Discuss posthumanism and the fears concerning it that are addressed in Essay

Discuss posthumanism and the fears concerning it that are addressed in pop culture - Essay Example The world of pop culture has had a particular influence on art from the early 1960s on, through Pop Art. John Storey in his book "Cultural Theory and Popular Culture" defines popular culture as a culture that is related to masses and can be defined as an "authentic" culture of the people. It is commonly seen as a commercial culture that is mass produced for mass consumption Items of popular culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public. So a culture that is related to masses consequently represents the common ideas, practices, theories, customs, traditions and values of the people in all aspects of life, or in other words, it represents all that is truly human. As compared to the theories of Pop culture, Post humanism, as the name of a discourse, suggests an episteme which comes "after" humanism ("post-humanism") or even after the human itself ("post-human-ism").

A safe Choice-but her only choice Essay Example for Free

A safe Choice-but her only choice Essay James Joyces short story Eveline sets the stage for a time between adolescence and maturity. Written in 1914, which was four years short of the womens suffrage in Ireland, the storys protagonist, Eveline, is largely influenced by the feminist issues. Since she has little control over her life, Eveline has grown accustomed to a routine life. She is paralyzed from the thought of leaping into a new path. Eveline faces two extremes: a miserable home life or a dramatic escape to an uncertain future. Both extremes she deals with involve a man controlling her life. Living in the early 1900s women did not have the opportunity to be independent. No matter which path she chooses, she would still answer to a man. She lives in a male-dominated world in which she is stripped of choice and emotion. She is helpless against the way her life is heading. Considering this, one cannot blame her for choosing to stay home because it was not much of a choice, and she has never made an independent choice of her own. If she left with Frank, her lover, then there could be the possibility of danger. â€Å"She felt him seize her hand† (Joyce 7). Joyce’s choice of diction â€Å"seize† tells the audience that Eveline’s guard is up because she knows how a man can be abusive. She saw this with her mother and father and wants to have a life different from her mother but cannot. Furthermore, psychologically, Eveline cannot move towards Frank because she was exposed to a life of domestic violence, which her mother and older brothers endured. She knows how violent a man who at times can be even kind, funny, and sweet. â€Å"She remembered her father putting on her mother’s bonnet to make the children laugh† (Joyce 6). That same man turns into an aggressive, ruthless man who selfishly makes his daughter feel guilty about herself. On the other hand, she has known him her entire life. Her older brothers used to take the beating and now that they are not there â€Å"†¦he had begun to threaten her and say what he would do to her for only her dead mother’s sake† (Joyce 4-5). If she has gone 19 years without a beating, then there would be a good chance of his threats as just talk. Since he says, he will not hit her for â€Å"her dead mother’s sake,† then one would think he would honor his word for the respect of his deceased wife. All of Eveline’s life has revolved around her family. She runs her household domestically and works for a living in which all her earnings wind up with her father. In addition, she manages to care for her two younger siblings seeing them to school and preparing dinner. Since the death of her mother, she took over domestically and maternally with no choice. Her mother, on her deathbed, made Eveline â€Å"promise to keep the home together as long as she could† (Joyce 6). By doing so her mother has caused another obstacle Eveline must face in order to leave, that is the guilt of a broken promise. As any good daughter would, she stays to fulfill her vow. This vow gives Eveline another excuse to stay home and carry out her routine life. In addition, Eveline knows the difficulties of her life but she still prefers it. Joyce explains Eveline’s view of her life â€Å"†¦a hard life but now that she was about to leave it she didn’t find it a wholly undesirable life† (5). Any modern day daughter with those responsibilities would find that a very undesirable life, but Eveline changing her mind about leaving shows the reader how she cannot bear to abandon her family and this life, which has been the only thing, she has known her whole life. Because compared to an unknown destiny, Eveline would much rather stay home and be miserable because she would expect this. Being a woman with little say in her everyday life, the present opportunity is new to her, and she cannot make a major decision on her own because she has never had to. Eveline has been given an opportunity to flee home in hopes of happiness, but she could not risk a life of uncertainty. Frank, a sailor, offers a chance of happiness to her and â€Å"†¦she had begun to like him† (Joyce 6). Eveline says that she â€Å"like(s)† him; not loves. Can their â€Å"like† for one another be enough to survive in the New World? Joyce says that Eveline â€Å"begun† meaning she barely knew if she was interested in him not if she was ready for a lifetime commitment. Eveline’s upbringing influences her adult decisions because she has never known anything but Ireland. The fear of leaving home is essentially, why she doubts Frank. A future with him is not set in stone; thus, it cannot be. As one might foreshadow, â€Å"she chooses the hell she knows rather than the possible hell of the unknown† (Rogers 172). Hell here symbolizes the men and she would much rather be with the familiar than the unfamiliar. She likes to play it safe because if Frank turns out to be the worst, then where will she go since going back home is not an option. As they are ready to begin this epic adventure in her life, Eveline believes that â€Å"†¦he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing† (Joyce 7). The first part â€Å"he would drown her† meaning he would not save her from this wretched life. This is a change of setting from the window seal to the sea. The window was sturdy, whereas, the sea is constantly moving. She is unable to adjust to this new path because she believes Frank cannot guarantee a life better than her home. â€Å"She gripped with both hands at the iron railing† symbolizes her paralysis. The iron railing signifies the home ground and she grips on the rail for dear life. Her actions tell the reader how fearful she is to leave her homeland. Eveline does not want to depart the only thing she has known. Eveline’s life is routine from the footsteps in front of her house to turning her wages to her father every week. â€Å"But Eveline†¦ perceives any and every change as a loss†¦ she knows this with her head, her heart rejects it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rogers 171- 172). Eveline cannot seem to grasp the changes around her as a positive because deep inside her she knows where she must be, at home. Meeting Frank was a change to her and instead of embracing it; she ultimately fears it. Even, if staying home will most likely lead to a miserable life one like her mother’s, she would because she cannot accept change. Today, most young women have not had to endure a â€Å"life of commonplace sacrifices† (Joyce 6). Sadly, Eveline has no choice but to stick to the familiar and steer away from any fickle opportunities. If Joyce set the setting during a modern era, then Eveline would be more aware of the opportunities there are now. Furthermore, the world today has come along way and is not as male-dominated as before.

