Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Not-For-Profit Organizations Essay Example for Free

Not-For-Profit Organizations Essay Executive Summary Not-For-Profit organizations are fundamentally different than for-profit, private sector businesses in that they do not have shareholders, their mission statements are focused on furthering a cause rather than just increasing profitability and most Not-For-Profits earn the majority of their revenue through donor contributions. As a result, Not-For-Profit Organizations operate under different reporting requirements than for-profit businesses. In order to provide proper accounting for the numerous activities undertaken by a Not-For-Profit Organization in a given year, it is imperative that one understand the two financial accounting standards that affect Not-For-Profit organizations the most: Statements of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 116 and 117 which provide guidance on donor contributions and the presentation of the financial statements. The objective of this summary is to provide a high-level overview of the standards and the effect they have on the financial statements of a Not-For-Profit organization. The Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 116 establishes the standards for accounting for contributions received and contributions made to all organizations with fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1994. Contributions are defined by SFAS No. 116 as voluntary transfers in which the donor does not receive any value in return. Donor contributions may include the following resources: Cash, Marketable securities Property and equipment Utilities and Supplies Intangible assets such as intellectual property Professional services SFAS 116 requires that all contributions and unconditional promises to donate in the future, known as pledges, are recognized as revenues at fair value in the period in which they are received. Pledges are recognized as soon as the requirements of a pledge are met and it is no longer contingent on a future event. Additionally, contributions made and received are also recognized at as expenses upon receipt at fair value. The Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 116 also requires organizations to identify those contributions that contain donor-imposed restrictions and the timeframe or requirements for meeting these donor-imposed restrictions. According to SFAS No. 116, organizations must classify contributions into one of the following categories based on the existence or absence of donor imposed stipulations: Permanently Restricted Net Assets Temporarily Restricted Net Assets Unrestricted Net Assets Those assets that are restricted by a donor imposed stipulation of time, a particular purpose or program, or the occurrence of a future event must be set aside and cannot be expended until the restriction has expired through the satisfaction of the donor stipulation. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 117 is also important in accounting for Not-For-Profit Organizations in that it provides standards for the presentation of the financial statements for organizations with fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1994. Overall, this standard requires that the financial statements provide the necessary information for all of the users of Not-For-Profit financial statements. The standard requires that Not-For-Profit Organizations produce the following financial statements on an annual basis: A statement of financial position (balance sheet) A statement of activities (income statement) A statement of cash flows In the statement of financial position, SFAS No. 117 requires that the  Not-For-Profit organization provide amounts for the total assets, liabilities, and net assets at the end of the fiscal period. Additionally, the statement of financial position must classify the organizations net assets as temporarily restricted, permanently restricted, or unrestricted based on donor imposed stipulations. The statement of activities is required to report to the financial statement users the transactions which caused a change in net assets during the period and the statement of cash flows is must provide a reconciliation of activity between beginning and ending cash balances of the period as either operating activities, financing activities or investing activities. Additional schedules are also required by SFAS No. 117 for special organzations such a voluntary health and wellness organizations that provide unique services related to their cause. Overall, a thorough understanding and application of Statements of Financial Standards No. 116 and 117 allows Not-For-Profit organizations to properly account for their unique activities and provide their financial statement users with relevant, understandable and comparable information in order to assess the financial position of the Not-For-Profit organization over the past fiscal year and going forward into the future.

Monday, January 27, 2020

CNS Involvement in GBS: Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential

