Human Resource Management in a Business Context Essay

Human Resource Management in a Business Context - Essay Example HR management can play a role in environmental scanning i.e. identifying and analysing external opportunities and threats that may be crucial to the company's success. Similarly HR management is in a unique position to supply competitive intelligence that may be useful in the strategic planning process. HR also participates in the strategy formulation process by supplying information regarding the company's internal strengths and weaknesses. The strengths and weaknesses of a company's human resources can have a determining effect on the viability of the firm's strategic options. So, Human Resources of such companies as Solaris Hotel and Libra Holidays Group Public Limited take up a role of Business Strategic Partner. Translating business strategies into HR practices helps a business in three ways. First, the business can adapt to change because the time from the conception to the execution of a strategy is shortened. Second, the business can better meet customer demands because its customer service strategies have been translated into specific policies and practices. Third, the business can achieve financial performance through its more effective execution of strategy. "We are the people who take pride in high professional standards. We are client focused. We stand behind our promise to deliver value for money and efficient client service. We already rank amongst the ten biggest tour operators in the UK. Our vision is to become one of the top 20 European tour operators. And we will achieve it." (11) So, Libra Holidays Group is the number one travel Group in tourism world. The Group is structured to include such fields of imposing operations as Tour Operations, Air Transport, Customer Service and Hotels. Investing on the capabilities of its people and strengthening its existing potentials in all fields of activity it anticipates its inclusion among the 20 leading tour operators in Europe. And the Libra Group has a global HR department. There are established procedures for recruitment and selection, training and development, and performance appraisal. The Solaris Hotel is a small Family Hotel with a high proportion of the staff which has worked there for many years. Recruitment of the new staff is usually on the recommendation of existing staff. Training tends to be mainly on-the-job by watching and working with more experienced member of employees. The staff is very flexible. And these two companies has decided to merge, Solaris Hotel is going to be a part of Libra Holidays Group. But there is a question: what are the changes required to enable the Solaris to become a successful member of the Libra Group That's why the aims of the topic are: 1) to suggest a series of proposals regarding the management style and performance management; 2) to define the main principles of the recruitment strategy; 3) to provide training and development processes for the staff. Main body What should be done to combine Human Resources functions when a merger happens The answer to this question depends upon a number of factors: the level of sophistication found in the Human Resources functions that exists; the charter of HR in the pre-merger organisations; and the capacity of those HR functions to meet the new demands. Well, to begin successful integration into the Libra Group Solaris company needs to provide the guidance and the process

Criminal Law Will Never Be an Adequate Response for Dealing with Essay

Criminal Law Will Never Be an Adequate Response for Dealing with Complexities of Gendered, Sexualised and Racialised Violence - Essay Example The other objective of criminal law is to make it possible for individuals to coexist in the society1. Other objectives include to define the procedures of recognizing innocence or guilt and to choose the form of treatment or punishment after the individual is convicted for violating society’s laws2. The main aim of the criminal law is to protect the society so that its members can be reasonably secure as they carry out their constructive activities. Behaviours that are considered to be detrimental to the society’s welfare are made criminal. At all times, a balanced has to be attained between protecting the society and the individual rights. There are three types of harm or dangers that the criminal protects the individual against, and they include protection of the societal morals, protection from harm caused by others, and protection from harm emanating from ourselves. The most common protection that criminal law offers include protection from harm caused by others. T he obvious protection offered is found in laws against arson, rape, theft, and homicide. Individuals feel reasonably secure when majority of the people, â€Å"most of the time, will not harm us in these or other ways, and that if we are harmed, the offender will be caught and punished.