Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Summery - Essay Example The second chapter summary dwells on the concept of diversity which primarily focuses on the aspect of differences that exist among people living in a similar group or location. From my own understanding, diversity is concerned about the aspect of co-existence among people from different groups. That it is, living together in harmony among people from diverse places. For instance, the US is a multicultural country and is comprised of people from diverse backgrounds. Measures have been put in order to accommodate the needs and interests of people from different backgrounds. Chapter three looks at the concepts of melting pot and multiculturalism. From this perspective, I have gathered that the concept of melting pot refers to the process where people from different backgrounds converge and establish a new society. For instance, America is comprised of people who came from different places who became united to build this powerful nation. On the other hand, I have observed that the concept of multiculturalism refers to the aspect of acknowledging other people’s values and believes such that people from different backgrounds come to appreciate them and adopt some of them in their own lives. Chapter four focuses on how people react to the concept of diversity. More often, people tend to look down upon other people from other cultures or they can generally refer to them as inferior without the facts to prove their assertions towards individuals from different cultures. Intolerance of people from different cultural backgrounds is very common among other people who do not want to accept the cultural values of other people. Indeed, it is a fact that we hail from different cultural backgrounds and we must accept this hard fact that does not change. This will help us to tolerate each other. Chapter six focuses on the challenges and benefits of diversity. The main challenge of diversity is related to the aspect of discrimination of the other group by another.

University of Phoenix Scavenger Hunt Essay Example for Free

University of Phoenix Scavenger Hunt Essay Which three reviewing services are available to students through the Center for Writing Excellence? For a quick check, you can use WritePoint, which will do a more thorough Word-style grammar and spelling check. For more specific questions and comments, you can use the Tutor review which gives more detailed explanations and a much more thorough check. Also, the Plagiarism checker is nice for making sure you are following correct citation rules and not pulling too much information from one source. Which resource in the Tutorials Guides section of the Center for Writing Excellence offers tips about how to format a paper? * APA format and Style checker What are the University of Phoenix’s suggested resources for academic writing formatting and grammar guides? (Hint: This information is located in the Center for Writing Excellence) * Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association * University Library 1. What are the three major article databases found in the University Library? * EBSCOhost; Thompson Gale PowerSearch and ProQuest. Name three specialized article databases in the University Library. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, Psych Articles, Emerald and tons and tons of others. What link would you click to ask a question of the University of Phoenix Librarian? The â€Å"Ask a Librarian† tab in the other resources. * Course Information 1. From your student Web site, how do you access your reading assignments for this course? From the â€Å"Materials† tab at the top of the screen. What chapter from the text Keys to College Studying is part of the reading assignment for Week Four of this course? Chapter 3. Where on your student Web site will you be able to find your schedule and course grades for all courses completed to date? From the â€Å"Grades† tab. Learning Teams 1. What six documents are contained in the â€Å"Toolkit Essentials† section of the Learning Team Toolkit? * Learning Team Handbook, Online Campus Learning Team Handbook, Learning Team Log, Learning Team Evaluation, Learning Team Charter, and Guide to Completing the University of Phoenix Learning Team Charter. * According to the Learning Team Toolkit section, â€Å"Why Learning Teams? † what are the four essential functions filled by Learning Teams that are especially beneficial to working adult learners? * It can make assignments better, it is a place for learning and maintaining new knowledge through other viewpoints, it gives a place to share information and is a community where people can learn how other people are handling school and life. Student Services 1. What is the phone number for University of Phoenix technical support? (Hint: Use the â€Å"Help† button in the top right corner of the page. ) * 1-877-832-4867 Where can you find information about who to contact for questions regarding student disabilities? * On the â€Å"University Diability Services† tab. What three National Testing Programs does the University of Phoenix award credit for? * DANTES, CLEP and Excelsior Name one form of misconduct in the Student Code of Conduct. (Hint: The Student Code of Conduct is located in the Academic Catalog). * Plagarism in any form.

