Tertullian’s the Prescription Against Heretics

The early Church was birthed through perseverance against intense persecution: (i) physical persecution by the governments of the time which lauded the oppression, imprisonment, torture and death of Christians for their new religious doctrines; and (ii) intellectual persecution by opposing religious sects who sort to denounce the doctrines of Christianity. The Prescription Against Heretics was written in response to the latter – to defend the tenets of Christianity against the false teachings of heretics and religious-based philosophers.Heretics promoted controversial views which were in opposition to those offered by Christian doctrine, with the intention of creating followers of their beliefs. Religio-philosophers were quasi-Christians who promoted the use of intellect and logic to understand Christianity and in doing so, never becoming Christians. Tertullian saw the end of philosophy as heresy and categorizes both as the same. Tertullian defends Christianity by describing h eresies as powerless, fallible and only expressive of a lack of faith; he therefore provides a rule of faith as a measure and the authority for Christianity.Tertullian was born in the city of Carthage, North Africa, around 160 C. E. He was raised as a pagan, was able to read and write in Greek and Latin and received an excellent education in grammar, literature, philosophy, law and rhetoric. He became a Stoic but later converted to Christianity at the age of forty years. Within medieval Christian history, Tertullian is classified as an Apologist – a theologian who, during the era of violent persecution of Christians, used writings to defend Christianity against its challengers.His apologetic writing, The Prescription Against Heretics, reads as a legal defense argument against philosophers and influential heretics such as Marcion, Plato, Valentinus, Zeno and the Stoics. Many of these were using logic to question Christianity and created doubt in some of the believers, which at tracted Christians away from the Faith. In chapter fourteen of The Prescription, Tertullian stated that he felt morally obligated to counteract the teachings of heretics.This was perhaps because he had firsthand experience with the flaws of religio-philosophical reasoning and now, through his conversion, experiencing the personal joys of faith in Christianity. Tertullian’s first line of defense against heresies was to show that they are indeed powerless and inconsequential to the strength of Christianity. In doing so, he is able to circumvent the trepidation that the early Christians may have had regarding heretical influences. Any advance of a heretical teaching against the Church would be only temporary and unsuccessful; much like a short-lived, passing illness.According to Tertullian, heresies are only powerful in appearance because of the few individuals who were already weak in their faith and allowed themselves to be ensnarled in the whims of false teachings. For these individuals to be drawn away has no effect on the veracity of Christianity. Airing confidence in his argument, Tertullian says, â€Å"Heresies derive such strength as they have from the infirmities of individuals – having no strength whenever they encounter a really powerful faith†, his new found faith, Christianity.As a shepherd expects and accepts that wolves will after his flock and in fact capture a few, in like manner Tertullian parallels the existence of heresies in Christendom. He uses this allegory to encourage the second century Christians with the view that not only did the Lord forewarned the Church that heresies will arise and believers some will indeed be loss but also that they should celebrate their proven faithful to God by not allowing themselves to be trapped by the heretics.Continuing to promote the authority of Christianity, Tertullian asserts that heresies only exist because God is using them to train and strengthen the faith of the believers. Othe r than that, they are simply â€Å"foolishness†. Tertullian clears the slate of all the popular supposed intellectuals by revealing their fallibility – no matter how well-intended, all of their teachings amount to the same questions repeated in different ways by different the men, but producing the same answer – that is, there will never be an answer until you accept the overarching authority of the Scripture of God.Tertullian asked the question, â€Å"What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? †, to point out that philosophical methods of inquiry have nothing to do with teaching by the authority of scripture and the church alone has the authority to declare what is and what is not orthodox Christianity. Perhaps Tertullian had discovered this reality in his personal search for truth based upon intellectualism and saw that he had to relinquish his intellect to the ultimate authority of God and in doing so he found fulfillment.Tertullian is covering every argume nt that a heretic may use to justify himself, especially in their passion for attempting to juxtapose philosophy with Christianity, and using scripture to support their continual questions. He is using his legal background and training in rhetoric to give support to the Church. In The Prescription, Tertullian directly identifies the â€Å"seek, and ye shall find† scripture (Matthew 7:7) as a prominent passage misunderstood and misused by heretics to justify their continual questioning of the Word of God.He argues that heretics take this scripture out of context and interpret what was meant literally for the Jewish community of Jesus’ time as the same for the heretics of his day. Tertullian supports this argument from the position that, like him, the heretics are Gentiles and in the time of Jesus, Gentiles did not have access to salvation. Therefore, they had no knowledge of what to seek, where to knock or who to ask. This access only came through the instruction of the apostles by virtue of the Holy Ghost.His conclusion was that this Scripture was only to be used as a figurative example for the heretics and therefore they should cease to question divine scripture. This misinterpretation only adds to the unreliability and the inadequacy of the human intellect of heretics as sources of truth compared to the church which has access to Divine Truth. According to Tertullian’s argument, because heretics continue to seek it means that they have found what they were looking for, if they have not found, they cannot believe and if they do not believe, they are not Christians.And if they are not Christians then they have no right to quote or discuss the Bible – inside or outside the Church. To separate his intellect from those of the heretics and to show himself to as a true Christian with divine permission to use the Bible, Tertullian draws many of his examples directly from the Scriptures. Tertullian argued that Christians and heretics use t he Bible for different reasons. Christians use it to access truth in God and to increase their faith while oppositely, it was the use of philosophy which drove heretics to continual curious inquires of the Scripture.But, in reality these inquires amounted to a lack of faith by the philosophers. His position was that once an individual had sought and found truth in the teachings of Christ, that person need not seek anything further and should fully believe in that which he had found. To keep seeking meant that the individual had not believed or had faith in what they had found in Christ. This would be core measure between a Christianity and heresy. A Christian seeks the word of God, finds it and believes – this is faith and this is therefore a Christian.For a heretic, he goes into the scripture without knowing what he is looking for and questioning everything he finds in the scripture – this is a lack of faith and this is not a Christian. For Tertullian, the solution wa s a complete expulsion of philosophers because they will never know for what they are seeking, where they are knocking or to whom they are asking, and to have them around would only give possibilities for them to destroy the Church. He urges Christians to not get involved in discussions with philosophers and heretics and to only discuss matters related to Christ with other Christians, without weakening the rule of faith.He offers a summary of the Christian creed, the rule of faith, as the basis for inquiry and once an individual had found truth in the rule regarding the role of God, The Son and the Holy Spirit, there should be no further searching. In his writing, Tertullian uses Luke 18:42 to assert that it is the faith of individuals that would save them and not their ability to debate Scripture. The truth of their belief lies in the rule of faith and to go outside of the rule would be to enter into heresy; which inevitably will lead to destruction.In this period of questioning an d persecutions, Tertullian felt that all Christians must know what they have obtained through God and through the scripture. With this faith, they will not be shaken by threats of violence from the government and the threats of corruption by the heretics. Tertullian’s position in the separation of Christianity from philosophy and heresies is that the latter two have no connection with the former. Philosophy is not based upon faith but rather distracts away from it and induces heresies.In turn, heresies induce further heresies and it is the intention of these heretics to seduce Christians away from their original doctrinal beliefs. He illustrates this by purporting that intellect cannot understand the spiritual and the people who believe in intellect cannot be considered a part of the church. To unite the two polarities, Christianity and philosophy, would be to create a polluted doctrine. Christians must not allow themselves to be swayed by the religio-philosophical practice o f using scripture.He also offers that there is nothing more enjoyable that Christianity and because of the pleasures from Christ’s teachings there was no need to search for anything further. Whether in sympathy or in condemnation, Tertullian attempts to use his Prescription Against Heretics as an uncontestable argument in defense of his Christianity against the vices of heretics and religio-philosophers. According to Tertullian, everything that an individual needs can be found in the rule of faith – the most enjoyable belief, which he has discovered and now vigorously defend.

The Soundtrack to my life

Music is a love of mine; I can say that I cannot really go through a day without listening to some music. Through Primary school I rarely listened to any music. The most my musical genre would step to would be that of steps, blue and s-club 7, some of the cheesiest pop music you will ever here. These days the main music I like is that of Rock, my music taste ranges that from pop bands like McFly to heavy metal such as Slipknot. So I would say I have a diverse music range. I can't really stand hip hop or rap, some can be alright, but most is the same repeated beat with someone talking on top of it. I only really started getting really into music at the end of Year 7, as this is when I got my first MP3 player. Most of the music I really like reminds me of memories in the summer as this is my favourite time of year, meaning most happy memories that are related with music are in the summer. One of the main songs that every time I hear, really reminds me of the past is, Good Charlotte's chronicles of life and death. This song is up their with my favourite songs of all time as it delivers a real poignant message and the lyrics really mean something, while in today's music, the lyrics are poorly written to get a one hit wonder. As I hear this song and as soon as it starts with the opening lyrics, ‘You come in cold, you're covered in blood'. I am always taking back to the summer of 2005 as this song played a huge part in my life that summer. Good Charlotte's Album ‘The Chronicles of Life and Death' came out in October 2004, but I didn't get it to the time just before I went away, so this album really was a part of my holiday. I will always remember around May 2005 I first heard good charlotte's ‘Chronicles of Life and Death' single on the radio. The moment I first heard this song, my ears were transported to music heaven and I was obsessed with this song then and I still love it now. The memory that I can really visualize when I hear this song is lying down in the long grass, with the sun blazing down, but not too strong so it is uncomfortable and listening to my MP3. A song that I not necessarily can relate to, but a song that when I hear it just makes my day brighter is Bowling for Soups – High School Never Ends. I believe that this song really describes my present as I only really got into the song a few months back. If you listen to any of Bowling for Soups music I can safely say you will be amazed at how happy you can feel just from a piece of music, where the cheesy lyrics and the pop power chords will really make your day better. Even if you are feeling so down and you listen to bowling for soup, you will be brought back up and your spirits will be lifted. Not many memories really come to mind when I listen to Bowling for Soups – High School Never Ends. The main memory I have of listening to this song is the long coach journey to Austria when we went on our skiing trip. I had my I pod and because Bowling for Soup's album was the newest thing I had put on it I listened to it on many times as we travelled down. On the coach I will always remember how it was around 3:00 AM in the morning, but I couldn't sleep because I felt so dirty and smelly from being on the coach for around twelve hours so I just picked up my I pod, and watched the music video of High School Never Ends. I even when I felt very dirty, smelly and tired, Bowling for Soup managed to bring me out of my misery and put me in the world of happiness that they bring. The song ‘The New Transmission' by Lost Prophets, is one song that when I listen to really reminds me of the times I have been to Wales. The main reason for this is that Lost Prophets are a welsh band, but I only really started liking them last year when I went too Wales with a friend of mine. The main thing I enjoy about this piece of music is the main riff that holds the song together on guitar. I enjoy this riff as its simple but sound great and I think that lost prophets use it very well in that song. Also at the start of the song the first three lines are: Take, take, take all my time, all my company Take everything from me Fake, fake, fake all these things that you say to me Nothing that I want to believe These lyrics just make me feel warm inside, but not because of the way they are spoken it is the way they are said by Ian Watkins (Lead Singer). I think that the words are really catchy and will be stuck in your head all day making you sing them over and over again. When I hear this song it brings me back to the summer of 2006 in which I spent nearly four weeks in Wales. The main memory I have of this song is the warm sun striking down on out backs, the beautiful sea sparkling in the sunlight like a glittering diamond as me and my friend were skating along the promenade while listening to are MP3 players. I had sort of gone of skateboarding and didn't really enjoy it (mainly because I was very good at it!), but this one time I really enjoyed it as we sped along really fast and it seemed that we had to put almost no effort to move along because the walkway way was very smooth. This song makes me feel happy when I hear it as it reminds me of the summer in 2006 which I enjoyed very much. A song that I think sums up my future is Teenagers' by ‘My Chemical Romance'. I believe this is because this song really gives me an image of what my future years of being a teenager are going to be like. The chorus is: They said all teenagers scare The living shit out of me They could care less As long as someone'll bleed So darken your clothes Or strike a violent pose Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me When I listen to this song I get the image of how mainly mine, and lots others, teenager years are going to be like. As this song makes you think of teenagers and what they do, so it gives me a vision of the future. Also the fantastic blues riff used all throughout the song really makes this song very catchy. The main image I get when I listen to this song is teenagers basically getting told off and trying to be put under control. I get this from the opening verse: They're gonna clean up your looks With all the lies in the books To make a citizen out of you Because they sleep with a gun And keep an eye on your son So they can watch all the things you do This describes teenagers being kept under control, by saying that they keeping an eye on teenagers. But when you get to the chorus it shows that the teenagers rebel, we know this from the line: So darken your clothes Or strike a violent pose This is how the present is for most teenagers and how it will continue into the future, with adults trying to keep teenagers under control, but with them always rebelling and striking back at adults. This song is very easy to listen to and I believe that what makes it so easy to listen to is that the words are pronounced very clearly, and the song paints many pictures in your head as you listen to it. Music is my life and I have a lot of songs that I believe describe my life, so it has been hard picking and describing only these ones. I prefer rock when it comes to music, but will expand to other genres. I can't get though a day without listening to one piece of music; this makes music one of the main things in my life and is very important to me. Music reminds me of happy times, such as the summer, and because of this I love listening to music and it gives me many songs that I can put into the soundtrack to my life.