†3 Criminal Law Will Never Be an Adequate Response for Dealing with the Complexities of Gendered, Sexualized and Racialised Violence Criminal Law Will Never Be an Adequate Response for Dealing with the Complexities of Gendered Violence In the majority of the countries in the world, criminal law is the conventional legal strategy utilized in addressing issues of violence against women. The laws are usually contained in general statutes like the penal codes that create the national criminal justice system. The penal codes apply to all individuals and in all areas within the nation. At times, the special statutes tackle certain types of violence such as torture and dowry violence. This form of legi slation supplements penal codes, basic law, thus offering for a more focussed regulatory control. However, in most cases, there gaps in special laws and penal codes, and this results in the inadequacies, and inefficiencies in the criminal justice system. It is important to note that the laws are not in place and thus, they are supposed to be reformed, expanded, and revised4. Due to ineffective enforcement, inefficiency in investigation, undue influence, and corruption, the criminal justice systems are said to be against women who are victims of violence. Thus, the procedural and substantive criminal laws and the law enforcement culture, lack gender sensitivity and they reflect an entrenched prejudice against women5. The criminal law alone cannot effectively deal with the problem of domestic violence. Majority of the aspects in domestic violence cannot be described as crime\, and they do not into any classes of assault under the criminal law. For instance, a woman who is under infreq uent sexual or physical assaults from her partner or husband may find that her day-to-day life is controlled by measures such as seeking permission on a daily basis to see her friends or family, take up education or employment, or even to go out. These women may generally feel incapable of doing so for fear of reaction. Thus, most of the women will not have the option of using criminal law. It is worth noting that criminal law will not effectively recognize the possible danger or escalation of the abuse when it attempts to challenge

Metastatic Cancer: Types and Causes

Metastatic Cancer: Types and Causes Introduction Cancer is something that many people face or is affected by in some way. Cancer is a problem that is global and always growing affecting more people as the world’s population increases. The 2012 statistics show that were about 3.45 million new cases of cancer and 1.75 million deaths as a result of cancer worldwide in the year 2012. The main cancer site being breast contributing 464,000 cases [Ferlay, Foucher, Tieulent, Et.al, 2013]. Thanks to a better understanding and better treatment of cancer like chemotherapy and cancer based drugs, there has been a decrease in death from cancer and so better survival rates for both males and females affect by cancer [Jemal, Simard, Dorell, Et.al, 2012]. The fact cancer is so prevalent worldwide is due to the many features and ways that cancer affects people. One of these features is that some cancer cells are not static. The cancer cells are able to alter and change in order to form into another cancer that is in another part of the body therefore affecting a different organ site. This ability for cancer cells to move or migrate to different parts of the body is known as Metastasis [Yachida, Jones, Bozic, Et.al, 2010] [Fokas, Cabillic, Et.al, 2007]. The fact that cancer cells are able to migrate to other sites of the body is not just random. Where the cells migrate to, is dependent on where the cancer cells was originally was before the migration. What dictates where the cancer cells go, are specific stimuli or environment within the body so that the cells are able to grow into tumours. The stimuli or environment may consist of specific receptors or chemokines that are shared or common between the two sites [Baruch, 2009]. When cancer has metastasised to a different area the site that the cancer had originated in is known as the primary cancer and the site at which the cancer cells moved to is known as metastatic cancer. A common type of metastasis is from breast to brain, with breast being the primary cancer and br ain being the metastatic cancer. Breast cancer is often found to metastase to the brain, the chances of this occurring are increased when patients have HER2 over expression [Gupta, Adkins, Et.al, 2013]. HER2 comes from the human epidermal growth factor receptor family that controls response such as cell growth and cell differentiation, therefore it can be easily predicted that over expression of HER2 leads to uncontrollable cell growth a feature that is in all cancers [Rubin Yarden, 2001]. The metastasises of cancer within patients does not affect them straight away, as it often takes years for the metastatic cancer to be detected and to affect the person. When the primary tumour has grown, only then will the tumour cells migrate and invade to another part of the body and grow at the site. When the tumour cells are at the new site then they the process of cell growth occurs at the site. But it has been shown that the tumour cells at the new site have been dormant which accounts for the time between the detection of the primary cancer and the metastatic cancer [Rà ¶cken, 2010]. The way the metastatic cancer cells move from their primary site to their metastatic site can be many ways depending on ultimately were the tumour formation will be formed in. Examples of the movement or migration are 1) local tissue invasion which is movement of the tumour cells through the tissue, 2) hematogenous spread which is the movement through the blood; 3) lymphatic spread which similar to the blood by uses the lymph nodes and finally 4) spreading