Spanish-American War 1898 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Spanish-American War 1898 - Essay Example President McKinley finally had no choices in the matter as a result of the sinking of the USS Maine. Foreign policy changed dramatically as a result of the consequences of this very short, very significant war that is often forgotten in view of the Civil War. The Spanish-American War, one where Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders earned their place in history, brought about a great deal of change to the perception of the United States by others in the world. This war would cause major changes in the realm of American foreign policy in its wake. The war was brought on by these many factors and soon after the declaration for war was made, soldiers were headed for Havana and Santiago. The Yellow Journalism that began with Hearst and Pulitzer caused a great deal of grief as is relayed in several pieces. One very significant accounting would be an eyewitness description by H. H. Kolsaat as he held in his hand a telegram from the forces in Manila Bay when the USS Maine had been lost. Eyewitness to History's website states that H. H. Kolsaat's recollection of the meeting with President McKinley included a conversation that ended with McKinley in tears saying, "Congress is trying to drive us into war with Spain. The Spanish fleet is in Cuban waters, and we haven't enough ammunition on the Atlantic seacoast to fire a salute." (1) H. H. Kolsaat continues on to say that he spent nearly half the night speaking with the President after the evening's activities. Only the first of many agonizing conversations that the President suffered through in the declaration of war, one he was quite reluctant to consider until there appeared to be no choices in the matter. The deciding factor for President McKinley came in a private letter written by Enrique Dupuy de Lme, the Spanish Minister in Washington, to a Spanish editor then traveling in the United States. It was this letter, described as part of the text from American Military History: Army Historical Series; Chapter 15 Emergence to World Power 1898-1902 and stating the following as the letter "expressed de Lme's adverse personal reaction to McKinley's message to Congress in December 1897. The President was, he thought, "weak and a bidder for admiration of the crowd . . . a would-be politician who tries to leave a door open behind himself while keeping on good terms with the jingoes in his party."" (2) This outraged most Americans when it was published after a man stole it from the office where it had been sent. The outraged outcry from the United States caused what President McKinley considered to be the hardest decision of his career. This decision was to go to war with inadequate forces, in adequate supplies and terrible conditions to work within. All of this had been sparked in the fervor of what has been termed Yellow Journalism, created by Joseph Pulitzer and John Hearst in their work to take the country to war using public opinion as the impetus of the action. Their tactics, no matter how underhanded, managed the objective. The results were felt worldwide. The Spanish-American War of 1898 was one of the shortest wars America ever fought. Four months into the war, it was over. But, the consequences of that war were broad spectrum and felt worldwide. The Spanish-American War of 1898 did the one thing nothing else had managed. It proved that the

Time and Memories Essay Example for Free

Time and Memories Essay Gwen Harwood’s poetry has provided me and hopefully you with some great wisdom and insight into our lives. Today I will be making meaning from the texts â€Å"At Mornington† and â€Å"The Violets† by Gwen Harwood. I am here, as a seventeen year old student, giving my own response through the analysis of the themes â€Å"Memory† and â€Å"Childhood to Adulthood†, the techniques which support them and through the application of psychoanalytical readings to her poetry. What we will see is that there are links present in what the composer is trying to say and in the critical interpretations of her poetry. Memories make the individual understand who they are, wouldn’t you agree? Without them we would just be robots. For example, just this morning I remembered a childhood memory of India. I remembered that everyday I would try and reach the light switch which always seemed so far away. Before I knew it, I could turn the light on and off with ease. It was only this memory that allowed me to reflect that from as young as a child I had been trying to reach things much higher than me. Who here could imagine not having any memories of their childhood? In the poem â€Å"At Mornington† by Gwen Harwood the fragility and nature of memories is questioned while it is concluded that it is through memories that one can accept death. The composer often uses the structure of her poetry to create meaning. For example, â€Å"At Mornington† is completely written in free verse, which means the composer’s thought process is allowed to be flexible supporting how memories suddenly come about. Let’s face it; memories do not exactly follow a rule†¦ They just come, sometimes with or without a trigger. This is exactly the case in â€Å"At