The Tempest by William Shakespeare

buy custom Chinese Innovations essay

buy custom Chinese Innovations essay In many years, the Chinese have had great innovations that have helped to bring about major technological developments and globalization all together. The four major innovations by the Chinese consisted of compass, gunpowder, printing and paper. The innovations took place in a number of the traditional Chinese dynasties, Tang dynasty being major of these dynasties that these major innovations took place. Details of these innovations in the times of Tang dynasty, and their contribution to globalization are going to be discussed. Paper is thought to have been invented by a Chinese by the name Chai Lun during the second century. Contrarily new archeological discoveries indicate paper to have been in use in china for the last 200 years with China being the pioneers in use of paper (Ray, 5). In then days, the paper was made from materials like rags, tree back, worn out fishing nets, and tree backs. In these days paper is still being made out of wood pulp and rags. In the times of the Tang dynasty, a number of improved types of paper were produced. The various papers were made from hemp, bamboo and hide. Another type was Xuan paper used by the Chinese for inscription and painting due its good attributes of being white with a fine texture and it is also long lasting. According to Antonio (293), this is the major innovation that followed paper invention and production. Printing came with an advantage of increasing the pool of information by actually revolutionizing this sector of communication. The information could now be printed unlike before when it was only passed by mouth or expensive manuscripts. As printing was innovated and during the time of its development in Tang dynasty, the technology grew into many other Asian countries like Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, Korea, and many others. Apart from the many advantages that came with the printing technology, there were also disadvantages that included one error spoiling the whole mass, and further more the mass was rendered useless once it was used because each one was exceptional in its way. It was in the reign of Tang dynasty that we also witnessed the invention of the gun powder. This was a number three major discovery. The idea of gun powder came about as a result of the effort of traditional necromancers in finding an eternal life for the emperor and in the process they found out that the combination of particular fuels and ores in correct portions, and exposed to heat could lead to a blast. This idea was later developed to generate the gun powder discovery. China through various dynasties was the first to have a design ofcannon as early as 1127. This is believed to be approximately 150 years before the technology reached other western countries. This great innovation of the gunpowder by the Chinese enabled them to keep at bay the Mongols for many years. Mongols succeeded in capturing the Chinese people who were the specialists in making of the gunpowder, employed them in their army with a resultant impact of empire growth. The Mongols at last embraced and perfected the technology of gunpowder (Antonio, 295). The innovation of the magnetic compass was a number four major scientific innovations in china and especially among the people of the Tang dynasty. The idea of the magnetic compass came in existence as a result of the mine work by Chinese miners. They did the mining and they also smelted iron and copper. It is during their work that they came across the naturally occurring magnetite mineral. This magnetite mineral naturally attracted iron plus it pointed to the north when it was left to hang. It is this property of the magnetite that facilitated its use in the making of a round compass. Compass invention happened at around 221-206 BC. It was later improved in 8th century when the needles that were magnetized were made (TravelChinaGuide.com, 1). Besides these four innovations, there were other many innovations .They included kites,spaghetti,first to harness animals from agriculture, calculator, paper money, and in the discipline of medicine there were innovations like brain surgery and others. Globalization involves events where by governments; people and companies join together and interrelate. This is facilitated by multilateral trade and transfer of currency and it majorly depends on the systems put in place to ensure the transfer of information. The above innovations had various effects on globalization (Ray, 6). First, the discovery of paper facilitated trade between china and the other nations in which the technology of paper manufacturing was yet to be developed. Also the paper production technology later spread from china to other countries like Japan, Korea, India, Vietnam, and also in Europe especially in England. This helped to enhance the trade and the political relationship among these countries and of course with those others who were the consumers of the paper products. The innovations of the printing accelerated globalization to a remarkable extend. First, it eased the passage of information from one place to another or from country to another since there was production of printed information in bulky print media. This made communication fats and cheap unlike the use of word of mouth or manuuscripts (Antonio, 294). Additionally, other nations borrowed this printing technology and embraced it to develop it in their countries. This enhanced cooperation among these countries that were enthusiastic to develop the print technology. The print technology spread from China to the countries in Asia like Vietnam, Korea, and Japan and eventually in Europe where it was functional on a very large scale until the computers came in. Besides paper and print technology, gunpowder was also the major innovation in china whose contributions to globalization is worth