Monday, September 30, 2019

Bakhtin’s Theory of Self Knowledge

Mikhail Bakhtin in his theory of Self-Knowledge was primarily concerned with the freedom that a â€Å"fictional† character could have and its connection to the author. Accordingly, Bakhtin have suggested, what he calls, the theory of â€Å"surplus-vision† which corresponds to the inability of the character to obtain a self-knowledge which is only possible through having the chance to observe him self.In a more simple terms, Bakhtin explained that the character could or any other human being for that instance that exist outside of a person’s mind could not contemplate and think about the same things that the person who is contemplating has been thinking. Thus, when a person is contemplating about someone else, he would â€Å"see and know somethingâ€Å"that the character that the person has been contemplating could never see and know†.In such case that someone whom the person is contemplating, or that character that the person have been thinking could not act independently on his own without author, as its creator could have thought. Put plainly, this means that the character could never be in a situation wherein he can decide and write about himself without the authors will or foreknowledge. Bakhtin have further discussed that the character’s ability to act liberally would depend upon his being able to act in surprising manner. Such that, a free action is an action that no one else have thought of or have predicted.However, in the case of the character in its relation to its author, it seems to be very impossible for it to be able to act freely from the author’s wishes. This is where Bakhtin’s theory of self-knowledge plays an important role. It is when the analogy of the author and God that Human self-knowledge was put into question. Yet, according to Joseph Bartlett, even without the analogy to God, any person’s action is still predictable or can still be predicted by other person for instance, by someo ne who has known the other person for quite a long time.Thus the only way, in a view that divine intervention is not counted, that the person could be free is through knowing the expectation of other people and acting surprisingly (2005). Bakhtin believes that this was the only way that the person could act freely and not determined, having a self-knowledge of thy self is the only way to free thyself. For instance one of my friends has been living a very active lifestyle. He joins different sports and was engaged in interdisciplinary activities and courses.This is when he was to choose a humanities course for his senior year; I along with some of our friends have been really surprise when he took up an art course. It was really surprising and even more, when I asked him about his decision, he simply stated that he wants to surprise himself. References Bartlett, J. (2005). Freedom And Self-Knowledge In The Dramatic Works Of Anton Chekhov. University of Missouri-Columbia.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

In Exile Poem Analysis (Arthur Nortje) Line By Line

English 101D First Assignment Unique Nr: 826883 Dedre Immelman Student nr 5012-960-0 In Exile  Poem Analysis (Arthur Nortje) Line By Line Question 1 The poem â€Å"In Exile† was written by Arthur Nortje in the 1960 – 1970 period. There could be different interpretations to the meaning of the title â€Å"In Exile†. Arthur Nortje won a scholarship to study at the Jesus College at Oxford University. Arthur became one of the privileged few â€Å"chosen† to further their education outside the borders of South Africa. Can he be seen as truly in exile? I will argue that the title of the poem is relevant and is a reference to the personal feelings and experiences of Arthur Nortje during his time spent in England and Kanada. This poem was written during the time period 1960 to 1970 – during this time South Africa had a volatile political situation and many a young activists fled the country. As mentioned, the poet did not flee the country but this title can be seen as an identification with those fellow South Africans in exile as well as a emotional reference to the feelings one experiences when you leave your country of birth and need to settle new roots in the soil of a new country. In Exile† indicates that something or someone is unsettled and not in their place of true origin. They have moved away – either voluntarily or by force. The title does not indicate whether this exile is a positive or negative experience. It does however refer to an action because exile indicates motion. One other aspect worth conside ring is the fact that the poet was born from a mixed couple and classified as colored. This could have left him with a feeling of alienation and the social implications could have left him with a feeling of being in â€Å"exile†. Question 2 The poem could be seen as a lyric description of the poet’s feelings. The poet is writing about 2 things – his country of origin and his feelings of desolation and possibly anger towards his birth country. Secondly, he is painting a picture of a landscape in his new adopted country. Nortje often uses imaginative landscapes to compensate for his personal dislocation and feeling of isolation. It also refers to South Africa and the political isolation characteristic to certain groups of our population during that period of time in our history. The communicative aim of the poet is to tell the reader more about the feelings of isolation he experienced and how wounded his soul was. It also refers to South Africa and the political and emotional context of fellow anti-apartheid or rather non-white patriots during that time. He is strongly relying on connotations in the reader’s imagination to bring his story across. A picture is painted of a current landscape but the poet makes you realise that you can’t see the beauty of a new picture without dealing with the hurt of the past. Question 3 The poet is relying on the readers understanding of the political and economic situation in South Africa during the time period in which this poem was written. In the first line â€Å"Open skies flare wide enough† – this is the first reference to the power of memory because the word â€Å"flare† could be a reference to the noise and action when a grenade explodes during war. The flare is often seen and heard when the grenade explodes. In the second stanza, the poet refers to â€Å"boots passing through† – this could be a reference to the unseen soldiers of apartheid South Africa passing through the townships at night to make sure no non-whites were out in the street. If you have experienced South Africa during that time, the boots passing through will remind you of oppression and fear or on the other side it might remind you of protection and hope. The words â€Å"wrong pigment† gives the reader an indication of a situation where people are judged simply because they don’t have the correct appearance – their skin color is unacceptable and thus they are unacceptable. Question 4 The poet is referring to storm clouds in his past and also to clouds in the history of South Africa. He was declared â€Å"colored† in the time when this ethnical group faced many adversaries and oppression in South Africa. He is using a picture of a landscape to refer to the political isolation in South Africa during that time. It could also be a reference to the repetitiveness of the storm clouds – they have been there before and they will probably be there again in the future. He has experienced hardship in South Africa and he is probably experiencing hardship again in his new country. Question 5 In view of the title and substance of the poem, it seems like the description of the boots passing through is a reference to the South African Armed Forces and specifically soldiers marching. It could be a reference to the enforcement of the group areas act – people were forcefully moved from their homes by soldiers. The noise of their boots must have left many fearful. Alternatively it could also be referring to the political unrest of that period in South Africa. Non-whites started standing up for their rights and the government tried to squash it by using the military to enforce their apartheid laws. Question 6 The poem is primarily about a person in exile remembering certain images from his home country whilst referring to new experiences in his adopted country. Nature is used to describe certain emotions and feelings. If we look at verse 14, reference is made of paradise. It is poignant as the overall concern of the poem is about negative experiences from both the past and present. However, the speaker uses the word paradise to tell us that we can choose to remember the good things about our past. Our memory and associations can help us remember the good things about our past. South Africa is not all doom and gloom – there are positive experiences as well. Question 7 The word benign, indicates that something/growth is not cancerous or negative. Benign indicates that it is good-natured or favorable – doing very little harm. The speaker could be referring to actual hunger or a spiritual hunger for a little sunshine that is hidden behind a cloud. The cloud is not life threatening but it is keeping the speaker from reaching his full potential or target. There is hope that this cloud can be overcome as it is benign. If one looks at the content of the poem, it is clear that the speaker is looking at a beautiful landscape and he is trying to see the positive aspects of both the picture and his life. However, he has a benign cloud covering his picture. The reader needs to answer the question â€Å"if it is possible to see the sun with this benign cloud of the past obscuring it? † Question 8 â€Å"In Exile†, by Andrew Nortje speaks to the reader from the first word in the title to the last word in the last stanza. If one looks at the content of the poem, it is clear that the poet is painting a picture of a landscape in front of him. He is making reference of open skies with strands of clouds, winds sweeping through the towers of buildings and his clothes trembling in the wind. He is also thinking about an imaginary picture of the sea. However, from the first stanza, the reader is reminded of a different landscape in another â€Å"exiled country† The poet is painting a somber picture of skies where we get flares making us anxious, soldiers passing through with their boots making noise, wrong pigment leaving you without hope or opportunity and bad memories clotting your vein of memories. At the end, the reader draws the conclusion that one can’t build a new picture of beautiful sunny days and wind still situations without making peace or taking into consideration, the memories of the past. I think the message of this poem is positive. In the beginning everything reminds the speaker of his horrid past – even blue skies with thin wispy clouds remind him of South Africa and the fear and anger he experienced there. He has definite negative feelings towards his country of origin. However, as time passes one gets the feeling that the speaker is growing into the understanding that one has to deal with the past in order to survive the present. He realises that one’s soul will decay even in exile if you don’t stop the negative memories from the past and start building a new picture with a positive attitude. One can never leave the past behind but you can turn the malignant memories into benign clouds. The poem is a free verse with no specific rhyming except in the 4th stanza. It is interesting that we only have one incident of rhyming and that is in line 17 and 19. The poet refers to â€Å"wrong pigment† that has no future and this gives the reader a strong indication that he was feeling rather negative and angry about the classification of people according to skin color. He uses 5 stanzas with no specific and they differ in length from 4 lines to 6 lines each. I think the effect of this single rhyming verse is very important. It clearly indicates the importance of the fact that once the poet was judged and classified as colored – it stayed with him and impacted his whole life. The poet used personification to help the reader understand the untold story of his past. In the first stanza the reader is told that the open skies made the poet anxious and that clouds are tracing patterns of the past. The reader gets the first indication that the poet is feeling estranged and sad about his past. He is telling the untold story of war and anxiety, things that happened in his past. The poet is using alliteration in certain instances to emphasize the stories f the past. â€Å"My heart is hollowed with the boots passing through† and â€Å"garments gather† are examples of alliteration. If we look at the language used in this poem, there is a change in tone in the poem. In the first 3 stanza’s a description is given of a nature scene or rather that is the first impression. On closer inspectio n, the reader learns about the fear experienced in â€Å"open skies† in Africa, clouds reminding you of the horrible past and wind reminding you about the horrors of the past – of boots of soldiers creating fear, anger and sadness. It seems like we are lost in the picture of the past. A perfect paradise seems impossible but then in the 4th stanza, the poet states that we to meet certain conditions in order to keep your soul from decay. In order to see your new paradise, you need to realize that you have to stop the vein of bad memories and build a new positive picture of your present life. The writer reaches a turning point in the last stanza. He no longer only seems to remember the ugly pictures of the past. He is building or describing a new nature scene by building a new picture on a sand slope. It is still very vulnerable and the grains slide away easily. However, his past is now only a benign cloud that obscures the sun. He can choose to look at this new positive landscape or picture of the sea and get hope. His past will always be part of him even in exile; however, the reader is brought to the point where he or she can choose to look at the sun through only a benign cloud. I think the use of the words â€Å"the soul decays in exile. But wrong pigment has no scope† are very important when analyzing this poem. It seems to be a turning point. This is the essence of what is hurting the writer and causing him to feel estranged and in exile. He realizes that he will not move forward as long as he only thinks about him being colored and that his soul will die if he doesn’t move on. I think the writer has succeeded in using imagery to relate the untold story of South Africa and his walk through life. He has told us about his pain and anger and the feelings of abandonment experienced in South Africa. At the end the reader is brought to the realization that in order to make peace with ones past, and see the new beautiful landscape of life, one has to move forward to a point where the hurt and anger merely becomes a dark memory, shaping the way you look at your future.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Analyzed and Discussed Self Career management †Free Samples