Philosophy of Discipline Essay

Essay Question: In order to find out how things really are, one must understand the filters through which one perceives the world. I believe that we perceive and therefore know. We perceive through emotions, language and reason. These are also known as the ways of knowing. Thus, it is appropriate to use the Woolman’s twelve ways of knowing to talk about perception. Reality is what we see, hear, smell, touch, taste and feel. It is what we observe around us using our senses and feelings. However, how do we know that we are really seeing reality and not our perception or something that our brain can accept and process? There are colors that our eyes cannot see for example ultra-violet and infrared-red. These colors are invisible to the human eye therefore we cannot see them. What we perceive is a clean Singapore. How do we actually know that Singapore is not littered with invisible rubbish? Of course, there are special devices that allow us to see these two colors and prove that there is no such rubbish. However, you can never be sure that there are no other colors invisible to our naked eyes. The things that we have always believed to be true, because we have ‘seen’ it with our own eyes may actually be non-existent so can we trust our eyes? Is what we see real? ‘My desk is in the study room’. This statement’s so called ‘proof’ is based on ‘unproven’ premises and therefore nothing is true and reality is not real. This is skepticism. When can we be sure? We can only be sure when we begin with the simplest, most basic premises which is certainly impossible to doubt. This can be summed up into these three lines ‘what we see is not real’, ‘you cannot be sure whether you are dreaming or not’, ‘there is only thing that you can be certain of and that is your consciousness of your own existence’. Xenophanes once said that we can always learn more than we know, but we can never be sure that we have reached any final truth. Thus is seeing really believing or believing is really seeing? Everyone has behaves differently because everyone is taught or programmed differently. Some people never let a vulgar word slip their lips others say it all day. This is due to the different programs stored in their conscience. For example, if your father who bought you up teaches you that stealing is wrong, you would perceive that stealing is wrong and thus your conscience pricks you when you are tempted to steal. However, what if the person who passes the information to you is ignorant and teaches you what he thinks is right and these turn out to be wrong? This boils down to authority and acquaintances. The drug addiction problem is because of incorrect perception. If your father brought you up teaching you that drugs is good for you, you will the perception that drugs is good and take drugs without it pricking your conscience, eventually fall into addiction of drugs. Therefore, are you able to trust your conscience or the persons who brought you up and helped program your conscience? Dreams seem real and convincing. Is it possible that you remember your dreams as you remember past experiences? This seems absurd, but sometimes you can mistake a dream for reality (dreams often seem very real), as a result you may also mistakenly store that reality-look-alike thought in your brain. You mistakenly made these memories and you can no longer be confine your memory to real-life experiences, which in itself are not very convincing and have its areas for skepticism, but fake and pure materials from your imagination. Every argument or proof proceeded from premises, which it did not itself establish. Trying to demonstrate the truth of those premises by other arguments or proofs had to be based on undemonstrated premises. Therefore, no ultimate ground of certainty could ever be reached. What a valid argument proves is that its conclusions follow from its premises, but it is not at all the same as proving that those conclusions are true. Every valid argument starts with an ‘if’: if ‘p’ is true then ‘q’ must be true. That leaves open the question of whether or not ‘p’ is true. The argument itself cannot prove that because it has already assumed it and to have assumed already what sets are out to prove would be to move in a vicious circle. Perception can be simplified into two basic questions. Is your perception true? Why is it true or false? Then you can ask yourself how do you perceive? We know through our five senses? These senses send impulses or messages to our brain from the outside word. The brain then interprets and creates the real world in our brain. How does the brain interpret the impulses or messages? It can be done through past experiences, social, cultural, religious communities, spatial familiarity for example patterns and shapes, biological limitations, existing learning structures, language and self perception such as how we think or what we believe. It is indeed doubtful whether anyone could live based on complete perception, or if they could, whether such a life would be worth living. However, this refutation of perception, if refutation it is, is not a logical argument. In practical life, we must steer a middle course between demanding a degree of certainty that we can never have and treating all possibilities as if they were of equal weight when they are not. References 1. Longman Longman Dictionary Of Contemporary English (International Students Edition) Longman Group Limited 1978, 1995 2. Bryan Magee The Story Of Philosophy Doling Kindersley Limited 1998, 2001

Answer 9 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer 9 questions - Assignment Example ironic, in that in its translation, it means It is sweet and glorious, while the actual theme of the story is to present the horrific incidence of a chemical weapon attack on a British soldier, who was unable to put on a protective gas mask. Referring to such a poem as sweet and glorious, yet presenting and condemning the horrific incidences of World War I is pure irony (660). 3. The point of view in the short poem â€Å"Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,† changes at the end, to indicate how the society loses interest in an individual after death, even after having considered them useful during their lifetime (652). 4. The flea in John Donne’s poem, â€Å"The Flea†, is an extended metaphor, which is used in this poem to represent sexual encounter (847), making the blood of the two individuals involved mingle and end up as one, through the divine act of nature where a child is formed, which the individuals cannot control. 5. The theme of â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† compares to that of â€Å"The Flea† in that, both poems present the theme of love. The narrators of these poems want to present their case for love, where the women they are in love with do not seem to satisfy their desires for intimacy (981). Both of these poems are an argument to the end, since the narrators are consistently presenting their interests to their love partners who do not seem to cater for such interest adequately. 6. The comparison in the treatment of fairy tales in the poems, â€Å"Snow White,† and â€Å"Cinderella is that, the beautiful girls, who actually belong to the throne, are mistreated by their stepmothers after the death of the queens, who were their mothers. However, due to their beauty, they eventually ended up being married by the kings of these thrones and become queens. The contrast is that while the girl in Cinderella is married by his father, the one in snow white is married by his stepbrother. The writers make the tales more realistic through having the mistreated girls

Teachers' Perception of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12000 words

Teachers' Perception of Leadership - Essay Example However, they all agree that measuring job satisfaction is challenging because teachers are not in harmony with what satisfies them throughout their career. In spite of its difficulty to measure, investigators note that the degree of teacher satisfaction directly affects the school's stability, the quality of instructions and hence the overall climate of the school (Bogler, 2000; Richards, 2003; Woods & Weasmer, 2004). Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Literature Review Researchers examined the various qualities in a principal that are desired by teachers (Haser & Nasse, 2003; Nir & Kranot 2006; Jorissen, 2002; Richards, 2003). Richards (2003) compared the needs in terms of principal's behavior of three groups of teachers - those with 1-5years experience, those with 6 - 10 years and those with 11 years or more of teaching experience. Richards utilized a phenomenological study and discovered that the beginning teachers cited "emotional support and safety" as their main need. Teachers with 6-10 years valued "respect as professionals" as the key element in their job satisfaction while those with more than 10 years regarded "respect for their knowledge and experience" as their chief need (2003, p.12). However, support for the teacher was the main factor in influencing teacher's satisfaction for the entire range of teachers. Richards (2003), like Woods and Weasmer (2004), concluded that teachers at all stages in their career agreed that support in relation to parental confrontations, as well as in student... Researchers examined the various qualities in a principal that are desired by teachers (Haser & Nasse, 2003; Nir & Kranot 2006; Jorissen, 2002; Richards, 2003). Richards (2003) compared the needs in terms of principal’s behavior of three groups of teachers - those with 1-5years experience, those with 6 - 10 years and those with 11 years or more of teaching experience. Richards utilized a phenomenological study and discovered that the beginning teachers cited â€Å"emotional support and safety† as their main need. Teachers with 6-10 years valued â€Å"respect as professionals† as the key element in their job satisfaction while those with more than 10 years regarded â€Å"respect for their knowledge and experience† as their chief need (2003, p.12). However, support for the teacher was the main factor in influencing teacher’s satisfaction for the entire range of teachers. Richards (2003), like Woods and Weasmer (2004), concluded that teachers at all stages in their career agreed that support in relation to parental confrontations, as well as in student discipline were of primary importance for teacher retention and teacher job satisfaction. Other investigators have identified what teachers expect from their administration and their perception of their behavior. Factors affecting teachers’ satisfaction included the attitude of the principals toward them, the satisfaction of informal peer group relationship, freedom in planning work and the opportunity to participate in planning policies which affected them.

