Nurse Ratched Essay Example for Free

Nurse Ratched Essay A former army nurse, Nurse Ratched represents the oppressive mechanization, dehumanization, and emasculation of modern society—in Bromden’s words, the Combine. Her nickname is â€Å"Big Nurse,† which sounds like Big Brother, the name used in George Orwell’s novel 1984 to refer to an oppressive and all-knowing authority. Bromden describes Ratched as being like a machine, and her behavior fits this description: even her name is reminiscent of a mechanical tool, sounding like both â€Å"ratchet† and â€Å"wretched.† She enters the novel, and the ward, â€Å"with a gust of cold. † Ratched has complete control over every aspect of the ward, as well as almost complete control over her own emotions. In the first few pages we see her show her â€Å"hideous self† to Bromden and the aides, only to regain her doll-like composure before any of the patients catch a glimpse. Her ability to present a false self suggests that the mechanistic and oppressive forces in society gain ascendance through the dishonesty of the powerful. Without being aware of the oppression, the quiet and docile slowly become weakened and gradually are subsumed. Nurse Ratched does possess a nonmechanical and undeniably human feature in her large bosom, which she conceals as best she can beneath a heavily starched uniform. Her large breasts both exude sexuality and emphasize her role as a twisted mother figure for the ward. She is able to act like â€Å"an angel of mercy† while at the same time shaming the patients into submission; she knows their weak spots and exactly where to peck. The patients try to please her during the Group Meetings by airing their dirtiest, darkest secrets, and then they feel deeply ashamed for how she made them act, even though they have done nothing. She maintains her power by the strategic use of shame and guilt, as well as by a determination to â€Å"divide and conquer† her patients. McMurphy manages to ruffle Ratched because he plays her game: he picks up on her weak spots right away. He uses his overt sexuality to throw her off her machinelike track, and he is not taken in by her thin facade of compassion or her falsely therapeutic tactics. When McMurphy rips her shirt open at the  end of the novel, he symbolically exposes her hypocrisy and deceit, and she is never able to regain power.

Legalization of Marijuana Essay -- Marijuana Pot Legalize Weed Drugs E

Legalization of Marijuana This essay has problems with formatting Marijuana is a substance that has become very much a part of American culture. Nearly 65 million Americans have either used it occasionally or regularly. The use of marijuana hit mainstream America about thirty years ago and it has been accepted by a large segment of society ever since (Rosenthal 16). The debate on whether this substance should be legalized or not remains a very hot topic today. Despite government efforts to isolate and eliminate its use, it is clear that the use of marijuana is still very popular. There is an obvious problem concerning marijuana today. Governments on all three levels: local, state, and federal are trying desperately to find an appropriate policy involving marijuana. National polls show that more than 70% of the American people, from both ends of the political spectrum, support controlled access to marijuana for medicinal purposes. Despite fierce opposition from the federal government, voters in California and Arizona passed ballot initiatives in the fall of 1996 favoring the legalization of medicinal marijuana (Randall 33). If support for marijuana at least as a medicinal remedy is so high, then why have only a few states taken steps to change their policy? There are several reasons why marijuana remains illegal. Mainly, it is a political issue kicked around by certain special interest groups. Some of these groups perceive marijuana as a threat to the home, tearing families apart and causing them to abandon traditional values. However these groups usually are not legitimate areas of legislation. The more powerful groups have other, more practical reasons for keeping marijuana illegal. Among the most powerful of these groups are the combined law enforcement-judiciary-penal systems. This group sees the elimination of marijuana laws as a threat to their jobs. Add to this group defense lawyers, who stand to make millions of dollars defending marijuana offenders. Consciously or not, they support anti-marijuana laws (Rosenthal 2). Another interest group includes the scientists whose marijuana research is funded by the government. If marijuana were legalized, they would lose millions of dollars in research grants intended to prove the detrimental effects of the substance. Two other unrelated and very influential groups are the liquor lobby and phar... ...ions and penalties against drug trafficking, and oppose attempts to weaken international drug policies and laws. Support adherence to scientific research standards and ethics that are prescribed by the world scientific community and professional associations in conducting studies and review on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Support efforts to prevent availability and use of drugs, and oppose policies and programs that accept drug use based erroneously on reduction or minimization of harm. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abel, I. L. Marihuana : The First Twelve Thousand Years. New York : McGraw Hill, 2005. Garner, Charles. Personal Interview. May 21, 2007. Kluger, Jeffery. Personal Interview. May 16, 2007. Nahas, Gabriel G. Marihuana, Biological Effects. Illionois : Univeristy of Illinois Press, 2002. Potter, Beverly. The Healing Magic of Cannabis. California : Ronin Publishings, Inc., 2004. Randall, Robert C. The Patients Fight for Medicinal Pot. New York : Thunders Mouth Press, 2007. Roffman, Roger A. Marijuana as Medicine. Washington : Madrona Publishers, Inc., 2004. Rosenthal, Ed. Why Marijuana Should Be Legal. New York : Thunder?s Mouth Press, 1996.

