Topical Tax Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Topical Tax Issue - Essay Example The guidelines are intended to replace the previous poverty proofing guidelines issued by the department of social and family affairs and in this article are referred to as poverty impact assessment guidelines. The poverty impact assessment process aims at identifying the impact of policy proposal on those experiencing poverty or at risk of falling to poverty so that this can be given proper consideration in designing or reviewing the policy. The process does not intend to fundamentally transform policies to target visibly the disadvantaged but are aimed to identify anticipated negative impact and put measures to counterbalance such impacts. Moreover, positive impacts are also identified so that they can be improved. As included in Budget 2007, these social welfare measures will benefit taxpayers at the lower bracket of income distribution. This is because the absence of such measures may lead to these taxpayers experiencing a significant deterioration in their income in relative terms. Analyzing these measures on the view of combined effect of social welfare changes and tax changes, they highlight that the most significant net income gain are to those on the lowest incomes. It indicates that much smaller gains will be to those in the middle to high income brackets. Proper analysis of these tax measures reflect that Budget 2007 is progressive in nature as it sees those dependent on the welfare are to accrue the greatest gains. Budget 207 ensure s that the lowest income groups gain more progressively that is from welfare payments as compared to higher income groups who are main progressive contributors to the cost of public service provision. The resources targeted by Budget 2007 are over 55% in the personal income tax package to those on low incomes as well as the elderly, widowed taxpayers and those with disability or under care of a person with disability. Taxpayers at the lower end of income distribution will as well benefit from taxation measures if they are to become exempt. This is due to the fact that the entry point to taxation has been increased in Budget 2007. The basic personal tax credit and the employee tax credit was increased by Budget 2006. This was meant to ensure that the minimum wage in its annualized form was placed outside the tax net. At the end of 2006, the position still remained as a key government's aim on tax policy and continues to be met. The entry level to taxation was increased in budget 2007 through substantial increases in personal tax credit and the employee credit. For instance, entry point for a single employee below 65 years, the personal tax credit and the employee credit was increased by almost 13% in Budget 2007. This is a sufficient increase as it ensures that the minimum wage per hour is increased and therefore its annualized form will not be liable to income taxation. Moreover, employee's health levy was increased to ensure that taxpayers in low income bracket were not liable for the levy. The income tax changes announced in Budget 2007 to the extent that they apply are intended to have a significant beneficial impact for those on low incomes. This is because those in low incomes will receive additional payment for each child below six years of age in comparison with previous years. In conclusion, Budget 2007 income tax measures are intended to improve

Composting and Plant Growth Essay Example for Free

Composting and Plant Growth Essay Vermicomposting, as an industrial process, was originally developed to remove unwanted organic materials from the agricultural and industrial waste streams. The derived product: earthworm castings, is now recognized as a high value material which, when blended with soil, can restore soil tilth by correcting the imbalances caused by the over-utilization of petrol-chemical based fertilizers; thus enabling crops and plants to naturally combat pests and diseases, all resulting in increased crop production and general plant health. Using European technology we began researching production processes and the potential of Vermicomposting over 20 years ago. In 1991 we built the first American flow through Vermicomposting processor in Portland Oregon which continues to handle more than 2,000 tons of food waste per year at an annual cost savings of approximately $70,000.00. The Worm Castings are sold as an Organic soil amendment or mixed to form valuable plant growth media, as well as providing a natural pesticide and fungicide. In 1997: Awarded our first of three Phase I, and Phase II USDA-SBIR grants enabling advanced engineering, design and process modifications to be made in order to achieve a greater understanding of the production process and the products potential. In collaboration with Ohio State University, and Professor Clive Edwards, these grants supported extensive field and greenhouse trials using Vermicompost on a wide range of fruits, vegetables and ornamentals. The results clearly demonstrated that the affects were nutritional as all experimental plants received the same full range of nutrients – and remarkably small quantities of Vermicompost promoted enhanced germination, growth, flowering and yield on a variety of crop plants. Agricultural wastes, food and garden wastes, paper waste, and bio-solids from waste water treatment plants, when processed by earthworms, all showed similar results. With the aid of two additional USDA-SBIR grants again collaborating with OSU and Dr. C. Edwards we investigated a range of structural and functional comparisons between Vermicompost and traditional types of compost. * The continuous-flow production process does not allow nutrient leaching as occurs with conventional thermophilic composting and some less efficient methods of Vermicomposting * There were large physical, chemical and biological differences, all seemingly related to leachate control and the organic waste passage through the earthworms gut. * Vermicomposting was far more efficient in controlling odors and other vector issues. * With high worm populations and optimum conditions Vermicomposting is much faster than most conventional composting processes. * The percentages of Nitrogen, Potassium, Potash, Magnesium, and Calcium in forms readily available for plant uptake are much greater in Vermicomposts. * Microbial activity is much greater in finished Vermicompost; maintaining many types of bacteria and fungi that contribute to soil health and fertility. Our research showed in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials that a specific amount of Vermicompost, added to commercial potting mediums suppressed diseases, insect populations and insect damage to and on plants grown in Vermicompost treated soils. It is now widely accepted that the readily available micro organisms available in Vermicompost are the likely source of the plant growth regulators and Humates now known to be responsible for the increased germination, flowering and yields found in the plant growth trials. The project then focused on investigating the reason why the smaller particle size and greater moisture holding capacity in Vermicompost contributed to a decrease in soil nutrient leaching when Vermicompost was added to soils; demonstrating the destruction of viable weed seeds through Vermicomposting and the destruction of humane pathogens in contaminated organic wastes during Vermicomposting. This second part of the Phase I, Phase II: Plant Pest, Disease and Human Pathogen Control results, according to the EPA 503 Regulations, achieved Class A material in 60 days with bacterial levels for Salmonella, Ecoli, and viable Helmath Olva were all non-detectable. We developed our operational protocols from this research, and this research and operational training goes with every system. Other investigations concentrated on the properties of Vermicompost that increased plant growth. The increased plant growth observed greatly exceeded any of the nutrient inputs applied and all recent plant growth trials received balancing levels of nutrient inputs to ensure nutrients were not the cause. * Small additions of Vermicompost decreased the incidence of various plant diseases and the numbers of plant parasitic nematodes were suppressed. * Further research investigating production methods (Third part of Phase I and II) and effective practical applications of water soluble elutriates for foliar application for immediate disease and pest control are ongoing. Initial results were completed in June 2009 : Liquid Extracts for Disease and Pest Control. * Heat sterilization of finished Vermicompost was shown to remove all plant growth enhancing properties, but these could be restored by the addition of aqueous extracts of un-sterilized Vermicompost. This demonstrates the key factor is clearly microbial, most likely associated with plant growth regulators and increased levels of humic acid and folic acid found in Vermicompost. * Results showed increased growth effects were more frequent and more pronounced at specific concentration levels and application rates. When plants were grown in less specific blends or in mixes of greater concentrations of Vermicompost the beneficial growth, disease and pest control was greatly reduced or lost completely. * This result was unexpected, but confirmed by detailed and rigorous studies using a wide range of Vermicompost substitutions in a commercial plant growth media and in a wide range of plant species. * Optimum germination, growth, flowering, and heavier fields occurred only in a specific formulation that included nutrients other than what is in the Vermicompost. * This takes us down a path that suggests that the chemical or biological agent that is providing the disease control and triggering the plants ability to respond systemically to pest and disease issues is either a soluble uptake or has to be manufactured by the plant as an antagonist. * Conclusion: too much Vermicompost can block the functions that triggers these responses; similar to the way too much nitrogen locks in the leaves and does not allow the proper function of the plant. * Lastly, vigorous, healthy plants, as were observed when grown with Vermicompost, are far less susceptible to attack by plant pests and diseases. Tolerance, resistance, suppression, or the ability to manufacture an antagonist to plant pests or diseases are sometimes difficult to distinguish, but decreases in lesions and other symptoms, and decreases in the numbers of causative organisms have been found. Aquaculture of Chanos chanos Milkfish aquaculture first occurred around 800 years ago in the Philippines and spread in Indonesia, Taiwan and into the Pacific. Traditional milkfish aquaculture relied upon restocking ponds by collecting wild fry. This led to a wide range of variability in quality and quantity between seasons and regions. In the late seventies, farmers first successfully spawned breeding fish. However, they were hard to obtain and produced unreliable egg viability. In 1980 the first spontaneously spawning happened in sea cages. These eggs were found to be sufficient to generate a constant supply for farms. Fry are raised in either sea cages, large saline ponds (Philippines) or concrete tanks (Indonesia, Taiwan). Milkfish reach sexual maturity at 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb), which takes 5 years in floating sea cages, but 8-10 years in ponds and tanks. Once 6 kilograms (13 lb) is reached (8 years) an average of 3-4 million eggs will be produced each breeding cycle.[1] This is mainly done using natural environmental cues. However, there have been attempts using gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRH-A) to induce spawning.[3] Some still use the traditional wild stock method. This involves capturing wild fry using nets. Milkfish hatcheries, like most hatcheries, contain a variety of cultures, as well as the target species. For example rotifers, green algae and brine shrimp. They can either be intensive or semi-intensive. Semi-intensive methods are more profitable with it costing $6.67 US per 1000 fry in 1998, compared with $27.40 per 1000 fry for intensive methods. However, the experience required by labor for semi-intensive hatcheries is higher than intensive. Milkfish nurseries in Taiwan are highly commercial and have densities of about 2000/liter. Indonesia achieves similar densities but has more backyard-type nurseries. The Philippines have integrated nurseries with grow-out facilities and have densities of about 1000/liter. There are three methods of outgrowing: pond culture, pen culture and cage culture. * Shallow ponds are found mainly in Indonesia and the Philippines. These are shallow 30–40 centimeters (12–16 in), brackish ponds with benthic algae, usually used as feed.[1] They are usually excavated from ‘nipa’ or mangrove areas and produce ~ 800kg/ha/yr. Deep ponds (2-3m) have a more stable environment and began in 1970. They so far have shown less susceptibility to disease than shallow ponds. * In 1979 pen culture was introduced in Laguna de Bay, which had high primary production. This provided an excellent food source. Once this ran out, fertilizer was applied. They are susceptible to disease. * Cages culture occurs in coastal bays. These consist of large cages suspended in open water. These rely largely upon natural sources of food. Most food supply is natural food (known as ‘lab-lab’) or a combination of phytoplankton and macro algae. Traditionally this was made on site; food is now made commercially to order. Harvest occurs when the individuals are between 20-40cm (250-500g). Partial harvests remove uniform sized individuals with nets or gill nets. Total harvest removes all individuals and leads to a variety of sizes. Forced harvest happens when there is an environmental problem, such as depleted oxygen due to algal blooms and all stock is removed. Possible parasites include parasitic nematodes, copepods, protozoa and helminthes. Many of these are treatable with chemicals and antibiotics. Vermicast Process Vermicast renews the soil and is used as a natural fertiliser. It is made by recylcling organic waste which is transformed into natural fertiliser by using earth worms. The process of how these worms are utilised will be explained below. The process uses a variety of left over products such as grass cuttings, compost, vegetable cuttings and manure from cattle, pigs and chickens. They will then be placed into the following systems: Wind Row System Food is placed on the right hand side of the row and kept moist. Vermicast is then scraped off the opposite side because the worms will gravitate towards the direction that you feed them on. Therefore you are able to remove the vermicast from the left and it wont contain any of the worms. Pond System Start at the bottom-15cm compost. Keep adding 15cm compost at a time till pond is full. Remove whole pond to wash. Wind Rows Undercover Food is placed on front and kept moist. Vermicast is scraped off the opposite side. Feed from the front, worms keep moving forward so what you remove from the back wont contain any of the worms. This is usually done in sheds and on a smaller scale. Once the earth worms have eaten all the food given then the following steps will be taken: 1) Washing the Worms (As seen in the middle picture)Vermicast containing the worms is put in a tank of water, it is stirred, the worms are separated by the circulating force of the water to the outside. Once everything is mixed up, the vermicast is suspended in the water and the worms disperse to the outside of the tank which are then caught on the racks. 2) Catching Worms (As seen in the bottom picture)