People demonstrate three type of career self-managing behavior that includes positioning, influence and boundary management. The behavior of the people eliminates any existing carrier barriers and provides a vocational adjustment. Career self management has become one of the integral aspects of professionals that helps to develop goal for an individual along with a layout plan by assessing one’s strengths and weaknesses. After effective planning and evaluating, one is able to successfully execute his/her career plan in a smooth fashion that eventually leads to career advancement and brings career satisfaction to the employee. Thus, career self management is a process through which an individual collects relevant information that is required for career progression through self assessment and identifying opportunities. As the case study illustrates the career life of Dave Armstrong, who was born and brought up in Texas and became the President of a subsidiary company of Thorne Enterprises. After making consistent efforts for eighteen months, Dave left the company to join life insurance business and lead a comfortable life. In Spite of earning a handsome salary, Dave faced the challenge of not been able to take a vacation with his new job. After working day and night for insurance job, Dave got accepted into Harvard Business Review. Now he has to make a career decision between three jobs prospects that seems attractive to Dave. Dave is confused between the three job prospects as the job he chooses is going to define his future career and an inappropriate decision could mess up his future career prospects. The report would aim to discuss the above case by analyzing all the three different job opportunities that Dave has as of present in order to provide suitable recommendations based on the theories discussed in literature review. Career self management is the process of gathering the relevant information regarding one’s career through self assessment and recognizing opportunities. This section would try to cover the importance of career development and making an intelligent career choice by applying the existing knowledge. The literature review would also encompass employability skills and factors for an individual. Further, work life balance would be illustratively presented to demonstrate the importance of managing career in an individual’s life. According to Inkson (2007), there are various stages of career in an individual’s life that could either be because of various roles available in the society or person’s physical change over a period of time. He described theory of career development, which was discovered by Donald Super, as a framework for career guidance by focusing on the attributes and development of individuals. The theory stated that each and every profession has a unique requirement in terms of personal characteristics and the people are attracted towards these characteristics. The author focused on work roles of an individual that could vary from family role to professional role and emphasized on balancing one’s personal life with the job. The authors Arthur, Khapova & Richardson (2017), illustrate through various case studies and examples how an individual can take ownership of work and life by making an intelligent career choice. The authors have very well described an intelligent career that involves the knowledge of an individual acquired over the period of years. The authors have also focused on the working style and methods that involves the application of the acquired knowledge and knowledge extension through consistent learning process. According to the authors Inkson & Arthur (2001), in order to manage the career one must skillfully match individual and organization needs. The authors have described the processes of investment, portfolio development, capital growth that leads to career advancement. According to Briscoe et al (2012), there are two major career concepts including protean career and boundaryless career. Protean career has a value driven approach and is independent of the external career influences. A boundaryless career does not perceive structural constraints and the decision is taken by considering all the aspects that could include work family reasons. The authors construed that boundaryless employees are not necessarily less committed to the organization. The authors Briscoe & Finkelstein (2009), also supported the idea that boundaryless career and protean career attitudes are differentially correlated. Rodrigues & Guest (2010) stated that the concept of boundaryless career is fuzzy by drawing the potential of another method to conceptualize career boundaries. According to the author Bridgstock (2009), an individual must have employment skills in the fast changing global business context. They must look forward for continuous development by acquiring knowledge and skills with the changing information and knowledge intensive economy. The stress was on developing generic skills that is defined as transferable skills that are considered vital for employability. Further, an individual must possess attributes such as lifelong learning and adaptability. According to Rothwell & Arnold (2007), employability has become one of the topmost concerns for the individuals and their key goal is to be able to manage their careers effectively.    The authors Wolff & Moser (2009) stated that networking has a huge impact on career by stressing on six components that considered the impact of internal & external networking and building, maintaining and using contacts. According to Janasz & Forret (2008), networking helps to develop and maintain relationship with others that opens opportunities for an individual. The author Sturges (2008), identified the connection between career self management and managing work life harmony. He construed through the research that an individual may be involved in various career self management behaviors as per the career goal. The author identified one of the behaviors as creating a balance between work and life and people who are only focused towards their career could destruct their work life balance. The author also tried to demonstrate the influence of career stages on career goal and behavior of an individual to construe that career attitude and behavior has a great impact on work life balance and is the major concern of younger members irrespective of their family responsibilities. The authors Weng & McElroy (2010), studied the impact of career self management and vocational self concept crystallization on the effectiveness of an individual’s decision. The study revealed that career self management has a positive impact on effectiveness of job decision and vocational self concept crystallization. The study also revealed that vocational self concept crystallization has positive impact on effectiveness of job decision. The authors Abele & Wiese (2007), analyzed the self management strategies including development of goals, goal pursuing behavior, career planning and comparative judgment. The authors claimed that general strategy is connected to domain specific strategy, which can be further linked to the results. Dave has been offered three job opportunities and all the three of them have some pros and cons associated with them due to which Dave is facing pressure of selecting the best job opportunity that offers a bright future. Job A is the best job prospect for Dave and in order to understand it the report would discuss the pros and cons of all the three jobs. Job B has been offered by one of the oil exploration company in Houston and require Dave to invest an amount of 100k dollars that is one third of the total equity. Dave would receive around 60, 000 dollars as an annual compensation. The deal does not have any attractiveness as the business would cease to exist after two years period. Further, Dave would also lose the opportunity to operate in partnership in case the oil and gas glut dries up before they launch the company. All he would be getting is just 8% commission for his performance. If Dave wishes to make an intelligent career choice, he would never chose this option as there is not future and security in the job in terms of salary and security. Further, Dave would also have to make an initial investment of 100k $ that could just go in vain if he loses the equity partnership. Job C is the most convenient job for Mr Dave and is also the top choice of his wife. The job offers Dave a secure future with 45k dollars salary. Dave would be required to work for oil and gas investment fund in the firm and would be analyzing the properties of oil and gas. The job is a perfect combination of security and salary for an individual. Now analyzing the job from the theory of intelligent career would suggest that Dave must evaluate alternatives before choosing the option. Dave has already received the offer of more than 50k dollars from other two companies due to which the attractiveness of the offer goes away. Dave has graduated from Harvard Business School and thus, has the caliber to acquire a job with higher salary. This job may offer him security but does not offer a good salary. The career intelligence theory stated that one must have a better understanding of oneself before making a career choice (Arthur, Khapova & Richardson, 2017). Further, one must also match th e quality of organization and an individual before selecting the organization (Inkson & Arthur, 2001). From the two theories, it can be construed that Dave’s skills and the organizational skills do not match effectively since Dave is very ambitious and seek to groom himself through continuous learning process. The organization does not offer him a justified position and underestimates his talent and potential strength. Thus, Dave must not go for this job opportunity. Job A is being offered by Mr Thorne that would require a huge investment from Dave. Thorne has offered Dave an offer to work with him for piggyback rail terminal that is situated between Dallas and Houston. The project is being studied by a group of business school students to evaluate the feasibility. The offer seems attractive as it is likely to attract business from Dallas and Houston. The cost of land on which the project would be built is 1/100 the cost of industrial property located in Dallas or Houston. The job offer seems lucrative if considered from the salary and future perspective. Dave would receive around 50k-70k salary along with bonus and equity share in the business. Dave must make an intelligent career choice here by applying all his knowledge and evaluating the external factors. He must also analyze the situation from an alternative perspective. He must consider that he would also be required to invest a huge amount of 200k to 300k dollars for which he would have pu t up his entire savings in the project. He would also have to make many adjustments in his lifestyle and his wife would also have to bear it. Further, the business may or may not be able to generate results in future that could devastate the entire career of Dave. Now from self career management theory, it can be construed that Dave must consider from the aspect of work life balance (Sturges, 2008). The job may cost Dave and his wife a huge fortune in future and thus, he must consider the opinion of his wife as well in order to secure their future. In spite of several cons, this is the most lucrative offer for Dave because of its unique idea and low cost strategy plan. From the given information and present scenario, the plan also promises to yield great results in future. Also his wife is also looking forward for him to be happy and according to the theory of career self management, the quality of an individual and organization must match that can be witnessed in this case. Dave ha s huge potential to build a great business empire through his determination and ambitious nature. Thus, using the theory of career self management, it can be construed that Dave must go for Job A to work with Mr Thorne where he can utilize his potential strength and become a successful businessman. The report has successfully analyzed and discussed self career management through the case study of Dave. Career self management has become an integral component for a professional. A professional must assess his strengths and weaknesses in order to develop a specific career path for him and must analyze the external factors before making any career choice. They must look forward for continuous development by acquiring knowledge and skills with the changing information and knowledge intensive economy. The stress was on developing generic skills that is defined as transferable skills that are considered vital for employability. After thorough and deep investigation of the case study, the report evaluated Job A as the best alternative for Dave. Job B did not have any future in terms of business as the business was likely to disappear. The job also did not have any partnership promise in future as it was likely to go if oil and gas glut dries. Further, job did not match with the skills of Dave who is ambitious and determined for his career. Job C was evaluated as the most convenient job that also did not match up with the skills of Dave. Dave is most likely to get frustrated with the job after sometime because of his ambitious nature. Further job also did not offer a good pay to Dave. Job A was evaluated to be risky and required a huge amount of investment but is the most feasible and lucrative job for Dave as it matches with the skill sets of Dave. Abele, A.E., & Wiese, B.S. (2007). The Nomological Network of Self-Management Strategies and Career Success. Labor and Socio Economic Research Center, 7, 1-30. Arthur, M., Khapova, S. & Richardson, J. (2017). An Intelligent Career: Taking Responsibility for Your Work and Your Life. New York: Oxford University Press Bridgstock, R. (2009). The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: enhancing graduate employability through career management skills. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(1), 31-44. Briscoe, J. P., & Finkelstein, L. M. (2009). The â€Å"new career† and organizational commitment: do boundaryless and protean attitudes make a difference?.  Career Development International,  14(3), 242-260. Briscoe, J. P., Henagan, S. C., Burton, J. P., & Murphy, W. M. (2012). Coping with an insecure employment environment: The differing roles of protean and boundaryless career orientations.  Journal of Vocational Behavior,80(2), 308-316. de Janasz, S. C., & Forret, M. L. (2008). Learning the art of networking: A critical skill for enhancing social capital and career success.  Journal of management education,  32(5), 629-650. De Vos, A., & Soens, N. (2008). Protean attitude and career success: The mediating role of self-management.  Journal of Vocational behavior,  73(3), 449-456. Inkson, K. & Arthur, M. (2001). How to be a successful career capitalist. Organizational Dynamics, 30(1), p 48-61.   Inkson, K. (2007). Understanding Career: The metaphors of working lives. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Raabe, B., Frese, M., & Beehr, T. A. (2007). Action regulation theory and career self-management.  Journal of Vocational Behavior,  70(2), 297-311. Rodrigues, R. A., & Guest, D. (2010). Have careers become boundaryless?.Human Relations,  63(8), 1157-1175. Rothwell, A., & Arnold, J. (2007). Self-perceived employability: development and validation of a scale.  Personnel review,  36(1), 23-41. Sturges, J. (2008). All in a day's work? Career self?management and the management of the boundary between work and non?work.  Human Resource Management Journal,  18(2), 118-134. Weng, Q., & McElroy, J. C. (2010). Vocational self-concept crystallization as a mediator of the relationship between career self-management and job decision effectiveness.  Journal of Vocational Behavior,  76(2), 234-243. Wolff, H. G., & Moser, K. (2009). Effects of networking on career success: a longitudinal study.  Journal of Applied Psychology,  94(1), 196. End your doubt 'should I pay someone to do my dissertation by availing dissertation writing services from

