The Last Samurai :: essays research papers

The Last Samurai-Scene 11 - 17   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The scene started off with a man by the name of Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) laying on a floor wearing dirty garments and yelling out the name of a man that he had just killed before his capture. The Captain was captured during a fight between the Americans and the Japanese, but instead of killing the American, the Samurai leader Katsumoto (Ken Wantanobe) wanted him alive so that he could learn from his enemy’s ways. The Captain was staying in Katsumoto’s ex brother-in-law’s house with the now widowed young lady and her children. The lady was very un-accepting of the war hero at first, because he was the man who killed her husband, but as the story grew, she, along with the rest of her Buddhist tribe grew to like the American. As the American got stronger and was given more rights by their tribe, he started to learn the art of Japanese language and symbolism. While he was learning the semantics of another culture, I noticed that he had completely forgotten his ways as an American soldier and instead, took on the way of the Samurai. As the ways of the Samurai embodied him, he grew emotionally and spiritually enough to the point of complete change of being. He was now willing to fight for the Samurais, and although they did not have all the weapons that the Americans possessed, they did have much more structure of discipline and self control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The clip ends with the American apologizing to the young lady for the slaying of her husband. She accepts, and then tells him in Japanese that they ware each doing their duty, and that it was only karma that took her husband. I would have to say that it was the semantics of this Japanese culture that he was learning that intrigued me the most about this film. That is why I chose to tie in the concept of semantics with this movie clip, because its definition is very culturally-bound in a way that combines the study of words and meaning with the ways of the Japanese.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Semantics ties into this scene from its beginning when the Captain first gets a glance of how these natives speak, all the way though to the ways that they write and prepare for war. The Japanese had a very different way of structuring words than the American had ever seen, but as he started to take part in their teachings, the Captain started to be able to write and even speak in their native language.

