J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings - Frodo Baggins as a Christ-Fi

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Frodo Baggins as a Christ-Figure J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has delighted readers since its publication owing to its author's skillful development of his fantastic realm and its inhabitants adventures therein. In fact, Tolkien is rightly regarded as the father of the modern fantasy genre, and it often seems all fantasy imitates his work in some way. However, as readers return to the work, it often becomes apparent that the work is more than a simple escapist journey into an imaginary world; the work represents the finest traditions in literature and rich grounding in Tolkien's study of language and mythology. Equally surprising, though, Tolkien himself admits that the series is a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work†¦"[1] To the casual reader, Middle-Earth, the setting, seems a world devoid of religious practice, Christian or otherwise. Unsurprisingly, Tolkien added that the religious aspect about which he spoke appeared "unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision," and that "the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism."[2] Therefore, an investigation into probable sources of Christian symbolism leads to questions of characterization and its most obvious target: Frodo Baggins, a Christ-figure. The protagonist of the story, Frodo Baggins is a Hobbit, a small humanoid creature, short in stature and big in appetite. As soon as Tolkien introduces him in the first chapter, Frodo's status as a Christ figure emerges: "Anyway: there was this Mr. Frodo left an orphan and stranded," gossip Frodo's new neighbors when his uncle Bilbo adopts the him.[3] immediately, Frodo possesses two important characteristic of any Christ ... ...ery land of Mordor, conquering an evil which seems far greater than himself. In doing so, Frodo makes up for carelessness of the nations of Middle-Earth who in their sloth allowed the evil to rise up, despite forewarning of the danger. In all these things, there exist clear similarities with Christ who undertakes a similar goal, vanquishing the evil of sin from the world with total selflessness, compassion, and determination. In the end, Frodo admits admirably, "I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved†¦."[6] [1] Tolkien, J.R.R.. "To Robert Murray, S.J." 2 December 1953. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1981) 172. [2] Ibid. [3] Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Lord of the Rings (Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1954) 31. [4] Ibid, 217. [5] Ibid, 309. [6] Ibid, 309.

