Upton Sinclair “The Jungle” Essay Example for Free

Upton Sinclair â€Å"The Jungle† Essay Upton Sinclair was a powerhouse of a writer, churning out 90 novels, 30 plays and countless articles, stories and pamphlets during his long life. In 1906, he gained fame and became a rich man after the publication of the muckraking The Jungle, a novel about the horrors of the Chicago meatpacking industry. The book helped convince Congress to pass the first Pure Food and Drug Act later that year. (Sinclair 1906) Nowadays people live in the world of economics and many people are thriving whereas many others are trying to dig through difficulties. Such struggle for survival was constant throughout the history of all societies. Sinclair’s novel â€Å"The Jungle† is one of the examples of such struggle penetrating into the conflicts of socialism, capitalism, natural selection and American dream. The novel involves readers into a journey of recent Lithuanian immigrants to America. It is seen that this journey opens anew world full of unexpected and awful events. (Sinclair 1906) Immigrants have to come to American â€Å"where in the early twentieth century it was said that any man willing to work an honest day would make a living and could support his family†. (Sinclair 1906) Sinclair telling his story stimulates reader to start symbolic war against capitalism. It is apparent that Sinclair really disguises the very idea of capitalism presenting his idea throughout the novel – from cover to cover. Capitalism in the novel is personified in the Jurgis’ desire to work, to earn more money as well as in the corruption of â€Å"the man† at the highest levels of society, etc. (Sinclair 1906) It is obvious that the symbols of capitalism and socialism are seen from the very start of the novel as they are constantly interrelated with the novel progression. Firstly, the author depicts the identity of Lithuanians considering they have the same values such as getting drunk and dancing. Sinclair makes to feel sympathy for those people as they try to preserve and follow traditions which they have brought with them from their native land. For example, everybody had his feeling of everything and strangers were always welcomed and warmly treated. In such a way the author introduces the concept of socialism meaning that everybody is equal in society. Actually the author tries to present socialism as the resolution to hi novel. Sinclair illustrates plight of the workers in Packingtown as the unfairness of capitalism. People were persuaded 5o join socialistic movement due to promised improvements in working conditions. When the main heroes – Jurgis and Ona – took a good luck for the first time, Jurgis said: â€Å"Tomorrow, I will go there and get a Job, and then we can have a place of our own†. (Sinclair 1906) Jurgis is the representative of capitalism: he is longing to work in the plant considering it is the only way to make decent living and his poverty is the main driving force. However, it bore no fruits. The next two ideas involved into novel are concepts of social Darwinism or natural selection and American dream. Upton Sinclair introduced the idea of natural selection into his novel illustrating that only the best suited were able to survive in that environment and weak had to die off. The example is the prevalence of corruption in the town. American Dream is simply ridiculed throughout the story. Sinclair provided the main hero with a strong character having good morals and willing to work hard for family survival. Actually American Dream is embodied in Jurgis – â€Å"I will work harder†. (Sinclair 1906) It is a matter of fact that capitalism is strongly criticized by Upton Sinclair throughout the novel. The author made an attempt to show the misery of capitalism leading immigrants through awful working conditions, unfair social attitude and treatment, impossibility to adapt to new world. It is apparent that Upton tried to open a door to new way of living – so-called socialism. The impact of the Sinclair’s novel on the public is strong and it is possible to suggest the novel’s function is to serve as the propaganda against capitalism. Upton Sinclair wanted people to have equal job opportunities and better living conditions. He understood the difficulties of poor people and thus he always criticized unfairness in society. References Sinclair, Upton (1906) The Jungle. New York: Doubleday, Page.