A New High Speed Rail Link For Britain Engineering Essay

A New High Speed Rail Link For Britain Engineering Essay Recently travel by rail has increased with many lines struggling to cope with the demand. The West Coast mainline which can be seen as one of the most important rail lines in Britain will reach capacity by 2020 according to the Transport Politic and has also seen investments of around  £13 billion already (www.thetransportpolitic.com, 2009). One of the popular modes of travelling long distance within Britain is short haul flights; however air travel is neither efficient in terms of energy nor is it environmentally friendly. As the U.K has pledged to lower carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050 (www.treehugger.com, 2009) Britain needs more sustainable forms of transport. With the need to increase capacity on the rail lines, especially from London to the North, along with the environmental and sustainability factors the question that arises is, would it be more be beneficial to upgrade the existing link between the north and London or to implement a new high speed rail link? An Atkins report commissioned by the Dft alternatives to the high speed rail titled High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) outlines rail upgrades as an alternative. Firstly trains could be lengthened to allow for more passenger, however this does not tackle any reduction on journey times and station platforms may not be able to accommodate longer trains. Secondly an investment on the infrastructure to enhance the capacity of the West Coast Mainline would cost around  £3.6 billion (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This would see the operation of an extra four to five trains per hour reducing journey times to Birmingham and Manchester by 12 minutes and 6.5 minutes respectively (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This alternative would not have many adverse effects on the environment as it does not affect the Chiltern Area of Natural Beauty, where the high speed network would, it would however be disruptive to passengers. The third alternative detailed in the report would be to in vest on the Chiltern line along with the previous alternative which would allow three trains per hour to the West Midlands on the Chiltern line at a cost of  £12.5 billion without reduction on journey times and an adverse environmental effect on the Chiltern AONB. Adding onto this would be the fourth alternative with further work on the Chiltern Line between London and the West Midlands to improve journey times at a cost of  £15.1 billion (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This could see a single stop service to the West Midlands in 64 minutes (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This would have the same environmental effects on the Chiltern AONB and also be disruptive to passengers. The last alternative would be to include further work on the infrastructure on the Chiltern Line to take it up as far as Stratford as an alternative to the northern stretch on the West Coast Main Line. This would cost approximately  £19.6 billion(www.dft.gov.uk, 2010), but may prove to challenging, and result in a small frequency on services, without any certain demand for these services. This alternative would be the most environmentally damaging not only for just the Chiltern AONB and would cause disruption to passengers. All the alternatives in upgrades to the existing network seem to be costly, have an adverse effect on the environment and disruption to services already in place which outweigh the benefits in terms capacity generated and reduction of journey times. For many of the alternatives there is no impact on the journey times, which would be seen as defeating the objective of upgrading the existing network. A publication by the Institution of Civil Engineers titled unblocking the potential of rail states that Flights currently account for 93% of business trips between Scotland and London. Research shows passengers will only consider changing from air to rail if the journey time is under three hours only possible on land with a high speed rail route. (www.ice.org.uk, 2010). Over the years Britain has seen to fall behind its European neighbours in developing high speed rail networks. France, Germany, Italy and Spain have all developed high speed rail networks. In particular Spain have in place a high speed rail network between Madrid and Barcelona which reaches speeds of 220mph, which allows the journey of 410 miles to be completed in 2 and a half hours (www.treehugger.com, 2010). Spain is a good example as they have a similar route from Madrid to Seville where more than 80% of travellers on that route prefer to travel by train (www.treehugger.com, 2010). The article Spains high speed service challenges the airlines on www.treehugger.com, 2010 also describes the services as In terms of comfort and convenience the operators are not skimping either. Each train features a conference room, upgraded cooling and air conditioning, internet access and a restaurant car and passengers are refunded their entire fare if the train is more than 5 minutes late (www.tr eehugger.com, 2010). However since 2009 the government have set up a new organisation. High speed 2 Ltd (HS2 Ltd) which is outlying proposals and reports on a new north-south high speed rail network. Recently the transport secretary published the report for new high speed rail network which could see work start around 2017 at the earliest (BBC News, 2010) Figures from The Transport Politic show that the project would cost  £34 billion and include 1500 miles of track, accommodating a total of 34 tunnels and 138 bridges. Whilst 8 new stations