In what way is cultural and national identity a major concern in this extract Essay Example for Free

In what way is cultural and national identity a major concern in this extract Essay The extract makes constant references to cultural and national identity through the style of the text, the imagery of the clothing and appearances of people. There is also indication to context through the beliefs of people in the places that Jonathan visits and their rejection towards him. Bram Stoker uses this cultural and national identity to contrast the one of that Jonathan possesses. Throughout the text, there is extensive description on the appearances of the people and sometimes architecture of the differences places the protagonist visits, depicting the differences of culture and national identity. They wore high boots, with their trousers tucked into them, and had long black hair and heavy black moustaches very picturesque, but do not look prepossessing. † These descriptions give clues to their context and when the appearance shifts rapidly, there is a clear understanding that the protagonist is travelling to new places quickly. This travelling is another clue to his context, with the existence of travel writing and trains. The culture and national identity of the different places that Jonathan travels to is an indication that he is no longer in his modern society but travelling deeper and deeper into a culture that almost lives in the past. This is shown by the imagery of the people in the different towns, â€Å" with short jackets, and round hats, and home-made trousers. † These people are highly superstitious and this is conveyed by the landlady’s concern for Jonathan as he is leaving on the 4th of May. In her culture, there is superstition upon the next day as it believed to be the day where â€Å"all the evil things in the world will have full sway†. The crucifix and rosary are symbols of her culture and nationality and are used to wear away the abhuman. This â€Å"old† way of life seems almost primitive and uncivilised compared to the â€Å"new† modern context that Jonathan comes from. As he travels from the West to the East, there is contrast between the clothing that they wear and also the beliefs within the people. Jonathan clearly comes from a more technologically and academically advanced society and this is shown through the epistolary form of the text which can be identified from the dates and locations stated prior every entry and the recount-like narration style. The train in Jonathan’s world is contrasted with the horse and carriage in the less advanced world he has travelled to. â€Å"[He] cracked his big whip over his four small horses, which ran abreast, and we set off on our journey. The late-Victorian context, anti-modernism and anti-rationalism is reflected in the locations Jonathan travels to. It is especially obvious when he passes groups of people and they call him names such as â€Å"â€Å"Ordog† Satan, â€Å"Pokol† – hell, â€Å"stegoica† – witch†Ã¢â‚¬ . The people of the town show a rejection towards Jonathan as his modernity clearly does not belong in their society. They criticise him as a notion to criticise his modern kind for the abnormal behaviours of their world and the beings that possess these characteristics, the abhuman. Although there are differences in the nationalities, the identification of the abhuman in this area is uniform – â€Å"â€Å"vrolok† and â€Å"vlkoslak† – both mean the same thing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is either werewolf or vampire. † This again depicts the large amounts of superstition and rejection towards science which is then contrasted with the rationality of Jonathan. The Eastern towns that Jonathan travels to are seemingly ‘abhuman’ as they believe in strange superstitions and do not believe in modernity and change. They are relatively primitive and do not embrace modern technology such as trains. This behaviour gives the reader that sense of abnormality and the abhuman as they see things through first person narration trough Jonathan’s point of view. Summarily, Stoker has used an epistolary style and other features to convey Jonathan’s context which is then contrasted with the descriptions of the unfamiliar locations that he travels to. This strange superstitious behaviour is used to contrast between the civilised and uncivilised, progressive and regressive, human and abhuman.

Essay --

The topic I choose was stress and its effects it has on our body (Myers). These stressors can cause many negative changes to our body, more then we realize. I have a much better understanding after reading not only the textbook but the research journal just what effects it has on our body. It’s easy to listen to people give advice on ways to calm down but I feel people need to be educated on what it does to us and healthy ways to deal with it. There are so many different day to day things that cause us stress and if we allow ourselves we can easily get caught up in them. For me at that point I tune everyone out and that is when those stressors dictate how my day will be. Personally, I realize more now how I have let stress bring me to a point of feeling ill and taking it out on loved ones around me. Now more then ever being a full time student and with recent financial burdens I have seen first hand how stress impacts not only myself but my family as well. We get so enthr alled in stress that we allow it to effect our mind and our body. Then we wake up one day and the stress is still there only we are feeling ill and wondering why. It is so true when people say that stress can cause you to become physically ill. There are so many healthy ways to manage stress however not everyone practices them. We need to use our support systems, identify what the stress is and manage it rather then it taking over us. If we find ways to face the stress, in a healthy way we will be able to resolve it and not have it take over our mind or body. I now find my self coming home after a stressful day and exercising, and going for walks. Instead of me shutting down and becoming stressed I know now that its okay to share this with my loved ones and ... ...cally ill and overwhelmed. By doing this I neglected myself, and by doing so not only did I not deal with stress but there was little resoultion and greater stress within my family. When you get to thast point it is then that the stress is dictating how your days are going to be. This study was very intresting to me and I believe futhur study would help everyone not just health care workers. It brought up many good points, stress is different for each of us and if we had mindfulness approaches then we could face it head on and not allow it to become a neagative outcome. I often wondered having gone to counsling myself in the past how do these therapist deal with listening to patients all day long? What steps do they take to deal with their own stress or just the stress of helping others. I feel the counslor would definitly benefit from this study and its practices.