acknowledgement. After its innovation in china, it spread to Arabian countries at around 12th century and at around 14th century, it spread in Europe. The gunpowder was discovered to have great military potential which was harnessed and spread globally as various countries struggled to attain and maintain power. International trade in weapons, in form of war tanks and other explosives between the countries that produces these goods and those that dont produce also has enhanced the international trade hence globalization (Ancient China's Technology, 1). Lastly, the innovation of the compass also fueled globalization. This came about as a result of the compass being used by sailors to tour and discovers the world. The sailors consisted of the early missionaries, the colonies and the traders. During their movement, people from different places interacted with others cultures and this led to spread of cultures that led to emergency of global cultures (Valley, 1). The missionaries that came from European countries for example spread Christianity to Africa making it a global religion. The spread of the technology in other countries also contributed towards building of good trade and ideological understanding among some countries. Conclusion The major innovations in chinas Tang dynasty included the paper innovation, printing, gunpowder and the compass. These innovations later on spread to other countries across the world with an effect of globalization which made countries to interrelate and turned to a global village through the developed system of information production and sharing. This was through the paper and printing innovations. Other innovations in form of gunpowder and the compass also played the same role of enhancing globalization. The technologies spread and shared by countries among which trade took place either in the products of these technologies or those related, this helped to establish and maintain good trade and political relationships and policies among trade partners who are countries. Buy custom Chinese Innovations essay

Book Review on Mirage by Cynthia Barnett Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Book Review on Mirage by Cynthia Barnett - Essay Example S. through a combination of historical storytelling as well as exploring the issues from a technical perspective. The author is a renowned journalist with expertise in freshwater supply problems in the eastern United States. The book reflects the author’s ideas that greed and an overarching urge to develop new frontiers led Americans to exploit the eastern water system to sustain new activities such as larger populations and agriculture. Analysis and Evaluation Barnett traces the evolution of the current freshwater supply problem and blames human greed squarely for the resulting squalor. The author tends to blame historical titans such as Walt Disney and the Rosen brothers for wasteful development but it must be realized that these developments can be best analyzed in terms of their historical context. The development of the railroad and agricultural land in Florida closely resembled activities taking place nationwide in the Gilded Age. Expecting people from the late nineteent h century to anticipate modern problems of prodigal water use is asking for a bit too much. The wasteful attitude of the Floridians in general has also been brought into question such as the useless consumption of freshwater spurred by golf courses all over the state. Even with an abundant water supply, Florida faces water shortage by 2020 due to water expenditure on agriculture, urbanization and golf courses. The role of water as a political tool has been questioned as well by the author (Barnett, 2007, p. 44): â€Å"Those who control water control the destiny of a place and its people.† Barnett’s stance that most of Florida’s current water problems emanate from wasteful consumption is largely justified and can also be proven in fact. The author adeptly traces the political relationships between freshwater supply and globalization, population booms and real estate development. The role of the Army Engineer Corps has been presented as both positive and negative – the drainage of the Everglades produced ecological problems and changes in weather patterns (Barnett, 2007, p. 58) but the associated structures helped saved the lives of people living in Florida. This remains a unique perspective on the issue and tends to trigger an ontological egg and chicken debate on the role of the Army Engineer Corps. The author contends that the role of the Army Engineer Corps is debatable, yet it cannot be denied that their actions set in motion the current ecological failure of the Everglades and wetlands. Barnett blames both scientists and non scientific factions for causing water supply problems. The non scientific factions are able to bypass laws and continue with real estate and agricultural development while scientific factions are unable to counter these moves (Barnett, 2007, p. 64). A quick look at history and contemporary national and global politics reveals that scientists or green thumbs have been unable to stop the march of consumption ( Lind, 2013). The author tends to over assume the role and influence of scientists in any given governmental structure. Tradition proves that scientific opinion has been unable to stem the growth of personal vested interests and Barnett’s stance on the issue is unjustified. The author’s investigation of Bob Graham and his family’s role in the current crisis also deserves praise. Graham’s family has been criticized for exacerbating the situation by sugar farming, cattle ranching and urbanization based

