Common Health Problems of Older Adults Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Common Health Problems of Older Adults - Essay Example To overcome these issues, achieve and maintain high wellness levels, health promotion and illness prevention measures must be practiced. This paper will discuss the health issues associated with older adults and the suggested ways of overcoming them. Although the human body’s minimum nutritional requirements are generally consistent through different ages, several exceptions exist. For example, a common problem among older adults arises from the disruption in the ability to absorb, use and store calcium, vitamins D, C and A (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). Therefore, their dietary intake should essentially accommodate that requirement. Because of their reduced activity and metabolic rate, body weight may increase, which necessitates the intake of less calories. All these dietary and nutritional needs must be balanced to avoid the risk of problems related to nutrition. This problem is highlighted by the fact that as one ages, the ability to consume necessary nutrients is negatively affected by the failing ability to taste and smell food, often leading to the loss of desire to eat. For example, older adults can consume excess sugar or salt with the possible risk of getting obese (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013). This calls for their carers to introduce them to balanced diets and healthy selections of food such as substituting herbs and spices with season foods. Another significant dietary problem is caused by the loss of teeth or wrongly fitted dentures, which may be a result of yet another dietary issue arising from inadequate intake of calcium. This becomes a problem because the older adults will avoid foods they cannot chew, overlooking their nutritional values. Unless properly guided and supervised by carers, older adults will tend to consume softer foods that may contain more calories and less roughage such as mashed potatoes and ice cream. The

Transportation Planning And Urban Form Environmental Sciences Essay

Transportation Planning And Urban Form Environmental Sciences Essay Transportation planning should be about more than concrete and steel. It should be about building communities. Rodney Slater The topic of my paper is Transportation planning and urban form. It is well known fact that urban form is highly correlated with the evolution of transportation systems. There exist complex relationship between transportation, land use and urban form. City development patterns are highly correlated with the evolution of transportation systems. As we glanced through the history of transportation Planning in US we see that there has been rational comprehensive approach in the beginning which than with environmental concerns and sprawl changed to another perspective of advocacy. In this paper I am going to focuses on rational approach and Advocacy Planning paradigm for issue of urban form and Transportation and contrasts and compare two different approaches through case studies. History of Transportation Planning and Urban Form1 Transportation planning in the 20th century grew up with the success of automobile industry. According to Rick Adams, Comprehensive plans that included rail transit, such as Forest Hills Gardens, New York, quickly proved to be the exception. Transportation planning soon became the handmaiden of the automobile, taking it where it wanted to go, often regardless of the consequences. By the early 1920s, the popularity of the automobile had largely displaced interest in planning for public transportation, which faced declining rider ship and loss of profits1. Public transit failed to pass public voting. The automobile quickly became the future and national progress. According to Rick, The planners preference was certified at the 1924 National Conference on City Planning when the way of the horizontal city of the future was declared-by the automobile. The sudden tidal wave of auto mobility swept over cities throughout the 1920s.2 As result of this suddenly, suburbs began to grow at a much faster rate than cities. As early as 1923, some cities were debating the banning of cars downtown because of congestion. Commuters by automobile quickly outnumbered those by transit. The single answer for congestion was to build more roads, usually in straight radial lines from the center of the city into territories of developable land at the citys edge. The good roads movement gained in popularity. The concept of a continuous national system of highways was instituted in the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 with the adoption of a numbered U.S. highway system composed of routes extending across the nation. According to Rick Adams, No one was more aggressive at road building than Robert Moses, who, from 1924, amassed unprecedented power in New York to steamroll thousands of miles of highway building projects.3 The Regional Plan Association of America (RPAA), composed of the eras most reform-minded planners, including Lewis Mumford, Clarence Stein, and Henry Wright, proposed the idea of the townless highway, thoroughfares that would encourage the building of real communities at definite and favorable points off the main road. With the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1934, Congress authorized funds to state governments for surveys, plans, engineering, and economic analyses for future highway construction projects. By 1940 Los Angeles soon became the world model of up-to-the-minute modernity in its enthusiastic embrace of transportation planning for the automobile. Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1944, financing an interurban system of 32,000 miles that bypassed urban areas. The act immediately created a debate: transportation planners, such as Harold Bartholomew, and power broker Robert Moses wanted to use new roads to attack urban blight, charting expressways through urban residential areas to entirely redevelop them. Once again, the debate over roads fight blight came to center stage, with many planners insisting that the new highways must penetrate t o the center of urban areas to remove slums and improve the connection between outlying suburbs and downtown offices and retail areas. In June 1956, the Interstate Highway Act was passed with only a single vote in opposition. The $41 billion bill became the largest public works program in the history of the world, and which set imbalance that favored the private automobile over public transit. By the early 1960s, the automobile was essentially putting other forms of transportation out of business. It soon became apparent to transportation planners that an undue reliance on the automobile was creating as many problems as it was eliminating. As each new interstate was completed, fresh new problems of displacement, pollution, and congestion arose. Although an well-established group of planners continued to argue for more highway building, other voices began to be heard in support of the idea of balanced transportation. In the article Rick Adams4 says that in 1962, for example, the San Francisco Bay Area passed a voters referendum for a 71-mile rail transit system after a prolonged freeway revolt had voiced popular dissatisfaction with more and more highway building. The year 1962 also saw the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act, which mandated local transportation planning. According to John Edward6 The Urban Mass transportation Act of 1964 (UMTA) was the first significant effort of the century to recognize the need to improve and expand public transit. Expenditures increased from approximately $100 million in 1964-65 to approximately $1.3 billion at the end of the 1970s. Under the program, a type of balance was anticipated against the huge federal subsidy for highway building by offering matching funds for capital acquisitions of local transit, and the principal aim was to attain congestion relief by making public transit faster and more comfortable. However, the