roseanne And The Kiss :: essays research papers

Roseanne and The Kiss   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This past winter break, myself and one of my best friends were driving down one of the main roads in our home town of Elmira, New York. I happened to look up at a billboard that was on the side of the road, and saw a sign that read something like: â€Å"Be safe, be smart, be protected.† I thought to myself (immediately) â€Å"well, that's a big improvement from a few years ago when condom ads weren't even allowed on television.† Then I noticed, it had the gay symbols of the upside down pink triangle, and the symbols of two men and two women together. My first thought was â€Å"why is this necessary† then I mentioned that to my friend. He didn't notice, but we both kind of laughed and agreed that why does it have to be gay people that need to protect themselves? We (straight people) are just as much at risk--what was the point? The point is, that it has become mainstream and accepted to be gay in this society now, so they can do that. Only three years ago, however, it was a bit different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Roseanne† helped to set a trend in society that has made it more acceptable to be gay in the media. From the billboard I saw, to Roseanne's now (in)famous kiss with another woman. Roseanne has contributed to this trend immensely with her television sitcom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin with, the series Roseanne has had gay characters on it for a long time. Roseanne's boss Leon was gay, and after â€Å"the kiss† his role on the show became more outspoken as he got married to his lover in the season after Roseanne kissed another woman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1994, Roseanne had a homosexual encounter with another woman played by Mariel Hemingway in a gay bar. The episode was entitled â€Å"Don't ask, Don't tell† seemingly making light of Bill Clinton's policy of gays in the military. The plot of this episode is, that Roseanne goes into a gay bar with her bisexual friend Nancy, played by outspoken bisexual actress Sandra Bernhard. Roseanne dances with Nancy's new girlfriend Sharon (Hemmingway). The situation is uncomfortable to Roseanne's sister Jackie who also went with them, but Roseanne has a great time. After dancing with Sharon, the two sit down to chat, one thing leads to another and Roseanne makes a joke which is misinterpreted by Sharon, and she kisses Roseanne. The rest of the episode deals with Roseanne's discomfort with the kiss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The episode was finally aired, but it went through a lot of trouble to do so.

Jetty Rats Rite of Passage Notes

Jetty Rats is a novel set in the sass's, written by Phillip Gwynne on the 6th of February 2004. The story is primarily about three kids called Hunter, Storm and Jasmine that go through the rite of passage in which they are all confronted with at some point in their adolescent lives. Hunters only goal in life is to catch a record breaking Mallow so he could make his dad proud, sadly Hunter's dad disappeared when Hunter was eight years old whilst fishing on the rocks.Although everyone knows he's not coming jack, Hunter doesn't seem to accept it. These are the stages Hunter goes through that tell us he has gone through the Rite of Passage. The first issue that was stated is family. At the beginning of the novel Hunters dad was swept out to sea while fishing at his favorite spot on the rocks. Hunter thinks that it is Drill's fault that his dad went missing, because that day Drill was supposed to go fishing with his dad, but didn't. Drill let his dad break the rule of fishing on rocks â⠂¬Å"Thou Shall Not Fish On Your Own† which lead to his dad's disappearance.Hunter didn't accept his dad is robbery never coming back until the end of the novel when Hunter throws out his dads old rusty razes he had kept for five years and said â€Å"Bloody extraterrestrials. Must've done him ages ago† The second issue in the story is friendship. Hunters best friends, Storm and Jasmine are all very different from each other and unique In there own way. They're the group that consists of four members in Dogleg bay known as the â€Å"Jetty Rats†. First there is there Is Storm and Jasmine (The twin girls Hunter calls The Photocopies) and Hunters best friend, Miracle and of coarse, Hunter.

Macroeconomics vs. Microeconomics Essay

hese are two branches or rather methods of exposition of the science of economics. The distinction between them can best be explained by comparing their main features. As the terms suggest, macroeconomics deals with the market on a large-scale and its aggregate problems, while microeconomics concerns markets on a small-scale and individual aspects of the problems. There are six distinct aspects of the two approaches that are shown as in the following table: Microeconomics Macroeconomics (a) Units of the study Individual consumers, producers workers, traders, etc. Aggregate units such as state National or International economy. (b) Activities Optimization and maximization of personal gains and profits. Long term growth, maintenance of high levels of production and employment. (c) Origin Micro activities emerge on the demand side of consumer’s choices. Problems of long-term growth depend upon the supply of productive resources (d) Conditions This approach is functional under static conditions and small time intervals. This approach is functional under dynamic conditions and complex long run changes. (e) Methods It is concerned with small adjustments, for which the application of a marginal method is suitable. It deals with complex, dynamic changes inviting the use of advanced mathematical techniques. (f) Levels Micro adjustments in resource A allocation are made in response to changes in relative prices of goods and services. The aggregate level of income or total economic activities is considered to be constant. Macro approach attempts to find the conditions of long-term expansions in output as a whole, assuming relative prices as constant (or significant). This distinction between micro and macroeconomics as presented above is only a matter of theoretical convenience. The two approaches are complementary and not competitive; one cannot consider these to be watertight compartments

Pierre de Fermat essays

Pierre de Fermat essays There once was a man who changed the world of mathematics. He did not study math nor was it his career, in fact, he enjoyed math as merely a hobby to enjoy in his free time. This man is a French man named Pierre de Fermat (pronounced Fair-mah). Fermat is a very interesting mathematician who paved the way to understanding calculus and geometry. Fermat, considered one of the greatest mathematicians in the seventeenth century, was born in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France on August 17, 1601. His father was a wealthy leather merchant who was also the second consul of Beaumont-de-Lomagne and his mothers family was in the legal professions. Fermat was not an only child for he also had a brother and two sisters. He was very courteous and kind which had proven helpful in a dispute with Descartes, which concluded with a friendly smile. Fermat grew up in his place of birth and is believed to have gone to school at a local Franciscan Monastery and is also believed have been home schooled as well. He later attended the University of Toulouse and then later moved to Bordeaux and it was here where he began his interest in mathematics. After that, he went to the University of Orleans where he received his Bachelors Degree in law, ending his school years. He had a love for mathematics but did not let his love completely take his time a way from his practice. He had many offices in the Toulouse government. He moved from the lower chambers to the higher chambers and was eventually head of the criminal court or the highest position in the Toulouse criminal court. When he retired he devoted most of his time to his hobby, mathematics. Fermat made many contributions to not only the world of mathematics but to optics as well for he provided a law for light travel. He proved mathematically that the law for the refraction of light follows a path that takes the shortest amount of time. Fermat and Pascal worked together ...

