How was the Gupta Empire (India) scientifically advanced Essay

When thinking back to the Gupta Empire in India, one might remember the famous works of literature, or perhaps the vast lands conquered by the great rulers of the time. But it would be imprudent to ignore the influential achievements made in the areas of science, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy that made the empire scientifically advanced. Many people fail to realize that countless things mistaken for solely modern-day science, for example, plastic surgery, existed centuries ago. Here, the technologies of the Gupta Empire (320-467), such as the development of a more accurate value for pi, the perfection of the modern numeral and decimal system; surgery, inoculation, the formulation of medical guides and a better calendar; and lunar astronomy, will be discussed in detail. First we will deal with the area of mathematics. One of the most recognized achievements of the Gupta period was the highly accurate calculation of pi, made by the renowned mathematician Aryabhata. Before this time, pi, the value that explained the relationships between the area, circumference, diameter, radius, and volume of circles and spheres, was frequently represented by Indian mathematicians as three, or the square root of ten. (Although both of these values are far from accurate, the fact that the civilization had a knowledge of geometry and mathematical relationships is proof of scientific advancement, especially when one compares it to Europe, which in the eleventh century still had no knowledge of mathematics.) Aryabhata calculated pi to the fourth decimal place at a value of 3.1416. Aryabhata also studied and improved other concepts of mathematics; for example, he determined the rule for the area of isosceles triangles and researched algebraic identities and intermediate equations. His work can be observed in the Gitikapanda, a book which includes a trigonometrical sine table, rules for extracting square and cube roots, the concepts of spheres, pyramids and other plane figures, concepts of interest, the rule of three, and fractions, as well as the principles mentioned previously that pertain to him. All of these ideas can be found in modern-day science, which shows their great influence. Another prominent Indian mathematician of the Gupta period was Brahmagupta, who systemized the rules of astronomy, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry and  published his works in the Brahmasphuta-Siddhanta and ‘Khandakhadyaka.’ Other mathematical knowledge that had its foundations with Indian mathematicians were the so-called â€Å"Arabic† numerals and the decimal system, as well as the concept of zero and symbol for infinity, all of which previously did not exist. The number system that Gupta mathematicians devised was based on ten, and was the first of its kind. After a period of time, it was passed on to the Muslims of Baghdad, and then to the Europeans, which is why it is referred to as Arabic, though it really had its origins in India. Indian medicine was also remarkably advanced. Indian doctors of the Gupta period knew how to perform surgery, including plastic surgery to repair injured ears and noses–something thought of exclusively as new-age medicine and only recently perfected in the United States–and were experienced in setting broken bones. Furthermore, their surgical methods were quite sophisticated, as they knew to sterilize their tools before and after usage in order to prevent the spread of diseases and to keep a level of hygiene. More proof of their advancement in medicine comes from their philosophy of it; like ancient Greek doctors, as well as the doctors of today, the doctors of the Gupta Empire used an ethical code similar to the Hippocratic oath, in which they pledged to be honest and moral in their practice of medicine. Indian doctors were the first to give inoculations to prevent diseases, and were well ahead of their European peers, who did not give vaccines for another 1,000 years. Their cowpox vaccine was helpful in preventing epidemics of the fatal smallpox disease, and they even had free hospitals in which to administer it. Ironically, this is perhaps more progressive than today’s society, where free hospitals are considered an unreachable ideal. As well as advanced surgery and inoculations, the Indians of the Gupta Empire possessed medical guides much like those of today, such as the Bower Manuscript and the Hatyayurveda. These manuals contained information on things such as medicinal plants, prescriptions, diseases and children’s medicines. In total, â€Å"†¦these works classified more than 1,000 diseases and  described [the properties of] more than 500 medicinal plants,† such as garlic, a lotion that promoted eyesight, oils from trees, etc. There was even information on animal disease treatment! For these reasons, the Indians from the Gupta period were extremely advanced in their knowledge of medicine and treatment of ailments. Another area of science that flourished during the Gupta Empire was astronomy. The partial cause of acquired knowledge pertaining to it was the increase in trade, because while at sea, sailors used the