How does Shakespeare present conflict at the start of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

How does Shakespeare present conflict at the start of Romeo and Juliet Essay Explain how Shakespeare presents the theme of violence in this part of the play. The first thing to note about this scene is that it takes place right at the start of the play. I think that this scene exists to set up and highlight one of the key conflicts in the play as a whole. It takes place after a serious fight between the Montagues and Capulets. This fight’s prime instigator is Tybalt who when asked by Benvollio to help him keep the peace says: â€Å"What drawn and talk of peace. I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee, coward!† Clearly then this is a deep seated conflict that is responsible for disturbing the peace in Verona and it is the Prince’s job to restore order in this scene. Therefore right at the start of the scene he calls them ‘profaners’. This is very emotive language and helps to underline the Prince’s contempt for both of the families and their conflict. The audience when they hear language like this will then associate both families as being not being very religious and being opposed to God and His purposes. The contempt that the Prince and the audience is supposed to feel for both of the fighting families is further emphasised in the description of their swords as ‘neighbor-stained steel’. Clearly what the Prince is trying to highlight here is that both families are behaving in a very selfish immature way and are showing an unchristian regard for their neighbours. Therefore violence is shown in this scene as being something that is pointless, stupid and going against God. Following on from this the theme of violence is further emphasised through the Prince’s use of a rhetorical question: â€Å"Will they not hear?† I think that Shakespeare deliberately uses this technique here to demonstrate how unthinking both families are in their hatred for each other. It is clear that the hatred between them runs so deep that they cannot and will not listen to people who are trying to mediate between them and trying to keep the peace. This is further emphasised later on in the line by the Prince describing them as ‘beasts’. I think that Shakespeare deliberately uses this word to help emphasise just how nasty the violence between both families are. A beast is an animal. Therefore, to the Prince, the unthinking violence between them has gone so far as to take away their humanity. Again in the next line Shakespeare has further emphasised the Prince’s dislike and animosity towards both families and even how fed up he is with their constant quarrelling by using the emotive language of: â€Å"your pernicious rage’ This helps to underline that to the Prince it is both families’ actions that are having a harmful effect on his city and that they are gradually being very destructive through their actions. According to the Prince the only thing that will help to cool the men’s emotions down and will stop all the violence is: â€Å"purple fountains issuing from your veins† What the Prince means here is that only by the men’s spilt blood will they calm down. This does not seem like an effective way to keep the peace and helps to show that for some reason violence has become a way of life for the people involved the quarrel. What is the cause of all this violence the audience would naturally ask at this point in the speech? It is clear that, according to the Prince, that the cause of most of the violence is merely an ‘airy word’. The connotations of ‘airy’ are something that is unsubstantial, something that is barely even there. Therefore the portrayal of violence in this part of the play by Shakespeare is of actions that don’t have a cause, that are incre4dibly harmful and don’t seem to be about anything much in particular. Surely then we as the audience will slightly sympathise with the Prince and his role to help keep the peace. This can be seen later on in the play when Tybalt gets into a fight with Mercutio. One of the key moments in the play is when Tybalt says: â€Å"Mercutio thou consortst with Romeo† This could be seen as being just friendly ‘banter’ however to both families it is seemingly jokey things people say to each other take on huge significance. For me then these ‘airy words’ have a huge impact because the strong sense of pride these characters have and how they are unable to let things slide. I think this helps to underline what I think is the big lesson that Shakespeare is trying to teach us about violence in the play and that is that is that violence is often seen by people who are not taking part or who are innocent bystanders as being pointless and damaging.

Current Perspectives on Dual-Career Families :: essays research papers

â€Å"Current Perspectives on Dual-Career Families†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the essay entitled â€Å"Current Perspectives on Dual-Career Families† written by Lucia Albino Gilbert. It talks about how the children of dual-career families are effect and the gender roles are change in a dual-career family. In a dual-career family, both the mother and the father work full time jobs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this case study it showed the children of dual-career families are the same in other school aged children that come from a â€Å"traditional† family setting. A traditional family is when the mother stays home and watches the children, as the father goes to work and supports the whole family. Families of dual-career often enlisted the use of other care providers like day cares while they worked. These families also planned more time on the nights and weekends to spend with their children then the â€Å"traditional† family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This study showed how the gender roles become more alike but also how the stay different in some way. At first the women’s roles were changing and the men’s roles were staying the same. Women in dual-career families, who worked full time also kept up with the traditional responsibilities. The women deal with the stress very well. Women benefited from having all this responsibilities like having increased self-esteem and better mental and physical health. After time, the wife and husband starting to both take on different roles. Men and women were having multiple roles. Eventually, the males started looking for jobs that held benefits of child care providers, and family absence days. They man starting taking more sick days in order to help sick children. Even though men still hold more power in the work force, the gender roles are started to fade.