Friday, September 27, 2019

Protection Provided to Employees in the Public Services Essay

Protection Provided to Employees in the Public Services - Essay Example Sex Discrimination Act, 1975 is applied to both men and women, which makes sex discrimination in employment, vocational training, education, the provision and sales goods, facilities and services as well as premises, unlawful. To clarify Great British law which is related to gender reassignment the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) regulations 1999 was enacted. It is a measure in order to prevent discrimination against transsexual people on the grounds of sex in pay and treatment in employment as well as vocational training. In April 2007, Gender Equality Duty came into force and it is the biggest change in sex equality legislation in thirty years since the Sex Discrimination Act was introduced. In recognition of the need for a radical new approach to equality, it was introduced, which placed service providers the responsibility to think strategically about gender equality, rather than living it to the individuals to challenge poor practice. For Employers, Equal Pay Act 1970 makes it unlawful to discriminate between men and women in terms of their pay as well as conditions where they are doing similar work, work rated as equivalent, or work of equal value. It is applied to both men and women however it does not give everyone the right to claim equal pay with a person of the same sex. That is, in other words, any comparison must be with a person of the opposite sex. In 2003, the act was amended (Sheard, A., 2006d). Based on Race Race Relations Act, 1976, makes it unlawful to treat a person less favourable than the others on the grounds of race. This includes protection of people against racial discrimination the grounds of race, colour, nationality (citizenship), as well as national or ethnic origin, in the fields of employment, education, training, housing, and the provision of goods, facilities as well as services. In order to eliminate institutional racism and prohibit racial discrimination in all public functions with only a few exceptions and give a new statutory duty to promote race equality, Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 was enacted. Its aims are to provide fair and accessible services as well as improve equal opportunities in employment. The general duty of this Act is to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination, to promote equal opportunities as well as to promote good relations between people from the different racial group; and under these duties, public authorities must prepare and publish a Race Equality Scheme which should explain how general, as well as specific duties, will be met.     Ã‚  

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Music to express the various emotions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music to express the various emotions - Essay Example My choice for this music reflects my happy childhood where there were no worries and everything was still a play. It reflects friendship, teachers home and family because this music is also shared by my friends, teachers and family which were all pleasant and happy memories to remember and rekindle. My friends and I use to sing this as part of our games and we always had fun singing this.During my adolescent years, the music of Beatles comes to mind. But I think I need to mention that there was a lot of music and musician that I had been listening to during my adolescent years because it was the time when I was experimenting and expanding my universe. But when it comes to music, Beatles sort of answered my teenaged questions why there is so much conflict in the world, why can we not just have peace?. I would like to brand this music more of my effort to try to fit in. The Beatles music called for peace, acceptance and other positive thoughts which in a way are my expression to accept and be accepted.I have to admit that as a teenager, I was exerting effort to be accepted and I believe I still am. This feeling and experience are shared by all teenagers albeit we may vary with the degree of how much effort we exert to be accepted. The music starts calmly then it slowly builds tension until there is an angry rapture in the chorus which in a way releases my anger harmlessly without hurting or offending anyone.It is a sort of a release for me to get rid of anger, stress and to become calm again.... I also retreat to it when I feel bad. Call me old school but when I am stressed and needs a breather from everything, I retreat to Beethoven’s music particularlyFur Elise. The music starts calmly then it slowly build tension until there is an angry rapture in the chorus which in a way releases my anger harmlessly without hurting or offending anyone. It is a sort of a release for me to get rid of anger, stress and to become calm again. After a while of playing back this music, I feel calm and my head clears again and then I am ready to face the world again. I also like Vanessa Mae’s Contradanza when I want to relax. Her medium is violin but she plays it fast and more contemporary and not in a way that makes me bored. It is like she made classical music more digestible to my generation which relaxes me. When I am happy, there areseveral music that I associate with this exalted emotion depending on the occasion that brought me happiness. In sports, I can name the music â⠂¬Å"We Are the Champion† by Queens which made me ecstatic when we won a championship game back in high school. Until now, I can still recall that glorious feeling of winning every time I hear that music. I can also recall Steven Cat’s â€Å"Morning has broken† as a reminder of a happy day for me. I cannot recall what triggered why I feel good about Steven Cat’s â€Å"Morning Has Broken† but the music just makes me feel good. I also associate romantic music with happiness because my first girl/boyfriend and I used to listen to romantic songs together. I can also recall childhood music from â€Å"The Sound of Music† â€Å"The Lonely Gathered† which I associate with happiness because we used to sing it while playing and it reminds me of the days when I did not have to worry

Symposium by Plato Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Symposium by Plato - Essay Example Diotima’s is a woman who has described the whole concept of love to Socrates, which he describes in his speech in Symposium. This book is the representation of the genesis, nature and purpose of love which was held by Socrates and later by Plato (Plato 179-185). This concept of love, which is illuminated in this book by Plato, is also the origin of his concept of Platonic Love. This paper is aimed to explicate the relationship of philosophy with love as has been explained in the speech of Socrates. It also presents the comparison among Socrates’ concept of love with others’ description for the idea of love in their speeches. The idea of love which Socrates presents completely differs and rejects the positions which were held and proposed by other individuals. The book is consists of several Greek concepts about the nature and purpose of love in the form of speeches by several general ancient Athenians including Socrates. Socrates begins his speech at the sixth pl ace and starts by being skeptic about the speech of Agathon. Socrates tells that a lady named Diotima had taught him about the real idea of love before which he had similar concepts which others contain. Socrates explicates that, according to Diotima love is not any god or any mortal entity which regulates the order of human beings or things existing in the universe. Love is neither contained with any of the divine attributes like wisdom or beauty (198A-201D). Love is a desire to attain these attributes. It is the spirit which hatches by the bonding between the resource and need. Diotima describes that love is attributed to the form of beauty. Every human being is attracted towards beauty; however, this is usually and fundamentally limited to the material world. Human tends to seek beauty in objects and in other humans by which the desire and spirit of love is developed between the object of beauty and the lover. On this material level, human individual desires to reproduce the beau ty in the physical sense which is the basis for human reproduction through the course of sex (200B-201-C). The love is the desire to have the object of beauty to posses its beauty, as has been stated in the book that, â€Å"Eros would be nothing else than love of beauty† (201A). This love of beauty in the material sense requires refinement to acquire the actual of love that is the desire for the form of beauty. According to Diotima, every object which is beautiful shares the form of beauty. Human beings lack in identifying and realizing the essence of that beauty and tend to possess the object itself which shares the form of beauty (202D-204B). However, the actual love is with the beauty as a form which is pure rather than the object which shares that form and manifest in this world. This realization occurs by the assistance of philosophy. The actual love for wisdom leads an individual to identify the difference between real, which is ideal love, and material love. The essenc e of love is to desire for the form of beauty which is the purest of all love. The desire for the pure form of beauty is the most refined desire which is the gist of love (204C-207A). By this explication of Diotima, the relationship of philosophy and love is prominently clear. A man is necessarily contained with the desire for beauty which he initially seeks in objects and other humans in this world. Objects can be possessed and kept; however, the element of beauty in other human is represented to be attained through the course of sexual reproduction. After reproducing beauty, the desire for beauty still remains in the individual which is required to be realized (207A-208B). This realization is acquired with