act also promoted plans for new rail transit, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the Sa n Francisco Bay Area. The ironic consequence of most of these public transit efforts, however, was to spread decentralization of urban downtowns and frequently contribute to the deterioration of central city neighborhoods, often increasing racial segregation. Many of the public transit improvements only facilitated suburban commuting in place of intracity transportation. BART, for example, became a high-speed conduit for financial district office workers from the East Bay suburbs of Contra Costa and Alameda. San Francisco residents were seldom to be found on the bright futuristic cars that sped beneath the city streets. In city after city, the main beneficiaries of the new systems or extensions were suburban commuters, not residents of central cities. After 1970, pollution in urban areas became a major federal concern, and the EPA sought to develop plans that would diminish traffic in urban areas to reduce pollution, although planners generally continued to ignore the automobiles co ntribution to urban sprawl. The shift in focus from reducing congestion to reducing pollution brought about certain restrictions on automobiles in central areas, converted downtown streets into pedestrian malls, and reduced downtown speed limits. Although critics continued to argue that the federal role in transportation planning was only codifying the decentralization of urban areas or providing Band-Aids to the problems of automobile pollution, the notion of balanced transportation continued to be advanced. Increasingly, the federal role in transportation planning grew more inconsistent during the 1980s. Public transit advocates complained that the government was not doing enough, local jurisdictions complained that it was requiring too much, and congressional representatives increased their opposition to what they termed big-government intrusion into local affairs. A kind of deadlock expand throughout the 1980s, with mounting opposition to freeway building by quality-of-life advo cates and suburban home owners on the one hand and by public transit advocates faced with reduced federal subsidies for public transit development on the other. Although there were some notable successes of locally funded transit programs, such as in San Diego, California, and a number of other cities that cobbled together funding for new light rail vehicle systems, congestion and sprawl continued to increase as a new phenomenon of edge cities grew into the planners purview with the most far-reaching requirements for automobile commuting yet. The 1990s saw the influence of numerous state growth management plans that for the first time addressed the comprehensive relationship of urban growth to balanced transportation principles. As state growth-management plans began to extend the idea of what balanced transportation meant, federal transportation planning was also influenced. Passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act attempted to put the highway-only approach to transport ation planning to rest forever. For the first time, federal transportation planning included significant provisions to balance local land use planning, the environment, historic preservation, and mobility for children, the elderly, and the disabled. The pessimist would point to the stranglehold of the automobile on everything from the shape of cities to the air we breathe and conclude that transportation planning has only contributed to the problem. The optimist, however, might point to the incremental progress that is apparent in transportation planning over time, including the increasing interest in what is often called smart growth legislation that attempts to address the relationship of transportation planning and land use, and the increased use of public transportation. As the century ended, public transportation rider ship was again on the rise, with an equivalent of a million new trips of public transportation rider ship, increasing by percentages greater than any other travel modes, including motor vehicle travel. Significantly, these gains were evident in central cities, suburbs, and even rural areas, and the idea of a comprehensive approach to transportation planning shows evidence of spreading with increased levels of influence and acceptance. Hence through out the century transportation has been detrimental factor defining the urban form and vice versa. Urbanization has been one of a dominant trend of economic and social change since the second half of the 20th century. paradigms Comprehensive Rational Planning: There were major criticism of post-war planning thought that emerged in 1950s and 1960s. Planning theory had failed to understand the empirical relationship of planning. The planners did not comprehend the understanding of the relationship between social planning and physical planning4. Criticisms of physicalist bias of post war town planning theory were criticized at two levels. At level one it was criticized for concentrating on physical environment to the extent of ignoring social environment. And at another level, to the extent that town planner did not consider social environment in their plan making. Another criticism of early planning was lack of consultation and public involvement and hence was viewed as political nature of planning. The early physical and blue print planning was criticized not to be aware of reality of the living space. So common theme of all criticisms was the accusation that planners were insufficiently informed about the n ature of the reality they were tampering with. Planners had lack of understanding of cities which was exhibited in their normative ideals. In its Utopianism, its anti-urbanism, its simple tree like models of urban structure and its assumptions about consensus over what ideals of good planning should be, traditional town planning thought failed to grasp the complexity and richness, as well as undoubted problems of human social life and its manifestations in cities. So in respond to this criticisms new Planning theories were developed. This type of planning was described to be technical, abstract and highly mathematical. The systems view of planning arose in criticism to the physical design which is substantive theory, while rational process view was clearly procedural theory of planning. This was a more quantitative approach. Both theories are viewed as sharing certain fundamental assumptions about nature of world and possibilities for human progress within it. The general rational p lanning process involved the steps of defining a problem, identifying alternatives, evaluating them, implementing plans and policies and monitoring their effects. The rational planning theory had a certain methodology that could be applied to smaller problems and in a modified form. The drawbacks to this theory would be the impossibility to grasp all variables and the lack of resources and time to collect information. So from new planning theories, we see that planning has been process of trial and error and that has given rise to so many paradigms in field of Planning. Both Gunton and Hodge note that Rational Comprehensive Planning (RCP) rose in response to problems brought on by urban growth in the Nineteenth Century when scientific methods were applied to find solutions to urban problems (Hodge a, 83). Most planners now style themselves as using RCP. This is evident in Official Plans and the plan-making process which involve scientific instruments like forecasts, analyses of issu es and concerns, studies of anticipated social and environmental impacts and goal statements (Perks Jamieson, 490). As its name implies, this theory applies rational decision-making to planning. The four typical elements of RCP are: goal setting, identification of policy alternatives, evaluation of means against ends, and implementation of decisions with feedback loops and repetition of steps (Hudson, 388). Using this method requires exhaustive information gathering and analysis. It stresses