100% Secure Payment
© 2025 Copyright:
BoutEssays. All rights reserved
In an interview conducted by Marilyn Mehaffy and AnaLouise Keating, Octavia Butler was prompted to discuss the importance of bodily inscription in writing, to which she replies that the body is “all we really know that we have…all we really know that we have is the flesh.”(Mehaffy and Keating, 59) Butler’s concern in salvaging the “flesh” through writing is a persistent theme in her novel, Parable of the Sower. It chronicles protagonist Lauren Olamina, as she leads a community of individuals up the Pacific Coast while writing and teaching a religion based on the acceptance of change and difference as God. Lauren authors Earthseed: The Books of the Living, through short, philosophical passages that are dispersed throughout the novel; “I wrote, fleshing out my journal notes,”(Butler, 216) narrates Laura, as her writing encompasses both the female mind and body. Earthseed, the fictitious religion introduced by Butler, encapsulates a discourse that is innately female; this concept of “fleshing” and the epistolary style that Butler utilizes are simultaneously compatible with Helene Cixous’ manifesto for ecriture feminine, “The Laugh of the Medusa", an exhortation to a “feminine mode” of writing. The narrative embodiments of Butler’s fiction advocate a spiritual reclamation of “flesh” as a primary site and signifier of knowledge and communication, both personal, as Lauren’s journals suggest, and collective, as her doctrine function to socially congregate her followers; both material and narrated. Butler acknowledges the exploitative narrative uses of what she labels, “body knowledge,” which does not necessarily or literally entail renouncing the flesh, but, rather, reinventing and reassembling it within an ethics for survival.
Get original essayParable of the Sower is in essence an analogy drawn between the cultivation of Earthseed, which Lauren applies fastidiously to her experience, and the grand narratives of Christianity and Capitalism, which are rigorously applied to our own. Each is a manner of giving form and significance to existence in the same way as narrative itself tends towards a similar ‘fictitious’ ordering of experience. Butler positions herself in this analogy through the act of ‘writing’ herself into the SF literary economy and giving agency to the underrated female voice in that economy. Thus, Butler alludes to a conceivable reality but at the same time contests the validity of the forms we use to give shape to it.
Helene Cixous aimed at rendering literal the figures of femininity in the theory of écriture and exploring the consequences of that lateralization. She did not simply privilege the “female” half of an existing binary opposition between “male” and “female”; like other theorists of écriture, she questioned the very adequacy of logics to name the complexity of cultural realities. Her essay opens didactically, as she instructs female writers to inscribe themselves into text:
Woman must write herself: must write about women and bring women to writing, from which they have been driven away as violently as from their bodies—for the same reasons, by the same law, with the same fatal goal. Woman must put herself into the text—as into the world and into history—by her own movement. (Cixous, 1942)
The act of a woman “writing” herself is applicable in both a fictional sense and an authorial sense; while Butler utilizes her novel as a platform for female activity and empowerment, Lauren, in a metafictional sense, designates her own writing as a platform for her religious teaching. One of her doctrinal passages narrates: “We are Earthseed. We are flesh—self aware, questing, problem-solving flesh….We are Earthlife maturing, Earthlife preparing to fall away from the parent world.”(Butler, 151) Lauren entitles her creed as “EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING”, which accentuates the corporality associated with the teachings of Earthseed. The passage encapsulates the “essence” of Earthseed; the pronoun, “we”, represents the communal aspect of a reinscription of the body into religious doctrine. When Butler’s passage is read in conjunction with Cixous’ proposition, similarities arise: firstly, Butler and Cixous are inherently concerned with community and collective thinking, secondly, both consider the oppressive context in which they are writing. Cixous acknowledges the patriarchal dominating force that has plagued her literary space, as she is “driven violently away from the body”; whereas, Lauren constitutes Earthseed as a deviation from the “parent world” that has ravaged her own community.
The concept of écriture describes everything about writing that can neither be subsumed into an idea nor made to correspond exactly to empirical reality. It encompasses the “textuality” of all discourses, and Helene Cixous can be credited as responsible for discourse inherently unique to women. Cixous does not privilege the “female” half of an existing binary opposition between “male” and “female”; much like her contemporary theorists of ecriture, she questions the adequacy of said opposition to label the complexity of cultural realities. Cixous mitigates this opposition in the following excerpt:
I maintain unequivocally that there is a such thing as marked writing: that, until now, far more extensively and repressively than is ever suspected or admitted, writing has been run by a libidinal and cultural and cultural—hence political, typically masculine—economy…(Cixous, 1945)
It becomes evident that an inconsistency lies at the core of Cixous’ work: her insistence on the two incompatible logics within ecriture feminine. Primarily, Cixous claims that écriture feminine is characterized by the explicitly female body parts that had been repressed by traditional discourse, and must be expressed by the woman writer. However, she also promotes the use of ecriture feminine for both men and women. It is perhaps more appropriate to interpret Cixous’ “body”, as that of any transgressive or desiring individual; it is conceivably her interpretation of the body itself, that has been repressed. The “body” may not even be a physical body, but rather figurative bodies that possess power or cannot possess power. Traditionally, power, authority, and law have conjectured the male body; but, in consideration that no actual body is represented, both men and women would have access to comment on the body. By writing as if the female body could be asserted, Cixous’ ecriture feminine frees it from invisibility and, simultaneously, does not make it into a new model for the universal human being. The new opposition is not between male and female, but between a logic of the One and a logic of heterogeneity and multiplicity.
Considering Cixous’ contemplation of “oneness” and “multiplicity”, Lauren’s Earthseed can be analyzed through this dichotomy. In regards to community, Lauren writes the narrative of Earthseed as follows: “Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation.”(Butler, 101) Earthseed hinges on the necessity for collective support; communal participation, as in most doctrines, is necessary for the maintenance and survival of the discipline. Lauren, by inscribing corporeality into her dogma, enables the spiritual process to be applicable to any body. Her narrative explicates:
Earthseed. I am Earthseed. Anyone can be. Someday. I think there will be a lot of us. And I think we’ll have to seed ourselves farther and farther from this dying place…I’ve never felt that it was anything other than real: discovery rather than invention, exploration rather than creation.(Butler, 78)
Earthseed is inherently malleable, though not vulnerable to manipulation. Lauren is resistant to the patriarchy that prevails in her community, to which she refers as “ a dying place.” Lauren’s language is not demanding or didactic, rather, as Cixous theorizes, “Her, (women in general) language does not contain, it carries; it does not hold back, it makes possible.”(Cixous 1955) These ramifications on language resonate with Cixous, as Lauren characterizes her religious discourse as a means for “discovery rather than invention, exploration rather than creation.” Followers of Earthseed, according to Lauren, are already implicated as both agents and objects in the spiritual hierarchy that saturates her community.
Regarding the function of religion in the secular literary space, Butler, in the interview, comments on the function of Earthseed: “Lauren uses religion as a tool. So I use that tool as something that she can use to help people who follow her…”(Mehaffy and Keating, 62) Butler utilizes, to her advantage, the metafictional conventions of SF; Butler situates Lauren as a vehicle to deliver the material of Earthseed, in order to showcase her own spiritual and literary agenda. Gregory Jerome Hampton, in his publication, Changing Bodies in the Fiction of Octavia Butler: Slaves, Aliens and Vampires, examines the significance of religious doctrine and the “body,” in Butler’s fiction, wherein he states:
Religion is a tool intended to critique the real world in the unbounded laboratories of our imaginations…By mixing SF with religious themes, Butler’s fiction encourages readers to question social values that mark marginalized bodies. (Hampton, 84)
In the context of Lauren’s religious writings, and by extension, Butler’s contribution to SF, it is apparent that the novel
Lauren, as both the architect and advocate for Earthseed, must rhetorically advertise her doctrine in a way that persuades her follows of thinking beyond the “parent world”. The epistolary style that structures Butler’s novel enables the narrative to embody both Lauren’s thought processes and the doctrinal material, rendering them accessible only to the reader. It is assumed that minor characters are not given the same insight, which provokes such dialogues as the one that occurs between Lauren and Harry. Harry is skeptical of Lauren’s religious fabrication, but more significantly, of her own identity:
Then let me read something. Let me know something about the you that hides. I feel as though…as though you’re a lie. I don’t know you. Show me something of you that’s real. (Butler, 195)
Harry, in requesting to read Lauren’s journal, assumes that Lauren’s identity “hides”, or is encoded in her writing. Identity, or “truth” as Harry suggests through classifying Lauren as a “lie”, is revealed in the embodiment of writing; Cixous asserts this inscription of “truth” when she argues “by writing herself, woman will return to the body which has been more than confiscated from her, which has been turned into the uncanny stranger on display.”(Cixous, 1946) Butler herself, in the interview, affirms the correlation between inscription, body, and perceivable identity:
One’s body can only be known through language or some other medium of representation. The body, is a thing, in other words, which only language and narrative can bring to life and make known to ourselves or to others. (Mehaffy and Keating, 59)
Essentially, literary composition alleviates the display of “strangeness, or uncanniness” that outsiders, such as Harry, perceive. Lauren’s physical body and presence cannot be properly or accurately comprehended as “real”, and sequentially, identity remains obscured; narrative embodies that which is “real”, and for Lauren, it is quintessential in preserving and advancing Earthseed.
The “libidinal economy” that Cixous positions in opposition to female writing refers to the system of exchanges having to do with sexual desire, which it is predominantly characterized as inherently masculine, to the extent that it is active, not passive; consequently, only one desire can function at a time. This type of economy can be applied to various social systems, such as the literary economy in which Butler is writing, or the clerical economy that pervades Lauren’s gated community in Los Angeles. Cixous elucidates the privileging of masculinity in such economies:
Sexual opposition, which has always worked for man’s profit to the point of reducing writing, too, to his laws, is only a historico-cultural limit. There is, there will be more and more rapidly pervasive now, a fiction that produces irreducible effects of femininity. (Cixous, 1949)
Lauren operates under similar circumstances before departing north, as her community, particularly females, experience oppression under Richard Moss’ religious movement:
Richard Moss has put together his own religion—a combination of the Old Testament and historical West African practices. He claims that God wants men to be patriarchs, rulers and protectors of women, and fathers of as many children as possible. (Butler, 36)
Moss possesses authority in the “libidinal economy” precisely because he is a male; his religion is dependent on the “dying”, “parent world” concepts that Lauren innately opposes, and subsists in the “historico-cultural limit” of West African practices. Likewise, Lauren opposes conventional presidency that permeates her depleting society; she complains that, “Donner’s just a kind of human bannister…like a symbol of the past for us to hold onto as we’re pushed into the future. He’s nothing. No substance.”(Butler, 56) Male influence and agency, though unethical and socially unproductive, take precedence in the political systems that structure the novel. Lauren’s opposition is provoked in two ways; firstly, her religious discovery is futuristic, flexible and progressive, and secondly, because the masculine corporeality is absent. The male body does not require representation in a patriarchal space because it is innately superior, whereas, the female body relies on narrative embodiment for representation and tangible recognition.
