Boy, Chris Farley stars as the protagonist, an immature and dimwitted heir to an auto parts factory who must save the business to keep it from take-over and away from evil relatives. Throughout the film, Farley's childish actions bring laughs to audiences of all ages. To begin the film, Tommy (Chris Farley) is shown in a flashback as a young school boy rushing to class, late as always. In this scene he runs full speed into a glass sliding door, shouting â€Å"Holy Schnike! † (Tommy Boy 0:44). The film then skips several years and shows an older Tommy, in his seventh year of college.Although the older character is much larger (Chris Farley was very large), he mirrors the young middle school version of Tommy because he is pictured doing the same action: rushing to class (late again). In this scene, he is scene trying to take a short cut through some hedges, but runs full speed into a newly put up fence, hitting his head very hard and exclaiming â€Å"Holy Schnike! † again (Tommy Boy 2:02). From these scenes which mesh together, we can clearly see the immaturity of the character, yet the viewer gets many laughs through the physical pain Farley endures.These actions take place in the first minute of the film, and really set the tone for the rest of the movie. In the film, Tommy is seen acting very foolishly on many accounts: he consistently runs into sliding glass doors, he gets hit in the head with a two-by-four piece of construction wood, he hits his head on a forklift after not listening to his father say heads up, he slips and gets covered in cow manure when trying to go cow tipping, and he rips his friends blue blazer because he is too big for it. Consistently, Tommy releases very childish comments, and he is largely responsible for destroying his friend’s beloved car.In the film, the actions Farley takes mirror concepts that defined slapstick comedy. His childish and extreme actions are all very similar to this genre of comedy. Farley extends this comedy to make it more personal and relatable as the protagonist becomes more developed. His actions are all very extreme and in many incidents would cause physical pain. Although painful or ridiculous, all actions tha t take place in the movie could take place in real-life, making the audience relate to the comedy. In one scene in particular, Tommy pushes the realm of reasonable office behavior.In an attempt to sell auto products for his company, he acts out an anecdote with his customer's nice model cars. In his story he gives two examples of how a similar scene could play out with two different brakes. In the first action, the car has on Callahan Brake Pads (his company’s) and is able to stop in front of a obstacle that is suddenly in front of the car (a lighter also on the desk). While showing this action he has a complete narrative stating â€Å"You're drivin' along, la-de-da, woo. All of a sudden there's a truck tire in the middle of the road. And you hit the brakes. EEEEEEEEE!Whoa, that was close† (Tommy Boy 35:30). He then proceeds stating â€Å"Now let's see what happens when you're driving with the â€Å"other guy's†[does quotation marks with fingers] brake pads. Yo u're drivin' along, you're drivin' along, the kids start shouting from the back seat, ‘I gotta go to the bathroom, Daddy! ‘ ‘Not now, damn it! ‘ Truck tire. EEEEEEEE! I CAN'T STOP! † (Tommy Boy 35:45). He then rams the model car into the lighter smashing the car of the customer. Farley then gets really into the story acting out voices of a narrator, the kids, the parents, and eventually the paramedics who respond to the scene.In the scene, some of his quotes include â€Å"No! I can't feel my legs †¦ Here comes the meat wagon †¦ And the medic gets out and says, ‘Oh my God. ‘†¦ New guy's around the corner puking his guts out† (Tommy Boy 36:05). He also finishes the crash by setting the crushed car on fire with the lighter and calmly collects himself making his point casually stating â€Å"All because you want to save a couple extra pennies† (Tommy Boy 36:20). This scene is a clear example of Farley taking over a sc ene that could have easily been executed much more peacefully, maturely, and professionally.But the director and Chris Farley decided to execute the scene wildly and immaturely so that viewers see the scene in awe as they cannot believe how overdone he makes the episode. The film is full of scenes like this one, which leave the audience in shock at how a human could act in such a manner. They key to the humor brought about in the film is much like that of Belushi and Candy, it remains believable: although unlikely, all actions in the film could possibly occur in a person's life. Through looking at these three overweight comedians we see the progression of the same genre of comedy.The slapstick comedy that first featured Charlie Chaplin and other silent film comedians progressed into slapstick comedy with audio, like the Three Stooges. Following the Three Stooges, the horseplay that was extreme and in many ways violent and not possible for a person to survive, died out. In return, se veral years later comedians like Belushi rediscovered the art of making a career out of horseplay in every film or television show in which they appeared. Following the mold Belushi made, many other actors have morphed their careers into similar roles.Through the years the importance of the overweight comedian has grown dramatically. In 1978, John Belushi was a minor character in Animal House. Although his few scenes (around a dozen) are the most memorable from the film, his role contained very few lines and he was never intended to be the star of the film. Looking forward nearly a decade later, John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles promoted his role to the supporting actor, though not the protagonist of the film.In this film, we learn much more about the character (a back story, his emotions, etc.) than we did of Belushi in Animal House. Belushi's character, Bluto, has apparently been in college for several years and the odds of him graduating appear slim. Other than this, we have no other information on the character. For Candy's character, Del, we find out much more about his life as a shower ring salesman as he appears in nearly every scene and is a much better developed character. Finally looking at Tommy Boy, released almost two-decades after Belushi, the American audience sees the fat wild character as the protagonist of the work.Chris Farley's character, Tommy, is the clear protagonist of the film (the film is even titled after the character's name). Farley's character has a well developed character, as the viewer is well informed of the character's entire family and Tommy's flaws and strengths. Why Overweight? Following in the footsteps of the unrealistic, unsurvivable slapstick comedy to the more plausible realistic feature films, the role of the fat comedian progressed to the center of the film. Perhaps the movement towards realism reflects American’s recognition of their own overweight society.The United States is the world's most ob ese country. In an attempt to explain this epidemic, Greg Critser published Fat Land: How Americans became the fattest people in the world. This work highlights new research that claims cheap fats and sugars as the source which causes our calories to stick and shows why children are too often the chief metabolic culprits of such foods. He clearly claims that we (Americans) have been telling ourselves lies about how much we can eat and how little we can exercise.He attempts to expose the nutritional value (or lack thereof) in schools as well as political and cultural forces that have caused American’s fitness to continue to decrease (Critser 23). Critser debunks all eating patterns and even diet books in an attempt to explain why they do not work and only supplement the obesity problem in the United States. Although a slightly humorous book, Critser's message is very serious; the lack of a balanced nutritional diet (which he provides to the best of his understanding) and reduc ed exercise has set a death trap for many people in America, leading to an obesity problem.Hollywood has capitalized on the acceptability of overweight people, and has used and continues to use actors bearing this unhealthy lifestyle in order to provide entertainment (usually humorous) to the United States (Critser 25). The comedians explored in the previous pages share one common obvious trait, their weight. John Belushi, John Candy, and Chris Farley were all obese. The reason why they were overweight will never be fully understood, whether it was genetics, poor eating, lack of exercise, pressures of society, or bad habits. The fact is that all these men were huge, and remained large until their respective deaths.Not only were all of these men overweight, they were also well loved. In a People Magazine article following the death of John Candy, the author concludes â€Å"in the end, of course, no one can say for certain whether diet and self-denial would have prolonged Candy's lif e a single day. Only one thing is sure: Already Candy is missed† (Harmes 97). Similarly in a Canadian magazine an author begins â€Å"While all of us feel as though we've lost someone we knew personally,† showing another example of the attachment fans had with such comedians (Candy in both of these instances) (The Untimely Passing 9).Like Candy, Chris Farley had his fair share of praises in a Rolling Stone Magazine stating â€Å"almost everyone loved Farley, and it was a genuine love, not a Hollywood love† (Hedegaard 40). Through these accounts praising the lives of such overweight comedians, it becomes clear that the actors really connected with their audience and gained a sincere affection from their fans. The love they generated came through both the laughs they consistently provided America as well as their big loving appearance.Perhaps people connected with the characters because they thought their enormous build made them more resilient and therefore they c ould endure the slapstick comedy they provided. Maybe the reason they were admired was because their large appearance was not the typical Hollywood ‘Barbie'-like figure that so many stars posses, but a reflection of how America really looks: overweight. Or, perhaps their size made them more human because they embodied the flaws in all of us. By the simple act of laughing at and with them, the audience is put at ease and feels better about their own shortcomings.In any case, the success of these comedians came through their realistic appearance on stage. The people and actions in these films could occur in everyday American lives. The men were not living a sophisticated lifestyle and did not have special skills; they portrayed an overweight male (which is common in the United States) and shined in immature and physical humor evolving the slapstick genre that has been a staple of American comedy films since their beginning a century ago.