objectivity, the public interest, information and analysis which allow planners to identify the best possible course of action. Requirements for Rational Comprehensive Planning are it assumes that decision makers have well defined problem, full array of alternatives to consider, they are well informed, they have full information about the consequences of each alternative, and they are well equipped with resources and skills. The ideal-typical decision-making model in planning has seven identifiable stages (source Freidman): Formulation of goals and objectives; Identification and design of major alternatives for reaching the goals identified within the given decision-making situation; Prediction of major sets of consequences that would be expected to follow upon adoption of each alternative; Evaluation of consequences in relation to desired objectives and other important values; Decision based on information provided in the preceding steps; Implementation of this decision through appropriate institutions; and Feedback of actual programme results and their assessment in light of the new decision situation. RCP approaches problems from a systems (integrated) viewpoint, using conceptual or mathematical models that relate ends (objectives) to means (resources and constraints) with quantitative analysis (Hudson, 388). It attempts to side-step the issue of conflict by presuming a discernable public interest. Here there is assumption that communitys various collective goals can be measured in some effective or quantitative way (Altshuler, 194)6. The method strives to be objective, technical and exclude subjective and emotional discussion. It attempts to separate planning from politics by ignoring the political considerations of public interest. (Hudson, 390). The major advantage of RCP is its simplicity. Following a logical, deliberate process, it is easily grasped, its analytical techniques are standard applications of social science, and its intentions are straightforward (Hudson, 389). It has wide applicability and incorporates the fundamental issues, ends, means, trade-offs, and action-taking which are part of most planning activities (Hudson, 389). The major weakness of RCP is that it is unrealistic. As a methodology, it can only be applied to relatively simple problems and then only in modified form. It is more of procedural theory than substantive. In the real world, inherent limitations on resources, information and time make it impossible to use RCP in its purest form. Lindblom comments that its non-implementability takes away any point in using it (Faludi, 117). Simon and March critiques of decision making process in RCP are that it is ambigious, planners consider themselves to be well informed but infact they are not. ( Forester, 1989.) Its demands are considerable and require more than decision-makers are capable of giving. The impossibility of predicting all consequences or grasp all variables and the lack of resources and time to collect information needed for rational choice limit its practicability (Etzioni, 219). Lindblom further notes that the costs of being more comprehensive often exceeded the benefits (Gunton, 406). Lastly, it relies heavily on a particular model of a clear, unitary notion of the public interest which is impossible to achieve in the real world. Interests in reality are pluralist: citizens, politicians and administrators have differing and conflicting values and objectives. This makes it difficult for planners to ascertain the majoritys preference and public debate is rarely wide enough to accomplish this (Lindblom, 156). The rational planning theory came into emergence after the physical planning theory. The rational planning theory which came along on the bases of the systems theory, had actually originated in highly technical fields of operations research and cybernetics. The rational planning approach follows a certain methodology to the planning process and the planners need to be answerable to any questions that might come up. The renewed faith of the application of science was on of the chief reasons for the start of rational planning theory. The rational planning process is practiced in the planning field even today to a great extent. The benefit-cost analysis done for execution of various projects is a major part of the procedural planning theory. The criticism of the rational planning theory is that in identifying and defining problems, something that is assumed to be a problem is actually a problem. Also the different alternative proposed and the selection within them should not favor a particular group. The rational planning theory persists in the planning field today with the specialized consultants practicing planning. They are hired to solve a certain p roblem with quantitative analysis, technical approach to problem solving and other analytical skills. The rational planning also persists in the form of academic courses. Some of the schools have a curriculum that focus on the more technical and analytical approach towards planning problems and the others are public policy and social economically oriented. Thus, as academics emphasizes on the procedural planning theories, this in turn leads to planners perception and approach towards planning to be rationalistic. Thus, there have been arguments about whether the rational planning approach is the most comprehensive approach to planning. Advocacy planning: The numbers of public policy decisions that are made in planning seem to be favoring a certain group of individuals who are involved in the planning process and not the underprivileged or the minority groups. The very technical and analytical way of planning did not seem to be concerned with human feelings or the opinions of the ordinary people, who were also a major part of the society. Accordint to Paul Davidoff Planning decisions were influenced by political steering, they seem to be neglecting the most disadvantaged7. Advocacy planning, as initiated by Davidoff, is an attempt to incorporate the voices or values that would not otherwise be represented by the incremental approach. Through advocacy planning, planners can advocate the interests of those who are out-of-reach and powerless to represent their own interests. Thus, advocacy planning is a representation of certain social groups by advocacy planners, using the applied techniques of law. Advocacy planning has its origins that such groups needs planners to make their case, thus leading the planners to search for a new kind of clientele. Advocate planner take the view that any plan is the embodiment of particular group interests, and therefore they see it as important that any group which has interests at stake in the planning process should have those interests articulated. They start to reject the notion of general welfare in other words. The clientele is mostly the low income communities. It talks about the slums not having any community association or leaders that could voice their opinions. Thus, they need a support of the planners of the society to improve their needs. The concept of advocacy planning could be reasoned with an understanding that if the lowest needs are taken care of, the higher needs are taken care of and this leading to the over all improvement of the quality of life of the society. There is analogy made between the legal representatives and the advocate planners. Thus, advocacy planning appears to be a new kind of politics. It is considered to be an apparatus by which the society is humanized over the technical apparatus. In the early 1970s advocate planners started working with the city governments that shared their commitment to real pluralism. The criticism of advocacy planning was that if the shift of planners concern was from one group to another. Even though advocacy planning favored the disadvantaged group, it totally was considered to be not concerned with the other groups. The planning process thus started to occupy the rational comprehensive approach. This was trying to create a balance between the loopholes of the two planning process