Terrorism and Technology :: September 11 Essays 9/11

Terrorism and Technology It wasn’t until the morning of September 11th that America began to question just how safe we really are. As the world watched the devastation on the news, everyone was looking for comfort. However, often times when something as horrific as this happens, the ones you look to for comfort are looking back at you for comfort. Many people found what piece of mind they could, through technology during this horrible time. The September 11th terrorist attacks have had both positive and negative impacts on the use of computers and technology. It is hard for many to believe that good things can come from bad situations. In this case it took a terrorist attack to make us realize that there is room for improvement in the quality of our technology that we rely so much on today. On September 11, 2001 so many people tried to log onto the internet to get information about the terrorist attacks, that there was a huge jam. No one could get online. Modern technology, televisions, radios and scanners rescued our curious minds. Most everyone found himself or herself glued to the television, watching the gruesome scenes over and over again, after the computers had failed us. Computers were not the only devices that let us down on that tragic day. In New York cell phone connections even went out. Too many people were trying to use their cell phones at once, that there was an overload, making it extremely difficult for anyone to get through the lines. Another technological advance that we entrust our safety to, that failed us was airport security system. Those men managed to get past out high tech security systems and onto those planes. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives because some men out smarted out fool proof system. The creators of airport security must have been unfamiliar with the saying, "where there’s a will, there’s a way". No one wants to admit to himself or herself, or anyone else for that matter, that sick people who thrive on pain and suffering, really do exist. Because airport security creators didn’t think about this fact, or they thought about it and chose to ignore it, innocent people lost their lives. This horrible act of terrorism has opened the doors to many necessary changes. Terrorism and Technology :: September 11 Essays 9/11 Terrorism and Technology It wasn’t until the morning of September 11th that America began to question just how safe we really are. As the world watched the devastation on the news, everyone was looking for comfort. However, often times when something as horrific as this happens, the ones you look to for comfort are looking back at you for comfort. Many people found what piece of mind they could, through technology during this horrible time. The September 11th terrorist attacks have had both positive and negative impacts on the use of computers and technology. It is hard for many to believe that good things can come from bad situations. In this case it took a terrorist attack to make us realize that there is room for improvement in the quality of our technology that we rely so much on today. On September 11, 2001 so many people tried to log onto the internet to get information about the terrorist attacks, that there was a huge jam. No one could get online. Modern technology, televisions, radios and scanners rescued our curious minds. Most everyone found himself or herself glued to the television, watching the gruesome scenes over and over again, after the computers had failed us. Computers were not the only devices that let us down on that tragic day. In New York cell phone connections even went out. Too many people were trying to use their cell phones at once, that there was an overload, making it extremely difficult for anyone to get through the lines. Another technological advance that we entrust our safety to, that failed us was airport security system. Those men managed to get past out high tech security systems and onto those planes. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives because some men out smarted out fool proof system. The creators of airport security must have been unfamiliar with the saying, "where there’s a will, there’s a way". No one wants to admit to himself or herself, or anyone else for that matter, that sick people who thrive on pain and suffering, really do exist. Because airport security creators didn’t think about this fact, or they thought about it and chose to ignore it, innocent people lost their lives. This horrible act of terrorism has opened the doors to many necessary changes.