CNS Involvement in GBS: Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential BRAINSTEM AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIAL AS AN INDEX OF CNS DEMYELINATION IN GB SYNDROME Dr. Smita Singh*, Dr. Nitesh Mishra**, Dr. Shraddha Singh#, Dr. Sunita Tiwari## ABSTRACT: Guillain-Barrà © Syndrome (GBS) is an acute, frequently severe and fulminant polyradicular neuropathy that is autoimmune in nature. GBS manifest as rapidly evolving areflexic motor paralysis with or without sensory disturbances. It mainly involves peripheral nervous system and autonomic nervous system. There are rare evidences about the involvement of central nervous system (CNS) in GBS. The main objective of the study was to assess the CNS involvement in GBS using the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP). The study was conducted in the clinical neurophysiology lab in the department of physiology, CSMMU Lucknow. Study group involved 26 subjects (n=26) having GBS and control group involved 30 normal subjects (n=30). BAEPS were recorded by Neuroperfect- EMG 2000 EMG/NCV/EPsytem. The data so obtained were subjected to analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 13.0. There was significant increase in PIII PV peak latencies and PI-PIII PI-PV interpeak l atencies in both left and right ear in the study group, which showed the CNS involvement in GBS which can be assessed using BAEP. Key words: Guillain-Barrà © Syndrome, Central Nervous System, Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential INTRODUCTION: Guillain-Barrà © Syndrome (GBS) is an acute, frequently severe and fulminant polyradicular neuropathy that is autoimmune in nature. GBS manifest as rapidly evolving areflexic motor paralysis with or without sensory disturbances. The usual pattern is ascending paralysis i.e. weakness begins in distal limbs but rapidly advances to affect the proximal muscle functions. Lower cranial nerves are usually involved causing bulbar weakness and difficulty with handling secretions and maintaining airways. Deep Tendon Reflexes (DTR) usually disappears with in 1st few days of onset. Bladder dysfunction if present is usually transient1. In severe cases of GBS autonomic involvement is common. Usual feature are loss of vasomotor control with wide fluctuation in blood pressure, postural hypotension and cardiac dysrhythmias. Pain is another common feature of GBS most common is deep aching pain in weakened muscles. GBS shows mainly two types of pathophysiology, demyelinating form and axonal degeneration. Basis of demyelinating form is conduction block, which results in flaccid paralysis and sensory disturbances. Recovery is possible as remyelination occurs. Axonal degeneration shows slow rate of recovery and results in greater degree of residual disability. CSF shows albuminocytological dissociation that is elevated CSF protein level (100-1000gm/dl) without accompanying pleocytosis. CSF usually remains normal when duration of illness is less than 48 hours. CSF protein level increases at the end of first week of illness. Electrodiagnostic features are mild or absent in early stages and lag behind clinical evolution. Demyelinating form shows prolonged distal latencies, slow conduction velocities, conduction block and temporal dispersion of compound action potential. Axonal form shows decrease amplitude of compound action potential without conduction slowing and prolongation of latencies. There are several clinical, pathologic and electrophysiologic evidences that have established that GBS affects predominantly the peripheral nervous system. Focal demyelination of the Schwann cell derived myelin has been described. Neuropathologic and electrophysiologic evidences for involvement of central nervous system are rare. There are few studies2, 3, 4, 5, which have been performed to explore the involvement of CNS in GBS. However, there exists no study in the Indian environment regarding the same. The present study is an effort to explore the CNS involvement in GBS by measuring auditory evoked potentials. This test evaluates the integrity of auditory (Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential) pathway by measuring evoked potentials. Evoked potentials are recorded as electronic impulses by surface electrodes attached to the scalp. A computer extracts these low amplitude impulses from background brain wave activity and averages the signals from repeated stimuli. Brainstem auditory evoked potentials, produced by delivering clicks to the ear, and help to locate auditory lesions and evaluate brainstem integrity. MATERIAL METHODS: The study was conducted in the clinical neurophysiology lab in the department of physiology, CSMMU Lucknow. The subjects of study group were selected from neurology, pediatrics and medicine department of CSMMU Lucknow and selection of the subjects of study group had been done on the basis of detailed history, though clinical examination, laboratory investigations and clinically proven cases of GBS. Normal healthy controls were selected after through clinical examination and it was insured that they do not have any apparent clinical illness that may affect the evoked potentials. Clearance from the institutional ethical committee was obtained written informed consent had been taken from the entire subjects study and control group. The study was conducted on clinically diagnosed cases of GBS of both sexes. The subjects were diagnosed on the basis of history, clinical examination, and typical CSF profile (albuminocytological dissociation) and electrophysiological evidences of demyelination. Subjects having prior neurological illness, apparent hearing and visual impairment, AFP due to another cause were excluded from the study group. All the subjects of study and control group were tested under similar laboratory conditions. Subjects were given sufficient time to relax rapport had been established so that they feel comfortable and cooperate during investigation Recordings of BAEPS: BAEPS were recorded by Neuroperfect- EMG 2000 EMG/NCV/EPsytem. The EPs were recorded with disc electrode from standard scalp location. Electrode were placed at vertex (Cz, reference electrode) ,ipsilateral and contralateral mastoid process (Ai and Ac active electrode) and forehead (Fz, ground electrode) after proper cleaning the scalp or skin site with alcohol followed by EEG conducting paste For recording 2000 click stimuli at the rate of 11Hz/sec with duration of .1 ms were delivered at 70 dB. The other ear was masked by pure white noise at 40 dB. This click generated by passing 0.1 ms square pulses trough shielded headphone. Electrical impedance was kept less than 5 kilo ohm. Peak latencies of all the waves I., II, III, IV and V and interpeak latencies of I-III,II-V and I-V were determined for both right and left ears separately. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data so obtained were subjected to analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 13.0. The data has been shown as mean ±SD, to compare the difference between the normal and healthy controls; â€Å"t† test for independent samples has been carried out. The confidence limit of the study was kept at 95%, hence a â€Å"p† value less than 0.05 denoted statistically significant difference. RESULTS: Table 1: Peak Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials for Left Right Ears ** p Table 2: Inter-peak latencies for BAEP for Left Right Ears * P DISCUSSION: Guillian Barre syndrome (GBS) is regarded as a predominantly motor neuropathy with transient or absent sensory features. Although the central nervous system is rarely involved, GBS associated with CNS, manifestations has been described in children by Okumura et. al (2002)6. and in adults by Maier H et. al. (1997)3, and Muller HD et. al.(2003)4 Maier H et. al. (1997)3 observed histopathological changes in CNS of GBS patients. He found infiltration of macrophages microglial cells and/or lymphocyte in different areas of central nervous system. Spinal cord and brainstem shows lymphocytic infiltration and microglial activation. Histopathological feature of CNS involvement is also observed by Muller HD et. al. (2003)4 in form of the cellular infiltration of spinal cord though not very significant and suggested CNS involvement in GBS occur, though rare. There are few studies which had demonstrated CNS (changes) lesion in GBS on neuroimaging. Nadkarni N et. al. (1993)7 observe MRI finding of CNS white matter lesion in patient of GBS who had developed symptoms of optic neuritis after plasmapharesis. These findings suggest there may be possibility of same antigenic mechanism of pathogenesis in CNS as well as peripheral nervous system. Okumura et. al. (2002)6 reported the clinical course and electrophysiological and neuroimaging of a patient of GBS associated with CNS lesion. He found mild slowing of background activities without paroxysmal discharge in electroencephalogram (EEG), mildly prolonged N2 latency with abnormal waveform in VEPs. BAEPs were unremarkable. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) there were multiple lesions in cortex and sub-cortex in the right occipital lobe and in the deep white matter in both frontal lobes. Despite all these lesions there was no evident CNS manifestation in the case. This implies that an association of CNS involvement in patients with GBS could be under estimated because some lesions can be clinically silent. The present study was an effort to evaluate central nervous system involvement in patients of GBS in Indian population because there is no study regarding the same performed in the India. In the view of known pathologic involvement of most proximal portion of peripheral nerves in GBS, the most likely cause of these BAEP abnormalities is focal demyelination of Schwann cell derived myelin sheath that covers the extramedullary portion of the auditory nerves. Prolongation I-III IPL indicative of lesion in the auditory nerve to medullary junction or lower pons around superior olive trapezoid body. The prolongation of I-V IPL suggests the abnormality of conduction of auditory signals from the proximal auditory nerve to the mesencephalon via pons. The findings of the study of BAEPs are comparable and show similarity with the results of study done by Zgorzalewicz M et. al. (2003)8 except there is an additional finding of IPL III-V prolongation in our study. In the study done by Schiff JA et. al. (1985)9 had also found prolonged I-III inter peak latencies (IPL) in five of six patients of GBS and I-V IPL in two of six patients, these results are comparable with the present study. Ropper AH et. al. (1986)10 also find the BAEP abnormality in the form of I-III and III-V IPL prolongation in patients of GBS, though that was not clinically significant. Whereas Nelson KR et. al. (1988)11, find the BAEPs abnormality in patients of GBS as prolongation of wave II latency and total absence of BAEM wave form in the early stage of disease and with the complaints of sudden onset of deafness, hearing improved with the recovery and BAEP abnormality of conduction block was replaced as a prolongation of wave I latency. After convalescent period BAEPs become normal. In present study there was no case present as similar complaint and BAEPs finding. Topcou M et. al. (1993)12 had performed evoked potential study in patients of GBS and found BAEPs and VEPs values were abnormal in some patients during early course of illness, though the values were not statistically significant. Wong V et. al. (1997)13 had found BAEPs abnormality in Miller Fischer syndrome (MFS), a variant of GBS. His findings of BAEPs abnormalities suggest proximal auditory nerve and brainstem involvement. CONCLUSION: Thus it can be concluded from our study that though often ignored, the central nervous system demyelination does occur in Guillain-Barrà © Syndrome (GBS) and the same can be assessed using evoked potentials like Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEP). REFERENCES: Harrisons; Principle of internal medicine, 15th ed. McGraw-Hill 2001. Lobuz-Roszak B, Pierzchala K, Kapustecki J, GBS central nervous system symptoms, Neurol Neurochir Pol 2004 May-June; 38 (3) : 221-6. Maier H, Schmidbauer m, pfausler B et al., Central nervous system pathology in patients with the GBS, Brain, 1997 Mar, (pt 3); 451-64 Muller HD, Beckman A, Schroder JM, Inflammatory infiltrates in the spinal cord of patients with GBS, Acta Neropathol (Berl) , 2003 Dec, 106 (60 : 509-17 Nadkarni N, Lisak Rp , GBS with bilateral optic neuritis and central white matter disease, Neurology, 1993 Apr, 43(4) : 842-3 Okumura A , Ushida H , Maruyama K et al., GBS associated with central nervous system lesions, Arch dis Child 2002 Apr ; 86 (4) : 304-6. Nadkarni N, Lisak Rp , GBS with bilateral optic neuritis and central white matter disease, Neurology, 1993 Apr, 43(4) : 842-3 Zgorzalewicz M Zielinska, Kilarski D. Brain stem auditory visual evoked potential in children adolescents with GBS, Neurol Neurochir Pol, 2004; 38(1Suppll): 531-7 Schiff JA , Cracco RQ, Cracco JB, Brain stem auditory evoked potentials in GBS, Neurology. 1985 May; 35 (5). Ropper AH, Chiappa KH, Evoked potentials in GBS, Neurology, 1986 Apr; 36(4): 587-90 Nelson KR , Gilmore RL, Massey A , Acoustic nerve conduction abnormalities in GBS ,Neurology, 1988 Aug ; 38(8): 1263-6 Topcu M, Ergin M, Nurlu G et al., Evoked potential in GBS, Turk J Pediator, 1993 Apr- Jun; 35 Wong V. A neurophysiological study in children with Miller Fisher syndrome and Guillain Barre Syndrome. Brain Dev. 1997 Apr; 19(3): 197-204.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Conflict in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay -- Drama Shak