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Behavioral Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Behavioral Analysis - Essay Example It has a PE ratio of 27.9, and there are about 12 stock trade analysts rating Biogen as a Buy neither a sell nor a hold company. Average volume for Biogen has been 2.0 million dollars shares daily for 30 days annually. It has a market cap of 90.8 billion dollars and is a part of the medical sector and drug companies. Biogen stock has a beta of 0.62 and a short float of 1.3 percent with 0.89 days to cover. Biogen shares are up 13.7 percent annually of the close of trading monthly. According to the Street Quant Ratings, Biogen is a rate as a buy and the company’s strength exists in many areas. For example, the solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, and compelling growth net income. Others include robust revenue growth and largely solid financial status with reasonable debt levels by most measures. According to the recent highlight analysis of the Biogen company ratings, influenced by its outstanding earnings growth of 72.77 percent and other vital driving factors. The stock of the company languished by 30.23 percent over the past years outsmarting the performance of the S&P 500 index rating the same time. BIIB irrespective of numerous stock market challenges would maintain despite enjoying fabulous gains in the past year. Biogen Company has recorded significant earnings per share creating improvement in the recent quarter compared to the previous quarter. Company shows a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over a period of two years. In every fiscal year, the company increases its bottom-line profits by the rate of 12.39 dollars compared to 7.82 of the past years. Besides, the market anticipates much increase in the earnings of 16.78 dollars from 12.39 dollars (The Street Wire 2015, p.1). The company depending on the net income growth from the same quarter a year ago significantly outperformed against the S&P 500.The rate exceeded other sectors such as Biotechnology industry average. When compared to the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Reading the Bones of La Florida Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reading the Bones of La Florida - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that Clark Spencer Larsen explores the engagement of Southeast Spanish missions in La Florida, identifying the cultural and traditional diet and work habits of the natives prior to the settlement of Europeans. Larsen capitalizes on the recent development and advancement of bio-archeology to present his arguments concerning health deterioration of the natives. Because human tissues contain stable isotopes such as nitrogen and carbon elements, bioarcheologists may utilize this information to reconstruct and determine the diets of ancient humans. Larsen revisits findings of carbon three and carbon four chemical signatures, different ratios of carbon 12 and carbon 13 isotopes, and different ratios of nitrogen 14 and nitrogen 15 isotopes in human beings to argue that the Native Americans on La Florida experienced a change of diet after the settlement of Europeans. Larsen focuses on research evidence on the chronological and ge ographical variations from Margret Schoeninger, Nikolaas van der Merwe, and Lynnet Norr concerning the difference in diet. The article emphasizes on three tribes: the Guale, the Timucua, and the Apalachee, all served by Spanish missions in coastal Georgia and Florida. Larsen builds a strong case against the change of diet as a major cause of health deterioration, providing the readers with bioarcheological bone evidence. Furthermore, he analyzes the working habits and living conditions, as well as the occurrence of rampant infections and easy onward transmission as other propagating factors to the poor health of the native Indians. With respect to the work habits, Larsen examines the working bones in the human skeleton. He argues that the human skeleton responds to physical activities in their entire lives, changing the structure and shape of the individual’s bones in order to respond to the mechanical forces acting upon them. Larsen further argues that the body weight or the pull of muscles triggers cellular activities that cause remodeling of the skeleton. This is in accordance with his findings from the La Florida Bioarchaeology Project. Larsen’s arguments and evidence ventures into the world of forensic science, particularly bio-molecular archeology in analyzing and studying DNA traces in ancient bones. The relatively new study of DNA focuses on fossilized teeth and bones. Moreover, adopted methods form immunology, analytical chemistry, and protein biochemistry enables scientists to investigate and analyze the fate of individual human communities. With particular emphasis has been the study of agriculture invention in human populations, diseases, and health. The great agricultural revolution of Mesopotamia that led to humans planting food crops and domesticating animals had a profound impact on human history. Nonetheless, the traditional assumption has been that this transition from a hunter-gatherer and foraging diet to another based on crop s would enhance the health of humans. This is where Larsen begins his arguments, stating that the revolution had both positive and negative impacts. Larsen refers to the agricultural revolution as an environmental catastrophe that led to the decrease in the quality of life for many human populations, with emphasis on La Florida. It is evident that the lives of Native Americans living in La Florida had an impact, but concluding that the revolution had similar impacts in other communities occupying other areas may be incorrect. Interestingly, critiques of industrial revolution express similar sentiments, arguing that the revolution minimizes the quality of human life.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Middle East History 5 questions Research Proposal

Middle East History 5 questions - Research Proposal Example The Palestinian community has also recently been fractured by the Fatah/Hamas split, adding a new and potentially explosive dynamic to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite decades of attempts at resolving this conflict, the protagonists are at an impasse and without a resolution in sight. The Arab-Israeli conflict remains one of the most enduring and complex disputes of modern times. The origins of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians are important today because two key issues between the warring parties remain largely unchanged since the late ninetieth century. For more than one hundred years these two fundamental issues have driven, contributed to, and exacerbated the protracted nature of this conflict. The first major issue is territorial and the question of land. At its very core, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a conflict over land; a tiny sliver of land, semi arid and dry, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and roughly the size of New Jersey (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). The second major issue is the juxtaposition of Israeli and Palestinian identities; competing nationalisms which were at odds decades before the establishment of the modern state of Israel. It is these two core issues, disputed land and competing nationalisms, which are fundament al to the conflict and which must be tackled with vigor if one seeks to resolve the crisis. Any solution aimed at resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict must address the issues of land, competing nationalisms (a Palestinian state must be established), the status of Jerusalem must be resolved and Israel must be guaranteed an existence of peace and security. Only when each of these highly complex issues is addressed will we see a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict (Gelvin 2005). The origins of US involvement in the Middle East predate the Second World War and go as far back as the Paris Peace Accords and Treaty of Versailles in 1919, following the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Dehydration of Alcohols Essay Example for Free

