The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver Essay - 851 Words

What Is The True Religion? The realities of Congo rescued her from the mental enslavement of her father, Nathan Price. Nathan, a Baptist evangelist journeyed with his four daughters and wife to the Belgian Congo with his mission to save the unenlightened souls of the Congolese people. His aim was to accomplish this through his strict biblical sanctions and his firm belief in his Christian faith. As a child who respects their parents religion and belief, Leah was compassionate and genuine about her fathers faith and his outlook on life. For this reason, she and her other sisters were slaves to his doctrine. They believed that his words were always true and his idea of saving the Congolese people would be a success. However, as time†¦show more content†¦Nathans quest to save the souls of the Congolese people was a very arduous task. He had to deal with people who were of different faiths and beliefs. Nathan being rigid and insular to the Congolese people beliefs and customs he refuses to understand and respect the beliefs of these people. Instead, he imposed his doctrines unto them and demanding that they become Christians and for them to believe that his religion is correct and that no other religion follows. This egomaniac behavior was demonstrated during one of his encounter with Tata Ndu, the chief of Kikango when he was told that the people of Congo were not Christians, Nathan was outraged because he thought that they were committing an act of sin since they did not believe in Jesus Christ. As Leah listened to her father she began to realize how ignorant her father was towards the Congolese people and their beliefs. It was during this time she began to question her faith. Leahs lost for her faith was truly established when her father decided to stay in the Congo during the period of war when Congo was gaining their independence. Although her father was told that it would be unsafe for him and his family he decided to stay because he wanted to fulfill his is mission which was to Americanize and Christianize the people of Congo. As Leah watched the Underdowns, who were also firm believers of the ChristianShow MoreRelatedThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1124 Words   |  5 PagesIn the novel The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, the reader is introduced to the Price family, Baptist missionaries who are attempting to â€Å"Christianize† the country of Congo, more specifically the village of Kilanga. As the story progresses, the family realizes that they are not changing the Congo; instead, the Congo is changing them. The development of the characters within the novel is due to the instrument of cruelty. Although distasteful to regard it as such, cruelty motivatesRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1352 Words   |  6 Pagessuccessful. In the beginning of The Poisonwood Bible, Orleanna introduces to the readers in a third person’s point of view, â€Å"The daughters march behind her, each one tensed to fire off a woman’s heart on a different path to glory or damnation† (5). Orleanna, a mother who lives throughout the story of The Poisonwood Bible, acknowledges how women, in great numbers, are found walking down the path of trying to be successful. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, involves the Price family of 6, whichRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1142 Words   |  5 PagesThe Poisonwood Bible Nowadays, in today’s society, survival is considered the basic instinct of all humans. Commonly defined as the state of â€Å"continuing to live or exist, in spite of an accident, ordeal or difficult circumstance,†(Dictionary) survival teaches us the will to succeed and face adversity despite the challenges and obstacles we may encounter along the way. In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel â€Å" The Poisonwood Bible,† there is a central theme of survival. Whether it includes finding suppliesRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1198 Words   |  5 PagesPeriod 2 Part I Title: The Poisonwood Bible Author: Barbara Kingsolver Date of Original Publication: 1998 Biographical information about the author (five facts): -Kingslover was born in 1955 - Throughout her life, she has lived in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and has worked in Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South America. - Kingsolver was named one the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest. - Her work, The Poisonwood Bible, was a finalist for the PulitzerRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1241 Words   |  5 Pagespast and present known society, women have not been treated as the full equals of men. A woman s main value is to support a man, bear children, and housekeeping duties. This is how it has always been in most cultures. The novel, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, shows the paternalistic society in which the Price family lives in. In 1959 an obstinate Baptist minister named Nathan Price drags his wife and four daughters deep into the heart of the Congo on a mission to save the unenlightenedRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1807 Words   |  8 Pageshalf of humanity, for the benefit of all†. Feminism, the act of advocating for female rights in order for them to be equal to those of men, has been an issue for hundreds of years that is sadly lacking present-day progression. In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingso lver, five females narrate their experiences in Congo during the sixties under not only the Belgian’s rule, but more terribly, under the tyranny of Nathan Price, a Baptist preacher on a mission to convert â€Å"arrogant† Congolese people intoRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1295 Words   |  6 Pages Imperialism has been a strong and long lasting force, oppressing societies for generations on end. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, demonstrates how the Congo is continuously affected by this concept and ideology. Throughout this story, Kingsolver manipulates each family member and individual within the book, to better show Western and European ideas and attitudes, to convey the large amount of hypocrisy, in foreigner’s actions. No one shows the oppression, inflicted upon the Congo’sRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1732 Words   |  7 PagesThe Poisonwood Bible 1998 Historical Fiction Characteristics: Unique location, Primitivism, different ways of speaking and racial views Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver, born in 1955, grew up in Kentucky and lived in many different countries such as : England, France, and Canary Islands. She attended Debauw University and University of Arizona where she earned a biology degree. Kingsolver now is a beloved author of eleven books and has been named the most important author of the twentieth centuryRead MoreThe Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver1961 Words   |  8 PagesThe poisonwood Bible is a book about identity, growing up and family. The main characters throughout the book grow and learn to become new people through new relationships they develop while in the Congo as well as through struggles they face while in the Congo. Barbara Kingsolver uses the literary elements of plot, the characters, and point of view to develop the characterization and relationships between the Price family in the Poisonwood Bible. Throughout the book Kingsolver uses different aspectsRead MoreEssay on The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver919 Words   |  4 Pagesa sure sense of self. But along with all these great things come regret, guilt, and shame of past events. Everyone deals with these in different ways, sometimes turning to religion and denial as coping mechanisms. In the novel The Poisonwood Bible, By Barbara Kingsolver, each member of the Price family deals with a personal guilt either gained while on their mission in the Congo or long before. This novel exemplifies the different types of guilt the Price family experienced throughout their stay in

Human Development Gross and Fine Motor Skills - 1272 Words

Development begins in the womb. The fetus develops organs and grows many times its size during this time. Once the child is born it is even more important that the environment helps with normal infant physical and mental growth. At birth, infant senses function through eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. Through these senses they explore their world and sensations occur. Perception occurs when the brain processes these sensations. Infant movements are involuntary (reflexes). Reflexes help the infant survive until they gain control of their body and can make movement for themselves. Infants experience the majority of their growth during the first year. During this time gross and fine motor skills develop. Understanding what these terms mean†¦show more content†¦They can unzip their clothes and they attempt to button them. They will begin to use scissors to cut paper. Caregivers and parents should be sure to give children blunt, round-edged kid scissors for safety reasons! They will begin to eat better with a fork and spoon. They can write with fat crayons or large pencils by grasping them with their fists. They begin to twist door knobs or take lids off containers. Parents and caregivers should make certain that harmful substances such as cleaners and medications are stored out of reach in a locked area to prevent accidental poisonings. Four and five year olds are building upon and developing the skills they have learned. They can button their clothes and they can draw shapes such as circles, squares, and larger letters. Five to seven year-olds begin to show the skills necessary for starting school. They can print letters, and numbers because they can use pencils and crayons with better control. They can now brush their teeth, comb their hair, and feed themselves without supervision. Gross motor skills are the most important skills to develop. At the ages two and three years, young children stop using the awkward wide stance of new walkers. As they grow they begin to develop a smoother gait. They are able to run, jump, and hop. Children of this age begin to play catch with larger balls. They can also push themselves around with their feet whileShow MoreRelatedTheories And Theories Of Human Development1337 Words   |  6 PagesAshley Grant EDPY 503 10/11/17 Principles of Human Development Paper #1 The concepts and theories of human development are important for a school counselor to have knowledge on. Knowledge on these topics can aid the counselor in better understanding the circumstances of their students. There are three main developmental sections which will be discussed in this paper. Those three include physical development, cognitive development, and social development. Each section contains multiple theories andRead MoreMotor Skills Development Of Children1638 Words   |  7 PagesNathan Schilt Dr. Janice Templeton PSYC 254-2H 15 October 2015 Motor Skill Development As children progress through the early stages of their lives they will continually reach milestones that are somewhat of a tracker as to where they stand in their development, but at the same time it’s important to remember that even though there are suggested milestones as to a maturing task for a specific age and month, each child may mature differently than the next. One part of this progress that childrenRead MoreThe Effects Of Outdoor Play On Children1120 Words   |  5 Pageshappening. The sad part is, no one has looked at the numbers of how much time a child spends outside has decreased over the last decade. We have increasing numbers of technology being produced on the market and fail to look at how technology has harmed humans in a biological sense. There has been evidence of blue-violet light, produced from smart phones, is related to macular degeneration, where a macula sits in front of the ocular nerve prohibit loss of central vision (Newsbeat, 2014). Why should ourRead MorePhysical Development in Middle Childhood Essay1649 Words   |  7 Pagessocio-emotional domains of human development are influenced by diverse factors. Phases of development extend from the beginnings of human life and continue throughout the lifespan. These developmental phases are characterised by a range of features including brain development, language development and social development amongst others. Gross motor skills include activities such as running, skipping and jumping. They involve the use of the body’s larger muscle groups. Gross motor skills greatly improve inRead MoreMotor Control and Fine Motor Skills824 Words   |  4 PagesPhysical, Intellectual, Language Communication, Emotional and Social Development. These are the areas of which a child develops at as they grow into young adults. Physical Development The two main areas of physical development are gross fine motor skills. Gross motor skills use the larger muscles in the body like arms legs. Rolling over, crawling, walking, running and jumping are all gross motor skills. Fine motor skills use the smaller muscles in the body, like fingers toes. WritingRead MorePhysical Development Essay1519 Words   |  7 Pagesexecute numerous fine motor skills that allow them to perform many activates to learn and succeed at school. When most people think of their child’s growth and development they can remember the ages at which their child first rolled, crawled, or walked. How many can recall the age at which they picked up small items between their thumb and index finger, or transferred objects from one hand to another? This is the beginning of motor development. Fine motor skills are the collected skills and activitiesRead MoreCharacteristics of children in middle childhood Essay1162 Words   |  5 PagesHuman development refers to the processes of change and stability throughout human life. The early stages of development in children are important in their life span. Children in middle childhood are those who are in the age between 6 to 11 years old. Most children in middle childhood start their formal education in primary school. In this stage, they have more opportunities to expose themselves to people and environment they had never known. In general, children in middle childhood are characterizedRead MoreThe Art Show Of Chandler Pritchett At The Memphis Botanic Garden912 Words   |  4 Pagesbecause it builds the cognitive skills and the cognitive development. I now know that play builds the fine motor and gross motor skills, which is a very important asset of learning and development of the young child. Play builds friendships, whic h we all as educators should feel that this is an important asset of coming up in the school systems. It is something that shapes the lives of our young children today. Educators have to remember that this refers back to human domains. Play should be takenRead Moreearly childhood education984 Words   |  4 PagesEarly childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. Some age-related development periods and examples of defined intervals are: newborn (ages 0–4 weeks); infant (ages 4 weeks – 1 year); toddler (ages 1–3 years); preschooler (ages 4–6 years); school-aged child (ages 6–13 years); adolescent (ages 13–19) psychology the term early childhood is usually definedRead MoreChild Development Essay1190 Words   |  5 Pagesdo with how the next 80 turn out†. Child development Child development is the changes that occur in human life through biological, psychological and emotional between the birth and the end of adolescence. It is a continuous progress but it does not progress at the same rate because each stage is affected by the preceding developmental experiences. And this developmental change occurs by strong influenced by genetic factors. â€Å"The study of human development explores how and why people change as they