Reaction Paper 1

Kaily Purtle 09-10-2012 Study of the Family Reaction Paper 1 In class we discussed Reading #4. This reading was about the â€Å"Super Mom†. We discussed our personally experiences along with readings. We talked about how stay at home mothers and working mothers get looked at by society and by their husbands. I will be writing my reaction paper on this topic because it is very interesting to me. The â€Å"Super Mom† is described in the White and Klein text as a â€Å"stroller in one hand, brief case in the other. † This means that the mother is doing all she can to provide for her family while still catering to her children.On the other end of the spectrum, a â€Å"Stay at Home Mom† is just a mother that stays home with the children. She takes care of every need that the children have while taking care of the home at the same time. The husbands of a â€Å"Stay at Home Mom† believe that it is easy. In the reading, the author says that mothers are face d with intensive mothering where they need to be mothers first before anything. To society, this â€Å"Stay at Home Mom† needs to justify whey she is unable to work outside of the home. There are single moms out there that work everyday so, they need to justify why they live at home.I personally believe that whether or no the mother stays at home just depends on the family situation. The children may needs extra attention that the mother needs to attend to or maybe the husband believes that his wife should stay at home and he makes enough money to take care of his family alone. It just depends I think. We also discussed what mothers should do if they work early till late. We all discussed our own experiences but mine was that my grandfather helped us out. He still does. My father works everyday almost and my mother is a teacher so they are not available during the day.My grandmother works and my grandfather is retired, so it is very easy for us to get ahold of him if we need anything especially since he lives across the street from me. I think we were just blessed to have my family so close to us that way we can help each other out. They are always there for us. Like I said, every family is different. They need to be able tot have someone there for their children when they need to be taken care of no matter if that contains extended family, a brother or sister and maybe the parents if they are available.

Building a Wireless Sensor Network Essay Example for Free (#6)

Building a Wireless Sensor Network Essay 1.0 Introduction In the previous era, the technology application mostly using wire but now a wireless device has become common place. The definition of wireless sensor network is an application that having no wires connection on that devices. In addition, to make the system easy to monitor from a distant location, the RF 433MHz module was used. So, this project gave rise to the idea for studying details about the RF 433MHz module performance for WSN application. 1.1 Project Background Nowadays, using the wireless sensor network (WSN) technology to monitor the environment helps someone to solve the problems of deployment difficulty, high cost, and realized unmanned monitoring which is mostly used in factory, buildings, laboratory and house. This project is to study the range and performance of the RF 433MHz module for WSN application. RF 433MHz module are popular used in remote control system. This range also available to use in this area. There are two types of the RF module which is transmitter and receiver. From research, using RF 433MHz module, the data can get more accurately without any data losses with the range that given than compared to other transmission for wireless sensor network. The range that can reach by this RF module is different between outside and inside area. For inside area, it can work for 50 meters through multiple walls with an antenna, while for the outside area, it will be able for hundreds of meters. Besides that, a microcontroller such as Arduino also used in this project. Arduino that available for this project is Arduino PRO which is it has 3.3V port that will be easier to connect directly to the types of RF 433MHz module that used in this project. This project also will be studied the analysis of the data transmission by giving a few of distance between the transmitter and receiver of the RF 433MHz modules when located in the obstacles or line of sight area. Then, the data that are received will be displayed on the computer whether there are data losses or not. 1.2 Problem Statement The problem that becoming as issues right now is there is a lot of ways to send data but the problem is about the range, cost, and data losses. So, for this situation, study the performance of RF 433MHz can overcome the problem for the WSN application. The objectives of this project are to understand the range and performance of RF 433MHz module. Moreover, exploration about the transmitting and receiving the data by using the RF 433MHz module. 1.4 Work Scope The main work scope of this project is to make sure this project will achieve the objectives. The main focus of this project:- i. To study and understanding the range of RF 433MHz module. ii. To transfer data by using RF 433MHz module. 1.5 Methodology In this project, there are three main parts. For the first part, it will be focused on the conducting the literature review and do some research more detail about the RF 433MHz module. Meanwhile, for the second part, after the software development process, the hardware development process will take over and include the testing of the project. Last part, when the hardware and software complete their part, it will be followed by testing the performance and the operation of the project to make an analysis. 1.6 Report Structure This part will explain all the flow for completing this report and project. In this report, there are five chapters. Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter will introduce the background of the project, state the problems, clear about the objectives, scope of work, planned the methodology and structure of report to make it organized. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter will be explained more details about all the research that have been done. Then, the summarization for the project also will be attached to this chapter to make it clear. Chapter 3: Methodology The methodology is the procedures or steps when doing this project. The simulation, analysis, and evaluation of the project will be discussed in this chapter. This method is important because from here the flow of the process for the project will be updated. Chapter 4: Expected Results The expected results in the software or hardware will be stated in this chapter. The comparisons and improvements of this project will be described here. Analysis of the results also will be discussed here. Chapter 5: Conclusion In this chapter, to make a conclusion for all the summary of this project was collected in each part can be discussed in the conclusion. Building a Wireless Sensor Network. (2018, Apr 18). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

What personal responsibility do Ferdinand and Isabella bear for the Essay

What personal responsibility do Ferdinand and Isabella bear for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1942 - Essay Example In order to deal with this issue, they introduced the Inquisition, but reports from the Inquisitors only confirmed their fears that converts to Christianity could not be considered secure in the faith until they could be prevented from having any contact with Jews. Shortly after the fall of Granada, with the Muslim threat quashed, and Christian emotion running high, they decided to move for expulsion. Therefore, they bear great personal responsibility, but it should be noted that they were heavily influenced by the Inquisition, and by political developments. It has often been suggested that in the period leading up to the expulsion edict, greater intolerance and anti-Semitism had been developing in Europe generally. From the 13th century onwards, what Gavin Langmuir termed ‘chimeric antisemitism’ arguably made itself felt in Europe (Peters, 17). Evidence of popular resentment against Jews, as the perceived enemies of Christendom, is plentiful. For example, there were massacres in the Rhineland in 1096, as the First Crusade began. Spanish society, which had hitherto been characterised chiefly by its peaceful coexistence, was not exempt from this trend towards anti-Semitism. Altabà © certainly adopts this viewpoint, as he states that ‘Muslim caliphs and Christian kings often referred to themselves with pride as emperors of the three religions’ (728). Until the 14th century, as Peters notes, the public life of the Iberian states was commonly termed convivencia, or ‘peacefully living together’ (9). Ca stile and Aragon were unique cases in Western Europe, in terms of their religious and cultural diversity. They had the most substantial populations of Muslims and Jews in the region, and despite the restrictions placed on the latter, Jews were still able to rise to positions of power, wealth and prominence. Jews were to be found among the advisers of the monarchs and lords, and many of the most exalted

Immunology in Biotechnology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Immunology in Biotechnology - Essay Example have distinguished different kind of inflammation like: Granulomatous inflammation, Fibrinous inflammation, purulent inflammation, serous inflammation etc. and each of these are associated with particular kind of diseases or infection. These observations of type of inflammation related to particular disease or infection facilitated development of new diagnostic procedure for identification of disease and similarly by understanding mechanistic aspect of inflammation in particular disease opens new vista of new treatment. strategies. 2. Explain the structure of a virus. How does it differ from bacteria? Are antibiotics effective against viral infections? Why or why not? Answer the question posed on the cover of the December, 2004 issue of Scientific American â€Å"Are Viruses Alive?† Explain why this is an important question. Virus contains nucleic acid, surrounded by a protective layer of protein, which is called capsid. It also possesses a lipid layer that is derived from the membrane e of the host. They differ from bacteria in the presence of cell wall. Most bacteria have a rigid cell wall, followed by cell membrane and a cytosol. A bacterium possesses all the information needed for reproduction viz., the DNA. Whereas, in the case of the virus it may or may not have an outermost layer called envelope and it also posses a core genetic material which can be either DNA or RNA. Anti bacterial antibiotics are not effective against Viruses as the target molecules for anti bacterial antibiotics are different or absent in viruses, like cell wall (Penicillin ), Ribosome (tetracycline), Transcription (Rifampicin) etc. But there are several anti viral antibiotics are available in market which effectively kills the viruses. The viruses are consider to be a in between of living and non living world as it multiplie s but with the help of host. But now it is clearly demonstrated that viruses are living organism and its become model system to understand what is the minimum