The History Of Water Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

The History Of Water Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay Water is an important natural resource upon which all the living beings rely for their existence and growth. Nature has blessed the earth with uncountable water resources but usable quantity is limited. Hence, it is important to use water sparingly. The irony is, human activities result is high water pollution which further shortens the water supply for use. Water Pollution In an age when man  has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the  victim of his indifference (Carson, 2002, p. 39). Water is considered to be most crucial one among all the worlds natural resources. Although it covers the largest part of the earths surface (70%), yet it is the limiting factor most of the times. This is because most of this water is not available for use in agriculture or for other human needs due to the presence of significant amounts of mineral salts and heavy metals that make water unfit for use. In each home of an American in New York, 99 gallons of water is an average daily requirement (Fishman, 2012). Water consumption increases by a factor of 2-3% each year while the fresh water total supply remains comparatively constant (Dowdeswell, 1996). Thus, the demand of water is a big dilemma today. A major problem related to water is the issue of water pollution. It is basically the contamination of water with pollutants that may be from human, animal or industrial origin. Natural as well as anthropogenic activities lead to the spoilage of rivers, streams and ground water. This polluted water may also move from one place to another leading to water pollution at greater level (Chiras, 2012). Pollutants in surface waters can be of organic or inorganic nature. Processed or un-processed waste material from either animal or human origin can be released into water ways by waste disposal plants etc. Oil spills are also major contributors of water pollution that give rise to organic pollutants. When water gets saturated with this organic waste, bacteria begin to multiply rapidly. Because of the metabolic activity of the micro-organisms, oxygen gets depleted in such water reservoirs. Oxygen depletion may prove lethal to the life of bodies that rely on oxygen for living. The oxygen level in such bodies can be maintained if the organic influx in such water resources is controlled or minimized. The inorganic pollutants in surface water are basically the nitrates or phosphates which increase the plant growth that lead to inhibition of aquatic life. This is because when plants die, their decay leads to oxygen depletion which effects the aquatic environment greatly. Another important phenomenon related to water pollution is eutrophication which is the deposition of nutrients in lakes. These nutrients come from both natural and human sources and may result in aging of lakes prematurely (Chiras, 2012). Some man made products like plastics, medical wastes and sewage sludge also add significant amount of pollutants to the water. Plastic, because of being resistant to degradation is a great environmental hazard. Although direct dumping of sewage is controlled to a great extent, yet a lot of waste is being introduced into oceans and rivers by the sewage treatment plants (Chiras, 2012). Water may also contain infectious pathogenic micro-organisms that may lead to water-borne disease and ultimately deaths. Parasites as well as bacteria seeping into drinking water may lead to chronic diarrhoea, severe infections of ear and stomach diseases (Duhigg, 2009). Contamination of both ground and surface water through chemical pollutants such as pesticides increases production of carcinogens in the public water supplies. According to National Cancer Institute, the danger of cancer from the consumption of contaminated water will increase greatly in future. A study in Holland supported the view that cancer may be caused because of pollution of waterways. Cities which get water from the rivers have a higher mortality rate than those who use water from less susceptible sources like wells. Arsenic is the major pollutant in polluted waters that leads to cancer (Carson, 2002). Pollution control is the need of today to protect human and animal life from the disasters caused by water pollutants. The control can be imposed by two ways: either by the elimination of contaminants from various sources or by adoption of ways that prevent pollution. Legislative control for addressing the problem of water pollution is being applied on the factories and sewage plants. However, no significant improvement in pollution control has been achieved through this way as the pollution from the streets, farm fields and lawns equalizes the industrial pollution. Control of such wastes is although in infancy yet it is gaining popularity as many cost effective methodologies are present to deal with such wastes. The U. S. government as well as some other states have proven to be successful in addressing ground water pollution. This is because ground water is the major source of drinking water in most of the regions. One pollution control strategy is the treatment of the sewage water. In the first phase, larger particles and particulate organic matter is filtered out of the sewage water. The second stage involves the treatment of the sewage water to remove the organic matter that contains significant amount of nitrogen and phosphorus. This treatment involves the use of bacteria or other decomposers. The third and last treatment is ensuring that the sewage water quality is sustained to the level of drinking water (Chiras, 2012). This is accomplished by increasing the Biological Oxygen demand (BOD) and decreasing the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the sewage water. Recently, a marine biologist Dr. Widder has come up with a technology to fight water pollution through the use of bioluminescent bacteria. These bacteria make use of light for food, predation and finding partners for mating as part of their normal activity. Dr. Widder performed a study in the Indian River Lagoon which according to scientists is valuable and at the same time the most threatened ecosystem of Florida. In her laboratory, she mixed the sediment samples from the estuary with a bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio fischeri. The concentration of toxic pollutants in the sediments was monitored through the use of photometer that measured the light emitted by the bacteria. It revealed that to what extent and in what time the light fades away as the bacteria get killed by the chemicals. An estimate of the pollutant level in the sediments better indicates the estuarys health status as compared to direct measurement of chemicals in water. Greater concentration of heavy metals like phosphorus and nitrogen were observed to be present in the sediment samples which stimulate the algal growth. These algae affect the estuary life by depleting oxygen. Dr. Widder has also arranged sensors around the estuary that can provide data in real time which along with the sediment toxicity can trace the path of the pollution source. This method is far more cheap and robust than the traditional practice of taking samples to labs for purpose of analysis (Olsen, 2011). Other than these measures, there is a need of shift of human activities towards the ones that are eco-friendly. Biodegradable plastic should be produced by most of the factories and industries instead of non-degradable plastic that is toxic for health. Moreover, oil spills should be removed from oceans through use of bacteria which can degrade the organic compounds in those oil spills. Better and more economic water treatment strategies should be devised in the future to deal with polluted water. Moreover, ways should be discovered to overcome the shortage of water in near future.

