Catching Fire Journal Entry Essay Example

Catching Fire Journal Entry Essay Example Catching Fire Journal Entry Essay Catching Fire Journal Entry Essay Essay Topic: Catching Fire The Hunger Games February 17th I recently read a novel by Suzanne Collins titled, The Hunger Games. What I recall most about this book is the magnificent emphasis put on food. Every single meal eaten by the characters was described in such great detail that you would think the author was a former culinary student. As the name persists, food is a significant issue in this book. It’s a luxury for people living in the districts and a commodity for the capital. People from the districts often died of starvation while people who lived in the capital pushed a button to summons a three course meal. The person from a district who won the Hunger Games was guaranteed the fortune of food and money for the rest of their lives. Wow, what a prize! What I enjoyed most about reading this book was the way the author introduced and described all of the characters. I had a great picture in my mind about each and every character and I felt myself thinking about some of them even when they were absent from a page or two. It became so interesting that before I could finish the book, I had to turn to the internet to look up the characters of the movie. I just had to see them in the flesh! My favorite character for most of the story was Katniss Everdeen, the beautiful, spirited tomboy. I could really relate to her like I could no other character in the book. I admired her for taking care of her little sister and especially her mother. I too, had to be the parent child in my household when growing up. I was not surprised at all when she took the place of her sister, the underdog, in the Hunger Games. Because I too, have lost someone close to me, I knew that hunting not only fulfilled the purpose to feed her family but that it helped her to cope with the death of her father, whose bow and arrows she cherished. My best friend during my teenage years was a guy named Brian, so it was easy for me to understand the relationship Katniss shared with her best friend Gale; the good looking guy that the other girls fawned over, but not her. She was not the kind of girl to go gaga over a guy’s good looks. It was an intimate relationship that grew from so many mutual feelings about life and their shared common interest. They complimented each other like peanut butter and jelly. I loved that they loved each other that way. Not like a brother and sister, who often squabble. Not like a husband and wife; it’s much deeper than that. Those relationships are tainted. Then she entered the Hunger Games and so did Peeta Mellark. Peeta was my second favorite character in the story. He was much softer around the edges than Katniss but he looked out for her like a man would look out for the woman he loves. Even before the Hunger Games, there was a time when he took a beating from his mother for burning some bread. The reason he burned the bread was so he could give it to Katniss who he knew was hungry and hiding in his back yard. It was that foreshadowing in the story that made me believe him later when he confessed his love for Katniss. Katniss was not sure about his love because she always thought it was a ploy for him to get further in the games, but I knew better. Due to the circumstances in the arena she almost convinced me a couple of times that he was not being true, but I held on fast. At times I wanted to yell at her for being so stubborn and at other times I admired her for not being so easy to fool. It was a roller coaster ride! Weather it was real or not, the romance they shared had me hooked. I felt like one of the spectators in the book itself! I was rooting for them to win the games so they could go home and live happily ever after. It was this relationship that has me looking forward to reading Catching Fire, the second book in the trilogy. I loved that Peeta came into the picture and shared emotional moments with Katniss. I know Katniss can take care of herself but I can’t resist wanting her to let Peeta take care of her emotionally. I know she can confide in Gale about her feelings, but it’s not the same; in their relationship they are equals. I recently saw a picture of Katniss, Gale and Peeta which almost guarantees a love triangle of some sort. I’m excited just thinking about it!

A Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Abortion

A Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Abortion Abstract The topic of abortion has been a controversial subject for many years. The people for or against it have split into two groups, pro- life and pro-choice. The main topic of discussion about this is when does life begin and when is it appropriate for abortion to be done, if it is appropriate or okay at any time at all. There has been many facts and reasons for why or why not abortion should be done. These will be found in the following paper. Keywords: pro life, pro choice, abortion. Pro Life vs Pro Choice: When does life begin? The debate over whether or not abortion should be a legal option continues to divide many Americans, even after the US Supreme Court’s ruling declaring that abortion is a fundamental right† for women nationwide. People that agree with this, referred to as pro-choice, believe that abortion is a right that should not be limited by the government or any religious authority. They also say that pregnant women with unwanted pregnancies will succumb to unsafe illegal abortions if there is no legal option available to them (Should Abortion, 2013). People against this identifying themselves as pro-life, saying that ‘personhood’ begins at conception, thus meaning abortion is the immoral killing of an innocent human being. It is also said by â€Å"pro-lifers† that abortion inflicts suffering on the unborn child, and also that it isn’t fair to allow abortion when couples who cannot biologically conceive are waiting to adopt (Head, 2013). It has been said in many articles that abortion is wrong, and all of them give ideally the same reasons as said before. One article in particular however shows the change of a person from pro-choice, to pro-life. It tells the story of a pro-choice medical student that after his experience of witnessing an abortion quickly changed his opinion on the matter. Terzo’s witness of the abortion was following (2013): When I entered the operating room, it felt like any other I had ever been in. On the table in front of me, I saw a woman, legs up as if delivering a child although she was asleep. Next to her was a tray of instruments for the abortion and a vacuum machine for suctioning the fetal tissues from the uterus. The doctors put on their gowns and masks and the procedure began. The cervix was held open with a crude metal instrument and a large transparent tube was stuck inside of the woman. Within a matter of seconds, the machine’s motor was engaged and blood, tissue, and tiny organs were pulled out of their environment into a filter. A minute later, the vacuum choked to a halt. The tube was removed, and stuck to the end was a small body and a head attached haphazardly to it, what was formed of the neck snapped. The ribs had formed with a thin skin covering them, the eyes had formed, and the inner organs had begun to function. The tiny heart of the fetus, obviously a little boy, had ju st stopped — forever. The vacuum filter was opened, and the tiny arms and legs that had been torn off of the fetus were accounted for. The fingers and toes had the beginnings of their nails on them. The doctors, proud of their work, reassembled the body to show me. Tears welled up in my eyes as they removed the baby boy from the table and shoved his body into a container for disposal. He goes on saying that most people who are pro-choice as he was before, are only pro choice because they do not know what is happening in that operating room, and if they did they would most certainly become pro-life, if not in it’s entirety, then simply in the abortion aspect of it. There is another article that give insight into the argument of â€Å"when does life really begin?† It was said that even pro choice philosophers agree that life begins at fertilization. According to Wilcox (2013), â€Å"They grow through cellular reproduction and division, they metabolize food for energy, and they respond to stimuli. In fact, the only thing the unborn need to survive are adequate nutrition, a proper environment, and an absence of fatal threats. That’s all any of us need. There is no point in human development at which the developing entity goes from non-life to living†. The artcle continues to state that since life does begin at fertilization that abortion is the immoral killing of human beings and should not be legal. My reaction to this simply, why does it affect them? Whether it is their moral belief, philosophical belief, or scientific belief, the actions of others outside their immediate group or family will most likely not affect them. To me it almost as if they are trying to push their moral belief on someone and persuade everyone to believe what they believe, this cannot always happen. Who gives someone the right to tell someone whether or not they can legally decide to bring a life into the world, the government? Why is the government revisiting an issue that was seemingly resolved before in another case? Is this an attempt to even further control the population? I am asking these questions because it is literally impossible to have everyone be happy, even in a compromise, both parties is not totally getting what they wanted. So, in my opinion, I think that the lawfulness of abortion should be left alone. It has been working fine, and although everyone is not happy, it is too controversial of a subject that should not be touched again.