Winning the Fight against Super Bugs

The term ‘antibiotics’ refers to substances that kill bacteria or prevent their growth. Antibiotics are natural substances that are released by bacteria and fungi into their environment to fight other organisms. The use of antibiotics by organisms therefore represents chemical warfare on a microscopic scale. The activity of antibiotics was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928 when he observed that colonies of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus could be destroyed by the mould Penicillium notatum.The significance of the discovery was however not realized at that time, and it was only in the 1940s when Howard Florey and Ernst Chain isolated the active ingredient and developed the substance in its powdery form, that it was realized that penicillin and other antibiotics could be used as very effective medicines to kill certain types of disease-causing bacteria within the human body. Bacterial infections can be fatal, especially for young children and babies who do not have adequate immunity.Labeled as the ‘wonder drug,’ the use of antibiotics to combat bacterial infections resulted in a significant decrease in the deaths due infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. Antibiotics are not only used to used to treat human ailments but also bacterial infections in plants and animals. After having been effectively used for almost half a century, a new challenge loomed up in front of humankind in the form of bacteria that turned resistant to antibiotics. These bacteria are known as the ‘superbugs’. Natural antibiotics have probably existed as long as microorganisms have.Certain types of bacteria have therefore undergone adaptation and mutation to overcome the action of antibiotics. These bacteria have learnt to deal with practically all types of antibiotics that are available. They pose a serious problem in the form of diseases that cannot be treated with any medicines. As antibiotics treatment of bacterial infec tions continues, the number and variety of super bugs are bound to increase. It could eventually come to a pass when bacterial infections become as fatal as they were in the days before the discovery of antibiotics.This could lead to a depicted scenario in which the very existence of humankind could be threatened. There is, however, good news. A research led by Dr Adrian Lloyd of the University of Warwick’s Department of Biological Sciences has succeeded in unraveling how the super bug Streptococcus pneumoniae develops its penicillin immunity (University of Warwick, 2008). This finding opens up many new avenues of disrupting the process of development of resistance to antibiotics by the Streptococcus pneumoniae specifically and other super bugs in general.This could enable scientists to restore penicillin as a weapon against these bacteria, as well as restore the efficacy of other types of antibiotics against their respective bacteria. Essentially the study found that a prote in called the MurM was at the root of the development of resistance to antibiotics by the bacteria. Very simply put, Penicillin normally kills off the S. pneumoniae by inhibiting the formation of Peptidoglycan an essential component of the bacterial cell wall which protects the otherwise fragile bacterial cell.When Peptidoglycan is not produced, the protective cell wall of the bacteria is not formed leading to the death of the organism. It had been observed that the protein MurM was linked to changes in the chemical makeup of the Peptidoglycan that was found in penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. The protein MurM has been found to lead to the formation of particular structures known as the ‘dipeptide bridges’ in the peptidoglycan resulting in the formation of a bacterial cell wall that is resistant to penicillin.â€Å"The Warwick team were able to replicate the activity of MurM in a test tube, allowing them to define the chemistry of the MurM reaction in det ail and understand every key step of how Streptococcus pneumoniae deploys MurM to gain this resistance. † (University of Warwick, 2008). This will enable the Warwick team and any other pharmaceutical researchers to zero in on MurM reaction in the Streptococcus pneumoniae and develop drugs to disrupt the process of development of resistance to penicillin.The result could be designer penicillin antibiotics to be deployed effectively against penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Since the same mechanism works in the development of resistance to antibiotics in other bacteria such as MRSA, the findings of the Warwick University research could open up more fronts in the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria. Moreover, the researchers have been able to readily reproduce every stage of formation of the peptidoglycan required by the Streptococcus pneumoniae to build up its penicillin-resistant cell wall.This provides pharmaceutical companies different levels at which to attack the process of development of antibiotic resistance that could lead to the invention of an array of modified penicillin for penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. The significance of the new findings can be gauged from the fact that Streptococcus pneumonia causes 5 million fatalities worldwide in children. In the United States, it is the cause of infection in 1 million elderly out of which 7% end in fatalities.In every day life the finding can be related to arming a conventional missile with a nuclear warhead. The enemy in this case are the bacteria, and the war is not for the annihilation for the survival of humanity. References -01 University of Warwick (2008, March 15). How Antibiotic Resistant Bugs Became Resistant To Penicillin, And How Penicillin Could Work Again. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 1, 2003, from http://www. sciencedaily. com ¬ /releases/2008/03/080312100041. htm

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.