Billy Bishop - World War I Ace

Billy Bishop - World War I Ace Billy Bishop - Early Life Career: Born February 8, 1894 at Owen Sound, Ontario, William Billy Bishop was the second (of three) child of William A. and Margaret Bishop.   Attending Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute as a youth, Bishop proved a marginal student though excelled in individual sports such as riding, shooting, and swimming.   Possessing an interest in aviation, he unsuccessfully attempted to build his first aircraft at age fifteen.   Following in his older brothers footsteps, Bishop entered the Royal Military College of Canada in 1911.   Continuing to struggle with his studies, he failed his first year when he was caught cheating. Pressing on at RMC, Bishop elected to leave school in late 1914 following the beginning of World War I.   Joining the Mississauga Horse regiment, he received a commission as an officer but soon fell ill with pneumonia.   As a result, Bishop missed the units departure for Europe.   Transferred to the 7th Canadian Mounted Rifles, he proved an excellent marksman.   Embarking for Britain on June 6, 1915, Bishop and his comrades arrived at Plymouth seventeen days later.   Sent to the Western Front, he soon became unhappy in the mud and tedium of the trenches.   After seeing a Royal Flying Corps aircraft pass over, Bishop began seeking an opportunity to attend flight school.   Though he was able to secure a transfer to the RFC, no flight training positions were open and he instead learned to be an aerial observer. Billy Bishop - Beginning with the RFC: Assigned to No. 21 (Training) Squadron at Netheravon, Bishop first flew aboard an Avro 504.   Learning to take aerial photos, he soon proved skilled at this form of photography and began teaching other aspiring airmen.   Sent to the front in January 1916, Bishop operated from a field near St. Omer and flew Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7s.   Four months later, he injured his knee when his aircrafts engine failed at takeoff.   Placed on leave, Bishop traveled to London where his knees condition worsened.   Hospitalized, he met socialite Lady St. Helier while recuperating.   Learning that his father had suffered a stroke, Bishop, with St. Heliers aid, obtained leave to briefly travel to Canada.   Due to this trip, he missed the Battle of the Somme which started that July.   Returning to Britain that September, Bishop, again with St. Heliers assistance, finally secured admission to flight training.   Arriving at the Central Flying School at Upavon, he spent the next two months receiving aviation instruction.   Ordered to No. 37 Squadron in Essex, Bishops initial assignment called for him to patrol over London to intercept night raids by German airships.   Quickly boring of this duty, he requested a transfer and was ordered to Major Alan Scotts No. 60 Squadron near Arras.   Flying older Nieuport 17s, Bishop struggled and received orders to return to Upavon for further training.   Retained by Scott until a replacement could arrive, he achieved his first kill, an Albatros D.III, on March 25, 1917, though he crashed in no mans land when his engine failed.   Escaping back to Allied lines, Bishops orders for Upavon were rescinded.    Billy Bishop - Flying Ace: Quickly earning Scotts trust, Bishop was appointed a flight commander on March 30 and achieved his second victory the following day.   Permitted to conduct solo patrols, he continued to score and on April 8 downed his fifth German aircraft to become an ace.   These early victories were obtained via a hard-charging style of flying and fighting.   Realizing that this was a dangerous approach, Bishop shifted to more surprise-oriented tactics in April.   This proved effective as he downed twelve enemy aircraft that month.   The month also saw him earn a promotion to captain and win the Military Cross for his performance during the Battle of Arras.   After surviving an encounter with German ace Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron) on April 30, Bishop continued his stellar performance in May adding to his tally and winning the Distinguished Service Order. On June 2, Bishop conducted a solo patrol against a German airfield.   During the mission, he claimed three enemy aircraft shot down as well as several destroyed on the ground.   Though he may have embellished the results of this mission, it won him the Victoria Cross.   A month later, the squadron transitioned into the more powerful Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5.   Continuing his success, Bishop soon ran his total to over forty achieving the status of highest-scoring ace in the RFC.   Among the most famous of the Allied aces, he was withdrawn from the front that fall.   Returning to Canada, Bishop married Margaret Burden on October 17 and made appearances to bolster morale.   Following this, he received orders to join the British War Mission in Washington, DC to assist in advising the US Army on building an air force. Billy Bishop - Top British Scorer: In April 1918, Bishop received a promotion to major and returned to Britain.   Eager to resume operations at the front, he had been passed as British top scorer by Captain James McCudden.   Given command of the newly-formed No. 85 Squadron, Bishop took his unit to  Petite-Synthe, France on May 22.   Familiarizing himself with the area, he downed a German plan five days later.   This began a run that saw him raise his tally to 59 by June 1 and reclaim the scoring lead from McCudden.   Though he continued to score over the next two weeks, the Canadian government and his superiors became increasingly concerned about the blow to morale if he were to be killed.   As a result, Bishop received orders on June 18 to depart the front the following day and travel to England to aid in organizing the new Canadian Flying Corps.   Angered by these orders, Bishop conducted a final mission on the morning of June 19 which saw him down five more German aircraft and raise his score to 72.   Bishops total made him the top-scoring British pilot of the war and second-highest Allied pilot behind Rene Fonck.   As many of Bishops kills were unwitnessed, historians in recent years have begun to question his total.   Promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 5, he received the post of Officer Commanding-designate of the Canadian Air Force Section of the General Staff, Headquarters Overseas Military Forces of Canada.   Bishop remained in the job until the end of the war that November. Billy Bishop - Later Career: Discharged from the Canadian Expeditionary Force on December 31, Bishop began lecturing on aerial warfare.   This was followed by a short-lived passenger air service that he started with fellow Canadian ace Lieutenant Colonel William George Barker.   Moving to Britain in 1921, Bishop remained engaged in aviation concerns and eight years later became chairman of British Air Lines.   Financially devastated by the stock market crash in 1929, Bishop returned to Canada and ultimately obtained a position as vice president of the McColl-Frontenac Oil Company.   Resuming military service in 1936, he received a commission as the Royal Canadian Air Forces first air vice-marshal.   With the beginning of World War II in 1939, Bishop was elevated to air marshal and tasked with overseeing recruitment. Highly effective in this role, Bishop soon found himself compelled to turn away applicants.   Also overseeing pilot training, he aided in authoring the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan which guided the instruction of nearly half those who served in the Commonwealths air forces.   Under extreme stress, Bishops health began to fail and in 1944 he retired from active service.   Returning to the private sector, he accurately predicted the postwar boom in the commercial aviation industry.   With the beginning of the Korean War in 1950, Bishop offered to return to his recruitment role but his poor health led to the RCAF politely declining.   He later died on September 11, 1956, while wintering in Palm Beach, FL.   Returned to Canada, Bishop received full honors before his ashes were interred at  Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound. Selected Sources Bishop HouseAce Pilots: Billy BishopHistoryNet: Billy Bishop

Rain Shadows - Orographic Lifting and Precipitation

Rain Shadows - Orographic Lifting and Precipitation Mountain ranges act as barriers to the flow of air across the surface of the earth, squeezing moisture out of the air. When a parcel of warm air reaches a mountain range, it is lifted up the mountain slope, cooling as it rises. This process is known as orographic lifting and the cooling of the air often results in large clouds, precipitation, and even thunderstorms. The phenomenon of orographic lifting can be witnessed on an almost daily basis during the warm summer days in Californias Central Valley. East of the foothills, large cumulonimbus clouds form every afternoon as the warm valley air rises upslope on the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Throughout the afternoon, the cumulonimbus clouds form the telltale anvil head, signaling the development of a thunderstorm. The early evenings sometimes bring lightning, showers, and hail. The warm valley air lifts, creating instability in the atmosphere and causes thunderstorms, which squeezes the moisture from the air. Rain Shadow Effect As a parcel of air rises up the windward side of a mountain range, it has its moisture squeezed out. Thus, when the air begins to descend the leeward side of the mountain, it is dry. As the cool air descends, it warms and expands, reducing its possibility of precipitation. This is known as the rain shadow effect and is the primary cause of leeward deserts of mountain ranges, such as Californias Death Valley. Orographic lifting is a fascinating process that keeps the windward sides of mountain ranges moist and filled with vegetation but the leeward sides dry and barren.

The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence - Essay Example ning a space, luminosity can become used to emphasize on the focal point of space and bring out the elements of union, harmony, and balance within a space. Undertaken between 1628 and 1632, ‘the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence’ is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Massimo Stanzione who was mainly active in Naples (BBC, 2015). The painting depicts the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence of Rome in the third century who got killed by roasting over a hot gridiron. Saint Lawrence of Rome, a 3rd century archdeacon was martyred in 258 A.D (Archer, 2012). under Emperor Valerian’s persecution of Christians. Lawrence got persecuted for distributing the church’s assets to the poor instead of turning it over to the empire as instructed by the empire. The move angered the prefect responsible for collecting the church’s wealth that he asked for the immediate execution of Lawrence by roasting him on a gridiron warmed with hot coal. The painting is noted for its gruesome naturalistic element and rich color employed by Stanzione. Stanzione was revered for his use of rich color and idealized naturalism that he had a massive influence on other local artists. This gets captured effectively on his piece the ‘martyrdom of Saint Lawrence’. The ‘martyrdom of Saint Lawrence’ employs the technique of oil on canvas. Stanzione was greatly influenced by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. He combined Caravaggio’s dramatically lit and brutally realistic style with the classical and lyrical manner of Bolognesi painters (Kleiner, 2009). Stanzione had great mastery over religious art due to his vast altarpieces and frescoes. In ‘the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence’ painting, Stanzione captures an imposing nocturnal scene of the persecution of Saint Lawrence. The grisly nature of the piece gets captured by the emphasis of the dramatic light and shadow. To capture Lawrence’s martyrdom, Stanzione employs illumination by the divine light coming from the skies or heavens. At the

Medical workers involved in CIA interrogations Essay

Medical workers involved in CIA interrogations - Essay Example The fact remains that harm was caused to the prisoners. The intentions are not a factor when determining a breach of medical, moral ethics. Belmont report identifies three principles that must be adhered to when conducting researchers with the human being as study sample. They include the protection of human rights, ensuring justice so that those who bear the burden should also reap the benefits and the beneficence principle which requires the express consent of the people involved. In this research, none of the principles were upheld. Human rights were abused, and the prisoners were not done any justice as they were not the beneficiary. Further, the prisoners did not consent to the research and hence the beneficence principle was disregarded. The actions by the doctors were evil when looked at in different dimensions: religion, secular or even to Kant’s ethics. There is no religion or secular civilization that supports human right abuse. Even Kant’s ethics prioritizes the respect for human right. I do not agree with the policy of treating such reports as confidential. Utility principle has it that the report would only be important if intended to create happiness and pleasure. As such, if the report cannot be used to prevent such human abuse from re-occurring, then it was an effort in futility. I think doctors in such cases should be personally held responsible for causing harm to persons. I think the principle of human right should come to play to ensure that its abuse is punished according to the law.