Conflict in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Conflict meaning 'a state of opposition or a fight or struggle' is used in all good dramas, old and new. It makes the drama interesting. Conflict is mostly used by dramatists and script writers to make audiences interested in the drama, tense and wonder what will happen next. The play 'Romeo and Juliet' has to have a conflict because; it is one of the main themes in the play. The disagreements and fight between the two family, that is Capulet and he Montague, their children Romeo and Juliet who truly were in love with each other end up dying. So, after this incident, the quarrels stop between the two families. The whole play starts because of the mutual hostility and conflict between the Capulet and the Montague and ends with tragedy of two lovers. The abundant swordplay throughout the play affects the theme of conflict used in ?Romeo and Juliet?. In this play, there are spontaneous actions of the characters rather than their thoughts. There are many types of conflicts to be appeared in this play such as family conflicts society conflicts and generation conflicts. When lady Capulet wants Juliet to marry Paris but Juliet wants to marry Romeo, appears to be a conflict between them. There is also conflict in the two families and their general relationship with their children. A prologue is the beginning of a play, books or film that introduces. It gives a warning or indication of the events of the play. The idea of conflict occurs in the prologue where it talks about the two houses of Verona have had a long- standing grudge which will lead to a new conflict, love and death of the lovers. It tells us about how violently the two families fight with each other and ends up doing. It also mentions that the next two hours of the play will be full of conflicts. Many different kinds of language are used in the prologue. Some words that are used in the prologue to express the idea of conflict are ?fight? ?unfortunate death?, ?star-cross lovers? ?fated love? etc. the words that are used in the play makes the audiences feel as if they are also part of the play and feel involved in it. Words like ?star crossed lovers? and ?fated love? are used and the audience know what is going to happen. They feel really tensed to what will happen next to the ancient grudge when two unlucky childre... ...ne 5, the conflict that occurs is mainly within the family where it consists of a parent-child conflict. It is different from act1 scene 1 because the conflict used there were to do with the two different families where in this act, the conflict is to do within the two houses and is private. There is a different kind of violence used in this act where there is no blood or swords. Instead words are used. In this scene, lady Capulet tells Juliet of her meaning with Paris, Juliet?s replies to her mother are filled with double meaning. For example she says.? Madam, I am not well.? By this, lady Capulet believes that this is because of grieving over her cousin, Tybalt. However in Juliet?s sense, she is trying to say that she just parted from her husband and her heart is full of sorrow. So there are double meanings in what Juliet says. So when Juliet hears of her weeding with Paris, she defies her mother and refuses to co-operate. So lady Capulet is furious and threatens her own daughter that if she doesn?t marry Paris then she has to leave the house. Not even her nurse is on her side. She feels shattered but continues to speak when her father, Lord Capulet arrives.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Arguments Made in Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry

Arguments Made In Take The Tortillas Out Of Your Poetry Even though the cultural and veiled censorships have to do with why they won't let his book be read, he talks about why he wrote the novel, that it was a reflection of his childhood, and that censors only paid attention to one detail and that was the so-called bad words in Spanish and they used that as an excuse because the novel did not meet the criteria of the circumstances. The censors used a technique where they zoomed in on one detail of the novel and made it seem that because it was in Spanish, it had profanity in it.Rudolfo Anaya made a great point when he said that if we leave the tortillas out of our poetry meaning cultural values, then the cultural we're portraying will go unnoticed therefore leaving Anaya, his Chicano readers, and us as readers left wondering why something should be judged because it's so different from what we as his readers known all our lives. We are in a way are told what is best with what we shou ld read and that these censors are at work in all areas of our lives. Rudolfo Anaya says that censorship has affected him directly and how it recently affected a friend of his as well.His friend is a Chicano poet and scholar and good one. He says he has been encouraging Chicano writers to apply for literary fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. What happened to his friend was that he applied for the literally fellowship but was turned down twice, but he did not give up. They both knew that many of the panels that judged the manuscripts did not have readers that could read Spanish or bilingual manuscripts. His friend then went on saying to him, â€Å"You know,† he told me, â€Å"if they can't read my bilingual poetry, next time I apply I am sending them only poems I write in English.My best poetry is bilingual, it reflects our reality, it is the way we speak, the way we are. But if I stand a better chance at getting a fellowship in English, I will send that. B ut the poems I write only in English are really not my best work. It's just not me. † (Rudolfo Anaya 68). He talks about why he wrote the novel, that it was a reflection of his childhood, and that censors only paid attention to one detail and that was the so-called bad words in Spanish and they used that as an excuse. He goes on to say had they read the novel, they would have discovered that it is not about profanity.In his exact words he says, â€Å"the novel was a reflection of my childhood, a view into the Nuevo Mexicano culture of a small town. I looked at values, I looked at folkways, I created heroic characters out of poor farmers. I wrote about old healing remedies used by the folk to cure physiological illness. I elevated what I found in my childhood, because that is the way I had experienced my childhood. † (Anaya 71). He goes on to say that he believes that the reason why schools burned his books was because they did not want a reflection of his way of life in school.The country was not yet involved with cultural diversity. Chicanos were very upset and disappointed about this because they believed they had a right to literature in their books. That is why the 1990 attack on the NEA by fundamentalist censors has created a national rage and discussion. People have spoken out on their right of freedom of expression and that even though they tried to get others to see their point of view on this, they had to deal with these vicious attacks on their freedom and their storytelling.I think he makes a good point when he is trying to make readers understand that he wrote this novel for himself and for others to read and understand his childhood and what it is like having a Mexican/Indian background and what he and others close to him had to go through because of it. The most important reason is we are in a way told what is best with what we should read and that these censors are at work in all areas of our lives is because â€Å"There is only on e magazine that tells you what is right and what is wrong with our cultural life today. â€Å"Do you sometimes have the impression that our culture has fallen into the hands of the barbarians? † And, finally, â€Å"Are you apprehensive about what the politics of ‘multiculturalism’ is going to mean to the future of civilization? † (Rudolfo Anaya 72). Rudolfo Anaya then goes on to tell us that the editor is telling us that he knows what is right or wrong with cultural life which then goes on to call those types of people, â€Å"barbarians. † The barbarians are then identified as those who come from multicultural communities of this country.That was a type of censorship that was focused against the National Endowment for the Arts in the halls of Congress in 1990. The censors attacked a couple funded projects because they did not agree with the works of the novels. The censors took those rights to keep these works away from us. He then concluded to say censors are afraid of our liberation. Censorship is un-American, but the censor keeps telling you it is the American way. I do not think it is right that Rudolfo Anaya and other Chicano poems or stories get judged because they are written from a ifferent point of view and their culture is different from everyone else's. If it has meaning to it and teaches the audience who is reading it something different than what they are used to then I believe it should be allowed to read. For example, the role of Ultima is important because she is Antonio's guide and mentor in a way and her teachings bring him to understand a different and mystical world all about the Hispanic/Indian culture.It is also not just teaching him about the Hispanic/Indian culture, but also its audience and just because the panel of judges did not have any Spanish readers does not mean that there are not some out there and it should be give a chance. In conclusion, he says every Chicano poem or story carried within it the cry of desire for freedom and equality. That is what literature should do: liberate. There is a lot of different censorships in this essay including cultural and veiled that are two different censorships, but then again also the very same when they are going against something that is not necessarily wrong.Also, he talks about which is ideal because it gives you a sense of what these censorships look for which is one little mistake and when they find one, they simply toss your work aside and don't really look at it or give it a chance. Just because something is different from what you are used to, whether it be a book, a person you meet in a store, or maybe place you never been before you should not judge it right away just because it is different. Hence the old saying is true: â€Å"Don't judge a book by it's cover. †