stars to find their positions. Knowledge of astronomy also increased because of the work of Aryabhata, the mathematician previously mentioned. He was the first to tell that the earth was a sphere that rotated on its axis and revolved around the sun, and that lunar eclipses were caused by the shadow of the earth falling on the moon. He even founded his own mathematical-astronomical school and wrote a book on astronomy, called the Aryabhatiya. Thus, scientists of the Gupta period were knowledgeable even of such complex areas of science as astronomy. With an increased knowledge of astronomy, scientists were able to keep better time, basing their calendars on the cycles of the sun, appropriating a seven-day week, and breaking each day into hours, as is the way with Western timekeeping. Aryabhata had calculated the length of the solar year to 365.3586805 days, which is very close to modern measurements made by an atomic clock–thus the calendars of the time were accurate. Another well-known astronomer from the Gupta age was Varahamahira, who in the sixth century wrote the Panchasiddhantika, which summarized other astronomical works, and the Brihat samhita, an encyclopedia of astronomy and other sciences. Paired with the work of Aryabhata, Gupta knowledge of astronomy was ample. The people of the Gupta Empire were technologically very well developed. They had a great knowledge of medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, had an accurate value for pi, knew how to perform plastic surgery and administer inoculations, understood the stars, and were far ahead of other areas, such as Europe. Their advancements were a representation of an excelled and  sparkling civilization that will be remembered for centuries to come by scientists and philosophers alike. Bibliography Beck, Roger B. (et al). World History: Patterns of Interaction. McDougal Littel. Boston. 1999. This textbook provided quality information that was relevant to the topic and accurate when compared to other sources. Binongo, Jose Nilo. â€Å"Randomness, Statistics, and Pi.† Proquest. online. Internet. 1 June 2002. The source was not relevant to the topic, as it pertained to modern estimations of pi, but was interesting and of good quality. The website through which I obtained it was helpful and easy to use. Cajori, Florian, Ph. D. A History of Mathematics. Macmillan. New York. 1924. The book gave good information on general advancements that were made in India, but did not state periods, which made the information difficult to navigate. However, the information was accurate and easy to read. Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad. History of Science and Technology in Ancient India. Firma Klm Private Limited. Calcutta. 1991. The majority of the book focused on very early advancements that took place long before the Gupta period, but there was some valuable information at the end on the topic. â€Å"Gupta.† Encyclopedia.com. online. Internet. 7 May 2002. The information, though accurate and relevant, was not specific enough to really help. Jaggi, O.P. Dawn of Indian Science: Volume Two. Atma Ram & Sons. Delhi. 1969. The information was irrelevant to the time period as well as inconsistent with the other sources. Jain, Nem Kumar, M. Sc. Science and Scientists in India. Indian Book Gallery. Delhi. 1982. The book was helpful in identifying names of people and their achievements, but had very little information on the topic otherwise. Krieger, Larry S. (et al). World History: Perspectives on the Past. McDougal Littel. Boston. 1997. The textbook gave a general overview of the information but did not go into specifics. However it was accurate, relevant, and helped spark interest in the topic. Langer, William L. (ed.). An Encyclopedia of World History. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 1968. The information was relevant and accurate, but not specific. It did, however, provide some interesting new details that were not known previously. Mookerji, R. K. The Gupta Empire. Shri Jainendra Press. Delhi. 1969. The information was relevant and accurate when compared to other sources. It was well-organized and provided useful information of the topic. Papanek, John L. (ed. et al). Ancient India: Land of Mystery. Time-Life Books. Virginia. 1994. The information was accurate and somewhat relevant to the topic. It was a little difficult to follow, but did provide some good information. Ronan, Colin A. Science: Its History and Development Among the World’s Cultures. Facts on File Publications. New York. 1982. The information was interesting and relevant, but badly organized, as it did not provide specific dates. Also, it did not go into great enough detail. Saran, Santosh and Ravindra N. Singh. History of Science and Technology During Gupta Period. Prachi Prakashan. New Delhi. 1994. The source contained some relevant information in the beginning that was accurate and of good quality. It gave specific information on areas usually ignored, such as animal medicine. Smith, Vincent A. The Early History of India. Oxford University Press. England. 1924. The book was not very relevant to the topic, but helped clarify previous information with dates.