International Accounting Standards free essay sample

Once this is decided, they set up a working group the Director of Technical Activities and Director of Research select this team (International Accounting Standards Board, n. d. ) The third step is development and publication of a discussion paper. The IASB usually publishes new topics to explain the issues and to get any comments back from the constituents. In the publication they will state an overview of the issue, how to address the issue, view of the IASB and an invitation for comment (International Accounting Standards Board, n. d. ). The fourth step is the publication of an exposure draft. This step is mandatory in the due process. The IASB will consider the issues based on staff research and recommendations, comments receive on any discussion paper and suggestions made by the SAC, working groups and accounting standard setters. Once the issues are resolved there is a draft made up. Then the draft is voted on; once voted on this draft will be published for public comment (International Accounting Standard Board, n. We will write a custom essay sample on International Accounting Standards or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page d. ) Step five, is developing and publishing the standard. After all comments are received on the draft, the IASB will consider revising or not. When considering revising the IASB will check for substantial issues that emerge during the comment period on the exposure draft that it had not previously considered. They assess the evidence that has considered. They evaluate if they have fully understood the issues and have made sure the people views are on the same issues. The IASB considers the different view points in the draft and to make sure they have been reviewed in the correct context for its conclusions (International Accounting Standards Board, n. d. ) The last step in developing standard is after the standard is issued. Once issued, there will be ongoing meetings with all parties to help understand any unanticipated issues in implementation and any potential issues to come. After some time, the IASB may consider a review of the application, any changes in the financial reporting requirements and comments raised by any constituents. Two of the latest standards are consolidation and derecognizing. With the consolidation, the IASB is replacing two previously IFRS.

Science Essays - Radish, Vegetable, Classical Music,

Science Period 1 Radishes Respond to music Phillip Chiu, Period 1 Introduction The question I will be addressing is "Does music affect radish growth?" This seemed like a good idea to research and experiment on because I wanted to know if a plant could really "hear" or if vibrations through the air, which is sound, really affects the growth of the plant. I will be testing this using different types of music including rock, jazz, and classical music. The radish (raphanus sativus), a root crops which is very easy to grow. Radishes are cold hardy but cannot withstand heat. In the South, they grow in the fall through spring, and in the North, they grow well in the spring or fall. Some interesting types of radishes I came upon in reading my information were the "Round Black Spanish" and the "Sakurajima Mammoth" radishes. The Round Black Spanish radishes are black, as their name says, and the Sakurajima Mammoth can grow to be up to 70 pounds! (Doty, 1973) In my research, I found no information regarding plant growth and music. I also did not find any information around the subjects of plants hearing, or vibrations that help plants grow. Therefore I cannot do any more than guess blankly for my hypothesis of this project. My hypothesis is 'I do not think music will affect plant growth because plants cannot hear.' Literature cited Doty, Walter L, Copyright 1990, All About Vegetables, San Ramon, California, The Monsanto Company, 144 pages And for alphabetizing purposes only Zifferman, Zeke, Copyright 1998, Zealot Radishes, Fremont California, The Zifferman Company, 999pages Phase 3: Results and Observations Results and Observations: There were many observations recorded on this experiment. (I have not yet finished the experiment, but I will take the results from the book The Sounds of Music and Plants for this phase of the project.) For this experiment I used 2 types of music. I used hard rock and classical. I used CD's and played them on a CD player on repeat. This eliminated all the possibilities of interstation noise, such as static found on the radio, affecting the experiment. The real results are as follows: Day 1 (after germination) - classical and rock music plants are barely peeking above soil. Day 2 - No change Day 3 - The plants in the classical music group are growing at the same rate as the rock plants. Day 4 - The classical group is a minute bit taller than the rock group. Day 5 - no change Day 6 - no change Day 7 - The classical group is more significantly taller than the rock group. I can not make up that many results. It would be pointless. What you see here is a mix of what I think and what the book says. For the quantitative part of the results, I will make a table, but will not fill in any information. For the sake of time, for I know that you will not take time to read fake results.

Athenian people essays

Athenian people essays The Athenian people are loyal just to Athens; they live by a code, which prevents them from doing any wrong. Having respect of the law and the authorities for which they bring carries this out. Their beliefs enable them to follow ones heart were as not relying upon tricky management. Because of this belief they tend to relate to friends as people receiving favors from them because they feel that they owe them something until the debt what ever it maybe is paid off. These people wanted to be models for their neighbors, so that ever one would know how had the best citizens. Pericles gave a inaccurate description in his funeral oration of the Athenians people which were based on a certain law cases. One such cases is, the Diogeiton- A grandfather Turns Embezzler. The second case presented was the In-Law Problems- A Poisonous Stepmother. In the case of Diogeiton- A Grandfather Turns Embezzler (c. 400), pp. 214-217 The brother of Diogeitons was Diodotus, he was an extremely wealthy businessman. In the beginning Diegeiton some how convinced his brother to marry his daughter. Diogeiton hoped that somehow he would be able to benefit from his brothers success if something was to happen. Right after this Diodotus was summoned to serve in the military, so he thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and write a will out so that if anything happened to him his brother would be able to take care of his wife and children. Diodotus also decided to leave Diogeiton with a large sum of money. Diogeiton was the first to be notified of his brothers death. He remembered that Diodotus had made a will, which was left at his house, before he went off. Diogeiton then proceed to run to his brothers house so that he could get rid of the will before people find out about it. He retrieved the will before anyone else could. After t hat he went to go tell the rest of his family what happened to their unfortunate si ...

4 Logical Fallacies

4 Logical Fallacies 4 Logical Fallacies 4 Logical Fallacies By Guest Author Anyone who tries to argue a point is obligated to support assertions with well-reasoned evidence in the form of facts, statistics, illustrations and to support that assertion with reasonableness and logic. There are, however, several very common pitfalls- generally labeled fallacies in reasoning or logical fallacies- waiting for the unwary: 1. Argumentum ad hominem: essentially, an argument or attack on a person rather than the person’s idea. For example, a nationally-televised political commentator, who happened to get his start in show business as a comedian, spoke out against the â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tell† policy, which is a way of circumventing the prohibition against homosexuals serving in the military but keeping that policy in force. One of the proponents of the policy said, â€Å"What could he possibly know about this? He’s a comedian!† Instead of focusing on whether the policy itself is good or bad, the speaker launched an attack on the person whose views he didn’t like, which set up a false target and ignored the real issue of disagreement. 2. Non sequitur: literally, â€Å"it does not follow.† During a campaign speech, one candidate said to the audience, â€Å"If we can land men on the moon, we can find a cure for cancer.† Landing men on the moon, of course, was a triumph of technology, skill, intellect and collective will, but the success of that endeavor has no logical connection to the effort it might take to conquer a disease as complicated and multi form as cancer. In other words, the ability to cure cancer does not follow logically from the ability to land men on the moon. 3. Post hoc: propter hoc- Latin for â€Å"after this, therefore because of it.† A simple explanation of this fallacy in logic might go like this: â€Å"I came down with a cold this morning. Last night, I went to a concert. I must have caught the cold at the concert.† The essential problem is that there is no logical causal connection between going to the concert and catching a cold. 4. Begging the question: offering as evidence something that needs to be proved is begging the question. Arguing that the car industry in the US is the best in the world, for example, a speaker might say, â€Å"Everyone knows that America makes the best cars in the world.† Although this statement might be true, it is not self-evidently true, and to be more than an assertion, such as statement would need to be supported with reasonable evidence. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Among vs. AmongstStarting a Business Letter with Dear Mr.