I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appear

I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print – Jane Austen on Elizabeth. To what extent do you believe Elizabeth Bennet to be delightful? You should consider her words and actions throughout the novel. â€Å"I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print† – Jane Austen on Elizabeth. To what extent do you believe Elizabeth Bennet to be â€Å"delightful†? You should consider her words and actions throughout the novel. Jane Austen mentions in a letter that Elizabeth Bennet is â€Å"as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.† This quotation shows that Jane Austen clearly likes the character of Elizabeth and she thinks that Elizabeth is better than any heroine in a work of literature. The definition of delightful is â€Å"greatly pleasing or entertaining†. Therefore Jane Austen creates delight in her readers of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. Elizabeth Bennet could be considered delightful for many reasons. She is funny, clever, and witty so she brings delight to the reader of the novel. Elizabeth delights in anything ridiculous which also makes her a delightful character. â€Å"She had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.† (Vol. 1, chapter 3, p. 8.6) She also enjoys teasing Mr Darcy and Mr Collins. Elizabeth’s playful character can be seen when Elizabeth delights in mocking Mr Collins about the ball. Elizabeth’s spirits were so high on the occasion, that though she did not often speak unnecessarily to Mr Collins, she could not help asking him whether he intended to accept Mr Bingley’s invitation, and if he did, whether he would think it proper to join in the evening’s amusements. (Vol. 1, chapter 17, p.72... ...e to her character because she has flaws and of course no one is perfect. Elizabeth is delightful because she can acknowledge her flaws and she is also willing to change. These are both attractive qualities. Throughout the whole novel, we can see that Elizabeth is real and ordinary. She is not blindingly beautiful and she is not extremely intelligent. This makes us relate to her even more. Heroines which are too good to be true come across in some novels as dull because they should not be perfect. Elizabeth however is a flawed heroine just like ordinary people. One could argue that she is not delightful because of her prejudice to Mr Darcy which was wrong, but at least she realised her mistake and was willing to change her attitude towards him. Elizabeth creates delight in the readers of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† and so therefore she is a delightful character.