Devastating Racism in “The Martian Chronicles” Essay

Martian Luther King Jr. enlightened us with his dream â€Å"of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.† The world watched his glorious speech, amazed with his fluency, honesty, and intelligence. People such as M. L. King Jr. revolutionized Black equality in North America. He contributed to the [almost] barrier free society for any race. Today, societal racism is almost obsolete and the majority of citizens are open-minded and accepting of different races. Though as displayed in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, racism against African-Americans is evident in their society. Exploitation and Ignorance of this minority is also communicated. These three points are effectively displayed through the Caucasian characters’ thoughts, speech, and actions. More specifically shown through their ignorant thoughts, their unappreciative speech, their condescending actions. Throughout North American history, racism has been a serious issue which has consumed many people a , yet destroyed another. Racism makes other humans beings feel inferior, this is wrong. This is frowned upon in our society, yet accepted in Chapter 15 of The Martian Chronicles. This short narration is called â€Å"Way in the Middle of Air†, and takes place in a fictional June of 2003. The entire chapter the author has devotes to all aspects of racism in its entirety., Displaying thought uses of extensive symbolism the author depicts the leaving of the African -Americans from their town. â€Å"And in that slow, steady channel of darkness that cut across the white glare of day were touches of alert white† (p. 91), the paragraph form which his passage was taken has allegorical characteristics. The use of light and dark [â€Å"White banks of the town stores, among the trees silences, a black tide flowed.† (p.90)], symbolism [â€Å"Brooks of colour† (p. 91)], m etaphors [The Blacks’ are the river], similes [â€Å"Men sat like nervous hounds† (p. 91)] and oxymoron’s [â€Å"Cinnamon Roads† (p. 90)]. This section full of literary devices, is informative by depicting for the reader the level of extreme coloured evacuation. The Whites on the other hand are flabbergasted at the level of secrecy the African-Americans take on when attempting to migrate. The  majority of Caucasians in this town consider themselves ‘better’ then any one black man, because of the colour of his skin. As Mr. Teece, a local white hardware store owner, tries to sabotage a young black mans chance of getting to Mars, he forcefully reinforces to the young man, that â€Å"I’ll let you go when I’m ready to let you go†¦until I say you can leave, you know it damn well† (p. 94). Mr. Teece, as well as the society enforcing this behaviour, believes that because Teece is white, he has the right to dominate and command a black man. The repeated use of the pronoun â€Å"I† suggest that Mr. Teece has a haughty demeanour. Also, the reference to â€Å"you know it damn wellâ⠂¬  is a cutting reinforcement, intended to make nervous Mr. Teece gain power in dominance. The excessive belittlement and racism is taboo in society today, most racism that circulates is more subtle, yet still disturbing. In Canada, everyone is considered an equal; all races entitled to equal rights. In the un-model society depicted the Caucasians’ thought themselves to be a higher class citizens due to their race. They act upon this conception. This novel was written in a time when the abolishment of slavery was a still a lingering issue. Slavery dominated the USA for generations, the concept is based on the very values of the town looked at in chapter 15. The slavery was abolished in the United States African0 Americans got [paid incredibly low wages for gruelling hard labour. In general, their work was work every penny, twice. In The Martian Chronicles Bradbury includes examples of these situations. Situations where the White folks depend on the Black people for [less-than]-minimum wage employees. Even though the Caucasians desperately need the Black workers, they treat them disrespectfully. It is only when the Africans attempt to flee that they realize the asset they have lost. When Mrs. Teece discovery that her nanny/maid is fleeing to Mars, she reaches a state of turmoil. Heaven forbid she might actually be expected to cook! Lucinda Teece hurries down to the family store to seek comfort from her husband. â€Å"She’s leaving.†, she says worriedly to Mr. Teece, â€Å"What’ll I do without her?† (p. 92). This statement shows a lot about Mrs. Teece’s character. She feels inadequate to run a household on her own, keeping in mind she has probably never done extensive chores before. Also, Lucinda was  probably never taught how to do the house work as a youth, her parents more-than-likely had help as well. Not only is Mrs. Teece’s help leaving, but also Mr. Teece’s employee. When another young black man, Teece’s employee, returns upon leaving to return his bicycle, is confronted by Mr. Teece about contract conflicts. Though, it is obvious that the confrontation is mainly on principle and belittlement, perhaps Mr. Teece would have problems tidying his store or finding another employee. Even though both the Teece’s ‘need’ their Negro employees neither treats them with dignity. More so Mr. Teece, when referring to Silly as â€Å"boy† (p. 95) and commanding him rudely, â€Å"You still standing there!†. The Teece family will miss their obdurate help on the Black people fly to Mars. Many of the people of European descent in this town used and relied on African- Americans to complete hard, and unfavourable tasks. While the Blacks’ worked, the Whites’ disregarded their feelings, by speaking rudely towards their [now depleted] asset. Unlike the other points of discussion, ignorance to another culture group is overwhelmingly evident in present day society and the fictional society devoured by the reader in The Martian Chronicles. As the Black people slowly migrate from the town, described as a â€Å"steady channel of darkness† (p. 92), the White townsmen are shocked. The Caucasian people do not understand the new found backbone or the other race. And they do not understand why the black’s feel a need to go. This ignorant opinion of Black peoples rebellion was common trough the early and mid 1900’s. As bluntly stated by Mr. Teece: I can’t figure why they left now. With things lookin’ up. I mean, everyday they get more rights. What they want, anyway? Here’s the poll tax gone, and more and more states passin’ anti-lynching’ bills, and all kinds of equal rights. What more they want? They make almost as good money as a white man, but still they go. This ignorant mans words show his blindness to equality, sadly this demeanour is generally accepted in his society. The majority of society are racists. The black people only want to be treated as absolute equals; contrastingly,  the white people do not understand this concept. For they see the black’s as not equals but a lesser kind, therefore in there eyes the Black’s should not ask for rights, that they are not entitled to. Mr. Teece asks himself, â€Å"what the want, anyway†, perhaps if he asked a blunt educated Black man, the type of response would be, to stop referring to grown black men as â€Å"boy[s’]†; generally speaking to put an end to their condescending racial speech. As the hurds of black families â€Å"engulf the town† on their way to Mars, the white men do not understand their reasoning for leaving. Mr. Teece and his buddies are ignorant to the general feelings of the Black community, and continually, treat Black’s condescendingly even as they leave. In conclusion, the thoughts, speech and actions of the white man displayed exploitation, ignorance and general racism against the African-American race, in Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles†. This fictional society has barriers to overcome. If the racist people in this society can follow as quote of Confucius, â€Å"when you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.†, racism could be abolished, and every race, creed or kind could live harmoniously on one planet.

Romeo and Juliet movie (NOT the Leonardo Dicaprio version) Essay

Romeo and Juliet movie (NOT the Leonardo Dicaprio version) - Essay Example The freshness and youthfulness of the performance of the leading characters had brought a different light to the story. The plot of the original work by Shakespeare had been meant to be young, but other movie adaptations had failed to capture the said youthful character. The plot of the story was the best impression of the Shakespeare’s work. Capturing the essence of the plot can be considered as an important achievement of the film because it is very seldom that written literary works can be successfully adapted to film due to different factors such as limitations in the film genre and the subjectivity of the interpretation of the production team, especially the director and the script writer. The most important focus of the paper though is the message of the film. The message of the story of Romeo and Juliet both in the written form and in the film is the power of love. Basically, the story showed the different types of love. Love of the family and love between the two lover s, Romeo and Juliet had been the force that stirred and moved the film. The love of the family can be observed in every member of each family. The conflict between the two families started due to the intention to protect their loved ones. For Romeo and Juliet though, the main driving force had been the love they had for each other.