Applying Educational Thinking to Classroom Essay

Applying Educational Thinking to Classroom - Essay Example Critical thinking in relation to education has vast significance even at this generation. Many educators would admit the importance of applying educational thinking in the classroom which could be achieved if the teacher understands well her/his students' cognitive processes, as well as methodologies to carefully and effectively utilize those cognitive processes in learning. Thinking is important in learning; and learning usually takes place inside the classroom; therefore, a teacher must know how to manipulate classroom activities by means of applying procedural tools to help make learning experience more meaningful and enjoyable. Before the post-modern period, teachers used a traditional method which was rote-learning and memorization in which , students were not allowed to do scientific analysis; and information were simply introduced to students to memorize. Whereas, during the nineteenth century until the twentieth century, because of the modern way of learning, many innovations have come, technology was later became a significant phenomena of the modern generation. This is attributed to the discovery of critical thinking in the classroom. ... Among other factors in achieving learning, the pupil which is the center of the learning process has to be analyzed so that learning will be effective. The learners being the center of the teaching-learning process must be dealt with utmost enthusiasm and interest because as humans they have strength and weakness, they have brain that functions according to learning types; and most importantly, they have emotions. Learning has "some deficiencies" according to the authors; these deficiencies are "biological, psychological, social and emotional" (Stoll, Fink, and Earl). Other people would consider these as factors to learning that can affect the mental process of a student while inside the classroom. Learning therefore varies depending on the conditions provided, that is why, no same student acquires same degree of learning; and this is what teachers should realize in order to reach out to her students and meet their learning needs. Teacher for this reason should prepare her lessons well applying techniques and experiences to make it meaningful; and at the same time, teacher should make the classroom ambience suitable and conducive to learning. Learning can be enhanced by utilizing the senses of the students; in many cases especially children, about 90% of the lesson is retained in the mind if the students make use of senses in their learning experience. This success in the teaching-learning process can be achieved through involving these students in the learning process using a lesson a well-prepared lesson with materials and tools that can enhance their experience. After each session, the teacher must evaluate the outcome of the learning; and if possible,

Salome opera Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Salome opera - Essay Example The modern humanity is willing to take a step forward in a quest for self actualization and realization, by daring to deny and if possible distort that which is considered to be natural, regular, decent and moral, to realize what is innate, primitive, irrepressible and essential. The plots of the Salome Opera and The Skin I Live In tend to portray such modern trends and inclinations. In Opera Salome, Salome confined in the domains of the sultry and incestuous house of Herod, tends to suffer in the depths of her soul to express something that is the natural aspect of her body and identity and which in its search for satisfaction and expression, does not need to be degraded and sullied in a garb of abject sultriness, as was being done by Herod and Herodias. Hence, in order to protect her sexuality and identity from the incestuous gaze of Herod and from the traditional constraints symbolized by squabbling Jews, she escapes into the courtyard, where she first comes across Prophet Jochanaan, who irrespective of his chastity and ascetic profile, offered a scope for an honest expression of love and sexuality (Seshadri 32). Hence surrounded in the mire of depraved and spoiled atmosphere around her, Salome opts for a rebelliously frank and naked quenching of her love and the affiliated sexual and sensual instincts, by choosing to kiss the lips of Jochanaan’s sever ed head. In a somewhat similar manner, Robert Ledgard the stylish and influential plastic surgeon in The Skin I live In, played by Antonio Banderas, though performs a sex reassignment surgery on his beautiful and volatile captive, professedly with revengeful motives, yet at a deeper level, he is engaged in a more sensual and carnal pursuit, by violating the domains of nature, to challenge that what has hitherto been considered to be unnatural, unethical and perhaps insane (French: Online). While doing so, Robert starkly resembles Salome in his modern panache

Characters from Alice Hoffman's Saint Helene Essay

Characters from Alice Hoffman's Saint Helene - Essay Example The main character of the novel is Saint Helene though of course. The characters are set in the era of candles and lights made out of paper bags, sand and candles. Helena’s mother takes the authority in the house of replacing every melting pot of white wax with fresh candles. However it is shown in the beginning that Helene’s indifferent to her surroundings. Helene went to a high school called Middleborough High till her junior year. She was known to be a quiet recluse girl who had been dejected by the people around. Her companionship was very little. She was barely known her school. Whatever little was she known, she was known as someone who would spend her entire afternoon in a cafeteria filling paper pages. That was all people knew about her. The whole school used to look down upon her. The girls around her used to thank their stars that they are not Helen. That is the kind aura with which Alice Hoffman has set the character of the book in the beginning of the novel. To many she is unrelatable. She is not your routine girl. She hardly cares about her exterior and how she appears to the outside world. She is known to be fat, ugly, sorrowful . she has no friends. People think she is lost in her own world and the girls in her school find relief in the fact that they are not HER. ... However, she is a strong person from within. She puts a tough fight against the insulting connotations sent her way by her peers and school people. (Hoffman) As the story progresses her character is shown to evolve. Slowly and gradually she is redeemed in her eyes and in the eyes of people around her. She gains confidence, holds her ground and starts becoming more viable and acceptable by the society that was around her. The evolution in the character was phenomenal. It’s the best character in the book and makes inroads into this world without having the most appealing features or the most charismatic habits. She is by far the best character that this story has to offer. Bibliography Hoffman, Alice. Saint Helene.

Internet Addiction and Depression Statistics Project

Internet Addiction and Depression - Statistics Project Example Chien, et al. (2005) argues that despite the great benefits brought about by the internet, it has led to adverse effects to some of its users. Internet addiction and depression has been cited as one of the major problem brought about by the internet (Oreilly, 1999). Internet addiction and depression is a major problem afflicting some of the internet users. According to Block (2008), internet addiction can be defined as the excessive use/ overuse of technological devices that can provide access to internet such as computers and phones in such a way that they interfere with one’s daily life. Internet addiction includes the following activities; excessive gaming on the internet, blogging, e- mailing, online social networking, internet shopping, and inappropriate pornography use (Young 2009). However, it is important to note that activities such as playing computer games or reading are only considered troubling/ addiction to an extent that these activities are interfering with a person’s normal life (Welsh, 1999). Related to internet addiction is internet related depression, which is defined as a mental/ psychological disorder that is characterized by loss of interest or pleasure, an all- encompassing low mood, and low self- esteem in an event that internet is withdrawn from an addicted person’s life (Bessiere, 2010). Bellamy and Hanewicz (2001) explain that internet depression can also take the form of an internet addict substituting friendships, which are meaningful, and socializing with internet’s virtual contacts, hence having adverse effects on his or her mental wellbeing. Morrison (2010) argues that their study proved that internet addiction and internet depression are strongly linked but the nature of that relationship is what is yet to be established. Armstrong (2001) says that it is not known, which comes first- whether internet cause depression or depressed people are drawn to

Privatizing of Social Security Essay Example for Free

Privatizing of Social Security Essay In â€Å"Privatizing Social Security,† the author discusses the importance of privatizing social security. The author gave a brief overview of the history of social security and explained what he thinks is wrong with the system. Although the author explained the benefits of privatization, his views come off as a bit simplistic because he oversimplifies the social and economic problems that are associated with privatizing social security. In the article the author discusses how the social security trust fund will be in financial difficulty by the year 2018 if the retirement age, tax laws, and other laws associated social security do not change. The author states that the social security financial crisis will arise when the government has to pay the trust fund with treasury notes, which has led him to believe that privatization is the answer to saving the system. Although the author argues that privatization is the answer to social security crisis, it is not the best solution because it will lead to social and economic problems in the future. The main problem with the author’s argument is that he believes that privatization will allow social security funds to grow, since people will be investing their money rather than simply contributing to the fund. However the author fails to take into account that most people lack education to successfully invest money, which threatens their future economic security. The author also fails to consider that investing social security funds is the equivalent to gambling because markets rise and fall and people could potentially lose substantial amounts of retirement money if they cash out during an economic downturn. Although the author made valid points to support privatization, such as changing laws associated with social security, the author should not simplify the costs of privatization because privatizing is a gamble, which takes the security out of social security.

