Opposing Embryonic Stem Cell Research Essay - 1748 Words

Opposing Embryonic Stem Cell Research Stem cell research has a lot to offer in the way of treatments, or even cures to some devastating diseases that humans face. However, research using human embryonic stem cells that can only be obtained by killing a human embryo can not be condoned or paid for by the United States Government. Federal funding needs to focus on the adult stem cell research that has already been proven successful and can be obtained without destroying a human life. Ethics and morals need to be considered when the destruction of one human life is acceptable so that another human may live. The first thing to differentiate is that it is ethical to experiment on human tissue, but those experiments on human beings are†¦show more content†¦Adult stem cells have already proven to be successful in treating diseases and have helped hundreds of thousands of patients, and new clinical uses expand almost weekly. Adult stem cells can be obtained from cord blood, f at, neural tissue, muscle, bone marrow, placental and skin cells. Adult stem cells are increasingly being shown to have a similar and perhaps an identical capacity to become cells of other types. There is a possibility that adult stem cells may function more efficiently and more safely than embryonic cells. Treena Arinzeh, a young professor who last year won a Presidential Award, the nations highest scientific honor, is bringing the promise of stem cell research one step closer to reality. Adult stem cells also have a unique trait that lends them their magic: Under the right conditions, or given the proper signals, they have the ability to turn into different cell types. Arinzeh is doing exactly that: developing signals, in the form of biomaterials, that will help adult stem cells turn into cells that, if injected into a diseased area of the human body, could regenerate damaged tissue. Her research has also led to two major stem-cell discoveries: One showing that stem cells, when mi xed with biomaterials known as scaffolds, can help regenerate bone growth; and another proving that stem cells taken from one person can be successfully implanted into another. A list of conditions for which stem-cell treatment holds promise grows almost daily: It nowShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics of Stem Cell Research Essay741 Words   |  3 Pages Embryonic stem cell research can be easily defined. A stem is defined as something that is developed from. A cell is defined as a microscopic living organism. According to Dennis Hollinger, Embryonic stem cell research uses from the embryos inner cell mass that give rise to each of the human bodys many different tissue types(1). In our modern day society, stem cell research has become a controversial topic. Several people strongly oppose the idea of the research, but many are struggling forRead MoreFederal Funds Should Be Used for Embryonic Stem Cell Research1401 Words   |  6 Pages Are embryonic stem cells the cure to many of the human body’s ailments, including defective organs and crippling diseases, or is their use a blatant disregard of human rights and the value of life?   Thanks to the rapid advancements in this field, the potential benefits of stem cells are slowly becoming reality.   However, embryonic stem cell research is an extremely divisive topic in the United States thanks to the ethical issues surrounding terminating embryos to harvest the stem cells.   