would be built and the procurement of 73 high speed trains. If put in place the new north-south link would see an annual ridership of 43.7 journeys. (www.thetransportpolitic.com, 2009). Figure 1 in the appendix shows the proposed line and reduction in journey times. The transport secretary Lord Adonis in a speech about the high speed rail stated additional transport capacity would be needed from the 2020s between our major cities, starting with London to the west midlands, Britains two largest conurbations . . .high speed rail could be the most efficient and sustainable way to provide more capacity between these conurbations. (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). Lord Adonis summarised the development as an initial high speed network linking London to Birmingham then onto Manchester, the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds with high speed trains through to Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which would result in a Y shaped network capable of carrying trains upto 250mph. Figures 2-4 in the appendix show some comparisons of high speed rail compared to classic rail. The benefits of high speed rail as described by Lord Adonis on the Dft website (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) are an increase of rail capacity by a third on the West Coast Mainline, not only because of the track but also due to the length of high speed trains and the adapted stations along with segregation from other rail traffic. The speech also describes the upgrade of existing rail lines yielding less than half the extra capacity for more money and disruption than it would do to implement a high speed network. A new high speed network could see pressure on capacity on the West Coast Mainline released for other services on the network. In terms of saving time on journeys, the time between the London and the west midlands would be between 30 to 50 minutes depending on the station used, whereas places such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield would be bought to within 75 minutes of London and places further north such as Edinburgh and Glasgow to around three and a half hours. High speed trains are stated as a sustainable way forward (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) by Lord Adonis, going on to say that they emit less carbon then other modes such as car or airplane per passenger mile, with the low impact of a new high speed rail network on local areas than that of a new motorway. Weighing up the benefits to the costs, HS2 assessed that the project will yield  £2 for every  £1 spent with the first part of the line up to the West Midlands costing between  £15 and  £17 billion. Along with these benefits, other factors must be taken into consideration. The high speed trains are said to reach 400km/h or 250mph. which would make them the fastest trains in the world, we however need to observe the fact that a train travelling at 360km/h requires 50% more energy than that of a train travelling at 300km/h (www.cpre.org.uk, 2010), going faster could be a cost to the environment. On the topic of environment the high speed network will, similarly to many of the alternatives, cut through the Chiltern AONB where extensive tunnelling will be required as high speed trains need to travel in straight a line as possible. High speed trains will generate a new form of travel, where freed up traffic via existing rail and air travel may be taken up by new demand which could in turn add to carbon emission. For high speed rail to be part of a sustainable future, policys should be produced to keep demand and traffic down on other modes such as increasing air fares and making it more expensive to travel by car. In conclusion high speed rail travel looks more attractive compared to an upgrade of the existing network. Many of the alternative upgrades mentioned have little effect for a big price. The cost of the fifth alternative up grade matches that of the cost of a new high speed line from London to the West Midlands, where you would have significantly reduced journey times and no disruption to existing services. Environmentally both upgrading and building a new high speed line have adverse effects. For the same amount of effect on the environment you could have a new faster rail network, which could be a small price to pay for a network with greater outcomes and a project which would contribute to the economy and create jobs. In terms of carbon emissions and efficiency figure 5 in the appendix shows high speed rail is the most efficient in terms of passenger km carried by unit of energy than other forms. However it should be taken into consideration the past in terms of development of rail lines. Where plans to upgrade existing lines have been postponed by Lord Adonis due to lack of finances and what may be a coincidence of the government introducing these plans just before a major election. On the lines of finance the project cost a substantial amount, especially with the current debt of the country. This cost may be passed on as increased rail fares, fares which currently some of the population regard as expensive. The new and improved service may not be attractive to some unless it is heavily subsidised. Overall a new high speed rail link from London to the North would be beneficial, looking at our European neighbours we can see that high speed rail can be a success and the plans tick all the boxes in terms of journey time reduction and being able to compete with other modes such as short haul air travel and helping in the reduction on carbon emmissions. High speed rail can be an improvement if it does not drag funds and infrastructure investment away from other areas and is affordable to use.