Arturo Escobar Essay

Lectua â€Å"na ecologia de la diferencia: igualdad y conflicto en un mundo glocalizado† Dia 14 Mes 08 Ano 12 Docente Claudia Patricia Rodriguez CALIFICACION UNA ECOLOGIA DE LA DIFERENCIA: IGUALDAD Y CONFLICTO EN UN MUNDO GLOCALIZADO Arturo Escobar, es un antropologo colombiano, nacido en Manizales, interesado en la ecologia politica, el desarrollo y movimientos sociales en Colombia. Especificamente, Escobar se cuestiono los problemas de hambre y pobreza de grandes sectores de la poblacion colombiana, Pero sus intereses se dirigieron cada vez mas hacia el area de las ciencias sociales y la antropologia del desarrollo, de ahi que viajo a continuar estudios de postgrado en la Cornell University y en la Universidad de California, Berkeley, donde hizo su doctorado en 1987. Entre sus especialidades figuran la ecologia politica y la antropologia del desarrollo, los movimientos sociales y las nuevas tecnologias. (Penuela, M, 2005, http://www. javeriana. edu. co/Facultades/C_Sociales/universitas/62/penuela. pdf) Adicionalmente ha sido profesor de muchas universidades en Colombia y especialmente Estados Unidos. Este autor refleja en una de sus obras y ensayos uno de los mas importantes y cuestionados temas a nivel mundial: la igualdad y conflicto en un mundo glocalizado. Se habla de la diferencia que existe entre los individuos que hoy hacen parte de la globalizacion, esta diferencia es pocas veces dirigida hacia una igualdad para todos, ya que la relacion que existe entre la globalizacion, la cultura de un lugar especifico y el desarrollo benefician mas unos que a otros. He aqui el gran conflicto, es cada vez mas comun ver como la globalizacion, es decir, un mundo global, que busca una homogeneidad se impone. Se da entonces un acceso a excluir a unos y dominar otros, ya que aquellos que dominan son los que tienen el acceso a las oportunidades y los recursos como lo referencia el autor. Se excluye entonces lo local, para pasar a ser lo global lo mas importante y lo que se impone; es el capitalismo, los medios masivos y las mercancias lo que brinda las mejores oportunidades, ya no se habla de biodiversidad sino por el contrario de la biotecnologia que se vuelve un recurso aun mas importante que la propia diversidad ya existente. Aun mas alla de las nuevas tendencias, existe un tema que referencia el autor como uno de los grandes conflictos y es la adaptacion de la diversidad cultural a conductas globales. â€Å"El mundo no es solo global continua siendo local† (Escobar, 2005), es necesario entonces pensar que existen condiciones de pluralismo cultural, diferentes percepciones acerca del mundo en general. Las principales condiciones que niegan la igualdad entre individuos son la parte economica, cultural y ambiental. Los grandes economistas hablan del valor que tienen cada uno de los recursos, los precios y derechos de propiedad son los que valen dentro del sector economico, sin embargo, las comunidades definen las practicas que determinan la valoracion de los recursos especificamente naturales de manera distinta a la valoracion economica; mas que un precio o valor monetario, el entorno natural y sus recursos tienen un valor intrinseco, no se puede calcular este valor ya que cada cultura percibe los recursos naturales de una manera distinta. Por otro lado, la relacion de las personas con el mundo natural, le da al entorno un valor para cada territorio, no todos quieren compartir de igual manera la diversidad natural de un lugar porque las comunidades le estan dando su verdadero significado. Fundamentalmente lo ambiental y cultural se reune de algun modo para diferenciar y darle pluralismo al mundo que hoy se une a la globalizacion, pero se elude aun la sostenibilidad cultural y ambiental. Es en gran medida esta falta de sostenibilidad un conflicto, que se traduce en la distribucion cultural, las diferencias culturales propagan desigualdad ya que algunos imponen la dominacion y se convierten en propietarios de lo que es de una comunidad en su conjunto. Se quiere cada dia, dar paso a la hegemonia entre culturas pero sigue marcando diferencias los comportamientos, sus derechos colectivos y tradiciones. El Estado tambien juega un papel muy importante, este lucha por conservar su practica cultural y defender lo que es de un territorio. En el caso colombiano se da un ejemplo de las culturas negras riberenas en la selva del Pacifico las cuales desde 1990 se unieron para defender un territorio, su biodiversidad y lo que era suyo, se defienden entonces modelos locales que perduran en la cultura colombiana aun y los cuales se mantienen en movimientos sociales. Aun cuando lo global trata de imponerse, la diversidad cultural, la economia y el medio ambiente son niveles diferenciadores para la globalizacion. Finalmente, si es necesaria le equidad de la distribucion economica, estrechar la diferencia de dominacion entre comunidades para permitir el desarrollo e intercambio equitativo. Aun cuando las culturas sean diferentes, se pueden entremezclar para establecer una igualdad. BIBLIOGRAFIA Escobar, A. (2005), â€Å"Una ecologia de la diferencia: igualdad y conflicto en un mundo glocalizado† [Documento digital PDF]. Arturo Escobar, En: WEB, 2005, [en linea] disponible en: http://www. javeriana. edu. co/Facultades/C_Sociales/universitas/62/penuela. pdf. [consulta: agosto 12 de 2012].