In responseRead MoreA Research Study On Stem Cell Research1324 Words   |  6 Pageslike this. He knows that stem cells could help cure him from his misery, so he has been fighting and fighting for stem cell research to be fully funded in America. Stem cells are cells that have the skill to change into any type of cell in the human body (Lewis). These cells could be put anywhere ill in the body to make it healthy again. Imagine all of the people with chronicle diseases and cancer be ing able to have hope for being happy and healthy again. Also, these stem cells can fix damaged organsRead More Embryonic and Adult Stem Cell Research Essay1359 Words   |  6 PagesEmbryonic and Adult Stem Cell Research With the advent of a wide variety of scientific advances in the medical field, especially those improvements in health-related fields, the quality of life for the earth’s inhabitants has improved greatly over the past century. Scientists continue to improve upon current knowledge and expand the field of medicine. Over the past few years, scientists have performed significant research pertaining to the study of stem cells. Many researchers see potentialRead MoreEmbryo Based Stem Cell Research1171 Words   |  5 PagesEmbryo-based stem cell research The controversy concerning the ethical dilemma related to stem cell research rages on. One particular basis of this controversy emanates from the fact that embryonic stem cells research derives its stem cells from destroyed embryos. Stem cells are cells that are yet to be specialized into specific tissue that serves specific function in the organism. Some radical scientists have labeled these cells the building blocks of future medical and biotechnical research becauseRead MoreThe Medical Promise Of Embryonic Stem Cells1626 Words   |  7 Pagesof Embryonic Stem Cells Why should people suffer from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, sickle cell anemia, leukemia, and plenty of other degenerative diseases while the cure lies in our hands? After James Thompson, a developmental biologist, reported that he had derived the first human embryonic stem cell line (Thomson), the potential of curing degenerative diseases was revealed. Ph.D. holder and deputy director of FDA’s office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, Stephanie Simek, explains that stem cellsRead MoreBiomedical Engineering: Stem Cells Essay1584 Words   |  7 Pagesadvances and research that stem from biomedical engineers can solve problems that would have never have been able to be solved before. Engineers have been working on new technology that will utilize stem cells in order to save lives and treat diseases. The stem cells that are used for treatment are called embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are formed from five-day old human embryos that the embryos are essentially human beings (In Stem-cell Research† Para. 3). The usage of such stem cells has cause dRead More Both Sides of Stem Cell Research Essay889 Words   |  4 PagesStem Cell Research Paper Stem cell research has been quite a controversial topic since its origin in the 1960s by Gopal Das and Joseph Altman. Of course, anything that uses a human embryo would be. Stem cell research could open a vast number of new doors for modern science, it could let us test new drugs, one of which could be the unfound cure for AIDS or Alzheimer’s disease. However, this branch of science comes at a high price, the price of a human life that is only five to six days old (NIH)Read MoreThe Debate Over Stem Cell Research1196 Words   |  5 Pagescontroversy over the topic of stem cell research. It seems to be that the main controversy when it comes to the topic of stem cell research is an ethical debate, and because of this it seems that the side opposing stem cell research always wins due to their use of pathos when it comes to their argument. I personally do not side with those against the idea of stem cell research because I believe that the pros outweigh the cons when you break it down this way. Stem cell research could be the gateway to findingRead MoreThe And The European Union1108 Words   |  5 Pagesprogression of research. The law states that research on embryos older than 14 days is prohibited. Panno Joseph, Ph.D. holder and clinical E.S cell researcher, explains how the age limit of 14 days is specifically used because it is the time period when the brain and spinal cord start to develop, which is the beginning of the neuralization (P anno 32). In addition, the United Kingdom denies the use of embryonic stem cells without a license (Vogel 1602). A license is only obtained for research agencies promoting