Using of Windows 2000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Using of Windows 2000 - Essay Example There is a dire need to protect such information from prying eyes. (Scambray et al., 2003) The reputation of a company might be at stake if such information would be divulged. Moreover, people’s privacy would be compromised on a grandiose scale too if such information went public. There is also the risk of exploitation of such information. In order to protect these computing systems, numerous systems have been developed but loopholes still remain. This text is centred on an exploit for port 443 for a Windows 2000 based domain controller. Table of Contents Abstract 1 Introduction 3 Vulnerabilities in Networks 3 Delineating HTTPS and Port 443 4 Case Study 4 Assumptions 4 Way Forward 5 Analysis of Assumptions 5 Gathering Intel for Attack 5 Accessing the Server 6 Reason for Buffer Overflow 8 Securing a Foothold 8 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Introduction Windows 2000 was developed by Microsoft as a business solution to host data and other services. A total of four different editio ns of Windows 2000 were released which were Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacentre Server. Other limited editions were also released by Microsoft in 2001 but the baseline of Windows 2000 being a business machine persisted. (Pastore, 2003) On its release, Windows 2000 was marketed as the most secure Windows ever built. (Microsoft, 2000) However security flaws within the Windows 2000 framework continued to plague the system right till the lifecycle end in July 2010 when Microsoft stopped issuing new security updates. (Microsoft, 2011) Vulnerabilities in Networks Windows 2000 has been likened to the eggshell concept. Similar to the egg’s shell, the exterior security layer is robust yet vulnerable. However, as soon as the exterior security layer is breached, the inside of the network is â€Å"mushy† and easier to manipulate. This general principle is not limited to Windows 2000 based network servers but to networks in general too. (Ethical Hacker Network, 201 1) In general various vulnerabilities exist on network machines especially in respect to ports that can be scanned and accessed for intrusion. The possible exposed ports all have the potential to be converted into vectors for an attack on the concerned machine. The most common ports utilised by various applications on a typical Windows based machine are listed below to delineate vulnerability. (Ethical Hacker Network, 2011) TCP Port Applications 20 FTP data channel 21 FTP control channel 23 Telnet 25 SMTP 53 Connection oriented DNS (resolution on UDP 53) 80 HTTP 88 Internet Key Exchange (IKE) 110 POP3 (mail) 135 Windows RPC Endpoint Mapper 137 NETBIOS Name Service 139 NETBIOS Session 389 LDAP 443 HTTP/S 445 Common Internet File System / native SMB on Windows 2000 and higher 636 LDAP over SSL 1433 SQL Server (1434 if the port scanner can perform UDP too) 1723 PPTP 3268 LDAP to a Windows Global Catalogue Server 3389 Remote Desktop Protocol (Windows Terminal Service) It must be kept in mind that these ports are available for Windows based machines. If other OS are being utilised, the machine’s vulnerability may lie at other ports which would be open. (McInerney, 2000) This investigation is concerned with port 443 used for HTTP/S services and so it will be looked into in more detail. Delineating HTTPS and Port 443 HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is a combination of the simple HTTP with an additional SST/TLS security layer. This helps to encrypt data being moved through web pages. Generally this protocol is used for online payments and transactions.

The Role Of The Listener In Skinners Verbal Behavior Psychology Essay

The Role Of The Listener In Skinners Verbal Behavior Psychology Essay Abstract This paper examines Skinners analysis of the role of a listener in a speaker-listener verbal episode as a mediation of reinforcement for the speakers behavior. Reinforcement as a mediation is an important component yet at the same time it is insufficient definitional aspect concerning the role of the listener. As the behavior of the listener is more complex and needs to be considered more fully. Moreover, the concept of understanding and listening are examined. As Skinner assumes a person who listens and does not respond effectively that means he does not understand and therefore he does not consequate the verbal behavior of the speaker. Nevertheless, a person might listen and understand but he deliberately doesnt want to comply to the speakers verbal behavior. Introduction Skinners (1957) book, Verbal Behavior, primary focuses on the behavior of the speaker; nevertheless he doesnt neglect the behavior of the listener. As skinner explains that, an adequate account of verbal behavior need cover only as much of the behavior of the listener as is needed to explain the behavior of the speaker (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Language, for Skinner is a learned behavior under the functional control of environmental contingencies. This may be evident when a man speaks or responds that becomes a question about human behavior and in its turn a question to be answered with adequate concepts and techniques of psychology as an experimental science of behavior (Skinner, 1957, p. 5). Verbal operant units, on the other hand, are determined by identifying functional relations between verbal behavior and the environment. For example, mand is controlled by motivational operations (MOs), the tact is controlled by discriminative stimuli (SD) in the form of objects or events, other forms of verbal operants are echoic, intraverbal, textual, and autoclitic behavior are controlled by (SD ) in the form of prior verbal stimuli and all verbal behavior comes under the discriminative control of an audience composed of a listener or audience, including the speaker himself. Skinners Account of the Role of the Listener Skinner defines verbal behavior as a behavior reinforced through the mediation of other persons (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). We notice that at this initial definition of verbal behavior Skinner