Mornington† where the composer is left with an unexpected spark of memory while she stands with her friend on the parents’ grave. The composer describes this spark through a simile comparing this behaviour of memories with ‘light in a sea-wet shell’. The ‘light’ in the ‘sea-wet shell’ refers to the numerous colours produced when the light is focused on a common sea-shell. This to me means the childhood memories that we suddenly come across are diverse and in a way colour our lives. The most important message in this poem is the finality of death, and the role memories play in accepting it. The composer thinks of death ‘no more’ when she thinks of her father and more so the time spent with her friend. I can see the time with her friend metaphorically meaning the ‘peace’ of this day. This is the ultimate ‘peace’ for the composer as she approaches that inevitable death. I know you do not want to think of death right now but it is inevitable, and it is always assuring if memories are on our side. When I am older and nearing death, I can cling onto that nostalgic memory of reaching higher to reach the switch, and I can even tell my kids about it. There are many ways poems can be interpreted, there is my personal view but there are also other macro views. There is the Christian viewpoint that would argue that the memories of her father refer to God, and it is the memories of him that allow the composer to confront death because fathers as we know are a source of comfort, and in this case the fathers represent the ultimate father: God. However I do not have a strong Christian background, and I would rather see things through a psychoanalytical approach. In addition, I believe a psychoanalytical perspective applies better to the themes of Harwood’s poetry as the psych and its effect on the persona is explored. A psychoanalytical perspective would argue that memories are used to come to terms with the present psychological state. For example, the memories of her friend and of her father impact her to think of death ‘no more’. More so, light imagery is recurringly used to represent memories. For example the light refracting on the shell can be seen as a representation of the vivid and enthralling memories the persona experiences. This theme of â€Å"Memory† is similarly explored in the â€Å"The Violets† where a past memory helps support the present action which is of picking violets. Just like in â€Å"At Mornington† structure is used to create meaning. Memories are separated from present experience through indentation. This allows me to clearly distinguish between the persona’s present and the persona’s memories which actively support the present. There are some truly great memories that will influence us forever. For example, as I do my HSC I keep referring back to the memories of us in India and how hard my parents worked to get us to Australia. This is the sort of memory experienced by the persona, and she also explores how these memories or ‘lamplit presences’ will never die, even as time passes. These ‘lamplit presences’ are listed to the responder through the use of punctuation, notably the colon. The colon creates pause for the responder and this pause prepares us for the final comforting memories. Furthermore ‘years cannot move’ these final memories. If you stop and think about it aren’t those important memories everlasting? In the poem violet flowers are repeatedly mentioned from the title to the end where a ‘faint scent of violets drifts in the air’. What meaning can be made from this? Well, these violet flowers symbolise remembrance and the past, which is what the whole poem is about. As she thinks about the present, where the mood is somewhat ‘melancholy’ she nostalgically remembers a past event that ultimately contrasts the present joyless mood leaving a scent of violets which are associated with memories in the air. Enough of my view of things lets explore what how this can be seen psychoanalytically! The most important aspect to be mentioned is the use of memory to support the present. This is similar to â€Å"At Mornington† where memories of the past can be seen to impact the present but the only difference is that in â€Å"The Violets† it is more that memories have helped her deal with the present issue of time. In addition, light is used again as a symbol to represent memories. In this case it is the image of the lamp in ‘lamplit’ just like the refracted light referenced to memories in â€Å"At Mornington†. Remember when we were playful children? It was the free time of our lives, not chained down by assignments or by the commitments at work. But as we age we somewhat lose that playful phase and enter one of maturity where careers, education and most importantly future of life comes into light. The composer talks about â€Å"At Mornington† how as a child there is the notion of invincibility and naivety but as an adult there is the realisation of death. ‘I could walk on water’ is what the child persona thinks, and I knew we thought like that too. I remember thinking as a child that I could be like Superman. The use of personal pronoun ‘I’ is used to create meaning. How might you ask? Well, I think it creates a personal voice in the poem and illustrates to the responder that is her