Do boys have a genetic lack of motivation in Modern Foreign Languages Essay

Do boys have a genetic lack of motivation in Modern Foreign Languages - Essay Example Learning new languages apart from the commonly used or national languages is paramount in enhancing communication with individuals with diverse native backgrounds. The languages that may include individuals second or third communication technique holds relevance in promoting mutual understanding with different personalities and steer trade. Institutions are currently focusing on employing individuals with diverse language background who hold the capacity of interacting proficiently with customers from diverse locations. This is critical since the world is becoming a global village where trade and various activities are jointly undertaken. This essay discusses the role of genetics in enhancing boys interest in learning modern foreign languages (MFLs). Influence of genetics in motivating boys in learning Modern Foreign Languages As noted by teachers in various settings, most male students are increasingly becoming less interested in learning modern languages. The student’s exhib it low motivational aspects and determination that hinders their success in learning new languages compared to female students. They assert that the low interest and motivation in learning modern languages are instigated genetically in most instances (Jones & Jones, 2001, P, 1). In particular, male students have attitudinal complications that affect their capacity in getting absolute acquaintance to foreign languages that demands determination, consistency and time input. According to various studies, boys low motivational and interest levels in learning MFLs is attributable to genetics, attitudinal and social issues. The study depicts that boys are created with inferior innate capacity that motivates further effort towards acquiring proficiency in various foreign languages (Jones & Jones, 2001, P, 1). Boys are associated with complex subjects that require less communication since they hold low social capacity compared to female students. Consequently, boys are known for their inabi lity to sit for a long period as female students. This deprives them the opportunity to acquire optimal support in the process of learning MFLs that require long hours of dedication and corporation with the teachers. Genetically, the brainpower of boys is suitable for tackling complex issues, for example, mathematics and sciences. They are also suitable for tackling sciences and providing solutions to complex matters of great significance (Jones & Jones, 2001, P, 1). They lack the capacity to involve in an intensive narration and learning new languages due to their impatience. They prefer engaging in structured and practical activities or subjects that require systematic approaches. This explains boys’ instrumental motivational orientation that associates them with rewards. Their focus on the reward system limits their motivational ability since languages does not present them with wide opportunities. Culture is an integrative motivational orientation aspect that influences b oys’ interest in learning modern languages. As noted, various communities adopt diverse cultural practices that define their lifestyle and decision-making. The practices also define the activities and duties that either gender is under expectation to perform. These practices have deep-rooted implications and most individuals believe in them. In most settings, boys are associated with complex undertakings and large output in terms of returns. They are regarded as individuals with great brain

IP2 Fortun 55 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IP2 Fortun 55 - Essay Example The age of technology and innovation has imposed upon the employees and organizations extreme competition and hard work to keep with their sustenance. In such a competitive and rigid environment, it is the utmost responsibility of the organizations to keep their employees motivated and maintained through providing them the basic necessities, comfort and satisfaction on the job. This is done through different wellness programs which many companies introduce in order to keep w well-fed and motivated human resource base. Corporate Wellness Programs The corporate wellness programs, commonly known as workplace wellness programs, are sort of motivational programs which are the blend of various environmental, educational and organizational activities. These activities are normally formulated to assist the behavior and attitude which is favorable and encouraging towards the health of the organization’s employees. They are involved in these programs which comprise of health coaching, f itness programs, health education through holding fairs, medical screenings and the various educational programs which are designed with sophistication in order to bring a change in the behaviors and attitudes of the employees. This change is most likely to contribute towards the achievement of better employee health, and a drastic reduction in the possible risks linked to the health of employees. Thus, the basic goal accomplished through the designing and implementation of the wellness programs is the attainment of better health of the employees. According to a recent study presented by the US Department of Health and Human Services, it was indicated that the workplaces which offer the on-site exercise programs to their employees as a component of their wellness programs, experienced a decline from 75 % to 55% in their healthcare costs and the employees’ short-term leaves were also lowered from 38% to 32% , ultimately leading to a rise in the productivity of an average emplo yee from 50% to 52% (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Thus, such wellness programs contribute big time to the health of the employees as well as the organization. Development of an Effective Wellness Program The wellness programs have become the need of time and the basic necessity which should be provided by the organization to all its employees. Here, the Fortune 55 firm is working with an estimated number of 500 employees, who are all busy working hard in order to steer the organization towards achieving its goals. Though, the old wellness program at the company was effective too, however, with the changing needs of the age and the shifting demands of employees, a newer and more effective wellness program should be developed which is capable of delivering further benefits to the employees. Since, the corporate wellness programs are a blend of the healthcare, medical and educational activities, the new plan of the Fortune 500 will follow a more sophisticated mi xture in the program. The elements of the brand new effective wellness program, to be developed and introduced, will include the following elements: Lifestyle Improvement Stress Management Online health coaching Appraisals and assessments of health associated risks Health content programs Employees’ mental health and well being These were the elements which already existed in the company’

Biology of food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Biology of food - Essay Example Genes are required to direct the production of functional molecules; also known as proteins. A process known as gene expression does this. Gene expression consists of two steps: transcription, and translation. Gene information is necessary in the production of proteins. Transcription is the first step done to get the information out of storage. The information stored in the DNA of a gene is relocated to an RNA (mRNA) molecule located in the cell nucleus; this process is called transcription. The DNA of a gene serves as a template for harmonizing base pairing. RNA polymerase II catalyzes the configuration of a pre- mRNA molecule; which is developed to form a mature mRNA. The mRNA transports the information from the DNA located in the nucleus into the cytoplasm. The second major step in gene expression, translation step follows in the cytoplasm. Three start factor proteins (IF1, IF2, and IF3) bind to the small subunit of the ribosome, resulting to a pre-initiation mRNA complex. The mRN A complex and methinine carrying tRNA, bind to the mRNA in close proximity to the AUG start codon; forming the initiation complex. The mRNA intermingles with the large ribosomal subunits, which releases the initiation factors. The large ribosomal subunit binds to the small ribosomal subunit to complete the initiation complex. ... Peptide bonds are formed via a peptidyl transferase activity. This procedure is repeated until the tRNA molecules have read all codons; amino acids joined to the tRNA have been connected in the growing polypeptide chain appropriately. With each mRNA, base sequence, codes for a specific amino acid. Each codon identifies a particular amino acid. Therefore, the mRNA sequence is used as a template to bring together the chain of amino acids that make up a protein. Transfer RNA joins the protein; by linking one amino acid within the interval. Protein production comes to a halt when the ribosome comes across a stop codon in mRNA. The stop codons are UAA, UAG, and UGA; Trna can recognize these codons. In place of the tRNA, release factors bind and facilitate the release of the mRNA from the ribosome and consequent dissociation of the ribosome. This sting of amino acids built by chromosomes finally acquires its activity during gene regulation, when gene expression is taking place. Signals fro m the location and or other cells activate transcription facets. The transcription features are proteins, which bind to the dogmatic locations of the gene. The rate of transcription can then be increased or decreased; establishing the amount of protein and product made. This is paramount as the string-of-stuff will resemble and act differently as per the specified activities. Environmental mutagens (like oxygen radicals) can result to DNA modifications causing mutations. These radicals react with DNA yielding lesions such as base modifications, cross-links, and strand breaks. A highly reactive hydroxyl radical, counters the DNA. This is done by the addition to double bonds of the DNA bases, as well as the blocking of the hydrogen atom from the methyl assemblage of thymine and C-H

The Impact of An Engineering Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Impact of An Engineering Innovation - Essay Example Since the invention of the internal combustion engine and of the tools and machinery that rely on it the global scene has undergone much change from the 19th century. The impact in global society has been in various ways, but the main effect has been in the transportation industry. Early application of the combustion engine was the use of automobiles and trains and later on airplanes. The use and reliance on these modes of transport have made the combustion engine indispensable in the global society. From the late 19th century, there was easier worldwide travel as a result of the trains that now had combustion engines as opposed to the earlier steam engines. The early 20th century saw the invention of the airplane that made the world travel much easier and quick. This meant that people could move from Europe to America or Asia easily. Easy movement of people has impacted societies, cultures were exchanged and products from one place could be available in any part of the world. The co mbustion engine had an immense effect on the economies of countries and the world. Movement of goods and people had become easier and convenient than never before. The transportation industry grew tremendously, and this had a profound impact on the economy in the particular areas the engine was in operation. The air travel also observed in the second half of the 20th century created a new industry that was beneficial to the economies of the countries operating the airlines and also increased the tourism sector worldwide since people could move with ease.