does not give much attention to the role of the listener, despite the fact that there would be little verbal behavior to consider if someone had not already acquired special responses to the patterns of energy generated by the speaker. As a result, this omission can be justified, for the behavior of the listener in mediating the consequences of the behavior of the speaker is not necessarily verbal in any special sense (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Skinner considers the listeners essential role to be the development and mediation of reinforcement for the speakers behavior. In other words, the listeners role is to physically act upon the world and to reinforce the verbal behavior of the speaker. Skinner, however, states that the presence of a listener is necessary for a verbal episode. Hence, the behaviors of a speaker and a listener taken together constitute a verbal episode, upon which Skinner emphasizes that together they compose what may be called a total speech episode. Since there is nothing in such an episode which is more than the combined behavior of two or more individuals and consequently nothing emerges in the social unit. The speaker can be studied while assuming a listener and the listener while assuming a speaker (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Skinner in addition considers the speaker to be his own listener, as in many significant instances the listener is behaving at the same time as a speaker. Since the speaker and the listener may reside within the same skin. Thus, some of the behavior of listening resembles the behavior of speaking, mainly when the speaker understands what is said, this could be covertly seen in verbal operants as echoics, mands, tacts, intraverbals and autoclitics. At this point the speaker may serve as his own audience. As Skinner believes that an analysis of the speakers verbal behavior is determined by the establishment of a verbal repertoire of the listener without which there will be no verbal behavior. The listener plays a significant role according to Skinner in consequating the speakers behavior this could be seen when the listener provides a suitable level of attention as an eye contact, head nods, praise or even in the way he is standing face forward. This would give in its turn social reinforcement the speaker is hoping for. Also, responding to the speakers mands. This may be in the form of getting things, opening doors, and other nonverbal behavior. Another form of verbal behavior that is probably important in listening is echoic. As we covertly echo what we hear. Echoics are vocal responses that have point-to-point correspondence with the vocal emissions of other speakers and that come to serve verbal functions (Skinner, 1957). A child may point to a toy and attempt to gain access to it. If a parent holds the toy while saying toy and the child then says toy in order to gain the toy, this is an example of an echoic response, in that the copying moves to a mand function. Liste ning, therefore is conceptualized as an operant behavior maintained by the consequence of what is heard. A speaker and a listener may rotate responses turn-taking this is covertly observable. It is a particular type of interlocking verbal behavior units. As when both a listener and speaker responses are reinforced for an individual in a dyad involving turn-taking, it is an observable incidence of an episode in which both the speaker and the listener responses for each of the individuals are reinforced. In addition, there is another type of rotation as Skinner illustrates, the verbal fantasy, whether overt or covert, is automatically reinforcing to the speaker as listener. Just as the musician plays or composes what he is reinforced by hearing, or as the artist paints what reinforces him visually, so the speaker engaged in verbal fantasy says what he is reinforced by hearing or writes what he is reinforced by reading (Skinner, 1957, p. 439). Therefore, this type of rotations between speaker and listener that occurs within the individuals own skin, which in some cases is covertly observab le, is also reinforcing. The listener plays another important role; as he can strengthen the speakers verbal behavior, he can also extinguish it. This could be evident in the social punishment delivered by the verbal community in the form of an audience. There control over the speakers verbal behavior may be emitted in the form of frowns, head nods or ignoring the speaker and not responding verbally or non-verbally to his verbal behavior. Therefore, in the presence of certain audiences whom the speaker has a previous history of being positively reinforced by a speaker may emit a certain response covertly while in the presence of a negative audience another form of response may be emitted that could be overtly or with low strength or a speaker may just stop talking. In other words, different audiences will reinforce a single response differently, and for entirely different reasons (Skinner, 1957, pp. 230-232). Nonetheless, Skinner sums the ability of a listener to reinforce or punish a speakers verbal behavio r that a listener must understand what the speaker is saying, to know what the meaning of his verbal behavior is and to act properly and effectively upon hearing the speakers verbal behavior. A Critique of Skinners Account of the Role of the Listener It seems as Skinner was progressively moving further in Verbal Behavior, he started to recognize some gaps in his discussions or in other circumstances some contradictions. But most of all he started to emphasize that the listener does hold an essential role in a speakers verbal behavior, he admits that [i]t would be foolish to underestimate the difficulty of this subject matter (Skinner, 1957, p. 3). Skinner initially started with the notion that [i]t will be helpful to restrict our definition by excluding instances of speaking which are reinforced