Pigs, Dogs, Cats, Horses, and Rats Help Win the Civil War Essay

The Civil War intensified pork production as firms strove to meet the needs of the war effort. Beef packing also increased dramatically during the war, but dwindled after it ended, as cities like Kansas City that were closer to the centers of cattle farmers began to dominate production. As plants grew, the operations became more mechanized & specialized. The introduction of the refrigerated rail car in 1869 dramatically bolstered the industry, allowing it to become a year-round industry and to expand internationally (Dictionary of Wisconsin History, 2013). The North had a greater advantage than the South in that their commissary system was already established at the outbreak of the war, while the Confederacy struggled for many years to obtain food and then get it to its armies. By the end of the war, many soldiers in the Confederate army were on the verge of starvation. During the Civil War There were plenty of other Civil War food options on a soldier’s menu (The American Civil War, 2013). The salt pork that was given to the soldiers during the war was a stinky kind of blue extra-salty meat, with hair, skin, dirt, and other debris on it. It was, however, their main supply of protein. Salt beef was basically all of the very worst parts of a cow, including organs, necks, and shanks. But the basic meat was pork. When in enemy territory, the soldiers frequently helped themselves to chickens, fruits, vegetables, and other items from local farms and households. However, â€Å"During the final months of the war, more than a few horses, mules, dogs, cats, and even rats were eaten by soldiers,† said a Confederate doctor (Civil War Food, 2013). Rats especially were found to be quite a luxury: †¦superior, in the opinion of those who eat them, to spring chicken†¦and there were few among the garrison whose natural prejudices were so strong as to prevent them from cooking and eating their share. Nor did rats appear on the starvation menus of only besieged Confederates. In the winter of 1862-63 in Virginia, [Union soldier Berry] Benson and others on picket found many rats, and they teased each other about trying them. Soon someone killed a few and roasted them. They found that they tasted rather like a squirrel. If that time were back, I don’t think I would not be squeamish,’ Benson said later. ’ (Davis, 2003, p. 24) After the Civil War The market for Texas cattle diminished after the Civil War & ranchers were left holding several million heads of cattle. Ranchers began to drive their cattle north again in 1866, but with little financial gain. Fortunately for the cattlemen, the close of the Civ il War also marked a major transition in U. S. meat-consumption patterns. A national preference for pork abruptly gave way to beef. Cattle worth $4 a head in Texas might be sold at $40 a head in Missouri or Kansas. In addition, a ready workforce was already in place: the de-commissioned horsemen of the Confederate cavalry plus freed ex-slaves and Mexican gauchos combined to provide a ready supply of skilled horsemen. Soon others saw the wild Texas herds as a ready means to tap into the lucrative northern market with little start–up capital. The famous Chisholm Trail became a major route. The trail was established in 1865 by Jesse Chisholm and ran 600 miles from San Antonio, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas. Typically rivers and Indian lands had to be crossed, but good grazing, relatively level terrain, and higher prices waiting at the destination made the hazards worthwhile. Drives were cost-effective too—a drive of 2,000 or more cattle usually required only a trail boss and a dozen cowhands. In 1867, the Goodnight-Loving Trail opened markets for Texas cattle in Colorado & New Mexico. Cattle ranching had become big business and attracted Eastern investors. In 1869, more than 350,000 head of cattle were driven along the Chisholm Trail. By 1871, more than 700,000 head were driven along the route. The Reconstruction Period The post-war Reconstruction period was difficult and would have been different in at least two ways if President Lincoln had not been assassinated. First, Lincoln would have been more generous in providing government aid to the fallen South. Instead, President Andrew Johnson punished the South. Moreover, if Lincoln had been the post-war president, it is likely that there would have been a lot less racism and he might have even prevented racist and white-supremacists like the KKK and other groups (Nicely, 2011). Second, the death of Abraham Lincoln changed all the plans by which a Southern state could be readmitted into the Union. Lincoln wanted to reunite the Union quickly by showing forgiveness. Most of the moderate Republicans in Congress supported his plan because they thought it would make a more immediate end to the war. Reconstruction would have gone much more smoothly if Lincoln had not been assassinated (Nicely, 2011). Industrialization and urbanization during Reconstruction brought many changes to the social, economical and political lives of the people. Industrialization led to mass production of goods with technological advances which led to cheaper products and better living conditions for the average American. With the improvement of living conditions, came the need of more workers at the factories. This need led to the migration of people to rural areas to the cities. The migration of the people to the cities and the addition of more and more factories lead to harmful contaminants in the environment such as water and air pollution. We also had the distinction of social classes given the wealth differences among the business entrepreneurs and factory workers. There was also a change in the family structure. Men and women who worked in the same factory performing the same task were paid differently. This structure established what we know today as having the man be the â€Å"breadwinner† and the woman encouraged to stay at home with the children. At this point, children were seen as low-cost labor. Race Relations The federal and/or state courts and legislatures handed down decisions or passed laws during the period that served to discriminate against non-white citizens and immigrants in many ways. The Black Codes were enacted in the South to regulate the status and conduct of the newly freed slaves. This deprived black people of many rights given only to whites such as owning property, to testify in court with whites, to make contracts, travel, preach, speak, and many more. Also contrary to expectations of the Bill of Rights, the court also held that because the amendment provided that â€Å"no state shall† deprive persons of the rights its guaranteed, Congressional legislation protecting blacks and Republicans from Ku Klux Klan violence exceeded the power of the federal government. References Civil War Food (2013). Retrieved from http://www. civilwaracademy. com/civil-war-food. html). Davis, W. C. (2003). A Taste for War: The Culinary History of the Blue and the Gray. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, PA. Dictionary of Wisconsin History (2013). Retrieved from http://www. wisconsinhistory. org /dictionary/index. asp? action=view&term_id=10802&term_type_id=3&term_type_text=things&letter=M) Gale Encyclopedia of U. S. Economic History (1999). Retrieved from http://www. ncyclopedia. com/topic/Cattle_drives. aspx Mitchell, P. B. (2013), â€Å"Cooking for the cause. † Retrieved from http://www. civilwar. org/education/pdfs/civil-war-curriculum-food. pdf Nicely, B. J. (2011). What IF #5—How would have Reconstruction been different if Lincoln had not died on April 15, 1865? Retrieved from http://deeprunwildcats. org/nicely/? p=631 The American Civil War (2013). Retrieved from http://www. ducksters. com/history/civil_war/ life_as_asoldier_duri ng_the_civil_war. php