through surfaces and cavities [Pepper, 2001]. There are many sites of metastatasis, below is a summary table of the sites and where they originated from [Nguyen, Bos, Massaguà ©, 2009]. Table 1: A brief summary list that shows the sites of metastasis from primary tumours [Nguyen, Bos, Massaguà ©, 2009]. A metastatic cancer that is particularly important and of interest is metastatic cancer that is able to migrate to the brain. From the table above it can be seen that sites of metastasis for the brain is only in 3 types of tumours, these being breast, lung adenocarcinoma and skin melanoma. Out of these three types’ lung and breast tumours usually metastases to the brain making up 60% of brain metastasises [Nguyen, DeAngelis, 2004]. The reason why brain metastasis is of particular interest is because of how the metastatic cancer is able to pass through the blood brain barrier (BBB). In order to understand the movement of the blood brain barrier it structure must first be looked at. The blood brain barrier is made up of 4 main sections or parts that are of important to it function. These 4 parts are 1) tight junctions, 2) adherens junctions, 3) astrocytes, and 4) pericytes, each section has its own function as well. The tight junctions are made up of claudin, occludin, and junct ion adhesion molecules these are transmembrane proteins which are involved in cell-to-cell adhesion. Adheren junctions are responsible for paracellular permeability. Astrocytes are for structural supports and also for guiding of neurons and finally the pericytes are for mechanical support for cell attachment. [Lawther, Kumar, Krovvidi, 2011] [Hawkins, OKane, Simpson, Et.al 2006]. Figure 1: Image showing the main parts of the BBB and the overall structure of the BBB. Image was extracted from [Lawther, Kumar, Krovvidi, 2011]. Now that the structure of the blood brain barrier can be seen more clearly, a better understanding of how metastatic brain tumours form and how the cells pass through the blood brain barrier. More specifically primary breast cancer that produces metastatic brain tumour can be looked at. The tumour cells that are being metastasised are able to express vascular endothelial growth factor (VGEF). The expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor by the tumour cells is able to disrupt the blood brain barriers permeability which allows the cells to pass through and into the brain [Gerstner, Fine, 2007]. Another way to metastasise to the brain is by the tumour breast cells attaching or invading the brain microvascular endothelial cells and then passes through the blood brain barrier [Arshad, Wang, Sy. Et.al, 2011]. The survival rates of patients that have a metastatic brain tumour in unfortunately not very high. Those patients that have had primary breast cancer and then later gaine d a metastatic brain tumour have between 30-40% chance of death due to the metastatic brain tumour [Wadasadawala, Gupta, Bagul, 2007] [Jaboin, Ferraro, DeWees, Et.al, 2013]. There are treatments available that help fight against metastatic brain tumours the main one and most effective being radiotherapy. However the effectiveness of radiotherapy is dependent of where the tumour cells had originated from i.e. which primary cancer the patient had first. Those that had primary lung or breast cancer are more sensitive to the radiotherapy treatment. Other types of treatments include Craniotomy, Postoperative radiotherapy, and Stereotactic radiosurgery. The treatment that is craniotomy is not used often as it is stressful for the patients. Postoperative radiotherapy is also an effective treatment that improves the life of the person, however there are side effects or conditions that can occur as well like disorder of the nervous system or dementia. The final treatment stated is Stereotact ic radiosurgery which involves using gamma radiation on the site of the tumour [Shibui, 1999]. With the use of radiation is the fear of persevering the nearby cells and tissues. With the advancement of science and technology the treatment of using radiotherapy has become better. The use of radiotherapy is still the main treatment but with better radiotherapy processes and technique the preservation of the cells and tissue from radiation has greatly improved [Owonikoko, Arbiser, Zelnak, Et.al, 2014]. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is defined as a biological process that occurs within polarised epithelial cells which interact with the basement membrane. The polarised epithelial cells undergo many biological changes that brings about a mesenchymal cell phenotype, these changes include an increased ability of migration, invasion and develop a resistance to the process of apoptosis [Kalluri Weinberg, 2009]. There are keys differences between the epithelial cells and the mesenchymal cells. Epithelial cells are cells that form layers, which are tightly packed by membrane structure such as tight junctions, gap junctions’ adherens junctions and desosomes. These cells do possess an ability of motility, however under normal condition they remain they do not move. In comparison the mesenchymal cells are not organised into layers like epithelial cells. The main difference between the two is that mesenchymal cells are very motile whereas epithelial are not normally [Th iery Sleeman, 2006].The whole process of epithelial–mesenchymal transition plays a role in normal