The European Conquest of the Americas Essay Example for Free

The European Conquest of the Americas Essay One of the primary reasons for exploration was the search for the Northwest Passage, an imaginary path that could be used to reach Asia without having to go around Africa, or through the Middle East. The Panamanians proved that travel was possible around Africa with a new kind of boat that utilized wind better, but the Spaniards and other Europeans were more interested in a more direct approach to reaching Asia. So they began to head westward. The Queen of Spain commissioned Christopher Columbus to lead an expedition westward to reach Asia, and he instead stumbled upon the most successful failure in history, The Americas. He reached the islands of the Bahamas, and thinking that he was indeed in the Indies, he named the inhabitants Indians. Ironically, after making the greatest discovery of the past millennium, his tombstone marked him as a failure, due to the lack of the Northwest Passage. Once the queen of Spain realized the goldmine (quite literally), that was before her, she sent basically an entire army of conquistadors to seize the assets of the natives, and secure it for the Spanish empire. The three â€Å"G†s are what the Spanish conquistadors sought after. God, Gold, and Glory, all of which they could find in the native inhabitants possession. They â€Å"harvested† the souls of the natives by converting them (whether they liked it or not) to Catholicism, and at the same time, took all of their gold and silver, and for this cultural rape, they got their precious glory. Even though the natives were devastated by the diseases brought by the Europeans, and the loss of all natural resources, and the loss of culture, and the loss of their religion, language, land, and dignity, they submitted to the conquerors. Now let’s discuss for a little bit, the real discoverers of the new world, who aren’t credited for the discovery, but definitely should be. There are many different accounts of why Lief Ericson traveled to the new world, but the end result is always the same, no matter what version of the story you hear. He arrived in this beautiful land filled with plenty of grapes and lush forests and named the new land Vinland (after the amount of grapes). He made a small settlement that only lasted for 2 years, and then returned back to Greenland. It was recorded in sagas by the nords and in folklore, but still by most, Columbus is given credit for the discovery. After the nords and the Spaniards came the English. The English settled the new world for land. Some were looking for new land to farm and harvest crops with, some were searching for freedom from religious persecution, and others were just looking to start a new life in a new place. They didn’t arrive there planning on turning their backs on the crown, or disobeying the empire in any way, and up until the last few years that the 13 colonies were under British rule, there was no need to revolt. The new English settlers were still under the empire’s control, however, the colonies and settlements were for the most part self-governing, and relatively independent. The only problems arose when the crown decided to impose taxes on the colonists that were unfair and unjust and the colonists got sick of it and decided to lead a full-fledged revolt against the thrown, resulting in massive bloodshed and an entirely new nation with a unique constitution compiled from bits and pieces of other nations constitutions and blended with perfect harmony to create our United States of America. So, really there were many different reasons for the exploration, settlement , and conquest of the new world, and all of them came from different nations. All in all, the outcome was the creation of several new nations which would all eventually break away from the nations which brought them to be. Some would become super powers and others would become 3rd world countries, but without the voyages made by the Spaniards and Nords and English, we wouldn’t have any of this.

The Awakening Essay -- essays research papers

Books, unlike movies, have been around since the beginning of time. For the most part, they are more meaningful than the movies that are made from these books. This is due to the fact that an author is able to convey his/her message clearer and include things in the book that cannot be exhibited in a movie. For this reason, the reader of the book is much more effected than the viewer of the film. In the novella, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, there is much more evidence of symbolism as well as deeper meaning than in the movie version of the book, Grand Isle. Chopin conveys her symbolic messages through the main character’s newly acquired ability to swim, through the birds, through sleep, and through images of the moon. 	Edna Pontellier, the main character of the novel, struggles all summer at Grand Isle to learn to swim. She has been assisted by many people but was always too afraid to swim on her own. One Saturday night, after attending an evening in the hall, Edna swims out for the first time by herself into the inviting ocean. Realizing how easy it is and due to her "excited fancy," (Chopin, 30) she accidentally swims out very far. At that moment, "a quick vision of death smote her soul, and for a second of time appalled and enfeebled her senses." (Chopin, 30) For the first time she comes face to face with death. Those are the events described by the book. The movie, on the other hand, only shows Edna swimming out, struggling a little, and returning to shore. In addition, the movie doesn’t mention the strength and joy Edna feels after this experience. She states that she "never was so exhausted in [her] life. But it isn’t unpleasant†¦it is like a night in a dream." (Chopin, 31) 	At the end of this story, Edna kills herself by swimming out into the ocean. The movie shows just that, omitting two very significant symbols which are present in the novella. The first of these two symbols is the injured bird that’s "beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water." (Chopin, 124) This bird symbolizes Edna’s struggle to become the master her own life as well as her failure to achieve this goal. The other symbol is "the old terror [that] flamed up for an instant, then sank again." (Chopin 124) This is the same terror she feels when she swims out for the first t... .... Chopin relates Edna to the Sleeping Beauty who has awoken to a new world with a new perception of her surroundings. 	Symbols of the moon are another aspect that’s ignored in the movie. During Edna’s first solo swim, the author describes how the moon gave her the power and bravery to keep going; it "conveyed to her excited fancy." (Chopin, 30) After the swim when Edna is talking to Robert, "strips of moonlight," (Chopin, 32) are visible all around them. They symbolize the untamed feelings Edna has for Robert, her first true love in life. The moonlight makes her feel "the first throbbings of desire." (Chopin, 32) 	Books, more often than not, are better than the movies that are made from them. This is due to the immense power of our imaginations. Readers use their imaginations to fill the space that exists between him/herself and the book with such things as dreams, past experiences, and hopes. For this reason, there is much more depth and symbolic depictions in the novella, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, compared with the movie version, Grand Isle. Due to this, the effect on the reader is much more potent than the effect on the viewer.