Earthseed, initially, features a “genderless” God; rather, a God that symbolizes change, discovery and self-reflexivity. Lauren claims “Earthseed deals with ongoing reality, not with supernatural authority figures.”(Butler, 219)Whether conscious or not, she disregards the gender construction that frequently accompanies religious figures and focuses on an applicable version of God that any follower can relate to. In conversing with fellow travellers, Zahra and Natividad, Lauren is disconcerted with the question regarding a “gendered” God:
Zahra and Natividad got into an argument about whether I was talking about a male god or a female god. When I pointed out that Change had no sex at all and wasn’t a person, they were confused, but not dismissive. (Butler, 220)
Lauren regards “Change” as sexless because it is dependent on a “body”, whether female or male, to flourish. Change is motivated by a concept Butler introduces as “body-knowledge”; the supposition that social and political relations can potentially undergo a de-hierarchization, or re-hierarchization based on genetics. Butler accounts for this conception in her interview:
What’s made of genetics—body knowledge—is what’s important. What’s made of biology is what the people who are in power are going to figure out why this is a good reason for them to stay in power.(Mehaffy and Keating, 58)
Butler theorizes on “body-knowledge” because it encapsulates the current status of social and political structures, both in the SF literary economy and the economy of the novel, and this realization enables female writers to speech. Butler also contends with “the science that makes sociological connections”; she questions: “Consider the fact that women are better with verbal skills: why isn’t the popular perception, then, that they would make better diplomats?”(Mehaffy and Keating, 58) The contention arises because “body-knowledge” is essentially a paradox; it oppresses the inferior gender, or population, while the realization of the oppression enables them to recognize their bodies and experience movement through the hierarchy. Hampton, in reference to the religious content of the novel, also comments on the necessity for corporeality:
What’s made of genetics—body knowledge—is what’s important. What’s made of biology is what the people who are in power are going to figure out why this is a good reason for them to stay in power.(Mehaffy and Keating, 58)
Lauren’s interpretation of God, possessing no shape and every shape, no gender and every gender, is not the rigid and strictly dogmatic God that authorizes other religions. God, for Lauren, is like “body-knowledge” for Butler; both give manner and form to an ordering of experience, particularly repressive experience. In the dystopian situation, every “body” is oppressed and seeks an instrument or tool for fermenting identity and agency; Earthseed and SF are the narratives by which Lauren and Butler render a legitimate “voice” in their corresponding “libidinal economies”.
The narrative embodiments of Butler’s fiction sanction a spiritual reclamation of “flesh” as a fundamental site and signifier of knowledge and communication, both personal, as Lauren’s epistolary style suggests, and collective, as her doctrine function to socially congregate her followers; both material and narrated. Butler acknowledges the exploitative narrative uses of what she labels, “body knowledge,” which does not necessarily or literally entail renouncing the flesh, but, rather, reinventing and reassembling it within an ethics for survival. Earthseed, the fictional, theological verse that Lauren Olamina commits to writing over the course of Butler’s novel, is an appropriate candidate for the ideas that Cixous introduces in her essay. The theory is compatible with Earthseed in terms of intention and text content; Lauren is a woman who “fleshes” her emotions into her journal and into passages of Earthseed, producing a document that is innately “feminine” and engages in inherently female ideologies.
Parable of the Sower is in essence, an analogy drawn between the cultivation of Earthseed, which Lauren applies fastidiously to her experience, and the grand narratives of Christianity and Capitalism, which are rigorously applied to our own. Each is a manner of giving form and significance to existence in the same way as narrative itself tends towards a similar ‘fictitious’ ordering of experience. Butler positions herself in this analogy through the act of ‘writing’ herself into the literary economy and giving agency to the underrated female voice in that economy. Thus, Butler alludes to a conceivable reality but at the same time contests the validity of the forms we use to give shape to it.
Works Cited
Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. New York: Grand Central, 1993. Print.
Butler, Octavia, Marilyn Mehaffy, and AnaLouise Keating. ""Radio Imagination": Octavia
Butler on the Poetics of Narrative Embodiment." MELUS 26.1 (2001): 45-76. JSTOR. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.
Cixous, Helene. "The Laugh of the Medusa." The Norton Anthology of Theory and
Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 1942-959. Print.
Hampton, Gregory Jerome. "Religious Science Fiction: Butler's Changing God."Changing
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayBodies in the Fiction of Octavia Butler: Slaves, Aliens, and Vampires. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2010. 83-98. Print.
In today's world, there is a growing awareness of the importance of eating healthy. Many restaurants are now offering "green" menus with calorie counts, and grocery stores are stocking up on healthy alternatives. It begs the question: how crucial is it to maintain a healthy diet? According to nutrition experts, healthy eating is essential for optimal health. Conversely, a consistent diet of junk food and empty calories can lead to a range of avoidable health problems. To delve deeper into this topic, it is important to explore the drawbacks of not eating healthy, as well as the benefits of maintaining a nutritious diet. Writing essays about eating healthy can serve as an important tool to educate others on the importance of a well-balanced diet. Proper nutrition has been linked to increased energy levels, improved sleep quality, and even enhanced brain development. By promoting the benefits of healthy eating, we can empower individuals to take control of their health and make informed choices about the foods they consume.
Get original essayMost Americans eat plenty of food a day; however, much of that food is packaged, artificial food that has been stripped of its nutritional content. Even though Americans are overfed, they are severely lacking in what they need for their body to be at the top of its game. Unfortunately, though they are aware, many people do not realize the serious ramifications that will affect their body. Diets that include foods that are packed with sodium, sugar, and fat will increase blood cholesterol and weight, causing strain on the heart and body. This will greatly increase the risk of future problems like strokes, heart attacks, clogged arteries, and even depression.
When the correct nutritional food is eaten, it has been proven to be extremely beneficial to health in a variety of ways. Fruit, which is full of fiber and antioxidants, is fantastic at giving a boost of energy that is greatly needed in the morning. On the other hand, if insomnia is an issue, most fish and some fruit contain Vitamin B6 which helps make the hormone Melatonin; a hormone that experts believe aids restful sleep. Another reason why sleep patterns can be disrupted is simply because of dehydration. This is why the Mayo Clinic suggests that each person should try to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Not only will being hydrated help aid sleep, experts say to drink a full glass of water before each meal, because some of the hunger one feels could simply just be dehydration.
Other than energy and sleeping better, the right food can also help with brain development and state of mind. It is incredibly vital for young children to eat the correct food for their still developing brains and bodies. Regularly eating unhealthy foods, such as foods high in sugar, can damage brain development and cause obesity, which can lead to depression. The University of Maryland Medical Center states that omega-3 fatty acids are important for the correct development of the brain’s memory functions and behavioral centers. Maryland Medical Center also states that it is important for women who are pregnant to get an ample supply of omega-3 fatty acids for a healthy growing baby and also reduce the risk of allergies in babies.
In conclusion, there is an enormous amount of research proving that a consistent diet of nutritious food, high fiber and quality fats, is good for the entire body. A diet of unhealthy food, low fiber and trans fats, will eventually destroy health and cause the foundation for serious, future health problems. Though it is alright to occasionally have a less than healthy snack, experts agree that it is better to keep a regular nutritional diet filled with the correct amount of protein, fruit, vegetables, and grains. The bottom line is, eating healthy equals being healthy.
Like a sculpture etched in bas-relief, the intrigue of The Tempest is depicted on raised stone, but the story’s substance depends entirely on a realm of negative space. To grasp the gender discourse present in Shakespeare’s drama, one must appreciate the space that exists between surface and substrata in both the plot and the characters. In sunken, shadowy and overlooked regions of the text, audiences can find the moments that contour the discussion of gender — namely female — identity. In their subtleties, Miranda’s interactions with the other men on the island help expose Shakespeare’s vision of the “proper relationship” between men and women. Careful examination of both Miranda’s silence and her speech reveals a woman whose inner content often escapes casual readers. The essential landscape of her character is two-fold in nature: now submissive, now dynamic, at once obedient and rebellious. At first blush, she embodies the vision of Goethe’s “Eternal Feminine,” a Cypher whose dull, empty purity has “nothing to do with explosions” or “significant action.” Soon, though, the cautious reader recognizes that Miranda’s essentially isolated (and untouched by female authority) upbringing, to some extent uninfluenced by the thrust of 17th century standards and customs, has allowed her to gather a certain “generative power” capable of subverting the traditional male design, and male expectations of femininity. There are, for careful readers, powerful moments in the text when Miranda is as unabashedly assertive as her male counterparts — and those instances stand in stark relief to the more docile, tamed behavior that satisfies the early perception of her as a “good wife-child.” During those powerful moments, it is almost as if she’s forgotten her agenda, for the effectiveness of her subversion depends upon its cautious, reserved flavor. In her careful, calculated compliance with Prospero, we see that Miranda is a woman who threatens institutional norms by telling Emily Dickinson’s “truth”: what she says has unseen connotations, “slant” meanings that hold real, active and unexpected power. In her surprisingly egalitarian romantic dealings with Ferdinand, we see how Shakespeare’s vision renders that “truthful” technique unnecessary.
Get original essayOur first encounter with Miranda is in Act I, scene two: she is the first to speak, upset by the idea of drowning travelers at the hand of her scheming father. She declares that had she “been any god of power,” she would have “sunk the sea” so as to save the men on King Alonso’s ship (I.ii.9-11). It is here that we first detect Miranda’s “active” imagination. She envisions having a power comparable to her father’s, but knows it is impractical. She has come to believe these faculties are beyond her, yet hints of a wish for clout dwell in her lofty dream of sinking the very sea itself. When Prospero orders that she should “be collected” (I.ii.14), be quiet, we are made aware of her subordinate status, and discover when he says “thou art ignorant of what thou art” (I.ii.17) that this status is reliant upon that the fact that she is ignorant of her past and of the female presence in her early life.
Despite daydreams of action and influence, Miranda knows her “place,” and in the very next line we learn her method for at once fulfilling and transcending that role. When she claims: “More to know did never meddle with my thoughts,” we must note the passive tone and submissive attitude that serve merely as disguise for less than passive and submissive intentions.
You have often
Begun to tell me what I am, but stopped,
And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding, ‘Stay, not yet” (I.ii.33-36)
The passive tone with which she promises, “More to know did never meddle with my thoughts,” almost paradoxically, belongs to the same active, curious voice that a moment later complains of “bootless inquisitions.” Even in trying to learn herself and her history, Miranda is subject to her father’s choice of telling her or leaving her in the dark.
As articulated in Richard Stoddard’s “A Woman’s Poem,” the male actors shape and mold the female world, framing for Woman reality itself, placing her within the confines of “four blank walls” that calculate their worth and determine their potential. Despite this captivity (or maybe because of it), Miranda knows she has a responsibility to “act [her part]” (Gilbert and Gubar, 813) and placate her father.
In their essay “The Madwoman in the Attic,” Gilbert and Gubar expand on the “angel/monster” argument, theorizing that “even the positive images of women in literature express negative energies and desires on the part of male writers” (Rivkin and Ryan, 812). Miranda is at once “angel” and “monster,” possessing supposedly “unhealthy energies, and powerful, dangerous arts,” skills that allow her to play a part. To act. To be sure, she does so quite masterfully: when Prospero is explaining how they came to live on the island, he repeatedly, belligerently, and unnecessarily asks if she is listening, shouting “thou attend’st not!” (I.ii.82). She responds coolly with lines like, “Your tale, sir, would cure deafness” (I.ii.106), refuting his claim while at the same time complimenting his gravitas. She is desperate to know herself and her sexuality, and is prepared to appease and to mollify in order to achieve those ends.