development. These normal developments include gastrulation which is an early phase in embryonic development and heart morphogenesis which need and take advantage of the transition between the epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells. Another key role of the EMT is that it is for the down regulation of E-cadherin [Larue Bellacosa, 2005]. E-cadherin is a tumour suppressor that is encoded by the Cadherin-1 (CDH1) gene that is key for the suppression of carcinoma progression. It has been found and seen that the loss of the Cadherin-1 at EMT sites are linked to the formation, development of cancer. The reason for this is due to the fact that the loss of the E-cadherin increases the ability of invasion in cells [Wang Shang, 2013]. As with any biological process there are transcription factors that cause and regulate the transition. The transcription factors that mediate the processes are SNAI1 which down regulates E-cadherin, Zinc finger E-box (ZEB) and also basic helix–loop–helix transcription factors [Lamouille, Xu, Derynck, 2014]. There are features and properties of the mesenchymal cells that can be linked to cancer if not regulated properly. The mesenchymal cells are able to produce and secrete chemokines and growth factors that stimulate cell growth and angiogenesis. Another key feature of the mesenchymal cells is that they have anti apoptotic properties that can stop or save cells from undergoing apoptosis [Murphy, Moncivais, Caplan, 2013]. Just from seeing the features of the mesenchymal cells it can easily be seen that if the regulation of the process, mutation or changes in expression occur the consequences can be predicted and linked to the formation of cancer. The final aspect of epit helial–mesenchymal transition is how it is linked to the formation of cancer and more specifically metastatic cancers. As stated epithelial–mesenchymal transition is regulated by many growth factors and proteins such as Epidermal growth factor, Hepatocyte growth factor and Transforming growth factor beta, all of which if changed by mutation or expression can ultimately contribute to the hallmarks of metastatic cancer like uncontrollable cell growth and invasion into other tissues and organs in the body which is the main feature of metastatic cancer [Gos, MiÅ‚oszewska, Przybyszewska, 2009]. Below is a diagram that summarises and shows the process of how epithelial–mesenchymal transition can promote the formation of metastatic cancer [Kongemail, Liemail, Wangemail, Et.al, 2011]. Figure 2: A summary of how epithelial–mesenchymal transition can be linked to metastatic cancer. EMT is the process of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and MET is the process of Mesenchymal–Epithelial Transition. Image taken from [Kongemail, Liemail, Wangemail, Et.al, 2011]. The image above shows the transition of a primary tumour into a metastatic tumour and reason for this to happen. Red arrows show aspects that may be gone wrong due mutation or change in expression through methylation. Epigenetics Epigenetics is the genetic control by using factors that does not include a person’s DNA sequence [Simmons, 2008]. Epigenetic control or regulation is the process whereby genes are activated or deactivated within a cell [Mitsuyoshi Nakao, 2001]. Essentially the concept of epigenetics is the change in gene expression that can be caused by certain mechanisms such as DNA Methylation or Histone modification. These changes in gene expression whereby expression of a gene is switched on or off can be inherited and passed on. The idea of epigenetics and its mechanism is needed for maintenance of genes that are specific to tissues. Changes in the process of epigenetics, like DNA Methylation or Histone modification causes disruptions in a genes function, which alters its expression and is one of the hallmarks of how cancer begins [Sharma, Kelly, Jones, 2010]. As stated there two ways that can causes changes, histone modification and DNA methylation which will be the main focus of this p aper. The process of histone modification to a certan extent is reversible depending on the type of modification. The process of DNA methylation is more long term creating long-term repression [Cedar Bergman, 2009]. DNA methylation is the common mechanism in which genes are activated or deactivated by the addition of a methyl group to cytosine or adenine bases, making it an epigenetic signal tool. Changes in the process of DNA methylation can result in a gene being constantly activated or deactivated which can lead to brain tumours or other tumours in the body [Phillips, 2008]. The process of DNA methylation is catalysed by the family of enzymes known as DNA methyltransferases. DNA methyltransferases is an important enzyme in epigenetic silencing of transcription. As this is a family of enzyme there are many types of DNA methyltransferases which are DNMT 1, DNMT 2, and DNMT 3 each one having their own function [Simmons, 2008] [Fakhr, Hagh, 2013]. There are two types of DNA methylat ion these are 1) Hypermethylation and 2) Hypomethylation. Hypermethylation stops transcription in the promoter region of suppressor genes which ultimately lead to gene silencing [Das Singal, 2004]. The location at which hypermethylation occurs at are known as CpG sites, these are sites were cytosine is next to guanine. It is the cytosine in these CpG sites that are usually methylated