Restoration Of Restoration And Conservation - 2099 Words

Everyday, our history and the visions of artists are threatened by time. Left alone, paint will fade, old buildings will fall and the history associated with them will perish. As time goes by the need to preserve and restore this history becomes increasingly important. Generations to come should not have to miss out on these priceless pieces of history simply because these artifacts were left in ruin. When it comes to cleaning and restoring historic art, there is always the risk of altering the work from its original state or even worse, ruining it beyond repair; yet time and the elements put these masterpieces at risk every day. Action must be taken in order to preserve our history. The need for restoration and conservation is strong, however, the results of restoring works of art history can come with heavy criticism. The team selected to restore the Sistine chapel ceiling, between 1980 and 1999 (Beck pg. 64), very well know this to be true. Before moving into the controversy surro unding the cleaning of the Sistine chapel ceiling, it is imperative to understand the origin of this grand work of art. During the fifteenth century, the location of the Pope’s Roman residence had moved from the Lateran Palace to the Vatican. Sometime after this transition occurred, Pope Sixtus IV of the Della Rovere family erected several new structures, including a new papal chapel that was named the Sistine. In 1503 when Giuliano Della Rovere, better known as Julius II, became Pope, heShow MoreRelatedArt Conservation and Restoration1198 Words   |  5 Pagesof art conservation and restoration has long been debated in the art world. Experts and historians have never agreed that all art must be salvaged at any cost. This paper will examine what art conservation and restoration is, what is involved in these endeavors, and what has been done over the centuries to many of history’s cherished art pieces. To begin this discussion, it is crucial to understand what exactly art conservation and restoration is and what it entails. Art Conservation/RestorationRead MoreIs It Possible to Restore a Balance between the Conservation of the Natural Environment and the Growing Global Needs of Humans620 Words   |  3 Pagessolution whos potential hasn’t been fully taken advantage of until now is ecological restoration which is a process whereby not only the recovery of eco systems that have been degraded damaged or destroyed are looked at but also the human influences that surround them. In order for ecological restoration to be effective it needs to pay attention to four main aspects namely: †¢ Improvement of biodiversity conservation, †¢ Improvement of the livelihoods of people, †¢ The empowerment of the native and localRead MoreDescription Of Conservation Problem / Issue1692 Words   |  7 PagesDescription of conservation problem/issue We would like to create a new path for the Poudre river in the area that it flows through River Bluffs Open Space. The river is currently channelized, creating a larger possibility for flood damage and lessing suitable wildlife habitat. We would like to makes changes to the river bed and bank so that it takes a more meandering path through River Bluffs Open Space. This will create more recreational opportunities within the open space such as angling, rafting/kayakingRead MoreThe Goals For The West Saginaw Bay Watershed1416 Words   |  6 Pagesplanning/implementation Present idea to partners Cost: Approximately $10,000 to develop a GIS database Meet individually with at least 20 landowners each year to promote and implement land stewardship practices. Key Partners: Huron Pines, Saginaw Bay RCD, Conservation Districts, County Foresters, NRCS Tasks: Compile landowner contact information Contact landowners via direct mail, local meeting, etc. Prepare land stewardship materials for landowners Meet with property owners to address needs to develop a planRead MoreBuffalo New York Essay988 Words   |  4 Pagesland use, energy conservation, air quality, water conservation, and material use. In the restoration of different buildings and factories engineers, architects, and planners have used green building techniques in order to restore, preserve, and reuse its building stock (DiSalvo, 2017). Profit: Subsequently, with all the new improvements and restorations, Buffalo has increased its profit and more younger families are moving into the city to raise their families. With the new restoration of RiverworksRead More Government And The Long Island Sound Essay2734 Words   |  11 Pagesmonies for funding for the Long Island Sound. There are also bills and legislation passed by the government, which provides laws protecting the sound. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Long Island Sound Study (LISS) is a partnership devoted in the restoration and protection of the Sound. This partnership involves federal, state, interstate, and local agencies, universities, environmental groups, industry, and the public in a program to protect and restore the health of Long Island Sound. The Long IslandRead More Buffalo Restoration Debate Essay1716 Words   |  7 PagesBuffalo Restoration Debate Restoration of the Bison is something that has been going on for the past two decades. As a matter of fact, several Native American tribes have come together to form the Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) which has been set out to bring bison back onto the American plains in the midwest. Bison have an intimate relationship in the traditions and rituals of Native Americans. The importance of bison within the culture has made bringing back the bison an important issueRead MoreGrassland Soil Erosion Of Grasslands901 Words   |  4 Pagesthe future of the land and if grazing will be allowed to continue. One of the main ways of helping determine the future use of the land is in the soil quality. By observing the soil color, pH, texture, and structure, the proper means of restoration and conservation can be better determined. There are many aspects soil that can be observed and measured in order to determine the quality of the lands condition. One property of soil that can be looked at is the color. 2Soil color can determine its compositionRead MoreThe Field Trip Report : Translocation Of Native Birds Essay2380 Words   |  10 PagesWenderholm Field Trip Report Abstract Translocation of native birds to offshore islands has been a part of ecological restoration in New Zealand and has started since 1890’s. This translocation to mainland islands was started by the Department of Conservation in the year 1995. Wenderholm Regional Park has an area of 60 hectares maintained for ecological restoration. The area has been fenced to prevent the entry of livestock and the pasture land is reforested. The ecology of the park was restoredRead More Ecotourism Essay1257 Words   |  6 Pagesgo on a so-called ecotour. Ecotourism is defined in different ways, by different groups of people with different agendas. Many tourists are attracted to the adventure that is associated with many remote, natural areas. Others wish to encourage conservation practices in environmentally sensitive areas, using profits to restore habitat, change public perception through education, and develop community. However, local people also want the opportunity for new jobs and capital ist ventures. No matter how