The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) of Uganda Essay

The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) of Uganda - Essay Example However, in 2006, the expectancy had risen to 48 years for males and 51 years for female. It was estimated that, the leading cause of death of all ages was HIV/AIDS accounting for 9.4% and malaria following accounting for 4.1%. In his bid, to realize these objectives, Museveni and his government established a good relationship with the donor community. The international monetary fund (IMF), World Bank, and other donor governments were in support of the Ugandan effort to reduce poverty (United Nations 2004). Museveni’s government managed to put an end to institutionalized human rights abuses and liberalized the economy to higher standards that there were in the previous regimes. In fact, upon independence the Ugandan government witnessed infrastructure decay with healthcare delivery largely dependent on humanitarian aid. After taking over power, President Museveni strategically decentralized health system with much of health care leadership being given to provincial authorities (Barnett and Blaikie 1992). The new strategic health plan included village health provision. In addition, provision of health services was a joint responsibility between government, private non-profit organisations, and private profit organizations (Engelberg 2001). Government efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS Alongside these achievements by the Museveni’s government, some improvements have been witnessed in terms of the fight against AIDS (Hope 1999). The first incidences of AIDS death were reported in 1982. It is noted that HIV spread quickly along major highways with Ugandan armed forces and rebel groups facilitating its transmission (Ntozi et al 1997). In 1986, President Museveni introduced a proactive prevention campaign that emphasized AIDS was a patriotic duty that required openness, and strong leadership at all levels. The formation of national control program for AIDS (NCPA) included representatives from nongovernmental organizations, academics, and faith based organizations. Its mission was to create HIV/AIDS control plan that included policy guidelines, campaign for safe sexual behavior, and care and treatment programs (Hope 1999). However, after some time, the NCPA was dissolved and replaced with the national AIDS control program (ACP). In addition, the ministry of health established a national HIV/AIDS surveillance system. Nevertheless, the HIV prevalence rose in early 1990s, with as high as 25% rates being witnessed in urban areas (United Nations 2004). In 1992, national prevalence was estimated to be 18.3%. In 2003, a total of 530,000 people were infected with HIV/AIDS. A total of 78,000 had died from AIDS related illnesses. However, the government through the ministry of health instilled measures to improve the situation and by 2005, 90% of people aged 15-49 had heard of AIDS and could identify several ways of preventing HIV transmission. However, during the same year, only 13% of adults had tested for HIV with 70% of the estimate 1 million people infected remained untested. In 2006, the WHO reported that over 1 million Ugandans were living with HIV. Prevalence was reported to be higher in urban areas mostly in young women,

Review of a Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Review of a Reading - Essay Example For this reason, the author says that, the concept of designing strategy for a business organization must address the whole business organization. Consequently, the author says that, strategy in business must be formulated at three independent levels, i.e. corporate level, business level, and functional level. A critical analysis of this view by the author shows that the author’s conception of strategic management is right. This is because strategic management affects all facets of a business organization unlike other areas of business. The author of this reading defines strategic management as the process of creating interdependent activities that will enable an organization to compete successfully. The author goes on to say that, for most business organizations, creating the interdependent activities is the difficult part. An evaluation of this view shows that author’s views on this point are true. This is because harmonizing various portfolios of a business organization to operate with synergy is quite a challenging task; it normally requires skills in management and leadership to create such synergy in an organization with different portfolios. In the assigned reading, the author discusses in details the corporate Level Strategy and the scope of corporate level strategy. According to the author, corporate level strategy sets the overall direction for the whole Company. The author recognizes specific tasks and questions to that are unique to corporate level strategy. Expressed as questions, the author argues that the scope of corporate level strategy is: To explain further the actual meaning of corporate level of strategy, the author explains in details the meaning of each of the four questions; the author uses a concrete case of the Pepsi Company to demonstrate how the four questions of corporate level strategy are applied in actual situation. The author begins by explaining how the Coca-Cola Company has applied the

My Family History Essay -- essays research papers

My Family History Family history is very important to an individual. By knowing where you come from, you can have a better perspective of your life. Having a clear understanding of your family background allows you to better appreciate the things that you would normally take for granted. The house, the car, and the average clothing may look better when one sees the sacrifices their family has made. They will see that their family has worked very hard just so their family can experience the better things in life. A persons roots and origin is one of the most important things to explore. It alone can bring you closer to self-discovery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are two sides to a person’s family and one side of my family has been traced all the way back to slavery. My father’s side of the family originally came from a Georgia plantation. Although my father is Afro-American, his great-great-grandfather was a general who owned slaves. From Georgia my father moved to New Jersey. After settling in New Jersey, my father enlisted in the military and began his life as a military man. My mother’s side of the family is all from Puerto Rico. My grandparents moved my mother and her sister to America when they were very young. They moved to Macedonia, Illinois. When my mother got older she too enlisted in the military as a nurse. My mother met my father while they were both serving in the military in Germany. After they both finished their time in the military, my mother mov...