Hiv Prevention

HIV/AIDS LIFE SKILLS – EDC 121 – TONI SYLVESTER Nataniel P. Marthinus Student Nr. 3142910 Assignment 1 Due Date: 01 March 2011 INTRODUCTION1 Eight Fundamental considerations or steps to be followed before and after administering a blood test for HIV. 1 Voluntary Counseling & Testing1 Food and Nutrition1 Prevention & Onward Transmission of HIV1 Follow-up Counseling1 Stigma & Discrimination2 Spiritual Support2 Sexually Transmitted Infections2 Palliative Care2 Strategies for the provision of HIV-related Treatment, care and support services2Ensuring the continuation of education (EDC121 Course Reader: 41)2 Providing psychosocial support for children (EDC121 Course Reader: 42)2 Treatment education at school2 Successful school-based HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support programmes3 Caring School Environment3 Child Centered Programmes3 Build on existing services3 Community Involvement3 The UNAIDS (2000) article4 Demographic effects4 Health effects4 Family-life effects4 Welfare effects4 Education effects4 UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS5 REFERENCES6 INTRODUCTION HIV/AIDS is the fastest growing epidemic here in Africa.In fact, the virus is so widespread you will find people with the virus all over the world. According to statistics in November 2007, people living with HIV & AIDS around the world are the most in Africa. It also shows that the disease occurs mostly around infants who acquire the virus from their mother. (EDC121 Course Reader: 55). I will be discussing various topics concerning the virus. Eight Fundamental considerations or steps to be followed before and after administering a blood test for HIV. Voluntary Counseling & TestingThrough counseling and knowledge of the virus, it could help a person with following a healthy lifestyle so that he or she can live longer and prevent other infections. People who learn that they are negative could learn to change their behavior towards people living with the virus. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Food and Nutrition Goo d nutrition only cannot keep a person permanently healthy. Nevertheless it may help lengthen the lifespan of a person living with HIV. Nutrition plays a huge role in the medication process of a person living with HIV. It can also increase the risk of HIV transmission from mother to baby. EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Prevention & Onward Transmission of HIV Counseling on sexual behavior is advised. Provide condoms and must have a supportive environment. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Follow-up Counseling HIV affects all aspects of a person’s life. It can help someone understand, live with and accept their status. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Stigma & Discrimination Stigma is fueled by mythical concepts. Thus it is a barrier to prevent future infections and further treatment. Communities have a various concepts around AIDS and how the virus is spread.This indicates a lack of knowledge and understanding towards the disease. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Spiritual Support Support from spiritu al leaders and priests may be comforting. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Sexually Transmitted Infections STI co-contribute to HIV transmission. If treated, it can help reduce AIDS spread through sexual intercourse and can keep a person healthier for longer. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Palliative Care Because of a lack of health infrastructure there are insufficient Palliative care institutes for people who are approaching the end of their lives.Palliative care provides comfort and support for people who are terminally ill and helps people die a comfortable death. (EDC121 Course Reader: 37) Strategies for the provision of HIV-related Treatment, care and support services Ensuring the continuation of education (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Providing psychosocial support for children (EDC121 Course Reader: 42) Treatment education at school HIV-positive learners and educators will need support in their workplace and the learning environment so that they can get treatment whilst on school grounds .Here are a few related issues: * Treatment support for HIV-positive students; * Support for students and teachers to visit medical centers for checkups; * How the affects of the treatment will impact on the learner and educators ability to teach and learn; * Adapting to the curricula of HIV & AIDS so that the learners and teachers wont teach information that is out of date; * Educating students about treatment and the harm caused caused by stigma and discrimination so that they can give better support to their parents and families. (EDC121 Course Reader: 43) * Home-based care and educationAcross Southern Africa, in many schools students and teachers are providing outreach work to support the community members. This support can be categorized as follows: * Learners supporting sick members of the community; * Educators proving home-based educations to sick students. (EDC121 Course Reader: 43) * Universal precautions (EDC121 Course Reader: 44) * Support for basic needs (EDC121 Course Reader: 44) * Teaching livelihood skills (EDC121 Course Reader: 45) * Social grants (EDC121 Course Reader: 45) Successful school-based HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support programmes Caring School Environment It is a work-based policy based on the rights of children. * The recreation of opportunities for staff and students. (EDC121 Course Reader: 46) Child Centered Programmes * Policies reflecting a rights-based approach. * Children and young people should be involved in the design and carrying out of the programmes. (EDC121 Course Reader: 46) Build on existing services * Uniting HIV elements with existing policies rather than letting it stand alone. (EDC121 Course Reader: 46) Community Involvement * Policies that are developed with close consultation with members of the community. Strategy development including more help of men in the care and support system. * Socioculturally sensitive policies without compromising the shared fundamental traits of the programme. (EDC121 Course Rea der: 46) The UNAIDS (2000) article Demographic effects Half of South Africa’s population are children and more then 60% of them live in poverty. Because there is an association between poverty levels and HIV infection, this percentage can serve as a figure for the number of children with AIDS. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Health effects Children that lives in an infected community struggles with ill health and poor nutrition.In rural areas children’s nutritional status suffers because they are dependant on household labour. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Family-life effects The household traditional structures is changing in communities that are affected and children that are vulnerable need to adapt to the demands of a non-traditional family and further deepening poverty. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Welfare effects Economically families and households are very hard hit by this. Because of illnesses and poor health productive family members they are often unable to work.Famil ies are poor and are more vulnerable by the cost of illness and care. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Education effects Poor attendance in school already characterizes the landscape of South African education. HIV-infected children do not want to go public with their status. They do not want to feel ashamed at school. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Psychosocial effects Children’s psychosocial hardship and emotional shock is often not as visible as other problems but central importance. There are various difficult challenges that children have to face such as grief, loss of identity, stigma, rejection, death, etc. EDC121 Course Reader: 41) Orphanhood effects Disrupted families and death of parents and close relatives have created a huge number of abandoned South African children. By some calculations the number of orphans will have grown 9-12% of the countries population by 2015. (EDC121 Course Reader: 41) UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS Precautions basically include: – Caring for wounds- Have emergency supplies on hand – Cleaning up blood spills- Gloves – Safely disposing of medical supplies- Medicines (EDC121 Course Reader: 44) REFERENCES EDC121 Course Reader, 2011