Genetic Observations Through The Studies Of Hybrid Corn, Single Gene Es

Genetic Observations Through The Studies of Hybrid Corn, Single Gene Human Traits, and Fruit Flies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The basic foundation of modern genetics was led by Gregor Mendel (Corcos, 1993). Mendel was not the first to experiment with heredity, and our Lyman Briggs biology class will not be the last to deal with genetics. Genetics is the science of heredity. In our lab, we had three main objectives. First, we evaluated our data on monohybrid and dihybrid corn cross seed counts against Mendel’s theoretical expectations of independent assortment and the segregation of alleles. Next, we used the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem to provide a theoretically expected value for allele frequencies for single human gene traits. Lastly, we dealt with Drosophila melanogaster and we examined red and white eye alleles to determine if this gene is sex-linked or autosomal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the mid 1800’s Mendel bred garden peas to study inheritance. He choose these plants because of their well defined characteristics and the ability to be grown and crossed (Campbell, 1996). Mendel wanted to know the genetic basis for variation among individuals and what accounted for the transmission of traits from generation to generation. Mendel followed traits for the P generation, F1 generation, and F2 generation. The P generation is the original true-breeding parents. Their hybrid offspring is the F1 generation, the first filial. The F2 generation is the second filial and is the self- pollination of the F1 hybrids. It was predominantly his research on the F2 generation that led to Mendel’s Law of Segregation and Law of Independent Assortment (Campbell, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mendel’s Law of Segregation states that alleles sort into separate gametes. He formed this through performing monohybrid crosses. The F2 generation will have a 3:1 phenotypic ratio. By considering more than one trait Mendel formed his Law of Independent Assortment. He questioned whether traits were inherited independently or dependently. By performing dihybrid crosses he found that genes are independent and will form all possible combinations . Crossing two different traits resulted in a 9:3:3:1 phenotypic ratio (Campbell, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Hunt Morgan also had a major contribution in the study of inheritance. He was the first to associate a sp... ...ross, Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment illustrated that four possible phenotypes form a 9:3:3:1 phenotypic ratio. For the single gene human traits experiment, we used the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem and equation to find the allele frequencies. For the experiment with Drosophila melanogaster we examined a fruit fly cross between red-eyed males and white-eyed females. We determined that this trait is sex-linked when the offspring were red-eyed females and white-eyed males. Throughout the genetics lab each purpose was determined and explained. A lot was learned about Mendel, genetics, and the hereditary process that makes us who we are today. Cited Literature Campbell, N.A. 1996. Biology. The Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co., New York, pp. 238-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  279. Corcos, Alain F. and Floyd V. Monaghan. 1993. Gregor Mendel’s Experiments on Plant Hybrids.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, pp. 45-46, 76, 105-112, 133. Davis, M. 1996. Genetics. LBS 144 Laboratory Manual. The Lyman Briggs School, Michigan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  State University, East Lansing, pp. 25-36.

How Scottish families have changed in the last 100 years :: essays research papers

Perhaps the area that has changed the most for Scottish women in the last century is the family and the home. In the first half of the century the norm was for the woman of the house to "service" the male breadwinners within the home and family and to reproduce as their primary roles in life. This included many tasks including preparing meals for the whole family, looking after the family budget (It was usual for the husband to give his wife his pay packet at the end of the week and she would use it to pay the bills and buy the food.) as well as cleaning the house and the doing the whole family's washing, which all together usually equated to (or more than) full time work. Women were put under heavy strain due to cultural expectations and norms. They were expected to be under their family's beck and call 24 hours a day and while husbands could escape household pressures such as screaming children, by going to the pub with their friends, women could never even dream of that kind of freedom. Although their family was seen as a woman's main priority in life, many HAD to go out and work, often in factories or working as maids or cleaners (24% of employed women worked in the domestic service). They earned far less than men and were also expected to run the family home single handily. Although the 1911 Census of Scotland reported that only 1/20 of married women worked, the results were mainly linked to the middle class, not the poorer families where the woman was forced to work as their husbands wage wasn't enough to support the family. This was not uncommon, especially as in 1911, women who married between the ages of 22 – 26, had an average of 6 children (with 20% having 9 or more). In the first half of the 20th century, Scottish families remained larger than those in England did. One of the theories behind this is that Scotland has a smaller middle class, (who on average, have less children per family) and a higher proportion of Roman Catholics, who do not believe in birth control. Scottish homes were often very small with many children, and it was also common to find many "live-in" relatives in the home too. Conditions were cramped; in 1911, 50% of the population lived in 2 houses of only 1 or 2 rooms (bearing in mind that the average family size was at least 8).