Dehydration of Alcohols Essay Abstract The dehydration of cyclohexanol to cyclohexene can be done through fractional distillation. Once the fraction has been collected it must then be dried. The dried distillate is finally tested to determine whether or not it has been dehydrated. The three tests used were infrared spectroscopy, Bromine chemical test and Bayer’s chemical test. The infrared spectroscopy showed a large narrow peak at 3062. 12(cm-1) and 3020. 71(cm-1) which indicates that there is a double bond present. To assure the results were correct the chemical tests were done. The Bromine test was found to be positive for cyclohexene. The OH group was removed from the cyclohexanol and replaced with a double bond found around 3062. 12(cm-1) and 3020. 71(cm-1) and the dehydration was successful. Introduction Fractional distillation can be used when trying to dehydrate alcohols. Dehydrating an alcohol consists of taking away an OH group. Fractional distillation separates the initial compound into separate compounds; depending on what their boiling point is. Cyclohexanol can be dehydrated to form cyclohexene. Infrared spectroscopy is used to analyze a compound and can give a breakdown of what chemicals the original mixture is composed of. An example of this is the long broad peak around 3200 (cm-1) which signifies an OH group in the compound. This technique is very useful to help determine what a compound is made of and it can also be used with NMR to give a chemical structure. Since infrared spectroscopy can be used to analyze a compound it can also be used to verify that you have the correct compound. Another way to do this is to use a chemical test. There are multiple chemical tests that can be used, one of them being the bromine test. A bromine test is used to verify whether an OH group is present or not. Another test is used with KMNO4 to test whether and alkene is present or not. Using both chemical tests and infrared spectroscopy to analyze the substance it will be clear if fractional distillation and the drying agent were able to work together in the process of dehydrating the alcohol. Materials and Methods For this experiment, 5. 0-mL of cyclohexanol were weighed and placed in a 25-mL recovery flask. A magnetic stir bar was added to the flask. 2. 5-mL of 9 M sulfuric acid was added to the same flask and mixture was swirled. The fractional distillation apparatus was set up with steel wool in the column. A 10-mL receiving flask was placed in an ice-water bath. Fractional distillation was started making sure to maintain the head temperature between 80 and 85Â °C, making sure it did not go over 90Â °C. Heating was stopped once the mixture turned dark brown and a deep green condensate formed. Distillate was then collected and transferred to a 25-mL Erlenmeyer flask. Anhydrous potassium carbonate was added with a spatula to the 25-mL Erlenmeyer flask. Flask was swirled occasionally for about 15 min while adding more anhydrous potassium carbonate until liquid no longer looked cloudy. The mixture left that was not distilled was neutralized by adding bicarbonate to the solution, slowly, until foam stops forming. Dried liquid was then transferred with a Pasteur pipet into a 10-mL recovery flask containing a stir bar for simple distillation. Another 10-mL recovery flask was used as the receiver and a calcium chloride drying tube was connected with a vacuum adaptor. The more pure compound was collected by maintaining heat from 80 to 85Â °C, making sure it did not go over 90Â °C. Distillate was weighed and percent yield of cyclohexene was determined. An infrared spectroscopy was run on the distillate by taking a drop of distillate and putting it in between two salt plates. Closed the salt plates with metal holders and then put it into the infrared spectroscopy machine. First an infrared spectroscopy was run on the cyclohexanol. Then an infrared spectroscopy was run on the cyclohexene. The Bromine chemical test was run by adding 2 drops of distillate to a test tube. 0. 1 M of bromine in dichloromethane was added to the same test tube. Then added drops of dichloromethane until color appeared if color disappeared the test would have been positive. If the color did not go away the test would have been negative. Finally a Bayer test was run by adding 2-mL of 95% ethanol to a test tube. Two drops of distillate were added to the test tube. Then KMnO4 was added drop wise until color persisted. Results Table 1. Mass of starting solution, sulfuric acid, and ending product formed. Solution| Mass (g)| Cyclohexanol| 4. 512| Sulfuric Acid| 3. 384| Cyclohexene| 1. 217| Table 2. Chemical tests done to determine whether or not the product was cyclohexene. Result seen by changes in color. Type of Test| Color of Starting Reactant| Color of Reactant plus Product| Bromine| Bromine was red| Mixture went from red to clear | Baeyer| KMnO4 was purple| Mixture went from purple to dark brown | Table 3. Infrared spectroscopy peak values representing different structures found for cyclohexanol and cyclohexene. Solution| Alcohol| Single Bonds (sp3 C-H)| Double Bonds(sp2 C=C)| Ring Structure| Cyclohexanol| Peak 13339. 25 cm-1| Peak 2-32930. 94cm-1, 2854. 63cm-1| N/A| Peak 51450. 92cm-1| Cyclohexene| N/A| Peak 8 and 112923. 83cm-1, 2658. 55cm-1| Peak 6-73062. 12cm-1, 3020. 71cm-1| Peak 281438. 15cm-1| The original weight of the cyclohexanol added was 4. 512 g. The original weight of cyclohexanol with sulfuric acid was 7. 896 g. The original weight of the sulfuric acid alone was 3. 384 g. The weight for the product, assumed to be cyclohexene, was 1. 217 g. The percent yield for cyclohexene was calculated to be 26. 97%. Cyclohexanol was distilled fractionally to produce 4-mL of cyclohexene at 88? C. The original cyclohexanol was put through infrared spectroscopy and was found to have a large broad band at 3339. 25(cm-1) indicating the presence of an OH group, large narrow bands at 2930. 94(cm-1) and 2854. 63(cm-1) indicating single bonds between carbon and hydrogen, and a large narrow band at 1450. 92(cm-1) indicating a ring. The cyclohexene was put through infrared spectroscopy which showed that there was no OH group now. This time there was a double bond between carbons at 3062. 12(cm-1) and 3020. 71(cm-1), single bonds between hydrogen and carbon at 2923. 83(cm-1) and at 2658. 55(cm-1), and a ring at 1438. 15(cm-1). The bromine chemical test gave a positive result for cyclohexene after one drop of dichloromethane was added, which changed the liquid from a red color to a clear color. The Bayer test made the substance stay purple after 1 drop showing it was negative for an alkene. Doing the bromine chemical test and the Bayer test on cyclohexanol gave negative results for both. Discussion The fractional distillation was used to dehydrate cyclohexanol collected fraction allowed it to be separated and then was dried. Only 4-mL of cyclohexene was collected from the distillation. Infrared spectroscopy was then used to determine whether the substance retrieved from the distillation was dehydrated and had turned to cyclohexene. Looking at the infrared spectroscopy of the distilled substance there was no broad peak which signifies that there is not an OH in the substance anymore and the substance is not cyclohexanol anymore. To make sure the substance was cyclohexene two different chemical tests were given. The bromine test had a positive result after 1 drop. The Bayer test had a negative result after one drop was added. There was a discrepancy between the two tests but by viewing the IR we can conclude that the substance was no longer cyclohexanol. This could be attributed to error such as the cyclohexanol not being distilled correctly, leaving impurities. The fractions may have been heated too quickly and the fractions may have mixed. There may not have been enough drying agent added to the mixture. Some future possible changes to the experiment would be to have more time to not feel rushed. This way it would be easier to heat more slowly and make sure that everything is clean leaving little to no impurities.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Comparison of Different Ibuprofen Dosage Forms