Labor Laws and Unions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Labor Laws and Unions - Essay Example AT&T purchased Bell’s assets and became the mother company of Bell in 1899. In 1927, the company launched long distance telephone service to London by use of two way radio. AT&T legally operated as a monopoly in the United States until 1984 when it settled a civil antitrust suit with the Department of Justice. This led to a split of the company and it was later restructured in 1995. AT&T remained a communications services company (www.corp.att.com) The company faces legal issues and obstacles such as copyright and illegal software dissemination actions. AT&T also faces the risk of security breach that is unique to m-commerce. Additionally, the company faces legal liability in cases regarding infringement of privacy, discriminatory acts and abuse of the market. The company, in its operation, could break several federal laws including, but not limited to the Communications Act of 1934 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Communications Act of 1934 transferred regulation o f interstate telephone services from the inter-state commerce commission to the federal commerce commission. The Act aims to establish rapid, efficient, national and global wire and radio communication. It also requires these services to have adequate facilities at reasonable charges, for the purpose of the national defense. The Act set up a legal framework for regulating wired and wireless communication globally. It enabled the government to regulate new media technologies such as television and mobile phones. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 which was an overhaul of America’s telecommunications laws repealed sections of the Communications Act of 1934. The Act included internet in broadcasting and spectrum allotment, and allowed media cross ownership. It made the communications industry more penetrable as it let anyone enter any communications business. The Act mainly deregulated the broadcasting market. It opened markets to competition by reducing regulatory barriers. To minimize possible litigation, the company should acquire necessary licenses pertaining to its operations. Secondly, it should abide by structural regulations such as open access. Thirdly, it should eradicate discrimination rules. The company should also refrain from abusing market power. Additionally, it should take heed of antitrust law and provide consumers with security they require when using the company’s services. Part II The Communications Workers of Americ

Education and Common Core Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Education and Common Core - Research Paper Example They rank the countries based on their performance in mathematics, sciences and reading. Since 2000, the USA has been falling below average in the three subjects and this year it was ranked 17th among the 34 countries of the OECD. USA scores poorly in mathematics and in a recent research, they were ranked 26th out of the 34 countries. From the test given by the OECD ranking researchers, only 9% of the USA students proved to be top performers in mathematics as compared to 61% in other countries such as china (OECD Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/CN%20-%20United%20States.pdf). According to a report by PISA, USA spends the highest funds on education and are in the same rank with Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland. However, their spending does not translate into better education since USA lags behind the countries whoa similar amount in education. Social classes and economic differences in the USA have played a part in their low education performance. Other countries such as Finland, japan and Norway, who have high-income disparities, did not show a difference in education levels based on income. However, in the USA, income levels determine the quality of education that one student get. PISA confirmed that most resilient students in the USA proved to have low educational performance. The USA education is lower than expected due to poor systems and lack of consideration to low-income earners. When the common core standards were developed, there were intended to prepare students for college education. However, the system has terribly failed due to a number of reasons. Moreover, the system only focused on students who could make it to college and did not consider those who failed to go to college (Beck 59). The system is a shared set of standards for English, mathematics and art that identifies the learning outcomes needed in order help students prepare for careers

Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards Essay Example for Free

Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards Essay Natural hazards are naturally occurring phenomena that have disastrous impact on humanity. These phenomena had been in existence even before the advent of humanity. The hazardous dimension of these natural phenomena are in the context of the impact that such a phenomenon would have on human population in the area affected by that phenomenon. In this essay, the effect that human activity has on these natural hazards would be analyzed. Some human activities may be exacerbating the factors that cause the natural hazard, like the impact of excessive and unplanned logging on floods and droughts. In certain other cases the human activities may cause subsequent or supplementary hazards to a primary hazard event, like building dams in earthquake prone zones may lead to flash floods and landslides in the event of a rupture. A hazard can be defined as an event that has the potential to cause harm. This potential may be on account of its unexpected timing of occurrence or the actual intensity of the event itself. Human societies can withstand these events within a normal scale of occurrence. However, human societies become vulnerable when these events occur unexpectedly or are of an intensity or duration that falls beyond that normal scale (O’Hare and Rivas, 2005). Natural hazards can be broadly classified under the heads of geological, hydrological, climatic and diseases. This essay would limit its scope to analyzing causal relationships, if any, of human activities on landslides, floods and drought and the secondary hazards triggered by those activities in the event of an earthquake. Of all human activities that have a direct or indirect impact on natural hazards, deforestation is by far the most significant. Deforestation is the removal or destruction of forest cover of an area. It may occur due to unscientific logging practices without regeneration and may be accompanied by subsequent conversion to non-forest usage like agriculture, pasture, urban, mining or industrial development, fallow or wetland. At a very broad level, it has been argued that deforestation is a major cause of global climatic changes. It has been predicted that removal of forest cover will lead to violent and unpredictable environmental fluctuations. At a smaller landscape, deforestation has a direct bearing upon the climatic, hydrological, edaphic and biological aspects of that area. Deforestation is associated with higher levels of soil erosion and landslides, sedimentation in river beds and changes in fluvial geomorphology (Haigh, 1984). Quite a few of these effects of deforestation have a direct bearing on the natural hazards that will be covered in this essay. One of the major functions of a forest is to maintain the humidity level in the atmosphere. Trees withdraw groundwater through their roots and transpire the excess water through their leaves. Forests return a major part of the rainfall received by them through evapotranspiration. Annual evapotranspiration in tropical moist lowland forests ranges up to 1500 mm per year, with transpiration accounting for a maximum of 1045 mm per year (Bruijnzeel, 1990). This process of evapotranspiration in the leaves of trees takes the latent heat of evaporation from the surrounding atmosphere. Thus evapotranspiration has a cooling effect on the atmosphere that aids precipitation. Deforestation denies the atmosphere of this cooling effect and is thus a contributing factor to lowering of annual rainfall in an area. Further, the effects of deforestation generally compound the severity of drought. Lack of trees translates to the lack of root fibers that hold the topsoil. In the event of a drought, the topsoil flakes and gets blown by the wind, leading to severe dust storms. This phenomenon had devastated the American Great Plains for close to a decade in 1930s. The dust bowl covered farming areas in Colorado, Kansas, north west Oklahoma, north Texas and north east New Mexico. The fertile soil of the plains was exposed due to lack of vegetation cover and actions of the plow. These farming techniques that led to severe soil erosion, coupled with prolonged periods of extremely low rainfall, led to a series of severe dust storms that ranged up to the Atlantic coast. Much of the fertile topsoil was lost in the Atlantic (Cartensen et al. , 1999). Direct causal relationship between human activity and drought is yet to be conclusively established. However, there are studies available that point to a positive correlation between the two. For example, climate-modeling studies have indicated that the 20th century Sahel drought was caused by changing sea surface temperatures. These changes were due to a combination of natural variability and human induced atmospheric changes. The anthropogenic factors in this case were rise in greenhouse gas levels and aerosols (GFDL Climate Modeling Research Highlights, 2007). The effect of human activities like deforestation is rather more direct and pronounced in case of hydrological hazards like fluvial floods. Fluvial floods occur when the discharge of a river exceeds its bankfull capacity. Forests create deep, open textured soils that can hold large quantities of water. When the forest cover is removed through logging, the soil becomes compacted. More rainwater is converted to runoff or near surface flow and less proportion percolates as groundwater. Research has shown significant increase in monthly runoff following logging activities (Rahim and Harding, 1993). The runoff rainwater carries with it considerable amounts of loose soil particles. Removal of vegetation cover through excessive logging activities or overgrazing leaves the soil bare. In such a situation, the upper layer of the soils becomes susceptible to erosion by surface runoff. These suspended soil particles are deposited on the riverbeds. The effect of this type of soil erosion by surface runoff is even more pronounced when the deforestation happens in the riparian zones as well.

