Discovering america Essay Example for Free

Discovering america Essay Columbus’ discoveries forced the world to change. Bythe end of the thirty year war, European nations were beginning to impose themselves upon the rest of the inhabited world with tremendous repercussions. And a while few people except experts and some government officials knew of the sources and reasons for the changes, nevertheless from 1942 onwards, the influences of the New World were irrevocably present in world history. â€Å" We cannot reckon how great the damage is, since the merchants are taking every day our native, sons of the land and vassals and our relatives, because the thieves and man of bad conscience grab them wishing to have the things and wares of this kingdom which they are ambitious of. † As stated in document 5, this was a negative effect because their land is being taken and they are losing everything that they own. â€Å"Heretics(protestants) are never said to have converted either pagans or Jews to the faith. † In document 6, they are saying that there has never really been any heretics that they have come across, they have had mostly Catholics. Hardly a handful have converted to being Heretics. â€Å"Before the voyages to Peru, one could keep much wealth in a little place , but now that gold and silver have been cheapened by abundance , great chests are required to transport what before could be carried wrapped in a piece of drugget . † In document 11, it is saying that the people could pretty much keep whatever .

Free Essays - Breaking Kates Spirit in Taming of the Shrew :: Taming Shrew Essays

Breaking Kate's Spirit in Taming of the Shrew In the play Taming of the Shrew, a man named Petruchio attempts to tame a mean spirited woman named Kate. Much to Kate's chagrin Petruchio convinces her father that Kate loves him so they will now be married. Through several maneuvers to try and squash Kate's pride, Petruchio is met with strong resistance at first when he finds she can equal him in verbal back and forth. The fact that Petruchio could match Kate surprises her as well. Eventually, Kate sarcastically gives in with her speech about the sun and moon on the way to her sister's wedding. Finally after all his calculating moves throughout Petruchio successfully breaks Kate's spirit which is evident in her final speech. Petruchio undertakes to woo Kate before he has met her. He decides to recommend himself to her father as the dominant male that could tame her: "And so she yields to me. For I am rough and woo not like a babe."(II.I.136-137) Petruchio reports to Baptista that it is a match. Conclusively, he refuses any further discussion of the matter. If Petruchio were to speak more of the truth then his strategy to woo Kate may be revealed. His domineering attitude has limited Kate to express her thoughts of the situation. From the moment Petruchio sets foot in her room, Kate is most abrasive towards him. Kate makes an effort to assert her dominance by developing a shrewish attitude. They engage in a lengthy verbal duel with elaborate puns. "If be waspish, best beware my sting."(II.I.209) Kate's puns are generally insulting or threatening, but Petruchio twists them into sexual innuendo. His persistence in breaking her spirit causes Kate to become more conniving. Petruchio has employed a hawking metaphor to describe how he has begun his reign over Kate. "My falcon now is sharp and passing empty. And till she stoop she must not be full-gorg'd, for then she never looks up her lure. Another way I have to man my haggard, To make her come, and know her keeper's call, That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites That bate and beat, and will not be obedient.