An appreciation of ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘The Confession’ by Charles Dickens Essay

This assignment asks for an appreciation of the stories by Edgar Allen Poe ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and Charles Dickens ‘The Confession’. I will start by exploring Edgar Allen Poe’s story and style of writing, how it captivates the reader, building suspense and terror. I will then explore Charles Dickens ‘Confession’ And finally following my analysis of the two stories I will compare and contrast the different styles. Edgar Allen Poe’s story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ describes how the perpetrator plans and executes a vicious attack on an old man. This story is told in an autobiographical format with the author describing his state of mind, questioning his own sanity. He calmly describes how there was no object or passion that caused him to commit the heinous act of murder as he describes his love for the old man. His only explanation is his victims ‘eye’ which he describes as vulture like and intimidating. He disassociates the ‘eye ‘ from the old man and it is the eye that drives him to commit the crime. He talks of his dissimulation in planning the old man’s death and how e treated him during the week prior to killing him, how he taunted him, stalked him, and preyed upon him at midnight (witching hour), this sinister act of voyeurism is unpleasant and adds to the tension of the story. It was only until the seventh night when he realised that to rid himself of the ‘Evil Eye’ he need to have the old man’s eye open to commit the act. On the eighth night he describes how he carefully taunts the old man describing his actions as clever and skilled, hysteria sets in and finds the events exhilarating, which is further compounded by his knowledge that the old man was fearful of intruders and robbers to realise the real danger is from within. He describes the fear and panic the old man is experiencing when he hears someone in his room, he goes on to empathise and understand how the old man is rationalising for the noise he heard. The author gives a description of a Grim Reaper, stalking in the shadows and enveloping the victim. He builds suspense and describes the web that he’s weaving to rid himself of the ‘vulture eye’. He describes seeing the ‘eye’ as freezing him and bringing his focus purely on the ‘eye’ completely detaching the old man from the ‘eye’. He recalls hearing the old man’s heart beating like a drum ‘It was a low, dull, quick sound- much such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton’. His acuteness of hearing increases the loudness of the heart beat it’s then he describes nervousness mixed with excitement. It’s with this increasing loudness that he fears he will by heard by neighbours that he enters the room dragging the old man to the floor pulling the mattress on top of him, where as the heart beat becomes muffled and finally stops. He describes the man as being stone dead and not troubling him any longer. In the concluding paragraphs he talks of how he concealed the body, dismembering the body cutting off the old man’s head and limbs and depositing them under the floor boards, believing himself to be clever. However the actions at such early hours raised suspicions. This brought three policemen knocking at the door, alerted by a neighbour hearing a shriek, in the middle of the night. The murderer invited the policemen in to search the house and take a rest from their duties. He showed his boldness, by placing the chairs above where he concealed the body. It was then he describes hearing a ringing much the same as the beating of the heart. He describes it as catching his breath, in fear that the officers also heard the beating. His anxiety increased and his paranoia set in. With the policemen not making a move to go he feared that they had heard the beating, it was so loud to him he thought they were bound to hear it and that he confessed to committing the deed and exposed the body to the police. There the story ends and we can only guess at the murderer’s sentence. ‘The Confession’ This is an autobiographical story which takes places in a retrospective view of the author’s life. This is a story that tells a confession of a condemned man. He talks of his childhood where he is victim to his own low self esteem with a few friends and his relationship with his brother. He is extremely jealous of his sibling because he perceives him as better than him ‘He was open-hearted and generous, handsomer than I, more accomplished, and generally beloved’ his friends and acquaintances would say ‘†¦they were surprised to find two brothers so unlike in their manners and appearance’. Then it tells of how his brother has been struck with a terminal illness. He talks of his marriage to his brother’s sister-in-law and describes this additional tie as estranging them further. He disliked his sister-in-law for he felt she could see through him, and see his jealousy, and so he could not meet her eyes but felt hers constantly digging into him. Only relieved by a quarrel, and her subsequent death, she both frightened and haunted him. She died shortly after her birth of her son. And on his brother’s death bed the child was placed in his care and should the child die all property and possessions pass onto to his wife. With ‘†¦a few brotherly words with me, deploring our long separation; and being exhausted, fell into a slumber, from which he never awoke.’ The author talks of his own childless relationship and how his wife took the place of the child’s mother. It was the child’s infatuation with his wife that he found disturbing as within him he saw his natural mother’s intuition, her face and her spirit which caused him to mistrust the boy to the point of obsession. He increasingly become uneasy in the child’s presence, he showed him fear and hate. The boy kept his distance whenever possible. He could not recall when these feelings came upon him and initially he wished the child no ill. The thoughts crept upon him until they overtook his whole thought patterns. He describes uneasiness when in the child’s focus, he become fixated on how easy it would be to kill the child. He began stalking the child, watching him, undertaking his tasks. As in the Tell Tale Heart this unhealthy voyeurism is vividly described to great effect- ‘I never could bear that child should see me’ in the Confession and ‘†¦ a pale blue eye, with film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ in a Tell Tale Heart. He goes on to describe how he grooms the child by modelling a model boat and waiting for him to go to the river to float it where he had planned to carry out the crime. He describes how he waited for three days until the child went to the river and when he was about to commit the crime the child saw his shadow in the water. It was as if the child’s mother’s eyes were starring back at him. In a moment lost in time the author appears to have mixed recollections of the event, one the child running for escape and the other when he is confronted with the child’s dead body lying at his feet stabbed by his sword. With his wife away from home he planned to bury the child in the garden and he became obsessed by the murder he committed. He talks of his feigned distress at being told the child was missing and how he had to break the news to his wife. He carried out the actions of a grieving parent raising no suspicions whilst all day long watching the new turf being laid hoping to add speed to the process. He talks of disturbed sleep, waking from nightmares and constantly needing re-assurance ‘†¦ and thus I spent the night in fits and starts, getting up and lying down full twenty times, and dreaming the same dream over and over again,’ he became paranoid and terrorised by his actions, fearful of discovery; he started to hear whispers on the wind- ‘†¦ a breath of air sighed across it, to me it whispered murder.’ This increased his fear. Then he goes on to describe how on the fourth day visitors from his earlier regiment called upon him. He invited them into the garden and set the chairs out on top of the child’s grave. They ask after his wife and the child, unsettling him a ‘theme’ in his life and his paranoia sets in. He is obviously terrified they would discover his secret. In attempt to hide his fear he asks the men if the child has been murdered. They attempted to re-assure him there was nothing to gain from killing an innocent child. Then as they were attempting to raise his spirits, two bloodhounds bounded into the garden and began pacing and sniffing the ground, until they came upon the murderer’s chair they began to howl. The visitors said that the dogs had made a discovery. It was then the murderer became hysterical that his two visitors after a battle restrained him, during which time the dogs tore at the earth and on seeing this, the murderer dropped to his knees and confessed the truth and begged for forgiveness. Then he retracts his confession for which he’s tried and found guilty. His only Solace is the fact that his wife has lost all her faculties and does not know his and hers own misery and his guilt. I wonder, however, if our ‘hero’ was truly repentant or just searching for sympathy since he has been found out – disguising what was really inside as he had done all his life. Perhaps we’ll never know the real badness. There are many similarities between both stories. ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is autobiographical description/confession of the murder of a victim known by the perpetrator. It describes the careful process and preparation/planning of the murder and how the murderers own paranoia and psychosis results in the confession. They both describe the careful stalking of the victims. ‘The Confession’ by Charles Dickens is also an autobiographical description/confession of the murder in which the victim is known to the murderer and also he describes the preparation and once again has confessed as a result of paranoia. Both stories use the technique of repetition to create tension and suspense, and the use of short sharp sentences are also used to construct the state of panic of which both murderer’s encounter when they are discovered. The contrasts between the two stories are that ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe talks of his love for the victim, but fear of the eye. There is no financial gain to the murder on the death of the victim. The author describes no regret or remorse for the act and prides himself on the cleverness of his actions, Edgar Allan Poe tells the story through a psychotic murderer, whereas in Charles Dickens ‘The Confession’, the author tells the story through more of a thinking and tactical murderer. The author dislikes the victim altogether with no love loss between them. There is a gain from the death of the victim. And during more rational times the murderer talks of much regret and remorse.