Wirless Transformer Charger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wirless Transformer Charger - Essay Example ecting the level of battery in an electronic device, for example a cell phone, and is able to charge the device automatically as soon as the level of battery in the device falls lower than a specific threshold. The system of resonant induction charging will be utilized in our project which possesses the capability of charging several devices simultaneously unless they all bear the same resonant frequency.  Ã‚   The system would comprise of three key mechanisms: wireless power transfer, unit battery indicator, and the transducer/receiver unit. The battery indicator would produce a warning sign when the level of battery to be charged in the handy device goes up to a particular threshold value. As soon as the battery drops below a particular brink, the battery indicator’s first LED will be powered off and, afterwards, the dropping edge will be detected by the edge detector. The signals from the edge detector will be held be the SR latch which, in turn, will turn on the switch. A transducer will be fed the warning signs from the switch which connects to the receive located in the charging dock. The transducer, also called an ultrasound transducer, releases the ultrasound signals. The signal is fed into the rectifier once it is detected by the receiver in the charging dock, and is then, converted to a uniploar signal from the swine signal. The DC voltage will be obtained by the feeding a nd conversion of the unipolar signal into low pass filter. To lessen the undulation of the DC voltage, the application of the voltage regular is done, which results in the formulation of a flat DC voltage capable of turning on the switch. Ultimately, the power supply unit is turned on in the dock and the AC wall outlet draws the power. Then, the 60 Hz AC current converts to a frequency which is higher enough to be appropriate for the power to transfer (for example, 13.56 MHz in the ISM band). The wireless power unit is then fed the up-converted AC current. A pair of resonant loop

How the dindustry of great London impact on the environment of UK, Dissertation

How the dindustry of great London impact on the environment of UK, especially the southern England - Dissertation Example The paper tells that the rapid growth of industry during 19th century Great Britain drew increasing attention to the fragile link between environmental health risks and industrialisation. During 19th century Great Britain however, environmental safety was tied to public health rather than environmental safety and policies therefore focused on reducing pollutants that posed a risk to public safety. By the 20th century the shift toward emphasizing environmental values became more pronounced and was manifested by policies and practices aimed at managing industrial pollution. The focus on environmental values has culminated in a global society conscious of the need for sustainable development in industries with a view to reaping economic benefits today, but preserving the environment for future generations. The risk of environmental damages emanating from industrial accidents has also given way to policies relative to emergency response and clean-up practices and policies. London, like t he remainder of the UK is subject to a command and control regime promoted by the European Community (EC) Council Directive 2008 for Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC). Research findings indicate that despite the adoption of the command and control policies implicit in Council Directive 2008, the UK continues to suffer from a fragmented and inflexibly applied. However, there has been a growing awareness that some degree of self-regulation is necessary. (West, 2010). It will therefore be argued that officials and firm managers are well aware of the impact of industry on the environment, but are continuing to explore more efficient methods for minimizing the potential for and actual environmental damages. This research study demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of the current command and control policies and practices relative to the impact of Great London industry on the UK’s environment by exploring three areas of the literature. The first area sets out t he historical background and nature of environmental policies and practices in the UK. The second part analyses the current state of the law, policies of environmental protection as it relates to UK industries. The third area of analysis is the actual impact of Great London industry on the UK’s environment and how practices and policies are informed by history and contemporary environmental laws, practices and policies. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Chapter One 4 Introduction 4 Aims and Objectives 6 Research Questions 7 Research Methodology 8 Organization of the Study 8 Chapter Two 10 A Review of the Literature 10 Introduction 10 Industrialization and Environmental Risks 10 Conclusion 17 Chapter Three 18 Industrialization and Pollution in London 18 The Industrial Revolution and London’s Environment 18 Contemporary London’s Industry and the Environment 25 Conclusion 31 Chapter Four 33 The Impact of Industrial Activity in Greater London on the E nvironment in the UK and Especially South East England 33 Conclusion 37 Bibliography 38 Chapter One Introduction Law and policy makers at the international and national levels are continuously seeking ways to reconcile two conflicting objectives: economic growth and development and protection against environmental damages (Cameron & Abouchar, 1991). Despite efforts aimed at protecting the environment and at the same time, encouraging economic growth and development, concerns persists over the efficacy of balancing these two

Canada's fight against ISIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Canada's fight against ISIS - Essay Example ents of ISIS, especially the United Nations, have labeled the group as an active terrorist organization while secondary opponents like Colombia views ISIS as an extremist organization (Emma 46). As of June 2014, the ISIS had intensified violent attempts to topple the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Two months later, ISIS had increased their insurgent activities towards Iraqi government forces and civilians, plus foreign forces led by the US military. In the light of ISIS’s brutal advancement of their objectives, the US have committed a small portion of its military personnel and resources in helping the Baghdad government. Specifically, the US tries to deter advancement of the insurgents through air strikes. In the last two weeks alone, US military used both manned and unmanned aircrafts to launch more than 100 missile strikes in ISIS stronghold regions. Despite numerous air strikes in their strongholds, ISIS militants repeatedly bubble to the surface with additional strength and zeal. Last week, US secretary of state John Kerry asserted that the ISIS presents a substantial challenge to stability in the Middle East and even the world in general. Kerry stressed the necessity of concerted efforts between NATO nations in quenching the ambitious and genocidal ISIS insurgents. In this regard, US government has reached out to allied nations, including Canada, for support. On 5th September, 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will offer support to the US in their fight against ISIS. Harper agreed on the need to display solidarity with the US government and its foreign policies in Iraq (Murray 01). Inasmuch as the premier denied of a full deployment of Canadian military, he mentioned of providing combat advisers. The alleged advisers will be drawn from the Canadian Special Operations wing. In addition, the Canadian military will provide two cargo planes meant to ferry weapons and other military equipment to the Baghdad forces. Harper further

Reflective Practice (qualititiave) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Reflective Practice (qualititiave) - Essay Example s responsible for the production of knowledge and/or theory, he/she was not responsible for its implementation or its practice (Green and Levin, 1998). Within the matrix of traditional research models, therefore, the researcher was neither reflector nor practitioner. The traditional research model constrained itself and limited its potentialities for the articulation of consistently practical, applicable and relevant knowledge. Delimiting the role of the researcher to collector, organiser, interpreter and disseminator of knowledge prevents researchers from reflective engagement with the topic of enquiry and, thus, detracts from the final output itself – the research. This, at least, ids the position held by a significant number of researchers (Reason, 1994; Park, 1999; Green and Levin, 1998; Reason and Bradbury, 2001; Bray et al., 2002). Having outlined the primary difference between traditional and non-traditional/reflective research, this present research shall now explore the strategies by, and through, which the researcher may integrate reflective approaches into qualitative enquiry projects. More specifically stated, following a definition and discussion of reflective research and its variant forms and strategies, the research will look into its potential contributions to a qualitative study on the social impacts of e-commerce. Reflective research represents both a reconsideration of the principles upon which traditional research is founded and, a break with it. The traditional research model, as briefly noted in the introductory paragraphs, demands separation between research and practice, between the researcher and the practitioner. Indeed, within the matrix of the research activity and the subsequent utilisation of its output, the roles of either are clearly separate. As Bray et al. (2002) note, the researcher’s role is confined to the production of findings and the practitioner’s role is the application of, and reflection upon, those

Canada's fight against ISIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Canada's fight against ISIS - Essay Example ents of ISIS, especially the United Nations, have labeled the group as an active terrorist organization while secondary opponents like Colombia views ISIS as an extremist organization (Emma 46). As of June 2014, the ISIS had intensified violent attempts to topple the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Two months later, ISIS had increased their insurgent activities towards Iraqi government forces and civilians, plus foreign forces led by the US military. In the light of ISIS’s brutal advancement of their objectives, the US have committed a small portion of its military personnel and resources in helping the Baghdad government. Specifically, the US tries to deter advancement of the insurgents through air strikes. In the last two weeks alone, US military used both manned and unmanned aircrafts to launch more than 100 missile strikes in ISIS stronghold regions. Despite numerous air strikes in their strongholds, ISIS militants repeatedly bubble to the surface with additional strength and zeal. Last week, US secretary of state John Kerry asserted that the ISIS presents a substantial challenge to stability in the Middle East and even the world in general. Kerry stressed the necessity of concerted efforts between NATO nations in quenching the ambitious and genocidal ISIS insurgents. In this regard, US government has reached out to allied nations, including Canada, for support. On 5th September, 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will offer support to the US in their fight against ISIS. Harper agreed on the need to display solidarity with the US government and its foreign policies in Iraq (Murray 01). Inasmuch as the premier denied of a full deployment of Canadian military, he mentioned of providing combat advisers. The alleged advisers will be drawn from the Canadian Special Operations wing. In addition, the Canadian military will provide two cargo planes meant to ferry weapons and other military equipment to the Baghdad forces. Harper further

Fish Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fish - Essay Example The success of tilapia fishing has been its profitable aspect due to its omnivorous feeding habits, its rapid growth that allow high populations in the ponds, its high tolerance level allows the species to be harvested in large quantity (Halweil and Mastny, 56). The reason for tilapia farming is that its farming helps in the acquirement of Omega 6 and Omega 3 that are so important in the human body. Tilapia farming has also helped to reduce the disease occurrence of the fish species. Tilapia population in the world is around 1,500000 metric tonnes. Trout fish are a native fish of the north west America parts, but in the recent days they have been introduced into the rest of the world. The most cultivated trout are the rainbow trout due to its hardy species. It has been a successful farming because of the tolerability of the fish species in a wide range of temperatures (0-27ÌŠ C), trout fish are also farmed due to their ability to survive in fresh water. The population of trout in Britain is 16000 tonnes each year. The farming of trout in ponds and cages in the world has really helped in controlling its wild population because wild trout help in cleaning the river streams and oxygenation of the water (Halweil and Mastny, 63). Carp fish are of many different types such as common carp, grass carp among other types. Carp fish is a native fish from the Asia and Europe. Carp fish has a hurting effect on the other wild fish, this is because they interfere with the vegetation found on the sea bed, and hence other fish starve to death or migrate to other areas (Halweil and Mastny, 67). Fish farming has had a negative effect on the environment in the world. Most of the wet areas along the coast of the planets have been dried up as most of them are cleared in order to create space for putting up a fish farm. The mangrove vegetation is cut down for easy flow of water (Halweil and Mastny 2008). It is known that fish

Republic Day Essay Example for Free

Republic Day Essay Republic Day is one of the three national holidays of India and the greatest festival celebrated in the country. It is celebrated every year on January 26, in New Delhi with great pomp, fanfare and pageant. While in the capitals of the States and other headquarters, it is marked with patriotic fervor. The most spectacular celebrations are marked by the Republic Day Parade that takes place in the capital of New Delhi at Rajpath. It includes march past of the three armed forces, massive parades, folk dances by tribal folk from different states in picturesque costumes marking the cultural unity of India. Further, the streak of jet planes of Indian Air Force, leaving a trial of colored smoke, marks the end of the festival. It was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress at midnight of December 31, 1929 January 1, 1930, that the Tri-Color Flag was unfurled by the nationalists and a pledge was taken that on January 26 every year, Republic Day would be celebrated and that the people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Democratic Republic India. The professed pledge was successfully redeemed on January 26, 1950, when the Constitution of India framed by the Constituent Assembly of India came into force, although the Independence from the British rule was already achieved on August 15, 1947. It is because of this fact that August 15 is celebrated as Independence Day, while January 26 as Republic Day. The festivity of Republic Day concludes officially with the intriguing Beating Retreat ceremony on the evening of 29th January. This enthralling ceremony is performed by the military, the Indian Air Force, India Navy and India Army in the Raisina Hills, New Delhi, in front of the President of India as the Chief Guest.