China Green Economy

For years now, China has been at the receiving end of stinging criticism from the West over its environmental policies, with critics describing it variously as one of the most polluted countries, an insatiable, consumer-driven energy guzzler, and the world’s worst emitter of greenhouse gases. These labels have been prompted by China’s rapid industrialization and urbanization over the past 30 years, which has allowed it to achieve blistering economic growth, but at enormous cost to its environment. Given the widespread criticism, it’s understandable why many in the West might find it hard to imagine this ‘dirty’ giant ever getting clean. Yet these difficulties shouldn’t overshadow an encouraging reality—China’s top decision makers are planning to take a more holistic approach to the quest for greener growth that could transform the country’s image. China’s central government is currently thrashing out details of how best to steer towards greener growth as part of closed-door discussions aimed at finalizing the country’s 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015), which will be announced in March. The plan is expected to become China’s first national plan to shift the development agenda decisively toward a pattern of green growth, accelerating the country’s efforts at green modernization. Expect ‘establishing a low carbon society’ to be a key political slogan over the next five years. With a limit to the amount of fossil fuel it can access, and with these fuels anyway creating significant environmental damage and associated socioeconomic problems, China’s top leadership seems to be realizing that the old ‘growth at all costs’ model that has previously been followed threatens not only the country’s energy security, but its very survival. A green development pathway based on low energy consumption and low carbon emissions is essential if China is to find a sustainable path to growth. The environmental aspects of the plan are likely to be boiled down to five key points that will be presented to the public and used to measure China’s success in achieving its ambitious targets. First, the government is believed to be considering using green indices as a yardstick for evaluating the performance of local officials. Water consumption per unit of GDP, proportion of clean coal consumption utilized, and the proportion of GDP invested in environmental protection will all be integrated into the indices. The idea is that this will force local governments to strengthen resource efficiency and improve ecofriendliness in key sectors such as heavy industry, construction, and transportation. Gone will be the days when the rate of GDP growth is the sole determinant of success. Second, China aims to gradually establish a carbon trading system to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target of reducing CO2 emissions as a proportion of each unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent of 2005 levels. Policymakers are expected to view carbon trading as a market-oriented, cost-effective way of supplementing current administrative measures to reduce emissions and genuinely shift the country’s ‘brown’ economy to a ‘green’ one. A cap-and-trade market is also expected to be up and running by 2014, while over the next couple of years, carbon trading programmes will most likely focus on pilot schemes in economic zones and/or industrial sectors such as the coal-fire power generation sector. Third, China will continue to support the research, development, and deployment of clean energy technologies. China was reported in December to be seriously considering, for example, investments of up to $1. 5 trillion in seven strategic industries including renewable energy, clean energy vehicles,and low carbon technologies. In this regard, keep an eye out for two Chinese companies—Yingli Solar and Wanxiang Group—that will play a more proactive role in producing state-of-the-art clean energy technologies to help create more ‘green collar’ jobs domestically and overseas. With robust government support and private sector innovation, China’s pledge to have 15 percent of its energy come from non-fossil fuels by 2020 could be achieved more smoothly and quickly with smart investment. If it can follow through on these ambitious plans—admittedly a big if—there’s little doubt China will be able to join world leaders in the development of wind, solar, and electric vehicle technologies. Fourth, with the country’s total power capacity expected to climb to more than 1,430 GW by 2015, compared with 874 GW at the beginning of last year, China has been trying to figure out how to bring trillions of kilowatts of power to more than a billion consumers, sometimes over extremely long distances. With this in mind, the government is said to be planning to invest about $300 billion in a smart grid over the next five years that allows potential problems to be detected early. So far, local governments including the Jiangsu Provincial Government and the Shanghai Municipal Government have taken the lead in publishing plans for smart grid development. Last but not least, China is expected to begin efforts to restore marine ecologies for the first time, focusing not only on supervising chemical oxygen demand, which measures the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water, but also limiting emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus, which causes eutrophication. In addition, constructions such as dams and sea walls will be strictly examined to ensure that they aren’t adversely impacting the environment. If China’s policymakers can follow up on this promising list, then it could produce some genuinely spectacular policies that will help the country dramatically increase its chances of sustaining its strong growth, expand its clean technology market, and achieve green job creation. None of this will be easy, not least because rapidly rising energy demand will mean coal and oil inevitably remain a foundation of China’s economy for years to come. In addition, China’s efforts at developing a green economy so far look like a top-down initiative, meaning much of the public doesn’t really understand what a green economy entails, its importance, or how they can contribute to creating one. As a result, there’s a clear need for proper public outreach to encourage people to become engaged. Still, the talk around the upcoming five-year plan offers some cause for optimism that with the central government genuinely behind it, and if market-driven mechanisms can be properly utilized, China can launch itself on the path to a greener future.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay - 818 Words