Gay Ane Lesbian Exam Being Worked

gay and lesbian marriage i do not think the law should or shouldent be passed but i had to chose one and if they want to be happy why cant the get married. Australia currently bans recognition of same sex marriage although as of 2011 the federal labour party government officially changed its position to allow a vote on the same sex marriage despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s opposition to such a vote. ne main reason people are against it is because they might want a child and people think that the child will grow up in a unstable environment because studies have show that a heterosexual relationship/marriage last 20 years or longer with many wedded for life. a vast majority of homosexual relations are temporary. In 2008 a study of 390 gay and lesbian people Victorians found that 1 in 7 reported fear of violence. This fear is justified in that nearly 85 precent of respondents has been subjected to some form of homophobic violence in their life time.Homophobia is a fear of h omosexuality; some people are threatened by people who have other sexual preferences than their own. gay and lesbian marriage today i am here to talk to u about one of the dabates that the australian goverment are having the one about same sex marriage rights. i belive that the law should be accepted because people can not help who they fall in love,some spectics think that gay marriage will lead to more devorces but accoding to Divorceform. org 74% of the population gets devorced every year but that is only the heterosexual couples.

Modern American History essay

Modern American History essay Modern American History essay Modern American History essayRecently, the interest in the social history, including everyday life, is rapidly growing in our society. Thus, I am going to imagine my life during World War II, as well as to describe it with some details.Firstly, I want to mention that the war abruptly changed the lives of the country’s population, showing that life is not as simple as it was previously and it depends on many occasional factors. I feel that something wrong has happened with me because such feelings as stability and confidence in the future disappeared from my life. For instance, the war makes me to be worried about the life of my family members, relatives, friends and citizens of my native country. My visits to public places give me a possibility to know everything about the events around, but I feel a constant worry about the future of my family, and it makes me rather nervous. Of course, there is a hope that everything will be good but observing fast development of war industr y, I realize that all projectiles are created to destroy cities, to kill people and to influence the world around. So, my life during World War II is full of hardships because nobody can stay calm when many people are suffering, loosing their lives, homes and prospects for better life.Franklin Roosevelt came to power in a most difficult time for the country in the midst of the Great Depression that threatened the country with complete financial, economic and social collapse. Moreover, overproduction crisis led to a drop in the share price, thousands of businesses and banks were closed across the country; people remained homeless and they started different strikes. Taking into account all the facts, Roosevelt was able to act boldly due to his iron will and incomparable endurance. For instance, he started to implement a set of measures in the field of socio-economic policies, named â€Å"New Deal,† immediately after assuming the White House. In the first hundred days of his pr esidency, he has undertaken a number of important measures to restore the banking system, agriculture and industry. Franklin Roosevelt provided direct social benefits, launched a broad program for employment in state-building, introduced unemployment insurance and old age pension. So, compared with the policy of his predecessors, all the actions of a new president sounded almost revolutionary. Of course, the actions and reforms of Roosevelt cannot be limited by the above mentioned list, but even such a little amount of described Roosevelt’s activities allows to claim that this person has changed the history of the USA forever. Thus, I agree with the statement that Franklin Roosevelt is a great President.3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every event has two sides and the 1920s were not only â€Å"Roaring,† but they also had a dark side. For instance, Prohibition gave a fast rise to the mafia and such a fact led to a very big increase in a state of crime during that decade. Moreover, a