Water Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Water Crisis - Essay Example o global warming have caused major changes in precipitation globally which has affected the average amount of rainfall in several countries (National Resources Defense Council, 2010). All the above factors are collectively responsible for water constraints across the world. The natural water resources are being constantly depleted due to a combination of several factors such as increased demand, climatic changes and pollution. Rivers and aquifers which are a major source of clean water are being drained constantly. There is increasing withdrawal of water from groundwater, lakes, streams and manmade structures such as dams and water released from other reservoirs. With the annual population growth at 80 million people a year and projection figures indicating an addition of 3 billion people to the world population by the year 2050, the demand for clean and fresh water will see a manifold increase. Reports suggest that a majority of the population growth will occur in developing regions which are already facing water shortage. In addition, advances in science and technology have increased the use of renewable energy resources worldwide. There has been a huge increase in the generation of electricity from hydroelectric power. Other new innovations such as generation of nuclear energy and use fossil fuels for energy purposes have also affected water quantity and quality (The United Nations World Water Report, n.d). Apart from energy production water is also being used for agriculture which utilizes nearly 70% of freshwater withdrawals. The increase in world population has raised the demand for food. Subsequent rise in agricultural practices are using copious quantities of freshwater for growing crops and maintaining plants and trees (The United Nations World Water Report, n.d). Another reason which has posed serious constraints on water supply is the changes observed by scientists in the precipitation rates. This is likely to have a major negative impact on the amount

Personal Statment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Statment - Essay Example Barely had I recovered from this depression when I received the hardest ever blow, which hit me like a bullet - the death of the person dearest to me, who meant the world to me - my mother. My mothers death only increased the admiration and respect that I had for her. She was an icon of love and understanding. She talked about colleges before I had even heard of high school. Her belief in me and her determination that I would go to a prestigious college and earn a degree aroused me with a jerk and made me want to work even harder. However, after her death my heart, along with my will power to succeed, died along with her. I must admit it was the hardest obstacle I went through. At the same time, I am also proud that I was able to overcome it; it took a couple of years, but I guess I am on my way there. I was again able to join activities that I loved, such as being in several sports teams like basketball and volleyball especially. I was even the captain of both these teams. Joining Model United Nations (MUN) helped me to shift my focus from anger on death into solving and trying to avoid famine and war; in trying so hard to keep children away from undergoing the same experience I did. As the Student Council Treasurer I have been involved in many charitable activities like the blanket drive during the Pakistan earthquake. Working as the assistant director for an Arabic play helped renew my self-confidence. These activities turned out to be not only stress relieving but also made me grow as a person, it made me see life from a different perspective. I have been fortunate to be blessed with little successes along the way - enough to motivate me and keep me going This, apart from filling me with a sense of pride also made me feel responsible. More importantly, it filled me with renewed enthusiasm. I started believing even more firmly that success would follow if I were dedicated towards following my dream. I became a mother, taking