experience of childhood she is talking about. The persona reflects this childhood memory when she is an adult ‘while we [they] stand, two friends of middle age’. I can see that structure is used here significantly as the use of first person ‘we’ draws all of the audience in to think about growing up, to middle age. Can you image what we will be like when we are at middle age? I think we will have changed dramatically. This is the case here as the composer juxtaposes the childhood notions of life with the present notion where they are beginning to age. What I can say here is that as children we would think of many things, for example I would think I could fly, but as we change from children to adults we begin to see things differently and sometimes notice the change. Now I have gravity and aerodynamics as a young adult in my head, sharply changing my ideas about my aspirations of superman. The persona in â€Å"At Mornington† feels invincible as a child but this is changed when she is reflecting as a middle aged adult. Again a Christian reading could be applied to this poem where the child walking on water is an allusion to Jesus further highlighting the composer’s faith. But that is as far I can go; my personal context limits me from exploring any further. Therefore we could see it psychoanalytically where childhood to adulthood demands for the psyche to change. For example as a child she sees herself as invincible but as an adult she is made to adjust her psyche so death is accepted. A psychoanalytic reading would also see the child walking on water as a move from childhood to adulthood because as she walks on water her life and psyche of naivety progresses to maturity and of self realisation. The theme of â€Å"Childhood to Adulthood† is also explored in â€Å"The Violets†. It is an autobiographical poem, which deals with the persona’s view of various aspects as a child and as an adult. This is very similar to â€Å"At Mornington† where the persona reflects how childhood notions have changed as she has matured into an adult. However, in â€Å"The Violets† it is more a contrast of how she used to see things such as the flowers as a child and how she sees them later as an adult. It is probably the toughest transitions in life, from a child to an adult don’t you think? Understanding of the world is refined and childlike views of the world are replaced with the truth. The truth is often complex, and sometimes I wish I could just think like a kid again. This is demonstrated in a paradox used by Harwood. As an adult ‘melancholy’ flowers grow in ‘ashes and loam’. ‘Ashes’ refers to dead or the bad soil, infertile whereas ‘loam’ is the soil full of life. How can this flower grow in both? It tells me that as an adult things are much more complex and an essential way of looking at things has been lost. This is contrasted when the composer introduces us to a memory of childhood. The violets are in their ‘loamy’ bed, and it suggests that as a child they could be seen as simply flowers of spring and a source of comfort. Furthermore as an adult the word ‘melancholy’ is used to describe the atmosphere and it is again different to the mood created as a child of happiness. The mother laughs at the child persona as she questions about breakfast in the afternoon. ‘Laughing’ connotes a positive mood, reiterating the fact that childhood was a much happier time than adulthood. Who wouldn’t want to go back to their childhood days and play all day and live the simple life? Punctuation is structurally left out in ‘Ambiguous light. Ambiguous sky’ which to me emphasises the uncertainty in adulthood. Without the full stop the sentence is not complete and demonstrates that as an adult not even the night and day cannot be distinguished. A psychoanalytical reading would see this melancholy experience of the adult as longing for the experiences of a child. As a child the experience is the complete opposite, it is of happiness, and it is that experience that the composer finally gets, when remembering her childhood. Also the adult gains understanding about some uncertainty through a childhood experience. The positive memory of the mother laughing in the composer’s childhood also allows acceptance to occur. That laughing supported the uncertainty she had as a child and even the present uncertainty about adulthood. I think children’s thoughts are the most flawless in the world no matter how wise one gets Just by making meaning from two of Gwen Harwood’s poems â€Å"At Mornington† and â€Å"The Violets† I have received immense personal knowledge that I will never forget. I came see that â€Å"Memory† is a wonderful thing, and without it we would be nothing but some senseless dummies. I and hopefully you see that â€Å"Memory† in both the poems has the power to influence, impact and appease the present. This is the same with the discussion of â€Å"Childhood to Adulthood† where I was certainly reminded of my childhood days when I read the poem. Childhood gives us great views, but they are taken as we grow older such as I faced that I cannot be superman. Memories and our Childhood will always stay with us, and I thank Gwen Harwood for making me realise that. We must remember what she told us about life – it is‘only a matter of balance’.