Media Influence on Students

Children's use of media is socialized mostly in the family (cf. Bryant, 1990). Television is an essential part of family life. Viewing occurs mainly with other family members, especially for young children. For instance, in one longitudinal study, more than 70% of the time that 3- to 7-year-old children spent watching general audience programming occurred with a parent (St. Peters, Fitch, Huston, Wright, ; Eakins, 1991). Moreover, television habits are formed early. The amount of television viewed is somewhat stable from age 3 onward, probably because it depends on family patterns that do not change readily (Huston, Wright, Rice, Kerkman, ; St. Peters, 1990). The process of learning is composite and multifaceted. The child should negotiate a series of vital tasks as he or she grows. The child must protect a sense of attachment to mother, father, and family (Bowlby, 1988). Then the child must move through the phases of separation and individuation (Mahler, Pine, ; Bergman, 1975). Here, the baby begins to move toward being a person (i.e., toward developing an internalized world of thought, emotion, and judgment that will facilitate the baby to be autonomous and self-regulating). From there, the child must start to deal with his or her issues of sexual identity, competition, power, and insertion in the group, elements that Freud (1933/ 1964) termed the Oedipal phase. The relationship between unconscious fantasy and the growth of the personality can be understood from the following: The growth of the personality occurs with the maturation of the perceptual apparatus, of memory as well as from the hoarded experience and learning from reality. This process of learning from reality is connected with the development and changes in unconscious fantasy. There is a constant struggle with the child's invincible fantasies and the encounter of realities, good and bad. (Segal, 1991, p. 26) It is also been asserted by experts that media is somewhat unethical for children. Television with its extreme reaching influence spreads transversely the globe. Its most significant part is that of reporting the news and sustaining communication linking people around the world. Television's most prominent, yet most stern feature is its shows for entertainment. Violence in entertainment is a main issue in the growth of violence in society, Violence is the exploit of one's powers to mete out mental or physical injury upon another, and exemplars of this would be rape or murder. Violence in entertainment attains the public through television, movies, plays, and novels. On July 26, 2000, officers of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry issued a â€Å"Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children,† which was subsequently endorsed by both houses of the United States Congress. At this time, well over 1,000 studies—including reports from the Surgeon General's office, the National Institute of Mental Health, and numerous studies conducted by leading figures within our medical and public health organizations—our own members—point â€Å"Overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children. The conclusion of the public health community, based on over thirty years of research, is that viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behavior, particularly in children†¦.† (Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children, Congressional Public Health Summit, July 26, 2000). â€Å"The effect of entertainment violence on children is complex and variable. Some children will be affected more than others. But while duration, intensity, and extent of the impact may vary, there are several measurable negative effects of children's exposure to violent entertainment†¦. We in no way mean to imply that entertainment violence is the sole, or even necessarily the most important factor contributing to youth aggression, anti-social attitudes, and violence†¦. Nor are we advocating restrictions on creative activity. The purpose of this document is descriptive, not prescriptive: we seek to lay out a clear picture of the pathological effects of entertainment violence. But we do hope that by articulating and releasing the consensus of the public health community, we may encourage greater public and parental awareness of the harms of violent entertainment, and encourage a more honest dialogue about what can be done to enhance the health and well-being of America's children† (Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children, Congressional Public Health Summit, July 26, 2000). New interactive digital media have become an integral part of children's lives. Nearly half (48%) of children six and under have used a computer (31% of 0-3 year-olds and 70% of 4-6 year-olds). Just under a third (30%) has played video games (14% of 0-3 year-olds and 50% of 4-6 year-olds). Even the youngest children — those under two — are widely exposed to electronic media. Forty-three percent of those under two watches TV every day and 26% have a TV in their bedroom (the American Academy of Pediatrics â€Å"urge parents to avoid television for children under 2 years old†). In any given day, two-thirds (68%) of children under two will use a screen media, for an average of just over two hours (2:05). (PR Newswire; 10/28/2003) Moreover, children at elementary level constantly struggle between fantasy and reality can be seen in the child's deep ambivalence concerning accepting the difference between â€Å"what's real† and â€Å"what's made up.