Definition Essay - The True Meaning of Hegemony -- Expository Definiti

Hegemony - The True Meaning Hegemony was derived from the Greek word "egemonia," meaning leader or ruler, often in the sense of a state other than his own (Williams 144).   Although the base of this definition remains true, the word has evolved to much more.   Hegemony is defined by Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought as "Political and economical control exercised by a dominant class, and its success in projecting its own way of seeing the world, human and social relationships as 'common sense' and part of the natural order by those who are, in fact, subordinated to it."   Hegemony is defined as a predominant influence or leadership of a dominant class or institution over a subordinate class; the question is are the "subordinates" forced to follow the beliefs, or do they agree with them?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Antonio Gramsci, a leading Marxist thinker in the early 20th century, used hegemony to define class structure, (e.g. bourgeois hegemony).   Gramsci's philosophy was that the subordinate class was to follow this "common sense" that the dominant class set, however, Gramsci ... Definition Essay - The True Meaning of Hegemony -- Expository Definiti Hegemony - The True Meaning Hegemony was derived from the Greek word "egemonia," meaning leader or ruler, often in the sense of a state other than his own (Williams 144).   Although the base of this definition remains true, the word has evolved to much more.   Hegemony is defined by Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought as "Political and economical control exercised by a dominant class, and its success in projecting its own way of seeing the world, human and social relationships as 'common sense' and part of the natural order by those who are, in fact, subordinated to it."   Hegemony is defined as a predominant influence or leadership of a dominant class or institution over a subordinate class; the question is are the "subordinates" forced to follow the beliefs, or do they agree with them?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Antonio Gramsci, a leading Marxist thinker in the early 20th century, used hegemony to define class structure, (e.g. bourgeois hegemony).   Gramsci's philosophy was that the subordinate class was to follow this "common sense" that the dominant class set, however, Gramsci ...

Concept of Martyrdom Essay

The world became astounded after it has witnessed one of the greatest tragedies of humankind. September 11, 2001 is the date where the international community has been introduced to an unknown face of an enemy. With no specified structure, its organization remains to be a vague concept with evidences and facts which are not thoroughly determined. The world is unsure who to put the blame when the phenomenon of terrorism has been revealed, thus, resulting into preconceived notions of racism to track down its roots. Perhaps the conscious recognition of terrorism launched a new concept of war in international affairs. The conventional war used to occur between two states and their respective allies, but after the World Trade Center attack, the war is waged against individuals and factions suspected of terrorist activities. Led by the United States, the war on terrorism commenced and military forces moved to alleged havens of terrorist groups which are mostly situated in the Middle East. Information regarding these factions has been acquired and the most famous of them all is named as Al Qaeda. From this information, terrorism eventually earned an identity and a face where the most wanted man in America has been associated as Al Qaeda’s leader. Osama Bin Laden, the notorious man suspected of numerous American embassies bombings even prior to the 9/11 attack. The war to hunt down Al Qaeda revealed other terrorist groups whose network stretched all over the world. As terrorism information expanded to the public, the international community saw how these groups and its members carry out their tasks to be able to hit their targets. From hijacking public transportations to kidnapping, terrorists have been known to be trained to conduct these acts. As the war on terrorism continues, the means of terrorists in fulfilling their tasks are increasing and expanding just as much as the growth of their membership. The following discussion will focus on one method of terrorism which is prominent in attacking sectors of society and have stirred strong concerns from spectators who witness the damages it cause. Suicide terrorism, as derived from its name, usually refers to an individual who has bombs attached on his or her own body and detonate it within the proximity of the target. The hijacking of planes of 9/11 is also considered as part of suicide terrorism. The usage of suicide is not a new means in the field of warfare; however, what made suicide terrorism as horrific as it is today is for the reason that it targets civilians, unlike in conventional war where it aimed at combatants. Since the whole concept of warfare has shifted its participants, acts of terrorism reflect a deeper background which needs to be further understood. First is to provide a general history of suicide attacks prior to 9/11 which focus on the evolvement of using suicide from non-terrorists to terrorists. It will be followed by examining the role of religion to the terrorist factions and how the concept of martyrdom serves as a religious duty. Following the flow of the discussion, this leads to elaborating how these groups perform suicidal attacks operating under principles established by the organization. This is to attempt in looking suicide terrorism in totality to be able to determine its implications on society. History of Suicide Terrorism In his recent book entitled Suicide Bombers in Iraq, Mohammed Hafez (2007) described suicide attacks or terrorism as â€Å"a premeditated attack by an individual who willingly uses his or her body to carry or deliver explosives to attack, kill, or maim others† (p. 6). From the preceding texts it has been briefly mentioned that suicide attack is not a new method to be used in any form of battle. Even prior to the 9/11 incident, suicide attacks has been consistent in the concept of â€Å"self-sacrifice for the interest of a broader cause† (Linden, 2003, p. 77). Before suicide attacks has been used by terrorists — tagged as part of non-state actors in the international community — this form of attack has been utilized by state combatants especially during the world wars. Kamikaze: Tactical Suicide Such notable for using suicide to gain larger benefits is the infamous Japanese Kamikaze which surprised the Americans during the sudden attack of Pearl Harbor. The usage of kamikaze has been used especially at the height of the Pacific war where Japanese pilots crashed their fighter planes into the enemies’ largest warships to further incapacitate its advantage for battle. This form of suicide attacks is determine as the tactical kind of suicide (Battin, 2005, p. 241) but it is more than just a war strategy. It is considered a duty to be fulfilled not just as a soldier but as a Japanese living to the ideology of a dignified death which is deeply embedded in their culture. Lebanon Bombings: Start of the Terror Trend The creation of dynamite from the late 1800s later evolved into customized portable bombs which are attached secretly into public facilities. By the time the production of these explosives became abundant, it has been used for performing small-scale attacks which are more inconspicuous and less suspicious attaining higher possibilities of killing the target. After the major world wars, civil wars ensued within countries especially those which are left torn by the Cold War. Prominent suicide attacks frequently occurred during the civil wars in Middle Eastern countries, one of the most significant events which gave meaning to a new concept for suicide attack are the bombings in Lebanon in early 1980s. The targets became the embassies of foreign states which have been participating in the civil war as either allies or peacekeeping forces (Hafez, p. 7). The high rates of property damages and death tolls prompted for the removal of other foreign forces out of Lebanon which made a significant impression that suicide attacks in this form are effective (Hafez, p.7). The bombings in Lebanon started the trend for the modern day suicide attacks. Basically, the two events that have been mentioned conveyed the division line which showed the difference of how attacks transformed from a part of a war strategy to inducing terror alone. The so-called success of the bombing in Lebanon in 1980s paved the way for the creation of non-state factions who act independently without any government support. Using suicide attacks became an essential method in inducing terror into a society to either kill or send a message to their enemies. Suicide terrorism encompasses a diverse field of goals whether for political reasons, economics, or attaining recognition. However did the purpose of suicide attacks expanded into, performers of this act surely behaved according to a set of principles and ideologies. These principles maybe rooted out from one’s culture such as the Japanese Kamikaze and others can be derived from nationalism, idealism, motivated by personal interests, and religion. The focus of this paper will deal with religion as the main motivation for the modern suicide attacks usually associated with religious extremists in the Middle East.

Correctional Treatment

The United States correctional system supervises over six million convicted offenders in rehabilitation programs a day. There are approximately two million in jail who receive rehabilitation treatment and four million are on parole or probation. With so many people under its control, a central policy issue is what the correctional system hopes to accomplish with those it places behind bars or on community supervision. A simple response might be that the purpose of these correctional sanctions is to â€Å"punish† the criminally wayward. Since the inception of the American penitentiary in the 1820s, however, corrections has embraced as an important goal the transformation of law breakers into the law-abiding—that is, â€Å"rehabilitation† or â€Å"treatment. † While probation and parole are both considered community corrections and involve supervision in the community, they differ in other respects. Probation is a sentencing option available to local judges. Convicted offenders are released by the court to serve a sentence under court-imposed conditions for a specified period. It is considered an alternative to incarceration. In most cases the entire probation sentence is served under supervision in the community. The court retains the authority to supervise, modify conditions, cancel probation and resentence if the probationer violates the terms of probation. The responsible agency for overseeing probation can be either state or local. There are currently more than two thousand separate probation agencies in the United States. There are many types of programs offered to offenders which fit their type of crime. Some of these programs are designed for substance abusers, sex offenders, those whose requires educational counseling, and also programs that teach life skills. Substance abuse rehabilitation happens when the offender undergoes counseling for a dependence on a physically addictive substance, such as drugs or alcohol. Usually, rehabilitation is assigned to those offenders convicted of crimes related to drug abuse or who have admitted to drugs playing a factor into crimes they’ve committed. This treatment involves several forms of therapy such as the commonly know 12-step programs. Also, successful completion of the substance abuse rehabilitation program to be a requirement of parole or probation. Those convicted of sex offenses including rape and child molestation, will undergo special rehabilitation designed to improve the chances that they will not commit another sexual crime. These programs also take different forms, most are specifically for the offense committed. An example would be for those convicted of child molestation, they may undergo counseling designed to help them control urges or change their thought process. For rapists, rehabilitation may involve anger management classes, relationship counseling, or therapy in which they work out their frustrations towards women. Inmates and recently released ex-offenders receive basic education and necessary skills to obtain a job. This type of treatment is classified as educational counseling. The most basic of these programs focus on teaching elementary math and reading skills. More advanced programs help offenders prepare for vocational tests as well as job trades. In addition life skills are taught to inmates in order to become a functioning member of society, such as making a budget or preparing a resume. With learning these simple tasks and learning how to manage finances offenders may possibly not commit crimes involving money. Correctional Treatment The United States correctional system supervises over six million convicted offenders in rehabilitation programs a day. There are approximately two million in jail who receive rehabilitation treatment and four million are on parole or probation. With so many people under its control, a central policy issue is what the correctional system hopes to accomplish with those it places behind bars or on community supervision. A simple response might be that the purpose of these correctional sanctions is to â€Å"punish† the criminally wayward. Since the inception of the American penitentiary in the 1820s, however, corrections has embraced as an important goal the transformation of law breakers into the law-abiding—that is, â€Å"rehabilitation† or â€Å"treatment. † While probation and parole are both considered community corrections and involve supervision in the community, they differ in other respects. Probation is a sentencing option available to local judges. Convicted offenders are released by the court to serve a sentence under court-imposed conditions for a specified period. It is considered an alternative to incarceration. In most cases the entire probation sentence is served under supervision in the community. The court retains the authority to supervise, modify conditions, cancel probation and resentence if the probationer violates the terms of probation. The responsible agency for overseeing probation can be either state or local. There are currently more than two thousand separate probation agencies in the United States. There are many types of programs offered to offenders which fit their type of crime. Some of these programs are designed for substance abusers, sex offenders, those whose requires educational counseling, and also programs that teach life skills. Substance abuse rehabilitation happens when the offender undergoes counseling for a dependence on a physically addictive substance, such as drugs or alcohol. Usually, rehabilitation is assigned to those offenders convicted of crimes related to drug abuse or who have admitted to drugs playing a factor into crimes they’ve committed. This treatment involves several forms of therapy such as the commonly know 12-step programs. Also, successful completion of the substance abuse rehabilitation program to be a requirement of parole or probation. Those convicted of sex offenses including rape and child molestation, will undergo special rehabilitation designed to improve the chances that they will not commit another sexual crime. These programs also take different forms, most are specifically for the offense committed. An example would be for those convicted of child molestation, they may undergo counseling designed to help them control urges or change their thought process. For rapists, rehabilitation may involve anger management classes, relationship counseling, or therapy in which they work out their frustrations towards women. Inmates and recently released ex-offenders receive basic education and necessary skills to obtain a job. This type of treatment is classified as educational counseling. The most basic of these programs focus on teaching elementary math and reading skills. More advanced programs help offenders prepare for vocational tests as well as job trades. In addition life skills are taught to inmates in order to become a functioning member of society, such as making a budget or preparing a resume. With learning these simple tasks and learning how to manage finances offenders may possibly not commit crimes involving money.