Objectification of Women Through Advertisements Essay

The images of advertisements reflect the social and cultural aspects of a society. These images define the values and establish attitudes of the people in a society towards the imagery projected in the advertisements. One of the highly used imagery in the advertisement across almost all the cultures is that of women. By using this imagery in the advertisements, one of the critical attitudes established among the audience is that of women are objects. There are advertisements where women are used as a subjective image but mostly women are displayed as a commodity or an object. Objectification relates to the imagery of an entity which is a person but is seen or displayed as an object. Women have been used as objects to be desired by advertisers for years now to increase the sales of the products and this strategy has worked wonders for producers; for example magazines like Playboy and Hustler would not sell at all if it is not for the sexual display of women. It is argued that since the women who take part in such advertisements give their consent towards the kind of image the advertisements project. However, objectification of women is not just the concern of the models involved in the advertisement but the whole population that views that advertisement because it affects the value system and culture of the masses. For example, the Excessive use of blonde women in the advertisements during 70s and 80s projected to the masses that blonde women are more attractive and desirable to men. However, when surveyed, 70% of women thought that blonde women are more desirable to men and only 35% men actually expressed their preference for blonde women. This way advertisement has used women as objects to establish false beliefs of beauty, independence, and power. Sigmund Freud, one of the greatest psychiatrists, also developed a theory which could be well related to the objectification of women in advertisements as a source of desire. His theory of the â€Å"unconscious mind† states that it constitutes of the largest part of a person’s mind and contains desires and memories which are not readily available to the conscious mind of a person. However, there exist different stimuli which may, if exposed to a person, bring these unconscious desires and memories to the conscious mind. Therefore it could be argued that since â€Å"sex† is seen as the most basic element of our social needs, it is often suppressed in our unconscious mind and the objectification of women in advertisements bring these desires to our conscious mind. In the light of the theory of â€Å"unconscious mind†, it could be proposed that the exposure of women in most of the advertisements today only acts as a stimulus to invoke the hidden desires of the audience till it becomes a need. And once it becomes a need people look for ways to satisfy this physical need disregarding the subjective elements involved in the process. The idea of women empowerment had taken a great flight since post WWII with the help of the media. When most men were fighting during the WWII, women had to take up the roles of men back at home. After the war ended and the men returned, women had to go back and adapt to their roles as housewives and mothers. This was the time when the media hit them and promoted the message of women empowerment with the use of women in their advertisements. The magazines communicated to the women that they had the potential and capability to build careers, acquire achievements and shift their role from that of housekeepers. From that time onwards, media has played a massive role in promoting the concept of power and empowerment for women by displaying women more often in their advertisements and with slogans like â€Å"Just do it†, â€Å"the idea of willpower†, and â€Å"take control†. The use of women in advertisements has not only made women powerful in the eyes of the male population but also given a boast to the self esteem of women and has made them more authoritative than ever before. More so, the use of women’s body in advertisements and movies has established the perception in the minds of the population that women may use their bodies to get things done and achieve success. Through advertisements using women, the society has also created a wrong perception that beauty is a prerequisite to the independence and success of women and also that it is through the beauty and consumption of certain products that women can excel in their careers and lives. The highly explicit use of women in the advertisements has also led to rivalry between different brands of a product. The rivals try to get the most popular celebrities and models for their advertisement and expose them more than their rival to gain more attraction from the target market and therefore increase the sales. It is seen these days that many companies hire brand ambassadors for the sole purpose of attracting the market and make people associate the product with the sexual desire created by the presence of the brand ambassadors; no doubt it increases the consumption. For example, the famous perfume Chanel has hired various top celebrities as there spokes-model like Nicole Kidman and Keira Knightley. In fact the perfume was initially brought to fame by Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s. The display of zero-size models with slender frames and nicely tuned body parts has led to an increased dissatisfaction of â€Å"body image† among the women. The dissatisfaction is measured by difference between a person’s â€Å"body image†, which is a person’s perception of his/her body, and the ideal body type displayed in the form of models in advertisements. Although, this dissatisfaction has always existed amongst the women, it has grown rapidly since last 25 years. This is because the media has increased its standard of what is a â€Å"normal† body size. For most of the women this ideal body size portrayed by the media is the gateway to happiness. It is through these advertisements in the media that women have established in their minds that they need to achieve that ideal body size, shape and weight in order to find a good spouse, a great career, and be acceptable to family, friends and public. The models with perfectly shaped bodies are depicted as glamorous, rich and powerful in the advertisements and therefore a perfect body is seen as the passport to happiness. However, women do not know that only 5 % of all the women have the potential and body-type to achieve the ideals displayed by the models in the advertisements. Conclusion Today, the objectification of women has reached great heights; almost every other advertisement is using this concept to promote a product. What needs to be realized is this behavior has not only degraded the status of women but has also hurt the moral values of the global society. It has also given false hopes to millions of people and has distorted the image or reality for many. And the consequences are also very apparent in the form of the kind of treatment women get from men and the number of women suffering from anorexia for example. All the aspects discussed on the objectification of women call for strong system which could align the activities of the advertisers to more ethically sound principles. References: 1. Onyejekwe, C. J. (2005). Advertising and Exploitation of Female Sexuality. Retrieved from http://www. quietmountainessays. org/Onyejekwe. html 2. Body Image. (2009). Body Image. Retrieved from http://www. snac. ucla. edu/pages/Body_Image/Body_Image. htm 3. Media Advertising. (2010). Women in the Media. Retrieved from http://www. 123helpme. com/view. asp? id=18401 4. Lukes, S. A. (n. d). The Gender Ads Project. Retrieved from http://www. ltcconline. net/lukas/gender/pages/power. htm 5. Gladen, N. R. (2008). Media Objectification of Women. Retrieved from http://medialiteracy. suite101. com/article. cfm/media_objectification_of_women 6. Boeree,C. G. (2009). Personality Theories. Retrieved From http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/freud. html