The Fiftieth Gate and The Pianist Essay Example for Free

The Fiftieth Gate and The Pianist Essay Memory helps form the basis of history, whereas history can be used to clarify fragmented memories. For a true understanding of the past there has to be a balance between documented evidence and personal experiences and memories. In Mark Baker’s nonfiction biography ‘The Fiftieth Gate’ (1997), and Roman Polanski’s film ‘The Pianist’ (2002) have both reconstructed the past through a combination of memories and historical documentation. The interplay of historical documentation and memories is critical for an accurate portrayal of an event. The Fiftieth Gate’ follows Baker’s own investigation into the history and memories of his parents to understand the events of the Holocaust. He adopts a style of writing similar to Midrash, a religious method of biblical interpretation of ideas, to bridge the gap between the past and present. Intially memories are inconsistent for Baker. They can leap out â€Å"at him, like a jack-in-the-box†, the simile enhancing the notion that memories are unpredictable and therefore not entirely reliable. Baker’s value of historical exactness over memory is seen through the juxtaposition of his father’s shared experience against his mother’s lone survival. He sees his father’s past â€Å"written on page of history shared by other survivors† while his mother â€Å"could not point to anyone†. As the novel progresses, this preference for history over memory is diminished. History is characterized as cold and lifeless being: â€Å"papers (that are)†¦echoes of the past, dark shadows without screams, without smells, without fear†. The repetition of â€Å"without† emphasizes the lack of emotion present in historical accounts. At the end of the novel Baker arrives at the rhetorical question â€Å"Why do I crave the contents of this single lone sentence†¦when all it says is what she has repeated throughout her life? while summarising his mother’s experience. The historian eventually learns to stop only looking at â€Å"numbers and lists† but rather hear the â€Å"pleas of a human being†. With this final combination of history and memory Baker is able to acquire a deeper understanding of the past. A similar focus on the interplay of historical documentation and memories is seen in Roman Polanski’s film ‘The Pianist’. Polanski’s own memories and the experiences of Wladyslaw Spzilman are verified by archival images taken by the Germans and historical data about the Warsaw Ghetto. In contrast to Baker’s describing of events, ‘The Pianist’ visually recreates the memories of the Holocaust victims. Polanski uses monochromatic colours, costumes and lighting to produce a morose World War II concentration camp atmosphere. Within the film the interplay of history and memory is shown as black and white footage intercut with contemporary scenes of Spzilman from Pianist. To ensure that the â€Å"smallest detail would be exact†, the director employed research experts, who found artefacts from the Holocaust to use in the film that would provide authenticity. This is enhanced with dialogue that enlightens the audience to the attitudes and values of that time, â€Å"They hang†¦ (those) for helping Jews†. Allusions to official decrees that were placed at that time where â€Å"No jews are allowed† and newspaper articles and radio broadcasts of that time is used by Polanski to place the audience accurately within that time. He uses an evocative setting of ruins in Europe and Warsaw, and intercuts actual historical World War II footage and data. In â€Å"†¦trying to rebuild the world exactly as it was†¦ no more, no less,† he melds history and memory to reveal truths. For an accurate understanding of past events there needs to be a balance between historical documentation and personal memories. Baker creates these metaphorical gates that open his parent’s memories, a link to his Jewish heritage, with each gate drawing a separate memory. He enhances the eternal power of memories through sensory imagery: â€Å"Can you hear, or do the screams from the mass grave drown out the sounds and melodies of Wierzbnik in its innocence? † The experiences endured by his parents continue to torment them, their memories: â€Å"broken like fragments of sacred tablet†. The motif of stone in this simile corresponds with the Jewish belief of memory not being remembered by flowers but rather by stones as they are â€Å"mysterious and eternal†. The lasting effect of the Holocaust is seen in Genia’s dialogue: â€Å"Don? t interrogate me. I? m your mother, not your prisoner, the negative word connotations linking back to her own circumstance during the Nazi regime. Personal memories explore emotions that can never be captured by written documents, a notion that is illustrated through the repetition and rhetorical question of: â€Å"You read, you read. Books, books, everywhere. But do you know how it feels? † Baker employs evocative languge of his mother remembering: â€Å"the sound of shots† of â€Å"screaming†, which is contrasted to the historical facts of this event: â€Å"the death toll†¦ of atleast 40,000 Jews†, demonstrating the value of memory, as it provides greater substance and accuracy than documented evidence. Through an investigation of both history and personal memories Baker is able to gain an accurate understanding of the past. Polanski is â€Å"a survivor telling a survivor’s story†. The Pianist’ explores past events through the diary of a German officer, the memoirs of Wladyslaw Spzilman and Polanski’s own personal memories. Three accounts interweave in this film to display an accurate interpretation of the Holocaust. The accuracy of the Pianist’s memory is justified as it â€Å"was written immediately after the war†. Polanski himself remembers the â€Å"one thing that is burned in my mind is the arm band with the star of David†. He places this image to symbolise the dehumanisation of the Jewish people. This corresponds with the number branded on Baker’s father, Yossl. Polanski indirectly questions the link between memories and time. He suggests that memory is not entirely reliable and adapts to changing contexts. This is emphasised through the use of the cross fade technique. Images of Spzilman playing the piano blur into one another, which suggest that memory will eventually fade and transform. The piano itself is a visual leitmotif within the film for Spzilman’s survival spirit. Polanski visually enhances the Spzilman’s memory of being isolated in Warsaw ghetto by placing the pianist as a single figure in the centre of the foreground. All that remains in the background are possessions abandoned by the Jews who have been deported to death camps. Memory enriches history while history informs memory. These two key ideas are presented in Mark Baker’s non-fiction biography, The Fiftieth Gate and Roman Polanski’s film The Pianist, allowing the audience to understand the importance of memory and history. By examining personal experience, memory and documented evidence, an individual can a balanced and informed understanding of the past.