MallarmePoet essays

MallarmePoet essays Stphane Mallarm, a French poet, became one of the most important masters of French symbolism, a nineteenth-century movement in poetry that stressed impressions and moods rather than descriptions of reality (Online). The poetry of Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, and others strongly affected Mallarms writing (Online). He used symbolism to represent human emotions to make his poems unclear, thus avoiding direct communication with his readers (Online Mallarm was born in Paris on March 18, 1842 (Online). After his mother died when he was seven years old, his grandmother became his parental role model. His education included upper-class boarding schools where he often felt out of place because of his middle class background. When he was fifteen, the death of his younger sister, Maria, greatly influenced his poetic development. He turned from Romantic lyricism to much more morbid subjects like Baudelaires Les fleurs du mal. In 1860, he received his baccalaureate degree from a lycee in Sens. After an apprenticeship in the Registrys office, in 1862 he had his first sonnet published in Le papillon, a literary journal. In 1862 Mallarm married Maria Gerhard and became a teacher in Tournon. The difficult duties of teaching often interrupted his poetic work and thoughts. Although his students made fun of him, Mallarm was not discouraged and continued his writing. After translating Edgar Allan Poes English poems into French, Mallarms chief influence became Poe rather than Baudelaire. He began to compose long imaginative poems and a prose poem called Herodiade, the biblical story of Salome who caused John the Baptists murder. Then he wrote his best-known poem LAprs-midi dun faune (Afternoon of a Faun), which explores the difference between reality and fantasy (World...

How to Avoid Scams and Choose Safe Online GED Classes

How to Avoid Scams and Choose Safe Online GED Classes The old adage that you get what you pay for doesn’t necessarily apply to online GED certificates and online high school equivalency diplomas. There are scads of websites out there just waiting to take hundreds or even thousands of your dollars for a piece of paper with a foil star on it that no college or university is going to recognize. You will have paid your hard-earned dollars for something that’s good only for hanging on your wall or throwing in a drawer. GED Online GED is a test you can take to earn a high school equivalency diploma if you didnt take four years of high school classes. There are plenty of GED-related websites out there, but how do you know which online GED websites are trustworthy? Its actually pretty simple. Just follow these guidelines: Check out your library and state education department website to find recommended online GED prep sites. There are  real GED sites with free courses  and  practice tests  that are absolutely worth your while.  Be aware that while you may legitimately choose to pay a little extra for personal online support but you should never have to pay a prep site more than $25 a month at the absolute most.Be aware that the cost of taking the actual GED test is never more than about $150.Know that no legitimate site will offer a chance to take the actual  GED test online. Yes, there are computer-based sections of the test, but the test is ONLY offered at in-person testing sites. High School Diplomas Online There are a great many legitimate high school courses and accredited online high schools. Some of them are available to state residents free of charge, and you can learn about your local options through your states education departments website. You can also pay some accredited online schools and earn your high school diploma.There are some interested virtual schools out there that use gamified teaching tools, and some are both fun and legitimate. Its worth taking a look at whats available, but be absolutely sure your school of choice is accredited. It is important to know that websites like Kahn Academy offer terrific academic resources but do not necessarily offer actual diplomas. This means that while you might use their sites to help you learn, you will probably need to go elsewhere to earn your actually high school degree. GetEducated.com There is a website designed to help you determine which online learning sites are legitimate. GetEducated.com was founded in 1989 by Vicky Phillips, a psychologist, and educator. Her site includes a Diploma Mill Police page that allows you to check on any online institution you’re thinking about attending. Phillips also has a school finder and a page on financial help. Phillips says, â€Å"Don’t get ripped off. Get educated!† The Most Important Guideline to Remember Its important to realize that while you can study online for your GED/HSE, and take practice tests online, you cannot take the test online. Dont be scammed here. In 2014, the test was updated to computer-based, but this should not be confused with online. You still need to go to a certified testing center and take your test there, on a computer.

A Case of Morphing Legal Changes in China Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A of Morphing Legal Changes in China - Case Study Example I would also be prepared to be knowledgeable on business laws and regulations, particularly those that pertain to sensitive areas that could endanger my professional competence and capabilities to implement organizational strategies. Finally, I will be very careful in dealing with other stakeholders, especially officials from the Chinese Steel Industry and ensure transparency, honesty and integrity in all undertakings, with due support and validations of all correspondences, as required. As a high-potential rising star manager within Rio Tinto, after what happened to the other executives in China, I would not take the position for personal and professional safety. Although China was deemed the company’s biggest customer, its previous image of morphing legal cases prove to be detrimental to one’s professional goal for advancement. The costs and risks of being assigned to China far outweighs the benefits of being assigned there. As the CEO of Rio Tinto, I would ensure that all managers who are eyed to be capable and competent for positions in China must be culturally and legally adept with their business protocols and practices; as well as their legal laws pertaining to managing an organization. Thereby, before sending any executives to China, I would instruct training, orientation, and comprehensive understanding of ethical, moral and legal standards of operating, managing and running a business in the local Chinese setting. Further, I would clearly emphasize to the executives to avoid any confrontations that could lead to legal disputes. Based on the new information, my answers to questions 1, 2 and 3 would not change. Any new information should first be verified as to its accuracy, reliability and veracity. If there are truths to the allegations that any of the executives were instrumental in inflating iron ore prices and in

Up To Interpretation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Up To Interpretation - Research Paper Example The modern era of artwork has seen a fundamental shift in the means by which the public interacts with art. Whereas before, the artwork was somewhat straight forward and readily discerned, the artwork of the modern period has left a great deal more up to personal interpretation; choosing to exploit the constructivism that has defined so much of our modern era. As a means of fully appreciating such a reality, one has to question the true nature of art: whether its subjectivity is an overall strength or an overall weakness. According to Janoaro and Altshuler, â€Å"The treasure of art, however, is that its reality lives on after its subjects die. The final product is an addition to reality, not simply a way of reproducing it†. As such, it is the strong belief of this observer that Janoaro and Altshuler have perfectly encapsulated the heart of the matter regarding art and its appreciation. Rather than confining art to a type of fantasy in which one must only appreciate within the garb of tired convention and conformity, the availability of modern art to allow for a type of constructivism and subjectivity is one of the greatest developments that art has seen come to fruition over the past 100 years. Due to the introduction of this level of subjectivity, art has been able to mean more to individuals who may otherwise have never had an interest in the convention. Moreover, it has provided for a type of open mindedness that has allowed the arts to grow and develop in ways and at a rate.

