AIDS is a life and death issue. To have the AIDS disease is at
present a sentence of slow but inevitable death. I've already lost one
friend to AIDS. I may soon lose others. My own sexual behavior and that of
many of my friends has been profoundly altered by it. In my part of the
country, one man in 10 may already be carrying the AIDS virus. While the
figures may currently be less in much of the rest of the country, this is
changing rapidly. There currently is neither a cure, nor even an effective
treatment, and no vaccine either. But there are things that have been
PROVEN immensely effective in slowing the spread of this hideously lethal
disease. In this essay I hope to present this information.
History and Overview:
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Defficiency Disease. It is caused
by a virus. The disease originated somewhere in Africa about 20 years ago.
There it first appeared as a mysterious ailment afflicting primarily
heterosexuals of both sexes. It probably was spread especially fast by
primarily female prostitutes there. AIDS has already become a crisis of
STAGGERING proportions in parts of Africa. In Zaire, it is estimated that
over twenty percent of the adults currently carry the virus. That figure
is increasing. And what occurred there will, if no cure is found, most
likely occur here among heterosexual folks.
AIDS was first seen as a disease of gay males in this country.
This was a result of the fact that gay males in this culture in the days
before AIDS had an average of 200 to 400 new sexual contacts per year.
This figure was much higher than common practice among heterosexual
(straight) men or women. In addition, it turned out that rectal sex was a
particularly effective way to transmit the disease, and rectal sex is a
common practice among gay males. For these reasons, the disease spread in
the gay male population of this country immensely more quickly than in
other populations. It became to be thought of as a "gay disease". Because
the disease is spread primarily by exposure of ones blood to infected
blood or semen, I.V. drug addicts who shared needles also soon were
identified as an affected group. As the AIDS epidemic began to affect
increasingly large fractions of those two populations (gay males and IV
drug abusers), many of the rest of this society looked on smugly, for
both populations tended to be despised by the "mainstream" of society here.
But AIDS is also spread by heterosexual sex. In addition, it is
spread by blood transfusions.
Lloyd Webber’s widely regarded masterpiece Phantom Of The Opera uses key motifs and themes throughout the musical to establish its characters and scenes in an effective manner. Throughout the production the motifs, themes and songs all develop to reflect the changes their respective characters undergo. This is particularly evident when analysing The Phantom, his motifs and songs, and how they develop throughout the story.
All three texts portray leading characters who suffer due to flaws within their own personalities; however, it could be argued that the flaws these individuals fall victim to are directly a product of their environments rather than being innate within themselves. These texts were written between 1623 and 1989 and depict figures from all levels of the social hierarchy; from a King in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale to a servant in Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day and a socialite in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, showing that falling victim to a weakness within one’s own character is not an experience exclusive to one era or one class of people.
Over the last decade, bullying has really been a worldwide issue. Bullying is affecting children all over the world and has grown into a huge epidemic. According to the National Education Association, “160,000 kids stay home from school each day to ...
“To be or not to be, that is the question.” However, the real question is if Hamlet is contemplating suicide or not in his famous soliloquy. There are endless debates about whether or not Hamlet is contemplating suicide. I believe that Hamlet is not contemplating suicide. He is more or less reflecting on his life and explaining why someone would not want to commit suicide. There are many reasons that I will present that help me make this conclusion. First, I will talk about what lead up to him talking about life. Then, I will break down Hamlet’s soliloquy and show that he is not, in fact, contemplating suicide throughout it.
Rowson, Susanna. Charlotte: A Tale of Truth. 1791. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999. 372-407.
Although bullying has always been a problem in schools, it has more recently become a bigger crisis with vicious consequences. “However it is defined, bullying is not just child’s play, but a terrifying experience many schoolchildren face everyday. It can be as direct as teasing, hitting or threatening, or as indirect as exclusions, rumors or manipulation” (Garrett 2). Most kids do not think certain actions are classified as bullying, yet they do not realize the severity of the way they treat their peers. What they may see as “joking around” can be viewed as them being a bully, and they may even be hurting someone’s feelings without realizing the effect that they have. This can then lead to school violence, which is a prevalent issue in today’s society. There are many causes to bullying and school violence and many effects as well. However, if dealt with properly, there are ways to solve these prevailing problems.
The soliloquy that appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is easily one of the most popular speeches in English literature. It has been referenced to in Star Trek, Calvin and Hobbes and A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, this speech was not intended to be a lighthearted reference as indicated by Hamlet’s contemplative, philosophical, and bitter tones he uses while questioning the nature of life and death in this soliloquy.