Malaysian Airlines Computer System Management

Malaysian Airlines Computer System Management Malaysian Airlines (MAS) has won many awards for its quality customer service since it began on 1937. Since then MAS has increased its fleet size by providing both cargo and passenger travel. The company had gone through the tough times (2005) and some of its best times (2008, 2009) in the last 10 years. Even though the fuel prices are increasing MAS have reduced some of the costs of maintaining the fleet to be successful in the industry. By providing some of the best services in terms of technology and maintained the quality of the applications and hardware by outsourcing these areas to some of the most well-known companies in the industry. The company is currently implementing the hub-and-spoke network which considers Kuala Lumpur as the hub in the network. The increase in Low-cost carriers (LCC) has led to MAS changing some of its strategies, and in Business Turnaround Plan (BTP) 2 it was clear that the company is targeting to become a Five Star Value Carrier (FSVC). Current Business Model and recent Strategies The main hub of MAS is in Kuala Lumpur while it has recently announced its selection of Kota Kinabalu as its eastern hub. The reason for this is that it is targeting China, Taiwan, North Asia, Indonesia and Australia markets (Karantzavelou, 2010). MAS recovered from the loss in 2005 by cancelling some of the unprofitable routes and furthermore changing its operations from point-to-point services to a hub-and-spoke service. Using hub-and-spoke model it would reduce the number of routes and some of the more complicated tasks could be carried out at the hub rather than each node. Some issues that may need to be addressed may include that delays in the hub may affect the whole network by causing delays. Figure Hub-and-spoke network as displayed in BTP2 As displayed in the diagram some of the code share and interline partners of MAS are as follows: KLM for Northern Europe Alitalia for Southern Europe Virgin Blue for Australia South African Airways for Africa China Southern Airlines for Chine MAS were making losses of more than 1 billion on 2002, where the main reason for this was the increase in the fuel prices in 2000. Even though the cargo traffic increased between 2001 and 2002 the profits were not increased due to the rise in the operational cost. Some of the challenges MAS faced includes overcapacity, intense competition with yields and profit margins eroding as well as liberalization of ASEAN skies and rising fuel costs. The company started focusing on improving the cost and productivity of the company in accordance with BTP. One of the techniques that MAS used was to introduce the performance management system in all the company offices. This improved the staff performance by providing a reward and recognition scheme with motivated the staff by rewarding them on their performance and contribution to the company. It is known that such techniques to improve the decision making skill of all the staff and keep the staff motivated since they would feel as a valuable member of the company. After achieving the profit targets by 2008, MAS introduced the BTP2 which highlighted the rise of low-cost competition, increasing fuel prices and rise in the public pressure on environmental issues. The purpose of BTP2 was to maintain the growth that MAS has been experiencing after 2003. Hence MAS decided to build an airline that would provide the best services in the industry and has decided to become a FSVC. The way MAS currently works is by providing quality services at reasonable prices which are higher compared to budget-airlines such as Air Asia. MAS have been trying to renew its fleet by ordering Airbus A330s and A380s. Furthermore for the year 2010 it was identified that the main purpose is to maintain the growth following the last three years using the BTP. With the competition from Air Asia, MAS is trying to focus on the areas that it is good at and trying to co-exist with Air Asia in the market. There were delays in the delivery of A380, so compensation for this delay was collected by MAS. There was increase in fuel cost for MAS by almost 42% between 1st Quarter 2009 and 1st Quarter 2010, and it was only possible to reduce other expenditures by only 7% (Yee, 2010). However it was possible for MAS to gain a profit after receiving the compensation for A380. The most important plans currently are the fleet renewal plans. It is understood that by renewing the fleets the maintenance cost could be reduced by disposing the older models of planes which require more maintenance due to operating for a long time. Furthermore MASKargo  has been able to support the increase in demand for cargo at the end of 2009. The online services provided by MAS have been improving with providing online booking services to many additional destinations mainly in Europe. This would enable the customers to easily book their flights and furthermore provide details on prices, dates and other necessary details online. The need for customers to go to the ticketing offices would be significantly reduced and tickets could be bought at any time. MAS currently implement a frequent flyer program which gives certain benefits to its members such as priority check-in, priority standby and extra baggage allowance. The program is called Enrich frequent flyer program which increase the miles by using MAS services or even using the services of some of the partners of MAS such as airlines, hotels and credit-card companies. By implementing such programs MAS is able to maintain its more frequent travelers by providing quality services and providing them with discounts/ benefits according to the miles that the passenger have travelled. Current IT/ IS Infrastructure To reduce cost and increase profitability MAS selected Avaya for its Contact Center Transformation Project (Swamy, 2010). The purpose of the project was to improve the customer service by using Avaya since they already have well-established platforms that provide information in real-time. Avaya already has many systems such as Call Management System and Avaya Aura Workforce Optimization which would assist MAS to improve the workforce and customer services. Avaya was selected because they are a well-known and established company in providing customer services with experience in the area and it would be more beneficial for the company to give Avaya the project rather than having the company (MAS) staff work on the project. Thus, MAS would be able to use its resources (staffs) in other areas of business. These services are supposed to be implemented in mid-April 2011. Following the BTP2, MAS selected Nortel as the company to provide the communication network. Nortel offers real time communications such as voice, video and other multimedia services with low power consumption using Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 (Nortel, 2008). This system would improve the communication with a centrally managed network to provide support for the operations/ activities of the business. Since Nortel is experienced in providing these types of system would improve the quality of the services, and MAS need not hire experienced staff to develop it and could focus on other activities. These type of communication systems would help the company to communicate within the company and with the customers. MAS have a contract with IBM for 10 years to maintain the IT infrastructure, application maintenance and development (Amonk, 2003). IBM would be providing skill transfer to the IT staffs working in MAS such that staffs working in MAS would have the relevant knowledge to maintain the servers and applications. Since IBM is one of the leading IT service provider, MAS signed the contract with IBM such that it would help the company to meet the increasing IT needs of the future. Later MAS selected Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to maintain the data center and the maintain the IT network. According to the BTP, a key priority was to improve the Passenger Service System (PSS) such that MAS would have a quality IT system. Hence MAS selected Specialists in Air Transport Communications and IT Solutions (SITA) to improve the ticketing system (SITA, 2008). The introduction of the e-ticketing system, fuel efficiency programmers, rationalization of facilities and customer service would save lots of costs for MAS. The introduction of e-ticking and web check in systems provided customers with the convenience of getting tickets 24/7 and it improved the sales significantly. MAS currently have contracts with SITA and TSC to maintain the network of computers and Applications. It was further identified that MAS uses Symantec security products to reduce IT related risks (Symantic Corp., 2008). The risks of security increased with the development of online services and it reduces the risk of threats on its servers and applications. Another notable IT solution is the Sabre Movement Manager which was implemented by MAS in 2004 which assist the company in scheduling and monitoring of the flights and this system was later integrated with the other systems such as e-ticketing system (Business Wire, 2004). The company Sabre Airlines Solutions is one of the largest developer of this type of systems, hence this product could be considered very reliable. However, the company would need to be able to integrate this systems with other future systems that may require some of the data generated using this system. Furthermore, to make it easy for customers MAS introduced worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s first iPad Kiosks and self check-in Kiosks. (slinger, 2010). Conclusion MAS have been very successful with the BTP, since the company performed better than what was forecasted in the plan. The company had improved the productivity and reduced the costs for the company. MAS have been successful in attracting businessmen who are frequent flyers with the Enrich frequent flyer program. Furthermore, MAS have implemented the IT solutions by outsourcing the work to companies which are experienced in the area. The company has been improving the IT services especially to the customer with the latest technology such as the latest kiosk and iphone augmented reality application. Hence MAS is already a well-established company with the right IT infrastructure and implementing strategies that are suitable by taking into account the external factors. word limit: 1650 words

Countee Cullen :: essays research papers

Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (Porter) was considered by many to be the most talented of the Harlem Renaissance poets. Cullen was a novelist and a playwright, but he was known by most as a poet. He was born on March 30, 1903 in New York. Cullen was adopted at some point between the time of his birth and 1918. By 1921, he changed his last name to Cullen, from his adopted mothers last name. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School between (1918- 1921). During this time he was editor of his schools newspaper and of the magazine Magpie, and during High School he wrote his first poetry that received notice. He also attended New York University for four years. Not much is known of the early years of his childhood up until 1918. Between the time of Cullen’s birth 1918 he was adopted by Rev. Frederick A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  and Carolyn Bell (Mitchell) Cullen of the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem. It is unknown how old Cullen was when he got adopted. Rev. Cullen regained Countee Cullen’s faith back in himself by getting him to understand that any goal or dream that he had to fulfill it. Countee received much help both mentally and physically from his adopted father, it is said that if Countee would not have been adopted by the Reverend he would not have gone as far as he eventually did. Countee Cullen was considered one of the most talented of the Harlem Renaissance poets. A lot of his poetry was written during his high school and college years. During high school Cullen won his first contest, a citywide competition, with the poem â€Å"I Have a Rendezvous with Life,† a non-racial poem. Cullen was also the editor of his high school paper and a literary magazine Magpie. He furthered his wisdom and education at Countee Cullen :: essays research papers Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (Porter) was considered by many to be the most talented of the Harlem Renaissance poets. Cullen was a novelist and a playwright, but he was known by most as a poet. He was born on March 30, 1903 in New York. Cullen was adopted at some point between the time of his birth and 1918. By 1921, he changed his last name to Cullen, from his adopted mothers last name. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School between (1918- 1921). During this time he was editor of his schools newspaper and of the magazine Magpie, and during High School he wrote his first poetry that received notice. He also attended New York University for four years. Not much is known of the early years of his childhood up until 1918. Between the time of Cullen’s birth 1918 he was adopted by Rev. Frederick A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  and Carolyn Bell (Mitchell) Cullen of the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem. It is unknown how old Cullen was when he got adopted. Rev. Cullen regained Countee Cullen’s faith back in himself by getting him to understand that any goal or dream that he had to fulfill it. Countee received much help both mentally and physically from his adopted father, it is said that if Countee would not have been adopted by the Reverend he would not have gone as far as he eventually did. Countee Cullen was considered one of the most talented of the Harlem Renaissance poets. A lot of his poetry was written during his high school and college years. During high school Cullen won his first contest, a citywide competition, with the poem â€Å"I Have a Rendezvous with Life,† a non-racial poem. Cullen was also the editor of his high school paper and a literary magazine Magpie. He furthered his wisdom and education at