As the King in Shakespeare’s King Lear claims of his daughters, women appear to be good above the waist (“to the girdle”), but beyond that point, their sex, their very femaleness and genitalia make them “all the fiend’s.” Using female expectations to their advantage, these women play upon the “masculine gaze.” Hence, they gain an agency men would have never willingly granted them. Through a kind of subversive subordination, Miranda can be what is expected of her, satisfying Prospero’s expectations of a maid and daughter, while at the same time granting herself room to ask questions and assert her opinions. As Shakespeare suggests in his writing of the play, women who are smart circumvent the oppression put before them. After all, it is in “Cirrcuit” that “Success” lies.
One particularly clear articulation of Miranda’s doubleness can be found in William Hogarth’s scene from The Tempest. More importantly, though, this image helps to delineate the landscape of Miranda’s sexuality. Surrounded on all sides by male figures, Miranda sits on a throne-like structure that is draped in a blood-red cloth as Prospero, Caliban, and Ferdinand gaze upon her. Miranda herself is cloaked in blue-and-white garb traditionally symbolic of the Virgin Mary’s purity, chastity, and innocence. Upon closer inspection, though, the painting holds a certain delicate sensuality: Miranda’s presence exudes an air of eroticism that is made manifest in details like the subtle display of her breast. Interestingly, as Ferdinand approaches from the left hand corner, she looks in his direction, dropping a cup of milk intended for her pet lamb — another obvious symbol of innocence and virginity. Distracted by the presence of an attractive male, it is almost as if she forgets to tend to that innocence. This painting is interesting because it, like Shakespeare’s play, alludes to Miranda’s two-fold spirit and sexuality. At the same time that her robes are painted blue and white, her flesh — namely her nipple — is partially unconcealed, and while we know she once cared for her “pet lamb,” it seems the sexual energy aroused by Ferdinand steals her attention.
Miranda’s sexuality can go easily undetected in The Tempest. Our first encounter with this force is in the latter half of Act I, scene two, when the audience is first introduced to Caliban. Prospero is reprimanding his monster-slave for seeking to “violate the honour” (I.ii.349) of his daughter, when Caliban responds indignantly, saying that had the rape occurred, he could have “peopled else [the] isle with Calibans.” The next moment has been a point of contention in 19th and 20th century theatres, because the fury with which Miranda interjects has often been considered uncharacteristic to those who imagine her character an insubstantial maid-child. As Judith Halberstam writes in her essay, “Female Masculinity,” female strength, action, and assertiveness are “generally received by hetero and homo-normative cultures as a pathological sign of misidentification and maladjustment, as a longing to be and to have a power that is always just out of reach.” It is for this reason that this speech has historically been reassigned to Prospero; though Shakespeare must have intended for Miranda to make this speech, critics have thought its conviction and resolve too much for a female to bear.
Abhorréd slave
…I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One this or other. When thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes
With words that made them known (I.ii.350-57, emphasis added).
This passage is fascinating because Shakespeare makes reference to Miranda’s role as educator on the island. She teaches Caliban language before he knows his “own meaning,” a phrase reminiscent of Prospero’s earlier line: “Thou art ignorant of what thou art.” In the social hierarchy on Shakespeare’s island, a female has more power and influence than a quasi-male slave like Caliban. She pities him, teaches him, and therefore feels comfortable asserting without pause her anger and resentment over being forced to engage in sexual activity against her will. Because she is more linguistically knowledgeable than Caliban, she is able to “endow” his “purposes with words that made them known” (I.ii.356-57); Miranda gives Caliban, his “masculine gaze” and his sexual urges meaning.
The one hindrance to Miranda’s “power” is Prospero’s ability to perform magic. In Act I, scene two, he uses his powers to put her to sleep, limiting her agency with “a good dullness” (I.ii.86) that renders her incapable of decision in the situation that arises next: Ferdinand, who is also, quite importantly, under a spell, enters the play, and both he and Miranda are enraptured by one another. Because both characters are spellbound, unable to channel their organic motivations, the relationship that develops between them must be a reflection of what Shakespeare imagined to be the ideal man and woman in love. Miranda and Ferdinand’s affair belongs to Prospero, but more specifically to Shakespeare; he is the scriptor-sorcerer that dictates the nature of their bond. The arranged marriage between the two lovers differs greatly from Gayle Rubin’s “Traffic in Women,” a “systematic social apparatus which takes up females as raw materials and fashions domesticated women as products.” While historically Prospero’s machination would be a prime example of male-imposed female commerce, this relationship is surprisingly but undeniably egalitarian. When Prospero declares to Ferdinand, “she is thine own” (IV.i.33), it must be recognized that Ferdinand belongs to Miranda, also. Being that there is no difference between “exchanger” (Ferdinand) and “exchanged” (Miranda), neither Ferdinand nor Miranda’s sexuality is constrained; both have been freed from the “straitjacket of gender.”
MIRANDA-
Do you love me?
FERDINAND-
O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,
And crown what I profess with this kind event
If I speak true; if hollowly, invert
What is best boded me to mischief: I,
Beyond all limit of what else i’ th’ world,
Do love, prize, honour you (III.i. 67-73).
In these lines, Ferdinand is able to assert how he perceives and plans to behave toward Miranda, as well as what he expects from her. Miranda, ignorant of the “proper relationship” between men and women (save for that between she and her father), proceeds to “bear” Ferdinand’s logs, and then proposes to him, declaring: “ I am your wife if you will marry me; If not I’ll die your maid…You may deny me, but I’ll be your servant whether you will or no” (III.i.83-86). Again threatening the traditional ebb and flow of society, Miranda breaks the rules by asking to be his wife, and Ferdinand again confirms their equal status by stating that “a heart as will as bondage e’er of freedom” he will give her his hand. Miranda’s language is initially of the same subversive-submissive tone she has learned to use, but here, Shakespeare muddles that “socially imposed division of the sexes.”
FERDINAND-Wherefore weep you?
MIRANDA-
At mine unworthiness, that dare not offer
what I desire to give, and much less take
What I shall die to want…
FERDINAND-
My mistress, dearest,
And I thus humble ever ( III.i. 79-88).
Every time that Miranda tries to masquerade submission with action, Ferdinand confronts the subversive subordination with a willingness to match her. Both are equally willing to sacrifice for one another, thus striking from the equation gender’s asymmetry — superiority versus inferiority, submission versus domination.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. “Tell The Truth But Tell It Slant”
Gilbert, Sandra. Gubar, Susan. “The Madwoman in the Attic.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Malden: Blackwell, 2004. 812-825.
Halberstam, Judith. “Female Masculinity.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Malden: Blackwell, 2004. 935-955.
Hogarth, William. Scene from The Tempest. Nostell Priory, Wakefield, West Yorkshire. c 1730
Plath, Sylvia. “Lady Lazarus.”
Rubin, Gayle. “The Traffic in Women.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Malden: Blackwell, 2004. 935-955.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayShakespeare, William. The Tempest. ed Stephen Orgel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Some factor like traffic condition has a great influence on control strategy of the vehicle. In this thesis, we will try to figure out an eco-driving strategy that aim to a better way to reduction of fuel consumption. The characteristic of this strategy is to create a preview decision by using traffic-simulation. It is because of two aspects. One is the Reality: the designed curve is quite different from the reality, so we need to simulate the traffic and get a better description of fuel consumption. And an another is from economical: simulate the actual road condition instead of real running, it will reduce many costs.In other words, the complexity of traffic flow and the difficulty of experimenting with worldwide traffic in real-life make computer simulation a critical tool in traffic analysis. In the meantime, traffic simulation models are used to monitor data for traffic planning. Through analysis, traffic scenarios can have more variations and can effectively dominate the simulation time.Generally speaking, there are three types of traffic simulation models, which are microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic. The microscopic and macroscopic traffic simulations are explained below. This thesis uses the microscopic traffic flow model and describes it in detail.
Get original essayA Macroscopic traffic flow model is a mathematical traffic model that establishes the relationship between traffic flow characteristics like density, flow, mean speed of a traffic stream, etc. Usually deal with a wide range of issues, regardless of individual driving behaviour. These models are typically implemented by integrating diverse microscopic traffic flow models and converting the single-entity level characteristics to comparable system level characteristics. "Rigorous Derivation of Nonlinear Scalar Conservation Laws from Follow-the-Leader Type Models via Many Particle Limit". Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis. The aim of macroscopic models is to describe the most important property, that is dynamics of the traffic flow. According to various experiments, several macroscopic traffic flow models is simple enough for the real-time simulation of large traffic networks, while being sufficiently integrity to actually describe the main total traffic flow variables and their dynamics. In general, this model can determine average travel time, average fuel consumption, and emissions associated with traffic flow.The macroscopic traffic model is not very demanding for calculations. In addition, computing demand does not increase with increasing traffic density, i.e., does not depend on the number of vehicles in the network. Meanwhile, this model is less sensitive to small disturbances in the input.
In General, the macroscopic traffic model is applied to short-term forecasting in a network-wide coordinated traffic management and suitable for the development of dynamic traffic management and control systems designed to optimize transportation systems and can be available for estimate and predict average traffic flow operations.
In contrast to macroscopic models, microscopic traffic flow models simulate individual vehicle units, therefore the models focus on the dynamic variables represent microscopic properties like the position and velocity of single vehicles.The microscopic simulation describes the system entities and their interactions with high levels of detail. A microscopic model makes effort to analyse the flow of traffic by modelling the influence respectively between individual unit such as driver-driver and driver-road. Microscopic traffic simulation has proven to be a useful tool to achieve these analyses. This is not only due to its capability to capture the full dynamics of time related traffic steam, but also being able of dealing with behavioural models accounting for drivers’ reactions when facing different traffic phenomenon.
Software VISSIM is part of the PTV Vision and provides microscopic simulation methods for evaluating and resolving various transportation issues. The main functions of VISSIM include vehicle-following, lane-changing and pedestrian-movement as defined by the model. Vehicle-following models are a form of stimulus-response model, where the response is the reaction of the driver (follower) to the movement of the vehicle immediately preceding him (the leader) in the traffic flow. As the traffic flow to be displayed and expressed becomes complex enough, the influences of planning concepts based on purely aggregated values are difficult to analyse and understand. In this case, the only option that can draw reliable conclusions about traffic quality is to express street traffic for certain traffic plan measures through a visual representation. With the help of Vissim and other microscopic simulation software, you can determine how drivers and pedestrians interact with each other in the entire transportation network based on their stereotyped athletic behaviour. In addition, visualization of each traffic light and speed bump as well as conflict zones provides an overview of the traffic flow. Vissim is also able to refine the level of detail of the map as close to reality as possible so that the connected models are displayed with the most realistic definition. During the simulation, multiple assessments are available for online and offline analysis. Another special feature is the animation visualization in 2D or 3D, which have the opportunity to instantly understand the simulated traffic conditions and fills in gaps between technical expertise and non-technical audiences. Microscopic traffic simulation has proven to be a useful tool to achieve these analyses. This is not only due to its capability to capture the full dynamics of time-related traffic steam, but also being able of dealing with behavioural models accounting for drivers’ reactions when facing different traffic phenomenon.