Brazils Development Essay - 1192 Words

Brazil is the most populated country in South America and the fifth most populated in the world. The young make up more than half of the population, 62 per cent of which are 29 years old (Brazil.org.uk). For 2010 the population growth is has declined from 2.9 in 1960 to 1.166 in 2010. This decline can be attributed to the population adapting to the urban economic trends. Brazil’s economy has shown many changes in trends over the past years in various economic areas. Reports from the World Bank (2010) state that the country is one of the world’s largest net exporter of food; particularly beef, sugar, chicken and orange juice. Brazil’s agriculture and food products account for approximately 35% of their overall exports. These agricultural†¦show more content†¦The country has seen a great migration pattern from the rural to the urban cities and from the south east to north eastern cities. As a result, the North-east is said to have the poorest areas while on the other hand, part of the South-east has the wealthiest. Deforestation has been an issue in the country’s economy. However, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research has shown that there has been a significant decrease in the deforestation in the Amazon since 1998. The organization states that this decline is partially attributed to businesses refusal to support products like soy and beef from regions that have been deforested. Brazil’s Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.669 with a rank of 73. The World Bank’s county director for Brazil states that: â€Å"between 2003 and 2009, poverty (PPP $2 per day) has fallen from 22 percent of the population to 7 percent.† The income levels of the poor have shown significant increase, much more than that of the rich. The poor’s income has risen seven times higher than the rich and three times the national average. 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