The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

The Great Gatsby Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald with notes and preface by Matthew J. Bruccoli   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the book many major characters were introduced some of which include: Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, along with George and Myrtle Wilson. Jay Gatsby is the main protagonist of the story. While being famous for his lavish parties he also portrays a sense of mystery and uncertainty regarding his wealth. Nick Carraway is neighbors with Jay Gatsby and has just moved from Minnesota in hopes to learn the business of bonds and advance even more in his education. Daisy Buchanan is the woman, which Gatsby desperately desires to have. Daisy had promised to wait for Gatsby but her love for luxury and wealth was too great. Daisy then goes on to marry Tom Buchanan. Jordan Baker is involved with Nick Carraway romantically; she portrays a new woman of the 1920s and cannot at times be trusted. Tom Buchanan at one point went to school with Nick Carraway. Tom has his suspicions of Daisy’s relationship with Gatsby and questions the possibility of Daisy having an affair. George and Myrtle Wilson are husband and wife but Myrtle has a lover who is Tom Buchanan. George is incredible upset with Myrtle’s death and continues to kill Gatsby who took the blame for Myrtle’s death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel takes place in the summer time somewhere around 1922. The location where the story takes place occurs in Long Island and New York City, New York. The mood of the story has an elegant yet emotional feel almost throughout the whole book. The emotional side is perfectly demonstrated by the amount of drama that goes on with Gatsby and Daisy relationship. While the elegant side is clearly demonstrated by the lavish parties thrown by Gatsby himself and the coveted East Egg side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the beginning of the book we learn that Gatsby and Nick Carraway are neighbors and that Nick has connections with some of the people in the East Egg side. Later on Nick attends a dinner with Tom and Daisy Buchanan where he learns details of Tom and Daisy’s marriage. While at the dinner Nick is introduced to a woman named Jordan Baker. Words are passed between the two concerning others relationships. Next Nick engages in a party thrown by Jay Gatsby. During the party Nick learns of Gatsby’s past then he goes on to learn his plans for the near future.

Macbeth - Evil And Darkness :: essays research papers

The play "Macbeth" by Shakespeare is jam-packed with malfeasance and darkness. All actions taken by Macbeth, his wife, Lady Macbeth, the witches and Hecate have immoral intentions and/or evil outcomes. An example of such is Lady Macbeth’s dark intentions to quicken Macbeth’s crowning, fuelled Macbeth’s "vaulting ambition[s]" (Act 1 scene 7 line 27) to murder anyone or anything that stood in his path of a long reign. Shakespeare often uses darkness and will frequently set the scene as a dark and stormy night. This depicts that evil happenings are occurring or are about to take place. There are at least three examples of this in "Macbeth". "The night has been unruly: where we lay,/Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,/Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death,..." (Act 2 scene 3 line 54-56). "Three score and ten I can remember well;/Within the volume of which time I have seen/Hours of dreadful and things strange, but this sore night/Hath trifled former knowings." (Act 2 scene 4 line 1-4). Both these quotes are talking about the night of Duncan’s death. They are showing the comparisons between the natural unruliness and the anomalous disaster. "And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp." (Act 2 scene 4 line 7) is a metaphor for both the murder of Duncan and the night in which it transpired. A dark and stormy image is also portrayed when pernicious characters (ie. the witches, Macbeth and the murderers) meet. The witches play a very important role in "Macbeth", as they initiate the evil plot. Even from the prologue we can see the witches are evil. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair:" (Act 1 scene 1 line 11). They uphold their evil status throughout the play although their power is not fully demonstrated until the prophecies come true and also later where they conjure up the three apparitions. The witches are truly evil and love evil for its own self unlike Macbeth. "Spiteful and wrathful; who. as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you." (Act 3 scene 5 line 12-13). Throughout the play they provide the strongest impression of evil. They are continually committing mischievous deeds, such as, "Killing swine" (Act 1 scene 3 line 2), tormenting sailors and casting spells. "Macbeth" is built upon evil and sorcery. Whether it be the witches "Double, double, toil and trouble;/Fire burn and cauldron bubble." (Act

Feminism and Language Essay

Among different disciplines of the society, feminist geography, feminist history and feminist literary criticism, collectively becomes the Feminist Theory. This theory had a long walk of time, starting from this movement till 90s; at its third extent of its evolution. The time of post war and the baby boomers, the 60s and 70s were in the extent of the second wave. From this stage it reaches the first wave of 19th and early 20th century from the very point of time, when this became collectively the movements of this evolution that includes women’s rights, gender difference and theories and philosophies, which were the three social factors; of politics, society and economic equality of men and women in return gave birth to a concept called Feminism (Maggie 278). One of the factors, society has a concern with feminism amongst many, about the Language. This movement has influenced the usage of language at large. Linguistics brunt their midnight oil, to work on the description of the language usage that reduces the assumption of the biological sex of human connection. The thrush for the neutral gender was clearly manifested on its agendas of gender-inclusive language, which involve both the sexes or the genders and of gender-neutral language that proposes, gender hardly have any role in the language, for which it becomes neutral regarding in language usage. It is further argued to be non sexist language or politically correct language. Through these analyses the paper is shaping its findings of the relation between Feminism and Language. The philosophy of language have had its hurdle to establish the point of existence, but the criticism that displayed the male bias in the language like English, another criticisms is that the philosophy is ill equipped for the use of the feminists paved a way to a wider arena where its been suggested not to lay off the philosophy from the language. A cognitive feminist concept stretches the idea to limits where the traditional philosophy can help understanding the issues important to feminists. In Feminism, there have been numerous reasons to prove it ill suited for meeting the feminist needs, but the only factor that remained the lowest common denominator is the presence of maximum Individual in the philosophy. Criticism regarding polarity of individualism has been done in length and breadth, but interestingly, detection of those criticisms are always variable for different areas of philosophy being under the spot light and the different concerns of the particular critic, and the due to lack of single judgement the issue remains pseudo (Hintikka & Hintikka 139; Hornsby 87 and Nye 323). It has long been for the philosophy, since the beginning to be tagged with the usage of men bias of English language. Thinking can be free flowing when the language muses with mother tongue. Because, apart from English, there are different families of languages, which have much complex linguistics and can be used more flexibly in the context of both men centric and feminist uses. Such is the status of mother tongue, which frees itself from the men bias of English language. Needless to say, this can include many more languages in the common criticisms of the point of existence of philosophy of language. This also frees the critics from the psychological debate of the women and men. Moreover, individualism dose not have any scope to appreciate the concept of Social, where the central issue; feminism itself is the brainchild of social or society. Thus, the approach empowers the presence of language in feminism to the social causes of politics and power relation. Feminism is concern with the study of people and the domination function on others. Here the feelings and ideas are conveyed through a media. In this act of communicating language plays the most important role of media. Thus, it communicates, manipulates and controls to make it vital to understand the work of power. It is still a longing desire for many feminists to have a philosophy of language that will comprehend the social communication, but as a matter of fact, as of now; the presence of Individualism has it to be employed (Hornsby 97). In a Feminist mind set, the interchagability of the sexes are more important concept than decent English. As per the dogma of the convention, it has been engraved on the generations of student to think ‘he’ in connection of male only. Precisely, this is wrong. But the same had been practiced as the concept at its maximum limit. In the same school of thought a feminist would never go for ‘he’ if it can be presented as he or she, and would never chooses the author, where the author or the authoress can be put on use. And here the turning-point of the matter, which establishes the other side of the feminists on language, where they hate such kinds of vocabularies like, actress and waitress. Rather insist here for the masculine use for women and men. Of course it appears to be exclusively masculine in cases like these for those who are just learning the language (Gelernter 2008). Unlike the second wave, where the gender usage had been in use as person specific, the third wave is moving the approach in a more social level. Previously it was about the usage of the gender to address the person, but here it is about the perception of the language usage and that influences a larger group or category of the mass. It deals with the different way that men and women speak. Like, men being direct and forceful, women being hesitant, polite and apologetic. It analyses the complex negotiation among the genders regarding gender specific context like public speaking or intimate conversation and by routine, what women and men should do that is the co-operativeness and competitiveness. This makes the language of the two genders clear leaving no room to assume that all women are powerless, all males are powerful, or that gender always makes a difference. This is how; this feminist linguistics has focused on the social forces too. Nevertheless, it is suggested that the linguistics feminism of language perception to be kept at bay. It is so, because the sexism becomes difficult to analyse or challenge as they are more locally oriented and content specific. As a result the second wave feminism needs to be merged with the third wave in order to address both the local and global issues (Mills 2008). Language is not all about what we speak, it is about the writing too. By the verge of the second wave, the western society already produced some specific writing skills, which are inclined to feminism. It was a separate category of the scholarly interest. All the underrepresented women work in the history had to gain specific positions in the categories of history or writings. Various presses started taking effort to make the printings of the numerous works, as it was discover quite lately that the women were constantly writing (Blain 1231). This has been further ignited with the growing interest since 1970 in women writing as ‘powerful’. Since then many publishing houses responded in the women works like the long length of Novels and written Biographies. With this scrutiny, one editor reacted that most of the women work have been neglected from citing in most of the books available. Though now the picture is almost stable in this respect. Thus writing as another medium of communication has proved to be equally important when the expressions in the context are about women and men. This media is more typical as this is a kind of media where the data can be stored for future references. Thus, it is more permanent by character. Lastly, the philosophy remains important as that is the tool of the communication, which generates the thoughts to express in a language where the form may vary from what we speak and what we right, though it can be mirrored as the fountain head of the total concept takes birth in the womb of thought. So, after a handsome amount of conversations it has become quite clear that the Feminism as per the feminist theory is concerned, it is a social issue and includes many thing and aspects of society and the human life as a whole, but intends for the female race. It is not about being superior or inferior, good or bad, right or wrong. It is about being rational and be equal with both the genders. It is movement of social structure, where the politics, economic status of the social lot and the power makes the conglomeritic platform to deliver and establish the orders of the gender equality. And to support this entire process, Language has eventually become a part of Feminism; strong enough to control the chemistry of thought process. Bibliography Blain, Virginia. ; Clements, Patricia. ; Grundy, Isobel. (1990). The feminist companion to literature in English: women writers from the Middle Ages to the present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Cambridge Companion to Feminism in Philosophy. Fricker, M. and Hornsby, J. , (eds. ) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2000. Gelernter, David. â€Å"Feminism and the English Language. † American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research 4 Nov. 2008 . Humm, Maggie. The dictionary of feminist theory. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1990. Hintikka, M. B. and Hintikka, J. â€Å"How Can Language Be Sexist? † in Discovering Reality. Harding, S. and Hintikka, M. B. (eds. ) Dordrecht: D. Reidel: 1983. Hornsby, J. â€Å"Feminism in Philosophy of Language: Communicative Speech Acts†. in The Mills, Sara. â€Å"Third Wave Feminist Linguistics and the Analysis of Sexism. † School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University 4 Nov. 2008 . Nye, A. â€Å"The Voice of the Serpent: French Feminism and Philosophy of Language†. in Women, Knowledge and Reality: Explorations in Feminist Philosophy. Garry, A. and Pearsall, M. (eds. ), NY and London: Routledge: 1996.