Being Fat a Big Issue Free Essays

Being Fat a Big Issue Daniel Gutierrez English 1430, Fall 2010, Section 02 Professor A. Hepner October 14th, 2010 Daniel Gutierrez A. Hepner ENG 1300-01 October 14th, 2010 Being Fat a Big Issue Being fat is one of the biggest issues lately. We will write a custom essay sample on Being Fat a Big Issue or any similar topic only for you Order Now Our society has created a stereotype of how people should look and it is not exactly a fat boy/girl. People who are fat have suffered every day for how they look and many times our society ignores fat people’s feelings. Obese people have been suffering depression and discrimination for being fat, even though sometimes it is a disease or compulsive eating (eating disorder) that makes them fat, there are also some irresponsible cases of eating unhealthily and it not working out. Obese people today tend to be discriminated for being fat in our society. Overweight people are not different to us; they are people like you and me, for that reason we should not judge them. They are part of our society and they deserve respect and understanding. Ms. Claudia Gomez said, â€Å"It is hard for us when I take the bus and everybody looking us like if we are different or if we are funny, they don’t know how painful it is. † In addition, there are some studies to show that depression can be responsible for overweight especially in women (Overweight and Depression). Moreover, some obese people have eating disorder like compulsive overeating. Compulsive overeating is an addiction to food in big quantities. People suffering compulsive overeating used to eat to hide their emotions, to avoid what they feel inside or their life problems. As Susie Orbach said in her essay, Fat as a Feminist Issue, â€Å"Women suffering from the problem of compulsive eating endure double anguish: feeling out of step with the rest of society, and believing that it is all their own fault†¦. (201)† Overweight people have a disease which means people having extra body weight from muscle, bone and fat (What are Overweight and Obesity). There are some options to lose weight such as: surgery, diets by a nutritionist, exercise and some medicines. According to Medline Plus one of the common options for very obese people is the Gastric by Pass Surgery. After this surgery the patients will not be capable of eating like they ate before. This is an alternative to lose weight faster but also the patients have to follow a diet and do exercise (Gastric Bypass Surgery). Furthermore, obese people have not been practicing healthy habits. The most common unhealthy habits among overweight people are: they do not do exercise, they eat too frequently, usually eat more than one time at the same meal, they stay away from lightest activities (like use the stairs or walk a little), and they eat when they are not truly hungry (Frisch). Likewise, overweight people might be more responsible. Everybody knows what we can do or what we can’t. If I know that I’m gaining weight, I also know that I have to take care of what I eat and do exercise. But many obese people know that they are fat and they still eat unhealthy food and also they do not do exercise. I think this is happening because we like to blame the circumstances (depression, divorce, childhood, etc). But at the same time they also know that being overweight may not be their fault but they are responsible to remain so, because what we do is our choice. Even though there are many advertisements that encourage us to eat unhealthy, nobody is forcing us to eat that food. Also you are the only one who can make the simple decision of taking the elevator or go up stairs. Being obese or overweight is an irresponsible act that makes people sick and this affects everybody because this is a public health problem that should not be. In his essay, What You Eat Is Your Business, Radley Balko maintains that, â€Å"the best way to alleviate the obesity â€Å"public health† crisis is to remove obesity from the realm of public health (157). As he said, here some people would probably say that people should be responsible with their own health because we are the only ones who make the choice of living healthy or not. On the other hand, some fat people are proud of how they are. Mr. Alvarado who is weighting around 310 pounds describes himself as a big man and he said, â€Å"I don’t feel bad because I’m fat, I am happy how I am, a big man. I’m comfortable with my weight, I am healthy and I don’t want to change because the society says that people should be thin. In my opinion, over the years and following the bad habits that he has, I am not sure if he is going to be healthy. He maybe is proud of how he is but if he does not start to eat healthy and do exercise, he is going to see the consequences in a few years. In conclusion, being obese or overweight is an issue but it is also a disease. Although, it is unhealthy and unsightly, the hardest is some of them feel like they cannot fit in our society. In my opinion, we should not judge them; we should help them to make the correct decision to have a healthy life and also we have to change the stereotype that the society has showed us. Also, I used to think all obese people were unhappy to be fat. But my recent researches show me that some obese people simply do not care what people say about them and they are happy how they are. Works Cited Pages: †¢ â€Å"Compulsive Overeating† Something Fishy, Website on Eating Disorders. Web. October 07. 2010. http://www. something-fishy. org/whatarethey/coe. php †¢ â€Å"Gastric Bypass Surgery. † Shabir Bhimji MD, PhD, Specializing in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Midland , TX Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A. D. A. M. Medine Plus, Trusted Healthy Information for You. Update Date, May 17. 2010. Web. October 07. 2010. http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007199. htm †¢ â€Å"Overweight and Depression. † Women’s Health Resource, Taking Care of Your Body. Web. October 07. 2010. http://www. wdxcyber. com/overweight-depression. html †¢ â€Å"What are Overweight and Obesity† Overweight and Obesity. Revised March. 2010. Web. October 07. 2010. http://www. nhlbi. nih. ov/health/dci/Diseases/obe/obe_whatare. html †¢ Balko, Radley. â€Å"What You Eat Is Your Business. † They Say / I say with Readings. Ed. Graff, Birkenstein, Durst. New York-London. 2009. 157-161. Print. †¢ Frisch, Louann. â€Å"7 Bad Habits of Overweight People. † Community and Resources. 24 Hours Fitness. Web. October 07. 2010. http://www. 24hourfitness. com/resources/weight_loss/articles/bad_habits. html †¢ Orbach, Susie. â€Å"Fat as a Feminist Issue. † They Say / I say with Readings. Ed. Graff, Birkenstein, Durst. New York-London. 2009. 200-205. Print. How to cite Being Fat a Big Issue, Papers