and therefore switched off [Esteller, 2002]. Hypomethylation is the loss of methylation at regions or sites that are normally heavily methylated, for example satellites like SAT 2. The loss of the methylation at SAT 2 can lead to instability and oncogene activation (Jin, Li Robertson, 2011). Oncogenes when activated increases protein expression which in turn leads to increase in cell division, decreases in cell differentiation and the inhibition of cell death [Chial, 2008]. It is the mutation of a proto-oncogene by hypomethylation that makes an oncogene which is the cause of increase in cell division and therefore the cause of an abnormal growth of cells that leads to tumours and cancer. A proto-oncogene is the normal, non-mutated gene that regulates cell division making it controllable by balancing cell growth and death. There many types of proto-oncogenes these include WNT, RAS and ERK [Chial, 2008] [Torry, Cooper, 1991]. To summarise the idea of Epigenetics is the control of gene expression using DNA methylation or Histone modification. If any of these two processes are damaged or mutated this then means the control of gene expression can no long be controlled and so this leads to increase in cell growth and therefore tumours and cancer. Methylation of Promoter Region The DNA methylation of the promoter region within genes is as stated an epigenetic event that is linked to transcriptional silencing in cancer. This means that DNA methylation in this region is for the control of gene expression [Yang Park, 2012]. The promoter region of gene is a region that starts or causes the initiation of transcription [Gordon, Chervonenkis, Gammerman, 2003]. The process of methylation in the promoter region causes the expression of genes to reduce or in the in case of cancers cause the silencing of the gene altogether. There are two ways that this happens in the promoter region. One of the ways it can occur is the inhibition of sequence-specific transcription factors which contain CpG sites. The second way is by the use of methyl-CpG binding proteins which can compete for binding sites of methylated DNA [Robertson Jones, 2000]. E-cadherin was introduced to have a key role in epithelial–mesenchymal transition. If there is methylation more specifically hy permethylation in the promoter region of the E-cadherin then this can cause the silencing of the gene which has been linked to many types of gastric cancer also known as stomach cancer [Tamura, Yin, Wang, 2000]. Another gene that is important and methylation of it has been shown and linked to astrocytic brain tumour is the Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase’s function is as a repair protein that can remove promutagenic alkyl groups’ guanine in DNA. DNA methylation in the CpG Island of the Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase means that its function in order to remove promutagenic alkyl groups is decreased [Nakamura, Watanabe, Yonekawa, Et.al, 2001].

Rev. Richard Johnson :: essays research papers

Reverend Richard Johnson In a land intended to be dumping grounds for Britain’s moral filth, Reverend Richard Johnson worked hard at laying the foundations of Christianity in Australia. Born in 1757 at Welton, England, he was educated at Magdalen College, Cambridge. He graduated with a BA in 1783, and was appointed a deacon and priest by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1786. Only five months before the First Fleet set sail, Richard Johnson was recommended and approved for the position of Chaplin, to establish the Church of England in Australia. Governor Phillip saw Johnson’s job as a "moral policeman" to the convicts, but the chaplain viewed his position as a door of opportunity to preach the Gospel to the "dregs of humanity." His work began even before the ship landed, and his moral nature displayed. Johnson found the ship's company very disrespectful and profane and targeted this in his teaching. On the following Sunday it was noted that for days afterwards their behaviour had improved. On Sunday the 3rd of February 1788, Johnson preached his first sermon to a crowd of both soldiers and convicts. Being a result of the Evangelical revival in England, Johnson laboured for their salvation and tried to encourage goodness in them. He requested the help of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, who provided him with 4200 books in total for the new colony, including Bibles, Testaments, Prayer Books, Catechisms, Psalters, and religious booklets against common sins. His job was not an easy one as he was meant to carry out many duties placed upon him by the Governor as well as the mission of his own. Johnson’s duties included officiating at hangings and acting as magistrate when needed. In the first five years, he conducted 226 baptisms, 220 marriages and 851 funerals. One of Johnson’s obstacles was the lack of support he received. He and his wife, Mary, lived in a cabbage palm hut for the first three years while the Governor had two mansions. Many times his family was short of food and in addition to his regular duties; he worked on his farm to provide for his family. Richard Johnson was a compassionate man who even took an Aboriginal girl, who had contracted smallpox, into his home for several months. This trait made Australia appear as a destination unsuitable for him, but at the same time, he was the best man for the job.