Factors that Caused the Financial Crisis

Factors that Caused the Financial Crisis The world had faced two major financial disasters during 20th century. The first crisis happened during 1920-30, which mainly affected the developed countries like Europe and America. Second crisis started in 1997 and stayed till 1999, mainly affected developing economies of Asia pacific. The recent financial crisis which has awakened the whole world mainly resulted from unregulated financial market. It has created serious anxiety because it falls outwards from U.S, the starting point. Alan Greenspan recently called it a once-in-a-century credit tsunami, born of a collapse deep inside the US housing sector. In order to avoid complete meltdown, governments and central banks worked day and night. Trillions of dollars have been allocated to financial institutions by the governments to recover from the crisis in the United States alone Who were the culprits of financial crisis? It is impossible to held just single factor responsible for such a big mass in the absence of other factors. In my research i want to analyse the contribution of each factor but the questions arise in my mind is How did Lehman Brother, the fourth largest investment bank in USA failed? Why majority of financial institutions failed in compare to other institutions? This surly point towards irresponsible activities by financial institutions in their main business LENDING. So focus of my research is to find out the dominant role of easy lending in present crisis along with other factors. The effect of financial crisis 2008 was such sever that even allocating huge amount to address the issues proven insufficient to resolve it. Congress approved $700 billion in response to the problem. Federal reserve spend $1.3 trillion to bail out markets and institution that includes investments in risky assets, loans to bankrupt institutions, sharing such debt which were defaulting at faster rates (Morris, 2008). A further $900 billion were allocated as lending to large corporations (Aversa, 2008), reaching the total of nearly $3 trillion as bailout package so far, without even adding the big amount of corporate debt promised by the U.S government year before the crisis An understanding of the root causes of this colossal failure that has put the entire financial systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ at risk (Woellert and Kopecki, 2008) is necessary to avoid such failures in the future. Number of factors can be held responsible for financial crisis which emerged over number of years. Causes propos ed include the following sub-prime mortgages/ easy lending Poor credit rating Failure of regulators Shadow banking Securitization Credit default swap Mortgage backed securities Assets backed commercial paper etc Aims and Objective Aim of this research is to understand the root causes of financial crisis particularly lending practises as a major factor. Objectives To explore the history of financial crisis To evaluate who were the victims and culprits of financial crisis Impact of financial crisis on other countries (UK, USA, India, Japan) What steps are being taken by government to overcome crisis What could be done to prevent repetition of crisis in future? Literature Review: How did we get to this point? Surprisingly it all started from residential mortgages in the U.S. It had become apparent from 2004 that mortgages issued to majority of consumers did not make any rational sense. Situation was more worsted by so called mortgage brokers who issued mortgages to many insolvent consumers in order to generate outsized fees. On other hand new financial vehicles called mortgage-backed securities (MBS) rated by well know credit rating agencies were introduced by Wall Street. These high yielding mortgage-backed securities were bought by investors from all over the world which increased funding for new mortgages. Appraiser ignored all rules to meet the increasing demand of mortgage applications. Federal Reserve board appointed by congress in 1994 to regulate mortgage lenders decided to watch the game from pavilion. Finally as the bubble accelerates, there is necessary reckoning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" house prices collapsed. This is how greediness and irresponsibility resulted into a biggest financial crisis (Schmudde, 2008). Sub-prime mortgages which are always blamed for financial crisis is only a component of the deeper problem. The value of credit default swaps, which was originally estimated to be $55 trillion by the securities and exchange ( 4 times higher then the actual figure) are totally unregulated and majority of them were contracted over the phone without any verification, is the root cause from which all the problems of crisis started (Simon, 2008). Regulators had forecasted the problem of present crisis years in advance were not taken seriously because of the successful business by the same financial institutions which are either bankrupt or funded by the government (Associated Press, 2008). According to Bernanke (2009) and Portes (2009) global imbalances are the fundamental cause of the crisis and it is not possible to fully understand present crisis without considering the issue of global imbalances. As per Jagannathan, Kapoor, and Schaumberg (2009) imbalances in labour supply can assist to understand the present crisis. Acharya and Richardson(2009), and Acharya and Schnabl (2009) argue that banks were suppose to transfer the risks to end investors while securitising, particularly in the case of asset-backed commercial paper and purchase of AAA-rated tranches but they never did which led them to huge pool of credit risks. Schmudde (2009) documents that no verification of consumers income were done while issuing sub-prime mortgages. Many of them were issued for or close to 100% of the house price. Even borrowers with bad credit history easily managed to get mortgages. This is one of the reasons for huge growth in subprime mortgages which increased from $35 billion to $8 07 