Ibm Change Story Essay Example For Students

Ibm Change Story Essay An IBM Change Story: Transformational Change from Below and Above 1. Who were the forerunners/ advocates of the change? Change From Below David Grossman is a computer programmer at IBM. -John Patrick is a member of the strategy task force at IBM. Change from Above Lou Gerstner was IBMs CEO in the 1990s. Samuel Palmisano is IBMs CEO from 2002 who took over Lou Gestner. 2. What changes were implemented? How was it managed? The change in IBM started in the early middle 1990s. David Grossman, computer programmer who saw the important role that the internet will play in how business will be done in the future. He began convincing the head of marketing and her team but ended up with an ally in John Patrick, a member of IBMs strategy task force. Together, they created an underground community of web fans who shared technical information and worked willingly for a common goal. Even problems with the lack of funding that usually comes with unofficial projects has been toppled because of the support of several business units, which eventually spread through out the organization. Further, time came when they were already supported by IBMs then CEO Lou Gestner. The change initiated by Grossman and Patrick started the period of change and reinvention at IBM. After the change from the low levels, the top management also did its part in facilitating the change that helped bring IBM into the great global service provider with almost a quarter of its revenues coming from e-business made possible by the internet. From CEO Lou Gestner, who supported the two major change advocates to the new CEO Samuel Palmisano, who advanced the changes to the next level. Palmisano focused on improving teamwork and collaboration. He started by distributing his CEO bonus among the top level management because he believed that he can better foster collaboration by bridging the pay gap between him and his team. Later, he disbanded the top level management to form a three teams that he could work with directly- one for strategy, technology, and operations. . What was the reaction to the change? The reaction to the change was positive from both the low level to the top level of the organization. Since the initial change advocates were from the low level, it was not hard for the rest of the low level personnel to accept the change. On the part of the top management, the CEOs were receptive and accepting of the changes from the low level. In fact, they even encouraged the change and advocated a few more of their own.