Christian Service Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christian Service Paper - Essay Example This is a place where they can play together in an organized way with supervision by adults. Lessons in getting along, playing fair and using respectful language is all in a day’s work. Without the Children’s Welfare Institute, many of these children would be home playing on the streets in an unsupervised setting or simply watching endless hours of television until their parents came home to watch them. It is a special place because it teaches children good social skills and values while allowing them to safely have fun. My duties at the Children’s Welfare Institute were centered on interacting with the children. I was assigned to organize them into groups for games and activities. Sometimes these activities involved taking kids to a nearby park or some other location to have free time. I needed to count all of the kids and make sure I returned to the Children’s Welfare Institute safely with all of the children. Sometimes this was had to do because all the y wanted to do was run around while I counted. I soon learned to call them by name. Doing this makes them feel special and lets them know I care about them. My favorite part of the service was organizing sports activities. I was often in charge of organizing the kids into football and basketball teams. This is not always an easy thing to do, especially when there are so many more kids than adults. Many of the kids wanted to play video games all of the time. Some days I would play with them, but I think it is best to run around and be active playing real games not video games. That is why I worked so hard to organize the sports activities. I also worked on the sports activities because I love to play them. I learned that when you involve children in doing the things you love to do you can really have a positive effect on them. I can see that children often do not listen to what you tell them to do. They are too involved in their activities and their own lives to listen to an adult. B ut children really watch what you do. If you speak rudely, they will speak rudely to you as well as other people they meet. I liked organizing the sports for the children because I believe it was one way I could show them I cared for them and I wanted to show them some fun things to do. I wanted them to see that sports can be more fun than video games. One of the children I will remember most was Maya. She always looked so sad. On my first day she would not talk to me. By the end of my service, she spoke to me every day. Some days she would not stop talking! Before my service ended, she said she was glad I cam to work at the Children’s Welfare Institute and that she hoped I would come back to visit. It made me feel very good. All of the children were great, but Maya was special because I felt like she really needed someone to look up to. Being away from her parents was scary for her and I feel like I made her life a little bit happier. The one thing I wished I could have done at the Children’s Welfare Institute was to connect with more children the way I connected with Maya. I realize that this was not possible, but the feeling of helping a child makes you want to go out and do even more things to help other children. One quote from the Bible that makes me think about my service experience is when Jesus said in Matthew 19:14, â€Å"†¦Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for such is the kingdom of heaven.†

Motorsport Technology A Subsystem Of A Modern Racing Car Essay

Motorsport Technology A Subsystem Of A Modern Racing Car - Essay Example By regulation, the tyres feature a minimum of four grooves in them, with the intention of slowing the cars down. A slick tyre, with no indentations, is best in dry conditions. Both front and rear tyres are typically 660 mm in diameter. They can be no wider than 355 mm and 380 mm at the front and rear respectively. Slick tyres are rumoured to be reintroduced as of 2009 but the FIA regulations (though they can be changed) still have Formula One using "grooved" tyres in 2008. There are several factors affecting the performance of formula 1 cars' tyres that should be considered before designing it. These factors include the road conditions, temperature, humidity, contact area with the ground and a few others. In tyre design, there are three main considerations - the profile and size, the tread, and the compound. Racing tires are highly specialized according to vehicle and race track conditions. Tyres are specially engineered for specific race tracks according to surface conditions, cornering loads, and track temperature. Tyres have also been specially engineered for drifting. Racing tyres are often engineered to minimum weight targets, so tires for a 500mile race may run only 300miles before a tyre change. In 2005, tyre changes were disallowed in Formula One, the compound was harder as the tyres had to last the full race distance (around 300km). Tyre changes were re-instated in 2006, following the dramatic and highly political 2005 United States Grand Prix. For the 2007 season Bridgestone is the sole tyre supplier and have introduced four compounds of tyre, two of which will be made available at each race. The harder tyre is more durable but gives lesser grip, and the softer tyre gives more grip but is less durable. Both compounds have to be used by teams in a race and the softer tyre has a painted white stripe in the second groove. Each team must use each specification during the race, unless wet or intermediate tyres are used during the race, in which case this rule no longer applies. In extremely wet weather, such as that seen in the 2007 European Grand Prix, the Formula One cars were unable to keep up to the Safety Car in deep standing water due to the risk of hydro planing. Rubbers used in tyres are generally styrene-butadiene co-polymers, natural rubber, or polybutadiene. These can be blended in whatever ratio is desired. The styrene content can be varied to give a hard wearing rubber, or a high styrene cling rubber to maximise wet grip at the expense of heat build up. Everything is a compromise aimed at giving the best performance for a particular application. For example, when a new circuit is laid down the surface is very abrasive, and polybutadiene has a superb abrasion resistance to sliding on sharp surfaces. However, it is hopeless in the wet, since grip suffers appallingly. In car racing of course, grip is everything. The second most important variable is the carbon black type that is used. As a general rule, the finer the carbon black, the higher the abrasion resistance, and the higher the heat build-up in the rubber compound in service. There is another variable, the "structure' of the carbon black, a measure of the agglomeration of