billion between1995 to 2005. According to Bartlett (2008) decline of US subprime mortgage triggered the crisis, the impact of the down fall was tremendous; Mark-to-market losses on mortgage backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, and related assets through March 2008 were approximate $945 billion. He further said that it is The largest financial loss in history, in compared to $780 billion of 1990 Japans banking crisis, lost accrued from Asian crisis of 1997-98 about $420 billion. . While explaining the reason how did this crisis turn into a global crisis, Khatiwada and McGirr (2008) stated Many of these Sub-prime mortgages actually never made it on the balance sheets of the lending Institutions that originated them; and such mortgages by rating them high were made attractive to world investors, when sub-prime borrowers failed to repay their mortgages, the originating institution needed to finance the foreclosure with their own money, bringing the asset back on its balance sheet. This left many banks in a financially unviable situation, in a rather short, unmanageable timeframe. According to Mian and Sufi (2008) increased demand for mortgage backed securities led to lending boom which is the root cause of present crisis. Whalen (2008) argues that three main factors are at the root of the problem. First, many companies, banks, and government agencies were encouraged to increase the viability of affordable housing by introducing creative financing techniques. Second, big number of over-the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"counter derivatives and securities were issued by majority of financial institutions due to huge support by the regulators, led to a breakdown in safety and soundness at banks and securities lenders. And the last factor is fir value accounting an ill-advised by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the financial accounting standards board (FASB) to all public company to change the reporting standards. The nations biggest subprime lender, Ameriquest Mortgage co., gave more then US$20 million as a political donation. Other financial institutions like citigroup inc., wells Fargo co., donated huge amount on political side and on lobbying. This donation helped these institutions to persuade legislators to pass predatory-lending laws which might have contributed to present crisis to some extent (Simpson, 2007). According to Shiller (2008) the following factors played very big role in present crisis: Strategy of home ownership which encourage even those who could not afford one. The link between mortgage originator and receiver of payments broke due to mortgage securitization. Because of this there was no reason for mortgage originator to verify the solvency of borrowers. Many loans were issued at low interest rate or even at zero rates with the use of new financial techniques but afterwards rate were increased too high. Research Methodology Methodology plays a very crucial role in how research will be carried out. Methodology is an explanation of why you collected certain data, what data you collected, from where you collected it, when you collected it, how you collected it and how you analysed it (Collins, 2003). The researcher requires an interviewer or observer skills to gather data in the qualitative methods. This method requires collecting and analysing the data and applying the statistical tests (Riley, 2004). Qualitative research interprets opinion of the people in the sample, their way of looking at the subject, what they feel about subject and the dynamic interpret feeling on the subjects (Guari, 2005). The quantitative method mainly uses research instruments to gather, analyse and measure the data. Quantitative approach is more subjective approach. Quantitative approach includes analysing and reflecting on perception to understand social and human activities (Collins, 2003). The main purpose of this chapter is to explain and justify the primary research method which I have chosen to carry out my research. This chapter will also explain the significance of secondary data and state what sources of secondary data i will be using. Source of Acquisition of data Primary data Primary data collection means to collect new data of subjects for specific purpose. The different methods of collecting primary data are questionnaire, interview and sampling (Saunders, 2003). For my research it is very important to get some primary data to understand the topic in practical sense. By taking interview of the head of financial institution, will add extra value to my research and will broaden my understanding of topic as a whole. I will be collecting my primary data through interview with Mr Mitesh Sheth, Deputy Head of Henderson Global Investors. The main focus of interview will be to get their opinion about how did this crisis started, what was there response etc. I am also trying to contact few other key people but too early to mention anything about them yet. Secondary Data Secondary data means data collected previously for some purpose. The main sources of such data are library, internet, articles, business journals, research organization (Saunders, 2003). Methods of data analysis After collecting primary and secondary data the next stage is to evaluate or analyse the collected data. To convert data into graphs will be the easiest way to analyse the data. Hypothesis I will be analysing total amount of lending by US banks to solvent and insolvent borrowers and comparing their rate of default to conclude my research. Work Plan   Proposal submit 21st June literate review 31st July Preparation for interview 5th August Interview of selected person 10th August Analysis of data 20th August Start writing reports 15th September Draft report 10th October Final report October end On successfully completion of my dissertation I hope to come to a positive conclusion. I will utilise all the recourses available to me in order to draw out conclusion. Such as charts, graphs, historical data, interview, questionnaires etc.