Human Carbonic Anhydrase II

Human Carbonic Anhydrase II Human carbonic anhydrase II is one of the fastest studied enzymes known with a variety of roles in reaction catalysis. Its primary function is to catalyze the reversible hydration reaction of carbon dioxide. In addition to carbon dioxide hydration, it is also capable of other latent skills, such as catalyzing esterase activity. The ability of human carbonic anhydrase II to function as a catalyst derives from key residues in and around the active site that play crucial roles in the mechanism. Substitutions to two of those particular key amino acids were performed via Quick-change site directed mutagenesis: H64A and V142D, to investigate the particular role they have in the catalytic active site. Various kinetic experiments and structural analyses were performed on wild-type carbonic anhydrase and the mutants to discern and compare their activity to each other and to literature, including Michaelis-Menten parameters for PNPA hydrolysis, CO2 hydration, and inferring function molecular m odelling. Though the same trends can be seen as the literature, individual values were found to be much lower owing to errors in measurement and equipment. Trends were found to coincide with the mutants known roles in the active site: His64 is the proton shuttle that facilitates proton transfer during the rate limiting step and Val142 participates in the hydrophobic pocket to bind and recruit substrates to interact with the active site. Mutations to both of these sites show that enzyme efficiency and activity strongly decreases. Introduction Human carbonic anhydrase II (hCAII) is a zinc metalloenzyme that catalyzes the following reversible reaction: . The enzyme commonly functions to help shuttle carbon dioxide in red blood cells to rid the body of metabolic waste, and catalyzes the hydrolysis of many aromatic esters [1, 2]. Structurally, a zinc ion is located in the active site, coordinated to 3 histidine residues (H94, H96, H119) and usually a hydroxide ion or water molecule [2]. The mechanism of hCAII proceeds through two major steps: 1) the conversion of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate, and 2) the regeneration of Zn-OH by proton transfer. The active hydroxide that is bound to zinc nucleophilically attacks a nearby carbon dioxide molecule, resulting in a bicarbonate ion binding to zinc [3]. The zinc-oxygen bond breaks to subsequently release a bicarbonate ion, which is replaced with water [3]. The Znà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢OH bond is regenerated by a proton transfer to the external buffer, which is facilitated by the His64 residue [3]. The proton transfer step is the rate limiting step of the reaction [3]. The diazole side chain on the histidine residue is what gives it the ability to be a proton acceptor and donor. Mutations in that position (His64) usually result in decreased enzyme activity due to a lack of proton transfer; however the reaction does proceed to a lesser degree without an active His residue, possibly due to its extensive water network in the activ e site forming secondary proton wires [4]. Carbonic anhydrase catalyzes one of the most rapid reactions; it is one of the fastest enzymes studied [1]. Its reaction speed is due, in part, by the amphiphilic nature of the active site [1]. The hydrophobic side is used to bind carbon dioxide, while the hydrophilic patch functions to optimally orient the carbon dioxide molecule for the reaction [1]. The hydrophobic wall forms a well-defined pocket near the zinc-hydroxide and is composed of the following amino acids: Val142, Val121, Leu197 and Trp208. The hydrophilic patch consists of Thr198 and Glu106, which form a hydrogen bond network with the Znà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢OH to stabilize and orient it for nucleophilic attack on CO2 [2]. Therefore, any modifications to the hydrophobic pocket would change its structure, and consequently, its catalytic efficiency [1]. In this study, the importance and role of His64 and Val142 to the structure and mechanism of hCAII are determined through site-mutagenesis and subsequent characterization of the new mutants, H64A (His64 Æ’Â   Ala) and V142D (Val142 Æ’Â   Asp) via kinetic and structural analysis. The changes that arise from the substitutions may prove to be applicable to drug synthesis because hCAII is known to be involved in a variety of diseases, for example, Marble brain disease, where mutations in the hCAII gene leads to a deficiency in the enzyme which is an autosomal recessive disease [5]. Studies in hCAII mutations can be used to design folding modulators to suppress misfolding which frequently occurs due to hCAII destabilization [5]. Another major disease involved with hCAII gene is osteopetrosis. The hCAII genes inactivation decreases osteoclast function in bone, and knowledge of hCAII mutations that inactivate the enzyme may lead to better understanding of bone remodelling [6]. Some carbonic anhydrase diseases use inhibitors (CAI) to suppress the hCAII as a therapeutic treatment. Inhibitors prevent hCAII activity by inhibiting either of the reaction steps: the conversion of CO2 which involves V142 in the hydrophobic pocket, or the rate limiting step, proton transfer, in which His64 is crucial. Experimental Procedure Site directed mutagenesis via the PCR-based Quick-change method was performed on hCAII as cited in Woolley (2011) for 10 ng and 20 ng wild-type plasmids (hCA2pET24b from Novagen) [7]. Table shows the sequence of the primers used in the PCR reactions. Products of PCR mutagenesis reactions were run on 0.7% agrose gels to determine size. The gels were run at 150 V in 1X TAE buffer. Red safe dye from Intron Biotechnology was used in the agrose gel instead of ethidium bromide for safety reasons [7]. The standard molecular weight ruler used was a 1 kB DNA ladder from Fermentas. Table : Primer sequences used in mutagenesis of hCAII in the forward and reverse direction for mutants H64A and V142D Mutant Direction Sequence MW (Da) %GC TM ( °C) H64A Forward GGATCCTCAACAATGGTgcTGCTTTCAACGTGGAG 10778 51 67 Reverse CTCCACGTTGAAAGCAgcACCATTGTTGAGGATCC 10709 V142D Forward CTGATGGACTGGCCGaTCTAGGTATTTTTTTG 9868 44 62 Reverse CAAAAAAATACCTAGAtCGGCCAGTCCATCAG 9779 The enzyme, DpnI, was then used to digest methylated DNA (the parent template DNA). The DNA vector that contained the mutation was transformed into supercompetent E.coli turbo cells from New England Biolabs by heat shock [7]. LB-agar plates were prepared to grow the transformed cells containing mutant genes (i.e. H64A and V142D hCAII gene) [7]. Both were injected with Kanamycin to ensure that the culture that grows will have the desired mutation [7]. A miniprep culture was set-up from the LB-agar plate into LB medium to grow one colony for DNA analysis [7]. Restriction enzyme mapping was prepared and XhoI and BglII were chosen, they were used under buffer 3 for optimal efficiency. Plasmid putification was performed using the QIAprep Spin Miniprep Kit, and then the chosen restriction enzymes were carried out and were run on 1% agrose gel [7]. A sample of the purified DNA was sent to an external company (ACGT) for commercial sequencing (Sanger dideoxy type) to verify if the mutagenesis occurred correctly. The sequence was analyzed using the program BioEdit. To determine the level of confidence of the sequencing results, the purified DNA was quantified using UV/Vis absorption via a spectrometer [7]. The concentration was calculated using Ecà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1(260) as 50 ÃŽÂ ¼g/mL. Purified plasmid DNA was transformed into E.coli BL2(DE3) cells to initiate protein expression by heat shock, similar to the transformation into turbo cells [7]. The cells were cultured and a single colony was grown. Once sufficiently grown, ITPG and ZnSO4 were added to induce protein expression [7]. SDS-PAGE was used to confirm protein expression and was analyzed against an unstained protein molecular weight marker by Fermentas. The protein and ladder was stained with coomassie blue [7]. Affinity chromatography was used to purify the mutant hCAII proteins [7]. The matrix used was agrose linked to p-(aminomethyl)benzenesulfonamide, exploiting the tight binding that occurs between hCAII and sulphonamides. Once purified, the protein was dialyzed using a 6000-8000 Da dialysis membrane to replace the elution buffer with protein buffer and removes the matrix from the protein [7]. SDS-PAGE is again used to confirm the protein is still present after purification and to check its approximate molecular weight. It was run for two different amounts of protein, 2 ÃŽÂ ¼g and 10 ÃŽÂ ¼g, and also ran 10ÃŽÂ ¼L of wash fractions from affinity chromatography [7]. Protein concentration was determined by UV absorption at 280 nm in a final concentration of 6M guanidine hydrochloride. From the calculated concentrations, purity of the protein could be assessed via SDS-PAGE. To characterize this purified hCAII protein, a variety of analyses were done. Two types of mass spectrometry (MS) were performed: electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) [7]. The MS analysis was used to confirm the presence of the mutation in hCAII with intact and digested protein. Protein samples (H64A and V142D hCAII) were not diluted for either of the MS analyses as cited in Woolley (2010). Samples of 10 ÃŽÂ ¼L of stock protein concentrations (37.6 ÃŽÂ ¼M H64A and 3.2 ÃŽÂ ¼M V142D hCAII) were used for analysis of the molecular weight of the intact protein by ESI-MS. Both mutants were then digested by Trypsin Gold (MS grade) from Promega and the resulting fragments were evaluated by ESI-MS as well [7]. A 50 ÃŽÂ ¼L sample was used for each mutant, 40 ÃŽÂ ¼L of the mutant at stock concentration and 10 ÃŽÂ ¼L of the Trypsin Gold. A couple ÃŽÂ ¼L of the digested mutants were saved for MALDI-MS and the rest was used for ESI-MS. Once the molecular weights for each of the digested fragments were determined by ESI-MS, the products were run through a protein database to confirm the identity of the protein and mutations [7]. The 1 ÃŽÂ ¼L of the tryptically digested mutants prepared for ESI-MS, subsequently underwent MALDI-MS. The 1 ÃŽÂ ¼L samples were mixed with a matrix consisting of 1 ÃŽÂ ¼L ÃŽÂ ±-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) and 1 ÃŽÂ ¼L of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) [7]. The entire mixture was pipette onto a MALDI well and was inserted into the mass spectrometer and a MALDI-MS spectra was obtained. Michaelis-Menten kinetics was used to determine the KM and kcat of the p-nitrophenyl (PNPA) hydrolysis reaction [7]. The ionized product from the hydrolysis, p-nitrophenol (PNP) produces a bright yellow colour that was used to follow the rate of the reaction via the Perkin Elmer Lambda UV/Vis spectrophotometer [7]. Various sample concentrations of PNPA were set up to have a final enzyme concentration of 0.2 ÃŽÂ ¼M in protein buffer [7]. The initial rate measurements of each PNPA concentration were taken for wild-type enzyme, H64A mutant, V142D mutant, and a blank with no additional enzyme added (refer to data tables in Enzyme Kinetics I [7]). PNP has a molar absorption coefficient (ÃŽÂ µ) of 1.73ÃÆ'-104 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1cmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1. This was used to calculate Michaelis-Menten values: Vmax, KM, kcat, and kcat/KM [7]. The ability of hCAII mutants (H64A and V142D) and wild-type hCAII to catalyze the hydration of CO2 was measured. The pH of the solution was measured to track the progress of the reaction because the reaction generates protons. Enzyme solutions were prepared according to table 2 in [7]. The buffer used in the table was 50 mM TRIS buffer (pH 7.8). Additional enzyme samples were prepared for 25 nM of wild-type hCAII and 100 nM of H64A mutant in a final concentration of 22.5 and 29.92 mM imidazole buffer (pH 7.8) respectively to determine chemical rescue of mutant H64A. The pH of the CO2 hydration assay was measured using a pH probe and pH meter at 5 second increments for a total of 90 seconds starting at the beginning of the reaction [7]. The slope of the initial changes in the first 2 points was considered to be the V0 for each enzyme concentration. From the initial velocity, a kcat value can be calculated for each enzyme using the assumption that [S] >> KM, the Michaelis-Menten equati on simplifies to kcat=V0/[E]. The third kinetics experiment used fluorescence to determine the binding constant of dansyl amide (DNSA) and acetazolamide (AZ) (from Sigma-Aldrich) to H64A and wild-type hCAII was performed using the Perkin Elmer Fluorometer [7]. Stocks of 1 mM and 200 ÃŽÂ ¼M of DNSA were prepared from a 21.6 mM DNSA stock by dilution with DMSO. Enzyme stocks were diluted to 0.25 ÃŽÂ ¼M with TRIS buffer to make a 10 mL solution. A 1 mL sample of H64A from stock made was titrated with DNSA in small increments [7]. The fluorometer emissions were taken at 470 nm. AZ titration in competition with DNSA was not able to be completed. The last characterization experiment done was molecularly modelling the hCAII wild-type enzyme, as well as the mutants H64A and V142D. The molecular model of hCAII analyzed was derived by x-ray crystallography and found in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) repository. The wild-type and H64A hCAII structures examined had a PDB code of 1CA2 and 1MOO respectively. At present, no crystal structure has been found for V142D hCAII. The Swiss PDB Viewer program was used to visualize the protein structures. Secondary structures of the proteins were able to be observed. Residues around the metal active site and the Ramachandran plot were explored. Homology between hCAII and other carbonic anhydrase isozymes, hCAIV (PDB code 1ZNC) and hCAI (PBD code H1CB), were also studied by performing an iterative magic fit on the ÃŽÂ ±-carbons and structure alignment for each pair. The root mean square (RMS) between hCAII and the other isozymes were also analyzed to determine conserved and deviated regions in the structures. The binding of cobalt in the hCAII active site was also investigated (PDB code 3KOI). The structural inhibition of hCAII by AZ was also gleaned by structural analysis (PDB code 3HS4). Its mode of inhibition and binding sites were shown through the crystal structure. Lastly, the Swiss PDB Viewer program was used as a tool to theoretically synthesize mutations and compare it to the actual structure as determined by other scientists, for example, by aligning the virtual and crystallized mutations to determine deviations in structure by performing RMS. Results Site-directed mutagenesis PCR. Products from the PCR mutagenesis reactions were examined using 0.7% agrose gel electrophoresis. Two samples of differing amounts of template DNA (10 ng and 20 ng) were used for each mutant (Figure ). Bands were only observed for samples containing 20 ng of the hCA2pET24b DNA template plasmid (Figure ). The size of the bands observed coincides with the size of the plasmid used, 6018 bp. Heat shock transformation and isolation of plasmid. Several colonies were observed after plasmid transformation for both mutants, and 1 colony from each mutant was chosen for restriction enzyme digest with BglII and XhoI. Figure : Electrophoretic run on 0.7% agrose gel of DNA of hCAII mutants from PCR mutagenesis reactions. Lane 1 is the GeneRuler ladder by Fermentas and lanes 10-13 are the following: V142D (10 ng), V142D (20 ng), H64A (10 ng), and H64A (20 ng). As suggested from the gel, the mutants in the 20 ng plasmid was more successful than the 10 ng plasmids in determining relative molecular weights. Both mutants in the 20 ng plasmid show a band at approximately the 6000 base pair mark, which coincides with the number of base pairs in the hCA2pET24b plasmid that was used (6018 base pairs). Quantification of pure plasmid DNA. A 1/20th dilution was carried out on the purified DNA with elution