Comparison of Different Ibuprofen Dosage Forms Both ibuprofen gel and ibuprofen tablet produced similar efficacy in terms of pain relief in their respective groups. However, lower dose was administered in gel dosage form and fewer side effects were observed, in comparison to ibuprofen tablet. Patients consuming ibuprofen oral suspension reached the therapeutic effect at a quicker rate and were in that period for a longer duration compared to the other dosage forms. This suggested that it caused faster pain relief for a longer duration compared to ibuprofen tablets and ibuprofen chewable tablets. Introduction Ibuprofen (Figure 1) is chemically known as iso-butyl-propanoic-phenolic acid. It is a well known drug that belongs to a class of therapeutic agents known as non-steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAID). It possesses antipyretic (fever reducing) and anti-inflammatory (reduces inflammation) properties among others (i.e. anti-platelet effect). It is used in the treatment of pain and inflammation in rheumatic disease and other musculoskeletal disorders including minor aches and discomfort 78. A recent report showed ibuprofen had analgesic (pain-relieving) properties. This was shown by testing analgesic properties of ibuprofen on a mouse writhing and an inflamed rat foot. It showed there was similarity of analgesic activity in both species. However, ibuprofen failed to show analgesic activity in the normal foot of the rat or in the mouse hotplate test. Therefore it was established that ibuprofen is not a central, but a peripheral analgesic 13. Ibuprofen has fewer side effects than any other NSAID; however its anti-inflammatory properties are weaker than others. Doses of 1.6-2.4g are required daily for rheumatoid arthritis. It is unsuitable for conditions where inflammation is prominent such as acute group 8. Ibuprofen was discovered by Dr. Stewart Adams and his team (Figure 2) 3 in the 1950s, at Boots Company. The drug was patented in the 1960s and was initially marketed under the name Brufen. Initially the drug was tested on hangover, but the drug was launched for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in UK (1969) and USA (1974) 3. The mechanism of action of ibuprofen is not completely understood. However, ibuprofen is known to be a non-selective inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-1 and 2 (COX-1 and COX-2). COX is an enzyme that is involved in the production prostaglandins 8. Prostaglandins have an important role in the production of pain, inflammation and fever 13. Following administration of ibuprofen, it is rapidly absorbed and distributed throughout the whole body. The drug is eliminated through the kidneys 14. Ibuprofen is a derivative of phenylpropionic acid (Figure 3) 4. It contains a chiral centre (Carbon), therefore is non-superposable on its mirror image 2. This gives rise to enantiomers, resulting in two possible structures of ibuprofen. The importance of enantiomers is that all amino acids (apart from glycine) have a chiral centre. Amino acids are the fundamental blocks of enzymes and proteins in all forms of life including humans. Thus suggesting the human body is controlled by chiral molecules and effectively is a chiral environment. This results in different enantiomers having different effect on the body, including metabolism, toxicity to name a few 1. These enatiomers exist as (S) and (R)-enantiomers (Figure 4) 4. It was found that (S)-ibupofen was the active form in, in vitro and in vivo 2. Ibuprofen began to be marketed as a single enantiomer ((S)-isomer) so the selectivity and potency of ibuprofen could be improved. However, further in vivo testing led to the inactive (R)-ibuprofen to rapidly convert to active (S)-ibuprofen. Therefore the single enantiomer was scrapped and ibuprofen was to be marketed as a racemic mixture (50% of each enantiomers) 2, even now it is the same. Another reason was the likeliness of producing pure (S)-ibuprofen was too expensive on a large scale. The difference between both the enantiomers is the way the atoms are arranged and connected to the chiral centre. In the (S)-isomer the CH3 group is in the back, whereas in the (R)-isomer it is at the front. Since being launched it is widely available all over the world as over the counter (OTC), prescription only medicine (POM) and general sale list (GSL) products. In all countries over the world they are available under different names, formulations, strengths etc. In North America (Canada), ibuprofen is known as Motrin and Advil. In South America (Brazil) it is known as Alivium and Advil 5. Different countries have different guidelines and policies regarding selling and prescribing of ibuprofen. People are not just restricted to pharmacies but they can be obtained in supermarkets, general retailers etc. In many parts of the world including Australia and New Zealand, ibuprofen lysine is licensed for the same treatment as ibuprofen. Ibuprofen lysine is the salt form of ibuprofen and is the cationic form. As ibuprofen lysine has a net positive charge, it is more soluble than ibuprofen allowing the drug to be administered intravenously. This makes ibuprofen lysine to have a greater onset time of action than ibuprofen 15. Since 1977, World Health Organisation (WHO) has been producing a model list of essential medicines. This list is updated every 2 years and is known as List of WHO Essential Medicines. Ibuprofen is the only NSAID present in the list among other classes (opoids, antimetabolites etc) 6. It is classed as a core medicine, which means it is an essential drug for basic healthcare. The drugs listed are the most effective, safe and cost effective medicines for conditions that are a priority. This priority conditions are on the basis of present and future public health relevance. The drugs present on the list are recognised throughout the world. Ibuprofen tablets (200mg and 400mg) are present for the treatment of gout and rheumatoid arthritis. Also present is ibuprofen solution, which is used as an injection (5mg/ml). It is used in neonatal care for the treatment of mild to moderate pain 68. Discussion The most important role of a drug delivery system is to get the drug delivered to the site of action in sufficient amount and at the appropriate rate. This can be achieved by a predictable therapeutic response of the drug 11. However it must meet essential requirements, which include physical chemical stability, ability to be economically mass produced in a manner that assures the proper amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is present in each dosage and patient acceptability 9. It can be seen from Table 1 11, different dosage forms have different time of onset of action. Table 1: Shows the variation in time of onset of action for different dosage forms. It can be seen that intravenous injection is the most superior dosage form in terms of time of onset of action, as it takes seconds to produce an effect. Depot injections and implants take days to produce an effect. Tablets are one of the most popular ways of delivering a drug through the oral route. Tablets are solid preparations each containing a single and accurate dose of active pharmaceutical ingredient(s) (API). They are completed by compressing or compacting uniform volume of particles to a solid dose 10. There are different types of tablets available; they include effervescent/soluble, modified release etc. The aim of the modified release tablet is it enables the biopharmaceutical behaviour of the drug to be controlled. Many tablets are available that have coatings; these include film or sugar coating. All these tablets exist and are formed by the incorporation of different types of excipients 11. They vary in shape, colour, size, design etc 10. Tablets are popular for several reasons including the oral route to be the most safest and convenient route of administration. Compared to other dosage forms such as liquid, they are far superior in terms of chemical and physical stability. The procedure enables accurate and precise dosing of the API 11. These are a few among a large list. Drawbacks include elderly having difficulty swallowing, irritation and harm to the GIT, possibly leading to liver and kidney damage. Examples of ibuprofen tablets include Anadin, Ibuprofen tablets etc. Effervescent formulation is a type of immediate release tablet, as the tablet is dissolved and administered as a solution. This is the most common type of tablet 11. They are used to obtain rapid drug action. Effervescent tablets are placed into a glass of water, where carbon dioxide is liberated. The carbon dioxide is produced by a reaction in the water between a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. Once liberated, this helps tablet disintegration and drug dissolution. Then the water with the drug is administered. Effervescent formulations of ibuprofen commonly use a carbonate to assist in the liberation of carbon dioxide, such as Anadin LiquiFast 200mg Effervescent Tablets 16. Effervescent formulations can be prepared in two ways: direct compaction or compaction through granulation 11. They are produced in the same manner as conventional tablets; however production must occur in low humidity areas 17. Examples of ibuprofen effervescent tablets include Advil, Ibuprofen losan effervescent tablet etc. Gel is a semi-solid, topical formulation. It is formed by aggregation of particles and interpenetrated by a liquid. The particles are linked together forming a network thus imparting rigidity to the structure. The continuous phase is held together by meshes 11. Gels tend to be epicutaneous, it is directly applied to the skin, and works by diffusing through the skin. There is a liquid phase that may be retained within a three dimensional polymer matrix. Drugs can be suspended in the matrix or dissolved in the liquid phase. They tend to be aqueous gels that is applied to the body surfaces such as skin or used as lubricant. A few advantages of gels include it avoids drug absorption in the gastrointestinal, therefore reducing side effects. It avoids first pass metabolism suggesting more drug is present in the systematic circulation. They are cheap to manufacture and have a localised effect, hence greater pain relief 12. Examples of ibuprofen gels include Ibuleve, Ibugel etc. A suspension is a coarse dispersion of sparingly soluble or insoluble drugs dispersed in a liquid medium; oily or aqueous vehicle. The aqueous solution is a beneficial formulation as it provides administration of poorly soluble or insoluble drug. As the drug is dispersed, it provides a large surface area which ensures high bioavailability for dissolution thus absorption 11. Aqueous suspensions can be used for oral, topical, ophthalmic and parenteral administration of drugs. The rheological properties are affected by the degree of flocculation. This is because the quantity of free continuous phase is decreased as it is entrapped in the diffused follicles 11. From Figure 5 9, the process involved in the formation of suspensions can be seen. The flocculated state (C) can be reached directly or indirectly. The direct method includes wetting and dispersing of hydrophobic particles (A) with a surfactant. The indirect approach includes first wetting and dispersing to form a peptized particle (B) with a surfactant, and then flocculating with a hydrophillic colloid. Flocculated suspensions (C) are considered stable, compared to peptized particles, and they can be re-suspended through agitation. Over-flocculation can be caused through high amount of flocculating agent, which tends to cause agglomeration (E). If the protective colloid agent is not present, the process of crystal growth is indicated by the arrow connecting (A) to (D) 9. Examples of ibuprofen suspensions include Nurofen, Calprofen etc. Chewable tablets, as the name suggests is placed in the mouth and chewed. Thus the tablet is mechanically disintegrated in the mouth. However, the drug is dissolved in the stomach or intestine once swallowed and not in the mouth. This formulation is intended so the drug is immediately released, just like effervescent tablets 11. They also have similar composition to conventional tablets, apart from disintegrant is not present. This formulation can be useful as many patients (e.g. elderly) have difficulties swallowing tablets, therefore this can be an alternative dosage form. It can also be administered without the aid of water. It also complies with patient compliance. Examples of ibuprofen chewable tablets include Motrin, Advil etc. Comparison of conventional tablet and effervescent formulation In a report comparing the antinociceptive effect of both conventional and effervescent tablets, it was discovered that the mean plasma concentration of ibuprofen effervescent formulation was far greater than the conventional tablet 60 minutes after intake. This showed that more API (ibuprofen) is present in the blood, thus more drug is being absorbed by the body in the effervescent formulation than in the conventional tablet. This showed that the effervescent formulation produced a faster pain relief as it had a faster onset of action. The effervescent dosage form also appears to have a more consistent effect on intensity estimates of painful stimuli than tablets 18. The chemo-somatosensory event related potentials were also investigated and it was concluded that after 60 minutes of administration of the ibuprofen tablet, there was a decrease of 20-25% in bioavailability. As there was a large drop (a quarter of the bioavailability), it shows there is 20-25% less ibuprofen present in the blood thus less API is being absorbed. This means a higher dose of ibuprofen tablet (20-25%) is required to have the same effect as initially thought 18. The effervescent formulation is far more effective in terms of chemo-somatosensory. This is because greater amount of carbonate is present; therefore after dissolution a buffered solution is attained. This increases the pH of the stomach resulting in the emptying of the stomach at a rapid rate and the residence time of ibuprofen in the stomach is short. This ensures that ibuprofen-induced gastric irritation and other side effects can be avoided 11. Ibuprofen effervescent tablet is readily absorbed in the small intestine; ensuring fast drug bioavailability 11. In another report, Lange and Schettler showed that effervescent formulations of ibuprofen produced a higher maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) than the conventional tablet in a shorter duration. The same as the previous report 19. In respect to antinociceptive and chemo-somatosensory activity, the effervescent formulation is superior to the conventional tablet. To consume the ibuprofen tablet you require water to administer it. While with the ibuprofen effervescent formulation it requires water so the tablet can disintegrate. Effervescent formulations also have to be manufactured at a low humidity area compared to the conventional tablets. This is to avoid moisture content, light and oxygen and this procedure is more costly than the conventional tablet. Effervescent tablets also have to be packaged in waterproof containers which have aluminium foil present which ensures protection, otherwise in ambient conditions it would degrade and reduce the shelf-life 11. If the shelf-life is reduced this would increase the cost, as more effervescent tablets would have to be manufactured over the same duration. An example of an effervescent tablet is Anadin LiquiFast 200mg Effervescent Tablets (Figure 6) 20 and a conventional tablet is Nurofen Tablets (Figure 7) 21. Figure 6: Shows Anadin Effervescent Tablets Figure 7: Shows Nurofen Tablets Comparison of conventional tablet and a topical gel There was a report comparing the oral (tablet) and topical (gel) ibuprofen for chronic knee pain. Ibuprofen tablets were taken 3 times daily (2400mg total) and the ibuprofen gel 4% was applied 4 times daily (320mg total) over a duration of 2 weeks 22. The aim was to compare the efficacy of both formulations in chronic knee pain. Both the treatment groups were comparable in terms of baseline pain severity and demographic composition, this ensured a fair test. When the patients took their respective ibuprofen medications, they reported side effects. With the administration of the tablets, 7 patients (out of 10) reported side effects which included headache, stomach-ache and constipation. For the application of the gel, 2 patients (out of 9) suffered a side effect which included an acute skin rash and dizziness. This implies that over two-thirds of the patients taking the oral formulation reported a side effect, and for the topical formulation less than third reported a side effect. As a result there were fewer side effects associated with the topical formulation compared to the oral formulation 22. In both treatments, the patients experienced consistent relief and improvements in terms of pain and stiffness. There was no distinguishable difference between both groups in term of improvements. Both the treatment groups were similar and no group was better than the other. However, the oral group ranked their treatment more convenient as it met patient adherence. Comparing the physical function and relief of pain and stiffness, it shows the oral ibuprofen treatment saw notable improvements. In the topical ibuprofen treatment there were significant improvements over the two week duration. However for the oral treatment there was a decline in the improvement of the drug in the second week. Also in the topical treatment, the patients encountered within-group improvements which led to the assumption that it was due to the potential benefits of massaging. The topical ibuprofen was applied to the skin therefore there was less amount of drug was present in the blood compared to ibuprofen tablets. This avoided both the systemic side effects and adverse drug interactions (e.g. aspirin), unlike the oral ibuprofen 22. The total daily dose of the topical ibuprofen was 320mg, which is a small fraction compared to the oral ibuprofen (2400mg). However, similar clinical outcomes were produced using both treatments. Another report concluded a study where the patients were receiving equivalent doses of oral and topical formulations. During the topical application greater concentrations of ibuprofen were found in the subcutaneous tissue, which led to the assumption as more ibuprofen is present in the tissue; it is able to provide greater pain relief 23. In terms of physical function, pain and stiffness relief, the topical formulation is superior to the oral formulation. An advantage of topical ibuprofen over ibuprofen tablets is first pass metabolism is bypassed therefore it avoids risks and unwanted effects. Topical ibuprofen is a transdermal delivery system, which is more efficient than the oral delivery due to having an effect at a localised level. Comparison of conventional tablet, chewable tablet and suspension There was a report comparing the pharmacokinetic parameters of ibuprofen tablets, ibuprofen chewable tablets (Motrin chewable tablets) and ibuprofen suspension (Motrin suspension) on patients with cystic fibrosis. This study is limited as the number of patients taking each formulation is different; suspension (n=22), chewable tablets (n=4) and tablet (n=12). , nor is the strength or concentration given for any of the formulations. However patients took a dose of approximately 20mg/kg. The time to reach the peak concentration (Tmax) was compared for all formulations and it was concluded that the ibuprofen suspension had a shorter Tmax than the ibuprofen tablet, which was expected when liquid forms are compared with solid dosage forms. But with the ibuprofen chewable tablet there was no statistical difference from either the tablet or suspension. This was not expected as it was predicted the chewable tablet would have a greater Tmax to suspension but less than that of tablets. This is because chewing the chewable tablet produces small particles hence larger surface area, which should increase the dissolution of the drug 24. As the Tmax for suspension was shorter than the tablet it can be concluded more drug was present in the body at a quicker rate, hence more drug would be absorbed thus causing faster pain relief. From Figure 8 24 and Table 2 24, it can be concluded that 15 of the patients taking the suspension formulation were present in the desired range of peak concentration (therapeutic range), and this was achieved at a quicker rate of ~0.5 hours compared to the other formulations. For the chewable tablet it can be seen that 2 of the patients consuming it were in the therapeutic range, however it took patients to reach this level between ~1.0-2.0 hours. For the patients who consumed the tablet, 8 patients were in the therapeutic range. However it took between ~0.75-2.0 hours to reach to this level. There was also one anomaly present In the suspension group 5 patients, and 2 patients from the tablet groups exceeded the therapeutic range (>100mg L-1), therefore they are more prone to experience side effects. None of the patients who consumed chewable tablets exceeded the therapeutic range. For all formulations, 2 patients were below the therapeutic range ( It can be concluded statistically tablets were superior in terms of achieving the desired range of peak concentration compared to other formulations. But statistically suspensions were superior in terms of the time taken to reach the therapeutic range compared to both formulations. Figure 8: Shows the relationship between Cmax versus Tmax for suspension, chewable tablet and tablet groups. The plotted points represent blood sampling times when peak ibuprofen concentrations occured. The horizontal dashed lines show the therapeutic range. Table 2: Shows the comparison of Cmax among suspension, chewable tablets and tablet groups. From Figure 9 24, it can be seen patients taking the suspension reached max plasma concentration and at a quicker duration compared to other formulations. It took 0.5 hours to reach a plasma concentration of 70mg L-1, while tablets took 1.0 hour to reach a plasma concentration of 60 mg L-1. The chewable tablet took 1 hour to reach 50mg L-1 (Cmin). Also for the suspension, between 0.5-1.0 hours it remained in the therapeutic range. For the tablet, the period between 0.75-1.0 hours it remained in the therapeutic range. It took the chewable tablets 1 hour before it reached the therapeutic range, before and after this period it had little effect. As the time reaches 6 hours, the suspension had the lowest plasma concentration, while the tablet had the highest concentration. However it was below the therapeutic range therefore at this point all formulations have no effect 24. It can be concluded ibuprofen suspension is the superior formulation in terms of pain relieving as it reached the highest plasma concentration at a quicker duration, and was in the therapeutic range for the longest period. It is closer to Cmax at 70 mg L-1, while the other formulations were below this. Due to these factors it can be seen that the suspension has greater amount of ibuprofen present in the blood, hence more drug is going to be absorbed in the body. Figure 9: Shows the plasma concentration-time curve (meanSEM) for children with cystic fibrosis who received a dose of 20mg/kg ibuprofen suspension (n=22), chewable tablets (n=4) or tablets (n=12). The SEM bars are not included for chewable tablet group. Conclusion Ibuprofen is a derivative of phenylpropionic acid, and is chemically known as iso-butyl-propanoic-phenolic acid. It is a non-steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAID), possessing properties such as analgesic, antipyretic and anti inflammatory. It is commonly used in the treatment of pain and rheumatoid arthritis among others. It is the only drug from its therapeutic class present on the List of World Health Organisation Essential Medicines. This list represents the minimum medicine required for a basic healthcare system. It includes drugs that are efficacious, safe and cost effective for conditions that are a priority. These conditions are selected on the foundation of current and future public health relevance. In terms of pain relief, antinociceptive and chemo-somatosensory effect, ibuprofen effervescent tablets are far superior to ibuprofen tablets. They caused faster pain relief at a quicker rate. Both ibuprofen gel and ibuprofen tablet produced similar efficacy in terms of pain relief in their respective groups. However, the dose administered in the gel dosage form was four times less than that of the ibuprofen tablet. Fewer side effects were observed as it avoided gastric irritation, in comparison to ibuprofen tablet. Ibuprofen tablet caused gastric irritation, which can possibly lead to liver and kidney damage. Patients consuming ibuprofen suspension reached the therapeutic effect at a quicker rate and were in that period for a longer duration compared to the other dosage forms. This suggested that it caused faster pain relief for a longer duration compared to ibuprofen tablets and ibuprofen chewable tablets. Ibuprofen chewable tablets reached a maximum concentration of 50mgL-1, so it just reached the base of the therapeutic effect, which suggests it has poor efficacy.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Julius Caesar - Tragic Hero Essay -- essays research papers