Cannery Row :: essays research papers

The Pearl of Cannery Row   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A pearl is created when a tiny speck of intruding dust enters and irritates an oyster shell. The reaction of the oyster is to make a beautiful pearl out of the particle of dust. Some pearls are perfect and others are imperfect, but all are a unique and wondrous creation of nature. In Cannery Row, John Steinbeck imitates nature’s process with Cannery Row as the oyster and Mack as the speck of dust. Steinbeck shows Mack as the irritant which causes Cannery Row to veer from a precarious course and make a change for the better. In the end Mack creates a wonderful â€Å"pearl† for Cannery Row — the quality of unity — and the reader learns that sometimes the best results come from seemingly meaningless occurrences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mack is in the least a large source of irritation and at the most worthless to the residents of Cannery Row. Steinbeck introduces him as â€Å"... the elder, leader, mentor and to a small extent, the exploiter of a little group of men who had in common no families, no money and no ambitions beyond food, drink and contentment† (9). His effect upon the town, while often anonymous, is clearly sensed: â€Å"A hardware store supplied a can of red paint not reluctantly because it never knew about it...† (12). Mack appears when he needs something and disappears when pay-up time comes around. To Cannery Row, â€Å"Mack [and the boys] avoid the trap, walk around the poison, step over the noose while a generation of trapped, poisoned and trussed-up men scream at them and call them no-goods, come-to-bad-ends, blots-on-the-town, thieves, rascals, bums† (15). Because Mack does not fit society’s traditional standards of living, the town also assumes that his character does not measure up either. He isn’t seen for what he really is — a man with a sweet soul who simply is not driven by worldly desires — instead, people judge him against others and by their own expectations of a man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mack lacks ambition but not a good heart. His only intentions are for survival, never for the purpose of inflicting pain or problem on others: â€Å"In the world ruled by tigers with ulcers, rutted by strictured bulls, scavenged by blind jackals, Mack [and the boys] dine delicately with the tigers, fondle the frantic heifers, and wrap up the crumbs to feed the sea gulls of Cannery Row† (15).

Immanuel Kant Essay

HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. philosophypages. com/ph/kant. htm† Immanuel Kant answers the question in the first sentence of the essay: â€Å"Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. † He argues that the immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use one’s reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. He exclaims that the motto of enlightenment is â€Å"Sapere aude†! – Dare to be wise! The German word Unmundigkeit means not having attained age of majority or legal adulthood. â€Å"Unmundig† also means â€Å"dependent† or â€Å"unfree†, and another translation is â€Å"tutelage† or â€Å"nonage† (the condition of â€Å"not [being] of age†). Kant, whose moral philosophy is centred around the concept of autonomy, here distinguishes between a person who is intellectually autonomous and one who keeps him/herself in an intellectually heteronomous, i. e. dependent and immature status. Kant understands the majority of people to be content to follow the guiding institutions of society, such as the Church and the Monarchy, and unable to throw off the yoke of their immaturity due to a lack of resolution to be autonomous. It is difficult for individuals to work their way out of this immature, cowardly life because we are so uncomfortable with the idea of thinking for ourselves. Kant says that even if we did throw off the spoon-fed dogma and formulas we have absorbed, we would still be stuck, because we have never â€Å"cultivated our minds. † The key to throwing off these chains of mental immaturity is reason. There is hope that the entire public could become a force of free thinking individuals if they are free to do so. Why? There will always be a few people, even among the institutional â€Å"guardians†, who think for themselves. They will help the rest of us to â€Å"cultivate our minds. † Kant shows himself a man of his times when he observes that â€Å"a revolution may well put an end to autocratic despotism . . . or power-seeking oppression, but it will never produce a true reform in ways of thinking. † The recently completed American Revolution had made a great impression in Europe; Kant cautions that new prejudice will replace the old and become a new leash to control the â€Å"great unthinking masses. † Immanuel Kant’s Ideas on Science and Morality According to the 18th-century German thinker Immanuel Kant, no person may possess inherent wisdom about reality. This is best summarized in the philosopher’s famous expression, â€Å"Thoughts without content are empty; intuitions