Monday, January 13, 2020

Diction, Syntax and Imagery Essay

Have you ever listened to a young child talk? I mean really listened? They don’t sound like a teenager or an adult, do they? In Eleven, Sandra Cisneros uses different techniques to help Rachel’s age come out in her speech and thoughts. Diction, syntax and imagery help the reader to better interpret Rachel’s youthful thoughts and feelings. Sandra’s use of diction helps the reader understand how Rachel is feeling when she is accused of the sweater belonging to her. â€Å"†¦She sees I’ve shoved the red sweater to the tippy-tip corner of my desk†¦all over the edge like a waterfall†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cisneros 20) Not many adults would say â€Å"tippy-tip†, so the use of the phrase helps get Rachel’s point across. Rachel’s youthful tone is shown through this choice of words. â€Å"†¦The sweater is still sitting there like a big red mountain†¦not mine, not mine, not mine.† Cisneros’s use of repetition here helps show how upset Rachel actually is. This helps show the youthful tone in her sadness. The use of diction throughout the story helps the reader comprehend Rachel’s sadness and embarrassment when the sweater is put onto her desk. The use of syntax in Eleven helps you see the youthful voice in Rachel’s thoughts. â€Å"Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine.† (Cisneros 20) The short, repetitiveness shows the quick thinking of a child. It’s easy to see this small argumentative line coming from an eleven year old in comparison to a fifteen year old or a thirty year old even. â€Å" – Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one -†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cisneros 20) The continuous counting could be seen as a child counting down on its fingers. This is a way of showing the youthfulness in Rachel’s thoughts. Sandra Cisneros’s uses of syntax make it easier for you to notice Rachel’s youthfulness throughout the story. Sandra’s use of imagery also helps you see the youthful tone throughout Eleven. â€Å"My face all hot and spit coming out of my mouth because I can’t stop the little animal noises from coming out of my mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cisneros 21) This example from the text makes it easy to picture a young girl being this  flustered. It makes it makes it easier to see Rachel sitting there becoming more and more overwhelmed and upset. â€Å"†¦And it’s hanging all over the edge like a waterfall, but I don’t care.† (Cisneros 20) Cisneros’s use of imagery here helps the reader see just how far Rachel is going to prove that the sweater isn’t hers. It gives a more youthful vibe to the story with this use of imagery to help show the reader how she is feeling. There are several examples of imagery throughout Eleven that help show a more youthful tone. Age is very important in stories, and how the author presents the age is important as well. Young children and adults have such different opinions and vocabularies and ideas. Using different techniques such as proper diction, syntax and imagery help define a characters youthful voice, and help the reader have a better understanding of what is going through a character’s mind.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

A happy marriage is that it is much full of spouses

I guess a happy marriage is that it is much full of spouses' love and trust, and it is welcomed and congratulated by surrounding families, relatives, and others. So, I wish to express a happy marriage by three stages based on my marriage life up to now. In the beginning of marriage for two or three years after wedding, a bride and a groom are always happy with wedding itself because they completed their love and are able to   live together with their lovers permanently. And also they are happy with expecting the first baby as the result of their love. In the middle stage of marriage life from having the first baby to growing up a adult, the first baby gives the spouses the happiest marriage. When children are growing up well, they will feel happy too.  If children go to a famous university, they will be conscious of a happy marriage furthermore and be proud of them.On the other hand, they can sometimes suffer  some difficulties in this period due to the families' health, economic matters, and children's educational problems. After overcoming those matters well, a happy marriage would be maintained continuously. Finally, the spouses will be conscious of a happy marriage when their son and daughter meet good marriage partners and they succeed in the society. As getting older, all most of spouses would feel more deep love and trust each other. I wish to say that a happy marriage results in the better health of spouses physically and mentally.   