lot of industries (such as textiles or coal mining) were rapidly dying out and workers lost their jobs; it led to the development of some percent of poor people because not all people shared in prosperity. Another problem was associated with the Red Scare which was seen as a kind of popular international communist conspiracy that took an active part in many protest movements and even in union activities. It was also times of the increasing activities of the Ku Klux Klan, and this organization was terrorizing foreigners, blacks, Jews and Roman Catholics. And finally, agricultural sector was affected by low incomes because changes in the US economy led to the world overproduction and falling food prices. Thus, a dark side of the 1920s demonstrated us that incomes were not equally distributed Modern American History essay Modern American History essay Modern American History essayRecently, the interest in the social history, including everyday life, is rapidly growing in our society. Thus, I am going to imagine my life during World War II, as well as to describe it with some details.Firstly, I want to mention that the war abruptly changed the lives of the country’s population, showing that life is not as simple as it was previously and it depends on many occasional factors. I feel that something wrong has happened with me because such feelings as stability and confidence in the future disappeared from my life. For instance, the war makes me to be worried about the life of my family members, relatives, friends and citizens of my native country. My visits to public places give me a possibility to know everything about the events around, but I feel a constant worry about the future of my family, and it makes me rather nervous. Of course, there is a hope that everything will be good but observing fast development of war industr y, I realize that all projectiles are created to destroy cities, to kill people and to influence the world around. So, my life during World War II is full of hardships because nobody can stay calm when many people are suffering, loosing their lives, homes and prospects for better life.Franklin Roosevelt came to power in a most difficult time for the country in the midst of the Great Depression that threatened the country with complete financial, economic and social collapse. Moreover, overproduction crisis led to a drop in the share price, thousands of businesses and banks were closed across the country; people remained homeless and they started different strikes. Taking into account all the facts, Roosevelt was able to act boldly due to his iron will and incomparable endurance. For instance, he started to implement a set of measures in the field of socio-economic policies, named â€Å"New Deal,† immediately after assuming the White House. In the first hundred days of his pr esidency, he has undertaken a number of important measures to restore the banking system, agriculture and industry. Franklin Roosevelt provided direct social benefits, launched a broad program for employment in state-building, introduced unemployment insurance and old age pension. So, compared with the policy of his predecessors, all the actions of a new president sounded almost revolutionary. Of course, the actions and reforms of Roosevelt cannot be limited by the above mentioned list, but even such a little amount of described Roosevelt’s activities allows to claim that this person has changed the history of the USA forever. Thus, I agree with the statement that Franklin Roosevelt is a great President.3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every event has two sides and the 1920s were not only â€Å"Roaring,† but they also had a dark side. For instance, Prohibition gave a fast rise to the mafia and such a fact led to a very big increase in a state of crime during that decade. Moreover, a lot of industries (such as textiles or coal mining) were rapidly dying out and workers lost their jobs; it led to the development of some percent of poor people because not all people shared in prosperity. Another problem was associated with the Red Scare which was seen as a kind of popular international communist conspiracy that took an active part in many protest movements and even in union activities. It was also times of the increasing activities of the Ku Klux Klan, and this organization was terrorizing foreigners, blacks, Jews and Roman Catholics. And finally, agricultural sector was affected by low incomes because changes in the US economy led to the world overproduction and falling food prices. Thus, a dark side of the 1920s demonstrated us that incomes were not equally distributed