Tim OBrien Essays - Fiction, Literature, Tim OBrien

Tim O'Brien Tim O'Brien, a contemporary American novelist and short story writer of immense, imaginative power, freely admits that the Vietnam War was the dark, jarring experience that made him a writer. O'Brien served in Vietnam with the Fifth Battalion, Forty-six infantry from January 1969 to March 1970. He patrolled some of the most active and brutal sites of the war and it definitely showed in the settings of his writing. Before his induction into the army, O'Brien felt traumatized on the decision of whether to stay in the United States or to flee to Canada. He finally convinced himself to go for the reason that it was his duty. O'Brien returned to America sound of mind and body if not in spirit. He wrote of his war experience in a ?spare, poetically elusive, and classically toned personal memoir.?(Myers 140) Thomas Myers states that, ?O'Brien examines the wrenching transformation of sense and sensibility in fictions that are evocative, challenging meetings of imagination and memory, of the created and the recreated, of the impossible and the possible.?(Myers140) O'Brien uses much of Hemmingway's style in his work- despair, rhythmic repetition of key words and phrases; the hard, discipline control of idea and emotion in sentences and paragraphs that are models of the stoic understatement; the darkly ironic gestures; and the classical imperatives of courage and cowardliness, transgression and expiation, of Hemmingway's best stories and novels. O'Brien is a natural storyteller who can spin a tale with the best of them. He is also a figure who would cast off from safe harbors and dive deeply into the primal American soul and psyche. O'Brien explores a few specific subjects and themes: the continual interplay of fact and imagination in fiction and in life; the compulsive, absurd, noble quest for human truth; the difficulty in defining and obtaining the elusive quality of courage; and the ongoing human need for the fragile, made up, explanatory device we call story. O'Brien's prime theme is not that war maims and destroys but that storytelling explains, connects, and ultimately saves the teller and the listener. The two great themes that are instilled in all of his novels and short fiction: the ongoing quest to acquire or simply to define courage and the desperate need to attain redemption after sin. In his memoir, If I Die In A Combat Zone, O'Brien ? established his literary voice by creating a striking personal meditation with somber, classical tones and poetic effect, and he offers a version of himself who is both a participant telling one man's story and a symbolic emissary of his culture who exchanges traditional and pop culture myth for the hard-earned knowledge of the personal transgression and historical experience.?(Myers 144) In his book, Northern Lights, O'Brien made an early attempt to isolate and explore both the male and the female in every human being, fictional or real. O'Brien explained that men and women are different, but not that different. In Northern Lights, he shows the common traits between the opposite genders. In The Nuclear Age, O'Brien' treatment of the New Left is satiric, and the characters are often deliberate. ? What becomes clear in the novel is O'Brien's own ambivalence to the leftist politics, the civil disobedience, and the cultural upheaval of America in the 1960s and the 1970s.? (Myers 150) O'Brien combines a subtle blend of imagination and memory to give his readers a taste of the surreal past of his characters. In his next book, The Things They Carried, the establish subjects and themes were: the search for a workable definition of courage; the need to transmute terrible memory into a livable present; the responsibility of the living to the dead to keep them alive somehow; the wonderful, terrible nature of storytelling itself. The narrator and central character was named Tim O'Brien and was modeled after his creator, but both are and are not the ? real ? one. In this book, there is not only a pronounced metafictional feel ? the implicit argument for the utter interchangeability and fluity of life and art ? but also the perception by the reader that finally any attempt to separate the author from the narrator-hero is a fool's errand. In Going after Cacciato, the very themes of the book are imagination and memory. O'Brien makes it clear how the power of our dreams also creates what we call the real world. In The Lake of the Woods, O'Brien offers a depiction of human mystery, secret sin, and the dark, tragic effects of contemporary American history that again rubs away