Week Memo

Memo to Client In this memo one will Include a summary of the facts, Including the names, ages, educational background, and Income status for Mr.. And Mrs.. Close and their two dependents. Loose CPA will also discuss two of the Close's goals and concerns. This memo will also summarize the findings and key elements of the personal budget, balance sheet, and the statement of cash flow.Loose CPA will also make recommendations and support for improving the financial situation for the Close's. Summary of Facts Clients- Ken and Tina Close are married with two children, Tyler (16) and Nikkei (14). Ken Is 42 years old disabled ex-factory worker with a high school education. Tina Is a 37 year old Event Planner with an Associates Degree in customer service. Although Ken is disabled he does receive disability benefits of $14,500 annually and Titan's annual income is $32,500.Tyler is a Junior at BBS and works part-time at Culler's with an annual income of $3,100. Nikkei is a freshman at BBS and is not employed. The family's goals are to reduce credit card debt and to save for a vacation. The vernally biggest concerns are that their credit will suffer if they do not pay off the debt and that Tyler and Nikkei will both need vehicles soon. Key Items and Findings The balance sheet compiled for the Close's shows total assets to be worth $188,250 and total liabilities at $115,320. 24.Ken and -rattans net worth $72,929. 76. The statement of cash flow compiled includes monthly income from Ken's Social Security Disability and Titan's net income from event planning for a total monthly income of $3,294. 16. The total cash outflows of $2629. 69 can be divided Into fixed expenses of $1475. 49 and variable expenses of $1 154. 20 for the month of February. The monthly inflows minus monthly outflows gives the Close's a cash surplus of $664. 47 each month to divide up for emergencies, savings, and a family vacation.The monthly gadget show no variance for inflows but does show a small varia nce for outflows. The savings variance was ($4. 53), the fixed expense variance was zero, and the variable expense variance was $6. 23. Thus giving a total outflow variance of $1. 70. Loose CPA recommends that Mr.. And Mrs.. Close try to limit the amount spent on credit cards in the future and for the balance due on the current credit cards to be paid in an amount higher than the monthly minimum due in order to pay the cards off faster and reduce interest charges.