The Ethics of Lying

The Ethics of Lying Is lying ever morally permissible? While lying can be seen as a threat to civil society, there seem to be several instances in which lying seems the most intuitively moral option. Besides, if a sufficiently broad definition of lying is adopted, it seems utterly impossible to escape lies, either because of instances of self-deception or because of the social construction of our persona. Let’s look more closely into those matters. What lying is, first of all, is controversial. Recent discussion of the topic has identified four standard conditions for lying, but none of them seems to actually work. Keeping in mind the difficulties in providing an exact definition of lying, let’s start facing the foremost moral question regarding it: Should lying always be despised? A Threat to Civil Society? Lying has been seen as a threat to civil society by authors such as Kant. A society that tolerates lies – the argument goes – is a society in which trust is undermined and, with it, the sense of collectivity. In the United States, where lying is regarded as a major ethical and legal fault, the trust in government may well be greater than in Italy, where lying is far more tolerated. Machiavelli, among others, used to reflect on the importance of trust centuries ago. Yet, he also concluded that deceiving is, in some cases, the best option. How can that be? White Lies A first, less controversial sort of cases in which lying is tolerated includes so-called white lies. In some circumstances, it seems better to tell a small lie than having someone worrying unnecessarily, or becoming sad, or losing momentum. While actions of this sort seem hard to endorse from the standpoint of Kantian ethics, they provide one of the most clear-cut arguments in favor of Consequentialism. Lying for a Good Cause Famed objections to the Kantian absolute moral ban of lying, however, come also from the consideration of more dramatic scenarios. Here is one type of scenario. If by telling a lie to some Nazi soldiers during World War II, you could have saved someone’s life, without any other additional harm being inflicted, it seems that you ought to have lied. Or, consider the situation in which someone outraged, out of control, asks you where she can find an acquaintance of yours so that she can kill that acquaintance; you know where the acquaintance is and lying will help your friend calm down: should you tell the truth? Once you start thinking about it, there are plenty of circumstances where lying seems to be morally excusable. And, indeed, it is typically morally excused. Now, of course, there is a problem with this: who is to say whether the scenario excuses you from lying? Self-Deception There are plenty of circumstances in which humans seem to convince themselves of being excused from taking a certain course of action when, to the eyes of their peers, they actually are not. A good part of those scenarios may involve that phenomenon called self-deception. Lance Armstrong may have just provided one of the starkest cases of self-deception we can offer. Yet, who is to say that you are self-deceiving yourself? By wanting to judge the morality of lying, we may have led ourselves into one of the most difficult skeptical lands to traverse. Society as a Lie Not only lying may be seen as the outcome of self-deception, perhaps an involuntary outcome. Once we broaden our definition for what a lie may be, we come to see that lies are deep-seated in our society. Clothing, makeup, plastic surgeries, ceremonials: plenty of aspects of our culture are ways of masking how certain things would appear. Carnival is perhaps the festivity that best deals with this fundamental aspect of human existence. Before you condemn all lying, hence, think again.​ Source The Entry on the Definition of Lying and Deception at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy​.