to achieve a better and effective functioning of planning in general. Theorists suggested that since planning was for the people, by all means it should be by the people and of the people too. So was born Advocacy planning wherein even a laymen with the slightest knowledge of plan ning could voice his expressions regarding planning policies that could have direct or indirect effects on his life. Advocacy planners felt that any plan is the embodiment of particular group interests and therefore it is important that any group which has interests at stake in the planning process should have those interests articulated. This view of planning was also considered as a boon for the poor, low income communities and the under represented groups, because the advocacy planning groups proposed to help people from every fraction of the community to voice their interests. Case Study I: Study of De Moines Metropolitan Area9 As discussed in introduction to this paper it is well known that urban form is highly correlated with evolution of transportation systems. This case study focuses on developing planning tools that are responsive to the complicated interaction between transportation and land use, which is helpful to identify the typical characteristics of development of urban form. The historical development of Des Moines area is reviewed to see how urban form is accommodated by transportation evolution and conventional transportation modeling process is reviewed to see how urban form is implied in transportation modeling process. Spatial measurements are used to quantify urban form of Des Moines and its existing transportation network. Historical Development of Des Moines Area: Review of historical development of Des Moines area is given to provide pictorial description of how transportation and urban form have accommodated each other. The above table summarizes different phases of Des Moines development, its corresponding transportation systems and transportation eras. We see that the since From the table above we see that in the year 1968 planning approach for Des Moines Metropolitan areas has been Comprehensive and Rational. Transportation system can be considered an expression of urban spatial pattern during the historical development of the city. Conventional Transportation Modeling Process: Transportation models are computerized procedures used to estimate changes in travel patterns in response to changes in development. Table 2 summarizes how urban form is implied in conventional, sequential transportation modeling processes of trip generation, trip distribution, modal split and traffic assignment. Urban form of Des Moines metropolitan area is measure by seven spatial criteria such as homogeneity, directionality, connectivity, design pattern, density gradient, concentricity and sectorality. From the table 3 below we see that the elements of modeling process were land use, socio-economic, demographics, travel impedance, Transportation policy, Residential density, income, distance from CBD, Geometrics, Capacity of roadway and transportation network. So we see that there has been no consideration for personal preference or public involvement at any stage of modeling. Data has been collected for different social areas and transportation network in Des Moines metropolitan area, for number of housing units, relative location of CBD, the city and Metropolitan area centers. Finally based on this data, results of CBD and Corridor study are summarized. The outcomes of the rational planning process for Des Moines Metroplolitan Area are as follows: Population density gradient shows that the central part of Des Moines metropolitan area has highest population density. The city of Des Moines is still focal point for employment and population in the metropolitan area. The other cities are bedroom communities, even though they are beginning to show significant commercial and retail development. The development largely follows interstate highway development along I-235, I-80 and I-35. The urban pattern of Des Moines metropolitan area is radial in terms of trip attraction. The location of CBD of the city of Des Moines was largely influenced by Raccoon River and Des Moines River. Development in the city of Des Moines has since shifted southward. With metropolitan area, new development is located northwest of the geometric center of metropolitan area, which is close to the cities of Urbandale, Clive, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights. It is assumed that new developments tend to shift to the geometric center of city or region to over come the friction of distance or space. People tend to make tradeoff between transportation costs and land values. It thus suggests that when examining the development trend for city or region, the geometric center or its vicinity may be first measure that should be considered. Based on census data, bicycle trips comprise only 0.2% of total work trips while walk trips make up 3.2% and bus trips are 2.9%. Future urban design would consider more use of these modes to make Des Moines more walkable and more bicycle and transit friendly. Assess the importance of life style as a determinant of urban form. Measure more cities with different urban patterns and cities of different sizes to determine the statistical relationship between density gradient, urban pattern and transportation networks. Finally realizing that not all transportation networks and investments are rational, truly understanding the relationship between transportation and urban form helps to make more rational decisions. The purpose of this research is part of the planning process to provide better transportation networks and make more efficient investments on existing networks to provide residents a better place to live and work and make more livable and sustainable city based on existing transportation network. Case Study II: Fruitvale Transit Village Project The Unity Council, Bay Area Rapid Transit District, City of Oakland10 The Fruitvale Transit Village is the result of broad partnership among public, private and non profit organizations working together to revitalize a community using transit oriented development. Transit oriented development is planning concept that uses mass transit stations as blocks for economic revitalization and environmental improvement. In 1999, groundbreaking took place on a $ 100 million mixed use development adjacent to Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) station in Oakland, California. Fruitvale, one of the Oakland seven communities is predominantly minority community with low income, experiencing economic stress. Fruitvale Transit Village is brainchild of Unity Council, a community development corporation (CDC) formed in 1964 by activists who wanted to create forum for working on issues important to Fruitvales Latino community. In June, 1991 BART announced plans to construct a multi level parking facility adjacent to Fruitvale BART station. The community agreed that new parking was necessary, but the design and location of the facility did not sit well with Fruitvale residents and business owners. Members of community were concerned that proposed structure would increase traffic and pollution and further separate Fruitvale neighborhood from BART station. The Unity council which was CDC galvanized the neighborhoods opposition to the parking structure design and location, arguing that any development around BART station should be guided by broad based community planning process. Faced with strong community opposition BART withdrew its proposal and agreed to work with the Unity Council on plan for the area. In February 1992, City of Oakland awarded Unity Council $ 185,000 in Community Block Grant (CBDG) funds to initiate community planning process for revitalizing the area around Fruitvale BART station. During next couple of years Unity Council engaged local stakeholders in comprehensive visioning and planning process that laid out the parameters for Fruitvale Transit Village. Impressed with Unity Council community involvement