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Queer Representation Of All Age Media Essay - 2321 Words

Queer Representation in All Age Media Growing up as a Catholic, Puerto Rican gay boy in the 90s and early 2000s, I struggled to discover my queer identity as well as queer representation in the media I consumed. Being gay was something that was never discussed. If it was brought up, it was usually in hushed tones (I remember being introduced to my uncle s close friend each holiday) or as something negative (I still remember the sting of being called a faggot in elementary school). This reflected exactly how homosexuality was portrayed in media at the time. Queer characters and homosexuality were at best portrayed in codified, blink-and-you ll-miss it labels and affectations, or at worst, something to laugh at, pity or even hate. As someone who still regularly reads comics, watches Saturday morning cartoons and play video games, it is so exciting to discover the lengths of progress that has been made in queer representation in all age media. In this paper I hope to detail th e highs and lows of LGBTQ representation in all age media and highlight the positive and negative impact of media representation. Before we can look forward, we must look back at queer representation of the past. The late film scholar Vito Russo painstakingly researched the evolution of queer representation in cinema in his landmark book The Celluloid Closet. In both the book and its documentary of the same name, Russo details the earliest portrayal of homosexuality inShow MoreRelatedQueer Representation Of All Ages Media Essay2163 Words   |  9 PagesQueer Representation in All Ages Media Growing up as a Catholic, Puerto Rican gay boy in the 90s and early 2000s, I struggled to discover my queer identity as well as queer representation in the media I consumed. Being gay was something that was never discussed. 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Thursday, January 2, 2020