Propaganda †Persuasive Techniques Essay

Arundhati Roy and Michael Moore are two very skilful propagandists who use powerful and persuasive techniques to convey a particular message. These techniques are deliberately used to appeal to us, the audience, and our appetites, our sense of fear and above all our vanity. These techniques used in â€Å"The end of imagination† (Arundhati Roy) and â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11† (Michael Moore) will be examined to consider how effective these propagandists are at appealing to these internal persuaders. Roys essay â€Å"The end of imagination† focused on nuclear warfare, her main argument was that the Indian government and all world governments must not be involved in the production or testing of nuclear bombs as they are simply to destructive and harmful to all of creation. Moore’s film focused on the presidency of George W. Bush, the Iraq war and its coverage by the American media, his main argument was that American corporate media did not provide an objective and accurate analysis concerning the invasion of Iraq, and that George Bush was, at the time an inept president. The most important weapon in a propagandist’s arsenal is the ability to draw emotion from a reader or viewer, along with the ability to control and direct that emotion so that the audience believe what is being presented, without doubting whether or not, it is accurate. There are many emotions that can be provoked by a propagandist however the strongest is by far fear. Fear tactics are used by both Roy and Moore very effectively, the title of Roy’s essay itself is an example (The end of imagination). Roy writes in the opening sentence â€Å"May 1998. It’ll go down in history books, provided of course we have history books to go down in. â€Å"Provided, of course, we have a future. † This is a prime example of fear tactics being used to consume the audience in a sense of uncertainty for the future, however this is not the only technique at use here, exaggeration is also present. Exaggeration is used either to emphasize facts and figures or in this case to try and convince the audience that the situation is worse than it actually is, stirring the audience so that they become fearful. Moore also uses exaggeration however in a somewhat different way. He uses exaggeration to portray George W Bush as almost always being on holidays after the 9/11 attacks, this technique is deliberately misleading as Bush did not spend as much time on holiday as the audience is made to believe. Moore also uses fear tactics like Roy suggesting that the US Government is able to spy on American Citizens. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant because it makes people question their right of privacy and may create a sense of panic, ultimately appealing to the audience’s sense of fear. Humour is also a very useful tool in a propagandist’s toolbox of techniques. There are many different ways to persuade the audience, but one in which Moore does very effectively is by asking rhetorical questions for example â€Å"what was he thinking? † and â€Å"did we really elect this guy president? † This technique is effective because the audience may feel more inclined to agree with a presenter who makes them laugh and is confident about what they are saying than a presenter who just recites facts. People enjoy laughing and because of that have a thirst for laughter a skilful propagandist realises this and uses humour to appeal to their audience’s appetites. Another powerful and also humorous technique is the use of sarcasm. Moore says â€Å"The president did what any of us would do, he went on holiday? † Sarcasm is frequently used by Moore, questioning Bush’s intelligence and portraying Bush as failing as a president. Roy chose not to use humour in â€Å"The end of imagination† though it is clear that Roy feels very strongly about nuclear weapons and it is evident in the techniques she employs when writing. She writes with a lot of emotion, using a lot of emotive language â€Å"The nuclear bomb is the most anti-democratic, anti-national, anti-human, outright evil thing that man has ever made. † Here Roy uses raw emotion to appeal to the audience’s appetite. People hunger for knowledge, more importantly the truth. Both Roy and Moore use that knowledge and feed the audiences appetites by telling the truth. One very cunning persuasive technique is the use of selective reporting. Throughout Roy’s entire essay, she wrote only about her viewpoint, not providing opposing views or perspectives therefore leaving no room for discussion or argument. This technique is used, bombarding the audience with just one side of the story and therefore convinces the audience to believe that the issue is black and white and the presenters view is correct and justified. In contrast to Moore’s â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11† reports only one side of the story as if to brainwash the audience. Inclusive language is used frequently by Roy, she uses words like â€Å"our† and â€Å"we† so that the audience feels comfortable and included in the essay, this technique is used to appeal to our vanity. Another technique used by Moore is the assassination of George W. Bush’s character. On countless occasions Moore would use repetition of key words and phrases e. g. â€Å"I’m a war president†, â€Å"Sadam†, â€Å"Al Qaeda†, , â€Å"Nuclear weapon†, â€Å"He’s got them! † to diminish the intelligence of Bush. Moore also point out flaws in Bush’s administration and almost any mistake that he could find, giving examples of where Bush contradicted himself and often made a fool out of himself. Attacks on his opponents and Character Assassination were two of Moore’s most effective techniques, used to persuade viewers that he was undoubtedly and irrefutably correct. Roy on the other hand did not have one person to target. Her target was the Indian and world Governments. Roy appealed to all audiences in her closing statement by saying â€Å"If you are religious, then remember that this bomb is Man’s challenge to God. It’s worded quite simply: We have the power to destroy everything that you have created. If you’re not religious, then look at it this way. This world of ours is four thousand, six hundred million years old. It could end in an afternoon. † This technique appeals to all demographics as it outlines the sheer magnitude of the issue being presented. Roy portrays that the offender is nuclear bombs and the victim is the world. This technique directly appeals to our sense of fear and vanity as everyone likes to feel confident and comfortable and that vanity that we have is at stake. Arundhati Roy and Michael Moore are two presenters that have been given the title of propagandists. A propagandist attempts to manipulate the way their audience thinks to persuade them to believe what is being presented. Various techniques can be employed to do this however the most effective are those that appeal to the viewer’s appetites, fears and vanity. Roy and especially Moore have the resources needed to present certain information that appeal to our appetites. Skilled propagandists possess the ability to encourage and stir various emotions and use that emotion to create a sense of uncertainty appealing to our perception of fear. Lastly Arundhati Roy and Michael Moore utilize writing and presenting techniques to constrict our comfort and conflict the audiences pride appealing to the greatest internal persuader of all, our vanity.