Medical Ethics Abortion Essay

Most moral issues in medicine and healthcare will instigate lively debate, but no subject seems to inflame tempers more than the question of abortion. The gulf between pro-life and pro-choice can be an uncompromising stance of deeply held beliefs and principles. On the one hand, there is the claim that the foetus is a human being with the same right to life as any other human being, and abortion is therefore nothing less than murder. On the other hand, it is argued that a woman has a right to choose what happens within her own body, and is therefore justified in deciding to have her foetus removed if she so wishes. Even a liberal view is problematic; these tend to take the view that it is permissible for an abortion to take place before a certain stage in the foetuses development, but not beyond that given point. Such an arbitrary perspective does seem difficult to quantify; how can anyone determine the criteria that would navigate a decision that finds termination acceptable today but morally reprehensible tomorrow? It is sometimes argued that the foetus reaches personhood well before birth. â€Å"By the tenth week, for example, it already has a face, arms and legs, fingers and toes; it has internal organs, and brain activity is detectable.†[1] But does this undermine a woman’s right to self determination—can it still be reasonable for her to choose abortion, given its level of development? We shall explore this question; not from the perspective of whether the foetus is human, but from the premise â€Å"that the woman’s rights over her body are more important than the life of the person or part person in her womb.†[2] A Woman’s Right to Self-Defence Judith Jarvis Thomson presents the following hypothesis:[3] a woman becomes pregnant and then learns that she has a cardiac condition that will cause her death if the pregnancy continues. Let us grant the foetus personhood, with a right to life. Obviously the mother too has a right to life, so how can we decide who’s right to life is greater? A way of answering this question could be to say that an abortion is an act of aggression with the sole intention to kill. Whereas to do nothing would not be an attempt by anyone to murder the mother, rather to just let her die. The passivity of the latter could be seen as morally preferable than directly killing an innocent person. Thomson argues that â€Å"It cannot seriously be said that†¦she must sit passively by and wait for her death.†[4] There are two people involved, both are innocent, but one is endangering the life of the other. Thomson believes that in this scenario a woman is entitled to defend herself against the threat posed by the unborn baby, even if ultimately this will cause its death. I feel Thomson is correct in her appraisal. If an impartial judgement was sought by an individual as to whose life has greater worth; the foetus or the woman, they might not feel able to choose—both lives could be seen to hold equal value. But there is nothing objective about the woman’s situation—her life is endangered. If a person threatens my life—even if they are not conscious of their actions—I have a right to kill them, if that is the only course of action I can take to repel the attack. The scenario becomes less clear when we consider if a woman holds the same right to defend herself if the continuation of her pregnancy causes her serious health problems that are not terminal. Again, I would assess the situation in terms of an attack. Do I have a right to kill an assailant if he attempts to wound me? The answer, I think, is dependent upon degree—the injury that would be inflicted. It seems reasonable that the degree of retaliation should be proportional to the severity of the attack. Similarly, a woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy if its continuation instigates a degree of illness that is severe enough to warrant that decision. The problem then is quantifying such comparatives. It might seem reasonable to nominate the woman involved as the person best qualified to make that decision, but shouldn’t such judgments emanate from an objective source? After all, should I be able to ‘take the law into my own hands’ and choose whatever reprisal I thought necessary against my attacker? A Woman’s Right to Ownership A woman holds ownership of her own body; therefore she may abort her foetus if that is what she chooses â€Å"it is in a very real sense her own—to dispose of as she wishes.†[5] Professor Thomson analogises: it is not that the woman and foetus are like two tenants occupying a small house that has been mistakenly rented to both of them—the mother owns the house.[6] But not all claims of ownership hold an automatic right to dispose of their property. John Harris gives an example[7] suppose I own a life-saving drug, and have nothing planned for its use other than placing it on my shelf. If I meet a person who was dependent on that drug otherwise they will die, I would not be morally entitled to withhold the drug—it would be wrong of me to exercise that right. What Harris is expressing is that a woman may have the right to do what she wishes to her own body, but it would be wrong of her to exercise that right. The question then is; does the value of ownership of your body take precedence over the value of the foetus? Property is sometimes commandeered during war, and this action is usually justified because national security is thought to take priority over an individual’s right to ownership.[8] Another compelling, and I think decisive, argument comes from Mary Anne Warren. She states that ownership does not give me a right to kill an innocent person on my property, furthermore, it is also immoral to banish a person from my property; if by doing so they will undoubtedly perish.[9] If one does not accept that a foetus is a human being, then the woman may have it removed from her body, similarly to having a kidney stone taken out. But if the foetus is believed to be a person, then I do not think any argument of ownership can hold up against the soundness of the given examples. A Foetuses Right to its Mothers Body Can a woman’s right to choose abortion take priority over the foetuses right to life? Professor Thomson argues that â€Å"†¦a right to life does not guarantee having either a right to be given the use of or a right to be allowed continued use of another person’s body—even if one needs it for life.†[10] Thomson goes on to give an example[11], that if she was terminally ill, and the only thing that would save her life was the touch of Henry Fonda’s cool hand on her fevered brow, she would have no right to expect him to travel to her side and assist her in this way. No doubt, Thomson adds; that it would be frightfully nice of him, but she holds no right against him that he should do so. An obvious criticism is to argue that a woman has a special responsibility to her foetus, simply because she is its mother—a responsibility that ‘Henry Fonda’ does not owe, so the analogy, is rendered useless. But Thomson postulates that â€Å"we do not have any such ‘special responsibility’ for a person unless we have assumed it, explicitly or implicitly.†[12] Thomson therefore argues that if a pregnancy is unwanted, and the woman holds no emotional bond to the foetus, there is no attachment and so no responsibility. A possible dispute to Thomson’s idea is to suggest that the ‘special responsibility’ is bonded through genes rather then emotion. If a child is born and the mother abandons it, her culpability is held through their ‘mother and baby relationship’ rather then what the mother ‘thinks’ of her baby. Another argument that can give claim by the foetus to its mother’s body is one of contract.[13] It could be said that by voluntarily engaging in sexual intercourse a woman—even if using contraception—risks the chance of pregnancy. By understanding the possible consequences of her actions, she must be seen as responsible for the existence of the foetus, because no method of contraception is known to be infallible. Since the woman is accountable for bringing the foetus into the world (albeit in her womb) she assumes an obligation to continue to provide nourishment for its survival. Michael Tooley offers an example that he believes analogises this argument[14] there is a pleasurable act that I practice. But by engaging in it, it can have the unfortunate risk of destroying someone’s food supply. This will not cause the person any problem, as long as I continue to make such provisions, even though it causes me immense trouble and expense. Tooley says that he arranges things so that the probability of the ‘pleasurable act’ having such an effect is as small as possible (contraception). But he says that if things do go wrong, he is still responsible for the person needing food, and therefore obligated to supplying the food needed. Tooley believes that once we engage in an activity that can potentially create a child, then we assume responsibility for its needs, even if bringing that child into existence was accidental and precautions were taken to prevent that outcome. Professor Thomson offers her own powerful analogy in contrast to the above view: If the room is stuffy, and I therefore open a window to air it, and a burglar climbs in, it would be absurd to say, â€Å"Ah, now he can stay, she’s given him a right to the use of her house—for she is partially responsible for his presence there, having voluntarily done what enabled him to get in, in full knowledge that there are such things as burglars, and that burglars burgle.