by certain kinds of effects on the listener. The exclusion is arbitrary but it helps to define a field of inquiry having certain unitary properties (Skinner, 1957, p. 224). Consequently, Skinner refined this further to say that the first restriction would be to limit the term verbal to instances in which the responses of the listener have been conditioned. He then elaborates that if we make the further provision that the listener must be responding in ways which have been conditioned specifically in order to reinforce the behavior of the speaker, then we narrow our subject to be traditionally considered as the verbal field (Skinner, 1957, p. 224-225). Therefore, a listener according to Skinner is the individual who responds in a proper effective way to stimuli generated by a speakers verbal behavior. This takes us back to the point that a listener must understand first the meaning the speaker is talking about in order to be able to respond and to behave appropriately. However, a listener may in some situations understand what the speaker is saying or asking him to do but he doesnt want to do it or in other words comply to and follow what he is told to do. This could be examined in the following example when a parent may ask his grounded son to: go and take the trash out. As a sign of anger the son does not comply to what his father asked him to do but at the same time he does understand what his father asked him to do take the trash out. This does not match Skinners previous assumption; a listener who does not respond properly to the speakers verbal behavior does not understand what has been said. In another instance, a listener may echo a word in another language but he does not understand what it means the speaker may say heureux and the listener would say heureux. At the same time Skinner explains that understanding something is to know what it means. The ability for a listener to engage in this behavior again in future similar circumstances as a response to the proper stimulus under suitable circumstances is understanding. Since it does not involve any immediate activity on the part of the listener (although responses of the othe r sorts already noted may take place concurrently), we detect the change only in his future behavior (Skinner, 1957,p. 357). A listener may say I understand only when he identified the variables which were mainly effective in leading him to make the same response [in another occasion] (Skinner, 1957, p. 280). Yet, Skinners discussion on this part also lacks an explicit explanation for how a stimulus in the past might bring behavior under the control of a stimulus in the present. This is also evident in the account of knowing which Skinner explains to be a hypothetical immediate condition that is detected only at a later date (Skinner, 1957, p. 363). In fact, at the last part of Verbal Behavior he argues that distant stimuli are weak variables and contingencies that involve them usually reinforce bridging behavior (Skinner, 1957, p.416-417). But, this means that behavior is abrupt and stopped at that point of time that needs to be bridged back. Yet, behavior is a continuous evolving interaction with the environment. Another point, there is no gap as Skinner assumes; rather events are described in different ways and forms. Skinner considers understanding to be a covert behavior as seeing and thinking. Yet at the end of Verbal Behavior Skinner states that there arent many differences between covert and overt behavior; as the variables controlling them are the same. We cant really distinguish covert from overt behavior along functional lines. A person is an expert listener for their own verbal behavior. Subtle behavior is easy for the listener to respond to when he is also the Speaker. Skinner elaborates further that thinking is most productive when verbal behavior leads to specific consequences and are reinforced as in the example of verbal daydreams. Skinner at the end of Verbal Behavior comes to the conclusion that thinking is behavior, overt or covert, verbal or nonverbal (Skinner, 1957, p.446-452). This takes us back to the very beginning of Verbal Behavior in which Skinner started by assuming that the behavior of the listener cannot be distinguished from behavior in general (Skinner, 1957, p.2). Yet, this makes us wonder why he tackled thinking to be a separate entity and the listener was marginalized. Is the listener a subject at the time Skinner wrote Verbal Behavior to be a complicated subject matter to a point he deliberately avoided discussing. If thats the issue why would Skinner take the speaker to be his own listener, and how the listener and the speaker are within one skin? Does this in its turn lead us to assume that the speaker is also a behavior? Of what we have discussed so far a solution might be in separating the listener and the speaker into two established individual entities and consequently to examine the listeners role in depth. Also, to explain further how understanding a verbal stimulus might be converted to a nonverbal response on part of a listener whic h Skinner does not give enough attention to in his discussions. Conclusion As we have discussed Skinner explains that the essential role of the listener is in the development and mediation of reinforcement for the speakers behavior. But, at the same time communication is regarded to be successful only if an expression has the same meaning for both the speaker and the listener. As numerous theories of meaning are usually applied to both speaker and listener as if the meaning process were the same for both. Yet, much of the behavior of the listener has no resemblance to the behavior of the speaker and is not verbal according to Skinners definition (Skinner, 1957, p. 33). Skinner suggests that the behavior of the listener is more complex and needs to be considered more fully, as once a repertoire of verbal behavior has been set up, a number of new