without data are blind. † Indeed, Kant believes that in order for us to utilize our sensible intuition, we must possess two stimuli, â€Å"physical sensation† and â€Å"moral duty. † The first of the two addresses a portion of Kantian thought known as â€Å"empirical realism,† a reasoning that defines that absolute reality as the entire universe in which all human beings dwell. Every time we acquire external data from that absolute reality, our perception of it assumes a greater degree of accuracy. And what would be the optimal way of acquiring such data with only minimal if any contact with other persons’ perceptions (which are, like ours, inaccurate, only in different ways, since each human being possesses a unique arsenal of experiences)? Scientific exploration is, therefore, the key to an ultimate comprehension of things-in-themselves. Kant was a fervent admirer of Newtonian thought and the Scientific Method, which permitted scientists to ascend to unprecedented heights in their understanding of and control over nature. The second stimulus to action, moral duty, provides the explanation for the purpose of all human actions toward the comprehension of the universe. This portion of Kant’s doctrine has been dubbed by the philosopher as â€Å"transcendental idealism,† since it establishes a framework outside the natural world upon which correct actions are based. Kant sees the ultimate virtues to be the attempts to reach three goals which are not yet found in reality, God, freedom, and the immortality of individuals. God, the Creator and Supreme Being of the universe, must be fathomed, properly interpreted, and obeyed in accordance with his true desires. Freedom, the individual liberty to act as one wishes and to grant all others this right, must be instituted through societal reforms and a development of ideology to understand the proper order that would establish such an atmosphere. And, at last, every human being must rise to possess the right to exist for an indefinite length of time that he may 1 / 3 obey the commandments of God and practice his freedoms. Kant states that all which is right and moral must be based upon those three principles. As such, Kant separates the scientific realm (which describes what is) from the moral realm (which explains what ought to be), but he considers these two realms to go hand-in-hand — ultimately advocating putting the scientific realm in service to moral one. Kant: The â€Å"Copernican Revolution† in Philosophy The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is sometimes called the â€Å"Copernican revolution of philosophy† to emphasize its novelty and huge importance. Kant synthesized (brought together) rationalism and empiricism. After Kant, the old debate between rationalists and empiricists ended, and epistemology went in a new direction. After Kant, no discussion of reality or knowledge could take place without awareness of the role of the human mind in constructing reality and knowledge. Summary of Rationalism The paradigm rationalist philosophers are Plato (ancient); Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz (modern). Don’t trust senses, since they sometimes deceive; and since the â€Å"knowledge† they provide is inferior (because it changes). Reason alone can provide knowledge. Math is the paradigm of real knowledge. There are innate ideas, e. g. , Plato’s Forms, or Descartes’ concepts of self, substance, and identity. The self is real and discernable through immediate intellectual intuition (cogito ergo sum). Moral notions are comfortably grounded in an objective standard external to self — in God, or Forms. Kant says rationalists are sort of right about (3) and (4) above; wrong about (1) and (2). Kant would like (5) to be true. Summary of Empiricism The paradigm empiricist philosophers are Aristotle (ancient); Locke, Berkeley, Hume (modern). Senses are the primary, or only, source of knowledge of world. Psychological atomism. Mathematics deals only with relations of ideas (tautologies); gives no knowledge of world. No innate ideas (though Berkeley accepts Cartesian self). General or complex ideas are derived by abstraction from simple ones (conceptualism). Hume — there’s no immediate intellectual intuition of self. The concept of â€Å"Self† is not supported by sensations either. Hume — no sensations support the notion of necessary connections between causes and effects, or the notion that the future will resemble the past. Hume — â€Å"is† does not imply â€Å"ought†. Source of morality is feeling. Kant thinks empiricism is on the right track re (1), sort of right re (2), wrong re (3), (4), (5), and (6). Summary of Kant’s Argument The epistemological debate between rationalism and empiricism is basically about whether, or to what extent the senses contribute to knowledge. Both rationalism and empiricism take for granted that it’s possible for us to acquire knowledge of Reality, or how things really are, as opposed to how they seem to us. But both rationalism and empiricism overlook the fact that the human mind is limited; it can experience