The Anonymous Christian As Described By Karl Rahner Essay

The Anonymous Christian As Described By Karl Rahner Essay I would like to first start by giving a short biography of Karl Rahner as described by the Karl Rahner Society. He was born in Freiburg, Germany, on March 5, 1904 and died in Innsbruck, Austria, on March 30, 1984. He entered the Jesuit order in 1922 and he was one of the most influential theologians in the Vatican II era. His essays covered a broad range of topics; most of these issues were what concerned the Catholics from the 1940s to the 1980s. His essays provided many resources for both academic and pastoral theology. He was quite popular in his native German-speaking countries through his teaching, lectures, editorial labors and membership in learned societies. He was published in international publications like Concilium. He had a large collection of works 1651 publications (4744 including reprints and translations); He also enjoyed a positive reception of his contributions by many Protestant thinkers. Rahners influence became more evident after his service as an official papal theological expert from1960 to 1965 before and during the Second Vatican Council. To understand how Rahner arrives at his concept of the anonymous Christian, it is important to understand the basis of ideas of Rahner. He was greatly influenced by Immanuel Kant, Heidegger, and the Belgian Jesuit Joseph Marà ©chal. The basis of Rahners thoughts comes from a vision of the world being a profound area of Gods self-communication. Rahners first two books were Spirit in the World and Hearer of the Word. Rahners position, as written in his essays, was deeply rooted in the Ignation way of thinking, believing that God is in all things, sacramental piety, and devotion to Jesus and the Catholic doctrine. Rahner addresses the anonymous Christian in an interview provided to Rev. Norman Wong Cheong Sau in an article titled Karl Rahners Concepts of the Anonymous Christian an Inclusivist View of Religions, he provided his personal definition of anonymous Christian to Rev. Sau interviewer: We prefer the terminology according to which that a man is called an anonymous Christian who on the one hand has de facto accepted of his freedom this gracious self-offering on Gods part through faith, hope, and love, while on the other he is absolutely not yet a Christian at the social level (through baptism and membership of the Church) or in the sense of having consciously objectified his Christianity to himself in his own mind (by explicit Christian faith resulting from having hearkened to the explicit message). We might therefore, put it as follows: the anonymous Christian in our sense of the term is the pagan after the beginning of the Christian mission, who lives in the state of Christs grace through faith, hope, and love, yet who has no explicit knowledge of the fact that his life is orientated in grace-given salvation to Jesus Christ. A non-anonymous Christian for lack of a better term or a declared Christian is someone who has accepted Christ and lives with the grace of Gods grace, love, hope and understanding. This person declares himself a Christian, was baptized and lives by Gods laws. Rahner bases his belief in the anonymous Christian as someone who lives a Christian lifestyle but has not yet declared himself a true Christian. By declaring oneself a true Christian, according to Rahner, you must be baptized, attend mass and pray in the traditional standardized way. This of course, includes living by Gods laws and living in a Christ like manner. This person declares themselves a Christian in every way, the way they talk, the way they pray and their absolution from original sin. A good example of the declared Christian would be Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa acknowledged that she lived in the Grace of God and followed his words and teachings. She accepted Jesus as her way to God. In believing that Jeus Christ is the only way to God would be to think in an exclusivist manner. According to Rahner there is more than one way to reach God. This would be the Inclusivist view. It accepts that Jesus is but only one way to God, but acknowledges that there are others. Rahner talks of the supernatural salvation for people who live in Gods grace without the acknowledged title of Christian. The Inclusivist view is what has led to Karl Rahners description of the anonymous Christian. According to Rahner it is not necessary to be a declared Christian to work your way to God. In Pope John Paul IIs visit to Mahatma Gandhis tomb The Pope put flower petals on the grave and said that followers of other religions can be saved by Christ without being converted. This gave some popularity to Rahners claim that any man who practices a religion or acts according to natural law and is blessed by Gods grace is an anonymous Christian, even if he does not wish to admit it. Gandhi was a perfect example of this anonymous Christian, although he did not call himself a Christian by name he lived in a Christ like manner, followed his religion faithfully and exercised Christian attitudes to others, thereby living in Gods grace. There is a quote in the Rahner Reader on Page 75 that best describes the awareness utilized by Gandhi in being called an anonymous Christian, The mind of even the anonymous Christian is raised to the supernatural order by the grace of Christ, philosophy is not purely secular activity. The best of modern philosophy should be considered the self-reflection of a mind to which God has revealed himself implicitly through his grace. This quote described the grace given to Gandhi through his self awareness and through his thought process that leads to his Christian like beliefs. Although, again, not being a declared Christian, Gandhi, would be considered an anonymous Christian as his beliefs and life style brought him into the grace of God. Of course, any person can become an anonymous Christian; it is based on their beliefs and their way of thinking, and their supernatural salvation. If a mans reason is that which leads him closer to grace then as per Rahner, The anonymous Christian whether they know it or not, whether they distinguish it from the light of their natural reason or not are enlightened by the light of Gods grace which God denies no man. Being a Christian is not a prerequisite to receiving Gods grace. According to Rahner, Gods grace is open to all men. Presented in Rahners Reader is a passage about exploring new lands, Christs message can still be heard. Although, the inhabitants may not understand Christ or his word it does not mean that they are not living in the grace of God. The Western World, during its wonderings into strange lands while carrying Christs message, always encounters a world in which Christs grace has long been at work even though not called by its own name. (Rahner 80) Basically what Rahner is saying here is that no matter where we travel we can find anonymous Christians. He believes that Gods grace is at work in many lands, places where the inhabitants may not even have heard of Jesus Christ or of God Himself. Rahner has a very open mind, in the exclusivist view the only way to God is through Christ. Rahner is exemplary of the inclusivist view. I agree with Rahner that to be near God does not necessarily mean that we must only accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior. There are many people that live a good life, are Christian like in all of their ways but they do not worship Jesus the same as Christians. Many people in many lands are blessed by Gods grace. Many of the people of Israel, although Jewish, still live a life that is graced by God. They pray, the exhibit Christian like atitudes, Jewish people can live a righteous pious life and through reasonable intelligence believe that they are righteous, and imagine God telling them that no matter how good of a life they lived they could not get into heaven or be awarded the gift of his grace. This is where Rahners anonymous Christian theory believes that although they are not considered Christians, they still can receive Gods grace and love. To sum up Karl Rahners position of the anonymous Christian, anyone can be an anonymous Christian; it only takes the act of living as a Christian and not the explicit declaration of being a Christian. Grace exists by affecting a spiritual, personal substantiality, by being the divinizing condition of the latter, and hence presupposes and incorporates into itself the whole reality of this person as the condition of its own possibility and makes it part of the factors o fits own concrete being (Rahner 75) In other words grace exists by the actions of people and the actions are a part that makes up the whole. Therefore, it is the actions of the people that decide if they are worthy of Gods grace. The world is full of anonymous Christians. Some we may recognize by name such as Gandhi and others are the anonymous faces we pass everyday on the street. But we are not able to pick them out except by their actions because even their worshipping or non worshipping habits cannot help to pick out those worthy of Gods grace.

Use of Images and Imagery in Shakespeares Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Use of Imagery in Macbeth  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As defined in the Webster's Students Dictionary, imagery is a figurative term which reveals description by applying the five senses. William Shakespeare's usage of the imagery of animals, the imagery of blood, the imageries of clothing and weather, are frequently shown throughout the play. Through examples of imageries of animals, Shakespeare uses literary elements such as symbolism. Before Suncan's assassination, animals, such as the owl and the falcon, emerged from the night and acted unnatural, "even like the deeds that's done." "It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, which gives the stern'st good-night." In Act 2, scene 2, Lady Macbeth waits anxiously for Macbeth to return from killing Duncan, the King of Scotland. The step that Macbeth is leaping over goes against the rules of nature, and when thsi happens, animals and weather erupt. The owl is a bellman because, according to superstition, the hoot of the owl portends death. He is fatal, perhaps because he death and horror. thus, when the owls screamed and the crickets cried, it symbolized evil and ominous doings. In Act 2, scene 4, Ross and an old man exchange accounts of the disturbed night and the recent unnatural happenings. Hours seemed dreadful and things strange. The heavens and animals are troubled by man's presence on earth's stage, where he performs his bloody acts. The night has been unruly, houses and chimneys were being destroyed by fierceful winds, and everything was filled with "dire combustion." The indistinguishable bird of darkness, the owl, clamored the night. "A falcon, tow'ring in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl, whose normal prey is a mouse. The night has become more powerful than the day or else the day is hiding its face in shame. Also, Macbeth's horses, the choicest examples of their breed, turned feral, as they broke their stalls, and were said to have eaten each other. Horses do not each other. Bizarre events occured the night Duncan was murdered by Macbeth. These dreadful events took place at night, a symbolic reference to the evil doings of men. There is a sense of fear, wonderment, amazement, and mystery. An atmosphere of death is symbolized by the behavior of the animals of the night. "The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements." In Act I, scene 5, Lady Macbeth has already planned the assassination.