† The child frequently attempts to obliterate differences, particularly those existing between the sexes and the generations. The child wants to be everything; he or she wants to be his or her own cause, he or she wants to be unlimited. The child wants to be a boy and a girl; to be his or her own father and mother; to know everything without learning and so forth. One can readily see that TV (as well as movies and video games) can be experienced as a means to gain the delusion of gratifying those wishes. However, teachers and parents distinguish that fantasy and daydreams persist to play an active, at times predominant, aspect of the child's development all through his or her formative years. In many cases, it is not until early adolescence that we see children able to assimilate their fantasies with rational thought in a way that make certain that external reality takes an increasing hold over perception, reasoning, and behavior. Although many more years are required before the child matures into a person who adeptly and constantly discriminates the internal from the external in a usually integrated fashion. It is this slow and accruing process of thought and fantasy being integrated with the resultant increase in the growth of the personality that seems to undergo the most inhibition when the consumption of media images becomes extreme or defensive. Children's animated cartoons show how outer, media-based images â€Å"mimic† the form of unconscious fantasy. The cartoon is a psychologically charged, exciting portrayal of fantastic (animated) characters. Its form is simple: An underdog (disguised child) comes into conflict with others (the top dog = parents or older children). There is danger, threat of destruction or death that is conquering in a magical and effortless fashion where pleasure and laughter are the outcome. The Coyote wants to eat the Roadrunner; Elmer Fudd wants to shoot Daffy Duck. Throughout complex and irrational activities, the â€Å"victim† triumphs over the â€Å"villain.† Furthermore, there are no real consequences attendant to the use of immense aggression and force. Magically, all characters reappear in the next cartoon and the cycle of conflict and decree, pleasing the child's wish to overcome limitation and smallness, is repeated once more. Further, teacher in classroom can develop the child's ability to be creative, to construct a â€Å"transitional space† (Winnicott, 1978) within which to form new blends of inner and outer, is inhibited to the degree that the child's mind is saturated with media-based images, characters, stories, and inspiration. The child must transform the â€Å"raw material† of both his or her inner and outer world in a pleasing synthesis in order to feel truly knowledgeable and in charge of his or her existence. The passivity by-product of TV viewing leads to a restraint of autonomous inspiration and produces what teachers are seeing more and more: anxious, irritable, angry, and demanding children who are unable to â€Å"play† and who demand to be â€Å"entertained† in a mode that approximates their experience of TV viewing. The use of drugs and alcohol utilize the same mechanisms as TV to achieve their psychological effects. As the substance user's body and mind are chemically altered, deep unconscious fantasies of security, charisma, power, or limitlessness are activated. Hence, Winn (1985) was accurate in describing TV as the â€Å"plug-in drug† as the â€Å"use† of TV to fend off depression, anxiety, and conflict is identical in its function to that of drugs and alcohol. The faction of â€Å"instant gratification† can be seen to plea to the universal wish to be the satisfied infant sucking at the breast: a mere cry, the feed and the bliss of satisfied sleep. The reality is unfortunately much more difficult, for what we see are increasing numbers of frustrated, angry, and uncooperative children, experiencing their wishes as demands, and their hopes as entitlements. However, learning is fundamentally based on more about how to communicate effectively with children on the subject of coping with the intimidating aspects of their environment. It is significant to recognize that some level of fear is suitable and indeed may be important to survival in certain situations. On the other hand, overburdening children with fears of horrendous disasters that are either unavoidable or highly unlikely to threaten them personally may add undue stress to the procedure of growing up. Because television is one of children's main sources of information about the world, we need to be capable to make reasoned decisions about what to expose our children to and when. We also require being able to explain crucial features of life to them in an age-appropriate way that preserves their youthful optimism while encouraging necessary and suitable precautions. Work Cited Bowlby J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Rutledge. Bryant J. (Ed.). (1990). Television and the American family. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Freud S. (1964). New introductory lectures on psychoanalysis (standard edition, 22). London: Hogarth Press. (Original work published in 1933) Huston A. C., Wright J. C., Rice M. L., Rerkman D., & St. M. Peters ( 1990). â€Å"The development of television viewing patterns in early childhood: A longitudinal investigation†. Developmental Psychology, 26, 409-420. Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children, Congressional Public Health Summit, July 26, 2000. Also Available At: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/jstmtevc.htm Mahler M., Pine F., & Bergman A. (1975). The psychological birth of the human infant. New York: Basic Books. New Study Finds Children Age Zero to Six Spend as Much Time With TV, Computers and Video Games as Playing Outside; One in Four Children Under Two Have a TV in Their Bedroom. WASHINGTON, PR Newswire; 10/28/2003 Also Available at http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m4PRN/2003_Oct_28/109334573/p1/article.jhtml Segal H. (1991). Dream, phantasy and art. London: Tavistock/Routledge. St. M. Peters, Fitch M., Huston A. C., & Wright J. C., & Eakins D. (1991). â€Å"Television and families: What do young children watch with their parents?† Child Development, 62, 1409-1423. Winn M. (1985). The plug-in drug: Television, children and the family. New York: Penguin Books.