Culture and Identity Essay -- Cultural Identity Essays

Culture and Identity Culture and identity could have many different definitions. Culture to me is what made you the person that you are today. The background and history of a person that is the reason of who they are and what they stand for. Identity to me is the certain characteristics that belong to a person that makes them different from everyone else on this planet. The world with no culture or a lack of identity would be a rather boring place. Identity and culture are what makes this world an interesting place, there is a distinct relationship between identity and culture and one without the other they could not exists. In the essay "Real Indians Eat Jell-O" by Laurie Carlson, it seems that she has trouble finding her own identity and culture. Carlson a native american living in a trailer park in Montana wants to know more of her culture to try to give herself an identity. Carlson states "Indian kids are supposed to live in wide open spaces, in deserts or forests. They have horses and coyotes and wise grandparents" (Carlson par. 2). Instead of making her own identity and learning about her culture now, she wants have the identity of someone else, she wants the identity of Indians from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. She looks to her grandmother for culture and does not like what her grandmother has to say, Carlson wants to hear stories of beadwork and tales of coyotes while her grandmother while her grandmother taps her "primrose passion" colored nails to the song on the radio and tells her "Honey, be yourself"(Carlson par. 7). Personally that is the best answer anyone could give a child who is looking to make an identity for themselves, because an identity is who you are and who you are is everything. Also Carls... ...more successful than my parents just like they were more successful then my grandparents and like my grandparents were more successful then my great-grandparents. My community culture growing up has given me the hardworking, go getting attitude that I need in life to grow up to be a successful person in this world. Culture and identity have a very close knit relationship between them. A persons culture helps them to determine their identity in life. Without knowing your own culture, weather it be a poor indian growing up in a trailer park or a rich white boy growing up in a huge house, your identity would be very hard to determine. A persons culture is the main part of a persons identity, and without knowing your culture it would be hard to figure out ones identity. Works Cited Carlson, Laurie. "Real Indians Eat Jell-O". Northern Lights. (Spring 1993).

How Artists Represent the World Essay

Abstract artists have been greatly criticized and underestimated for their lack of culture and sophistication produced in their artwork. Interpreting, reading and deriving meaningful, useful information from abstract art requires the highest level of creative skills, and the most developed and trained imaginations. Learning how to perceive messages from art takes just as many years of conscious effort as the traditional forms of education. As a result, art perception is not a significant part of formal education, dismissing art’s literacy’s importance as requiring a special â€Å"gift. † The Beginning, painted by Barnett Newman, appears to be very simple, basic, nothing more than colorful lines pasted against a blue background. â€Å"His (Newman’s) paintings can seem to be barely doing anything at all, and yet, given time and attention, they reveal depths and subtleties of immense power. â€Å"(Denny, 2002) The Beginning clarifies the underlying patterns and natural order of life sciences, shows the invisible connections from the sky to the ocean, and forever creates new life’s beginnings. The Beginnings is an image of a crystal ball used as a window for scrying into the ocean, and eventually seeing a mirroring effect of reality. All artwork, including abstract and surrealism, created only from imagination is a window to look into reality. â€Å"Alberti, in his De pittura (1435), harnessed the technique of perspective to the theory that painting is an imitation of reality. He viewed the picture plane as a window through which one looks at the visible world. † (â€Å"Perspective,† 2007) Realism art is a mirror image reflecting tangible existing objects. Realism art is definite, showing what the artist actually sees as he or she is making up the painting. Abstract art is a lot more complexed, but is still realistic. One of abstract art’s significant contributions is clarifying the underlying patterns, and the natural order of universal life, forcing deeper parts of the imagination that normally go unused to be activated. Using imagination to interpret art helps us to understand the facts that are hidden from us. Abstract paintings are nothing more than a mixture of colors. â€Å"Whitehead systematically elaborates in his imposing Process and Reality (1929), going so far as to suggest that process, rather than substance, should be taken as the fundamental metaphysical constituent of the world. † (Irvine, 2003) Barnett Newman’s abstract, The Beginning, background color is apparently early morning sky blue or a blue sea. Metaphysically, the sea and the daybreak sky symbolizes new beginnings. The sky represents a new day, everything pertaining to the sea or water symbolizes a new life, translating into life as having constant new beginnings, reflecting a reality we can never touch. Reality is constantly moving and changing. The sky and the sea also symbolizes movement. Using the alleged symbology of the colors and the name of the art as windows, we understand Newman’s interpretation of realism, or actual visual images of the reality of life occurring in nature. The structure or underlying pattern of the atmosphere’s progressions can be viewed in The Beginning. â€Å"Chaos theory reveals an underlying pattern and order that is hidden in natural phenomena that before were considered to be merely random. † Peirce, 1996 Assuming the light blue dominating