strategy, the US DOT awarded agency a $470,000 FTA planning grant in 1993 for Fruitvale Transit Village. The vocal and sometimes contentious meetings between BART and community representatives gave birth to idea for Fruitvale Transit Village. The project is consider reducing traffic and pollution in and around the community as residents of neighborhood would have easy access to goods and services within waling distance of transit station. Unity council organized workshops to help community reach on consensus and to identify both positive and negative qualities of Fruitvale Community and to indicate their development preferences. There were about 30 people who participated in this workshop. Participants identified crime, lack of retail business and community service s, the areas negative image, and lack of connection between BART station and community as issues of concern. Plan included mixture of housing, shops, office, library, a child care facility, pedestrian plaza and other community services all surrounding BART station. This project had strong commitment to public involvement by lead agencies involved. Typically, either city officials or private developers represent driving force behind large scale development projects. Series of workshop were conducted and they showed increased number of participation. Normally residents are usually in position of responding to plans that are initiated by others. Whereas here during third workshop, participants were asked to provide feedback on two alternative land use plans prepared by the project design team. In this case under Unity Council who represented the community, played leader role in the project. It helped and ensured communitys own vision for transit station and its surrounding area served as guiding principles for planning and design. Finally, the planning effort behind the Fruitvale Transit Village represent an innovative strategy for using mass transit as lever for revitalizing an urban communit

A Farewell To Arms Essay -- essays research papers

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is based largely on Hemingway's own personal experiences. The main character of the book, Frederic Henry experiences many of the same situations that Hemingway experienced. Some of these experiences are exactly the same, while some are less similar, and some events have a completely different outcome. A Farewell to Arms is the book of Frederic Henry, an American driving an ambulance for the Italian Army during World War I. The book takes us through Frederic's experiences in war and his love affair with Catherine Barkley, an American nurse in Italy. The book starts in the northern mountains of Italy at the beginning of World War I. Rinaldi, Frederic's roommate, takes him to visit a nurse he has taken a liking to. Catherine Barkley, the nurse Rinaldi speaks of, is instantly attracted to Frederic and likewise. At the front, Frederic is wounded in the legs and taken to an aid station and then to an army hospital. He is then transferred to an American hospital in Milan where he meets up with Catherine again. Their love flourishes. They spend their nights together in Frederic's hospital bed and their days going to restaurants, horse races and taking carriage rides. Frederic returns to the war after his recovery. The war is going badly in Italy. The German troops forced a full-scale retreat. Soon after Frederic's return, he deserts the war in a daring escape. Frederic leaves and meets a pregnant Catherine in Stresa. The two go over to Switzerland where they spend an peaceful time waiting for the birth of their baby. Catherine has a long and difficult labor. Their baby is delivered dead. Catherine dies soon after from "one hemorrhage after another." After Catherine dies, Frederic leaves and walks back to his hotel. A Farewell to Arms is a story of love and pain and of loyalty and desertion set in the tragic time of war. There are many similarities in the experiences of Ernest Hemingway and his character Frederic Henry in A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway and Henry were both involved in World War I, in a medical capacity, but neither of them were regular army personnel. Like Hemingway, Henry was shot in his right knee during a battle. Both men were Americans but were ambulan... ...ed, social responsibility, and social concern." Henry, like Hemingway, leads a private life as a detached, isolated individual. He socializes with the officers, talks with the priest and visits the officer's brothel, but maintains only superficial relationships. The only relationship that means anything to him is Catherine, which is Hemingway's Agnes, both of which are isolated relationships. Johnson says about Hemingway, "He will solve the problem of dealing with the world by taking refuge in individualism and isolated personal relationships and sensations" (Gellens 112-113). Happiness comes for Hemingway and Henry only when they are in these relationships, away from the pressures of society and their lives. Ernest Hemingway once gave some advice to his fellow writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. If something in life hurts you, you should use it in your writing. In writing a Farewell to Arms, Hemingway followed his own advice. In many ways, Frederic Henry was a psychological parallel to Hemingway. The painful experiences of his own life, which were consciously and unconsciously placed in this novel, helped make it a major literary achievement.

Misinterpretation of Reality in Othello by William Shakespeare Essay

Misinterpretation of Reality in Othello      Ã‚   Othello, by William Shakespeare, is a mix of love, sexual passion and the deadly power of jealousy. Shakespeare has created an erotic thriller based on a human emotion that people are all familiar with.   There is an extraordinary fusion of characters' with different passions in Othello. Every character is motivated by a different desire.   Shakespeare mesmerizes the reader by manipulating his characters abilities to perceive and discern what is happening in reality.   It is this misinterpretation of reality that leads to the erroneous perceptions that each character holds.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After reading this tragedy, the depth of Shakespeare's characters continue to raise many questions in the minds of the reader.   The way I percieve the character of Othello and what concerns me, is that Othello is able to make such a quick transition from love to hate of Desdemona. In Act 3, Scene 3, Othello states, "If she be false, O, then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe 't." (lines 294-295) Yet only a couple hundred lines later he says, "I'll tear her to pieces" (line 447) and says that his mind will never change from the "tyrannous hate" (line 464) he now harbors. Does Othello make the transition just because he is so successfully manipulated by Iago? Or is there something particular about his character which makes him make this quick change?   I believe that "jealousy" is too simple of a term to describe Othello. I think that Othello's rapid change from love to hate for Desdemona is fostered partly by an inferiority complex. He appears to be insecure in his love for Desdemona (as well as i... ...mply be percieved as extraordinary.       Works Cited and Consulted Alexander, Peter. Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964. Greene, Gayle. "'This That You Call Love': Sexual and Social Tragedy in Othello." in Shakespeare and Gender: A History. Deborah E. Baker and Ivo Kamps. New York: Verso, 1995. 47-62. Mason, H.A. Shakespeare's Tragedies of Love. New York: Barnes and Noble. 1970. Neely, Carol Thomas. "Women and Men in Othello: "What should such a fool/Do with so good a woman?" In Broken Nuptials in Shakespeare's Plays. Carol Thomas Neely. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985. "Othello's Occupation." The Norton Shakespeare Workshop. Mark Rose, ed. CD-ROM. W.W. Norton, 1998. Shakespeare, William. "Othello". The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 2100-2172.