Free Essays on American Marraige In Contrast With Muslim Weddings

Marriage is a legal agreement between two people. It’s an important religious ceremony in every culture. There are different customs to celebrate this event. The foundations of marriage are built on trust but in every culture the way they celebrate their joy is different. In the Muslim culture, marriage celebrations are quite different from American celebrations. In Muslim culture, there is a high rate of arranged marriages. Usually, parents arrange the marriages for their children. Parents play a big role in the marriage of their children. There’s also a love marriage but not most of the time. In America, the highest rate of marriages are love marriages. Every child has the liberty to marry whomever they want. In the Muslim culture, girls are supposed to marry early. The earliest marrying age for girls is 16; but she must be to married before she reaches the age of 25. In America there is no such kind of age restriction. In order to find a suitable spouse, Americans date each other before marriage. In Muslim culture you’re not allowed to date before marriage. People have to get the permission to meet in front of their elders, but they are not allowed to be physically close with each other at any point before the marriage rituals are completed. In fact in America, at the marriage ceremony the couples kiss each other, but Muslims would never do this. Also the weddings attire is very different for the bride and groom in both cultures. American brides wear white bride gowns, whereas, Muslim brides wear red or maroon dresses called â€Å"Shararra†. Muslim Grooms wear an outfit called â€Å"kameez pajama† while American grooms wear a tuxedo or a three-piece suit. In the marriage ceremony of Muslims, the parents of the bride and the groom have to give gifts to each and every guest who attends the marriage ceremony. In America, people give g... Free Essays on American Marraige In Contrast With Muslim Weddings Free Essays on American Marraige In Contrast With Muslim Weddings Marriage is a legal agreement between two people. It’s an important religious ceremony in every culture. There are different customs to celebrate this event. The foundations of marriage are built on trust but in every culture the way they celebrate their joy is different. In the Muslim culture, marriage celebrations are quite different from American celebrations. In Muslim culture, there is a high rate of arranged marriages. Usually, parents arrange the marriages for their children. Parents play a big role in the marriage of their children. There’s also a love marriage but not most of the time. In America, the highest rate of marriages are love marriages. Every child has the liberty to marry whomever they want. In the Muslim culture, girls are supposed to marry early. The earliest marrying age for girls is 16; but she must be to married before she reaches the age of 25. In America there is no such kind of age restriction. In order to find a suitable spouse, Americans date each other before marriage. In Muslim culture you’re not allowed to date before marriage. People have to get the permission to meet in front of their elders, but they are not allowed to be physically close with each other at any point before the marriage rituals are completed. In fact in America, at the marriage ceremony the couples kiss each other, but Muslims would never do this. Also the weddings attire is very different for the bride and groom in both cultures. American brides wear white bride gowns, whereas, Muslim brides wear red or maroon dresses called â€Å"Shararra†. Muslim Grooms wear an outfit called â€Å"kameez pajama† while American grooms wear a tuxedo or a three-piece suit. In the marriage ceremony of Muslims, the parents of the bride and the groom have to give gifts to each and every guest who attends the marriage ceremony. In America, people give g...

C. S. Lewis essays

C. S. Lewis essays Over the course of time a truely magnificent writer will emerge, one that captivates their audience with imaginative plots and beilevable charactors. Melville, Defoe, Verne, Tolstoy, Twain, Dickens, these are all ledgendary writers known world wide for their stories. Another member of this group of the literary elite is C. S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland, on November 29, 1898. He was the son of A. J. lewis a salesman and Flora August Hamilton Lewis, the daugter of a clergyman. When Lewis was nine years old his mother died and his father sent him away to boarding school in England. After a few years at the boarding Lewis began to study privatley under Mr. W. T. Kirkpatrick. Putting his education on hold Lewis served in the first world war as a second lieutenent in the british army. After being wounded in the Battle of Arras in 1918 he resumed his education at Oxford University. Lewis spent the next 35 years of his life at Oxford lecturing and being a tutor. In 1956 Lewis was married to Joy Davidman Gresham. Lewis died on November 24, 1963, he was 65 years old. Lewis was the master of the allegory. Lewis' first allegorical work The Pillgrams' Regress, a story about a philologist who is kidnapped by evil scientists, was published in 1933. His second allegory, The Allegory of Love, won him the prestiges Hawthordian prize. He is perhaps best known for the seven religious allegories he wrote for children titled The Chronicals of Narnia. Most of Lewis' writings reflect his deep devotion in the christian faith. Overall Lewis has had a pretty sucsessful life. He was the author of many books. He has also written numerous essays and critisims. He has written everything from allegories to autobiographies. He is truely one of the literary elite. ...