and imagine only within certain constraints. These constraints are both synthetic and a priori. All our possible experience must conform to these SAPs. The SAPs include location in space and time, causality, experiencing self, thing-ness, identity, and various mathematical notions. (Twentieth- century Gestalt psychology’s attack on psychological atomism is based on Kant’s views. ) Therefore, we must distinguish the world we experience, bounded by SAPs, and the world of things as they really are â€Å"in themselves†. Kant calls these two worlds the phenomenal (apparent) world versus the noumenal (real) world. Empiricism pretty much nails what it means to know something, once the SAPs are in place; i. e. , within the phenomenal world, empiricism rules. The phenomenal world is a world of things, publicly observable, describable by science, known to the senses, determined by physical laws. No God, no 2 / 3 freedom, no soul, no values exist in this world. If God, freedom, souls, and values exist, then they must be noumenal and unknowable by any ordinary means. Thus, according to Kant: Both rationalism and empiricism are wrong when they claim that we can know things in themselves. Rationalists are wrong not to trust senses; in the phenomenal world, senses are all we have. Rationalists are right about â€Å"innate ideas†, but not in Plato’s sense of Forms— much more like Descartes’ in argument of the wax. Hume is wrong when he claims the concept of self is unsupported by senses, and thus bogus. Rather, the experiencing self is a pre-condition for having any experience at all (Descartes was right). Hume is wrong when he says the notion that the future will resemble the past is due only to â€Å"custom and habit†. That notion is a SAP; we couldn’t have ordinary experience without it. Hume is wrong when he says the source of morality is feeling. Morality, properly understood, provides the key to linking the noumenal and phenomenal worlds. Kant argues that if morality is real, then human freedom is real, and therefore humans are not merely creatures of the phenomenal world (not merely things subject to laws). Ramifications of Kant’s Views Kant revolutionized philosophy. Kant showed that the mind, through its innate categories, constructs our experience along certain lines (space, time, causality, self, etc. ). Thus, thinking and experiencing give no access to things as they really are. We can think as hard as we like, but we will never escape the innate constraints of our minds. Kant forced philosophy to look seriously at the world for the agent (what Kant calls the phenomenal world) independently of the real world outside consciousness – the world in itself (the noumenal world). Ethics had long recognized the importance for moral evaluation of â€Å"how things seem to the agent. † But the ramifications of Kant’s noumenal-phenomenal distinction extend far beyond ethics. Philosophers like to take credit for all the big events in 19th century intellectual history as direct consequences of Kant’s philosophical legitimizing of the perspective of the subject: Hegel and German idealism, Darwinism, Romanticism, pragmatism, Marxism, the triumph of utilitarianism, Nietzsche, and the establishment of psychology as a science, especially Gestalt psychology. Phenomena and NoumenaHaving seen Kant’s transcendental deduction of the categories as pure concepts of the understanding applicable a priori to every possible experience, we might naturally wish to ask the further question whether these regulative principles are really true. Are there substances? Does every event have a cause? Do all things interact? Given that we must suppose them in order to have any experience, do they obtain in the world itself? To these further questions, Kant firmly refused to offer any answer. According to Kant, it is vital always to distinguish between the distinct realms of phenomena and noumena. Phenomena are the appearances, which constitute the our experience; noumena are the (presumed) things themselves, which constitute reality. All of our synthetic a priori judgments apply only to the phenomenal realm, not the noumenal. (It is only at this level, with respect to what we can experience, that we are justified in imposing the structure of our concepts onto the objects of our knowledge. ) Since the thing in itself (Ding an sich) would by definition be entirely independent of our experience of it, we are utterly ignorant of the noumenal realm. Thus, on Kant’s view, the most fundamental laws of nature, like the truths of mathematics, are knowable precisely because they make no effort to describe the world as it really is but rather prescribe the structure of the world as we experience it. By applying the pure forms of sensible intuition and the pure concepts of the understanding, we achieve a systematic view of the phenomenal realm but learn nothing of the noumenal realm. Math and science are certainly true of the phenomena; only metaphysics claims to instruct us about the noumena. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Vidofnir, the cock Essay Example