Odyssey Essay

â€Å"Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism, confronting your fears and allowing yourself to the right to be human can paradoxically make you far happier and a more productive person. † Dr David M Burn’s quote explains how you must face your fears to be a more perfect and productive person. A perfect hero must face al their fears, which allows them to become a perfect hero. In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is portrayed as a perfect hero because he shows traits such as strength, bravery, and wisdom.There are many traits a perfect hero must have, the most important one may be strength. Strength is so vital to be a perfect hero because you can accomplish so much with it. Perfect heroes need both mental and physical strength to succeed. Maybe a hero needs to lift a heavy car off a child, or the mental strength to to leave a loved one. Odysseus displays mental strength by leaving Penelope and Telemachus for twenty years. Not only did he leave his family he le ft his homeland which Odysseus was very fond of.It takes a lot of mental strength to allow yourself to leave your family and home for twenty years. Also, he showed mental strength by avoiding the sirens by making his men tie him to the boat. Not only is that very smart it also takes strength to know what has to be done. Obviously Odysseus has mental strength he also had physical strength by killing a suitor, who stood in the way of him and Penelope. Although, these are only three minor acts, Odysseus shows mental and physical strength throughout the odyssey. Odysseus’ arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers through his throat. † (II 1419-1420) In addition to strength a perfect hero must also have bravery. Heroes are never seen as scared or wimpy. Always, they are seen fighting off their enemies or rescuing a civilian. Without bravery there would definitely be no heroes because it takes bravery to be one. When the Cyclopes’ eye was poked out by , Odysseus, he showed bravery. Not only was the Cyclopes ten times bigger than Odysseus, but he also could have easily crushed him.Odysseus has seen things no other man should see one of these was his men being ripped to shreds by Scylla. It takes bravery to see such horrible actions and not break down. A brave hero, also has guts to stand up for himself. When Odysseus approached Antonius, he had bravery to stand up for himself even though he was disguised as a beggar. Antonius was a suitor to Penelope and was living in his home. Odysseus had the guts to ruin Antonius’ reputation. â€Å"The eyeball hissed around the spike†¦the Cyclopes track roared around him and we fell back in fear. † (I )Further more, wisdom is the last essential trait to a perfect hero. Wisdom isn’t the most important but, the most powerful. It is the most powerful because it’s a trait that you can’t automatically have. You either have to work at it or in some cases youâ⠂¬â„¢re born with it. When you have wisdom it’s a very powerful weapon to your enemies, just like Odysseus. Odysseus makes the Cyclopes drunk so he could poke out his eye easier since the Cyclopes was much more bigger and stronger than Odysseus. Not only did he make the Cyclopes drunk he told him a false name Odyssey Essay Odyssey Essay Jared Page A heroic person is who does courageous acts for the sake of his family and peers. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, the protagonist, Odysseus, has not been a heroic person throughout the poem. Odysseus, Son of Laertes, has journeyed off with his crew in search of returning home but has not met the requirements of being a hero. Instead he shows insensitivity toward others, disloyalty and untrustworthiness. One characteristic trait that Odysseus presents is insensitivity towards his crew members.An example of this is when Odysseus and his men are trapped in the Cyclopes cave, Odysseus says â€Å"Now came the time to toss for it: who ventured along with me? Whose hand could bear to thrust and grind that spike in Cyclops eye† (279). This shows that Odysseus fails to sympathize with what his members are feeling. For this reason, Odysseus decides who will help him brawl Cyclops with a toss of a coin. By tossing the coin versus making the decision himse lf is an example that indicates Odysseus does not show the ability to be a heroic leader. Each time when Odysseus does something wrong, the Gods, particularly Zeus, would inflict adversity because of Odysseus’s actions. For example, just after wanting to depart the island, Zeus â€Å"disdained the offering: destruction for my ships he had in shore and death for those who sailed them, my companions† (512). This shows Odysseus has disobeyed Zeus; leading him to destroy his ships and crewmembers. Proving that Odysseus is endangering them by his absence of feeling towards others.Not only does Odysseus lack feeling, but also is untrustworthy to his peers. Odysseus has many conflicts as to whether or not he is a trustworthy person. An example of this is when the Cyclops asks why Odysseus is in his cave, Odysseus answers â€Å"He thought he’d find out, but I saw through this and answered with a ready lie: My ship? Poseidon. Lord. Who set the earth a tremble†¦Ã¢â‚ ¬  (226). This shows that Odysseus will lie his way out of things. A hero should be honest towards other people and not lie to achieve what he wants.Another conflict that Odysseus has with his men is when sailing towards Scylla. Odysseus says to himself â€Å"But as I sent them on towards Scylla. I told them nothing, as they could do nothing† (785). This proves that he cannot be trusted if he chooses to leave his men to find out for themselves what Scylla is. Odysseus has not only been untrustworthy to his men, but also disloyal to his family. Disloyalty is the act of being unfaithful to a person or country. Odysseus has showed this many times throughout the poem.An instance of this is when he has secret relations with Circe even though married. â€Å"Circe, persuades Odysseus to stay, share her meat and wine, and restore his heart† (1054). This shows that Odysseus has cheated on his wife while out at sea. This proves that Odysseus is unfaithful to his wife and family . While Odysseus’s men kill a ram, Zeus punishes them by a thunderbolt, killing everyone but Odysseus, â€Å"The dangerous nymph Calypso lives and sings there, in her beauty and she received me, loved me† (985).This shows that Odysseus has sailed away without his men and goes back to Calypso. Showing how Odysseus is disloyal to his crew, leaving their bodies and only caring about himself. Odysseus has many good characteristics that he shows throughout his journey, but none of them exhibit heroism. Dragging his crewmembers into his own faults by the Gods, being a untrustworthy leader, and a bad husband to his wife are all just examples of these qualities. Overall in this epic poem, Odysseus was not a good nor heroic leader.