The Impact of Education and Political Equality Blacks Have Achieved Essay

The Impact of Education and Political Equality Blacks Have Achieved - Essay Example The essay "The Impact of Education and Political Equality Blacks Have Achieved" discusses the problem of racism in the United States of America that was initially revolved around by slavery. Black slavery in America actually can be traced from the earliest days in America, but most people elect the year 1619 as the real beginning of the institution in what was to become the United States, with the arrival of twenty blacks on a Dutch warship. Slavery in the world was nothing new. There had been slaves in every culture from the dawn of modern man. Slavery is not the issue of this short paper but we had to start somewhere. Racism is really the issue that slavery revolves around and the ethnocentric ideas that one race is just a little better than another race which allows a predisposition towards making one race the master and one the servant. In America, as the servant race, the black population was denied the right to an education that could be used to better their station in life. The main thought being to keep the servant race ignorant and to some degree subservient would make the life of the dominant race all that much better. As the citizens of the world became more enlightened, it was becoming harder and harder to justify excluding the children of the black workers from a good education. The movement toward equality of the races really started in the northern states many years prior to the American Civil War. Blacks in the north were generally treated much differently than in the south.

Case study National Grid - Developing skills in a large organization Term Paper

Case study National Grid - Developing skills in a large organization through training and development - Term Paper Example In the past, numerous workers with diverse duties employed the name of â€Å"Company analyst† in spite of their responsibilities, backdrop or expertise set. We have established â€Å"business analysts† who are information analysts or scientifically-oriented systems forecasters or even scientific authors. Nowadays, the Global Institute of Company Analysts (IICA) has assisted defining the practice of BAs both more cautiously and more methodically and has created the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK Guide) that sets out the information areas significant to the company analyst. This manual has become the acknowledged benchmark for the BA career. Nevertheless, whereas the BABOK Guide comprises important information, it is not a bit by bit procedure that BAs may follow. In other terms, awareness of the Guide’s constituents alone is not sufficient to guarantee success (National Grid, n.d). Analysts who may essentially carry out the BA function as stipulated by the BABOK as well as the IICA are not many and wide. .As the occupation becomes extra famous and trade analysts are perceived as critical affiliates of every project body, the BAs presently in a company cannot have the expertise or knowledge needed to productively carry out significant projects. Or, as is frequently the situation, there are basically not sufficient company analysts to satisfy investment demands. Companies can be compelled to use untrained employees or go devoid of a significant tactical resource on the whole (National Grid, n.d). Organizations that require company analysts may discover it hard to draw and maintain trained venture-tested talent. On the other hand, even when there is a scarcity of funds, the job must be accomplished. The effect may be to rely too profoundly on the know-how of a selected a small number of over-worked, company analyses. This shortage of bench power will cripple a business as major forecasters become too profoundly allocated, or shoddier,

Utopian Socialism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Utopian Socialism - Research Paper Example Utopian Socialism Utopian socialism emphasizes that, three things that would happen if all people would adhere to socialist ethics exist. It looks forward for the oppressed to have a better future and improve their life standards; it emphasizes how socialism is very ethical and gives a clear and full meaning to the aims of socialism. Utopia describes collective ownership of property to eliminate greed, promote personal growth, democracy, and cultural enrichment. This paper provides a discussion on utopian socialism. The utopian socialists differ from the other socialists because of the way they carry out their issues. Utopian socialism is more dogmatic and moral. They provoked both ridicule and inspiration in the people. Saint Simon, one of the founders of the utopian socialism viewed suffering as resulting from individualism, which was as a result of breaking of order and hierarchy. He did not see the importance of individuals whose main objective was to pursue personal interests. He did not also bel ieve in free markets, as they were points of oppressing poor people in the society. In the modern times, socialism is seen as a failure. A group of socialists argues that socialism should have extent to which it stops. They argue that such things as major decisions for the whole society cannot be done by anyone. Major societal decisions are seen as important; hence need to be done by people with leadership skills.Utopia is now being used to refer to unrealistic ideas suggested by people. Contrarily, a group of socialists argues that, the capitalists control political issues and leave no other means of getting equality, but only through violent revolutions (Lipow, 1982). However, utopian socialism has its disadvantages. It does not give guidelines on how to achieve its objectives. It only highlights its vision, and no action is taken towards the goals. The opposite of utopia is dystopia. Dystopian vision is to give warning about dangers in the society. It is viewed as a good ideologi cal weapon. In modern times, there is increasing distrust of progress, and this makes utopia unconvincing to most people in the modern society (Guarneri, 1991). Utopian socialism had a number of impacts to communities in the 19th century it was one of the main impacts in the wave of the feminist movement. This resulted from the issue about equality in the society (Taylor, 1982). Feminist movements sprung up fighting for economic equality and power equality between men and women. Many organizations also came up to fight against gender based violence and discrimination. Laws regarding percentages of women in leadership positions started to be formed. Women were now to be represented at least by a third in most of the parliaments and organizations (Lipow, 1982). In the industrial revolution, utopian socialism improved women’s thinking in terms of work and leadership. Women began to go to work and make their own money. By mid-19th century, many women were working in factories and even some were leaders who were overseeing their male workers (Lipow, 1982). At the same time, utopian socialism encouraged the existence of trade unions for workers. Workers had their rights and cold lounge complains if at all there were any. Cooperative stores and societies also came up in large numbers to deal to help individuals set up firms and businesses. This was due to the belief that all people were entitled to equal rights; the