Julius Caesar as a Tragic Hero Julius Caesar is a play written by William Shakespeare during the year 1597. Julius Caesar’s story involves a conspiracy against Julius Caesar, a powerful senator. The play involves a highly respected senator, Brutus, who decides to join the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar, in the effort to keep democracy intact. Brutus believes that if Julius Caesar is allowed to live, Caesar will take a kingship and turn the government into a monarchy. Brutus, Cassius, and the other conspirators kill Julius Caesar, yet they find Antony, a loyalist of Caesar, seeks revenge on them. Plato set out rules on the traits a tragic hero must possess. A tragic hero must neither be an evil villain nor a great hero, instead the tragic hero must be either a flawed hero or a villain with some good traits. Also, the tragic hero must not deserve what mighty punishment is dealt to him. Another key feature of a tragic hero is the fact that a tragic hero must be a high-standing individual in society. The tragic hero must not deserve his punishment for the play to be a tragedy. Also, a tragedy happening to someone in high authority, will affect not only the single person but al so society as a whole. Another reason for the tragic hero to be in high authority is to display that if a tragedy may happen to someone such as a king, it may just as easily happen to any other person. Julius Caesar fits the role of a tragic hero. Julius Caesar is a high standing senator that possesses hamartia, failings of human nature. Julius Caesar’s imperfections may be seen in three distinct aspects of Caesar, such as the following: his pride, his vacillation, and his ambition. Julius Caesar has much pride, a hamartia, which brings him to not be wary of the conspiracy. Caesar is given much warning on the threat of his life, yet due to his pride he thinks himself to be too great of a person to have such a downfall. Julius Caesar is warned by a soothsayer, "Soothsayer. Beware the ides of March."(1,2,18) Julius Caesar rebukes the soothsayer by stating, "Caesar. He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass."(1,2,23) Caesar does not take warning to be wary the middle of the month, the day of his assassination. Later, Caesar’s wife Calpurnia has a nightmare that Caesar is slain at the Capitol. Caesar calls for the priests to do a sacrifi... ... for more ruling. This occurrence, that Caesar is surpassing his peers and creating a monopoly, is a very dangerous and serious threat. Cassius expresses his opinion by his statement, "Cassius. †¦but for my single self, I had lief not be as live to be in awe of such a thing as I myself. I was borne free as Caesar; so were you."(1,2,94-97) Cassius also shows that he sees that the Senate and senators are falling in power as Caesar is selfishly acquiring it. "Casca. He fell down in the market place and foamed at the mouth and was speechless. Brutus. ‘Tis very like; he hath the falling sickness. Cassius. No, Caesar hath it blueye3 not; but you and I, and honest Casca, we have the falling sickness [in reference to their falling in power versus Caesar’s rise]."(1,2,254-258) Caesar’s ambition, surely, is a hamartia and is the reason behind the heart of the conspiracy. Through these examples, Julius Caesar can be seen as having the traits of a tragic hero. Upon closer inspection, Brutus is the real tragic hero of the play. This displays how William Shakespeare is able to create realistic and multipurpose characters that inspire his works. Julius Caesar - Tragic Hero Essay -- essays research papers Julius Caesar as a Tragic Hero Julius Caesar is a play written by William Shakespeare during the year 1597. Julius Caesar’s story involves a conspiracy against Julius Caesar, a powerful senator. The play involves a highly respected senator, Brutus, who decides to join the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar, in the effort to keep democracy intact. Brutus believes that if Julius Caesar is allowed to live, Caesar will take a kingship and turn the government into a monarchy. Brutus, Cassius, and the other conspirators kill Julius Caesar, yet they find Antony, a loyalist of Caesar, seeks revenge on them. Plato set out rules on the traits a tragic hero must possess. A tragic hero must neither be an evil villain nor a great hero, instead the tragic hero must be either a flawed hero or a villain with some good traits. Also, the tragic hero must not deserve what mighty punishment is dealt to him. Another key feature of a tragic hero is the fact that a tragic hero must be a high-standing individual in society. The tragic hero must not deserve his punishment for the play to be a tragedy. Also, a tragedy happening to someone in high authority, will affect not only the single person but al so society as a whole. Another reason for the tragic hero to be in high authority is to display that if a tragedy may happen to someone such as a king, it may just as easily happen to any other person. Julius Caesar fits the role of a tragic hero. Julius Caesar is a high standing senator that possesses hamartia, failings of human nature. Julius Caesar’s imperfections may be seen in three distinct aspects of Caesar, such as the following: his pride, his vacillation, and his ambition. Julius Caesar has much pride, a hamartia, which brings him to not be wary of the conspiracy. Caesar is given much warning on the threat of his life, yet due to his pride he thinks himself to be too great of a person to have such a downfall. Julius Caesar is warned by a soothsayer, "Soothsayer. Beware the ides of March."(1,2,18) Julius Caesar rebukes the soothsayer by stating, "Caesar. He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass."(1,2,23) Caesar does not take warning to be wary the middle of the month, the day of his assassination. Later, Caesar’s wife Calpurnia has a nightmare that Caesar is slain at the Capitol. Caesar calls for the priests to do a sacrifi... ... for more ruling. This occurrence, that Caesar is surpassing his peers and creating a monopoly, is a very dangerous and serious threat. Cassius expresses his opinion by his statement, "Cassius. †¦but for my single self, I had lief not be as live to be in awe of such a thing as I myself. I was borne free as Caesar; so were you."(1,2,94-97) Cassius also shows that he sees that the Senate and senators are falling in power as Caesar is selfishly acquiring it. "Casca. He fell down in the market place and foamed at the mouth and was speechless. Brutus. ‘Tis very like; he hath the falling sickness. Cassius. No, Caesar hath it blueye3 not; but you and I, and honest Casca, we have the falling sickness [in reference to their falling in power versus Caesar’s rise]."(1,2,254-258) Caesar’s ambition, surely, is a hamartia and is the reason behind the heart of the conspiracy. Through these examples, Julius Caesar can be seen as having the traits of a tragic hero. Upon closer inspection, Brutus is the real tragic hero of the play. This displays how William Shakespeare is able to create realistic and multipurpose characters that inspire his works.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Death Penalty As a Form of Justice Around the World Essay -- Death