Under the Bridge Song Analysis

15 April 2010 Essay 2: Poetry â€Å"Under The Bridge† Under the bridge is a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers, written by vocalist Anthony Kiedis. Keidis reference to â€Å"bridge†Kiedis use of imagery in the lyrics to this song communicate a dark time in his life but also as a listener we can relate with a difficult time in our own life. The symbolism used by Kiedis in reference to his feeling of solitude and long battle with drug addiction. Rhyme and rhythm are two of the main features in this song.The rhythm affects the whole mood, tone and meaning of the song. The melancholy can be felt in the first stanza, â€Å"Lonely as I am together we cry. † Kiedis has chosen different methods to give the song specific sounds that affect the pace and structure of the rhythm. The speed of the song begins quite slow not too intense but slowly the tempo picks up as he describes, â€Å"I don’t ever wanna feel like I did that day. † The feelings of loss bring him to depression and remind him of his struggles with drug abuse.The reference in the third stanza â€Å"take me to the place I love take me all that way† can suggests that Kiedis is taken back to the feeling of being high on drugs. Metaphorically he is attempting to overcome drug addiction but can’t help loving the feeling he gets when he is high. â€Å"The loneliness that I was feeling triggered memories of my time with Ione and how I'd had this beautiful angel of a girl who was willing to give me all of her love, and instead of embracing that, I was downtown with gangsters shooting speedballs under a bridge. (Kiedis 204) Kiedis memory of such a time stimulated his response of loneliness as he is doing so in song to his listeners. Drawing back from the people he was once so close with gave him an overwhelming feeling of loneliness and solitude, as he described, â€Å"Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner sometimes I feel like my only friend like my only friend is the city I live in the city of Angels† (Peppers) The descriptions of the city being his only stronghold during this difficult ime are realized in his city of Los Angeles which he feels would never leave him alone as some of his relationships at that time. The city is stable, and he is able to depend on her being there to support him. He refers to the city as his â€Å"companion†, and he does not have to hide from her because she already knows his deepest secrets but has yet to abandon him. It's interesting to see the different interpretations to this song, but I do believe Kiedis was clearly recounting his drug addiction in a very personal yet abstract manner.Revealing the solitude one has to endure when they find themselves in such a state. My understanding of the song shows the contemplation, withdrawal, and the acceptance of taking a dark path in life. Literature can be subtle or obvious, used carefully or carelessly. The repetition of the third stanza signifies mea ning and creates a strong sonic effect to the listener. Kiedis use of this can be found in the chorus, â€Å"I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day take me to the place I love take me all the way. (Peppers) The text states, â€Å"We all hear sounds differently depending on the meaning and context. † (Beiderwell 522) The feeling this song gives me may be totally different that it may give someone who has experienced an addiction or feeling of despair. In general, the lyrics deals with particular things in concrete language, since our emotions most readily respond to his emotion and expressions. From Kiedis particular situation, the listener may then generalize by implication from the particular. â€Å"She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy and I never worry now that is a lie. (Peppers) The use of personification occurs here when he describes inanimate objects as human that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings. He is not literally speaking of a p erson but showing his connection with the city he loves so much, as the only person he feels loved by. Images suggest meanings beyond the mere identity of the specific object. (Purdue) Poetry â€Å"plays† with meaning when it identifies resemblances or makes comparisons between things, such as the Los Angeles being his only friend.In the last stanza, â€Å"Under the bridge downtown is where I drew some blood under the bridge I could not get enough under the bridge forgot about my love under the bridge I gave my life away† (Peppers) Kiedis is recounting a low point in his life where he feels he surrendered his life to this addiction to drugs. This use of imagery is most valuable as a mode of perception that assists the listener to see around and to see the often conflicting interpretations that come from our examination of life.In other words his message is most certainly concrete and particular it's implied by the images of him under this bridge drawing blood which is what heroin addicts do. Works Cited Beiderwell, Bruce and Jeffrey M. Wheeler. â€Å"The Literary Experience. † Beiderwell, Bruce and Jeffrey M. Wheeler. The Literary Experience. Boston: Thomson Higher Education, 2008. 217-229. Kiedis, Anthony. Scar Tissue. New York: Hyperion, 2004. Peppers, Red Hot Chili. â€Å"Under The Bridge. † Blood Sugar Sex Magik. cond. Anthony Keidis. By Anthony Keidis. Los Angeles, 1992. Purdue, Owl. Owl Purdue. 21 April 2010. 07 April 2010 .