Imagery Of Madame Bovary

Imagery Of Madame Bovary In many forms of literature, authors use symbols as a representation of interpretive meaning. In Gustave Flauberts novel, Madame Bovary (1856), one of the major achievements is the excellent use of symbolism. Many of the moral values throughout the novel lie within the use of symbols, which are the elements in the narrative that communicate the rich values over and above their literal meanings (Dauner 1). The apparent purpose of the author is to paint pictures with words, bringing scenes and settings alive with the astonishing use of descriptions. Flauberts descriptions are often built up like pictures, from left to right of background to foreground, occasionally even moving through the senses, from sound and smell to touch and sight (Levi 235). Through the use of symbolism, this novel appeals to the senses of idealists. Flaubert uses the garden as a symbol throughout his work that affects the main character, Emma, and implies certain connotations other than its literal meaning. In P art I of the novel, this symbol is presented repeatedly with rich association. Throughout Part I, the Tostes section of Emmas life, the garden appears four different times. It first appears after Emma marries Charles and has seats made around the sundial in the garden. This not only represents her initiative, but also her early stages of romanticism. Later, after she has realized the difference between her vision of Romance from the novels in which she has read, and the marriage to a man that is satisfied with his middle-class lifestyle and has no desire to ascend into higher social class, she begins to go to the garden by moonlight and tries to make herself fall in love with Charles, while singing passionate poems and singing melancholy. The garden now functions as a character symbol, representing Emmas ambition and her bourgeois romanticism. The garden also plays a major role at Vaubyessard. During the ball, Emma looks out the window which opens to the garden, where she then sees peasants peering in from the garden, their faces pressed against the glass (Flaubert 1067). From the garden, her memory of the past seems to be as remote to her present as her actual present is remote for this single night of wealth and society. According to Clive James, this is the scene that awakes Emmas dangerous taste for the high life (3). For this night, Flaubert explains to the reader, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] had opened a breach in her life, like one of those great crevasses that a storm can tear across the face of a mountain in the course of a single night (1070). Now, the garden creates a type reference in time and character, embracing past, present, and future. Emma is not as she was nor how she will be. The final appearance in Tostes is represented as a pure mood mirror (Dauner 2). There was no sounds of birds, everything seemed to be sleeping- the espaliered trees under their straw, the vi ne like a great sick snake under the wall coping, where she could see many legged wood lice crawling as she came near (Flaubert 1074). Here, the garden is used as an objective to Emmas self-pitying of her marriage. Later in the novel, the garden also plays an important role in the fulfillment of Emmas destiny. Later, the garden appears at least seven times in the fulfillment of Emmas destiny. Because of Emmas taste for a higher lifestyle, she develops bad health that persuades Charles to move from Tostes to Yonville, where she meets Leon, the young clerk at the notarys. They soon become attracted to each other through their romantic interests. One day, Leon accompanies Emma on a walk to see her infant, who is with the wet nurse. On their way back to Yonville, Emma becomes tired and takes Leons arm. Next, they pass by The garden walls, their copings bristling with broken bits of bottles, were as warm as the glass of a greenhouse. Wallflowers had taken root between the bricks; and as she passed, the edge of Madame Bovarys open parasol crumbled some of their faded flowers into yellow dust; or an overhanging branch of honeysuckle or clematis would catch in the fringe and cling for a moment to the silk (Flaubert 1093). The two then spoke for a brief moment, but Their eyes were full of more mean ingful talk; and as they made themselves utter banalties they sensed the same languor invading them both (Flaubert 1093). Through the objective details of the author and with Emmas apparent purposeful violation of the wallflowers with her sunshade, Flaubert may have been employing an underlying sexual tone that relates to both the concept of the garden and the tension of the walk, which may also be foreshadowing Emmas affair with Leon. Emma herself is a kind of wallflower-emotionally untouched (James 5). Soon after Leon leaves for Rouen, Emmas thought revives her happiness of the [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] afternoons by themselves in the garden! He had read aloud to her, bareheaded on a rustic bench, the cool wind from the meadows ruffling the pages of his book and the nasturtiums on the arborà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. And now he was gone, the one bright spot in her life, her one possible hope of happiness! (Flaubert 1110). The garden now acts as the physical force that creates Emmas emotion. Later, w hen Leon comes back from Rouen to visit her, it is behind the garden that she meets him, as she had previously done with Rudolphe. The garden continues to play an important part of Emmas life up until the point of her death. Emma soon becomes disgusted with the garden because of the memory in which it evokes. She then develops a type of sickness for the garden and keeps her blinds in the house down on that particular side so that she will not have to see it. At this point, the garden functions simply as a symbol of memory and mood. Finally, after Emmas death, it is in the garden that the reader finds Charles, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] with his head leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed, his mouth open; and there was a long lock of black hair in his hands (Flaubert 1249). The author uses the garden in this instance as a symbol of tragic irony. According to James Panero, Symbolism has always been stronger in its literary rather than graphic forms (3). Through examining the work of Flaubert, and his superb use of symbols and vivid descriptions, one could conclude this assumption to be true. Flaubert revolutionized fiction with his use of point of view to provide multiple images to provoke symbolic meanings (Smothers 3). Flaubert uses the garden as a poetic symbol in a variety of ways throughout his novel. It moves from the lighter tone of a character to assuming darker qualities that foreshadow Emmas increasing involvements. The garden also carries a sexual connotation and often becomes a thematic symbol. It would not be a far stretch to say that the garden in this novel has become a conventional symbol, meaning that people have to come to accept it as standing for something other than its literal meaning (Barnet 212).