Hiphop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hiphop - Essay Example It discusses the impact of Hip-hop across the globe and its commercialization. (Kun, 581), as outlined by Flores (1), besides hip-hop being successful in the United States; it is used all over the world. It is becoming a creative and positive economic impact across the globe. Since the time in memorial, Hip-hop has always been seen as a voice of the blacks. Nevertheless, this phrase has earned criticisms based on the fact of its commercialization and globalization. Hip-hop is, therefore, not the voice of just the blacks, but for every person across the planet. The users and those that produce hip-hop music have grown beyond the black community. According to Flores (1), (Mos def, 1999) noticed the growth of hip-hop and invented a phrase that stated, hip-hop is everybody. This was used to mean that hip-hop music is for everybody who takes part in it or in developing its culture, regardless of their status, origin and race. In the present day commercials, hip-hop represents various organizations and products. Upon intensive analysis of the origin of hip-hop and its growth in both commercials and globally, it is proven that Mos Def was right in his album, â€Å"Fear Not.†In the album, he indicated that the hip-hop reached beyond the black community. The origin of hip-hop can be traced back to the 1970’s in South Bronx. This is during the time when the Cross-Bronx expressway took the place of several families belonging to the blacks and the Hispanic families. During this time, many whites ran away from the site. Other projects also made the marginalized people relocate to South Bronx. The youth of the families that relocated began looking of ways of putting their creative and aggressive features into practice. That is how hip-hop came to be, giving the marginalized youngsters a belonging and support. They began deejaying; rapping, break dancing, and graffiti producing. Hip-hop uses the mentorship of other

