Gathered by the River, by Denise Levertov

Gathered by the River, by Denise Levertov The double shame in man's war against man is the residual effect on nature; an innocent ,helpless bystander. The sense of potential devastation is the prevailing tone throughout the poem,'Gathered by the River,' by Denise Levertov.The spoliation caused by nuclear war is not limited to the loss of human lives. Nature can take acomparable amount of time to recover from a nuclear holocaust. The impact of war victims to humankindis negligible as compared to years of recovery required to reinstate the slow-growing trees. WhenLevertov notes, 'the trees are not indifferent' (l 13), she is saying that nature has a huge stake in theoutcome of man's tendency towards self-destruction.'[I]f our resolves and prayers are weak and fail / there will be nothing left of their slow andinnocent wisdom' (ll 49-50), demonstrates the trees' awareness of how lengthy their recovery time canPortriat of Denise Levertovtake. They listen incredulously to mans' promises that he will not make this deadly mistake a gain, butworry he is too weak to honor their promises.Levertov is implying there should be harmony between man and nature and the nature of howmankind conducts itself can have long-range effects on the course of nature. For example, we now knowhow the destruction of the rain forest in South America is affecting the percentage of oxygen availablearound the globe. Man's wholesale destruction of these areas for financial gain, despite the negativeresults, is a study of the nature of man's inhumanity to man. Do we not all breathe, even those who fellthe trees?Man is not completely in control, however. Nature's ability to wreak havoc on the environmentof all living things in the form of earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters should be a wake-up callto humankind.

Television Violence and its effect on Children

Television Violence and its effect on Children The children of today are surrounded by technology and entertainment that is full of violence. It is estimated that the average child watches from three to five hours of television a day! (Neilson 1993). Listening to music is also a time consuming pastime among children. With all of that exposure, one might pose the question, 'How can seeing so much violence on television and video games and hearing about violence in in music affect a child's behavior?' Obviously these media have a big influence on childrens' behavior: we can see it in the way they attempt to emulate their favorite rock stars by dressing in a similar style and the way children play games, imitating their favorite cartoon personalities or super heroes. Studies have shown that extensive television viewing may be associated with, aggressive behavior, poor academic performance, precocious sexuality, obesity, and the use of drugs or alcohol (Deitz). Television, video games, and music are very influential and if there is t oo much violence available for children to watch, play, or listen to, this can sway their attitudes in a negative direction.No Video GamesTelevision is especially influencial on the children today. The hard truth is that children spend an average of 28 hours a week in front of the television (Neilson 1993). This is almost two times the amount of time that some children are in school. At this very impressionable age it is no wonder that the images that kids see sometimes has a profound impact on their behavior. Fifty-five percent of children watch television with a friend or alone. (TV-Free America). Too often parents assume that their children are responsible enough to choose suitable programming. But the sad fact is that even some shows deemed as "children's television" are violent. A survey in Mediascope showed that a...

Answer one of three Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Answer one of three - Assignment Example The purpose of the present essay is to show how such estrangement, or ‘Othering’, played out in the course of several centuries of history of political, economic and cultural ties between the Christian West and Islamic Orient. For the purposes of present discussion, the terms â€Å"West† and â€Å"Islam† will be used in generalized sense, with the former corresponding to the cultures and nations dominated or influenced by Western (Catholic and later Protestant) Christianity, while the latter encompassing the totality of political and cultural space for which the religion of Islam was the most fundamental unifying factor. The issues of relationship between the cultures influenced by Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity and Islamic civilizations are to be analyzed in this essay to the extent of their impact on the perception of Islam in the West and the attitude of Islamic cultures towards the Christians in general, respectively. The chronological boundaries of the research encompass the historic period ranging from 7 century CE to our times, with special attention being paid to the vicissitudes of change in the models and criteria of ‘Othering’ being employed by both parties. The rise of Islam as a religion of the new mighty world empire, which managed to destroy centuries-old powers of the Middle East, i.e. the East Roman Empire (Byzantium) and the Sassanian kingdom of Persia, from the very outset led to the increasing feelings of insecurity and dismay on the part of Christian scholars and theologians. Having been previously accustomed to the feeling of utter superiority and ultimate triumph of the Christian faith, they were immensely surprised by the fact that an initially ‘insignificant’ religious group from the Arabian Peninsula managed to assert itself as a viable proselytizing alternative to their own creed. At the same time, the direct connection between Islamic