Biography of Victoria Woodhull, Womens Rights Activist

Victoria Woodhull (born Victoria Claflin; September 23, 1838–June 9, 1927) was a womens rights activist, stockbroker, and newspaper editor. She ran for president of the United States in 1872. Woodhull was also involved in the spiritualist movement, and for a time she made her living as a healer. Fast Facts: Victoria Woodhull Known For:  Candidacy for U.S. President; radicalism as a womens suffrage activist; role in a sex scandal involving Henry Ward BeecherAlso Known As:  Victoria California Claflin, Victoria Woodhull Martin, Wicked Woodhull, Mrs. SatanBorn:  September 23, 1838 in Homer, OhioParents: Roxanna Claflin and Reuben Buck ClaflinDied:  June 9, 1927 in Bredon’s Norton,  Worcestershire, EnglandSpouse(s): Canning Woodhull, Colonel James Harvey Blood, John Biddulph MartinChildren: Byron Woodhull, Zulu (later Zula), Maude WoodhullNotable Quote: Of all the horrid brutalities of our age, I know of none so horrid as those that are sanctioned and defended by marriage. Early Life Victoria Claflin was born into the poor and eccentric family of Roxanna and Reuben Buck Claflin as the seventh of 10 children on September 23, 1838. Her mother often attended religious revivals and believed herself to be clairvoyant. The family traveled around selling patent medicines and telling fortunes, with the father styling himself Dr. R. B. Claflin, American King of Cancers. Victoria spent her childhood with this medicine show, often paired with her younger sister Tennessee in performing and telling fortunes. First Marriage Victoria met Canning Woodhull when she was 15 and they soon married. Canning also styled himself as a physician, at a time when licensing requirements were non-existent or loose. Canning Woodhull, like Victorias father, sold patent medicines. They had a son Byron, who was born with serious intellectual disabilities, which Victoria blamed on her husbands drinking. Victoria moved to San Francisco and worked as an actress and cigar girl. She later rejoined her husband in New York City, where the rest of the Claflin family was living, and Victoria and her sister Tennessee began practicing as mediums. In 1864, the Woodhulls and Tennessee moved to Cincinnati, then to Chicago, and then began traveling, keeping ahead of complaints and legal proceedings. Victoria and Canning later had a second child, a daughter Zulu (later known as Zula). Over time, Victoria grew less tolerant of her husbands drinking, womanizing, and occasional beatings. They divorced in 1864, with Victoria keeping her ex-husbands surname. Spiritualism and Free Love Likely during her troubled first marriage, Victoria Woodhull became an advocate of free love, the idea that a person has the right to stay with a person as long as they choose, and that they can choose another (monogamous) relationship when they want to move on. She met Colonel James Harvey Blood, also a spiritualist and an advocate of free love. They are said to have married in 1866, though there are no records of this marriage. Victoria Woodhull, Captain Blood, Victorias sister Tennessee, and their mother eventually moved to New York City. In New York City, Victoria established a popular salon where many of the citys intellectual elite gathered. There she became acquainted with Stephen Pearl Andrews, an advocate of free love, spiritualism, and womens rights. Congressman Benjamin F. Butler was another acquaintance and advocate of womens rights and free love. Through her salon, Victoria became increasingly interested in womens rights and suffrage. Womens Suffrage Movement In January 1871, the National Woman Suffrage Association met in Washington, D.C. On January 11, Victoria Woodhull arranged to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on the topic of womens suffrage, and the NWSA convention was postponed a day so that those attending could see Woodhull testifying. Her speech was written with Rep. Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts and made the case that women already had the right to vote based on the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The NWSA leadership then invited Woodhull to address their gathering. The leadership of the NWSA—which included Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Isabella Beecher Hooker—was so taken with the speech that they began promoting Woodhull as an advocate and speaker for womens suffrage. Theodore Tilton was a supporter and officer of the NWSA and also a close friend of one of Woodhulls critics, Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. Elizabeth Cady Stanton told Victoria Woodhull confidentially that Tiltons wife Elizabeth had been involved in an affair with the Reverend Beecher. When Beecher refused to introduce Woodhull at a November 1871 lecture at Steinway Halls, she visited him privately and reportedly confronted him about his affair. Still, he refused to do the honors at her lecture. In her speech the next day, she referred indirectly to the affair as an example of sexual hypocrisy and double standards. Because of the scandal this caused, Woodhull lost a significant amount of business, though her lectures were still in demand. She and her family had trouble paying their bills,  however, and were eventually evicted from their home. Presidential Candidacy In May 1872, a breakaway group from the NWSA—the National Radical Reformers—nominated Woodhull as a candidate for U.S. president of the Equal Rights Party. They nominated Frederick Douglass, a newspaper editor, former slave, and abolitionist, as vice president. Theres no record that Douglass accepted the nomination. Susan B. Anthony opposed the nomination of Woodhull, while Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Isabella Beecher Hooker supported her run for the presidency. Beecher Scandal Woodhull continued to have significant financial problems, even suspending her journal for a few months. Perhaps responding to continued denunciations of her moral character, on November 2, just before Election Day, Woodhull revealed specifics of the Beecher/Tilton affair in a speech and published an account of the affair in the resumed Weekly. She also published a story about a stockbroker, Luther Challis, and his seduction of young women. Her target was not the morality of the sexual affairs, but the hypocrisy that permitted powerful men to be sexually free while women were denied such freedom. The reaction to the public revelation of the Beecher/Tilton affair was a great public outcry. Woodhull was arrested under the Comstock Law for distribution of obscene material through the mail and charged with libel. In the meantime, the presidential election was held, and Woodhull received no official votes. (Some scattered votes for her were likely not reported.) In 1877, after the scandal had subsided, Tennessee, Victoria, and their mother moved to England, where they lived comfortably. Life in England In England, Woodhull met wealthy banker John Biddulph Martin, who proposed to her. They did not marry until 1882, apparently because of his familys opposition to the match, and she worked to distance herself from her former radical ideas on sex and love. Woodhull used her new married name, Victoria Woodhull Martin, in her writings and public appearances after her marriage. Tennessee married Lord Francis Cook in 1885. Victoria published Stirpiculture, or the Scientific Propagation of the Human Race in 1888; with Tennessee, The Human Body, the Temple of God in 1890; and in 1892, Humanitarian Money: The Unsolved Riddle. Woodhull traveled to the United States occasionally and was nominated in 1892 as the presidential candidate of the Humanitarian Party. England remained her primary residence. In 1895, she returned to publishing with a new paper, The Humanitarian, which advocated eugenics. In this venture, she worked with her daughter Zulu Maude Woodhull. Woodhull also founded a school and an agricultural show and became involved in a number of humanitarian causes. John Martin died in March 1897, and Victoria did not remarry. Death In her later years, Woodhull became involved in the womens suffrage campaigns led by the Pankhursts. She died on June 9, 1927, in England. Legacy Though she was considered controversial in her time, Woodhull has come to be widely admired for her trailblazing efforts to secure rights for women. Two womens rights organizations—the Woodhull Insititute for Ethical Leadership and the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance—were named in her honor, and in 2001 Woodhull was added to the National Womens Hall of Fame. Sources Gabriel, Mary.  Notorious Victoria: The Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1998.Goldsmith, Barbara.  Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull. Granta, 1998.Underhill, Lois Beachy.  The Woman Who Ran for President: The Many Lives of Victoria Woodhull. Penguin, 1996.