Crowd Simulation in Films

Crowd Simulation in Films This dissertation is about the study of crowd simulation and why the crowd simulation is in need in the movies. Particularly concentrating about the computer generated movies simulating a large crowd is the most difficult task in the production pipeline. So finding a better way to give the audience the feel of crowd is the challenge. Researching about the silhouettes and its uses will help to implement the silhouette to establish the crowd. Silhouettes helps in many ways to create a mystic mood. . As implementing silhouette in the crowd simulation will helps to reduce the secondary animation and facial expression. As there are so many softwares exist to helps the crowd simulation, This paper will focus on a procedure which will create a crowd simulation by transferring the animation from one character to another character in a simpler and easier way. Chapter 1: Introduction Animation gives the life to the character. Animating a particular character takes a long time to give the feel. This dissertation is about researching the animation, animating the entire crowd is the difficult task in the animation pipeline. So this dissertation is mainly carried out to find a way to transfer the animation from one character to another character in a simpler and easier way. Crowd simulation is a process of simulating a group of members, objects or characters. When simulating a large number of characters in a live feature film is not a big deal. Man power is more important in simulating a crowd in feature film. Particularly concentrating on the computer generated movies, replicating the characters animation and behavior from one character to many character is a big deal. A lot of research is done about the crowds and the formation of crowds in society. For example, social gatherings, meetings, assemblies, religious ceremonies and sport events. 1.1| Aim: The main aim of the project is to achieve an essential method for crowd simulation for animation. 1.2| Research question: The research question for this study will be. What is crowd simulation? Why we need crowd simulation? Researching the existing crowd simulation method. Disadvantages of existing crowd simulation method. How silhouette helpful for the animation poses? How silhouette will be useful for simulating a crowd? 1.3| Statement of problem: Animating the entire crowd is the most biggest problem. Technically, creating the crowd is not a big deal but at that same time transferring the animation to each and every character with the different timing is the big deal. The another problem is that the rendering the whole scene with lots and lots of character in a particular scene will make the scene the most complicated one. So finding a better solution for creating the entire scene in Maya with lots and lots of character which has the different timing in their animation. There are several methods for the development of crowd simulation. The major method is using Mayas Dynamics. There are several external softwares which helps to simulate a entire crowd. But the method which said by this dissertation is quite simple and easier than comparing to another external softwares and Mayas Dynamics. 1.4| Objectives: Various types of crowd simulation method. Silhouette/ Various types. To study the golden poses for animations. Explore the secondary motion for animation. New methods of producing crowd simulation. 1.5| Significance of study: Most of the computer generated movies currently released like Madagascar, Horton hears a Who, had a clear idea about the crowd simulation. The focus of the study in this dissertation is about the simulation of crowd in a simpler and easier way and developing a simple procedure for transferring animation from one character to multiple characters. This study is carried out for developing a better technique for crowd simulation in future upcoming CG projects. 1.6| Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this dissertation is an animator can easily transfer the animation from one character to multiple character for simulating a crowd and also using the silhouette to visualize the crowd shot with a different perspective. Chapter 2: Review of literature This chapter will discuss about the article, books, Internet websites, publications which are related to this dissertation. There are few important topics are covered related to the cinematography, photography, silhouette, animation poses, crowd simulation. 2.1| Book and Internet websites: 1. Malcolm Le Grince,2001.,Experimental Cinema in Digital Age It explains about the experiment carried over Cinema from olden days to modern age. This book mainly concentrated about the cinemas that are experimented in modern ages. They experimented using the different types of cameras and various shots that enhances the scene. 2. Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristian,2001.,Film Art- An Introduction It explains about the art of film making, this gives the introduction about the film making. This book is referenced particularity to study about the lights and its uses. This gives a clear idea about the back lighting is and how essential to shoot a silhouette shot. 3. Beazley, Mitchell and Ang, Tom,2008.,Fundamentals of modern photography It explains about the photography and how photography helpful to convey the moral to the audience. This book concentrates about the camera and its uses for the photography. Rules and techniques for achieving the Silhouette stills. 4. Frost, Lee,2003.,Photography It explains about the various types of photography in various mood setup. How different light setup enchants the scene. This book clearly explains about the advantages and disadvantages of different styles in photograph in different environment. This book is mainly referred to study the advantages and disadvantages of silhouette shooting. 5. Emma Rutherford, Lulu,2009.,Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow It explains about how the silhouette is oriented with the art and craft. This book gives a simple definition for the silhouette as Silhouette is the simplest of art forms. This says about the fascinating history of art and craft in Europe and America. 6. Popular Mechanices (Hadly, Paul, 1947.,Silhouettes for salons,From Pg No. 171 to 173) This book meanly concentrated on the mechanics of machines in 1947. But from the page 171, this book has a quote about the silhouette photography. Hadly had a clear definition for the silhouette photography and he particularity chosen the early morning and late evening time because that light sources will be perfect for silhouette photography. This light sources naturally become the back lighting when the still is taken by aiming the sun. 7. Thalman, Daniel.,Crowd simulation This book is referenced for the purpose to have an clear idea about simulating a crowd and crowd AI. Artificial intelligence is applied on the crowd with speed control, locomotion control and personification control. This book explains from the modeling to the final rendering of the simulated crowd. Also this book gives an idea about simulating the environment sources like clouds, skies, plants, lakes and terrains. 8. Brinkmann, Ron.,The art and science of digital composting: Techniques for visual effects This book is referenced to have a clear study about the digital compositing in the post production pipeline. It has a clear idea about the replication of the rendered mesh. This consumes the render time the 3D softwares like Maya, 3D Max and so on. Simulating a crowd in the post-production level is more better than production level. 9. http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-silhouettes (Accessed on 02-10-10) This website is analyzed to study about the ways to achieve the silhouette photographs in a simper and easier way. This website gives a tutor to the viewer about the ways to take silhouette photography. 10.http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/85-free-high-quality-silhouette-sets/(Accessed on 02-10-10) This website is referenced to study about the poses of different anatomy models in silhouette mode. Professional animators use the silhouette mode to value the animation key poses. This website has a library of silhouette poses of props, male, female, mammals and so on. 11.http://www.cgtutorials.com/t3343/Autodesk_3ds_max/Crowd_simulation__biped__with_AI_implant(Accessed on 02-10-10) This website is referenced to study about the crowd AI. Artificial intelligence is one of the most important guide to achieve the realism in simulating the crowd. This website gives an idea about the particle effects and the collusion. Energy control, Personification control, direction control, locomotion control is easily achieved in AI. 12.http://www.creativecrash.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-simple-crowd/page2(Accessed on 02-10-10) This website gives a method to create a simple crowd using the particle simulation. The basic idea in this tutorial is developing a crowd with low mesh ans defining a collision point using locater. The character is animated using the clip and four different clips is imported to 15 characters. These characters are guided using the expression editor. This method is based on the MEL(Maya Embedded Language.) 2.2| Interpretation: By reviewing the literatures like books, magazines, articles and Internet websites, the researcher had a better idea to develop a simple procedure to simulate the crowd and a crystal clear vision about the crowd AI (Artificial Intelligence). This literature review is also concentrated on the silhouettes and its uses in the production field. Silhouette is the best way to represent the enthusiasm. This research helped the researcher is present the entire crowd in the silhouette mode for the enthusiastic feel. Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1| Types of research: Analytical This dissertation is of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the title,Silhouette an essential method for crowd simulation animation. This research document carries the content from the Internet website, books and articles. This research is mainly done to develop a procedure to simulate a entire crowd in a simple and easier way and also to research about the silhouette is how essential to visualize the crowd to get a enthusiastic feel. This dissertation is carried out with the information collected through different sources like: Magazines Journals Forums Research papers Books Internet Websites Articles Google search engine and wikipedia are the two major sites helped a lot to gather information from various websites around the web. 3.2| Population: The people who are suitable for this population are Animators, cinematographers and visual effect artists. They were examined by series of questions regarding the simulation of an entire crowd using the silhouette. The population of this research work carries the production experienced person, students, Animation tutors. 3.3| Sampling: Judgment Sampling 3.4| Scope and limitation: This research is limited to the simulation of crowd. Chapter 4:Crowd Simulation 4.1| Definition A crowd is defined to be collection of people or group of people[1]. The term crowd is mainly referred to the collection of humans as well as animals[2]. Crowds in also defined as the sharing of emotional experience. A crowd can be named by the purpose or different types emotions, such as riot, social gatherings, meetings, assemblies, religious ceremonies, general meetings and sport events[3]. 4.2| Crowd: Scholars differ about what classes of social events fall under the rubric of collective behavior. In fact, the only class of events which all authors include is crowds. Clark McPhail, who treat crowds and collectives as synonyms. His important contribution is to gone beyond the others to carry out empirical studies of crowds. He finds them to form an set of types. The treatment of crowds is Gustave LeBon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1896), in which the author, a frightened aristocrat, interpreted the crowds of the French Revolution as irrational reversions to animal emotion, and inferred from this that such reversion is characteristic of crowds in general. Freud expressed a similar view in Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1922). Authors thought that their ideas were confirmed by various kinds of crowds, one of these are the virtual economic. In Holland, during the tulip mania (1637), the prices of tulip bulbs rose to astronomical heights. An array of such quotes was quoted by the authors from the different part of the world. Mainly and other historical odds is said by Charles MacKays Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841). At the University of Chicago, Robert Park and Herbert Blumer approved with the speculations of LeBon and other that crowds are formed by emotional. But a crowd is capable of any emotion, not only the negative ones of anger and fear. A number of authors modify the common-sense of the crowd to include episodes during which the participants are not assembled in one place but are dispersed over a large area. Turner and Killian refer to such crowds, examples being Billy Grahams, their expanded definition of the crowd is justified if propositions are compact crowds do so for diffuse crowds as well. Some psychologists have proved that there are three fundamental human emotions: fear, joy, and anger. Neil Smelser, John Lofland, and others have proposed three corresponding forms of the crowd: the panic (an expression of fear), the craze (an expression of joy), and the hostile outburst (an expression of anger). Each of the three emotions can characterize either a compact or a diffuse crowd, the result being a scheme of six types of crowds. Lofland has offered the most explicit discussion of these types. 4.3| Types of Natural crowd: There are already many types of crowd in the society, mainly they are classified into businesses and projects based crowd formation. But when we study about crowd sourcing and the crowds that influence it, we always like to the talking about one big crowd, one only crowd type that can fulfill every task. Well thats not what happens in reality, and Author Nicholas Carr had a interesting blog post which states about this and his mind thoughts over the typology of crowds, after studying about the crowd sourcing we can find a piece for the PBS Digital Nation site. He suggests the following 4 types of crowds in crowd sourcing: Social production crowd: consists of a large group of individuals who lend their individual talents to the devolved creations like Wikipedia or Linux. This one basically fits in the most examples of crowd sourcing. Averaging crowd: classifies exactly as a survey group, giving an average judgment about some complex matter in some cases, is more accurate than the judgment of any one individual person in the society. Nicholas Carr defines that prediction markets are a typical examples of this different types of crowd, or even the stock market for that matter. Data mine crowd: A large group that, the basic common knowledge and understanding of all its members who produces a collection of behavioral data or information that can be collected verified by the authors from various country put under a series of examine in order to gain insight into behavioral or market patterns. The example are defined here is the crowd that are mainly feed Googles search engine and Amazons search engine. So here we all are involving ourselves in this crowd sourcing effort without knowing that were particularly helping the system. Networking crowd: a group that exports and import information through a shared communication system such as the phone network or Internet service. Internet service are mainly concentrated on the social networking like Orkut, hi 5, Facebook or Twitter. Here were not aware about being members of information collection, and if not handled carefully by the companies, could put a backfire on this type of services. After these 4 types, two were suggested. One by Clay Shirky, who was also, involved in this discussion, and another one from a suggestion by a commenter on the blog, Tom Lord. Thats crowd sourcing working right there! Transactional crowd: a group used to coordinate what are mainly point-to-point transactions, such as the type of crowd collected by eBay, Match.com, Innocentive, LinkedIn and similar services. Event crowd: A group organized through online communication for a particular event, which can take place either online or in the real world and may have a political, social, aesthetic, or other purpose. Crowd Simulation in Films Crowd Simulation in Films This dissertation is about the study of crowd simulation and why the crowd simulation is in need in the movies. Particularly concentrating about the computer generated movies simulating a large crowd is the most difficult task in the production pipeline. So finding a better way to give the audience the feel of crowd is the challenge. Researching about the silhouettes and its uses will help to implement the silhouette to establish the crowd. Silhouettes helps in many ways to create a mystic mood. . As implementing silhouette in the crowd simulation will helps to reduce the secondary animation and facial expression. As there are so many softwares exist to helps the crowd simulation, This paper will focus on a procedure which will create a crowd simulation by transferring the animation from one character to another character in a simpler and easier way. Chapter 1: Introduction Animation gives the life to the character. Animating a particular character takes a long time to give the feel. This dissertation is about researching the animation, animating the entire crowd is the difficult task in the animation pipeline. So this dissertation is mainly carried out to find a way to transfer the animation from one character to another character in a simpler and easier way. Crowd simulation is a process of simulating a group of members, objects or characters. When simulating a large number of characters in a live feature film is not a big deal. Man power is more important in simulating a crowd in feature film. Particularly concentrating on the computer generated movies, replicating the characters animation and behavior from one character to many character is a big deal. A lot of research is done about the crowds and the formation of crowds in society. For example, social gatherings, meetings, assemblies, religious ceremonies and sport events. 1.1| Aim: The main aim of the project is to achieve an essential method for crowd simulation for animation. 1.2| Research question: The research question for this study will be. What is crowd simulation? Why we need crowd simulation? Researching the existing crowd simulation method. Disadvantages of existing crowd simulation method. How silhouette helpful for the animation poses? How silhouette will be useful for simulating a crowd? 1.3| Statement of problem: Animating the entire crowd is the most biggest problem. Technically, creating the crowd is not a big deal but at that same time transferring the animation to each and every character with the different timing is the big deal. The another problem is that the rendering the whole scene with lots and lots of character in a particular scene will make the scene the most complicated one. So finding a better solution for creating the entire scene in Maya with lots and lots of character which has the different timing in their animation. There are several methods for the development of crowd simulation. The major method is using Mayas Dynamics. There are several external softwares which helps to simulate a entire crowd. But the method which said by this dissertation is quite simple and easier than comparing to another external softwares and Mayas Dynamics. 1.4| Objectives: Various types of crowd simulation method. Silhouette/ Various types. To study the golden poses for animations. Explore the secondary motion for animation. New methods of producing crowd simulation. 1.5| Significance of study: Most of the computer generated movies currently released like Madagascar, Horton hears a Who, had a clear idea about the crowd simulation. The focus of the study in this dissertation is about the simulation of crowd in a simpler and easier way and developing a simple procedure for transferring animation from one character to multiple characters. This study is carried out for developing a better technique for crowd simulation in future upcoming CG projects. 1.6| Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this dissertation is an animator can easily transfer the animation from one character to multiple character for simulating a crowd and also using the silhouette to visualize the crowd shot with a different perspective. Chapter 2: Review of literature This chapter will discuss about the article, books, Internet websites, publications which are related to this dissertation. There are few important topics are covered related to the cinematography, photography, silhouette, animation poses, crowd simulation. 2.1| Book and Internet websites: 1. Malcolm Le Grince,2001.,Experimental Cinema in Digital Age It explains about the experiment carried over Cinema from olden days to modern age. This book mainly concentrated about the cinemas that are experimented in modern ages. They experimented using the different types of cameras and various shots that enhances the scene. 2. Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristian,2001.,Film Art- An Introduction It explains about the art of film making, this gives the introduction about the film making. This book is referenced particularity to study about the lights and its uses. This gives a clear idea about the back lighting is and how essential to shoot a silhouette shot. 3. Beazley, Mitchell and Ang, Tom,2008.,Fundamentals of modern photography It explains about the photography and how photography helpful to convey the moral to the audience. This book concentrates about the camera and its uses for the photography. Rules and techniques for achieving the Silhouette stills. 4. Frost, Lee,2003.,Photography It explains about the various types of photography in various mood setup. How different light setup enchants the scene. This book clearly explains about the advantages and disadvantages of different styles in photograph in different environment. This book is mainly referred to study the advantages and disadvantages of silhouette shooting. 5. Emma Rutherford, Lulu,2009.,Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow It explains about how the silhouette is oriented with the art and craft. This book gives a simple definition for the silhouette as Silhouette is the simplest of art forms. This says about the fascinating history of art and craft in Europe and America. 6. Popular Mechanices (Hadly, Paul, 1947.,Silhouettes for salons,From Pg No. 171 to 173) This book meanly concentrated on the mechanics of machines in 1947. But from the page 171, this book has a quote about the silhouette photography. Hadly had a clear definition for the silhouette photography and he particularity chosen the early morning and late evening time because that light sources will be perfect for silhouette photography. This light sources naturally become the back lighting when the still is taken by aiming the sun. 7. Thalman, Daniel.,Crowd simulation This book is referenced for the purpose to have an clear idea about simulating a crowd and crowd AI. Artificial intelligence is applied on the crowd with speed control, locomotion control and personification control. This book explains from the modeling to the final rendering of the simulated crowd. Also this book gives an idea about simulating the environment sources like clouds, skies, plants, lakes and terrains. 8. Brinkmann, Ron.,The art and science of digital composting: Techniques for visual effects This book is referenced to have a clear study about the digital compositing in the post production pipeline. It has a clear idea about the replication of the rendered mesh. This consumes the render time the 3D softwares like Maya, 3D Max and so on. Simulating a crowd in the post-production level is more better than production level. 9. http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-silhouettes (Accessed on 02-10-10) This website is analyzed to study about the ways to achieve the silhouette photographs in a simper and easier way. This website gives a tutor to the viewer about the ways to take silhouette photography. 10.http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/85-free-high-quality-silhouette-sets/(Accessed on 02-10-10) This website is referenced to study about the poses of different anatomy models in silhouette mode. Professional animators use the silhouette mode to value the animation key poses. This website has a library of silhouette poses of props, male, female, mammals and so on. 11.http://www.cgtutorials.com/t3343/Autodesk_3ds_max/Crowd_simulation__biped__with_AI_implant(Accessed on 02-10-10) This website is referenced to study about the crowd AI. Artificial intelligence is one of the most important guide to achieve the realism in simulating the crowd. This website gives an idea about the particle effects and the collusion. Energy control, Personification control, direction control, locomotion control is easily achieved in AI. 12.http://www.creativecrash.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-simple-crowd/page2(Accessed on 02-10-10) This website gives a method to create a simple crowd using the particle simulation. The basic idea in this tutorial is developing a crowd with low mesh ans defining a collision point using locater. The character is animated using the clip and four different clips is imported to 15 characters. These characters are guided using the expression editor. This method is based on the MEL(Maya Embedded Language.) 2.2| Interpretation: By reviewing the literatures like books, magazines, articles and Internet websites, the researcher had a better idea to develop a simple procedure to simulate the crowd and a crystal clear vision about the crowd AI (Artificial Intelligence). This literature review is also concentrated on the silhouettes and its uses in the production field. Silhouette is the best way to represent the enthusiasm. This research helped the researcher is present the entire crowd in the silhouette mode for the enthusiastic feel. Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1| Types of research: Analytical This dissertation is of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the title,Silhouette an essential method for crowd simulation animation. This research document carries the content from the Internet website, books and articles. This research is mainly done to develop a procedure to simulate a entire crowd in a simple and easier way and also to research about the silhouette is how essential to visualize the crowd to get a enthusiastic feel. This dissertation is carried out with the information collected through different sources like: Magazines Journals Forums Research papers Books Internet Websites Articles Google search engine and wikipedia are the two major sites helped a lot to gather information from various websites around the web. 3.2| Population: The people who are suitable for this population are Animators, cinematographers and visual effect artists. They were examined by series of questions regarding the simulation of an entire crowd using the silhouette. The population of this research work carries the production experienced person, students, Animation tutors. 3.3| Sampling: Judgment Sampling 3.4| Scope and limitation: This research is limited to the simulation of crowd. Chapter 4:Crowd Simulation 4.1| Definition A crowd is defined to be collection of people or group of people[1]. The term crowd is mainly referred to the collection of humans as well as animals[2]. Crowds in also defined as the sharing of emotional experience. A crowd can be named by the purpose or different types emotions, such as riot, social gatherings, meetings, assemblies, religious ceremonies, general meetings and sport events[3]. 4.2| Crowd: Scholars differ about what classes of social events fall under the rubric of collective behavior. In fact, the only class of events which all authors include is crowds. Clark McPhail, who treat crowds and collectives as synonyms. His important contribution is to gone beyond the others to carry out empirical studies of crowds. He finds them to form an set of types. The treatment of crowds is Gustave LeBon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1896), in which the author, a frightened aristocrat, interpreted the crowds of the French Revolution as irrational reversions to animal emotion, and inferred from this that such reversion is characteristic of crowds in general. Freud expressed a similar view in Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1922). Authors thought that their ideas were confirmed by various kinds of crowds, one of these are the virtual economic. In Holland, during the tulip mania (1637), the prices of tulip bulbs rose to astronomical heights. An array of such quotes was quoted by the authors from the different part of the world. Mainly and other historical odds is said by Charles MacKays Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841). At the University of Chicago, Robert Park and Herbert Blumer approved with the speculations of LeBon and other that crowds are formed by emotional. But a crowd is capable of any emotion, not only the negative ones of anger and fear. A number of authors modify the common-sense of the crowd to include episodes during which the participants are not assembled in one place but are dispersed over a large area. Turner and Killian refer to such crowds, examples being Billy Grahams, their expanded definition of the crowd is justified if propositions are compact crowds do so for diffuse crowds as well. Some psychologists have proved that there are three fundamental human emotions: fear, joy, and anger. Neil Smelser, John Lofland, and others have proposed three corresponding forms of the crowd: the panic (an expression of fear), the craze (an expression of joy), and the hostile outburst (an expression of anger). Each of the three emotions can characterize either a compact or a diffuse crowd, the result being a scheme of six types of crowds. Lofland has offered the most explicit discussion of these types. 4.3| Types of Natural crowd: There are already many types of crowd in the society, mainly they are classified into businesses and projects based crowd formation. But when we study about crowd sourcing and the crowds that influence it, we always like to the talking about one big crowd, one only crowd type that can fulfill every task. Well thats not what happens in reality, and Author Nicholas Carr had a interesting blog post which states about this and his mind thoughts over the typology of crowds, after studying about the crowd sourcing we can find a piece for the PBS Digital Nation site. He suggests the following 4 types of crowds in crowd sourcing: Social production crowd: consists of a large group of individuals who lend their individual talents to the devolved creations like Wikipedia or Linux. This one basically fits in the most examples of crowd sourcing. Averaging crowd: classifies exactly as a survey group, giving an average judgment about some complex matter in some cases, is more accurate than the judgment of any one individual person in the society. Nicholas Carr defines that prediction markets are a typical examples of this different types of crowd, or even the stock market for that matter. Data mine crowd: A large group that, the basic common knowledge and understanding of all its members who produces a collection of behavioral data or information that can be collected verified by the authors from various country put under a series of examine in order to gain insight into behavioral or market patterns. The example are defined here is the crowd that are mainly feed Googles search engine and Amazons search engine. So here we all are involving ourselves in this crowd sourcing effort without knowing that were particularly helping the system. Networking crowd: a group that exports and import information through a shared communication system such as the phone network or Internet service. Internet service are mainly concentrated on the social networking like Orkut, hi 5, Facebook or Twitter. Here were not aware about being members of information collection, and if not handled carefully by the companies, could put a backfire on this type of services. After these 4 types, two were suggested. One by Clay Shirky, who was also, involved in this discussion, and another one from a suggestion by a commenter on the blog, Tom Lord. Thats crowd sourcing working right there! Transactional crowd: a group used to coordinate what are mainly point-to-point transactions, such as the type of crowd collected by eBay, Match.com, Innocentive, LinkedIn and similar services. Event crowd: A group organized through online communication for a particular event, which can take place either online or in the real world and may have a political, social, aesthetic, or other purpose.