Compare the way the poets write about love Essay

A sonnet is traditionally a love poem, with 14 lines and generally ending with a couplet. The two sonnets I am comparing discuss the nature of love, but portray two completely different relationships between lovers. While Browning’s poem is an ode to a pure, simple and almost childlike love, Shakespeare’s is a critique of his relationship, in which both sides play a game of double-bluff. This poem mocks the idea of true love. We sense simply from the titles that, while Browning’s â€Å"Sonnet† is an expression of heartfelt emotions, Shakespeare’s â€Å"Sonnet 138† is just another meaningless work out of many, perhaps like his mistresses. Browning’s work is extremely feminine and is almost certainly about her husband, as she was married, as opposed to the masculine view of women in Shakespeare’s era that mistresses were disposable. I believe that Shakespeare has written this sonnet about a mistress rather than his wife, Anne Hathaway, because the untruthfulness in the relationship shows a lack of commitment between the two lovers. In these poems, the attitudes of the poets to their relationships and partners are extremely different. When Browning says, â€Å"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach†, she implies that she cannot live without her lover, so of course this is why she stays with him. However, in Shakespeare’s case, he stays with his mistress because he knows he is past his prime and no longer a handsome, young virile man. Her lies of being faithful and her reassuring him that he is young in her mind flatter his ego, despite his knowledge of her untruthfulness. Perhaps by saying â€Å"thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young†, he is trying to make himself believe this, because he says, â€Å"Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue†, so he actually respects her for considering his feelings. He cannot be angry with her for lying to him because he reciprocates in the matter. He is happy in the situation, and believes that his lover thinks he is nai ve and â€Å"unlearned in the world’s false subtleties†. He seems to fear being alone and not being able to obtain another mistress. This is in sharp contrast to Browning’s sense of security with her lover, and feeling of openness and honesty. There is a quality of immortality to her love that is suggested in the phrase, â€Å"I shall but love thee better after death†. The nature of the two relationships differ a great deal ; we sense that , while Browning conveys a love that is very spiritual and uncomplicated, Shakespeare’s relationship is more sexual without much actual love. Religious words and imagery, such as â€Å"Grace†, â€Å"Praise†, â€Å"Faith†, â€Å"Candlelight† and â€Å"God† are used to reinforce the feeling of purity in â€Å"Sonnet†. Meanwhile, in â€Å"Sonnet 138†, Shakespeare says, â€Å"Therefore I lie with her, and her with me†, using the double entendre of sex as well as untruthfulness and suggests that he has purely sexual motives for being in the relationship. He poses the idea that they are kept together by the fact that they lie to each other, because he creates the situation of them in bed together as they have not broken up as a result of being truthful. The language used in both poems gives more reinforcement the conflict between the two sonnets. In â€Å"Sonnet†, many of the lines begin simply with the words, â€Å"I love thee†. This simplistic, repetitive style gives Browning’s piece a childlike quality and supports the message of innocence that is interweaved into the poem. She says she loves him with her â€Å"childhood’s Faith†, showing that she loves him wholeheartedly and has no doubts, like a child loves it’s parent because they know no better. She could therefore see her husband as a father figure as he protects her and gives her stability. On the other hand, language is used to the opposite effect in Shakespeare’s â€Å"Sonnet 138†. The childhood aspect of this poem is related to gullibility. He makes use of negative words such as â€Å"lies†, â€Å"unjust†, â€Å"untutor’d† and â€Å"false† to show that he does not believe in love. Using these words in rhyming couplets – â€Å"lies† and â€Å"subtleties† – even more pronounces the negative imagery. The sonnet out of the two that I prefer is â€Å"Sonnet 138† by Shakespeare. This is because he has made a break from the traditional style of sonnets, which usually exhault the ideal of love and describe it in all it’s beauty. He takes the idea of love and almost mocks it, satirising the orthodox style of other sonnets. More complex language is used within the sonnet, unlike Browning’s simple prose. The impact of both of the poems is that they make us think about love in very different ways.