buffer (EB; 0.1 M Tris, 0.4 M KSCN, pH 7). The absorption of the diluted DNA at 260 nm and 280 nm was taken by a UV/Vis spectrophotometer and the relative DNA purity was determined (Table ). The assumption that Ecà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 260 = 50 ÃŽÂ ¼g/mL for DNA was applied in the calculation of concentrated and diluted concentrations of purified DNA (Table ). Table : Relative DNA purity for mutants V142D and H64A determined by UV/Vis spectrophotometer absorbance at 260 and 280 nm. Calculated concentrations of mutants from absorbance data, where Ecà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 260 = 50 ÃŽÂ ¼g/mL. Mutant Wavelength, ÃŽÂ » Absorbance Units Relative DNA Purity (A260/A280) Concentrated (ÃŽÂ ¼g/mL) Diluted (ÃŽÂ ¼g/mL) V142D 260 nm 0.3117 1.7852 311.70 15.59 280 nm 0.1746 H64A 260 nm 0.2653 1.7581 265.30 13.27 280 nm 0.1509 Enzyme restriction digest. Purified plasmid DNA of mutants were digested with XhoI and BglII, separately and together in a single and double digest for both mutants. The digested and undigested samples were run on 1% agrose gel, and 2 bands were observed around the 6000 and 7000 bp marker for all 8 samples (Figure , Figure ). The expected length of the bands in the double digest should be 892 bp and 5126 bp (Figure ). Figure : Electrophoresis performed in 1% agrose gel of digested V142D hCAII in lane 1-4. The (1 kB) GeneRuler DNA ladder is shown in lane 5. Lane 1-4 contain the following: V142D plasmid, V142D + XhoI, V142D + BglII + XhoI, and V142D BglII. Double bands are shown at the 6000 and 7000 bp marker for all 4 V142D samples. Figure : Electrophoresis performed in 1% agrose gel of digested H64A hCAII in lane 1-4. The (1 kB) GeneRuler DNA ladder is shown in lane 5. Lane 1-4 contain the following: H64A plasmid, H64A + XhoI, H64A + BglII + XhoI, and H64A BglII. Double bands are shown at the 6000 and75000 bp marker for all 4 H64A samples. Figure : Restriction enzyme cut sites and position of hCAII gene (5072-5854) on the hCAI2pET24b plasmid DNA Sequencing. The mutations for both V142D and H64A in the hCAII gene were successful according to the sequenced DNA result obtained from ACGT. Other mutations in the DNA sequence were observed in both mutants, but since the aligned protein sequence was the same, mutations were likely to be silent mutations due to amino acid redundancies. When sequenced in the forward direction by T7 polymerase, a protein mutation was found (K153N) other than the desired mutation of V142D; however, when sequenced in the reverse direction by T7 polymerase terminator (T7TER), K153N was not observed. Plasmid DNA transformation into E.Coli BL21(DE3) cells. Following transformation into BL21(DE3) cells, colonies were observed for both hCAII mutants (V142D and H64A). A random colony was chosen to be cultured and then was induced to express protein with 270 ÃŽÂ ¼M IPTG and 0.1 mM ZnSO4. SDS-PAGE for protein expression. Protein expression was tested with SDS-PAGE. The expected molecular weight of V142D hCAII is approximately 29.2 kDa and the expected molecular weight of H64A hCAII is approximately 29.1 kDa. SDS-PAGE bands are observed between the ladder markers 25.0 kDa and 35.0 kDa for both mutant proteins (Figure , Figure ). Figure : SDS-PAGE loaded with V142D hCAII proteins to examine protein expression. Samples were loaded in different volumes of protein to ensure gel visualization. Lane 15 contains the Fermentas protein molecular ladder and lane 1-4 contain the following: 1 ÃŽÂ ¼L à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢IPTG, 4 ÃŽÂ ¼L à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢IPTG, 1 ÃŽÂ ¼L+IPTG, 4 ÃŽÂ ¼L +IPTG. All 4 samples had some form of protein expression between 25.0 to 35.0 kDa. Figure : SDS-PAGE loaded with H64A hCAII protein to examine protein expression. One sample was loaded with 4 ÃŽÂ ¼L of H64A protein and +IPTG in lane 10. Lane 6 contains the Fermentas protein molecular ladder. The one H64A sample loaded showed an expression between 25.0 and 35.0 kDa. Calculation of pure protein concentration and extinction coefficient. Following affinity purification and dialysis, pure protein concentration was calculated from UV absorption measurements at 280 nm and the known extinction coefficient of hCAII as 50070 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1cmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 (Table ). The final concentration of the samples of V142D and H64A hCAII were 3.2 ÃŽÂ ¼M and 37.6 ÃŽÂ ¼M respectively. Table : UV absorption measurements at 280 nm of purified protein and the resulting final concentration Mutant Average A280 Protein concentration (ÃŽÂ ¼M) V142D 0.01583 3.2 H64A 0.1884 37.6 SDS-PAGE to assay purity and check approximate molecular weight. Several samples were loaded into the SDS-PAGE for each mutant protein: lysate and wash fractions (collected from affinity chromatography), 2 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein, and 10 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein. For H64A, a visible band was only observed for the 10 ÃŽÂ ¼g sample (Figure ). The band was located between the 35 kDa and 25 kDa markers on the ladder. For V142D, none of the 4 samples resulted in a band on the gel (Figure ). Figure : SDS-PAGE shown for H64A mutant protein. Lane 1 contains the Fermentas protein molecular weight marker. Lane 11-14 contains H64A samples of the following (in order): lysate, wash fraction, 2 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein, and 10 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein. Only the 10 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein had (faint) observable bands located between the 25 and 35 kDa markers. Figure : SDS-PAGE shown for V142D mutant protein. Lane 4 contains the Fermentas protein molecular weight marker. Lane 12-15 contains V142D samples of the following (in order): lysate, wash fraction, 2 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein, and 10 ÃŽÂ ¼g protein. No observable bands are seen for any of the samples. Mass spectrometry. ESI-MS was not successful in analyzing the molecular weight of intact and digested protein of both mutants. A MALDI spectrum was able to be generated for the digested proteins; however, without the digested ESI spectrum to compare to, the peaks from the MALDI spectrum can only be speculatively assigned. Kinetics: Hydrolysis of PNPA. Using the molar absorption coefficient of PNP (1.73ÃÆ'-104 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1cmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1), the rate of each reaction was determined. The predicted rate was calculated using the Michaelis-Menten kinetics: . The plot of predicted rates and actual initial rates vs. PNPA concentration can be seen in Figure , Figure , Figure for wild-type, H64A, and V142D hCAII respectively. The Vmax and KM values for each enzyme were calculated by minimizing the square difference between the predicted and actual reaction rates, and the kcat was calculated using the equation: (Table ). Table : Calculated Michaelis-Menten parameters for wild-type, H64A, and V142D hCAII catalyzing the hydrolysis of PNPA. Wild-type hCAII H64A hCAII V142D hCAII Vmax (ÃŽÂ ¼M/sec) 1.202 0.812 0.218 KM (mM) 1.280 1.957 8.362 kcat (sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) 5.141 ÃÆ'- 10à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢3 2.159 ÃÆ'- 10à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢2 6.825 ÃÆ'- 10à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢2 kcat/KM (Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) 4.02 11.032 8.162 Figure : Michaelis-Menten plot of initial rate vs. concentration of PNPA added for wild-type hCAII enzyme. Figure : Michaelis-Menten plot of initial rate vs. concentration of PNPA added for H64A hCAII enzyme. Figure : Michaelis-Menten plot of initial rate vs. concentration of PNPA added for V142D hCAII enzyme. Kinetics: CO2 hydration. Initial velocity (V0) values were calculated by measuring the progression of the reaction (via concentration of protons) with time (Table , Table , and Table ). kcat values were then calculated using the same equation as in the hydration of PNPA and averaged for the individual enzymes (wildtype, H64A, and V142D hCAII) in a particular buffer (i.e. TRIS or imidazole). Table : Initial velocity (V0) and kcat values calculated for the hydration of CO2 by wild-type hCAII in TRIS buffer and imidazole buffer. Wild-type concentration (nM) V0 for WT+TRIS (M/s) V0 for WT+Imidazole (M/s) 0 1.3E-08 6.05778E-08 1.5 1.1E-08 N/A 2.5 1.1E-08 5.63E-08 5 2.1E-08 5.16E-08 12.5 5.9E-08 5.63E-08 Average kcat (sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) 5.3 ±1.62 12.44 ±9.19 Table : Initial velocity (V0) and kcat values calculated for the hydration of CO2 by H64A hCAII in TRIS buffer and imidazole buffer. H64A concentration (nM) V0 for H64A+TRIS (M/s) V0 for H64A+Imidazole (M/s) 12.5 1.4E-08 6.57E-08 25 1.4E-08 5.8E-08 50 1.7E-08 7.53E-08 Average kcat (sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) 0.67 ±0.39 3.03 ±1.97 Table : Initial velocity (V0) and kcat values calculated for the hydration of CO2 by V142D hCAII in TRIS buffer. V142D concentration (nM) V0 for V142D+TRIS (M/s) 12.5 6.2E-09 25 5.4E-09 50 5.5E-09 Average kcat (sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) 0.27 ±0.19 Fluorescence detection of ligand binding. DNSA was titrated with H64A hCAII to determine its affinity for the enzyme. The dissociation constant, KD, for DNSA was determined to be 0.086 ÃŽÂ ¼M when protein concentration was 0.25 ÃŽÂ ¼M. Competitive titration of H64A-DNSA hCAII with AZ was attempted, but was not successful as DNSA binding was too tight, making it difficult to be displaced by AZ. Molecular modeling. Literature models of wild-type (PDB code 1CA2) and H64A (PDB code 1MOO) hCAII were analyzed. There is no available structure of V142D hCAII at present. The secondary structure of wild-type is composed of 18 ÃŽÂ ²-sheets (77 residues) and 10 ÃŽÂ ±-helices (42 residues), with the majority of the ÃŽÂ ±-helices falling in the domain of right-handed helices, while very few show left-handed helical properties according to the Ramachadran plot. It also seems that the active site is solely composed of ÃŽÂ ²-sheets, and no ÃŽÂ ±-helices (Figure ). Analyzing PDB structure 3HS4 (AZ bound hCAII), the mechanism as to how AZ inhibits hCAII function can be seen. AZ has 3 binding sites, 2 are novel binding sites and the other provides a mechanism of inhibition. AZ binds the zinc directly at the active site, displacing crucial ligands needed for catalysis. There were some discrepancies found between the crystal structure of H64A [1MOO] as cited on PDB and virtually mutated H64A from wild-type hCAII, resulting in a RMSD (root mean square deviation) of 0.29 Ã… (Figure ). Since no literature structure of V142D is available, no comparison between virtual and crystal structures could be made. Figure : Secondary structure of wild-type hCAII overlain with ribbon to visualize the higher arrangement. Figure : RMSD between H64A hCAII virtually mutated and literature crystal structure. Blues denote the same or similar residues, while reds and oranges indicate completely different amino acids. Discussion Agrose gel results were only visible for samples that contained 20 ng of the plasmid template DNA, rather than the 10 ng plasmid. This may be a result of more amplification during PCR with the 20 ng plasmid, and so would intensely be more visible. Though the 20 ng samples showed bands at the appropriate 6000 bp mark, there was also a faint band that can be seen near the end of the gel. This may be due to non-specific primer annealing. Quantification of DNA purity was done by exploiting the peak absorbances of protein and DNA. DNA maximally absorbs at 260 nm, while protein dominantly absorbs at 280 nm. The purity ratio reports the relative amount of DNA compared to protein present in the sample. The purity of both mutants were approximately 1.8, which is regarded as a relatively pure sample; however, a purity ratio of more than 2.0 would have been ideal. The restriction enzyme digest showed 2 bands (7000, 6000 bp) for all samples, which may have been a sign of poor mixing/ pipetting since the volumes of restriction enzyme were extremely small amounts. If this is the case, only some of the DNA was nicked and some were not, which would result in 2 bands. It was expected that the plasmid sample would have a high band (supercoiled), each of the singly digested samples would have a slightly lower band (nicked), and the doubly digested would show 2 bands that indicated the fragment size of 892 and 5126 bp. Sequencing results showed that a protein mutation occurred when the sample was sequenced in the forward direction by the T7 polymerase. A lysine at position 153 had mutated to glutamine (K153N). However, this mutation was not observed when the T7 polymerase terminator was used to sequence the sample in the reverse direction. A mutation that occurs in one sequencing direction and not the other is usually attributed to sequencing errors, which may be the reason in this case. The SDS-PAGE bands for protein expression coincided with the expected molecular weight for both mutants, which could suggest that the correct proteins were expressed; however, there is a possibility that the proteins expressed could be of similar weight, but completely different. Interestingly, the V142D samples that did not include the protein inducer, IPTG, had a more intense band than the faint ones found for the samples that did include IPTG. This may just be a result of mislabelling. The SDS-PAGE performed to assess purity after the purification process. Mutant V142D had low protein expression as evidenced by its concentration of 3.2 ÃŽÂ ¼M. The V142D mutant should have very low protein expression according to Fierke et al. (1991) because valine at position 142 is uniquely required for maximal expression in E.Coli. It is suggested that by altering position 142, protein stability decreases [2]. Therefore, the protein that was expressed in the previous SDS-PAGE gel may not be V142D hCAII at all. The sample may have been small fragmented contaminant proteins that would have completely run off the gel altogether. However, the low concentration of V142D after purification may also be a major factor in the lack of gel bands observed as well. Unlike V142D, H64A hCAII concentration should not have affected its lack of bands because it was calculated to have had a reasonable concentration of 37.6 ÃŽÂ ¼M. There were some problems loading the samples into the wells; t his could be an explanation as to no observable gel bands. ESI-MS is dependent on concentration because it affects the size of primary droplets [8]. The unsuccessful determination of molecular weight of V142D hCAII may be attributed to its low concentration. The H64 hCAII mutant was also not able to be successfully analyzed with ESI-MS. A possible reason for the failure was that it was not kept on ice while it was not being used. The enzyme may have become inactive and degraded into smaller fragments. This would explain the ESI-MS output obtained for H64A. No definite molecular mass was determined, but the spectrometer did detect a lot of small protein fragments in the sample, all under 1000 amu. The kinetic values obtained from PNPA hydrolysis do not follow similar trends found in literature [2]. The kcat/KM for wild-type hCAII (2500 ±200 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) was found to be significantly larger than V142D hCAII (3 ±0.3 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) in literature, more than 800ÃÆ'- larger [2]. Experimental calculations yielded kcat/KM for V142D (8.16 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1) to be about 2ÃÆ'- larger than wild-type (4.02 Mà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1), which did not follow literature patterns. The literature trends make more biolog