Effects of Thirdperson and First Person - 1197 Words

Effects of Third Person and First Person Can the point of view in which a story is told really change its plot? When reading a story in the first person compared to the third person, one will have two different outlooks on the story. A story being told in the first person can be unreliable at points. It allows you to get inside the protagonists head and know what they are thinking, but you are only limited to their thoughts. While a story told in the third person gives you a little more freedom, you wont be limited to only one thought. â€Å"The Lottery,† by Shirley Jackson and â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† by Kate Chopin are both told in the third person, which creates an interesting twist. Conversely, two stories that make you think and wonder,†¦show more content†¦299). This shows that the narrator doesn’t know too much about the blind and is very stereotypical of them. The blind man and the narrator soon get together in which the narrator is asked to draw a cathedral with his eyes shut. Not only does he close his eyes, he keeps them closed after finishing the drawing. â€Å"My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything† (Anthology pg.311). This line said by narrator makes the reader believe that he may take things for granted and may just go about his day without noticing much. Even though all four of these stories are effective in the way they are told, they all could have a completely different effect if they were told in a different perspective. If one looks at â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† for instance, both could have been different in the first person. If you took â€Å"The Lottery† and placed it in the first person, one would know from the start whatever he or she was doing in the center of town and would get the feelings of whoever is telling the story. If the story were told this way it would have probably been less effective and as a reader you w ould not be as curious. If â€Å"The Story of an Hour† were told in the first person we would have a completely different view on Mrs. Mallard and her heart problem. Next the story would end sooner and we would have never found out the husband wasShow MoreRelatedMCMULLEN SHEPHERD Entrepreneurial Act13331 Words   |  54 PagesKaish Gilad, 1991). However, this can lead scholars to rely on models of entrepreneurial action that are incomplete when applied at a level of analysis other than that intended by the theorist. Accordingly, our purpose in this article is twofold. First, we demonstrate that economic theories of the entrepreneur are theories of action proposing those elements that enhance and hinder individuals from acting entrepreneurially. Although these models may be sufficient for examining entrepreneurial actionRead MoreHello2980 Words   |  12 Pageslake denote rhyme; lake and fate demonstrate assonance. 1 Catharsis—The process by which an unhealthy emotional state produced by an imbalance of feelings is corrected and emotional health is restored. Causal Relationship (cause and effect)—In causal relationships, a writer assert that one thing results from another. To show how one thing produces or brings about another is often relevant in establishing a logical argument. Characterization—The method an author uses to develop charactersRead MoreInterpretation of the Text13649 Words   |  55 Pagesworld of a literary work Literature is writing that can be read in many ways. We can read it as a form of history, biography, or autobiography. We can read it as an example of linguistic structures or rhetorical conventions manipulated for special effect. We can view it as a material product of the culture that produced it. We can see it as an expression of beliefs and values of a particular class. We can also see a work of literature as a selfcontained structure of words - as writing that calls attention