Shifting Perceptions in Dances With Wolves Essay -- Dances With Wolves

Shifting Perceptions in Dances With Wolves In Kevin Costner's motion picture Dances With Wolves, a white veteran of the Civil War, John Dunbar, ventures to the American frontier, where he encounters a tribe of Sioux Indians. At first, both parties are quite wary and almost hostile to each other, but after some time, Dunbar realizes that they have both grown to love and value each other as friends. As the movie critic Robert Ebert comments, "Dunbar possesses the one quality he needs to cut through the entrenched racism of his time: He is able to look another man in the eye, and see the man, rather than his attitudes about the man. As Dunbar discovers the culture of the Sioux, so do we. " As the viewpoint of the hero gradually shifts throughout the film, it is also paralleled by the similarly shifting perception of the audience- from one of initial, stereotypical fear to a much more positive one, of respect and sympathy. This overall effect on the viewer is accomplished through the skillful use of several techniques in the film , as well as through the use of some memorable scenes, as portrayed through Dunbar's eyes. In the first several scenes of the movie, the audience is introduced to the hero, John Dunbar, and is instantly able to sympathize with him. Firstly, he is a war hero, and thus, brave and respected. Then, when he chooses to move to the frontier, he reveals his adventurous spirit, and when he toils tirelessly each day to build the post, he also shows his hardworking and disciplined personality. Furthermore, Dunbar is a well-educated man, for he eloquently records his experiences in his journal each day, and his thoughts and insights reveal a man of noble and upright character. Thus, these qualities constitute the... ...rriding theme- that all humans possess common emotions, desires, and traits, and that these human elements alone are what should be the distinguishing factors in one's identity, rather than race, gender, or any other external sub-category. Overall, the film causes the audience to change a traditional, stereotypical view of the Sioux Indians, but on a broader scale, it also challenges the audience to view all people from a more humanistic point of view. Works Cited Costner, Kevin, dir. Dances with Wolves. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. Videocassette. Orion, 1991. Ebert, Robert. "Dances With Wolves." Rev. of Dances With Wolves, dir. Kevin Costner. The Chicago Sun-Times 9 Nov. 1990. Standing Rock Sioux Nation. Home Page. 31 Mar. 2000. Standing Rock Sioux Nation. 12 Oct. 2001. http://www.standingrock.org.