Being A Parent Is The Human Condition Essay - 2031 Words

Being a parent is something that most people will experience at some point in their lives. Considering how integral becoming a parent is to the human condition, it is always interesting to see how parenting varies not only among people of distinctively contrasting cultures, but even among people one might consider analogous. Being a parent myself, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time attempting to find the right balance of parenting styles by not just my own trial and error, but by also observing others such as my own parents. Parenting varies due to numerous reasons such as income, location, culture and perhaps most notable recently, the advancement of technology. Raising children to become well-adjusted and productive adults is no simple matter, especially when considering not only different styles of parenting, but also the different temperaments, cognitive abilities and personalities of the children. To gain insight on this issue, and perhaps gain insight as to how par enting affected me personally, I chose to interview my parents, Tawana and Gregory Barger. My mother is 51 years of age and has lived in Poplar Bluff for most of her life. She was born here in Poplar Bluff into a lower-middle class family that had her mom being the stay at home caretaker while her father was the sole breadwinner of the family. It was a very traditional family setting, with her mom doing all the household caretaking and childrearing for all 5 children, of which my mom wasShow MoreRelatedGenetic Disorder And Genetic Disorders1351 Words   |  6 Pagesin the chromosomes of a human. Finding out if an offspring has a genetic disorder can be determined by using basic genetics. The Punnett Square, a diagram used to predict the results of a crossing or breeding of two species, can determine the outcome of an offspring by using the genotypes of both parents. 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Anxiety and Language Learning - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 903 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/03/26 Category Psychology Essay Tags: Anxiety Essay Did you like this example? Assessment is a process that gives information about the students progress, thinking, and learning (Crooks, 2001). According to Erwin (1991), it is defined as a constant process of learning and improvement. Assessment is an approach which helps teachers to gather information and then conclude about the learners inner power and make inferences about the quality or success of teaching based on learners performance. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Anxiety and Language Learning" essay for you Create order It is an inseparable part of educational systems based on achievements of the learners. Assessment has the most important influence on students learning (George Cowan, 1999, P .8). So, teachers should evaluate their students frequently. They should spend some of their class time for some type of assessment (Stiggins, 2001). Many researchers have found that alternative assessment techniques are an effective and dynamic process in evaluating learners educational progress. Alternative assessment consists of procedures that facilitate the teaching process and can associate easily into daily programs of the class ( Hamayan, 1995). It is even more efficient in EFL contexts in which students can reveal what they can produce instead of memorizing and remembering (Huerta-Macias, 1995). Alternative assessment can collect data about how students can process and accomplish real-life tasks 2 One method whose use in teaching and learning has remained rare, is self-assessment. Self-assessment, as an alternative has attracted much attention in recent years with the increased attention to learner-centred curricula, needs analysis, and learner autonomy. Its potential value as an instructional tool facilitates learning and it has been a topic of many surveys. Self-assessment does not mean that students assess themselves in the form of grades. In a learner-centred pedagogy which considers learners as active participants in education and learning, the task of evaluation or assessment is given to the students. It is a process in which learners judge their abilities, performances, and qualities of learning. Self-assessment process includes all activities undertaken in the class by the students to evaluate the process of their own learning and their strengths and weaknesses to adjust the teaching-learning strategies (Black William, 1998). The interest in nontraditional forms of assessment has caused many European countries to use self-assessment widely because it is considered as a logical element of learner-centred education which emphasises learner independence and autonomy. The students engage in their own learning and assess their progress and then take full responsibility for it. What is obvious in using self-assessment techniques is the active participation of the learners in the learning and evaluation process. This participation brings more motivation to the learners as they see themselves to be responsible for their own learning. Self-assessment is one of the most important tools that teachers use to motivate students in learning. Teachers help them to use their own inner power which causes them to think, to engage and to achieve meaningful learning. Research has shown that using self-assessment can positively influence intrinsic motivation levels in students (Rolheiser Ross, 1998). 3 Self-assessment results in learning improvements if teachers implement the procedure properly. Researchers will get the maximum benefit from it so that credible data about students learning will be provided which are mostly not available to teachers. Hence, successful formative assessment depends on active students involvement which enhances student motivation by providing a sense of ownership and responsibility. Engagement also increases intrinsic motivation to value performance more on competence, not on grades and rewards. Students should know about their abilities and progress, they need to know what they can do or cannot with the skills they have acquired. Without such knowledge, it would not be easy for them to learn efficiently. In an educational system, knowing about the extent to which students can improve their own performance is also important. If they can do it, they do not depend on the opinions of teachers, and they can also make teachers aware of their individual needs. John Upshur (1975) is a scholar who used self-assessment as a factor in the improvement of second language abilities. He believed that traditional assessment shows only a small proportion of students ability. Thenceforth, self-evaluation can be used as a measure of the assessment of language proficiency. Other researchers have also found that it is an effective method of teaching. (Brantmeir, 2006; Little,2005; Revers,2001). Self-assessment is a reliable method for improving students skills and abilities (Ekbatani,2000; Nunan,1988). On the other hand, we know that anxiety plays an important role in language learning. Anxiety can interfere in all language acquisition stages: input, process, and output. Different studies that examine an xiety and language learning can provide insights into how teachers can use appropriate strategies to decrease anxiety among EFL learners. If we know about the causes and effects of language anxiety and different suitable strategies to 4 increase the students self-confidence, then we can lower their language anxiety that can affect their language learning. MC Donald and Boud (2003) found that when learners assess their own learning, their learning will be promoted to a high extent; so, it enhances their self-confidence. Nowadays, learning English is a very important need. It is spoken and used in a great number of different countries all around the world. So, the increasing use of communication in English for many reasons (trade, tourism, politics, culture, sports, high tech, etc.) has led to conducting investigations on factors which can support the improvement of further learning. Investigations concerning self-assessment in language learning can determine the effect of self-assessment in proficiency testing in different language skills. This study is performed in to check the abilities of each student to improve their competence in speaking.