Aristotle on the Nature of the Greek Polis Essay

Aristotle on the Nature of the Greek Polis - Essay Example The title of the issue shows that this section of the book talks about classical world and phenomenon of polis in ancient Greek history1. This chapter helps us understand the importance of Greek polis, which lasts for only two centuries. Further, it is noticeable from this chapter that Greek poleis were politically established and philosophical implications had a long term effect on Greek cities and practices of the societal members2. Characterization of the cities reflects their nature such as political and philosophical influence on the cities showed their aristocratic nature. It is evident from the aristocratic touch that has been observed from the cities` festival, cultural practices, temples and energetic blood relationships. 3Further this section of the book highlights that family bonds were categorized in various categories depending upon their educational statuses and power distribution among the citizens. It helps us learn that ethically these sub-divisions are made correctl y because with respect to norms and cultural values of the societies, categorization should base upon the constitutional actions of the citizens within the community. The author of the chapter clearly stated, "The importance of polis is not cultural, but institutional. This statement shows that the Greek cities were not famous or important because of the people`s cultural rituals and practices, but mainly because of its organizational value. It means the manner in which the Poleis of the Greek were designed and established to maintain good standard of living4.Additionally; it is more because poleis of the Greek were more in political control rather than tribal influence. This source assist us insight the socio-political matters of the Greek cities and their fundamentals of sub-divisions in the societies. This source further informs about the influence of Hesiod, Plato and Aristotle and the way their role influenced both rich and poor people of the society. Additionally, it has notic ed that impact of Aristotle and Plato had modified the diplomatic matter of the regions such as Sparta and Athens. Mostly importantly this source helps us understand the reason behind downfall of Greek polis. The author has quoted "the pathos of the polis was the pathos of a dynamic participation of the people in a culture and originated in the aristocratic society. Further it has explained that because of aristocratic attributes citizens of the polis were unable to get chance of becoming true members of the state. This section of the book clearly reflect nature and characteristics of the Greek culture in which local institutions had a major role and they formed to keep poleis away from the big territories and unity of the societal members was not secured. Further, promises that were made to bring positive changes in the Greek societies and to improve standard of living of the people are clearly mentioned to help us understand the efforts made by the Greek people to maintain socio-c ultural practices of their communities5. However, despite such efforts there was no unity among the citizens and maintenance of the Greek Poleis was in danger and at last it came to an end6.This source has provided detailed information about Aristotle`s role and downfall the Greek cities. Undoubtedly, this source has explored historical

Leadership Strategies regarding Costco Company Essay

Leadership Strategies regarding Costco Company - Essay Example The performance parameters are interconnected based on the flexible leadership model to the human resources and innovation capabilities of the firm based on different situations tom render all round growth. This model thereby tends to gain a tradeoff between the different emerging situations and the performance and productive capability of the firm to help in meeting the changing needs of the different stakeholders and also in enhancing the productivity parameters. Henceforth the flexible leadership theory can also be regarded as a situational leadership model that helps the company to effectively adapt to the specific situations emerging in the external environment (Yukl and Lepsonger, n.d., p.2). . Application of Flexible Leadership in Costco’s Operations The paper would now focus on analyzing the potential to which Costco tends to operate based on the flexible leadership style as evaluated above. Firstly the company is found to operate based on the set up of large number of warehouses in the international market whereby it tends to render products to the consumers at seemingly affordable prices. This strategy of the company reflects that the organization largely follows the flexible leadership approach in meeting the growing needs of the consumers based in international regions. Further this practice also helps the company in enhancing on the dimensions of consumer loyalty. Secondly the company also works based on a centralized decision making approach such that the people working in the different warehouses and retail outlets based in international markets are tightly connected. This process helps in enhancing the administration potential of the concern in... The paper would now focus on analyzing the potential to which Costco tends to operate based on the flexible leadership style as evaluated above. Firstly the company is found to operate based on the set up of large number of warehouses in the international market whereby it tends to render products to the consumers at seemingly affordable prices. This strategy of the company reflects that the organization largely follows the flexible leadership approach in meeting the growing needs of the consumers based in international regions. Further this practice also helps the company in enhancing on the dimensions of consumer loyalty. Secondly the company also works based on a centralized decision making approach such that the people working in the different warehouses and retail outlets based in international markets are tightly connected. This process helps in enhancing the administration potential of the concern in regards to controlling the performance and decision making activities of the people based along international regions to help drive business productivity. Thirdly the company also reflects conducting large amount of market research activities in the international markets to gain potential insight into the changing demand scenario and adjusts its performance parameters accordingly. The management of the company focuses on setting up right strategies to enter the different international markets bearing different characteristics.