Definition and Examples of Kennings in English

Definition and Examples of Kennings in English A kenning is a  figurative expression, usually compound in form, that is used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English. Kenning as Metaphor The kenning has been described as a kind of compressed metaphor with the referent suppressed. Commonly used kennings in Old English and Norse poetry include whale-road (for sea), sea-horse (for ship), and iron-shower (for the rain of spears or arrows during a battle). Examples Old English poetry used a special poetic vocabulary. . . . [The word] ban-cofa (n) had a special meaning: its two elements were bone-den, but it meant body. Such an expression is a paraphrase, a reference to a thing by concentration on one of its attributes. A person could be called a reord-berend (speech-bearer) because speech is uniquely human. This device of paraphrase was frequent in Old English poetry, and it goes now by the name (borrowed from Old Norse) of kenning.(W.F. Bolton, A Living Language: The History and Structure of English. Random House, 1982)The poets loved kennings because they were opportunities to vary their descriptions when they told long stories of heroes and battles. . . .So, what could a ship be? A wave floater, sea goer, sea-house or sea steed. And the sea? A seal bath, fish home, swan road or whale way. Anything could be described using a kenning. A woman is a peace-weaver, a traveller is an earth-walker, a sword is a wolf of wounds, the sun is a sky candl e, the sky is the curtain of the gods, blood is battle sweat or battle icicle. There are hundreds more. (David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words. St. Martins Press, 2012) Circumlocutions The poets of medieval Scandinavia developed a system of naming by circumlocution, or kennings, which they could expand to a dizzying degree of complexity. They might call the sea earth of the fish. Next, they could replace the word fish by the expression snake of the fjord. Then, they might substitute for fjord the phrase bench of the ship. The result was a strange, prolix thing: earth of the snake of the bench of the shipwhich, of course, simply meant sea. But only those familiar with the conceits of poetry would know it.(Daniel Heller-Roazen, Learn to Talk in Beggars’ Cant. The New York Times, August 18, 2013) Contemporary Kennings We clearly see kenning variation . . . in the seventh of the sequence Glanmore Sonnets in [Seamus] Heaneys next volume, Field Work [1979], when names of the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast (itself possessing the sonority of a formulaic catalogue from early heroic poetry) prompt the poet to expand on the metaphor in the Old English kenning for the sea hronrad (whale-road, Beowulf, l. 10): Sirens of the tundra,Of eel-road, seal-road, keel-road, whale-road, raiseTheir wind-compounded keen behind the baizeAnd drive the trawlers to the lee of Wicklow. . . . Heaney performs variation not just on the concept signified, but on the signifier itself, echoing the hypnotic chant of the shipping forecast. (Chris Jones, Strange Likeness: The Use of Old English in Twentieth-Century Poetry. Oxford University Press, 2006) Etymologyfrom the Old Norse, to know Pronunciation: KEN-ing

Identify and illustrate some of the dominant cultural values of modern Essay

Identify and illustrate some of the dominant cultural values of modern consumer societies - Essay Example Moreover, it is still a debatable issue whether modern consumerism has espoused globalised or localised philosophies (Merz et al. 2008: 166-182). Yet, literature on this topic has focused on finding the disparities between theoretical knowledge and its practical implementations. The main difficulty in arriving any conclusive model of consumer culture in modern societies is that social values and systems are too generic to hint at any distinctive features of consumerism. On one hand, the 21st century is market-centric. The pervasive market trends have engulfed everything material or immaterial. Theories of branding, especially those involving adolescent psychologies, clearly show how cultural propensities are directly regulated by the market economy (Naim et al. 2008: 627-640). On the other hand, this market driven economy fails to justify behaviours such as religious preferences or jingoism (Slater 1997: 24). This essay strives to discuss the key factors that can be held as probable identifiers of the dominant cultural values that underpin modern consumer societies. Culture is an abstract term for a number of social, economic and behaviorist aspects. The process of locating cultural attributes in any given society is extremely complex, for the notion of culture is highly de-territorialised due to regular intermingling of a diverse array of cultures across domestic as well as international borders. Hence, there is a pluralistic dimension to the study of ethnology in the context of consumerism (Craig and Douglas 2006: 322-342). The counter-culture movements in the 1960s may be examined in order to explore the subtleties of social hegemony and its impact on human culture. Market oriented economic practices in the modern era have not diffused into the realm of mass consumerism. Such practices are cultural properties of the elites who rule the economy of any given society. The mass, on the contrary, are compelled to using what is