Oedipus the King

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once identified the key ingredients of the tragedies that his culture is so famous for. These ingredients include a character with a fatal flaw, the realization of the fault for a particular problem and the final sudden reversal of fortune. For many tragedies, the fatal flaw is demonstrated as excessive pride, which usually serves as the driving force of the play’s action. It is common, even beneficial, to have pride in oneself, but when it becomes expressed as arrogance or in defiance of one’s fate, it is considered excessive and often leads men to engage in activities that will lead to their downfall. Aristotle (1998) stated â€Å"the tragic hero falls into bad fortune because of some flaw in his character of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune such as Oedipus. † This attitude, commonly found in men of high station is not specifically identified as pride in the case of Oedipus and, indeed, different readings can place Oedipus’ great flaw in a number of areas. It seems as if Sophocles intended to emphasize the more common interpretation of Oedipus’ flaw being excessive pride, but other interpretations, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1967 film Oedipus Rex, present other possibilities as the main character is brought through the three primary elements of tragedy. In both the play and the film, Oedipus is quickly demonstrated to have a fatal flaw. In the play, the action opens as Oedipus is approached by plague-stricken masses asking help from him as king. He responds to their appeals saying, â€Å"What means this reek of incense everywhere, / From others, and am hither come, myself, / I Oedipus, your world-renowned king† (4-8). In this statement, Oedipus’ pride in his social position is clear. In the film, though, he is seen as somewhat insecure, even as a child when he cheats at a game, and then as a haunted man with a burning mystery searing his dreams, both showing him to be a man of deep passions. Throughout the remainder of the action in the play, Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects excessive pride in his ability to force things his way. When Oedipus learned of the prediction that he was doomed to kill his father and marry his mother, he was full of self-pride to defy the fates and leave Corinth. The film depicts this as a heart-wrenching decision to never go near his parents again in order to save them followed by a time of desperate wandering through barren wastelands. While both versions indicate extreme passion involved in the killing of Laius and the claiming of Jocasta, the Oedipus in the play greets his subjects with almost concealed disdain and the Oedipus of the film greets them with sorrow and deeply shared concern. While Sophocles sets his character up to battle pride, Pasolini prepares him to come face to face with the consequences of passion. It is easy to see the irony in both play and film that if Oedipus had not been so determined to escape and prevent the prophecy, he would have not unwittingly fulfilled it. This is foreshadowed by Creon in the play just before the truth of the story is realized. Creon tells Oedipus, â€Å"You are obstinate— / obviously unhappy to concede, / and when you lose your temper, you go too far. But men like that find it most difficult / to tolerate themselves† (814-819). In this one short statement, Jocasta’s brother sums up the entire tragedy. He points to Oedipus’ stubbornness and pride in being unwilling to consider the possibility that he might be the murderer he seeks. As a result of his own impatience and driving desire to bring honor and further pride to his name, Oedipus becomes excessive in his proclamations regarding motives and punishments to be handed down and then suddenly realizes that he cannot escape the horror of his crimes. This horror is demonstrated in the film to great effect as the confused Oedipus slowly becomes overwhelmed with the possibilities, finally screaming out his confession in a now-customary burst of passion. By the end of the story, Oedipus has come to realize that everything he has done has only served to bring him closer to his evil destiny. In the process of trying to avoid fate, he has committed some of the greatest sins imaginable to him – defiled his mother’s bed, murdered his father and spawned monstrous children born of incest. Rather than face the truth and unable to take the severe wound to his pride, Oedipus stabbed out his eyes with broaches and walked away from Thebes forever, thereby sealing his doom through further prideful actions. The sudden reversal of fortune has Oedipus walking away from Thebes a blind, homeless beggar rather than the respected king he should have been based upon his more noble qualities. While this is a surprise, it is nevertheless a logical possible conclusion to the events that have taken place. This concept is brought out to greater extent in the film through the change in setting. Pasolini begins and ends the film in a contemporary setting to when the film was made. While the play suggests that Oedipus went wandering into the desert a self-blinded beggar man, the film indicates that he has been wandering a tortured individual for much longer than a normal lifespan. Thus, the elements of classic tragedy are carried throughout both play and film to slightly different interpretations. In both, a fatal flaw within the character of Oedipus drives his actions that eventually seal his own doom. Seen as it is throughout the various elements of the classic tragedian format of first demonstrating a noble characteristic to tragic proportions, then becoming aware of it and then suffering as a result of it, it cannot be missed that Sophocles was trying to illustrate to his audience the dangers of an absence of humility and common sense when he highlighted Oedipus’ excessive pride. Pasolini seems to have been more interested in warning his audiences about the sins of excessive passion. This is, in some sense, what Aristotle was trying to communicate regarding the purpose of tragedy, which he describes as â€Å"an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play †¦ through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions† (Aristotle cited in Friedlander, 2005). By illustrating the various things that can go wrong when one believes they have no flaws, Sophocles and Pasolini hoped to encourage a closer connection with truth as a means of avoiding Oedipus’ fate. Works Cited â€Å"Aristotle. † Critica Links. (1998). The University of Hawaii. May 21, 2007 Pasolini, Pier Paolo (Dir. ). Edipo Re. Perf. Silvana Mangano, Franco Citti, Carmelo Bene, Julian Beck & Ninetto Davoli. Arco Films, 1967. Sophocles. Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra. Oxford World’s Classics. Ed. Edith Hall. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Isolation in the Painted Door by Ross Sinclair Essay