Hughes Promotes the African Civilization Essay

Still recognized as one of the literary giants of America, Langston Hughes played an important role as a writer and thinker of the Harlem Renaissance. This was an artistic movement of African Americans that arose during the 1920s to celebrate the lives and culture of Africans in the United States (â€Å"Langston Hughes†). Because most of the African Americans had been brought to the New World as slaves of white masters, it was poets and writers like Hughes, an African American man, that helped to change the perception of African Americans in the minds of the whites once slavery had been abolished. Hughes’ poems, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† published in 1926, and â€Å"Negro† published in 1958, therefore depict African Americans as ordinary human beings like everybody else, and yet richer in culture and civilization than many others, seeing that they have participated in the construction of the great â€Å"pyramids,† mentioned in both poems (Hughes, 2007; Hughes). Hughes was direct and open about the fact that his writings were meant to uplift the conditions confronting Africans in the United States (Hughes, 1923). They had been slaves, so therefore the whites did not respect them enough even after the abolishment of slavery. â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† was published five years after the Tulsa Riot and during the Harlem Renaissance (â€Å"Race Riot, Lynchings, and other Forms of Racism in the 1920s†). â€Å"Negro,† on the other hand, was published at a time when racism was considered a bigger problem than before. In fact, during the 1950s racism was at the forefront of American thought (Lewis, 2002). Many battles were fought to set blacks equal to whites in the minds of all Americans. Hughes’ contribution of the 1950s, his poem â€Å"Negro,† was only different to the extent that it was an artist’s contribution. Countless other Africans were fighting on the streets of America to set things right once and for all. Both poems, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† and â€Å"Negro,† are expressions of African American identity. The first poem begins thus: â€Å"I’ve known rivers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hughes). In the second as in the first, although the poet has made clear that the narrator is a negro – the poem, â€Å"Negro† begins with the words, â€Å"I am a Negro† (Hughes, 2007). Because the whites had been masters over African slaves, they were inclined to look down upon Africans. Since the whites were owners of property in America and certainly richer, the blacks longed to be like the whites. But, Hughes would like the Africans to feel at home in their own skins. With images of rivers as grand as of the Euphrates, the Nile and the Mississippi – the poem, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers,† reminds the African of his or her historical roots or the history of the great African peoples who have traveled across all of these rivers adding value to the historical streams of cultures. The poem has irregular, long lines without rhythm because it is making a basic point: the African soul is as deep as any human soul could be. The African individual indulges in deep thinking as he travels across ancient rivers. What he must dwell on is his own identity on foreign soil. Remembering the history of his civilization, he must keep in mind that life carries on. What’s more, the poet reminds his fellow African that the black race has survived despite all odds (Hughes). Because â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† was published during the peak of Harlem Renaissance, it refers to depth of the African soul, given that art is often understood as the voice of the soul and the Harlem Renaissance was all about promoting African art and culture in the United States. Using gentle images such as the Mississippi’s bosom â€Å"turning golden in the sunset,† the poet uses his emphasis on rivers to stand as a symbol for the depth of the African soul (Hughes). â€Å"Negro,† published during the 1950’s also mentions â€Å"depths† (Hughes, 2007). As in â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers,† the depths mentioned by Hughes in both poems most likely refer to the depth of African knowledge too. After all, both poems refer to the history of Africans. â€Å"Negro,† with its sentence arrangements describing either what had happened to Africans or what they have done in the history of the African civilization – also makes mention of the experiences and/or skills that set Africans apart, for example, slavery and singing (Hughes, 2007). The poet represents all Africans in both his poems, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† and â€Å"Negro. † What is more, both poems mention the fact that the Africans were part of the labor force that built the ancient pyramids. In â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers,† it was the African who â€Å"looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it† (Hughes). In â€Å"Negro,† the pyramid is said to have arisen under the African hand, implying that the African was greatly skilled even at the time of ancient pyramid construction (Hughes, 2007). The main difference between the two poems, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† and â€Å"Negro† is, undoubtedly, the spirit of hope felt through the first poem versus the sense of despair mixed with hope in the second poem. Hughes must have composed â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† in a different frame of mind altogether. The poem clearly promotes the African American culture and art as originating in the deep history of humanity (Hughes). Although â€Å"Negro† makes mention of world history too, it does not necessarily promote African American art, apart from its reference to singing. The African American may be considered as more of a laborer or low paid worker than an artist in â€Å"Negro† (Hughes, 2007). Perhaps the poem was not written to promote African American art at all. As mentioned previously, the 1950s saw the whites and blacks of America fighting over the question of equal rights of Africans in almost all major areas of state functioning, including education. There were severe problems related to racism during this period of American history. Clearly, blacks were being looked down upon. It was in the mood of that hour that Hughes composed â€Å"Negro. † The poem speaks of the ordinariness of the African individual while describing the good uses that Africans have been made of, for example, in the construction of the â€Å"Woolworth Building† (Hughes, 2007). â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† is certainly not dismal or depressing like â€Å"Negro,† mainly because it does not make mention of slavery and victimization as the second. After all, Hughes is fighting against injustice toward African Americans in the 1950s. In the 1920s, his cause was entirely different. If â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† had made frequent mention of darkness as does â€Å"Negro,† the Harlem Renaissance could not have been considered a harbinger of hope (Hughes, 2007). References Hughes, L. (2007, Dec 2). Negro. Retrieved Mar 15, 2009, from http://amandafa. blogspot. com/2007/12/negro-by-langston-hughes. html. ————–. (1926, Jun 23). The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain. The Nation. Retrieved Mar 15, 2009, from http://www. hartford-hwp. com/archives/45a/360. html. ————–. The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Retrieved Mar 15, 2009, from http://www. wmrfh. org/dcrews/index_files/Hughes_The%20Negro%20Speaks%20of%20Rivers. doc. Langston Hughes. America’s Story from America’s Library. Retrieved Mar 15, 2009, from http://www. americaslibrary. gov/cgi-bin/page. cgi/aa/hughes. Lewis, C. H. (2002). The Rise of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. Retrieved Mar 15, 2009, from http://www. colorado. edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/civil. htm. Race Riot, Lynchings, and other Forms of Racism in the 1920s. Retrieved Mar 15, 2009, from http://www. assumption. edu/ahc/raceriots/default. html.