Law Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law Questions - Essay Example The International Terrorism Act of 1990 2. The Patriots Act 3. The UN Convention on International Terrorism 3 There are various definitions attached to terrorism. The United Nations, the Arab Convention and the European Convention all give divergent definitions to the term ‘terrorism’. The UN’s definition to terrorism is more descriptive of the acts that may be cited as terrorism acts. It adopts a broad description of acts that may be interpreted to be acts of terrorism by its members. This includes unlawful actions, including against civilians, carried out with an intention of causing serious bodily harm or the taking of hostages to induce a state of terror to the public. It therefore offers a broad definition to the term that allows other criminal acts against the state or citizens, which have not yet been classified as terrorist acts, to be categorized as terrorist acts. The Arab Convention on the other hand adopts a more liberal definition to terrorism. It def ines terrorism to encompass not only acts, but also threat of criminal action against the state or citizens of a given country. The convention also recognizes that terrorist threats may also be directed to the environment in an attempt to jeopardize national resources. The European convention adopts an imprecise definition to terrorism. ... 4 The yunis case amplifies America’s renewed efforts to curb international terrorism by employing the new antiterrorism laws. The case demonstrated the acceptance of recent international law principles of extraterritorial jurisdiction that give room for the prosecution of terrorists in US soil. It encompasses the international law principle that terrorism is an act condemned internationally and as such, terrorist suspects can be prosecuted in any national jurisdiction of the world. The Noriega case illustrated the application of domestic criminal laws universally to prosecute criminal activities committed outside the United States. The court relied on the international law principle of extended territorial jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the US national borders, whose effects had far-reaching consequences on American soil. The Yousef case illustrated the use of extraterritorial jurisdiction to prosecute the accused with charges of terrorism and conspiracy to commit criminal and terrorist acts within the territory of the United States. All the aforementioned cases are regarded as progressive cases as they form a future model for prosecuting terrorists within the US territory. They further show the expanded use of both the domestic law and international law to combat efficiently the threat of terrorism in America. 5 The Moussaoui case is important because it illustrates the success of the criminal justice system in trying and convicting suspected terrorists. It also shows that the best way to follow in promoting national security is reaffirmation of the values of the justice system. Moussaui wanted to review his confession to which the prosecution was opposed to such

The Progressive Era Essay Example for Free

The Progressive Era Essay The Progressive Era was a thirty year period in which the United States was completely reformed. Actions were taken to improve working conditions for laborers, create a sexually unbiased work system and regulate the economy. President Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson both helped create a more direct democracy in which the people would have a voice. During those thirty years, amendments 16 to 19 were ratified to regulate and reform the country. Muckrakers were writers who worked for the printing companies exposed the public to all of the corruption that was occurring both openly and behind closed doors. By exposing the public to the corruption, American society was enlightened and inspired to reform itself. During this era, President Theodore Roosevelt worked diligently to regulate and conserve everything that was necessary. Even though Roosevelt believed in big businesses, he still believed in regulation and fair trade. He took the Sherman Anti-Trust act which had been dormant for many years and enforced it so that companies could price their products and made sure that no one specific company could take control of the market thus ridding the economy of bad trusts and preventing companies from creating a trade monopoly. Working conditions were horrible during the progressive era, and it was widely known because Muckrakers wrote only about the bad that happen in society. The safety of the nation’s meat supply is highly important because meat is consumed throughout the whole nation. The Meat Inspection Act was passed to rid factories of their gruesome and uncleanly working habitats and protect the nation’s food supply. Many people who came to the United States to live during the end of the 1900’s were unable to sustain a normal life because they were in such poverty. Settlement houses were created so that settlement workers could service the neighbors who wanted to find a place to get away from poverty. These settlement houses were places to gather and create a sense of unity amongst the poverty stricken. As people of these houses became more aware of the conditions around them, they proposed changes that would drastically change the way of life for them. Woodrow Wilson wanted to create a democracy, but he did not allow women to vote. What kind of a democracy did Wilson want if he did not allow how the population to vote? There were many women’s reform groups that wanted sexual equality so that women would have equal say which promoted women to take charge leading to the passing of the 19th amendment allowing women to vote and opening a whole new world for a woman’s voice. Blacks fought for the ideals of America in World War I but they did not receive any recognition for their hard work. Instead, they were still put under the â€Å"Jim Crow† laws which prohibited them from voting and segregated them from their superior races. This explains the decrease in percentage of eligible voters who vote from 1900 to 1920. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act targeted business monopolies that could easily control the whole economy. Wilson being the arrogant president that he was, created a few minor laws that would not greatly improve the economy. It would be the next successor of the president that would be left with all these problems. President Theodore Roosevelt believed highly in a direct democracy, he favored the idea of people deciding what they want with government. Later on, the 17th amendment is ratified allowing the direct election of the senate. Overall, the Progressive Era was full of reform in the economy, politics and society. Conservation and reform were the most important things and ideas during this era. Women’s right and racial desegregation were also accomplished during this time. The press was also a big part of the spread of information giving people new ideas and philosophies. The people who were presidents during this time greatly influenced the ideas of the people and in turn, reformed the nation into something better than before.