The feelings of isolation and alienation can be frustrating, dangerous and eventually they can even drive a person mad. People have always dealt with such issues differently. Some managed to abandon those feelings and continued with their lives while others succumbed to them as they were unable to overcome and/or control them. Those souls who â€Å"surrendered† often faced destruction or even death as they were unable to cope with changes and the pressures of living a life below their expectations with no one to trust and confide, not even their beloved ones. When people are alone and isolated for a certain amount of time there is a chance that they forget about real life and even become â€Å"bushed†. This is one of the many problems of vast countries such as Canada especially its dry prairies and northern arctic regions can change people. In this essay, I will try to analyze and investigate different circumstances that can lead to emotional states, some of which are prominent themes in Canadian fiction – isolation, alienation, loneliness, loss of identity and madness. Isolation and alienation can occur out of many reasons. It is not only an isolated landscape that may trigger feelings of loneliness, fear or helplessness, but also isolation and alienation from society or even people closest to you. Other definitions may also include spiritual and emotional isolation. In Sinclair Ross’ The Painted Door the protagonist Ann fells alone and isolated for many reasons. Ann is not pleased with her life. She and her husband John live in the middle of nowhere, far away from company and populated settlements. The remote surrounding in which they live creates a feeling of extreme isolation, especially after previously living in a city. After being exposed to this geographical isolation for some time, Ann’s feelings of loneliness eventually intensify to the point where she even feels alienated from her own husband. But at that point she does not realize that her yearning for a better and different life will consequently change her life for worse and will make her feel guilty and miserable for the rest of her life. After having an affair with Steven she realizes that this is not what she really wanted and she also realizes that she has made a big mistake sleeping with him, while her husband was away. Therefore, we cannot consider Steven as the fulfillment of her desires for a better life, but rather as a temporary means to â€Å"cure† her from her isolation and loneliness. As John unexpectedly returns home during a storm, he witnesses the betrayal and leaves Ann never to return again. †¦ the explicit theme is centered on adultery. However, there are other, more subtle, motifs in the story that play a very significant role in its success. The themes essential in making the protagonist’s adultery understandable are the landscape, her isolation, and the feelings of betrayal and guilt that she experiences following the central act of the story. (The Painted Door) Ultimately, Ann’s needs to feel loved and acknowledged, as well as her actions out of desperation and loneliness, lead her to the destruction of her life and, consequently, the life or her husband. The blizzard, which can be seen as a metaphor for passion, as well as the physical and emotional separation from her husband engage her to do things she probably, under â€Å"normal† circumstances, would not consider doing. Therefore, it is in those extreme conditions where we have to search for the driving force behind Ann’s adultery. The answers that would â€Å"justify† her actions and would, as well, give us an insight into her inner loneliness and isolation are all hidden in this seemingly unreal wasteland. In this story we can find: †¦thematic elements considered the bedrock of Canadian writing: a landscape so bleak in winter that it seemed a region alien to life, but a house standing nonetheless standing against that wilderness, a refugee of feeble walls wherein persisted the elements of human meaning and survival. †¦ A woman who wants fine things and a social life, but a slow, taciturn, country-bound husband who only aspires to paying of the mortgage. (Stouck 2005, 93) The Painted Door is not Ross’ only short story dealing with issues such as isolation, alienation and madness. The other prominent example of him using such themes and motifs is The Lamp at Noon where Ross, by establishing a gloomy and intense atmosphere, creates a feeling of uneasiness and fear of the isolated and even manic environment which inevitably affects the story’s protagonists. It â€Å"illustrates how close to madness a person’s dreams of a better life may be juxtaposing the delusions harboured by a husband and a wife about their failing homestead.† (Estehammer 1992) The newlyweds Ellen and Paul moved from the city to a desert landscape during the time of the Great Depression to live as farmers in the Canadian prairie. Unfortunately, dust storms, as well as the soil’s dryness and lack of rain made their existence as happy and successful farmers almost impossible. Nevertheless, Ellen, who came from a rich family, tried to be a model wife by taking care of the household and their baby, but the fact that they were living on an infertile and isolated farm made things worse day by day and contributed to the couple’s constant quarreling. The lack of joy, food and tolerance caused both emotional and physical suffering for Ellen and Paul. It seems as if the shift from city- to rural life hit Ellen particularly hard as she seems to be very frustrated about her present situation and even afraid of what the future might hold for them. She feels as if she was living in a cage or a prison, and deep inside she knew that there is no way out of it. It is obvious that the setting is essential in causing havoc in Ellen’s and Paul’s lives. Therefore, to answer the question of where these feelings of isolation, loneliness and, in the end, even madness originate, we must consider the extreme unfriendly and even claustrophobic environment as a major factor. Other likely reasons would have to be Paul’s stubbornness and his foolish manly pride that made him ignore his wife’s request to change matters by setting up new priorities. For many years she has tried to persuade him to leave the farm but she has failed every time due to his reassuring comments about a better life. Because Paul is unable, or maybe even unwilling, to change, he eventually destroys his marriage and family by further contributing to his wife’s state of depression and, ultimately, insanity. It is only after Ellen’s desperate run into the sandstorm, in which she sees freedom, and their baby’s death when Paul realizes his mistakes but it is already too late. Their child is dead and his wife has lost her mind. Consequently it can be seen that both of Ross’ analyzed stories are, in fact, examples of how not to deal with isolation. By creating and describing both stories’ setting so vividly, Ross succeeds in reinforcing our own understanding of isolation, by taking us in the midst of this unfriendly and devastating environment. He makes us almost feel Ellen’s geographical and emotional isolation which eventually drive her into a state of madness. The Lamp at Noon is â€Å"especially powerful because it resonates with the unique historical conditions of the 1930s, when dust storms scourged the West, hard working farm families lost their land, and some people went mad† (Stouck 2005, 91). The lamp in The Lamp at Noon itself is a symbol of hope but when it dies out in the end all hope seems lost. It can be argued that Ross â€Å"does not simply present the landscape and weather as a cause for psychological disintegration but also deploys it as a metaphor to develop the inner landscape of his characters, the landscape thus serving as the objective correlative of the feelings and the states of m ind of his protagonists† (Pauly 1999, 70). The Old Woman by Joyce Marshall is another prominent example of how isolation can lead into madness. Molly and Todd got married in Molly’s homeland England. Soon afterwards Todd traveled to Canada leaving his Molly behind. She joins him after 3 years because she had to take care of her ill mother. When she arrives in Northern Quebec she realized that Todd has changed since their last meeting. Molly starts her life in the new environment like many women before her, by taking care of the household. Her husband was preoccupied with his job to notice that Molly felt unpleasant in the new environment. Instead of helping her to adapt to the new life, he becomes more and more distant, less talkative and absorbed by the machines in â€Å"his† powerhouse. After a while, Molly finds her calling as a local birth helper but, to her disappointment, her husband is disapproving towards her newly found occupation. He wants her to stay at home all day and to be like the other obedient wives without ever second questioning him in spite of his negligence towards her. In order to cope with her isolation she nevertheless decides that she must occupy herself in some way. She finally feels needed, something Todd does not understand nor desire. In the end it does not matter how Molly feels anyway because her husband has lost his mind after 3 years of living and breathing with the machines at the power house – he has â€Å"fallen in love† with them. In this story the gender roles and immigrant stereotypes have been turned upside-down. Not in the sense of male or female roles and duties but the fact that a local man, instead of a female immigrant, goes mad in the end distinguishes this story from others. There is a sharp delineation between the two possible approaches to the foreign territory. Since the machines have always been between Todd and the land, he has been unable to relate adequately to others. In his limited and confined existence he has, in the end, even gone insane. At the same time his wife discovers a personally satisfying role as a midwife in a French-Canadian community. Her productive approach thus carries her across apparent linguistic and cultural boundaries and across her isolation. (Pauly 1999, 64) In contrast to The Painted Door and The Lamp at Noon, where the female protagonists were the ones whose lives were destroyed by their actions out of isolation, loneliness and their dependency on their husbands, Molly, despite her inconvenient situation, lack of attention from her husband and her fear of loneliness, seemingly succeeds in overcoming the obstacles that were put in her way. By not taking the repressions of her husband any longer and deciding to pursue her own interests, Molly stands as a representative of a new feminist ideology which, however, can’t be compared with today’s notion of feminism as it had to undergo decades of changes and development to improve the roles and lives of women to the stage as we know them today. Unfortunately, women’s roles still differ very much. They strongly depend on the location, culture and religion the women live in. Classic gender roles were also turned upside-down in Isabella Valancy Crawford’s story Extradited. In it we find a â€Å"striking portrait of a petulant and narcissistic woman and her devastating examination of jealousy† (Stephenson and Byron 1993, 12). The protagonists of the story are Samuel â€Å"Sam† O’Dwyer, his wife Bessie, their baby and a man named Joe who was helping them on their farm. Sam and Joe quickly became very good and close friends. While reading the story one could even think that Sam, although twice of Joe’s age, might even hold deeper feelings for him (homoeroticism?). After a while, Bessie is annoyed by Sam’s admiration for Joe and as soon as she finds out that Joe is wanted by the police for a legal offence against his former employer and that there is a 1000$ reward for the one who catches him or turns him in, she immediately grabs the chance she considers to be the one that will ensure them a better life. However, after Joe’s heroically rescue of Sam’s and Bessie’s baby, and him drowning after saving it, Bessie, although informing the police of Joe’s whereabouts, stays without the reward but has inevitably to deal and live with her husband’s scorn as she has to bear the blame for a good man’s death. Bessie probably thought that she was doing the right thing. We would normally expect a man to act rational and women emotional at that time and place. However, in Sam’s and Bessie’s case it is the other way around. It is Sam who acts emotional, by wanting to protect Joe, and Bessie who acts rational, by wanting the reward in order to buy a new farm and within to pave the way for a better life for herself and her family. Therefore, it is the woman, not the man, who is a representative of realism, whereas the man can be seen as a romanticist. This example makes it clear that women were also aspiring beyond the domestic sphere and not on ly victims of their husbands’ arbitrariness. This stands in opposition to the naturalistic ideas of earlier eras where women had to stoically accept their traditional roles, i.e. teacher, maid, housewife, devoted mother, and had to sacrifice their own happiness for their children’s and/or husband’s sake. Women should repress their previous experiences and knowledge after getting married and were mostly appreciated as long as they kept their physical charms. In Canadian short fiction immigration is the process which, in many cases, causes isolation and alienation. It is a long and complex process as starting a life in a new country can be very difficult. The issues of immigration seem to have affected women particularly hard. In order to keep themselves sane and deal with the harsh realities that the early pioneers had to face, women, who mostly spent their time at home, wrote diaries. Susanna Moodie, who was one the most famous chroniclers of the early Canadian immigrant experience, was describing the negative aspects of environmental and social isolation among early immigrants in Roughing it in the Bush. Moodie’s sister Catharine Parr Traill even advised men to consult with their wives before emigrating to Canada as most immigrants were completely unprepared to live in such an unfriendly and unfamiliar environment. Brian, the protagonist of Moodie’s short story Brian the Still Hunter, is also, like Ellen from The Lamp at Noon and Ann from The Painted Door, a victim of isolation. However, the first and foremost reason for Brian’s isolation is alcoholism. As a result his extensive drinking has isolated him from society and even his own family. Alcohol has transformed him into an unpredictable character. This is why society treated him as an outsider. When Brian was drunk, he was not able to speak normally to anyone, not even his wife. Their relationship was put to the test due to ever-changing periods of guilt, shame and anger. He felt emotionally isolated, worthless, and he even attempted to commit suicide. He fails in this intention and matters get even worse for him. Afterwards he quits drinking and chooses physical isolation for himself instead. He is slowly falling into a state of insanity as he loiters about the land with only his dog by his side to keep him company. Many immigrants could not deal with the formidable reality which the Canadian landscape prepared for them and fell into a state of madness. Madness most commonly might have appeared due to some of the following reasons. It either developed as a consequence out of the confrontation between the ideas and lifestyles of the Old and the New World, or out of geographical and environmental differences (dangerous wilderness, plain and/or artic landscape). This new environment was not only dangerous to one’s physical but also psychical health. It was hard not to lose your identity while facing the limits of your capabilities and still keeping your sense of inner (subjective) and outer (objective) reality balanced. †¦while the plains sometimes provoked the outbreaks of insanities, the primary cause is often to be found elsewhere. These causes range from economic frustration, isolation from the people, frustration growing out of an inability to adapt, personal displacement and loss of identity, to guilt and isolation. All these are parts not only of a physical environment but of a mental landscape. Women’s nerves overstretched and they usually became depressed and silent whereas men more often turned to violence in order to act out their rage and frustration. In some cases these states were permanent, in others they were temporary and subsided after a finite period of time. (Pauly 1999, 53) Stories like The Lamp at Noon and The Old Woman can be best described as examples of â€Å"Pioneer Realism† and/or â€Å"Prairie Realism†. Besides Sinclair Ross, other prominent â€Å"Canadian† authors who dealt with the prairie experiences were Martha Ostenso, Laura Salverson and Frederic Philip Grove. In their works, these authors start their stories with a naà ¯ve or, we might even say, romanticized, view of the immigrants’ arrival to Canada. Later on, all become disillusioned by the setting and gradually alienated from their new home. These stories â€Å"generally include a ‘prairie patriarch’. [†¦] he is usually presented as a land-hungry, work-intoxicated tyrant. The farm women are subjugated, culturally and emotionally starved, and filled with a smouldering rebellion. All in all a fertile ground for conflict and all kinds of mental instabilities.