Automobiles need energy in the fuel to overcome various losses (air resistance, tire drag, etc.) encountered during driving process, as well as powering vehicle systems such as ignition or auxiliary system. Various strategies can be adopted at present to reduce the loss of the energy conversion between the chemical energy in the fuel and the kinetic energy of the vehicle. And driver behaviour can also greatly affect fuel economy; manoeuvres such as rapid acceleration and heavy braking will cost a lot of energy.Fuel efficiency depends on many parameters of the vehicle, including its engine parameters, fuel performance, weight, aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance. In recent decades, great achievements have been made in all areas of vehicle design. The fuel efficiency of the vehicle can also be improved through careful maintenance and driving habits.
Hybrid Electric Vehicles Hybrid vehicles use two or more power sources for propulsion. In many designs, a small internal combustion engine is combined with an electric motor in series or in parallel. In this way, the kinetic energy lost by heat during braking is instead re-captured as electrical energy to improve fuel efficiency. When the vehicle is stopped, the engine will automatically shut down. When the brake pedal is depressed, the engine will start again to prevent wasting energy when idling. Available hybrid vehicles can be classified depending on the power level and the function of the motor into the following categories. The hybrid vehicle's configuration with the smallest electric propulsion unit is called micro hybrid. It is basically an integration of starters and alternators in traditional ICE vehicles. T The main function of the motor is for start and stop, therefore, energy saving is mainly through optimizing the start and stop processes of the motor. In city driving where there are frequent starts and stops, the energy saving may reach about 5% to 10%. The cost of a micro hybrid is only few percent higher than that of conventional vehicle, since the motor is small and the structure is simple. Another alternative model, sometimes referred to as a mild hybrid system, is to use only the motor as a power booster and regenerative braking, without the need for "all-electric" operation. In this case, the motor and storage device can be relatively small but there is less chance of maintaining the engine in an inefficient operating area and reducing the ability to regain braking energy.
The most advanced and complex designs are defined as full hybrids. Generally speaking, there is a motor, generator and engine that employs series-parallel or complex hybrid structure. The power flow between engine, motor, generator and the battery is flexible by means of a power split device such as a planetary gear to achieve optimum drive performance with maximum energy efficiency and minimum emissions. Propulsion can be implemented by motor only (for start and stop), engine only (for cruising when the engine is in the optimal operating range), or a combination of motor and engine (for sudden acceleration when the required propulsion power is less than the engine optimum power region. Thus, the engine will drive the generator to charge the battery so the engine will deliver more power than required propulsion power to reach the optimum operating range). The Full hybrid vehicles can be further subdivided into Synergy Hybrid and Power Hybrid. Synergy Hybrid compromises the drive performance, energy efficiency and emissions reduction.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayThe Power Hybrid is designed to have better driving performance, so the engine will not shrink in size and the vehicle will have better driving performance through the combination of the motor compared with a traditional vehicle. [ Hybrid Electric Vehicle Drivetrain]And in this thesis, will apply the mild hybrid electric vehicles and go through different system architectures for Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicles. For a single-motor hybrid system, depending on the position of the motor relative to the conventional power system, the single-motor hybrid scheme can be divided into five categories, named P0, P1, P2, P3, and P4.P0 means the entire electric system is installed in front of the engine. P1 and P2 have a great similarity. The only difference is that there is no clutch between the motor and the engine, and the auxiliary function of the motor cannot be cut off. The structure of P1 is that the motor is directly connected with the engine, and when the engine rotates, the motor follows. Hence the P1 mode doesn't have a pure electric driving mode. P2 is currently the most widely used mode of hybrid vehicles on the market. Two clutches and an electric motor are inserted between the engine and the gearbox to achieve hybrid driving. Vehicles in P2 mode can be driven in pure electric mode. The P3 mode moves the motor at the end of the gearbox.
When people first think about building or upgrading their existing building into an eco-friendly building, they quickly reject the idea because they think that it is going to be too expensive to upgrade and will not benefit them too much. General opinion about eco-friendly buildings is that they requires a very large initial investment in comparison to the originally calculated cost of the building and the cost of upgrading will not be outweighed by the benefits. This notion is completely wrong because people normally only consider the environmental benefits of eco-friendly buildings while unknowingly ignoring all the other benefits to society and themselves. These people can easily ignore problems that are not right in their face and they decide that they do not want to waste any extra money to do something they cannot even see the effects of. Even though most people are quick to disregard the options for upgrading their existing building or creating a new eco-friendly building, the long term benefits outweigh the small initial investment required.
Get original essayFounded in 1993, the United States Green Building Council was set up as a national nonprofit company that promotes sustainability in the design of buildings. They developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system to rate new and existing buildings according to their environmental attributes and sustainable features. LEED is the “common benchmark for sustainability” (California) and is quickly becoming the standard for green building design. Buildings can incorporate different ways of creating a more eco-friendly building into their initial design and it will be assessed by the USGBC for its LEED certification. Buildings are separated into different levels of certification based off of how eco-friendly they are and there are countless ways for buildings to invest in their building depending on their specific circumstances.
Surprisingly enough, there are not plenty of architecture firms that even build eco-friendly buildings today. This extremely low demand for eco-friendly buildings can be explained by the fact that people associate eco-friendly buildings with adding more money to their project to help the environment. Some people have this mentality that is if it does not directly affect me then it is not my problem and somebody else will deal with it. Some people do and some do not understand that being eco-friendly is beneficial to the environment but a lot of people just do not care enough about the environment enough to want to waste their money on it. These people who do not care, refuse to believe that there is such a thing as climate change or if they do believe, they do not believe that humans are responsible for climate change. Some people will not even admit that there is anything wrong and either believe that nothing has changed or that all of the change is natural. Sallie Baliunas, who has a Ph.D from Harvard in astrophysics, says that being eco-friendly is just a waste of money because “cuts in greenhouse gas emissions averts no meaningful temperature rise” (Baliunas) and if we wanted to have any effect we would have to be reducing a lot more. When people hear things like this they believe that it is just a waste of money to try to prevent something you can not stop. What they do not know is, even if these predictions are true, there are many reasons other than reducing carbon emissions that should convince people to want to help create a more eco-friendly world.
Eco-friendly buildings are able to reduce emission as everybody is aware because they are designed to conserve energy consumption. This reduced energy usage will reduce the emissions of natural pollutants created through the burning of fossil fuels which is the main source of nonrenewable energy that is used in most buildings. These pollutants that are released into the atmosphere when burning fossil fuels are considered to be the main causes of climate change. Eco-friendly buildings can help reduce emission of pollutants through many different ways customisable to the buildings environment and its occupants. Buildings can employ different methods such as solar power generators, maximize the use of sunlight opposed to fluorescent lighting, and facilitate public transportation to decrease the consumption of fossil fuels. Reduction in the overall use of energy in buildings that rely on electricity generated by the burning of fossil fuels also helps to reduce emissions that pollute the world and decrease global warming.
Even though there are a lot of sources for energy, renewable sources are not being used enough around the world. Most of the time the electricity that we pay for, whether we know it or not, is made from the burning of fossil fuels. Inadvertently we are contributing to the problem of climate change depending on where we get out electricity from. Sometimes we have a choice and we can buy electricity created from renewable resources but other times we cannot because they are too far away. Even though renewable energy is not generated widely around the world, people should not be discouraged if they want to do their part to help prevent climate change. People and companies who cannot directly purchase energy made from renewable resources can still purchase green certificates. Green certificates are equivalent to “buying ownership of the reduced emissions” (California) to support facilities that produce energy from renewable sources elsewhere even though they are buying energy created through the burning of fossil fuels. If more people took the initiative to support renewable energy then it might become more readily available around the world and help to decrease climate change which benefits everything on earth.
Another environmental benefit from building or retrofitting current building designs to a more eco-friendly one is water conservation. The two major ways that eco-friendly buildings can conserve water are through the collection of rainwater and the recycling of greywater. By creating a building that captures rain water, that water then can be repurposed for other uses or even watering indoor and outdoor plants instead of having to pay more money for the water. It is shown in studies that if methods used in standard eco-friendly buildings are applied for capturing rainwater then water reduction “over 50% for landscaping” (California) can be expected. Greywater on the other hand is waste water collected indoors, including used water from bathroom sinks and washing machines among other things excluding toilet water which can not be reused. If this water from indoor plumbing is collected after being used and then repurposed it can “reduce water use at or below code/common practice by over 30%” (California). Greywater can be repurposed for other tasks such as watering plants and to be used in toilets among other things, saving clean water for drinking and future use.
Waste reduction is also a very important factor in the construction of eco-friendly buildings. When you first design a building you want to consider the deconstruction of the building as well to try to prevent a full scale demolition of buildings. Full scale demolition of buildings creates a lot of waste that ends up in landfills and then the building requires all new materials to be made for the building both of which have negative effects on the environment. The goal of eco-friendly buildings are to reuse the materials that you have salvaged from the old building so that waste is reduced. By reusing more building materials from the old building means that you will require less new materials for the building and help support the environment. Other than just reusing old materials, all new materials should be durable and easy to repair or maintain in order to ensure that the materials will be used for as long as possible. Another way of reducing waste is the “use of structural materials in a dual role as finish material,” (California) where you are able to limit the quantity of material needed to complete the building. All of these methods of reducing waste in the deconstruction of buildings are meant to encourage new building designs that are flexible so that everything that can have multi-uses does.
The government provides many financial incentives for people who invest in building or retrofitting their buildings into eco-friendly ones. These incentives are meant to encourage people to think twice about how expensive they believe it will be to upgrade their current plans to ones that are eco-friendly. Even without these incentives, there are a lot of ways that owners save money in the long run from upgrading to eco-friendly buildings. Studies show that “homeowners accrue their upfront investment ten times over the building’s life as a result of the savings” (Levin 39) from their eco-friendly building design. Many people do not consider the long run effects of converting to an eco-friendly design when deciding what to build and this is why the government needs to have these incentives for them upgrade. Based off of these long term savings, it would be unreasonable for anybody to think that the small initial investment is not outweighed by the larger savings over time.
Eco-friendly buildings are designed to provide the maximum amount of natural light as they can in order to reduce the buildings dependence on electricity. This helps owners save money is through reduced electricity use, while at the same time reducing emissions of pollutants that would have been created if the energy was needed. Eco-friendly buildings on average use “30% less purchased energy than conventional buildings” (California) which helps to bring down the cost of electricity which is most likely to increase as time goes by. Some studies even show that there are “better sales in stores that utilize natural light” (Green) which is another thing that encourages owners of stores to upgrade their buildings. Photovoltaics are an option that can be looked into when designing an eco-friendly building since they can be used to “generate 20% of [the buildings]power on site” (California) which will help decrease energy costs further in the long run. The decrease in the dependence on electricity
will help businesses run more efficiently because they do not need to worry about sudden changes in operational costs due to changing electricity costs or power outages to hurt their bottom line. It is better for the maintenance of the building, the environment, and the owner’s pockets in the long run to invest in creating or even just retrofitting their buildings current design to a more eco-friendly one.