Cultural Traits Of Lysistrata Analysis Religion Essay

Cultural Traits Of Lysistrata Analysis Religion Essay It is interesting to see how much culture varies from one civilization to another across the world and throughout history, but amazingly enough they all have many similarities. By reading these ancient poems and stories, I can relate too many of their cultural traits. I find the Greek culture to be the most interesting, and through the literature such as Aristophanes Lysistrata, I can see many cultural similarities. From the story Lysistrata, the women of Greece join together to voice their opinion that they should be treated as equals. The Peloponnesian War is taking place during the story and all the women are left at home alone because their husbands are off fighting in the war. The women are tired of their husbands being gone and want the war to end before all of Greece is destroyed. Led by Lysistrata, the women of Greece join together and take over the Akropolis and devise a plan to end the war by withholding sex from the men. From this culture we see that women are presumed to be kind of a slave for the men. Their duties should be the care of the house and the children. Cooking, cleaning, sewing and pleasing the husband were their jobs. Even in our culture today these things are considered to be the womans responsibilities. Their opinions did not matter to the men and were better left unsaid, the same as our culture in earlier years. Even today the opinion of a woman does not matter to som e men. They are believed to be not as intelligent as the man and should only concern themselves with house hold chores, caring for the children, and pleasing the husband. The men of this culture were dominant over the women and fought the wars, took care of the finances and headed the government. All of the decisions for Greece and the people of Greece were made by the men. Through Lysistrata, we can clearly see that the woman of Greece are tired of being treated as thought they were inferior, a common problem that we have had throughout our culture and history and probably always will. They believed they should have some influence in the government as well as the household, and that their opinion should be taken into consideration. In order for the women to be taken seriously, they withheld sex from the men and locked themselves in the Akropolis, vowing not to return home until the war had ended and their opinions be heard equally alongside the men. This fight for womens rights has been seen throughout our cultural history as well and seems, in a way, to still be going on today. The Greek culture and most of our culture has been dominated by the man. Our country was founded and ran by the men, with the women having many of the same responsibilities as the Greek women did in the story of Lysistrata. The Greek men did not believe the women had the right to have a say in the government or with matters of war, the same as the men throughout our cultural history. The same battle that is being fought by the women in Lysistrata for their rights has been fought by the women of our culture. The Greek men finally learned a lesson. They gave into the women and listened to what they had to say and ended the war, vowing that the women would have a say in things. This is similar to our culture in that, since the fight for womens rights has begun, they are now allowed to be government officials, hold jobs outside of the home, and even fight in wars. Another cultural trait of the Greek people was the worship of many Gods. Many of the ancient cultures back then believed in and worshiped more than one God. The people built their lives around these Gods. They lived in fear of these Gods and obeyed all of what they were told. They would have dreams and visions of these Gods or events of the future and believed they would come true since the Gods put it before their eyes. All that they did revolved around the worship of these Gods, even in their battles, they fought the way they believed the Gods wanted. They fought for the Gods with all they had never to do them unjust or have them disgraced. Unlike today where many people in our culture do not even worship a God or either show little in their respect or love for him. Our culture differs from the ancient Greeks, in that we are a monotheistic culture. We only believe in one God where as the Greeks had a dozen or more Gods. While the Greek culture revolved around the Gods, our religiou s culture, it seems, is slowly dying. You can see the importance of these Gods to the Greek culture by the many different statues and monuments they built to honor them. They made separate statues and monuments to worship each one of these Gods. You can also see the importance of the Gods through their literature. Almost every story or poem that I have read from the ancient Greeks has references to the gods and many are written about the Gods. We do not see this in our culture today since most of our literature contains nothing about our God. Our culture as a whole probably shows less respect or loyalty for our God than the Greeks did even for the least important God they had. Though many years apart, it is interesting to see how the cultural traits vary from one culture to the next throughout history. It is clearly seen, by reading the ancient poems and stories of the Greeks, how our culture and theirs compare and contrast. Although there are many different beliefs between our present culture and the ones of the past, many of their traits seem to have been carried over and are still present in our culture today.

Spike Lee Analysis Essay -- essays research papers

The thread of African American history is spun from two sources: the struggle to define a place in the wider American life and the effort to maintain an authentic black presence in the larger American culture. This duality has meaning in the realm of filmmaking because the tools of cinema, film and cameras, cost more than the paper and pencil tools of writers. It is the cost of doing business that affects, indeed, threatens the black presence on the screen. The costly collaborative nature of filmmaking has blurred the definition of a "black" movie. Is it black if it is merely angled toward blacks, or must it be made by blacks, or both? Spike Lee has established himself as one of Hollywood's most important and influential filmmakers in the past decade. In the critically acclaimed...