Summarise and critically review the RationalEmotive model of Essay

Summarise and critically review the RationalEmotive model of psychological therapy - Essay Example This therapy helps the patients to recognize the difference between the two negative emotions. The Rational-Emotive Behavioural Therapy was proposed by Albert Ellis in 1955. Albert Ellis belonged to the psychoanalysis branch of psychology, but after noticing that the traditional techniques of helping individuals resolve their negative emotions took too long he developed a significant approach in solving their problems. He named it REBT (Rational-Emotive Behavioural Therapy). This technique can be differentiated from the other psychoanalysis methods due to its unique philosophy that an individual has the power to change and influence their beliefs and philosophy in order to gain mastery over themselves. Using their own thoughts patients following the REBT can radically change their mental health and break loose of traumatic situations. (Mulhauser, 2008) REBT employs the ABC Framework. The "A" stands for the Activating event. The activation event includes the actual event and more importantly the individual's immediate interpretation of it. The same event may trigger different emotions in different people. Some people may react to a death in the family by accepting the event whereas others may retreat into a protective shell avoiding the truth. The "B" stands for Beliefs. The beliefs of an individual are moulded by his experiences and related to their capacity of comprehending the event. Whether one takes a Rational Approach to the event or an Irrational Approach to analyzing the event relies solely on the individual's own beliefs. The last stage recognized in the framework is the Consequences. In the last stage of the framework a person actually reaches an opinion. In this stage he builds either a Healthy Negative Emotion or an Unhealthy Negative Emotion. Keeping the framework in mind a summarized version of events leading to the Consequences is discussed. A negative event occurs (stage A). The person can either have a Rational Approach to analyse the event which would lead to a Healthy Negative Emotion which is not a cause for concern. On the other hand he may take an Irrational Approach to analyse the event which would lead to an Unhealthy Negative Emotion. The main therapeutic technique relies on helping the individual realize that everything, even his emotions and beliefs are under his control. (REBTN, 2006) THE THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO REBT The basic technique applied by psychoanalysts using the REBT technique is the moulding of the client's absolutist philosophies. The main aim is to modify dysfunctional emotions and to help the client recognize the beliefs and attitudes which bring the unwanted states and to change them into positive emotions. The most unique element of this therapeutic technique is that therapy can still take place even after sessions have ended with psychiatrists as this approach helps individuals deal with themselves and accept themselves and their problems. (PsychNet) APPRAISALS OF REBT As mentioned earlier one of the positive aspect of REBT is that it is an effective way of helping out the client even after the sessions are over. Since it bestows the client with self belief he can not only handle the present problem but can face any future challenge as well. It provides an individual with the self control he requires to manage his everyday life and problems. Another reason stated by clients using REBT is that it

Real Estate and Recession Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Real Estate and Recession - Research Paper Example This is what happened in United States before the global financial crisis. The values of houses touched the peaks during the year 2006 which begin to rapidly decline during 2006-2007. Now let us discuss some of the causes which led to the burst of housing bubble. The housing tax policy as discussed in taxpayer relief act of 1997 encouraged people to invest in housing rather than stocks and other types of investments. There were not enough regulations in place to have a proper check and balance on such housing investments. The use of mandated loans is considered another cause of the burst of housing bubble. Then the federal bank also lowered interest rates while the rise of houses was not uniform in all regions of United States. The Americans used to believe that investing in houses is a secured investment and they even preferred to become owners of their houses. There were many marketing campaigns being run to encourage people to invest in real estate. This encourages more and more p eople to invest. However, the high values of houses were later followed by decline in prices which busted the bubble. The housing bubble affected the U.S economy in various ways. Millions of new houses were built and sold. The share prices and revenues of big construction companies reached to the peak and made millions as a result. There was a large increase in mortgage equity withdrawals which usually include loans for home equity and cash out refinancing. The housing bubble led to the recession in United States which was the worst after great depression. Many Americans were forced to migrate from the expensive metropolitan areas due to price variation in different regions on United States. The subprime mortgage crisis was one of the most important reasons which led to the global financial crisis. This was due to the result of delinquencies and foreclosures in subprime mortgages. Then it was followed by the decline in value of these securities backed by the underlying mortgages. Th e financial crisis and recession has not ended yet. Financial experts believe that the slow growth will continue till the end of year 2012. The entire world in interconnected and the United States is bound to suffer due to the events and happenings across different countries. Since the start of financial crisis, the federal government has been taken serious effects to avoid this in future. However, there are few things which need to be emphasized. There must be some lender of the last resort such as International Monetary Fund (IMF) who can come for help whenever needed. Unfortunately, IMF doesn’t have this job role or enough resources to handle such situations. This needs to be raised during the coming IMF meetings. Then there is need of regulations which can protect the organizations from taking excessive risk. The leverage ratios can also be put in some limit in order to estimate the damage by the shock. The federal bank should put special efforts to control the growing po wers of big firms which can even negatively affect the situation. The firms and even government institutions should pay special consideration while extending credit to borrowers. The credit history of prospective buyers needs to be checked before giving them loans. In order to avoid mortgage crisis, Federal Deposition Insurance Corporation (FDIC) came out with loan work out model. This model was introduced with the