A lot of energy is required to regulate the temperature inside buildings so that it is comfortable for those people living or working there. Buildings that are constructed poorly have trouble with temperature moderation and cannot keep heat well in the winter and keep cool well in the summer. In order to fix the effects of poor temperature moderation we tend to just turn on the heat in the winter or the air conditioning during the summer but the extra use of electricity contributes to climate change and increases in your electricity bill, which may seem more important at the time. There are ways to help buildings regulate temperature better during the winter and summer when demand for electricity is the highest. The urban heat island effect is a serious problem that occurs in cities where the temperature on average is hotter than it should be because buildings are all crowded together and they all absorb heat. One way that eco-friendly buildings combat this problem is by “increasing the reflectivity of roofs and other typically dark surfaces” (Green) since darker surfaces absorb more sunlight and increase the temperature inside the buildings faster. When it gets hotter than it should inside the buildings then people turn on their air condition units and consume a lot more energy than is needed. The air conditioning units also contribute to the added heat and pollution in the cities since they are basically dumping all of the hot air outside the window to cool the room down. The heat island effect is not only bad because it heats up buildings but it also “directly contributes to reduced ozone creation” (California) another cause of global warming. With better temperature control inside buildings, it will help cut down on “the large human health costs associated with smog” (Green) because there will be a decrease the pollutants, such as those that are released by the air conditioner and heaters, that form smog. This is beneficial for both the owners of the building and the people who work or live inside because they save money while preventing possible health problems.
Studies over the last ten years have shown that “employee productivity has been positively correlated to indoor environmental conditions,” (Green) meaning that eco-friendly buildings are increasing employee productivity in the workplace. One example is that of VeriFone, a company that decided to retrofit their existing building so that it would more eco-friendly. They discovered that over the first eighteen months “absenteeism rates were down 40% and productivity was up by more than 5%” (California) which is great news for companies looking to increase profits. This is all possible because the retrofitted building is able to cut indoor pollutants and improve indoor environmental quality which helped the people who work long days cooped up inside. Less people got sick at work from the poor air quality inside the building because of the increased air circulation helped keep everybody healthier. Gary Jay Saulson saw that “absenteeism has decreased, productivity has increased, recruitment is better and turnover less” (California). Another benefit of owning a building that is eco-friendly is that people who support eco-friendly buildings will want to work for a company that also believes the same way, increasing recruitment. People who understand that the eco-friendly building has helped make the working environment better will understand the added health benefits for themselves and decide to seek and then stay employed there.
The improved health of people working and living inside eco-friendly buildings comes from a better indoor environment. Green buildings “emphasizes ventilation and non-toxic, low emitting materials” (Green) in order to provide people working and living inside a better environment for their health. Eco-friendly buildings are able to increase air circulation through the use of less air conditioning and heat so that windows can be opened and natural air is able to circulate. The better air quality leads to less pollutants in the air of the building and that will help decrease “respiratory problems, allergies, nausea, headaches, and skin rashes” (Green) all of which make people working and living there sick over time. The decrease in sudden temperature changes inside because of better insulation and ability for heat to be absorbed by the building helps decrease the chance of bacteria and mold growth inside the building which may also get people sick. Upgrading a building’s design is guaranteed way to see long term improvements in the health of everybody who works or lives inside of these eco-friendly buildings.
Eco-friendly buildings and even those that are just retrofitted to become more eco-friendly are shown in studies to help increase the overall comfort of people working or living inside of the buildings. PNC bank decided to upgraded the designs of a few of their branches to a eco-friendly design in an effort to help the environment and increase the number of customers that went there. They commonly took surveys of their workers to better understand how they can help improve their working environment and they discovered that on average there is “improved comfort among green branch occupants” (Katz 55). This improved comfort in the workplace for PNC workers makes workers feel better going to work everyday, encourages more customers to stop by, and helps with reduction of the carbon footprint of the PNC banks. Added comfort helps make workplaces and homes better for everybody working or living inside and is just an added bonus to all the other important benefits of upgrading.
All of these investments that have been made to the building to make it eco-friendly will also increase the value of the property when it is to be sold. The added initial investment cost is basically passed on to the buyer if you are planning on building or renovating and then selling. The property itself will be more in demand because of its eco-friendly design which is meant to lower operating costs by conserving energy on a day to day basis. This makes owning the building cheaper for the buyer who will appreciate that and want to pay a little more money for a discounted electricity bill every month. Another reason that people will want eco-friendly buildings more is because of the “easy maintenance of green buildings” (Green). There will be less problems with the maintenance of building since it is designed to be durable in order to prevent materials from being wasted when needing to rebuild. There will also be lower vacancy rates because people will have a healthier working and living environment and will want to continue to work there. The increased demand for eco-friendly buildings to both live and work in will make this small initial investment pay off when you are trying to sell or rent out the building.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayPeople who dismiss the idea of upgrading their current building designs or building to more eco-friendly one are ignoring all of the benefits not only with regards to the environment but also economically and socially. People and companies who do not decide to pursue these eco-friendly options are hurting not only the environment which everybody depends on but also their own pockets financially and the health of everybody living or working there. People and companies should feel good when upgrading their construction plans because they are doing a good deed for the environment and the long term benefits outweigh the added cost to upgrade. Since global warming is a silent killer and you do not see its effects directly in your everyday life, it is hard to get people to commit extra money to their building. It makes no reasonable sense why anybody would not upgrade their building designs or retrofit their old buildings to newer and more eco-friendly designs to help themselves, the people who work or live inside, and the environment.
The consumption of plastic has grown substantially all over the world and this has created huge quantities of plastic-based waste. Plastic waste is now a serious environmental threat to the modern way of living. Disposal of large quantity of plastics causes land, water and air pollution so a study like this been executed to recycle the plastic in concrete.
Get original essayIn civil engineering construction use of shredded plastics has increased drastically as a partial replacement of aggregates. Some past investigations suggest that partial replacement of aggregate of concrete causes with waste plastic can improve properties such as abrasion resistance, impact resistance causes some reduction in mechanical properties such as compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength.
This study will be using special type of fiber, the tension fiber. Higher cellulose content, which is mostly crystalline, results in a decrease in fracture strain and toughness of the fibers. This is an eco-friendly concrete block that is twice the size, but half the weight of a typical hollow block. It is basically concrete but lighter and more insulated because it has micro air bubbles in it. It is an extremely strong & durable block due to the fact that it is re-enforced with tough tension fibers.
The market, which is influenced by climate change, is starting to demand more environment-friendly materials. That desire to contribute to protecting the environment has fueled more interest in choosing greener alternatives.
Take up the proper proportion of sand, cement and fibers. After measuring out the materials, place the sand on the pile and gently mix the cement together with appropriate amount of water. Mix it thoroughly. It will be packed on a molder twice as big as the ordinary molder-standardized molder. When the conveyor is full, the molded block will be isolated but it no longer needs the presence of sunlight. It’s because of the polymer that plastic contains.
This kind of polymer has the ability to dry up the cement faster. Due to its ability to cools quickly, it can be used immediately without the presence of brittleness and pulverized. It is like the typical hollow block but it is lighter than the said one. You will see some holes on, it allows the passage of air inside. It also has visible fine layered structure. It may be longer on the sketch but it is twice as big than the typical hollow block.
Since it is made up of tension fibers together with plastic fibers, the eco-friendly concrete block can be cut, sawn, drilled, chiseled, and screwed similar to working with lumber. It also requires minimal rendering that can save you time on labor and material costs. The heat insulation of this block is 5x more insulation than the ordinary hallow block. Its water absorption is 5% lesser than the typical one. Its installation time is 2-3 faster than the ordinary.
Surprisingly, even it has plastic fibers the block can resist heat over 5 hours due in having tension fibers which are not flammable. can help build stronger and more cost-efficient homes for those still recovering from calamities. Eco-friendly concrete block is cheaper, greener and lighter alternative to hollow blocks which is what most contractors use in buildings.
This innovation studies the possibility of producing this kind of concrete block out of plastic waste, and aims to offer it in the market soon. The country’s demand for cement, the main ingredient in concrete, reached million tons and, is projected to grow by at least 15 percent every year fueled by an active construction industry.
The statistical analysis of land cover change of Mai Pokhari identifies three major type of land cover i.e. Forest, Agricultural land and Grassland and observed significant changes within a duration of 10 year from 2000A.D. to 2010A.D. Agricultural land was observed significantly increased where forest was found decreased significantly. Forest around Mai Pokhari was observed dense and increased in the interval of 10 years but decreased while moving outside. It might be because of conservation practices managed by wetland management committee in the surrounding of wetland.
Get original essayThere is no provision of collection of raw materials including woods and fodder from surrounding of wetland which have helped on growth of dense forest. While moving away from wetland, most of the forest was observed turned into agricultural land. There was also observed dense community forest in north and west of wetland and scattered forest on east and south which is mostly residential areas. Population of study area was found increasing (CBS 2014) and mostly females were found involving in farming practices. Instead of tradition practices, large agricultural farm with business purpose were found initiated. This might be the cause of decreasing coverage of forest area.
Most of the people close to wetland have established hotel and lodge for major source of income. In such cases, people plant timber trees on their private land for selling purpose which is making scattered forest areas in residential. Forest depletion along with massive construction has direct impact on ground water causing lowering of water level (Alam¹, Rashid, Bhat¹, & Sheikh, 2011).
Roads close to wetland and construction of houses and running of heavy vehicles might also adding impacts on wetland condition. Most of the males of this area move to India for seasonal. This present trend have is replacing traditional occupation especially animal herding, trading. Most of the grasslands are turning bare and invasion. With the less utilization of grassland, it is slowly turning into forest. The conversion of land from one form to another form provides huge negative impact on wetland resources (Alam, 2011) as well as local ecosystem services (Zhang, Zhao, Liu, Liu, & Li, 2015).
Physio-chemical parameters changes due to natural and human activities. Dissolution of bed materials, meteorological events are some of the natural causes and also climate change although being natural influenced by human activities. pH measured in both sampling season were found acidic. pH measured is below water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life (6.5-9.0) which might be because of acidic nature of lake water due to huge deposition of fallen parts of Pinus roxburghii in soil. There was large deposition of organic matter in the lake and decomposition of such organic matter releases carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus produced carbon dioxide combines with water and forms carbonic acid (H2CO3).
Carbonic acid is also responsible for low pH. pH is positively correlated with ammonia and nitrate. Decomposition of organic sediments also liberates nitrates and ammonium ions which enhance hydrogen ions (H+) making water acidic (Adeogun & Fafione, 2011). Decomposition of organic matter forms acid containing compounds and elevates hydrogen ions in water (Yimer & Mengistou, 2009). There might be flow of NO3- and PO¬4- in wetland from the agricultural and grassland. The optimum level of pH for the survival of the organism ranges from 5 to 9 and beyond these limit species suffers (Mesner & Geiger, 2010).
Water conductivity is always highly influenced by the surrounding geology (Light, Licht, Bevilacqua, & Morash, 2005). Water conductivity was measured very low in both sampling period this was due to the presence of graphite rocks as bed and bank materials. Graphite are mainly composed up of inert materials (Light et al., 2005).