Anatomy of the Brain Cerebrum

The cerebrum, also known as the telencephalon, is the largest and most highly developed part of your  brain. It encompasses about two-thirds of the brain mass and lies over and around most of the structures of your brain.  The word cerebrum comes from  Latin  cerebrum, meaning brain. Function The cerebrum is divided into right and left hemispheres that are connected by an arch of white matter called the  corpus callosum. The  cerebrum is contralaterally organized, which means that the right hemisphere controls and processes signals from the left side of the body, while the left hemisphere controls and processes signals from the right side of the body. The cerebrum is the part of the brain responsible for your high functions, including: Determining intelligenceDetermining personalityThinkingReasoningProducing and understanding languageInterpretation of sensory impulsesMotor functionPlanning and organizationProcessing sensory information Cerebral Cortex The outer portion of your cerebrum is covered by a thin layer of gray tissue called the cerebral cortex. This layer is 1.5 to 5 millimeters in thickness. Your cerebral cortex is in turn divided into four lobes: frontal lobes,  parietal lobes,  temporal lobes, and occipital lobes. Your cerebrum, along with the diencephalon, which includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, and the pineal gland, comprises the two major divisions of the prosencephalon (forebrain). Your cerebral cortex handles a number of the most important brain functions. Among these functions is the processing of sensory information by the cortex lobes. Limbic system brain structures located beneath the cerebrum also assist in sensory information processing. These structures include the amygdala, thalamus, and hippocampus. Limbic system structures use sensory information to process emotions and connect your emotions with memories. Your frontal lobes  are responsible for complex cognitive planning and behaviors, language comprehension, speech production, and the planning and control of voluntary muscle movement. Nerve connections with the spinal cord and brainstem allow the cerebrum to receive sensory information from your peripheral nervous system. Your cerebrum processes this information and relays signals that produce the appropriate response. Location Directionally, your cerebrum and the cortex that covers it is the uppermost part of the brain. It is the anterior portion of the  forebrain and is superior to other brain  structures such as the  pons, cerebellum, and  medulla oblongata. Your midbrain connects the forebrain to the hindbrain. Your hindbrain regulates autonomic functions and coordinates movement. With the assistance of the  cerebellum, the cerebrum controls all voluntary actions in the body. Structure The cortex is made up of coils and twists. If you were to spread it out, it would actually take up about 2 1/2 square feet. It is estimated that this part of the brain is made up of 10 billion neurons, which are responsible for brain activity that equals up to 50 trillion synapses. The brains ridges are called gyri, and valleys which are called  sulci. Some of the sulci are quite pronounced and long and serve as convenient boundaries between the four lobes of the cerebrum.