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee To be educated is to obtain or develop a certain knowledge or skill by a learning process. There are many distinct learning processes, some more explicit than others. In the first part of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, education, in one form or another, is very significant. Both inside and outside of the classroom, Scout continually gains experience through education from both her brother, Jem, or by her wise and tolerant father, Atticus Finch. Although the education of children is more apparent in this novel, the education of adults is not otiose. Scout and Jem learn that Calpurnia, the faithful Negro cook, is their friend. She has been largely†¦show more content†¦Scout finds out that Boo Radleys father has locked him up for being arrested many years ago for swearing in front of a woman. Scout learns that religion, especially foot-washing Baptists, can lead to cruelty, even inhumanity. This is significant as she starts to pity Boo who we later find out is a mockingbird character, much like Tom Robinson. Compromise is better than conflict as Scout prefers to have Atticus keep reading her stories as well as learning the Dewey Decimal System. Conflict results in problems and it is obvious to Scout that in order for her welfare it is better to avoid problems. As Jem tells Scout, the new way of teaching which Mrs. Caroline is practicing is one which the entire school will use eventually, and one in which You dont hafta learn that much out of books that way. State education is therefore restrictive, not stimulating. Mrs. Caroline is miffed that Scout can read and blames Atticus for doing it all wrong. Scout also learned how to write as Calpurnia taught her while working in the kitchen. It seems rather ironic, as Calpurnia doesnt fir the stereotypical image of a black woman - rough and illiterate. In the beginning of chapter 9, Cecil Jacobs, a young boy, announced Scout Finchs daddy defended niggers. Although Scout had promised not to fight she couldnt resist the temptationShow MoreRelatedKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1049 Words   |  5 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird: How a Story could be based on True Events in Everyday LifeDaisy GaskinsCoastal Pines Technical Collegeâ€Æ'Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father was a former newspaper editor and proprietor, who had served as a state senator and practiced as a lawyer in Monroeville. Also Finch was known as the maiden name of Lee’s mother. With that being said Harper Lee became a writer like her father, but she became a American writer, famous for her race relations novel â€Å"ToRead MoreTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee1000 Words   |  4 Pagesworld-wide recognition to the many faces of prejudice is an accomplishment of its own. Author Harper Lee has had the honor to accomplish just that thro ugh her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a moving and inspirational story about a young girl learning the difference between the good and the bad of the world. In the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926. Growing up, Harper Lee had three siblings: two sisters and an older brother. She and her siblings grew up modestlyRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1290 Words   |  6 PagesHarper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird during a rough period in American history, also known as the Civil Rights Movement. This plot dives into the social issues faced by African-Americans in the south, like Tom Robinson. Lee felt that the unfair treatment towards blacks were persistent, not coming to an end any time in the foreseeable future. This dark movement drove her to publish this novel hopeful that it would encourage the society to realize that the harsh racism must stop. Lee effectivelyRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee873 Words   |  4 Page sIn the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates that â€Å"it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird† throughout the novel by writing innocent characters that have been harmed by evil. Tom Robinson’s persecution is a symbol for the death of a mockingbird. The hunters shooting the bird would in this case be the Maycomb County folk. Lee sets the time in the story in the early 1950s, when the Great Depression was going on and there was poverty everywhere. The mindset of people back then was that blackRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee963 Words   |  4 Pagesgrowing up, when older characters give advice to children or siblings.Growing up is used frequently in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Harper Lee uses the theme growing up in To Kill a Mockingbird to change characters opinion, develop characters through their world, and utilizes prejudice to reveal growing up. One major cause growing up is used in To Kill a Mockingbird is to represent a change of opinion. One part growing up was shown in is through the trial in part two of the novelRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1052 Words   |  5 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama in the late 30s early 40s , after the great depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread throughout the United States. Why is the preconception of racism, discrimination, and antagonism so highly related to some of the characters in this book? People often have a preconceived idea or are biased about one’s decision to live, dress, or talk. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee examines the preconceptionRead MoreHarper Lee and to Kill a Mockingbird931 Words   |  4 PagesHarper Lee and her Works Harper Lee knew first hand about the life in the south in the 1930s. She was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926 (Castleman 2). Harper Lee was described by one of her friends as Queen of the Tomboys (Castleman 3). Scout Finch, the main character of Lees Novel, To Kill a Mockinbird, was also a tomboy. Many aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird are autobiographical (Castleman 3). Harper Lees parents were Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. She was the youngestRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1695 Words   |  7 PagesIn To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee presents as a ‘tired old town’ where the inhabitants have ‘nowhere to go’ it is set in the 1930s when prejudices and racism were at a peak. Lee uses Maycomb town to highlight prejudices, racism, poverty and social inequality. In chapter 2 Lee presents the town of Maycomb to be poverty stricken, emphasised through the characterisation of Walter Cunningham. When it is discovered he has no lunch on the first day of school, Scout tries to explain the situation to MissRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1876 Words   |  8 PagesThough Harper Lee only published two novels, her accomplishments are abundant. Throughout her career Lee claimed: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction, and Quill Award for Audio Book. Lee was also inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. This honor society is a huge accomplishment and is considered the highest recognition for artistic talent and accomplishment in the United States. Along with these accomplishments, herRead MoreKill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee1197 Words   |  5 Pagessuch as crops, houses, and land, and money was awfully limited. These conflicts construct Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird. In To Kill a Mocking Bird, Lee establishes the concurrence of good and evil, meaning whether people are naturally good or naturally evil. Lee uses symbolism, characterization, and plot to portray the instinctive of good and evil. To Kill a Mocking Bird, a novel by Harper Lee takes place during the 1930s in the Southern United States. The protagonist, Scout Finch,