Dissolved oxygen is highly reactive and changes quickly in very short period of time (Legesse, Giller, & O’halloran, 2000). Dissolved oxygen is one of the major factor affecting the existing of aquatic species (Giller & Malmqvist, 1998). Communities assemblages and distribution of aquatic organisms are directly related to Dissolved oxygen(Jackson & Myers, 2002).
As per USEPA guidelines (2000), DO more than 5mg/L is appropriate for growth of most of the aquatic organism and less than 3mg/L is stressful to aquatic organism. DO measured is less than 3mg/L indicating stressful environment. Similar result was displayed by Rai (2013) in his research. 5-8mg/L DO for aquaculture and 80-100% of DO saturation for balanced aquatic ecosystem is guidelines set by Nepal water quality guidelines.
Measured DO is below than Nepal water quality guideline indication unfavorable living condition for aquatic organisms. Result showed slightly increase in DO concentration in pre-monsoon but also overall concentration was low. Major nutrient i.e. total phosphate and nitrate were found higher in post-monsoon and pre-monsoon season respectively. These nutrients are major influencer for the growth of algae and aquatic weeds (Wetzel 2001).
Growth and decomposition of algae and macrophytes consumes more dissolved oxygen and hence lowers the concentration of dissolved oxygen. Similarly, microbial organisms consume more dissolved oxygen for decomposition of huge deposition of organic matter. These might be major factors for lowing concentration of dissolved oxygen in lake. Poor amount of DO is a good indicator of poor water quality of lake.
Simply, Alkalinity is an ability to resist the change in pH. Generally, most of the lakes and reservoirs maintain similar pH because of presence of carbonates which is one of the major components of alkalinity. Carbonate is formed in water after the reaction of carbon dioxide with water. Addition and reduction of carbon dioxide is simultaneous process in wetland where addition of carbon dioxide reduces pH where pH raises with the reduction of carbon dioxide.
Alkalinity of water is also associated with hardness. Higher the total alkalinity in water, harder will be water. Total hardness is a sum of calcium hardness and magnesium hardness. The major cause of hardness is a presence of calcium and magnesium which often produces by the dissolution of limestone. In most of the sampling there was presence of bed rocks which might release calcium and magnesium in water.
Water bodies contain nutrients but excessive nutrients are harmful. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Ammonia are major nutrients in fresh water. These nutrients enters into the fresh water through various sources including bed rocks, atmospheric deposition, surrounding vegetation and land use practices and human activities. Overabundance of these nutrients makes lake polluted as it enhances the excessive growth of algae. Growth and decomposition of algae reduced dissolved oxygen making difficult for aquatic organism to survive. Some algae also produce toxins, which might be harmful aquatic organism and human too, if ingested.
Nitrogen and its various forms are highly concern in the study of water analysis as these are major cause of environmental pollution. Various amount of nitrogen enters to the water through natural and anthropogenic process. Nitrate being highly soluble in nature reaches to water from earth materials, organic matters and fertilizers (Schmitt, Randall, & Malzer, 2001).
Excess of nitrate have long term and long chain impact on aquatic ecosystem. It enhances the growth of macrophytes and wild plants. Death of these plants adds organic matter and micro-organism for decomposition. Decomposition of organic matter by micro-organism consumes more oxygen and deficit oxygen causing death of aquatic organism. Mai Pokhari is rainfall feeding lake with high content of organic matter.
Organic matter might be the major source of nitrate in lake. Because of gradual lowering of water level, water is being filled in lake from river water. River water moving to lake transports nutrient from external sources. Agricultural runoff, plant debris, animals feces were nitrate releasing sources in river which was observed. Oxidation of ammonia also forms nitrates naturally. Nitrate was measured in the range of 0.07mg/L to 3.2mg/L and found increased in pre-monsoon season. Water quality guidelines and FAO has set less than 300mg/L is tolerable quality range for aquaculture.
The change in concentration less than 15% from local unimpacted condition is tolerable for aquatic ecosystem according to water quality guidelines of Nepal. Ayers (1985) stated no impact on plants and aquatic organism below the concentration of 5mg/L. Measured nitrate was within the range of guideline set by water quality guidelines. Measured ammonia was in the range of 0.18mg/L to 2mg/L above the range of water quality guidelines for protection of aquatic ecosystem (<0.007mg/L) and for aquaculture (<0.03mg/L).
Unlike nutrient over-enrichment, excessive ammonia in water bodies adds toxicant or buildup toxic in the body of aquatic organism and finally leads to death. Ammonia might be enters into to the Mai Pokhari through breakdown of organic matter, nitrogenous animal feces and nitrogen fixation process.
Various forms of phosphorus arise from various sources. Some major sources of phousphorus in Mai Pokhari might be decomposition of organic matter, liberation from phosphorus containing minerals. In addition, soil erosion from the bank might help to enter phosphorus to the water. Water from the Paha Khola also adds phosphorus to lake water.
The need of phosphorus is to enhance the growth of aquatic organisms. Excessive phosphorus enhances eutrophication. Eutrophication reduces the concentration of dissolved oxygen making difficult to survive for aquatic organism. Concentration of Total phosphate was measured in the range of 0.25mg/L to 4.1mg/L. This measured value is higher than water quality guidelines for aquaculture (<0.6mg/L). For the protection of aquatic ecosystem, change in concentration of phosphorus less than 15% is allowable as per water quality guidelines.
Ammonia, nitrate and total phosphate was found positively correlated with each other (Table 7). Ammonia and nitrate are the two forms of nitrogen and both formed by the process of nitrogen fixation. In Mai Pokhari, Organic matter was found major stressor and liberates nitrate, ammonium and total phosphate ions after decomposition.
In addition, animal feces, liberation of nutrients ions from minerals and rocks and microbial releases also made positive correlation among nutrients. Because of higher nutrients concentration, DO is measured low. pH was measured positively correlated with nitrate and ammonia whereas negatively correlated with total phosphate. It reveals that acidic pH is a result of nitrogen ions in water (Yimer & Mengistou, 2009).
As water is measured acidic might be due to containing less carbonate and magnesium ions resulting low total hardness of water. There is negative correlation measured between pH and total hardness/total alkalinity. Total hardness and total alkalinity are positively correlated. The addition of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate from limestone and dolomite enhances total hardness and total alkalinity.
Biological indicators are essential elements for water quality assessment, management and conservation (Lewis, Jüttner, Reynolds, & Ormerod, 2007). Fish, macroinvertebrates and diatoms are major faunal bio indicator. The distribution of these species is determined by the stressing factor to the water but most of the study reveals that poor habitat quality is also responsible for poor species richness, its composition and diversity (Griffith et al., 2005).
Similar kind of taxa was recorded in post and pre-monsoon season. This might be due to similar climatic condition, substrate type and almost similar concentration of nutrients in a lake. The largest number of taxa and ETO taxa were measured in L1. This was due to mixed substrate type containing clay, silt, pebbles and freshly fallen parts of plant. Site L1 was also observed more disturbed by human activities.
Taxa richness was low in sites L4, L5 and L6 because of clayey substrate type. Diptera and Oligochaeta were recorded dominant taxa in both sampling period. Three family of Diptera i.e. Chironomidae, Tabanidae and Simuliidae and two family of Oligochaeta i.e. Tubificidae and Naididae were recorded. The high abundance of Chironomidae and Tubificidae were recorded in littoral zone. The wide distribution of Chironomidae and Tubificidae could be their strength to exist in unstable substrate (Weatherhead & James, 2001). Generally unstable substrates were found on disturbed and polluted sites.
Taxa richness was found increase with the increase in coverage of macrophytes and lowering of water level in pre-monsoon season. Macrophytes provide safe shelter to macroinvertebrates from the predators could be the reason of higher taxa richness. This statement is also supported by previous study (Merritt & Cummins, 1996).
Distribution of variety of macrophytes also enhance diverse abundance of macroinvertebrates and plays significant role in their existence (HANSON, 1990). Water level was also found more shifted towards center in pre-monsoon season which might make habitat more suitable for macroinvertebrates.
The number of ETO taxa found highly decreased in pre-monsoon season. ETO taxa are sensitive species to the pollution. The decrease in number of ETO taxa might be increase in the concentration of pollutants and chemicals. The chemicals parameters and nutrients were measured higher in pre-monsoon season which could restrict the distribution of sensitive taxa. Lowering of water level might cause unsuitable habitat for ETO taxa causing lowing the number of ETO taxa in pre-monsoon season. Higher abundance of ETO taxa represents higher ecological quality of wetland.
The number of facultative taxa was found higher than pollution tolerant and pollution intolerant taxa in pre and post-monsoon season. Pollution intolerant taxa were recorded in low number in both sampling period. This scenario reflects that concentration of pollution is rising in lake making unsuitable environment for sensitive species. With the tolerance score of each taxon, similar NLBI was measured in both pre and post-monsoon season.
Nepal Lake Biotic Index determines lake water quality class and degree of pollution, provided with a value ranges from 1 to 10. Similar NLBI value reveals similar ecological condition or no change in ecological condition of wetland in post and pre-monsoon season. NLBI value ranges from 0 to 10 where towards 10 provides indication of higher quality of lake water with none to minimal level of pollution whereas value towards 1 indicates poor to bad quality of lake water and extreme level of pollution (Shah et al., 2011). Measured NLBI value ranges from 4 to 4.9 which refers moderately polluted ecological condition of wetland with fair water quality (Shah et al., 2011).
Shannon diversity was measured almost similar and low in both sampling period. External stressor to the environment or ecosystem is a one of the major reason for low diversity (Odum, 1959). Similar kind of substrate type in sampling period, higher deposition of organic matter, dominance of single taxa could be the reason for low diversity. Shannon diversity depends upon taxa richness and evenness (Enger et al., 2013).
Lower the taxa richness and evenness, lower will be the Shannon diversity. Shannon diversity was negatively correlated with ammonia and total phosphate but no relation was observed with nitrate. Shannon diversity was observed decreasing with the increasing concentration of nutrients. ETO taxa were also negatively correlated with nutrients parameter. Nutrients parameter plays significant role in the distribution and abundance of species. Increase in concentration of nutrients enhances the growth of algae, macrophytes which lowers dissolved oxygen and limits growth and distribution of macroinvertebrates.
Transportation of river water to the lake is one of the major sources of nutrients of the Mai Pokhari. Higher consumption of dissolved oxygen for decomposition of organic matter, increasing concentration of chemicals, growth of macrophytes and algae, gradually lowering of water level, highly abundant fish species are hindering the growth and distribution of macroinvertebrates as well as degrading ecological quality of wetland.
Shannon Wiener diversity and ETO taxa richness was negatively correlated with nutrients parameters. There was unequally distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI). Chironomids and Tubuficidae were highly measured where ETO taxa were poorly recorded. This might be because of unsuitable habitat for all species and stressor. Poor DO measured might be responsible for low to no presence of ETO taxa and other sensitive species in different sites and periods whereas Tubificidae and Chironomids can resist or survive.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayChironomids and Tubificidae are pollution tolerant species have ability to survive, grow and reproduce in poor environmental conditions as well. The measured concentration of total phosphate was beyond the water quality guidelines for aquatic ecosystem. Total phosphate was responsible for the excessive growth and distribution of algae bloom and macrophytes which consumes more dissolved oxygen and adds organic matter in lake. Most of the species couldn’t grow and live freely in poor DO concentration. In addition, Ammonia and nitrate also supports on growth and distribution of macrophytes making habitat unsuitable for BMI.