Beauty pageants Essay

How many of you have heard or seen of the reality TV show Toddler and Tiaras ? It’s a show where toddlers and young children mainly girls, take the stage wearing make up, spray tans, nails done, fake hair and fake teeth. They are to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes. Parental ambitions can make there children socially unconnected with other children and sometimes mentally and physically drained. Parents have gone to extremes to make their child the best. The young toddlers are competing world wide to be judged based on looks, poise, perfection, and confidents, From as young as 6 months old. Beauty pageants within children are very exploitive because they promote a materialistic belief to young girls, damaging self-esteem, and encouragement to be â€Å"divas.† The object of child beauty pageants is to win money, a big crown, and occasionally other prizes like a bouncy house or a teddy bear. During the events, young girls are criticised by judges as they get on stage wearing skimpy clothes, shaking the butt while making kiddy faces. The parents coach their toddlers to win, no matter what the cost. Mothers hire make-up artist and hair stylist to make sure their child looks better then the others. The girls have â€Å"rivalries† with other girls who do pageants and they aren’t even 8 years old yet! They will literally seek out their competition to tell them that they’re ugly and say that they’re going to lose. Encouraging such competitive nature in little children could carry over to when they’re older. Life isn’t about always winning, and people shouldn’t be telling their kids that! Beauty pageants wrongly teach little toddlers and children that the only way to be happy is to win and be perfect. A young child getting spray tanned, false nails, false eyelashes and they are like 2 and hate it, is definitely wrong! I mean, caking your kid in make up and then telling them they’re beautiful isn’t right. Its sometimes not the children’s wish to do these pageants, it is the parents (the mothers) desire to give their daughter something that maybe the mother could never accomplish herself. â€Å"A San Francisco mum is injecting her 8 year old daughter with botox to get rid of wrinkles and she insists that she’s not the only mum who’s doing it. The pain 8-year-old Britney Campbell describes doesn’t come from falling off her bike, or losing a tooth-but from this: Botox injections-administered by her Mother. Campbell†s mother says she started giving the injections to keep up with the beauty-take-all world of the pageant circuit an idea planted by other pageant mums. Photos taken during one of Britney’s Botox treatments – capture just how uncomfortable an adult cosmetic procedure can be.† Child beauty pageants have children dressed up in inappropriate clothing. A few examples from Toddlers and Tiaras are; a girl dressed up as a prostitute from Pretty Women and a girl’s mother putting in fake breasts and fake butt padding for her Dolly Parton talent routine. The mum said â€Å"she was just playing the part. She had no idea what she was doing.† Exactly! The child has no Idea what’s she’s doing. Most costumes have cuts in the sides or in the back that reveal a lot of skin. This is teaching little children that dressing this way is ok. When they’re older, they might wear clothing that is similar, although it’s not appropriate at that age either. Also, these parents are exposing their girls to possible pedophilia. Competitions showing little girls prancing around in skimpy dresses. Some little, innocent pageant girl could be the main focus of a pedophile. Parents should not be dressing their girls so proactively. There have been reports of children that have been sexually abused. These researches have shown that the sexualisation of child beauty pageants is a contributing factor to the abuse. Child beauty pageants send inappropriate messages to young girls about how they should act in society. Child beauty pageant contestants are taught that if you look pretty, you win prizes. These girls are put in huge frilly dresses, given fake hair pieces, caked in makeup, and are already getting spray tans. Their developing minds will determine that being pretty is the best thing to be in life. A girl named Daisey Mae was on Toddlers and Tiaras. She was 8 years old and she said â€Å"Facial beauty is the most  important thing in life.† That is exactly what I’m talking about. These girls grow up learning one skill: how to be pretty. Women spent over 72 years fighting to be seen and heard as more than just a pretty face. Over the past 10 years, there has been a 270% increase in the number of girls being hospitalized for eating disorders. Some of these girls are as young as 7 years old. Many of the girls with eating disorders have them because of body image. Beauty pagea nt girls are becoming anorexic just so they can be pretty and win trophies. Child beauty pageants is absolutely unacceptable. Children should be on playgrounds and playing games. Not wearing make up and having fake tans. And to not be judged for how they look. I believe that child beauty pageants should not put young girls in such situations. Child beauty pageants should not be allowed.

India Foreign Trade Policy - 769 Words

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSARREGTOPINTECOTRA/0,,contentMDK:20592520~menuPK:579454~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:579448,00.html India: Foreign Trade Policy | | | | | India: Foreign Trade PolicyAlthough India has steadily opened up its economy, its tariffs continue to be high when compared with other countries, and its investment norms are still restrictive. This leads some to see India as a ‘rapid globalizer’ while others still see it as a ‘highly protectionist’ economy.Till the early 1990s, India was a closed economy: average tariffs exceeded 200 percent, quantitative restrictions on imports were extensive, and there were stringent restrictions on foreign investment. The country†¦show more content†¦It has assumed a leadership role among developing nations in global trade negotiations, and played a critical part in the Doha negotiations.Regional and Bilateral Trade AgreementsIndia has recently si gned trade agreements with its neighbors and is seeking new ones with the East Asian countries and the United States. Its regional and bilateral trade agreements - or variants of them - are at different stages of development: * India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, * Trade Agreements with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, China, and South Korea. * India-Nepal Trade Treaty, * Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Singapore. * Framework Agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand and Chile. Preferential Trade Agreements with Afghanista, Chile, and Mercosur (the latter is a trading zone between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay).World Bank InvolvementAs a number of research institutions in the country provide the Government with good, just-in-time, and low-cost analytical advice on trade-related issues, the World Bank has focused on providing analysis on specialized subjects at the Government’s reque st.In the last three years, the Bank has been working with the Ministry of Commerce in a participatory manner to help the country develop an informed strategy for domestic reform and international negotiations.Given the sensitivity of trade policy and negotiation issues, theShow MoreRelatedTrade Patterns Of China And India1355 Words   |  6 Pagesessay is an analysis and comparison of the trade patterns of China and India since 2000 and studies the effect of the regulating economic and national policies on the trade performance. 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