Comparsion of Three Renaissance Paintings and Sculptures...

The Renaissance was big part of the past era even today we still have festivals celebrating the Renaissance. I am going to compare and contrast the difference between three different paintings and sculptures that were a big part of the Renaissance era. The Limbourg brothers were both born in the Netherlands, but worked in France. They featured calendars of religious feast days; these calendars are richly embellished with finely detailed scenes of activities and tasks associated with certain months and seasons of the year. In the first painting called May, you can see a parade of aristocratic gentleman and ladies who have come out in their bright and colorful, bejeweled costumes to celebrate the first day of May. In the painting you can†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"There were specific criteria for the competition panel to which all submissions had to conform. In addition to the Abraham and Isaac story, complete with all of its figures within a four-lobed frame† (pg 384). Andrea Pisano had already fashioned one of the doors in the 1330’s and the idea was to match the new with the old. Brunelleschi’s version was very expressive and barely contained the Gothic-style frame. In his piece of work you see Abraham lunging for Isaac’s throat with a knife, then you see an angel coming at the same moment to grab Abraham’s arm to stop him from slashing his son’s throat and killing him. â€Å"Isaac’s head had been wrenched to the side to expose his neck and his whole body is compressed between the harsh stone of the sacrificial altar on which he kneels and the strength of his father bearing down on him† (pg 394). You can see a ram stuck in the thicket and just lies in front of Isaac and at the bottom you see a donkey along with two servants. â€Å"Brunelleschi’s work is by far more dramatic and disturbing, all angels and movement and raw emotion, like nothing that had ever been created before†¦Ã¢â‚¬  [Walker 22-23]. Then you have Ghiberti’s panel that is of the same subject, but completely different in all possible ways. You see Abraham body that echoes the shape of the rock and then lunges toward Isaac in a dynamic counterthrust. In the same instance Isaac