For this research, the researcher relates to the ecological systems theory to explain the experiences of child headed households and how they survive in their everyday life where they are exposed to abuse, hunger, poverty, harm and lack parental-guardian relationship or guidance which is vital for child development.
Get original essayBronfenbrenner developed his ecological systems theory to define and understand human development within the context of the system of relationships that form the person’s environment. The ecology of human development is the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation throughout the life course between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives. Therefore; Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory is useful for organising factors that enhance individual resilience because each factor can be placed around an individual according to the proximity of the factor in relation to the individual’s ecosystem. Using this framework in relation to this study, one can evaluate effectiveness of within person characteristics, such as adaptive coping, and optimism, as well as factors external to the person, such as family support, neighbourhood networks, health provision, government financial support and so on for promoting individual resilience and the survival of child headed households.
In the model following the above illustration, the individual interacts directly with people, ideas and things in his or her microsystem, which include family, peers and school systems. It describes how the different parts of an individual’s microsystem work together. This represents the interconnections or lack, between the individual’s microsystems; connections between home and work or school, for example, or between home and friends. For instance; In their microsystem children heading households, have no parents to help them learn values, attitudes of society and assist them in becoming self sufficient and to take care of themselves. The children adapt the parental role. Janes (2015) points out that children are not miniature adults and should not be treated as if they were. Therefore the absence of a parental figure leads to a situation where the child bypasses most stages of childhood as they take over the roles of parents and this has a lot of impact on their childhood and how they will manage to survive and at least feed themsleves and protect each other.
The second immediate layer, the mesosystem, comprises the linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings containing the developing person (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). In other words a mesosystem is a system of different microsystems such as home and school. What happens in a home for example, influences what happens in school, in society, their friendships and what children spend their time doing . In child headed families, there is a missing element and link whereby the parents provide in the network of interactions, protection and guidance is lacking. The breakdown of a child’s microsystem leaves a child without proper adult supervision (Chidziva, 2014). The children may have difficulties developing positive relationship with anyone outside their newly found family set up , they are often prone to abuse and put no effort in life.
According to Bronfenbrenner, (1994) The exosystem level includes the other people and places where an individual may not interact with often but that still have a large effect on her, such as spouse’s workplaces, extended family members, the neighbourhood, etc. For example, if an extended family member gets looses their job, this may have negative spillover effects to the children who might have been receiving support from this member. The exosystem hence comprises the linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings, at least one of which does not contain the developing person but can indirectly have a strong impact on the individual’s development. Children who live in child headed homes have challenges since there will not be a bread winner in the family. A lot of challenges will arise for example, schooling, feeding, housing and they may end up engaging in prostitution so as to raise funds.
Bronfenbrenner’s final level is the macrosystem. This is located furthest from the individual and is the largest, most remote set of people and structures and organisations which have a great influence over the person. The macrosystem may be thought of as a societal blueprint for a particular culture or subculture (Bronfenbrenner, 2004). It has to do with the economic, political and social stability of the country. In relation to the research, children from child-head households may if the country’s economy is poor fail to get assistance in terms of food or health services and they are bound to experience strain in their development. A chronosystem encompasses change or consistency overtime not only in the characteristics of the person but also of the environment in which that person lives for example change of the life course in family structure, socio-economic status, place of residence and ability in everyday life which might be as a result of death of a parent. Children who are left alone find themselves heading families. They take on new roles and responsibilities in keeping the family functioning in order to survive. Understanding of these interactions is the key to understanding how the surroundings partcicularly home and family set up can affect the development of the child.
“Political economy approaches see the fact that culture is produced and consumed under capitalism as the fundamental issue in explaining the inequalities of power, prestige and profit.”
Get original essayThis statement by D. Hesmondhalgh captures the whole essence political economic approach in one sentence and is a great starting point to study the approach which gets more complex when looked at more deeply. Before making any further inquiries it is important to understand what significance this approach has and why are we studying it. It is important because from a liberal pluralist political perspective the cultural industries affect the democratic process and lifestyle. Now the political economy approach to this is a macro approach that looks at the big corporations who run an oligopoly in the industry. There are mainly six media conglomerates also referred to as the Big 6 namely National Amusements, Disney, Time Warner, Comcast, News Corp and Sony. These six companies own almost all of media and with an approximate combined wealth of $430 billion would together form the 26th richest country in the world. Thus it goes without saying what a huge impact they have on the world.
Political economy approach takes this study of cultural industries and focuses on aiming it towards social welfare. It is heavily critical of such large ownerships and corporations along with their behaviours which they often criticise are in interest of the wealthy owners and their powerful allies by only circulating the texts that profit them and burry the ones that would reflect on them negatively without considering the true value of the text or social welfare.
In simple econ terms this approach deals with the supply and critiques the biases in supply chain by the producers and distributors for their benefits even if it comes at the costs of the consumers.
Political econ is a very wide approach but here in this econ essay its scope is strictly limited to media. Peter Golding and Graham Mudrock (2005:P61-66) distinguish this approach to media from other economic approaches in four plain characteristics; it is holistic, historic, concerned with balance between capital enterprise and public interventions and addresses basic moral questions of justice and inequality.
I am not in full agreement with the characteristics listed by Peter Golding and Graham Mudrock simply because it would be very ignorant to consider this approach ‘holistic’.
1. As mentioned earlier political economy is a macro approach focusing on the production and circulations of media texts. Thus implying that the market of goods and the market of ideas are exactly the same. This not only ignores the distinction of the media industries and media texts from other industries and products and puts them all in the same bag but also ignores many cultural complexities and contradictions that come up while producing a media text. Because of its one dimensional approach to the market it misses out on the essential traits of the industry itself.
2. Among the other popular critiques for this approach would be its absolute ignorance to popular media, media texts and entertainment. As one may notice from this essay (among the other written articles on political economy) the approach usually seems to be talking about media in terms of facts and figures. In a way it centers only on news or factual media and ignores the various other aspects of media like popular media or entertainment. The political economic approach views media as very serious content, which it is but ignores the other more relaxed forms of media in terms of movies, music etc. which do form a huge part of the media industries.
3. The other popular critique of it would be its lack of interest in the media text. It stands true that the approach focuses only on production and distribution but not on what is being produced or distributed. It focuses on the channels of distributions and the biased structures of channels within them but never once addresses the issue of what is being produced.
The few limitations above are sufficient to say that the approach is not holistic at all. In fact it is very biased towards looking at the media industries from a distributor’s perspective and only raises the issues of distribution and the inequalities within them. However, these does not demerit the approach as it makes some very good arguments still.
The supporters of the political economy approach focus on the greater play of the market forces which would be leading to greater market freedom. The idea that a free market is a fair market. They are naturally critical of any interventions by the government or the public perhaps in the belief that such an intervention would create a bias that focuses on the interests of the party making the intervention (as they critique the big corporations) instead of focusing on the social welfare, which is what this approach seeks to achieve. The role of such interventions and corporations can easily appear to be larger than it really is from the surface of things however even in reality with the (relatively) diminished role of these two agencies it is very significant. Of course the consumers of the media texts are still making choices and taking the final decisions for themselves despite of the influence from other bodies or marketing and advertisement. What the approach really contests is that the even when the consumers are making a choice it is not a real one because their choices are limited with in wider structures these other forces come to create. Thus, only giving the consumer an illusion of ‘real choice’.
This approach comes to show that micro contexts are being constantly shaped by the economic dynamics and the play of power between them especially taking interest in the structures of communicative activities and its unequal distribution of material and symbolic resources. These lines bring focus on instrumentalism. Herman and Chomsky (manufacturing consent: political econ of mass media) call it a ‘propaganda model’, arguing that the powerful are in a privileged positions to be able to control what the general public consumes through media, what they see, listen or think about. In doing so they are able to manage public opinion to a certain extent. This is true to a certain extent and shows the power held by people in more privileged positions but they too work within limitations. For example: In a democratic country where the government has a tight grip on the media can use the media to make themselves look better than they really are. Thrashing their oppositions and all in all giving a very biased view of the political situation in the country. Having the different news channels constantly run the news about the contributions of the ruling party, to make the whole issue appear to be much bigger than its actual effect on the country. This could be done to be able to get re-elected for the next session and stay in power or any other agenda. Such practices do take place in real ‘democratic countries’ and is not completely hypothetical. The public mostly forms its opinion over the political parties from what they see or listen about them in the media and vote accordingly. Such practices threaten the democratic lifestyle and are more common than one would think. Discourses are rarely available to the public in raw state. They are usually restructured or re-contextualized to fit the particular agenda it aims to achieve.
The idea is essentially to make the media and it’s public broadcast a public good, equally available to everyone and designed to offer a diversity of experience and representations (instead of just multiplicity of it) and not to promote consumerism. It has to be in the interest of the people for social welfare and not the producers who are mostly aiming towards achieving their own agendas.
For almost two centuries people have been thinking more and more about the economic aspect of the development of the state and the world as a whole, realizing that this is the main mission of each country. Previously, it was believed that the state should be developed in isolation, for example, the policy of the USSR towards other states, as a self-reliant socialist state. With the advent of globalization (the worldwide integration in economic, social and cultural aspects) the concept of foreign economic policy has changed dramatically. Nowadays, the borders no longer limit the economic actions of the state, cooperation is becoming the status quo in the world arena. The econ terms of cooperation are trade – is a set of economic relations based on regular exchange operations between producers of goods (services) and consumers.
Get original essayIn the 21st century, an inescapable part of economic relations between states plays trade. We cannot say that trade appeared a certain number of years ago. It has always existed, and day after day it continues to appear in many cities, countries, people, goods and services. Many parties create economic unions with each other to promote more efficient development of their economies, which is beneficial for both sides.
The modern market must also be a powerful engine of the scientific and technical progress, a mechanism for growth and development of production. The fast introduction of the market in the country makes it possible to put this mechanism at the service of our welfare and helps to reveal the abilities of each person. Undoubtedly, trade is a complex mechanism and has a complicated structure, including competition and obstruction as its integral parts.
With the advent of globalization and the development of economic factors in most countries, a large number of people in power, chasing the palm tree at the global economic level to forget about the social problems of society, which periodically leads to the violation of fundamental rights of the individual. But the main question is what are human rights? These are the opportunities for a person to live a decent life. Human rights are divided into two parts: freedom and rights. Freedom is the absence of restrictions on a person and their ability to act as they see fit. Realization of freedoms does not depend on the resources of the state, on the level of social and economic development of the country. And rights are such opportunities of a person that can be realized only if the state, organizations or individuals fulfill their duties. Our rights and freedoms have their own features: rights and freedoms are absolute; the state does not give them to people because they belong to a person from birth ; human rights belong to a person in general and regardless of time and space.