Star Death Leads to Cosmic Enrichment

Star Death Leads to Cosmic Enrichment Star Death in the Southern Hemisphere Sky Stars, like every other object we can see in the universe. have a definite life cycle. Theyre born in clouds of gas and dust, they live their lives, and eventually, they come to an end. This is true for every star we know about, no matter its size or mass. Some very massive stars die in cataclysmic explosions called supernovae. Thats not the fate of our star, which will have a more gentle ending. Sun-like stars (those that are around the same mass or age as our  Sun) come to the ends of their lives and become  planetary nebulae. These are objects in the sky that once appeared almost planetary looking to astronomers of a century or more ago who had low-power telescopes compared to todays observatories. They have nothing to do with planets and everything to do with the evolution of certain kinds of stars. Astronomers suspect that our own Sun may end its days as a planetary nebula, if conditions permit. If it does, it will lose much of its mass to space and what remains of the Sun will heat the surrounding cloud of gas and dust and make it glow. To anyone looking at it through a telescope from another planet, the dying Sun will resemble a cosmic ghost.   Observing the Owl Nebula The European Southern Observatory caught a view of one such ghostly remnant, nicknamed the Southern Owl Nebula.  The expanding cloud of gas and dust measures about four light-years across and contains materials that once were created  inside the star and its atmosphere. Now, those elements (such as hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and  others) are being spread to interstellar space, possibly to enrich a new generation of stars. The Southern Owl (which has the official name of ESO 378-1) is a relatively short-lived phenomenon. It will probably  last only a few tens of thousands of years before the cloud dissipates completely. All that will be left is a fading white dwarf star.   What Makes a Planetary Nebula? For a planetary nebula to form, an aging star must be the right stellar type: it should have a mass less than about eight times that of the Sun. Stars  that are more massive will end their lives in dramatic fashion as supernova explosions. They, too, spread their material out, enriching the space between stars (also known as the interstellar medium).   As the less-massive stars age, they begin to lose their outer layers of gas through the action of stellar winds. The Sun has a stellar wind that we call the solar wind, which is a gentler version of the tempests emitted by old, dying stars. After the outer layers of the dying star have dissipated, the remaining hot stellar core heats up, and begins to radiate ultraviolet light. That UV radiation energizes (ionizes) the surrounding gas and causes it to glow.   The Long, Last Breath of the Sun Once the planetary nebula has faded away, the leftover stellar remnant will burn for another billion years,  consuming all its remaining fuel. It will then become a tiny - but hot and very dense - white dwarf that will slowly  cool over billions of years. The Sun could produce a planetary nebula several billion years in the future and then  spend its twilight years as a white dwarf emitting visible and ulltraviolet light, and even x-ray radiation.   Planetary nebulae play a crucial role in the chemical enrichment and evolution of the universe. Elements  are created inside these stars and returned to enrich the  interstellar medium. They combine to form new stars, build planets, and - if conditions are right - play a role in the formation and evolution of life. We (and the rest of Earths life) all owe our existence to the ancient stars that lived and then transformed to become white dwarfs, or blew up as supernovae that scattered their elements to space. This is why we can think of ourselves as star stuff, or even more poetically- as star dust memories of the ghostly death of a star.