Health Promotion Care: An analysis

Health Promotion Care: An analysis Health Promotion Care Module 2 Discussion Question Health promotion refers to the process of providing health care services to the public for increasing their awareness towards health education. Health promotion policy focuses on the prevention of health care problems in non-health care sectors and renders different ways to remove them. The health promotion techniques are based on different principles. The principles are: fundamental requirements of health, quality of life, fairness in health, building healthy policies for public health care, societal health care, educating for health improvement, making better life skills and effective community actions. The main aim of health care sector is to provide clinical and curative services to the communities for living healthy life (Marmot, 1996). Discussion and Analysis In Australia, there is a large population of aboriginal people and it is a colonized country. The government of Australia has implemented various health care policies for the improvement of health of people. But, the health of people does not improve with the divestment of health care promotion services. The aim of the government should be focused on continuously improving the health of the people, it should not be affected by the rational economic thought and health resource allocation. With the increasing expenditures in the health facilities, the public government is curbing many health care activities which in turn results in increasing malnutrition problems among the people. This can further result in increasing the death rate in the country and it will suffer from potential loss of people which can affect the productivity and growth of the country (Marmot, 1996). The government authorities should focus on improving the mental and physical health of the people. It should plan the health budget in such a way that gives maximum output with minimum expenditure but should not reduce the health care facilities for people. Government should appoint psychologists for understanding the mental state of the people. It should also pay attention towards health care facilities for children. It should introduce special child development programs and should have child care providers that increase immunization rates and create healthy child care environment (Louise Parker, 2008). The resource allocation for health care programs should be according to the health care requirements and also after a detailed cost benefit analysis. The government should have a strategic planning for introducing such health system programs. It is the responsibility of the government authorities to take care of public health and introduce plans and policies for their growth and development. There should be special health promotion plans for the deprived or disadvantaged people. Health promotion programs have reduced deaths due to circulatory diseases, unintentional accidents injuries, infectious diseases, and poisonings due to cancers. Australia is known for its health promotion programs and policies, so the government authorities should maintain the standards and continue such programs by maintaining a balance between the expenditure and benefits rather than divesting from the principles of health promotion. The programs should be well planned and implemented to avoid health promotion failures. The health promotion program should aim at healthy lifestyle with an evidence based wellness system. Government should introduce open information health program along with family centered health promotion plans (Louise Parker, 2008). Conclusion Thus, the concerned authorities should introduce health promotion programs which aim at the equal development of all the people and provide health facilities to children, adults as well as old people. It should also aim at multicultural health promotion programs to reduce cultural imbalances and inequalities and satisfy all people equally (Magnusson, 2008). References Marmot,M.(1996). The socialpattern of health and disease in blame. Health and social Organisation, London: Routledge, 42-70. Magnusson,R. (2008). Prevention is a good thing. Australia and New Zealand Health Policy. Sydney Law School Legal Studies Research Paper, 08 (57), 1. Louise, M Parker, E. (2008). Health Promotion: Principles and Practice in the Australian Context (2nd edition). Australia: Allen Unwin Publishers.