The International Declaration of Human Rights defines 4 subtypes of human rights:
Universal – rights that belong to human beings everywhere regardless of race, religion, gender and other differences that they cannot be removed;
Fundamental – ones that cannot be removed;
Indivisible – civic and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights are interrelated and co-equal in importance;
Absolute – rights belonging to a citizen (legal entity) regardless of anyone who should not be violated by anyone.
In any case, the culprit will be punished for violation of human rights in accordance with those prescribed by UDHR. On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and the text of it is the first global definition of the rights of all human beings. It is an officially signed document that defines the fundamental rights of each individual (applies only to those countries that have officially signed) and defines who is the guarantor of the enjoyment and exercise of human rights.
The country's economic situation and further development are closely linked to the rules and freedoms of each individual, and therefore make economic development impossible without respect for fundamental human rights. But on the other hand, this thesis does not necessarily apply to all countries, but when speaking of a politically developed country in our world, it should be mentioned that there is no democratic society without respect for any human rights and freedoms.
Economic development and human rights undoubtedly find a direct point of contact, specifically in the political system. The modern economic system, like the democratic system, is created not for itself, but for society. This means that not a human being exists for the state but a state for a human being.
The laws of the state are not for the purpose of restricting human freedoms, but for ensuring the observance of rights and freedoms of each person, for increasing happiness and wealth of each person. It means that it is not the GDP that is important, but the wealth of each individual person is significant...If we take as a starting point the human rights, the answers to many pressing questions of the modern econ will become obvious. And it will become clear in what direction they should be addressed, which vector should be the solution of these issues, in full accordance with the concern for GDP, economic freedoms, human happiness and 'wealth of peoples'. And if human rights are fully respected, happiness and improved standards of living will arise, which will lead to the improvement of the social point of view of the state, which is one of the most important factors of development in the modern world. However, these concepts do not always positively cooperate with each other.
Modern econ development in the world has led to the fact that the state is only interested in producing goods that will benefit them in the future, neglecting the rights and freedoms of their citizens. With the advent of the market, this problem became even more acute and a pressing issue in modern society. Market relations have turned the countries into predators for profitable transactions, thus converting the free society of consumers into the 'slave' power of the system, when all efforts are aimed at achieving only economic goals without paying attention to social progress of nations. As mentioned previously, GDP is not the only factor determining social progress. The government often forgets about its main mission towards its people, namely to act as a guarantor of their rights and freedoms not only in the world arena, but also at the domestic level.
Generally speaking this essay shows how economics and trade in such well known countries on the world arena like Italy and South Korea cooperates and influence human rights.
One of the countries presented in essay is a state located in the south of Europe in the central part of the Mediterranean, Italy or officially named as the Italian Republic, is occupying the Apennine peninsula, including such islands as Sicily, Sardinia and a number of smaller ones. The Italian Republic consists of 301,230 km2 and borders France, Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland and is surrounded by water on three sides. The population of Italy is more than 60 million people and most of them speak Italian, which is the official language of the country. Moving to the governance the country is a parliamentary republic according to the Constitution adopted in 1947. The head of state is the president, who is elected for a term of seven years at a joint session of the parliament with the participation of representatives of the regions. He performs representative functions and is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The supreme legislative body of the country is the parliament, which consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives, elected for a term of five years. The executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the President. Before joining the European Union, the national currency was a lira, and after that it was replaced by the euro in 2002.
On the contrary is The Republic of Korea or unofficially South Korea, country located in East Asia, in the south of the Korean peninsula, with Seoul as its capital. In the north there is a land border with North Korea, as well as sea borders with China in the west and Japan in the eastern part. Korea is a democratic state with strong central power, and the head of state is the president and the supreme state authority is the unicameral National Assembly. In total, there are about 46 million people living in South Korea and the population density in the country in general is one of the highest in the world. The official language is Korean and the national currency is Korean Won. The Republic of Korea is a member of 52 international organizations, 16 of which are members of the United Nations, as well as many international non-governmental bodies.
From an economic point of view, South Korea's economic development is significantly higher than that of developing countries and many developed capitalist countries. In terms of the production of certain types of industrial products, including high-tech ones, it has taken a leading position in the capitalist economy. In fact, this fact has largely contributed to its unusually rapid growth. Exports from this country are growing even faster. The fact is that, possessing high competitiveness, the manufacturing industry of South Korea is taking more and more intensive positions in the world market. The country has become the largest exporter of footwear, clothing, textiles, and is rapidly increasing the export of household electronic equipment, personal computers, computers, cars and other high-tech goods. At the same time, South Korea managed not only to find its niche in the world market, but also to push its competitors from among the developed capitalist countries.
However, the Italian econ is not inferior to its Korean competitor in terms of development, ranking ninth in the world in terms of economic development as a whole and it is already ahead of The Korean Republic in some economic terms. Compared to other developed countries, Italy is characterized by somewhat higher rates of post-war economic development, delayed industrialization, a higher share of light industry and agriculture, and an exceptional role for tourism.
A special, distinctive feature of Italy is a much greater participation of the state in the regulation of the economy than in other countries of the developed group. REF With the advent of the European Union, Italy began to lag behind in the economic and social spheres. This has led to problems with the budget, unemployment and many other factors that have a negative impact on the lives of people in Italy. On the one hand, these are only economic problems of the state, but as mentioned earlier, the economy is an important factor in the assessment of the life of the population. In order to assess the standard of living, indicators such as HDI and SPI should be considered. The UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) embodies human progress by bringing together health, education and income information in a single indicator. Measuring social progress (SPI) gives us an idea of how to translate economic gains into social and environmental benefits.
As regards to the economic situation in Italy, a great effect on them was made by The European which Italy joins back in 1951. As an alliance of countries that have close trade relations, The European Union has fundamentally changed the economic performance of Italy, which should have affected the social aspects of Italian life. And despite the fact that they are lagging behind economically in the European arena, social factors show the opposite, refuting the general opinion about the capitalist system of state management, where economic execution is the first priority for development, the Republic of Italy as a European phenomenon of a sufficiently high standard of living. According to SPI Italy highly ranked on 21 place through all world countries which seem to be decent level of development and social paradigm.
Nevertheless, in Italy, gender stereotypes are still deeply rooted, but not as explicit as they used to be. After accession to the EU and the start of SDG's (Sustainable Development goals) and MDG’s (Millenium Development Goals), Italy has taken up these issues of gender inequality. Over the next 5 years, Italy has committed itself to increasing the number of women in the workplace, thus reducing the overall percentage of gender inequality in the labour market. But today, men still earn more than women, creating an unknown income, which leads to violations of basic human rights, since the violation of human rights on any grounds of race or sex is a direct violation of the UDHR.
Talking about gender inequality, men in Italy earn an average of 30,676 euros per year, while women earn 27,228 euros, so the wage gap is about 6%. This percentage is one of the lowest in the European Union, with an average wage gap of 16% between women and men in the EU. Italy is thus one of the leading countries in terms of gender equality in the labour market, which makes the country more attractive to the female public.
Also one of the most pressing problems in the Italian labour market is the problem of unemployment. Despite the high level of social aspects, there is a progressive unemployment rate in Italy, which is more relevant to the economic component of development. According to statistics, in February 2018, the overall unemployment rate in Italy reached 10.7 percent, which is 0.2 percent higher than in December. Especially numbers are high among young people, reaching 32.6 per cent overall.
According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), the number of people looking for a job is 2 million 746 thousand. Through youth in the 15-24 age group, 17.5 per cent of young people are seeking employment. Especially the rate jumps according to the location of the jobs when in the southern part of the country the unemployment rate is three times higher than in the north.
In fact, the youth unemployment rate is a consequence of the long and active integration into the European space, where the Schengen area makes it easier for people to go abroad to look for high-paid jobs rather than to stay at home and get a less favorable rate. Another aspect of high unemployment in Italy is the irrational distribution of the state's budget money to social benefits (unemployment benefits), where the average Italian salary is about 1,789 euros per month and unemployment benefits can reach 1,314 euros, thus negatively affecting the desire of people to work even at minimum rates, as the forces invested exceed the wages.
In today's world, unemployment is a problem for every country and Italy including, according to the figures and information presented earlier in this essay. Even protests against the resolution of problems of this nature are aggressively prejudiced by the authorities. A vivid example of this is the incident of October 19, 2013, when tens of thousands of people took part in demonstrations against unemployment, cutting social spending in the streets of the capital, Rome. In the course of the protest, 15 people were detained by force, and the police used rubber truncheons to detain the demonstrators. On the eve of the demonstration, five more activists received an administrative order to leave the city for three years.
In the part 1 of article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December in 1948, everyone has the right to work and protection against unemployment. And according to the data, presented situation illustrates that the Republic of Italy is in direct violation of the basic human rights to protection against unemployment and employment security.
Moving to South Korea, the situation of women's rights and gender inequality in the South Caucasus is similarly and even worse than in Italian Republic. The Korean woman's mission is to support her husband, raise her children and take care of her family's well-being so that she can devote herself to her work. Despite the fact that Christianity and Buddhism dominate among the beliefs, South Korean society is still strongly influenced by the commandments of Confucianism, that has been brought by China, including the social model of the country: respect for older generations, respect for parents, patriarchy.
It is not easy for a modern woman to find a place in this model. One of the problems it brings is omission of women’ self-development, for example, in a working place. Until recently, around the early 1980s, the question about women employment after marriage even did not exist in Korea. Everyone was sure that a married woman could not and should not work even the women themselves. If a Korean woman worked before her marriage (which became common in the post-war period), a wedding necessarily meant that she was fired, not always voluntarily: until recently, in most firms, a woman was fired automatically after marriage.
Willingness to work overtime and devotion to the employer are the qualities of South Koreans that are believed to have contributed to the extraordinary economic breakthrough of South Korea. Over the past 50 years, the country has grown from a developing to one of the largest and most stable economies in the world. Even this notorious economic success has been able to entangle gender inequality, as it was largely due to low wages for factory workers, who were mostly women, except as previously specified, that all household chores had been done by women, which allowed men to go to work and not to think about anything but it.
The situation began to change fifteen to twenty years ago, with women themselves, namely young Korean women with higher education, being the main initiators of the change and striving for their own careers, incomes and lives. While In 1966 33% of primary school leavers continued their studies at the secondary level, 20% of secondary school graduates went on to higher education, and only 4% of female students entered higher education, and 99.5% of female students had already graduated from higher education in the early 2000s and 61.5% end university education. According to reports, 69.5% of Korean women received their bachelor's degree in 2008.
Although in modern South Korea the principles of education are the same for boys and girls, after marriage and the birth of children, women's career opportunities run out and they are essentially forced to stop working, and there are demands for equality, but then it turns out that women should return to active employment and bear the full burden of supporting their families. Even the notorious economic success has been able to accommodate gender inequality, as it is largely due to low wages of factory workers and the fact that women were the main labour force, in addition to the fact that, as previously clarified, all household chores were on them, which allowed men to go to work and not think about anything except it.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Get custom essayEven with the advent of the economic boom and active development in Korea in recent decades, women still remain in low-paying positions, such as secretary or assistant, thus humiliating themselves and suppressing their inner potential, they have to work in these positions in order to have at least some income. This is a huge challenge in the labour market, as it increases unemployment, which is a direct violation of the human right to make any decision or choice regardless of race or gender.