This is not an innovative revelation. Since the American edition was published in 1794, the majority of scholars have categorized Charlotte Temple as an advocate for sexual equality. Indeed, during the eighteenth century, the voices of American women were largely drowned out by those of their male counterparts. Paul Barton maintains that Rowson detested this oppression. He argues that by favoring the narrative structure over the epistolary, she was able to mimic a Puritan minister, “a commanding and influential position reserved for men alone” (Barton 27).
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, also known as HIV, is a virus that attacks the immune system. It invades our T cells and then makes more copies of itself. It then destroys them and our immune system can no longer fight of other infections or diseases, which can lead to AIDS. There are three major routes it is transferred by. The first route is sexual intercourse through the vaginal, rectal, or penile tissues. The second route is a direct injection with HIV-contaminated drugs, needles, syringes, blood or blood products. The third major route HIV can be transmitted is from an HIV-infected mother to the fetus in the uterus or even through breast-feeding. Once the virus is transmitted to someone else, it attaches immune system cell called a dendritic cell. These cells are located by the mouth, vagina, rectum, and penis. The cells then transport the virus from the where the infection is to the lymph nodes where it also infects other immune system cells. Once inside the cell, the virus turns RNA into DNA, and then makes its way to the cells nucleus. The HIV weakens the immune system. The infected HIV cells convert into the messenger RNA then it is transferred outside the nucleus and is used to make more HIV infected cells.
Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and exercising power over another human being are increasingly important in developing one’s social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as an “aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power. Most often, it is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is an especially delicate matter that has only really been in the public eye for the past half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists pointed out its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. It has since been widely investigated and numerous programs have been developed in an effort to address and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such an abusive behaviour are various and can greatly differ from individual to individual. However, there are three main consequences that can be associated with school bullying, which are: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicidal attempts.
The Phantom of the Opera directed by Joel Schumacher is the 2004 adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical of the same name. The Phantom of the Opera stars Gerard Butler as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaé, and Patrick Wilson as Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, who are embroiled in a love triangle. The film was met with generally mixed and negative reviews: Schumacher’s use of mise-en-scène, cinematography and editing, as well as symbolism contributes to the production of The Phantom of the Opera.
Bullying is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places
“Researchers have conducted that at least 25% of all children will be affected by bullying at some point during their school years, and many of these children miss significant numbers of school days each year owing to fear of being bullied” (Bray, M., Kehle, T., Sassu, K. (2003). Bullying has become a major problem for our students and our schools. Children are missing educational time and are losing self-confidence because they are afraid or intimidated by other students. We, as teachers, need to reduce bullying in our schools and prevent bullying from being a reoccurring issue in the lives of our students in order for them to learn, grow and develop. Our goal as teachers should be “to reduce as much as possible-ideally to eliminate completely- existing bully/victim problems in and out of the school setting and to prevent the development of new problems” (Olweus, D. (1993).
Bullying has always been present within the United States. Although the issue has been around for a long time, it continues to grow and become more of problem. It is said that about 160,000 children within the United States are refusing to go to school because of bullying. Another statistic is that within American schools alone, there are an estimated 2.1 billion bullies and 2.7 billion victims (Dan Olewus, MBNBD). The numbers presented here are outrageous and although there are organizations to stop bullying, obviously there needs to be a new set of solutions. Any type of bullying presents problems to children, “Suicide, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trouble with the law, poor performance in school and work, and lack of involvement in socially accepted activities are some of the difficulties resulting from bullying (Austin, Reynolds, Barnes, Shirley). Of course, there is more than just a single type of bullying. Feeding ground for bullies can range anywhere from text-message or cyberbullying to physical bullying in schools. Also, bullies can begin to strike at a young age and could also be; teenage, middle-age, or even the elderly. Even though there are these many versions of problematic bullies, the largest bullying problems take place within the school setting: a place that is supposed to be safe for children rather than harmful. Although it seems impossible to completely get rid of bullying, these are a few suggested solutions; making the school informed on bullying issues, schools implementing rules on bullying, and having students positively use electronics to stop bullying.
In recent times bullying has become a national issue, notwithstanding the fact that it has been in existence for many years. Traditionally, bullying has been seen as horseplay, but with the increase of harassment in schools and suicides; parents and schools are now forced to take action to prevent bullying in schools. Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance which has the potential to be repeated over time. Strategies to prevent bullying in schools are grouped into identifying the causes of bullying, creating policies and rules, building a safe environment and educating students and staff.