problems arise from the interaction of its parts. As verbal behavior is usually the effect of multiple causes in which separate variables combine to extend their functional control, and as a result new forms of behavior emerge from the recombination of old fragments. Consequently, this has appropriate effects upon the listener. His behavior then calls for analysis especially in the case that a speaker is normally also a listener. The speaker reacts to his own behavior in several significant ways. The mere emission of responses is an incomplete characterization when behavior is composed. As another consequence of the fact that the speaker is also a listener, some of the behavior of listening resembles the behavior of speaking, particularly when the listener understands what is said. (Skinner, 1957, p.10) Howe ver, each person is controlled by a different history of reinforcement and controlling contingencies. That leads a speaker to self-edit his verbal behavior when he finds that what he said has a different meaning for the listener who in his turn is controlled by a different history of reinforcement and different controlling contingencies. Therefore, a speaker to avoid punishment he engages in a self-editing behavior. We notice that Skinners definition of verbal behavior still need further refinement to elaborate further on the nature and function of the role of a listener in a verbal episode. I find Skinners own comments on Verbal Behavior to be proper conclusion on the listeners role for the behavior of the speaker, as he states it forward to future critics that the issue of listener needs further examination. Most of my book Verbal Behavior (1957) was about the speaker. It contained a few diagrams showing interactions between speakers and listeners, but little direct discussion of listening. I could justify that because, except when the listener was also to some extent speaking, listening was not verbal in the sense of being effective only through the mediation of other persons. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ But if listeners are responsible for the behavior of speakers, we need to look more closely at what they do. (Skinner, 1989, p. 86) Skinner has tackled a very complicated subject matter, he might not dealt with all its aspects with the same level of cohesion and consistency but at the same time he has opened the door for future thinkers and critics to continue and carry on what he has established.

The Many Faces of American Identity

Since the Civil War, America’s identity and the identity of its citizens has gone through multiple transitions, each building upon or rejecting the ideas and principles of those issues which had come before.From the racial segregation and discrimination of African Americans from the time of Reconstruction through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the plight of the poor and the politically disenfranchised, the struggle for equal rights for women and homosexuals, and the post-Cold War issues of globalization and economic viability in a changing world, the concept of what it means to be American has adapted to both the successes and failures of each.At the basis of each of these struggles is the idea that at periods throughout American history each of these groups have felt the need to be heard and represented, having been marginalized by social and political injustices and ideologies that at each turn represented a hypocrisy over the basic tenets of freedom and liberty. Un represented and kept outside of the political process and the mainstream social identity, these groups have sought to alternately belong to a concept of the American identity and to redefine it.In examining each of these developments, from Jacob Riis 1890 expose of the New York City slums to the new freedoms and challenges of the post-Cold War America of presidents Clinton and G. W. Bush, I will illustrate how each social and political revelation combine to create an American identity that is uncertain of its future while carrying an awareness of its past. Jacob Riis 1890 book How The Other Half Live gave the average, middle-class American room for pause. In his description of the slums and challenges faced by the economically and socially handicapped masses of New York City, show an underbelly to the American dream.The poverty and inequality that pervade the plight of the tenement dweller, both black and white, is at odds with the ideals of freedom. In particular, Riis makes a case for African-Americans who having recently been emancipated had fled the institutionalized racism of the South to come work and live in New York. However, they have escaped one kind of bondage, clearly and legally defined, to be forced into a socially ambiguous but no less prevalent form of degradation and discrimination.But even as Riis decries the struggle of the newly arrived blacks, who based upon their skin color alone are placed at the bottom of the social ladder, his own views speak of a different kind of discrimination. While at once condemning the landlords who profit by courting black tenants due to the ability to charge more money, Riis explanation of the character of blacks is simplistic and demeaning, likening them more to children than adults equal in every respect to their white counterparts, â€Å"If his emotions are not very deeply rooted, they are at least sincere while they last, and until the tempter gets the upper hand again†(Riis, p.155). He also express es a desire to maintain a level of segregation, calling the mixing of races on Thompson Street where the â€Å"this co-mingling of the utterly depraved of both sexes, white and black, on such ground, there can be no greater abomination† (p. 156). Despite the shortcomings of his viewpoint, influenced by the historical relationship of whites and blacks in the U. S. , Riis nevertheless realizes that blacks are being pushed away from the very equality promised