most of the abstract represents the sky or the sea, and the alleged symbols represent the beginning of a new eternity, Newman is implying that this is the hidden underlying basis of what everyone thought had no beginning, such as lightning falling from the sky. Looking at the painting right side up, lightning bolts are coming from the sky in unusual colors. To the center left at the very bottom is a splash of darker blue upon impact of the lightning bolts hitting the sea. The lightning bolts are in red, yellow and white offset colors. Between the red and white lightning bolts, a blue lighting bolt is coming down, but does not have enough power or force to complete the journey. The lightning bolt blending in with the background spatial point stops before reaching its destination. â€Å"It would be a mistake to think of a spatial point as being anything more than an abstraction; instead, real positions involve the entire series of extended volumes. † (Irvine, 2003) The lightning bolt unable to reach its destination can also be the beginning of a pattern of sequential events. The white lightning bolt is the most powerful or forceful object in the painting. A light red line runs down the center of the white lightning bolt, making the loudest splash into the sea. Then the pattern starts over. To the left is the weakest lightning bolt. Angling from the upper left corner is a vivid red appearing to ending up in front of the splash where the white bolt hit. To the far right is the yellow lightning bolt, perhaps starting its own pattern of sequential events of connecting life between the sea and skies. â€Å"Studying the process of art can provoke the beast and initiate the journey within. † (Lodato-Suppa, 1996) Barnett Newman was famous for painting colorful bands calling them zips on sky blue canvases. It appears like there was nothing to it. (Ned Denny). Visualizing art is the same thing as listening to or composing music. The impact of art speaking directly to the subconscious is so powerful the mind is completely overtaken by its presence. Music and painting selections incorporated into everyday life should be taken with great caution because of it’s powerful effect on the mind. Interpreting art is a tool guiding us individually on life’s journey. References Hall, D. , Mills. , H (1996) The Society for the Advancement of Creative Scientific Thinking Society Charter Retrieved March 15, 2008 http://ibiblio. org/scst/charter. html Irvine A. D. (2003) Alfred North Whitehead Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved Retrieved March 15, 2008 Newman, Barnett. (2007). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed. ). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved March 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=112876047 Contemporary Art. (2007). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed. ). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved March 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=112853364 Perspective. (2007). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed. ). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved March 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=112879220 Denny, N. (2002, October 7). Nothing to It: Ned Denny Discovers Great Depths and Subtleties in Emptiness. New Statesman, 131, 40+. Retrieved March 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5000662917 Lodato-Suppa, P. (1996). Awakening Picasso Learner/teacher as Artist. Education, 117(1), 106+. Retrieved March 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5000436049

Multiple Sclerosis Case Study

Jamaal Jones III is a healthy, fit athlete who was been drafted to the New York Giants 2 weeks ago. After attending numerous practices and training sessions, Jamaal has earned a starting position as a wide receiver. He is 6’2 and 200lbs of pure muscle ready to run over any opposing cornerback. Jamaal Jones is pumped up; His first game is against the Philadelphia Eagles. All his fans are waiting for him, the weather is great (65 degrees), and his family is watching him at the front bench. Everything was going as planned until something happened. He strode out onto the field to the cheers coming from the stands when he lost his balance, tripped and fell. He felt his eyes roll back to the back of his head darkness slowly encroaching upon his consciousness. He felt nothing, just a numbing sensation as he convulsed, thrashed about and groped for the closest support. The stadium stood hushed as the scene unfolded in front of them, a pair of stretchers was brought out onto the field to carry Jamaal to the nearest hospital. The emergency room worked with fervor trying to rule out as many conditions as possible, performing a lumbar puncture and an MRI on his brain. From these test the doctors had confirmed what they had initially believed Jamaal had shown symptoms of. As the doctors entered the room Jamaal was lost in his own world dreaming of his grandfather, Jamaal Jones Sr. and how they would play football together as a child. Jamaal awakes from his stupor by the sudden intrusion in his room; he can see the grief and weariness on his parent’s faces. He looks on as the doctor beckons his parents to exit the room. The doctor tells his parents â€Å"Your son has multiple sclerosis. MS is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord resulting in loss of muscle control, vision, balance, and sensation. † The parents asked, â€Å"Is there a cure for MS? † The doctor tells them â€Å"No, we can only treat the symptoms which provides short term relief. Any long term â€Å"cure† for this disease has not been found. Jamaal’s mother asked the doctor how Jamaal could have acquired such a disease but the doctor could not provide and answer. With great sorrow in his voice the doctor tells Jamaal’s parents â€Å"Unfortunately, this disease is permanent and we cannot do anything to cure him. I am sorry. † Having been diagnosed with MS, Jamaal became a great advocate for MS awareness, organizing events through his former team, the New York Giants, to promote his cause.