Vidofnir, the cock Essay Example Vidofnir, the cock Paper Vidofnir, the cock Paper Norse, Teutonic, or Scandinavian mythology is the collective myths of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Norse myths were brought into being during the Viking era, which lasted from 1070 A. D. to 1780 A. D. Our main sources of these myths come from the Icelandic Eddas, including the Prose (Younger) and the Poetic (Elder). The Poetic Edda is comprised of thirty-five poems. The Volsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied are also significant sources. The lack of much further information was the direct result of Christian Termination (Cherry, Intro) Scandinavian mythology holds interesting parallels to other early religions and has strongly influenced modern literature. One of the most important elements to any myth or form of religion is to explain how the world came into being. In the beginning, there was Ginnungagap or yawning emptiness That lay between the realms of fire and ice. As the warm air from the south met the north the ice of Ginnungagap was melted forming Ymir, the frost giant, and Audhumla, the primeval cow, from whom flowed four rivers of milk. From Ymirs armpit came the sweat that formed the frost giants. Audhumla began to lick the ice and uncovered Buri, the ancestor of the gods in three days. Buri had a son named Bor whom married a frost giantess. From that union, Odin, Vili, and Ve were born. Growing tired of Ymirs brutality and the growing band of frost giants, Odin, Vili, and Ve took up arms and slew Ymir and all the frost giants, excluding Bergelmir and his wife who fled across the sea. Odin and his brothers then threw the corpse of Ymir into Ginnungagap. Ymirs flesh became the earth, his unbroken bones mountains, his teeth and jaws rocks and boulders, his blood rivers, lakes, and the sea, and his skull the sky held at the corners by four dwarfs. Sparks were used to make the sun, the moon and the stars. From Ymirs flesh also the light elves that were placed in Alfheim. Odin Vili and Ve came upon two beautiful fallen trees, an Ash and an Elm. Odin gave them soul; Vili gave them emotion and intelligence; Ve gave them the ability to see and hear. They became the First Humans, Ask and Embla. The gods gave them Midgard. Angered by Mundilfaris comparison of his children to the sun and the moon, Odin made them into constellations to guide the actual heavenly bodies. This creation myth has strong relation to that of Babylon when Mardok the champion slew Tiamat to form the universe(Ultimate Encyclopedia of mythology 183 186 195 253) The firmament of the nine realms in Scandinavian mythology was Yggdrassil, meaning, and dreadful mount It was the cosmic ash tree (Ultimate Encyclopedia of mythology 252) Its Name is a reference either to the gallows or to Odins horse Odin did hang himself for nine nights in order to learn wisdom. Yggdrasils three roots descended into the nine worlds. However there seems to be much speculation of how they lay. Three roots spread three ways Under the ash Yggdrasil: Hel is under the first, Frost Giants under the second, Mankind below the last (The Elder Edda 66) However, in The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology it seems to be described somewhat like this: Asgard, the stronghold of the gods lay on the first root. Along with Asgard were Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir, and the Well of Urd, the meeting place for the Gods. Muspelheim, the land of fire, and Nifleheim, place of the dead lay upon the second root; that Nidhogg the dragon gnawed on. The hardships endured by Yggdrasil Are more than men can dream of: Harts Bite the Twigs, the trunk rots, Niddhogg gnaws at the roots. (The Elder Edda 67) Jotunheim, the land of the giants, lay upon the third root, also upon it was, Midgard, the home of humans. Also upon that root lay the well of Mimir, the source of all wisdom. The rainbow bridge, Bifrost connected Asgard to Midgard. Upon the high branches of Yggdrasil, Ratatosk, the messenger squirrel dwelled with Vidofnir, the cock. The cause of this variant in texts seems to be elusive, yet we must consider that the Elder Edda is a poetic source with simplified information, while The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology is a compilation of many texts. It would be safe to think that both are correct by the varying stories of Scandinavian Mythology. I am called Grim, I am called Traveler, Warrior and Helmet-Wearer, Agreeable, Third, Thud and Ud, High-One and Hel-Blinder Broad-Hat, Broad-Beard, Boat-Lord, Rider, All-Father, Death-Father, Father of Victory (The words of Odin in The Lay of Grimnir) (The Elder Edda 69) By many other names is the All-Father called, yet it would be rude to continue the passage too far. Like Zeus Odin was the sky father He is a strange and solemn figure, always aloof He eats nothing while other gods feasted Odin pondered what thought and memory taught him. (Hamilton 308) He was responsible for postponing Ragnarok for as long as possible.