to them as citizens, as Americans.Additionally, the poor native New Yorkers and immigrants who people the tenements, share a similar burden. Reduced by economic and social circumstance to merely subsist on the scraps of a society which has turned a blind eye to them, the â€Å"pauper† is in a position devoid of hope, He is as hopeless as his own poverty† (Riis, 1890, p. 246). Immigrants such as the Irish fared no better in Riis opinion, being particular vulnerable to the moral deterioration of slum life being t he â€Å"soonest and most thoroughly† (Riis, 1890, p. 249) corrupted.The kind of separation between economic and racial portions of society, as well as the defense of one while the other remains degraded, is a common thread that runs throughout the changes of the last century in America’s identity. The 1896 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson legalized this type of segregation with the â€Å"separate but equal† predecent, providing a constitutional basis for Jim Crow laws to flourish and plant deeper roots in the American South. Though struck down over a half a century later by the Court’s decision in Brown vs.Board of Education, the realization of equality as American citizens regardless of race, religion, sexuality, gender, or economic status proved to not be so easy. While in 1881 Chester Arthur hoped to assimilate the Native American population into the broader scope of white society through re-education and removal of tribal affil iation and heritage, no such policy was established in regard to African Americans. As with the struggle for women’s and gay rights, the struggle for African American equality culminated within the community itself.The refusal of Southern lawmakers to rise out of the era of racism and embrace a new concept of American, as non-white and white side-by-side, created a necessity to action. As Martin Luther King Jr. ’s 1962 â€Å"Letter From a Birmingham Jail† attempted to explain this need to the black power structure which both supported and chastised him for his actions in Birmingham and across the South, â€Å"â€Å"unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community no alternative.† More importantly, King understood the concept of the â€Å"mutuality† of the American community, whether it be black or white, male or female, which was pi cked up again by the youth culture that grew to embody a sense of change and challenge, as embodied in the Port Huron Statement. King noted in 1962 that, â€Å"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. † There is truth still in that statement, as well as in the ideals placement within other struggles for equality. It is a concept that not only did the student protesters understood but was an equal basis for Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique and the rise of the feminist movement and later the push for gay rights and better federal programs to combat the AIDS crisis.Like the inequalities of the previous century, the poverty described by Riis and the racism inherent to the continued racial discrimination, the gender and sexuality issue that has come to a head over the past fifty years have effectively acted to undermi ne the idealized definition of American while also harming the fabric of society. Disenfranchised people are left to stagnate rather than grow and instead of reasoned change it boils over in emotion and uncertainty.The women in Friedan’s Feminine Mystique cannot name the hypocrisy of the country’s national values and the gender roles programmed into their psyche and are bowed under an enemy they cannot see. The hypocrisy of American identity has not evaporated but instead become more difficult to understand and identify; to be American has built upon the ideals established by King and Friedan, whose spirit of questioning and rebellion have become part of what it is to be American even as new and more complex cracks have appeared in the facade of such a delicate but no less no dream of freedom and liberty. Both President Bill Clinton and George W.Bush illustrate this new era of a globalized identity with in their respective inaugurations. Each faced challenges during th eir presidencies, differing on a wide-array of social and political issues. However, on the cusp of their first term they express the optimism and unfailing double-blindness of a nation which tries to steer its hope to the future while alternately cowering against and celebrating its past. Constantly aware of our differences, America has attempted to celebrate this difference even as we continue to marginalize along the lines of race, religion, politics, social status, and gender.It is a cycle of self-hate and self-love that has become as much a part of the American identity as the mythological concept of the American dream. Bibliography Arthur, C. (1881). Indian Policy Reform. PBS. Retrieved 30 April 2010 from http://www. pbs. org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/seven/indpol. htm. Brown vs. Board. (1954). Find Law. Retrieved 30 April 2010 from http://caselaw. lp. findlaw. com/scripts/getcase. pl? court=US&vol=347&invol=483. Friedan, B. (1962). Feminine Mystique. H-Net. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from http://www. h-net. org/~hst203/documents/friedan1. html. King, M.L. Jr. (1963). Letter From a Birmingham Jail. The Martin Luther King Jr. Research & Education Institute. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from http://mlk-kpp01. stanford. edu/kingweb/popular_requests/frequentdocs/birmingham. pdf. Plessy vs. Ferguson. (1896). Find Law. Retrieved 30 April 2010 from http://caselaw. lp. findlaw. com/scripts/getcase. pl? court=US&vol=163&invol=537. Riis, J. (1890). How The Other Half Lives. New York: Charles Schribner & Sons. Google Books. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from http://books. google. com/books? id=zhcv_oA5dwgC&dq=How+the+Other+Half+Lives&source=gbs_navlinks_s.