The Death Penalty As a Form of Justice Around the World Introduction: The death penalty is a subject that has become very big in the 21st century. Many centuries ago the death penalty is something that was widely practiced in almost all cultures. This revenge sort of action was the only way some old civilizations felt could really prevent criminals from breaking the law. The USA today is almost left alone among nations when it comes to the death penalty and the U.S. government does not have a problem with that. Arguments for the death penalty: Capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society and should prove much cheaper and safer for the rest of us than long term. It is self evident that dead criminals cannot commit any further crimes, either within prison or after escaping or being released from it. Another argument for the death penalty is the cost factor. The state may very well better spend our resources on the elderly, young and the sick rather than the long-term imprisonment of murderers. Execution is a very real punishment rather than some form of treatment. The criminal is made to suffer in proportion to the offence. Although whether there is a place in a modern society, is a matter of personal opinion. There are many arguments why abolishing the death penalty should be done. Some argue the costs are too high, others think it is simply inhumane. I personally could not discount the value of human life because it costs less to kill someone rather that to keep them in jail. I do agree that all human life should be valued equally but that has not happened ever and I don't think it is going to start now. Even in a communist society, people are not equal. It is just the natu... ..."normal" in a sense. In conclusion I would like to say that I don't exactly know how the U.S. Catholic bishops felt about this issue a hundred years ago, but in modern times, death is not always the best way to solve society's problems. I am glad to see that a major influence has spoken out to help abolish the death penalty and I think that is a huge step in the movement. Nothing will ever change unless an influential body urges and persists with teachings of peace and non-violent alternatives. If the death penalty was abolished, I think over time we would in fact see the murder rates decrease as generations of children are raised sensitive to death and violence. Bibliography: www.wikipedia.org [for examples around world] Resource website Ideas after watching Dead Man Walking Emotions after reading Newspaper opinion pieces RE Pink Resource Book Section F

Investigate notions of sisters and sisterhood within Top Girls :: English Literature

Investigate notions of sisters and sisterhood within Top Girls In Act 1 the women at the dinner party, speak of their suffering in the past, but they all relate to Marlene and to each other as a sisterhood of the present, even though the women represent contemporary figures supposedly alive in the early 1980’s in England. Lady Nijo and Pope Joan are similar in that they both had babies in difficult situations, and both stood up for their rights as women. The portrayal of these women contrasts with the traditional and ‘classical’ representation of women in plays. In the past women characters have been presented as dependent on men and limited by the conversations of a male dominates world. A typical example of this is seen in Hamlet by William Shakespeare, with both Gertrude and Ophelia saying ‘I will obey my lord’ however in Top Girls the characters think independently and believe in themselves and show support for their sisters. The characters are individualised which is dramatically interesting as they open to a new experience on the stage. The modern women is shown in Top Girls to be living in the time of shifting priorities and expectations, challenging the female ‘roles’. An example of this is Louise in act 2 saying, ‘She has a different style, she’s a new kind†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Many themes that run throughout Top Girls relate to the time when the play was written. An example of this and also an example of sisters in the play is the argument between Joyce and Marlene. Marlene is an individualistic and through her own determination and effort has managed to lift herself out of working class environment to middle class. Class structure, as seen by Marlene, is the cause of oppression and the row between the sisters is exaggerated and simplified with Marlene saying ‘I hat the working class’ and Joy replying ‘ I spit when I see a Rolls Royce.’ Marlene shows support for Thatcher saying ‘She’s a tough lady, Maggie†¦. Certainly gets my vote.’ Which can be interpreted as, her own success could have been due to the encouragement and initiative of an individual. Act 3 reveals aspects of Marlene’s life that could be questioned. She left home at the age of 17, she cut herself of from all family ties, she hasn’t been home for 6 years and Angie’s arrival in the office is a complete inconvenience to her. In many respects Joyce can be interpreted as a failure too, she is worn out, let down by her husband and has a mixed success to look after Angie. The history of the sister’s social and family background is grim.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Blind Side

Letter: Dear Sean Tuohy, Over the last couple of months you and your outstanding family have provided everything I have every wanted a ‘family’. My life growing up consisted of running, drugs, unreliable parents a couch and others aspects. I have faced many obstacles and challenges in my life. I have been through some things no child my age should have to experience. I have learnt to face my everyday challenges by facing the fact that I can get through it, plus the support of others was very helpful, and knowing someone on earth would be having a worse day.When I was a young child I had many scaring and frightening moments. I have seen a lot of habits my mum got into, taking drugs and being a big disappointment to my family. Then I soon later found out I had 12 brothers and sisters. My mother would tell me to shut my eyes when I was scared or anything she didn’t want me to see, after that she would then tell me to count to 3 and then I could open my eyes. I suffer ed a lot as a child and faced a lot of hardships, I struggle to learn but yet I can apparently write?You and your family have given me hope and believed in me. I have been through a lot and watching my mum throw her life away doesn’t mean I was going to follow in her footsteps. After I crashed your car with SJ I thought you weren’t going to trust me again, but yet you gave me so much more. You took me under you wings, you gave me an education, and you let me go to college. I’m so grateful that someone has given me the opportunity to prove myself to them and let me show them who I am and my potentials.I am glad that I could I write to you to express how I feel. I struggled a lot and I use to be a quiet and shy boy, but now I am a confident and free spirited person and you and your wife have given me reason to believe again. Thankyou From Michael Oher Discuss what your character learnt: In the movie, Michael Oher’s character capabilities change majorly. Thr oughout the film, he grows from a shy, unschooled boy into a young man who fits into a family. The film begins with Oher as a homeless boy struggling to find a place to sleep.He then learns to become a more confident and sophisticated man. Michael Oher has grown and learnt a lot of skills and matured into a young intelligent man. He learnt that because his childhood was so traumatic doesn’t mean he is traumatised for his whole life; everything can change when you start believing. Michael struggled a lot being a foster child, being black, moving and living not with his family, and yet they are complete strangers to him that he would often run away and try and find his mother again.When he meet the Tuohy’s He grew a lot stronger in that because he was living with a Christian, wealthy family who took him in without any weight on their shoulders just out of kind heartedness. He also learnt that he didn’t have to be the smartest to achieve what he wanted he had to wo rk rad and be persistent, to stay focused. He grew so much into a star having every quality that a magnificent football player need but only some granted with this special ability. Michael learnt that being whoever you are or being whatever you wanted was you!! He had a very distraught childhood and often struggling to once believe again.He was always a determined to get what he wanted especially as a child. Michael has grown up so much, from not trying and struggling to read to now getting 2. 52 in his final result meaning he could do what he wanted for footy. He had the skills to get in but did not have the determination of getting and staying focused. Michaels tutor was a massive bonus to him and was a great peer leader. She encouraged him and helped him improve his marks a lot. Along with the hardships Michael has faced he learnt that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.He has grown and learnt so much and he is so lucky and happy to be able to have the opportunities he has been offered let alone half. Review: The blind side has proven to be a wonderful structured film, as it has been based on a true story it gives it a bit more of a overlooking and understanding of the abilities and inabilities this boy has been through. A family of all white has taken this black boy in, he would’ve felt un-invited, not fitting in and questioning why they are being nice especially when there from the complete other side of town.Michael struggles to take in that a family of complete strangers is offering there house and couch to him. The Blind Side is a film about compassion, prejudice, family, chance, and the virtues of hard work. It tells the inspirational true story of Michael Oher, of a disadvantaged African-American child, and his relationship with Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy white woman from the other side of town the rich and wealthy side and he is from the dirty, disgraceful, depressing side. They help him out with a lot of situations. They provi de a wonderful education, house, family.After his mother being a fall out he tried to get his life back on track by believing he could be different and show that he could do anything if you put your mind to work. Michael Oher shows a massive and exciting interest in football and Leigh Anne Tuohy does not hold back on the enthusiasm for him. He has been born with skills that a person could dream about, even though Michael Is a big boy these skills come in handy when he gets a number of offers to be in a professional team. They then provide Michael with a tutor to improve his grades to get him into NCCA div 1.Athletic scholarship. This young man growing up in Memphis would only dream of being able to professional football or any real contact with a ball, he was born too and all of a sudden his dream came true and was right in front of his eyes because of the Tuohy’s. I believe the film deserves a rating of 5/5, when you look at the poster or the movie cover or the book cover yo u don’t know what to expect, but then you get a great message from the film inspiring everyone to show that â€Å"if you believe you can achieve†.The message is trying to explain that you can be in any situation and find a way out of it, if you try and work your way out of it. It was a fantastic book based on a real life story. It’s very inspiring and proven to everyone that you can be from somewhere that struggles into someone who is wealthy. Bibliography: The blind side 2009, DVD, warner bros, Hollywood http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0878804/plotsummary, http://www. pacejmiller. com/2010/02/24/movie-review-the-blind-side-2009/