Female Sex Offenders: Perception is Not Reality Essay -- Criminal Just

Perception is not reality. The common assumption that the court system often treats female sex offenders differently than male sex offenders, the punishments of female sex offenders are more lenient than men who commit the same types of crimes, and the differences between male and female victims are all perception and not reality. Objective considerations to additional factors make the perceptions baseless. These additional factors solidify the factual differences between male and female sex offenders. The acceptance that the court system often treats female offenders differently than male offenders is an accurate statement; however, it comes with many caveats. Generally, the public views women as nurturers, motherly and incapable of harming a child. Research indicates that female sex offenders capable of committing such acts have serious psychiatric and psychological problems. In comparison, research indicates male sex offenders are more callous, more antisocial, and promiscuous, involved in the criminal justice system, and have more victims (Miccio-Fenseca, 2012, slide 7). The consensus is that men commit their acts for sexual pleasure while women commit their acts due to psychiatric and psychological problems. Law enforcement, juries, and judges tend to empathize more when there are additional mitigating factors such as emotional or psychological problems. Due to these mitigating factors, it appears treatment of female sex offenders is more lenient than male if their crimes are similar in nature. Research by Miccio-Fenseca (2012) indicates that in comparison to their male counterparts, â€Å"female sex offenders rarely use force or violence far less than often†¦rarely use threats of violence to silence victims†¦rarely use threats o... ...emale sex offenders. 1-16. Embry, R., & Lyons, P. M. (2012). Sex-based sentencing: Sentencing discrepancies between male and female sex offenders. Feminist Criminology, 7(2), 146-162. Kinder-Matthews, J. (1994). Working with female sexual abusers. (pp. 57-67). Miccio-Fonseca, L.C. (2012). Female Sex Offenders [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.fmhac.net/Assets/Documents/2012/Presentations/MiccioFonsecaHandout.pdf Vandiver, D. M., & Teske, R. (2006). Juvenile female and male sex offenders a comparison of offender, victim, and judicial processing characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50(2), 148-165. Wijkman, M., Bijleveld, C., & Hendriks, J. (2010). Women don't do such things! characteristics of female sex offenders and offender types. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22(2), 135-156. Female Sex Offenders: Perception is Not Reality Essay -- Criminal Just Perception is not reality. The common assumption that the court system often treats female sex offenders differently than male sex offenders, the punishments of female sex offenders are more lenient than men who commit the same types of crimes, and the differences between male and female victims are all perception and not reality. Objective considerations to additional factors make the perceptions baseless. These additional factors solidify the factual differences between male and female sex offenders. The acceptance that the court system often treats female offenders differently than male offenders is an accurate statement; however, it comes with many caveats. Generally, the public views women as nurturers, motherly and incapable of harming a child. Research indicates that female sex offenders capable of committing such acts have serious psychiatric and psychological problems. In comparison, research indicates male sex offenders are more callous, more antisocial, and promiscuous, involved in the criminal justice system, and have more victims (Miccio-Fenseca, 2012, slide 7). The consensus is that men commit their acts for sexual pleasure while women commit their acts due to psychiatric and psychological problems. Law enforcement, juries, and judges tend to empathize more when there are additional mitigating factors such as emotional or psychological problems. Due to these mitigating factors, it appears treatment of female sex offenders is more lenient than male if their crimes are similar in nature. Research by Miccio-Fenseca (2012) indicates that in comparison to their male counterparts, â€Å"female sex offenders rarely use force or violence far less than often†¦rarely use threats of violence to silence victims†¦rarely use threats o... ...emale sex offenders. 1-16. Embry, R., & Lyons, P. M. (2012). Sex-based sentencing: Sentencing discrepancies between male and female sex offenders. Feminist Criminology, 7(2), 146-162. Kinder-Matthews, J. (1994). Working with female sexual abusers. (pp. 57-67). Miccio-Fonseca, L.C. (2012). Female Sex Offenders [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.fmhac.net/Assets/Documents/2012/Presentations/MiccioFonsecaHandout.pdf Vandiver, D. M., & Teske, R. (2006). Juvenile female and male sex offenders a comparison of offender, victim, and judicial processing characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50(2), 148-165. Wijkman, M., Bijleveld, C., & Hendriks, J. (2010). Women don't do such things! characteristics of female sex offenders and offender types. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22(2), 135-156.

St Thomas Aquinas Essay -- Religion Philosophy

St Thomas Aquinas It has been written that "since the day of Aristotle, probably no one man has exercised such a powerful influence on the thinking world as did St Thomas Aquinas." Thomas Aquinas was born in 1225 in Italy of a noble family, thus separated by 900 years to Aristotle. He received his first education at the Abbey of Monte Cassino, going on from there to the University of Naples. In 1243, he joined the Dominican monastic order at Cologin. His most influential teacher was another Dominican, Albertus Magnis, a German who wrote extensively on theological matters and questions of national science, especially biology. Thomas was also a highly successful lecturer, and travelled widely across Europe, particularly on the business of his order and the church. In his short and active life, Thomas produced a prodigious amount of writing: commentaries on biblical books and Aristotelian work, short essays on philosophical problems, and a lengthy compendium of Christian apoletices, the Summa Centra Gentiles, which, as Chambers et. al. writes was probably intended for Dominican missionaries working to convert heretics and infidels. St Thomas begins the Summa Centra Gentiles as writes by reaffirming what Aristotle claimed at the beginning of Metaphysics, namely, he that studies the end or purpose of the universe is rightly called a wise man. He is wise because he is studying that which is highest and most noble among the subjects of study: Truth. Truth, Aquinas claims, i...

How does Austen convince the reader that Lizzy is right to reject Mr.Collins’ proposal?

From the first sentence of the passage, Austen demonstrates that Mr Collins is not a suitable husband for Lizzy when she says â€Å"Mr Collins was not a sensible man. † In Chapter 15, Austen describes the character of Mr Collins in more detail reinforcing the statement made in the opening sentence. Mr Collins is then described as being stupid and his natural stupidity has not been helped by ‘education or society. ‘ Although Mr Collins had been to university, he had ‘only kept the necessary terms. ‘ so he had not improved himself as a result of attending. Mr Collins was brought up as by a stingy father who gave him no guidance and gave Mr Collins a ‘great humility of manner' meaning he was reluctant to involve himself in society. When Mr Collins is recommended to the living of Hunsford by ‘fortunate chance' he is forced into society and his ‘early and unexpected prosperity' has gone to his head. He venerates his patron Lady Catherine de Bough, and Austen's use of the word ‘veneration' suggests the religious awe with which Mr Collins regards Lady Catherine. It is ironical that a clergyman who prides himself on setting an example to his parish practically worships his patroness. Austen describes him as ‘a mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance, and humility. ‘ Mr Collins intends to marry one of the Bennet daughters, but Austen's description of Mr Collins convinces the reader that his behaviour makes him unsuitable for anyone. Before arriving at Longbourn, Mr Collins had decided he would marry the eldest of the five daughters, Jane. However, Mrs. Bennet tells him that Jane is likely to be engaged so Mr Collins decides to marry Elizabeth instead. This decision to change his affections was made ‘while Mrs. Bennet was stirring the fire,' which highlights the absurdity in the switch in his affections. Chapter 19 shows Mr Collins at his most well intentioned, but also at his most stupid. Lizzy feels awkward when Mr Collins asks to speak with her, and she is ‘torn between distress and diversion,' meaning that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Mr Collins however, sees this awkwardness as a mark of a good upbringing and shows his insensitivity by failing to see Lizzy's unhappiness at the interview. Mr Collins then claims he will be ‘run away with by (his) feelings' which brings Lizzy to the verge of laughter at the very notion. Mr Collins' â€Å"solemn composure† would ever lead him to be romantic. Mr Collins gives three reasons for marrying, but none of them consider Lizzy's feelings, they only satisfy him. The first reason is to set an example to his parish; the second is to ensure his happiness, without considering Lizzy's, and the final reason is his patron, Lady Catherine de Bough told him to marry. Mr Collins shows his absurd veneration of Lady Catherine by recalling the whole conversation when she told him to choose a suitable wife. So part of the reason Mr Collins is marrying is to satisfy his patron, who, according to Mr Collins, will think Lizzy a suitable wife. Mr Collins assures Lizzy that were she to marry him, she would be able to meet Lady Catherine, something he sees as a real privilege. Mr Collins explains to Lizzy how Lady Catherine will enjoy her ‘wit and vivacity,' yet also says how Lady Catherine's high social rank demands silence, so it is a mystery how Elizabeth will be able to demonstrate ‘wit and vivacity' when she is required to remain silent! It is evident from Mr Collins's attitude that he views Lady Catherine as being more important than his intended wife, but he further compounds his errors by telling Lizzy there are many ‘amiable young women' in his neighbourhood. He also believes the marriage is right as a reconciliation because Mr Bennet's estate is entailed away form the family line to Mr Collins. So far, the reader has not seen a motive of love at any point in this proposal, Mr Collins has talked of pleasing himself and his patron. However, from chapter 15, the reader can see that there is no depth to Mr Collins's affections; he had simply resolved to choose a wife, almost for the sake of having one. Mr Collins, however, assures Lizzy of the ‘violence' of his affection. He also claims that at as soon as he entered the Longbourn house he had ‘singled out' Lizzy as the companion of his future life. The reader knows this to be untrue as Mr Collins only chose Lizzy when he was told Jane was likely to be engaged. Austen convinces the reader here that Lizzy should reject Mr Collins because it is evident that there would be no element of love in the marriage, and Mr Collins is portrayed as being selfish and dishonest during this conversation. Austen shows the reader that Mr Collins has a complete lack of self-knowledge. Mr Collins claims to be ‘perfectly indifferent' to Lizzy's fortune as she is not entitled to a large inheritance, yet he knows the precise details of her inheritance and speaks at length on the subject. It is evident although Mr Collins professes to have no interest in her fortune, that he is interested enough to research the exact nature of Lizzy's inheritance. Mr Collins's blundering would make Lizzy even less likely to marry him than she was before the start of the proposal. He tells Lizzy there are plenty of pretty girls in his Parish, and speaks at length about the death of Lizzy's parents, further demonstrating the fact that he had no idea about the correct way to behave in society. Whilst making his long speech, outlining the benefits of the marriage for himself and venerating Lady Catherine, Mr Collins had not considered that Lizzy might refuse him which shows great arrogance and complete lack of thought. When Lizzy is finally able to reply, she replies politely, thanking Mr Collins for his compliments, and unsurprisingly, refuses Mr Collins's proposal. Yet, Mr Collins further shows his complete ignorance of society by refusing to accept Lizzy's refusal! Mr Collins, claiming to have great knowledge of society, believes that ‘it is usual for young ladies to reject the man they secretly mean to accept. He does not understand society and the idea that young ladies would refuse to marry a man they loved is ludicrous. Lizzy tries to convince Mr Collins to accept her refusal by referring to Lady Catherine, claiming ‘she would find me in every respect ill-qualified for the situation. ‘ Mr Collins however, thinks exactly the opposite believing Lizzy' s ‘modesty and economy' make her a suitable wife. These were two of the qualities Lady Catherine instructed Mr Collins to look for in a wife. Mr Collins continues to persist and he outlines the reasons why he is convinced Lizzy secretly loves him. These include ‘my situation in life, my connections with the family of de Bough'. He further insults Lizzy saying she might not get another chance of marriage largely because her ‘portion is so small' meaning her lack of wealth will ruin her chance of marriage and he is probably the only man who will accept her. He still refuses to accept Lizzy's refusal, and Lizzy leaves the room to appeal to her father ‘whose negative might be uttered in such a manner as must be decisive. ‘ Austen does not make the reader feel sorry for Mr Collins, but portrays him as a totally unsuitable husband for Lizzy. The initial description of Mr Collins in chapter 15 tells the reader what Mr Collins is like, and Austen's view of him as ‘not a sensible man' is totally accurate. In chapter 19, we see Mr Collins's stupidity during his proposal to Lizzy, and it is obvious Mr Collins does not know how to behave, nether does he have any understanding of people's feelings. It is Austen's description and portrayal of Mr Collins that convinces the reader that Lizzy is right to reject Mr Collins and that she deserves a much better husband.