Willa Cather Essay Example

Willa Cather Essay Example Willa Cather Essay Willa Cather Essay Materialism Murders Nowadays, the new trend is the have the most. People are constantly Judging each other on how much they have or how new it is. Society does not look down upon materialism, but rather celebrates it. But this was not yet the case in the 1920s. During this time period, there was a move toward mass production but the idea was not accepted by all. Many people detested the idea, one of these people being Willa Cather, who valued simplicity and intelligence over money and items. This tug-of-war between old values such as art and history, and the new values of technology and aterial wealth, is a theme Willa Cather addresses in her book The Professors House. The novel is centralized around the St. Peter family: husband and wife, Godfrey and Lillian, and their daughters, Rosamond Marcellus and Kathleen McGregor. One day in the girls childhood, a man named Tom Outland comes from New Mexico and basically lives with the St. Peters, changing their life forever. Eventually, Outland becomes engaged to Rosie and revolutionizes the aircraft, Just before he is killed in combat during World War l. But, Outlands invention is patented and makes a good deal of money, all of which is willed to Rosamond. In The Professors House, Cather uses the ruined relationship between sisters Rosamond Marcellus and Kathleen McGregor and the characters of professor Godfrey St. Peter and Tom Outland to criticize materialism by showing the negative and evil effects of money, such as jealousy and spite, and the content and importance of living life simply. The St. Peter family, which was a functional and loving family, was ruined when all of Tom Outlands money was willed to Rosamond, creating a monetary division and Jealousy between the once close Rosamond and Kathleen. While venting to her father about he hate seething from Rosie, Kathleen remarks that Rosamond has entirely changed and all this money [has] ruined her (Cather 71). The newly acquired money has allowed Rosie to live an extravagant life, in turn making her haughty and condescending. Now that her character has changed, Rosie ruined the relationship between her and her sister, something Cather says is the common result of materialism. As St. Peter was walking home through the park one night, he had a terrifying image of the handsome face of his older daughter, surrounded by violet- dappled fur, with a cruel upper lip and scornful half-closed eyes and Kathleen , her white cheeks actually becoming green under her swollen eyes (Cather 74). The color imagery of purple and green presented by Cather are used to represent the growing materialism and its negative effects. Rosamonds face is spiteful and contemptuous, surrounded by the dark wealth that she has been given; and Kathleens innocent face has become green with the enw caused by her sister. Cather uses the example of the ruined relationship between Kathleen and Rosamond to show her disapproval of the growing importance of materialism. Professor St. Peter is constantly battling with materialism: his family builds a new ouse, his daughter inherits a giant sum of money, and his wife always wants youth and materials; yet, he yearns for a simpler and more natural way of living. During the professors trips to work at the old house, he would examine the workspace and wonder why he didnt replace certain things, only to come to the conclusion that he was by no means an ascetic (Cather 17). St. Peter does not wish for the newest things, and yet is still content with how he lives. In portraying the professor this way, Cather argues that material items do not make a person happy. After coming face to face with his depression, St. Peter realizes that he had never learned to live without delight [but] he would have to, and that life [would be] possible, maybe even pleasant (Cather 257). The professor had always lived a life full of enjoyment, mostly from material items, but now he realizes that he must and can go on without those essentials. This is Cather saying that most people dont understand the importance of living without possessing everything. Through the professors plain yet happy life, Cather proves that materialism is an evil that is not needed for contentedness. Embodying ideals almost opposite from materialism, Tom Outland lives simpler nd earns what he deserves based on what he can do, a motto that allows him to give and receive the most. After kicking out his best friend Rodney Blake for betraying him, Outland returns to the mesa alone, and awakes each morning feeling like he had found everything, instead of having lost everything (Cather 226). Out alone in the wilderness, Tom is able to find peace within himself. Although he has no physical materials, he has gained everything spiritually and mentally, which Cather shows can be the most rewarding. When Tom was faced with a dilemma over selling artifacts, he ealized that there was never any question of money with [him], where this mesa and its people were concerned (Cather 220). Outland valued beauty, integrity, and leaving something to its rightful owner over money. Through these character traits, Cather voices her approval of virtues and her disapproval of materialism. Using the character of Tom Outland, Cather shows the importance of living honest and simple as a way to gain from life. Willa Cather believed that materialism was the root of all evil, and that by following that path, human themselves will become evil as well. She used her haracters to portray a larger message: that the world is not one that appreciates a persons ideals. But that doesnt necessarily matter so long as the ideals allow the escape from human superficiality. By living simply, that idea of inner peace can be achieved. Many people keep running around, being busy, doing everything at once, because they believe that is the only way to get things done. But Cather says the contrary. She says that once a person values thought and simplicity of the mind, happiness can be achieved. Work Cited Cather, Willa. The Professors House. New York: Vintage, 1990. Print.