Literacy, Love, Loss and Arda Essay

Literacy is important in keeping the history of the Middle-earth. This is to ensure that the future generations could get a grasp on what has happened to the different races; ie Man, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Hobbits, Trolls, Goblin-men, Uruk-hai, among others. History and recorded accounts of significant events is especially important to the wizards. This is shown in the part when Gandalf the Grey desired to know more about the ring in Bilbo’s possession. He immediately took the initiative to set out for the right thing to do. He asked Bilbo to leave it, and transfer to Frodo, the one who would be tasked to carry the ring to Rivendell, and later on, to the Crack of Mount Doom. He went to research for records. Fortunately, he found accounts from Isildur. â€Å"It has come to me†¦ the One Ring. It shall be an heirloom of my kingdom. All those who follow my bloodline shall be bound to its fate for I will risk no hurt to the Ring. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain. The markings upon the band begin to fade. The writing, which at first as clear as the red flame, has all but disappeared. A secret now that only fire can tell. † (Tolkien) With the history kept intact in that library, he was able to think of the best thing to do – to destroy it. In the mines of Moria, they had to pass a tunnel but there was a door with inscriptures above it. Frodo was able to read what was written there, and asked Gandalf what was the Elvish word for â€Å"friend. † When Gandalf uttered Mellon, the door opened (Tolkien). This showed that being able to read and write got the Fellowship moving. This also reflects that if nobody was educated, it could have been that they were not able to enter that door. This goes down to the truth that the earlier people had educated themselves also as evident in that password, which was made by them. Inside the mine was the kingdom ruled by dwarves. However, they found him already dead, as what was carved on the surface of his tomb. The language of the dwarves – Dwarvish – was helpful in this stage, because Gimli would not have known that Balin was already dead if it was not for the writings. Reading and writing is important to all the creatures of the Middle-earth. It is the most powerful tool to drive back to history of a village, or to a well-known person. It is also used to conceal secrets to treasured places. It is significant also to inform relatives and the society that a respectable lord has died. Most important of it could be its usefulness in terms of transmitting message from day-to-day activities. 2. What is the role of romantic love in the Lord of the Rings? How big a part does it play, and just what is this part? Give examples. The most famous romantic love story exposed in the Lord of the Rings could be that of Aragorn and Arwen. This was exaggerated in the adaptation of the novel into movie. â€Å"I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone†¦ I choose a mortal life†¦ It is mine to give whom I will†¦ like my heart. † These lines of Arwen, possibly coming from the deepest portion of her heart reflected the utmost devotion and truest affection in her heart for Aragorn. This love for Aragorn influenced her to make the biggest and most daring decision ever – to give up immortality, which has been a precious gift to the race where she belonged. She opted to be mortal and loved Aragorn, who also loved her so much. Their love for each other was so powerful that gave them inspiration to head on with their lives. Later near the end of their journey, they had a child, who was seen by Arwen when she was walking towards a life that never ends. This made them strong against the dark force enwrapping Middle-earth and the loneliness that kept on haunting them (Tolkien). Smeagol also had this passionate affection with the One Ring. He stayed in the dark Misty Mountains all by himself, but never thought of leaving the ring to somebody. He felt in love with the beauty and power the ring was giving him – unnatural long life. When he lost it, he tried to recover it. He followed the trails of the Fellowship tasked to bring his â€Å"precious† to Mount Doom. He succeeded in getting it from Frodo’s hands, but unfortunately, he ended falling into the fire of the mountain, where the ring was forged. At the end of the Return of the King, Sam was seen with his own family. He married Rosie, and had children afterwards. Even after Frodo had fled to the Undying Lands, Sam remained loyal to him by taking care of the book given to him by his friend. No one could blame him for that because they had gone to a perilous journey that truly tested their friendship.

Assessment Task †Health and Safety Mu 2.4

MU 2. 4 1. 1 Understanding your role in contributing to children and young people’s health and safety is a priority. As a new member of staff your line manager will need to know how you can apply this in your work setting. You have been asked to produce information that includes: †¢an outline of the health and safety policies and procedures of the work setting Health & Safety Policies †¢Protective clothing to be warn when necessary for example, wearing gloves when administering medical aid to children. i. e. If child fell over and bleeding put gloves on. †¢If an accident occurs write down in accident book. No matter how small the injury is. With a double signature from staff and end of the day by parents †¢Medical Records. Only prescription drugs to be added and our policy match Schools. †¢Making sure the gate is always shut on the entrance to the kitchen area so the children can’t go in and get hurt or burnt. †¢All cleaning products are locked away in the kitchen area. †¢Fire exits always clear and known to staff and back exit gate key on hook if needed. Making sure children wash their hands after the toilet and before eating. †¢Continual risk assessment of new and on-going tasks and areas of the children’s surroundings. i. e. If I see an overhanging bramble/branch in the garden, I would need to cut it off and mention it to the manger before children can play. †¢If there were objects that could cause unnecessary accidents they would need picking up. If there was lots of mess on the floor like paper that would need to be cleaned up to avoid slips. This would be the same if there was water spilt and the manager would need to be informed. †¢Making sure all the rooms are ventilated so the children don’t get over heated and the it not to cold either. †¢Staff to child ratio on walks would be one adult to two children with the nursery that can increase to one adult to eight children. †¢Volunteers and staff are all CRB checked before working with the children. †¢Front door and gates always locked. †¢First aider always known and first aid boxes located around the setting but secure from the children.