Heart of Darkness †An Allegory? Essay

Heart of Darkness is in its entirety not an allegory. Its surface is too profound and meaningful to allow itself to be interpreted in more than two ways. There are however several parts in the novel that hint at the opposite and that prove that the context of the novel can be seen from more than one angle. This can mainly be perceived in the life of Mr. Kurtz, as his descent into madness can be seen as an allegory for the colonization and destruction of the African continent and its people by the Europeans. Because just as Kurtz was a perfectly sane and normal man before he went into the African wilderness so were also the European nations very civilized before they came to Africa. And just as the nations of Europe governed Africa and its people without rules and restrictions so did isolation compel Mr. Kurtz to live his life without boundaries. Proof of this can be found on page 83, â€Å"His mother was half-English his father was half-French. All of Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz.† This shows that Kurtz can be seen as a symbol of Europe, as he is the typical European explorer – ambitious, greedy and adventurous. And if Kurtz is Europe embodied then it would be quite logical that Africa should be represented by the â€Å"harlequin† (p.87) his faithful Russian comrade. Their relation greatly resembles that of the relation between Africa and Europe, although the African people act quite differently to their â€Å"masters† compared to how the Russian acted towards Kurtz. The similarities lay in how the master treats the subordinate. â€Å"He wanted to shoot me too one day†¦.I had a small lot of ivory†¦he wanted it, and wouldn’t hear reason†¦and there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased.†(p.92). The way Kurtz treats the Russian is mirrored in the way the Europeans governed Africa and extracted its riches. They stopped at nothing to make their colonies as effective and prosperous as possible. This of course included killing any opposition, or in the words of Conrad, killing whoever they jolly well pleased. In conclusion it can be said that the two voyages in Heart of Darkness, the one in the mind and the one on the Congo River, are not as much an allegory  as they are descriptions of two separate, but still closely linked, plot developments. For example, as the company sails ever closer to Kurtz and the heart of the African jungle Marlow’s internal voyage alters his morals and opinions according to his experiences. This might seem as an allegory to some, as it features two separate levels, one relatively superficial the other underlying and sometimes also very symbolic, as when Kurtz is portrayed as a devil. However the novel misses out on the most important aspect of an allegory, that of it having a layer used only to represent or suggest other elements, often abstract, than those found in the main story. So although Heart of Darkness contains much symbolism and dual meanings, it falls short of being a true allegory of anything, but perhaps the voyage of Mr. Kurtz soul.

Heredity in a Doll’s House Essay

One major topic incorperated in Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House is the influence of heredity on a person. Ibsen seems to think that heredity is responsible for all faults in a person’s existence. Even what modern-day scientists would classify as environemental factors are ocnsidered heredity in Ibsen’s play. The first discussion of inheretid traits comes barely a dozen pages into the play. Helmer is telling Nora how she is a spendthrift: You’re an odd little one. Exactly the way your father was. . . . It’s deep in your blood. Yes, those things are hereditary, Nora. Most of the discussions having to do with heredity seem to be accusing the person of inheriting an ill-suited trait. This could be because in general people want to appear as though everything good that happens to them is a direct result of something they themselves did. Anything bad that happens is always someone else’s fault. Also, characters in the story place such credence upon the concept of heredity that one does not want to give his sons a bad start in life due ot his bad â€Å"genes. † Krogstad is an example: â€Å"My boys are growing up. For their sakes, I’ll have to win back as much respect as possible here in town. † Helmer, perhaps more than any other character, puts much faith into this system. He remarks, â€Å"Because that kind of atmosphere of lies infects the whole life of a home. Every breath the children take in is filled with the germs of something degenerate. Further, â€Å"Oh, I’ve seen it often enough as a lawyer. Almost everyone who goes bad early in life has a mother who’s a chronic liar. † Heredity plays a large part in setting up the belief systems of the characters such that the background provided in the first act carries through to its eventual conclusion in the final act. The power of heredity ot shape the play is shown by the last li ne of the first act, uttered by Nora: â€Å"Hurt my children—! Poison my home? That’s not true. Never. Never in all the world. â€Å"

Ernest Hemingway’s novels Essay

Ernest Hemingway is an author well known for the common themes in his novels. In his style of writing, Hemingway is able to express the themes of the novel through strong character traits and actions. The common themes in Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also and A Farewell to Arms are death and loss. The characters in these novels, and many of Hemingway’s other novels, can relate to these themes. The novels The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms share many similarities. These of course include the themes of death and loss. The common themes are supported by the war setting in A Farewell to Arms and the post-war setting in The Sun Also Rises. Both novels take place in Europe approximately in the 1920s. Jake Barnes is the main character of The Sun Also Rises and he is struggling through life after having experienced some trauma during the war. Frederic Henry, the protagonist of A Farewell to Arms must make the choice of staying in the army or abandoning his fellow troops to be with his girlfriend. Both novels explore the hardships of love, war, and death.†The wound, the break from society, and the code are subjects of Hemingway’s work† (Young 6). These three events are critical in Hemingway’s novels The Sun Also and A Farewell to Arms. â€Å"The Wound† represents just that, a wound. It can be a physical, mental, or an emotional wound always occurring in the story’s protagonist. This relates to the theme of loss because the character’s wound is always a loss they suffer. The loss can be physical, for example if the character is injured and loses a body part (which is common in the war settings Hemingway typically uses). The loss can also be emotional, for example if the main character loses a loved one and becomes depressed. In The Sun Also Rises, Jake has been injured in the war and feels like less of a man because he is â€Å"physically unable to make love to a woman† (Magnum 4). This injury leaves Jake psychologically and morally lost. In A Farewell to Arms the main character, Frederic Henry, is wounded in his leg while serving in the war as an ambulance driver in Italy. Jake and Frederic’s mental and emotional conditions lead to the next part of the Hemingway code; the break from society. The break from society is the next key element in Hemingway’s work. This disassociation with society is a result of the main character’s injury or loss. The character will separate himself from society to cope with his loss. Jake’s life has become empty and he fills his time with drinking and dancing. Jake enjoys his life by â€Å"learning to get your money’s worth and knowing when you had it.† (Magnum 4) Another break from society is shown in the story â€Å"Big Two- Hearted River† by Hemingway. The main character, Nick Adams, has experienced a loss. â€Å"Death has occurred; not literal human death, but death of the land† (Magnum 3) which has been destroyed by fire. The fire has consumed and burned all the vegetation surrounding the home where Nick grew up. Nick suffers from the shock of the devastation to the land. He had recalled so many boyhood memories of hunting and fishing on the land where he grew up. Nick goes back into the wilderness on his own to get away form the pain he has suffered. A break from society is a key aspect in Hemingway’s work that adds to the common themes among his novels. The wound and the break from society lead up to the last key element, the â€Å"Hemingway Code† (Young 8). The code is what Hemingway uses in his novels to show how the character is dealing with the wound and the break from society. For example, in The Sun Also Rises, Jake is dealing with his loss by going out and spending his money on drinks and dancing because this is the only way he can enjoy himself. He cannot fall in love so this is what he does instead to fill the missing gap in his life. He also â€Å"gets his money’s worth† by sending pointless short telegrams to his friends, symbolizing his careless nature. A Farewell to Arms contains another example of the code. Frederic is searching for meaning in life while he is surrounded by death during the war. He chooses not to fill his life with religion or pleasure because these things are meaningless to him. Instead Frederic abandons the Italian Army to be with his girlfriend Catherine, whom he plans to marry. Loving Catherine is the only way Frederic can bring happiness to his life after facing the hardships of war. The subject’s of Hemingway’s work in A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises are similar, and can relate to the main themes of other works by Hemingway. The themes of death and loss apply to the characters of these  novels. Death occurs often during the wars which take place in both novels. Jake was wounded in a war, and Frederic is currently fighting in a war. Both have suffered a psychological loss which leaves them struggling to bring meaning to their lives. In Big Two Hearted River Nick suffers from the loss of the land. Hemingway has created all of these characters to show weaknesses which result from their losses. That is why each character suffers from the loss they experience. â€Å"Like Jake, Frederic Henry is wounded in the war and falls in love with a woman.†(Magnum 6). These characters suffer losses from the war and soon suffer losses in love. â€Å"We could have had such a damned good time together,† (Hemingway 115) Lady Ashley states afte r accepting that Jake will never be able to love her. Like Jake, Frederic loses his lover, â€Å"The arms to which Frederic must finally say farewell are those of Catherine, who dies in childbirth† ( Magnum 7) The major differences in the novels The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms do not occur in the themes of the novels but instead the character’s personalities and actions. For example Jake is considered the lost and hopeless character. He spends his time out and about with his friends touring the countryside, drinking, dancing and having a good time. He has lost all his morals and goes about freely without a care in the world. Hemingway had created Frederic as the complete opposite of Jake. He takes a stand for what he believes in and does what he thinks is right. Frederic is faced with, and overcomes, tough decisions during desperate war-filled times. Unlike Jake, he is rational and thinks out his decisions. Although theses characters have opposing personalities they will both encounter the same problem throughout the novels. Both Jake and Frederic experience hardships and internal conflict in The Sun Also and A Farewell to Arms. Jake is in conflict with himself over the love of a woman named Lady Brett Ashley. This is the woman Jake wants to fall in love with but he knows this will never be possible because of his war wound. Jake gives up his hope of finding love by introducing Lady Brett to one of his friends who she falls in love with and plans to marry. The marriage is broken off when a fight breaks out which is caused by Lady Brett’s desire to be romantic with several other men. â€Å"The novel ends right where it began,  with Brett and Jake trapped in hopeless love for each other,† (Nagel 108). Frederic’s internal conflict is similar to that of Jake’s. He is lost and confused over the love for his girlfriend, Catherine and his service in the military. After learning Catherine has become pregnant and his troops abandon him, Frederic makes the decision to desert the army and follow his heart. Frederic suffers from the most pain when Catherine dies giving birth. He realized that the love he shared, to try and bring meaning to his life, causes him even more pain when Catherine dies. The internal conflict of both Jake and Frederic leave them faced with tough decisions which affect the way they live ad love. Hemingway has used the character relationship of love and a setting with an atmosphere of war to build on his major themes. The characters were wounded in the war and suffer from the loss of loved ones. Death is used figuratively to describe the emotions and morality of Hemingway’s characters. Hemingway’s themes of death and loss are seen through his character portrayal in his novels. Work Cited Coleman, Janice. â€Å"Ernest Hemingway† The World Book Encyclopedia. Hartford, CT: Paddon Publishing, 1992. Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell To Arms. New York, NY: Charles Scribners Sons, 1929. Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York, NY: Charles Scribners Sons, 1926. Magnum, Bryant. â€Å"Introduction to the Novels of Ernest Hemingway† Critical Survey Of Long Fiction. Salem Press Inc. 2000. Nagel, James. â€Å"Ernest Hemingway†. Dictionary of Literary Biography: Volume 9. New York: Gale Research Company, 1981. Stanton, William. 20th Century Novelists. Sacramento, CA: Bantum Books, 1984. Young, Phillip. â€Å"Ernest Hemingway† American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Volume II. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1974