† It would be still more absurd to say this if I had had bars installed outside my windows, precisely to prevent burglars from getting in, and a burglar got in only because of a defect in the bars.[15] Abortion, Due to Rape As already stated, most views against abortion base their position from the value they place on the foetuses life. Even so, in the case where pregnancy had occurred through rape, most opponents of abortion would believe that there would be sufficient justification for termination. Obviously, there is something paradoxical about this—if the foetus is valuable because it is human, it is obviously no less human because its mother had been raped. So how can some opponents of abortion hold such contradictory ideas? Janet Radcliffe Richards’ explains that when a woman is forced to continue pregnancy until childbirth, â€Å"†¦the child is being used as an instrument of punishment to the mother, and that talk of the sanctity of life is being used to disguise the fact.†[16] The only thing that a woman that wants to abort for reasons of accidental pregnancy has done differently, is to of engaged willingly to sex—and that is what she is being punished for.[17] Richards’ offers an interesting approach to the apparent inconsistency stated, although I don’t find its supposition altogether convincing. I think the ‘double-standards’ described, portray an individual that holds only a relative opinion to the value of life that is held by the foetus. That is, the foetus is human, with rights, but not as human and not as much rights as an adult human being. And this is how I feel critics of abortion consider priority to women in rape cases. A Father’s Right To what degree, if any, does the father’s opinion count on whether his unborn child should die at the hands of the mother? After all, the foetus is very much a part of him—sharing his genetic make-up. It is noted by John Harris[18] that a man is not entitled to violate a woman for the purpose of impregnating her—that is rape—so then it follows that he must not violate her by forcing his wishes for a pregnancy to continue until birth. The counter argument is that by agreeing to sex, a woman has tacitly agreed to carry the man’s child. Ultimately the woman’s opinion must take priority over the man’s—because she has to carry the foetus, but, once a foetus is formed, one can have a degree of sympathy for the man’s situation. If copulation had taken place for the purpose of impregnation, then why should the man suffer a feeling of loss just because his partner changes her mind? Where contraception is used, his argument may be weakened—they did not intend parenthood. But if both were planning for a baby, is it fare that once that child exists, the mother can take it away from its father, even though he has done no wrong? A Right to Death If a pregnancy is terminated during its early stages, the foetus will undoubtedly die. But if an abortion takes place later in pregnancy, and by some miracle survives, the mother has no â€Å"right to secure the death of the unborn child.†[19] If the baby was still unwanted, the â€Å"woman may be utterly devastated by the thought of a child, a bit of herself, put out for adoption and never seen or heard of again†[20] but she can only demand her separation from it; she may not order its execution. I guess there would be few opponents to this assertion; but it is interesting to understand why. If a person accepts the permissibility of abortion, how is it so different to kill a child that survives its attempted termination? Presumably the foetus has acquired rights that it didn’t hold inside the womb, or perhaps the woman loses her rights during that transition. It seems strange that location should alter the foetuses perspective so drastically—after all, it is the same being. It could be argued that it is independence that qualifies the foetus for its right to live. When it no longer needs its mother for survival, and is not ‘reliant’ upon her in any way, she loses the right to decide its fate. Professor Thomson’s explanation is somewhat different; she too agrees that there is no justification for a woman to order the death of a foetus that lives following an abortion, but her reasoning is not dependent upon any acquisition or loss of rights. Thomson argues that a termination is just the right for a woman to detach the foetus from her body. This is not an act of murder (even though its death is inevitable during its infancy) but an entitlement to liberation, whatever its outcome.[21] Professor Thomson presents an account that would be reasonable if the act of abortion was purely an attempt of separation. But in fact the procedure used is an attempt, not only to detach and remove the foetus, but to kill it.[22] If the abortionist fails in this task, then Thomson allows the baby a right to live. But as the method of termination is designed for the foetus to die, I believe it renders Thomson’s point unsound. Conclusion Professor Thomson concedes that â€Å"It would be indecent in the woman to request an abortion, and indecent in a doctor to perform it, if she is in her seventh month, and wants the abortion just to avoid the nuisance of postponing a trip abroad.†[23] So, even staunch defendants of feminist ethics feel compelled to consider the foetuses interests once its development reaches a mature stage. It could be argued that the foetus has become a baby, and abortion is therefore tantamount to infanticide. I believe that anyone can exercise their right to self-defence if their life is threatened, and a woman can use her prerogative against the unborn baby at any stage of its development without recrimination. However, I feel that a woman’s right to expel her foetus for any other reason has only relative justification. Relative: because a woman’s rights to abort become less valid as the foetus develops. There is, in my opinion, a necessary correlation between foetal development and a woman’s right to termination. A woman may exercise her choice without compromise during early pregnancy, because the foetus is nothing more then potential, but justification becomes less palatable as potential becomes actualised. Can a woman really hold the same rights to ‘choose what happens within her own body’ when the foetus is twenty five weeks old, as she did when it was ten weeks old? As previously mentioned, arbitrarily choosing a point in the foetuses life and exclaiming ‘before this point the thing is not a person, after this point it is a person,’ does appear contrived. But its comparison with ‘before this point a woman can choose, after this point she can’t; does seem vindicated against less satisfactory views. The purpose of this essay was to assess a case for abortion that was not dependent on the foetuses right to life, but instead to appreciate a woman’s right to choose. I don’t believe that either position can be considered without respecting the rights of the other. Therefore, in my opinion; a woman holds considerable rights; but they are only relative to the foetuses level of development. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dwyer, Susan, The Problem of Abortion. London: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997 Glover, Jonathan, Causing Death and Saving Lives. London: Penguin Books, 1997 Harris, John, The Value of Life. London: Routledge, 1985 Info on Abortion â€Å"Abortion†, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion#Other_means_of_ abortion Richards, Janet, The Sceptical Feminist. Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1982 Sherwin, Susan, No Longer Patient. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992 Thomson, Judith, â€Å"A Defence of Abortion†, Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1971: pp. 47-66 Tooley, Michael, Abortion and Infanticide. London: Oxford University Press, 1983 Warren, Marry Anne, â€Å"On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion†, The Monist, 1973