Comparison of The Crucible and After Liverpool Essay

For this assignment I am going to be comparing two plays both of which I have studied and preformed. The first play, which I studied, was the crucible by Arthur Miller and After Liverpool by James Saunders. Each of the two plays are naturalistic but are set in two very different times. The Crucible is set in Salem Massachusetts in 1642 and After Liverpool is set in the 70’s. The two are quite contrary in how they were set out first of all After Liverpool was made up of 23 small scenes some only having a few lines some having quite a few but most of them were short. The main things used in the setting for each scene are very basic. The scene was made up of a coffee table, a few chairs and a sofa. It os so basic as everyone has these things and this type of thing could happen to anyone of us at any time. This produces the effect that relationships are similar and that in this performance the only thing that maters is the relationship between the actors whereas on the other hand The Crucible is quite different. This is made up of four long acts. This uses lots of sophisticated props for example detailed furniture and crockery. This is all needed to set the time in which the crucible is set. Whereas in After Liverpool the setting is not irrelevant but is not as important. After Liverpool was made up of two characters of not much significance and a series of duologues bar one. After Liverpool is about the lack of communication that can develop over time. The short scenes in this piece are somewhat symbolic to the nature of relationships today. The speed and the fact that long term relationships are not as common. Also most of them are based on sexual attraction, which is now an important thing when looking for a partner. The crucible has many different characters and each of the characters are described and are of quite significance. Compared to After Liverpool where there is no description of the characters. There is no description of characters as it is irrelevant of who you are in this piece as all people are involved or could be involved in a relationship. The crucible is based on a true story and some of the characters were real people. The crucible is an allegory and was written as Arthur Miller wanted to express his views but couldn’t so he uses The Crucible as an allegory to do so. Miller wanted to express his views about the McCarthy communist hunts in America. What he was saying was that if America is so great and believes in freedom why is it that you were killed or exiled for believing in a contrary government to Americas own. Also The Crucibles main theme was mass hysteria and the community being ruled by the church and religion. After Liverpool also uses symbolism in the apples by this is mean is that the apple is representing the forbidden apple from the story of Adam and Eve. Both of theses plays are similar as both are about gaining power in a relationship in the crucible Abigail gains power over John Proctor leading to his death. After Liverpool this is about relationships and communication between couples. It is preformed entirely in chronological order with no flash backs unlike The Crucible tells you about past events. In After Liverpool each scene is wholly about the couples relationship and the communication or lack of the couples lack any past and never refer to the future. The Crucible is very detailed in its explanation of characters, which gives you an idea when performing of how to play each character. In After Liverpool there is no indication and it is entirely down to the person performing the piece. So it is an indication of how the performer sees the scene happening and maybe an indication on how they view relationships. The fact After Liverpool is written like this is also symbolic in that everyone can be in a relationship that is why the characters are labelled M and W. The reason they are labelled M and W is that it can represent anyone, which is rue as anyone can be in a relationship. The scenes did not have to be in any order this is also symbolic that the relationships in the play do not get anywhere they always end up asking the same questions. They had no specific chronological order as everything was happening in the present. Having looked at both plays it has given me an insight of two very effective ways of portraying relationships both of them very different from each other. I preferred performing After Liverpool as I could use my own drama skills to play each character, which I think is a lot better, and I enjoyed it more. Also I found it easier to understand, as it used more modern language, which was easier to learn.