The Change in Obstetric Care in the United States :: Evolution Childbirth America

Imagine for a moment a small room with pale green walls, and smelling of latex and disinfectant. The sharp light of fluorescent bulbs gives the space a harsh unnatural glow. A woman is lying on a metal bed: covered by a flimsy sheet, legs uncomfortably splayed open, feet in stirrups. A doctor and an entourage of residents enter the room in white coats. The doctor snaps on a pair of latex gloves, looks and feels between the woman’s legs, announces everything is moving "right on schedule," and hurries out the door, on to another patient. The woman is left wondering, among other things, what "on schedule" means. It doesn’t sound very pleasant, but for years this was what it was like to give birth in an American hospital. And, for many women, it is still true today. Just add to the situation a fetal monitor to measure the baby’s heart rate, an intravenous drip into the mother’s arm, an ultrasound machine, a catheter to collect the mother’s urine, surgical instruments for performing an episiotomy before delivery (an incision made to widen the vaginal opening), and various other technological devices, "just in case." While they can be helpful in certain situations, such as high-risk births, these things can impede the natural process of labor. In this paper, I will examine three distinct stages of obstetric care in the United States. By looking at the stages, you can see the evolution of childbirth in our country as it developed from a female- to a male-dominated field, and how it is now beginning to break away from some of the traditional medical methods that have been used for over 50 years. However, this break is not complete. Even with today’s woman having more power than ever in her decision making, we as Americans still can’t seem to get away from the technology used in childbirth, even though much of it is unnecessary and can sometimes even be detrimental. For the past 100 years, our view of pregnancy and childbirth has evolved into seeing it as a condition or sickness that needs to be controlled and treated by modern medicine. The first stage of OB care took place before and during the 19th century. In that time, obstetrics was a field dominated by women, almost entirely midwives. Almost all physicians were male, but for the most part, obstetrics was not studied in medical school.