† (Pauly 1999, 54) As an immigrant, your well-being will largely depend on your ability to adapt and deal with the given circumstances. Though those two stories are set in different locations, the first in a prairie and the latter in the Canadian North, both still are fictional stories dealing with the issues pioneers experienced when they first arrived and became aware of how dangerous it really was to be out of tune with the land. While some succumbed to the unknown and fled, lost their minds or even died, others luckily found other forms of distraction from the isolation which surrounded them, making their existence bearable. In continuation, other forms of dealing with the harsh realities of everyday life will be analyzed. These are the stories of escapement from the â€Å"sane† into a subjective â€Å"insane† world in order to survive. The protagonists of these stories are all isolated and alienated from other people, not necessarily because of an isolated landscape, but rather because of their dissimilarities. â€Å"[A]lineation is withdrawal from something – becoming strange and foreign to it, being put out or taking One’s self out and thereby becoming a stranger – separated. Since humans feel vulnerable when they are strangers, the emotional essence of alienation is fear and hostility† (Henry 1971, 105). The â€Å"sane† world can therefore be even seen as life-threatening to the â€Å"stranger† because all it wants to achieve is to isolate him even further and to destroy his reality. Ultimately, there are three choices a â€Å"stranger† can make. He can either let the â€Å"sane† world take over and destroy his very essence, he can protect himself by playing along, pretending to be someone else by acting out roles, or he can escape into his own reality where he alone decides what is right and wrong, what the truth is and what only illusion. Louise and Morrison, the protagonists of Margaret Atwood’s short story Polarities, are working colleagues in an unnamed dull city in the northwest. They came to this city because they could not find any other job elsewhere. Morrison finds this dullness rather irritating and the northern city a hard place to live in. Louise however claims that you just have to have â€Å"inner resources† to turn to when matters get tough. After some time, Louise started acting and talking strange. She would find meaning in things other people would not, as Morrison states: â€Å"she’s taken as real what the rest of us pretend is only metaphorical† (Atwood 1993, 69). Morrison more and more started to believe that there is something seriously wrong with Louise, as her strange behavior is not to be ascribed to fatigue or the abuse of substances, a fact another colleague also acknowledges. Morrison and Paul, the other co-worked, eventually agree that it would be best for Louise to be institutionalized. Nevertheless, Louise almost convinces the doctors that she is perfectly fine but she eventually makes a mistake and they decide to keep her hospitalized. After spending some time in the hospital, Louise’s intelligence begins to deteriorate due to the extensive amount of drugs she was forced to take. She almost stopped talking to anyone and it was obvious that she suffered tremendously, especially on the inside. It seems that before she had been taken to the mental hospital she was a little strange but nevertheless managed to get along in everyday life. All that remained now of Louise was an empty shell as she became only a shadow of her former self. Margaret Gibson was another author who wrote about oversensitive people unable to live in a â€Å"normal† society. Due to her mental state, she was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, she could relate to and identify with her writing as few authors before her. Nevertheless, she claimed that her works are not autobiographical. In her collection of short stories entitled The Butterfly Ward, she tried to explore the boundaries of sanity and insanity. Her own experiences as an outsider gave her the opportunity and ability to present a â€Å"stranger’s world† in a unique and exciting way. It is important to recognize at the outset that Gibson’s primary concern in relation to the theme of madness is with the responses to mental illness, rather than with its causes or manifestations. While she clearly does not neglect the latter issues, her writing often focuses upon the ways in which those categorized as mentally ill and those assigning the label respond to the condition. (Pauly 1999, 106) Her short stories The Butterfly Ward, Making it, Ada and Considering Her Condition are great examples of her writing creativity.   In the beginning of The Butterfly Ward we are introduced to Kira, the story’s heroine, who is staying at a hospital and is undergoing various extremely painful and brutal tests and examinations in order to determine what is causing her mental â€Å"condition†. As the story progresses, we get a glimpse of her earlier life. Before being admitted to the hospital, she worked in a home for mentally challenged children. Unfortunately, she had a very ambitious mother who dreamt of a better life for her and her daughter in Russia. Her mother is convinced that Kira’s occupation does not suit her and that she would be better of studying at a university. Kira becomes a victim of her mother’s ambition and pressure under which she, eventually, collapses. She is still aware of her surroundings but nevertheless decides to live her life in her own fantasy world which she considers a better place than the real world where she is being locked up and heavily medicated. The protagonist of Gibson’s story Ada is a girl of the same name as the title and who is, like Kira, residing in a mental hospital. As the story unfolds, it becomes obvious that the patients of this institution are being heavily mistreated and denied any basic human rights. The only visitor Ada has is her mother. Although we might think that her mother would like to help her to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, she does not show any genuine intentions of helping or understanding her daughter in her need. After some time, Ada realized that she cannot expect any help from anyone, and denies her mother, and other family members, visits because they do not understand her. More and more she drives herself into isolation from others and even from her own feelings. Ultimately, her isolation causes her to lose touch with reality entirely –so we might think. When another â€Å"inmate† joins the group at the asylum, the patients are presented as seemingly smarter than their doctors, as they are easily able to manipulate with them as in the case of Alice. However, Ada and her best friend Jenny manage to escape their isolation but must pay a very high price for it. Jenny, who wanted to protect Ada from Alice’s abuses, stands up against Alice and within she awakens Ada from her inner retreat. By later killing Alice, Ada awakens from her mental slumber and ends her child-like existence. Nevertheless, it can be argued that Ada’s retreat in her own world was, in fact, her strategy to survive in a depressive and live-threatening environment such as the mental asylum where normality of patients (their thoughts, emotions, actions) is considered as something abnormal. For Gibson, therefore, abnormality can be seen as the only way to survive in an inhuman and egoistic world. A similar story to Ada is Making It where the protagonists Liza, a schizophrenic, and Robin, a male homosexual transvestite, try to make something of their lives. Both of them try to hide their true nature because if they would not they would be considered as outcasts in a society intolerant of â€Å"crazy† people. Although they desperately want to fight society’s categorizations and prove them wrong, they are, nevertheless, unable to do so. Liza, who becomes pregnant, sees her baby as her own way of â€Å"making it† out of her troubles. Robin, on the other hand, sees his â€Å"salvation† in becoming a famous women impersonator in California’s entertainment industry. They are convinced that motherhood for her and fame for him will make them â€Å"normal† in the eyes of society. In the end of the story the two once again decide to live together like a regular, but in their case platonic, couple. Robin even rejects the men of his dreams in order to be able to help Liza to live a â€Å"normal† life. Unfortunately, happiness stays out of reach for them as they, after Liza’s baby was born dead, once again fall into isolation and feel alienated from society. Although considered abnormal, Robin and Liza’s feelings of belonging, friendship, helpfulness and love for one another are something we would have trouble finding in the â€Å"normal† world. For Gibson, we, the â€Å"sane† readers, are the ones who make existence for people like her protagonists unbearable and force them into isolation and self-destruction. In Considering her Condition, it is a man named Steven who drives his wife Clare into suicide after she gave birth to their baby son. Steven is a very suppressive, bossy and egoistic character. Clare never even wanted children but after Steven persuaded her it becomes clear that he never thought about what is best for her but rather what is best for him. Later in the story we get to know that Steven already has a child but has no contact with her anymore. When Clare was pregnant, Steven became obsessed with the baby and did not care much about his wife anymore. He even denied Clare her right to chose abortion despite the doctor’s advice to terminate the pregnancy. Claire must suffer enormously just to fulfill his desires and wishes. Gibson gives us a picture of how married couples’ lives can be destroyed by polarities and traditional gender-roles. Steven will not let Clare have her own life and she does not have the strength to fight his demands. Her suicide is the only action she can realize out of her own will. Not even her death affects Steven as he never though of her being more than a subordinate wife and the mother of his children. Considering her Condition can be seen as Gibson’s strong critique against a society that denies women their right to choose their own way of living and thinking and breaks their spirits by taking away their desires, pride and self-esteem. The analyzed stories in The Butterfly Ward: †¦focus upon individuals who have become objects of scrutiny to others. These others, †¦ , exercise a great deal of power over those who have failed to adapt to the expectations and demands of normal society. First and foremost among those strategies is simple observation. Whether an individual is labeled paranoid or simply maladjusted, the effect is similar. The individual ends up excluded from normal existence and confined within another territory. The responses of those thus observed, excluded, isolated and confined are various, but all, in some way, reveal attempts to escape this condition. (Pauly 1999, 116) Not only individuals can suffer tremendously under the influence of isolation but also whole communities. In W.D. Valgardson’s story Bloodflowers â€Å"the setting seems to imply that even today, people will tend to resort to primitive rituals when isolated and severely tried by living conditions† (Neijmann 1996, 311). It is the story of a young teacher named Danny who moves to an isolated island, called Black Island, where superstition is still widely spread among the island’s local community. Danny at first just wants to witness an ancient local fertility ritual taking place annually on the island. The ritual consists of sacrificing a man in order to conclude any misfortunes that have happened in the past year and might continue into the next one. Unfortunately for Danny, as misfortunes continue to happen, the locals consider him to be the cause of disturbance and they decide to sacrifice him in order to save themselves from further harm. It seems as if the local people are not having any trouble â€Å"justifying† the murders they have committed with superstition. In this story, where Valgardson makes extensive use of irony, we get to see the serious consequences (misunderstandings) that may occur when different or conflicting cultures cross paths. In Rudy Wiebe’s Where is the Voice Coming From?, the notions of isolation and alienation can be ascribed to the native Canadian inhabitants. The isolation of the indigenous (ethnic) voice and the question of a â€Å"Canadian identity†, by this I mean telling the other side of Canadian history (of the aboriginal inhabitants) too, are issues Wiebe tries to address. Its most prominent themes would have to be the social and cultural injustices and consequently isolation and alienation suffered by the indigenous people after the European settlers have taken over their lands. In conclusion it can be said that people were often driven mad by loneliness and isolation and some even saw death as their only means of escaping it. Others, who also lived in isolation, developed psychotic behaviors which not only made them self-destructive but also a threat to others. Taking into consideration all of the authors and their stories that deal with the themes and motifs of isolation, alienation, loneliness and madness, one cannot fail to observe that isolation has an extremely negative effect upon the development of the individual’s character in Canadian short fiction and probably also Canadian literature in general. Works Cited: Atwood, Margaret. Dancing Girls and Other Stories. New York: Bantam Books, 1993. Esterhammer, Angela. â€Å"†Can’t See Life for Illusions†: The Problematic Realism of Sinclair Ross.† In From the Heart of the Heartland, edited by John Moss, 15-24. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1992. Gibson, Margaret. The Butterfly Ward. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1976. Henry, Jules. Pathways to Madness. New York: Random House, 1971. Marshall, Joyce. â€Å"The Old Woman.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush, Or, Life in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998. Neijmann, Daisy L. The Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters: The Contribution of Icelandic – Canadian Writers to Canadian Literature. Montreal: McGill – Queens Press, 1996. Pauly, Susanne. Madness in English-Canadian Fiction. Ph.D. dissertation. Trier: University of Trier, 1999. Ross, Sinclair. â€Å"The Lamp at Noon.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds. 72-81. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Ross, Sinclar. â€Å"The Painted Door.† In The Faber Book of Contemporary Canadian Short Stories, edited by Michael Ondaatje. London: Faber and Faber, 1990. Stephanson, Glennis and Glennis Byron, eds. â€Å"Introduction†. Nineteenth-Century Stories by Women: An Anthology, 9-22. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1993. Stouck, David. As for Sinclair Ross. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. Valancy Crawford, Isabella. â€Å"Extradited.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds. 1-11. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Valgardson, W.D. â€Å"Bloodflowers.† The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 316-332. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Wiebe, Rudy. â€Å"Where is the Voice Coming From?† The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 270-279. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. â€Å"The Painter Door – A Canadian Short Story.† Term papers for students. http://www.essaysample.com/essay/002994.html (accessed August 8, 2008).