Forming habits to prevent obesity

Forming habits to prevent obesity â€Å"Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with at least 2. 8 million people dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese† (10 Facts). They have tried to classify obesity as disease for a long time. The American Medical Association recently declared and classified obesity as a disease. Obesity puts you at a high risk for many diseases. Bad habits are the main cause of obesity. You have to improve your nutritional and physical habits to prevent obesity.You are more likely to live a healthy adulthood if you eat right and stay in shape. Obesity is an issue that our society faces. Developing healthy habits as children, teenagers, or even in our early adulthood could help us prevent obesity. Not being involved in physical activities and not eating right causes obesity. The conclusion from a research made by The World Health Organization was â€Å"The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in Canadian youth are high.Th e results suggest that physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors are strongly related to obesity in Canadian adolescents† Oanssen). If we don't take care of our bodies this could be harmful, as we get older. Depression is a mental disorder that could be lethal, â€Å"More han 90 percent of people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder – most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder. † (Depression). The statistics of suicides caused by obesity are alarming; this makes obesity a major issue that we need to take care of.Depressed people tend to eat more too making it hard for them to stay healthy. Depression can also make you feel isolated by society. These kinds of thoughts are very common among obese teenagers. Being active can help with depression and also fghts obesity, this is why developing active habits is important. Parents play big role in helping their children to develop these habits. A healthy environment at home wher e the kids are able to get the right nutrition and where they can practice physical activities constantly helps to prevent obesity.A study conducted by the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, concluded that † A large cross section of Australian preschoolers has, for the first time, suggested that fathers could be at the frontline in preventing early childhood obesity. Mothers are ften blamed for their children's obesity, but this study suggests that for more effective prevention, perhaps we should focus on the whole family. (Preidt) It makes a significant difference if the parents take care of their child's nutrition. Most of the time we can find food ads on television or the Internet and we see different kinds of unhealthy foods such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Dominos Pizza. These ads make us want to eat these kinds of foods. Kids like fast food and if their parents prevent th em from eating a lot of fast food this will help them develop a habit of eating in a healthier way.Parents are responsible for feeding their children correctly. Research conducted by the Institute for Global Health and The Sydney University concluded that. â€Å"An environment that bombards us trom dawn until d with recommendations to eat and drink unhealthy foods is what makes us obese†. (Neal) Parents should embrace physical activities for their children. Television viewing time appears to be an important indicator of a range of lifestyle behaviors likely to promote obesity over time.A study that was conducted on whether television affects obesity or not concluded this; â€Å"The results of this randomized, controlled trial provide vidence that television viewing is a cause of increased body fatness and that reducing television viewing is a promising strategy for preventing obesity' (Robinson). Based on this information we could say that television is a bad habit, because decreasing television in your routine is beneficial for you and it helps you prevent obesity. A high level of physical activity helps you to lose calories and if you do so regularly you can prevent obesity.Some people argue that parents are really not important to obesity. They think that even if the parents embrace a healthy lifestyle, that in some cases obesity is a enetic problem and you cannot prevent it. Genetics play a big role in obesity but even the people that are genetically most likely to become obese, when they have the right habits, do not become obese. The easiest way to form and change these habits is when we are children and that is why our parents are so influential. The physical habits that we create help us fght obesity and stay in shape; people normally develop these habits when are kids or when they are teenagers.Katherine Tallmadge talks in her book â€Å"Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations Simple† about how small changes have been responsible for amazing mprovement in the health of children. Just adding fruits or vegetables at each meal or 1 5 extra minutes of daily exercise helps to avoid obesity. (Tallmadge) Schools have implemented some nutritional programs that have successfully formed healthy habits in their participants; this helps to prevent obesity. Schools give healthy choices during lunch and breaks so kids have the chance to eat healthy and stay in shape. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends 1 50 minutes a week of PE for elementary school children and 225 minutes a week for middle and secondary-school children† (Story). These programs have been successful in the schools that have implemented them. Extracurricular activities such as sports are also very effective in helping to develop these habits that we need to stay fit. Interscholastic sports programs, intramural activities, and physical activity clubs also keep children active in school.Intramural sports and clubs offer students with a wide range of opportunities to engage in physical activity. It is proven that children who engage in these activities are more likely to be active adults and stay in shape. The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends hat children and adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. A 2009 survey found that only 18 percent of high school students adhered to this recommendation, while only 33 percent attended physical education class each day. (2008 Physical) For adults it is harder to create new habits and change old ones.I strongly recommend that adults seek professional help. There are nutritionists and professional trainers who can help you improve your lifestyle, helping you tight obesity They know the way that the body works so they can advise you in what to do. Besides fghting obesity they can also help you by encouraging you to get in the shape that you desire. After this process you will have this knowledge that you can continue to implement in your lifestyle. Some people argue that they don't exercise or that they know people who do not exercise and are still not obese.People that have a fast metabolism find it really hard to gain weight but even if they are not obese they are still unhealthy if they do not exercise and if they eat poorly. Looking back we see some clear points about how we need and how could prevent obesity. We need to prevent obesity because it could cause some other high-risk isease and eventually death. By having a good plan of nutrition and a good exercise plan we are going to develop good habits that are going to help us prevent obesity; is even better if we develop them when we are very young.