Captain Swing :: essays research papers

Hobsbawm, E. J. and Rude, George (1975) Captain Swing. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 384 pp.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Captain Swing is an enjoyable collaboration between E. J. Hobsbawm and George Rude that depicts the social history of the English agricultural wage-laborers’ uprising of 1830. According to Hobsbawm and Rude, historiography of the laborers’ rising of 1830 is negligible. Most of what is known by the general public comes from J. L. And Barbara Hammond’s The Village Laborer published in 1911. They consider this an exceedingly valuable work, but state that the Hammonds oversimplified events in order to dramatize them. They placed too much emphasis on enclosure, oversimplified both the nature and prevalence of the â€Å"Speenhamland System† of poor relief, and neglected the range and scope of the uprising. Hobsbawm and Rude do not claim to present any new data, and believe that the Hammonds will still be read for enjoyment, but believe that by asking different questions, they can shed new light on the social history of the movement. Therefore , this book tries to â€Å"describe and analyze the most impressive episode in the English farm-labourers’ long and doomed struggle against poverty and degradation.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the nineteenth century, England had no peasantry to speak of in the sense that other nations did. Where families who owned or occupied their own small plot of land and cultivated it themselves, apart from work on their lord’s farms, farmed most of Europe, England’s â€Å"peasants† were agricultural wage-laborers. As such, both tithes and taxes hit them hard. Lords and farmers were also against tithes and taxes and tolerated or even welcomed some outcry against them. Most county leaders in 1830 agreed with the laborers, but the government in London did not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Further, enclosure eliminated the common lands whose use had helped the very poor to live. As a result, the relationship between farmers and laborers changed to a â€Å"purely market relationship between employer and proletarian.† At the same time, work once done by annual servants was given over to wage labor. Farmers were driven by income rather than social concerns and it was cheaper to pay a small wage for all positions and let laborers pay their own living out of it than to provide them room and board, however minimal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The laborers were not revolutionary, however. They did not wish to overturn the traditional social order. They merely demanded the restoration of their meager rights within it.

Shocks Essay -- essays research papers

Electroshock Therapy Electroshock therapy what is it? How does it work? What is it used for and what comes from it? This paper will answer all of these questions and will also try to prove that electroshock therapy is useful and not as bad as it appears to be. Electroshock therapy is an old process of ridding schizophrenia, and depression, and suicidal tendencies. It is used when people with major depression are taking too many anti depressant drugs, can’t take the side-effects of their medication, or they are taking too many drugs and anti-depressant drugs are too risky to take. It is also used to irradiate certain cases of schizophrenia and is being studied to treat dementia. (Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.78). Convulsive therapy using drugs rather than electricity was introduced in 1934 by Hungarian neuropsychiatrist Ladisles meduna , who speculated that seizures (similar to the ones occurring in epilepsy) could probably alleviate mental disorders. He based his theory on the belief that epileptic seizures prevented the symptoms of schizophrenia. Although this was a good theory, the drugs administered to the patients to induce these seizures was too risky to the patients lives. In 1937 psychiatrists started using electric shocks to induce seizures. In 1939 ECT was in wide use in the United States. In those days ECT was unrefined and resulted in many complications and was terribly abused. Today ECT is more refined, safe, and effective (Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.78). How does it work? Electroshock therapy or ECT involves exposing the brain to carefully controlled pulses of electric current that induce brief seizures. The reason why electroshock therapy relieves depression is still unknown. Researchers believe that Electroshock therapy alters monoamine function, as do the anti-depressant drugs. The process of inducing seizures through electroshock is not as complicated or as dangerous as people think. The patient is placed in a specially equipped r oom, where a clinical team first issues intravenous general anesthetic. After this a muscle relaxant is given to the patient. Oxygen is administered and an electric current is applied through electrodes. The patient undergoing the ECT does not feel the electric current, and the only reaction noticeable is the patients toes curling (Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.78). The plac... ...ublished in Rome and Venice in 1560. This volume became very popular, and was reprinted a dozen times during the next 330 years (Yoshiwara's Early Music Site). Many other volumes of his works were published during Lassus' life time. He became a very famous, respected, and wealthy composer. Lassus' work represented all of the main musical humanistic aspects of the time. He wrote many pieces which contained numerous voices. He also composed works in many languages. His work was influenced from classical civilizations. He also used bass and instruments to give his music a richer sound. Orlande de Lassus was one of the greatest humanistic composers, because of his infleunce by classical civilizations, his many famous works and volumes of his music, and the styles that he contributed to secular music. Josquin Desprez was another talented composer of secular music during the Renaissance period. Josquin was born in 1440 and died in 1521. He also started into music at a young age as a ch oir boy. He is often said to be the most influential composer on the history of western music, and is usually called by his first name. He began his career mainly as a composer of Church music. Later he

The Causes and Impacts of Youth Smoking on Hong Kong

Title: The causes and impacts of youth smoking on Hong Kong smoking young people’s quality of life |Content |Page | |Chapter 1 : Introduction |P. 3-4 | |Chapter 2 : Literature Review and Methodology |p. 5-11 | |2. 1 Literature Review | | |2. Methodology | | |2. 3 Limitations | | |2. 4 Chapter summary | | |Chapter 3 : Findings |p. 12-19 | |3. 1 Reasons of smoking among Hong Kong young people | | |3. Non-smokers’ view towards smoking | | |3. 3 Effects of smoking on smokers’ quality of life in the economic and social aspects | | |3. 4 Suggestions to help smokers to quit smoking | | |3. 5 The effectiveness of government measures in encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking | | |3. Chapter summary | | |Chapter 4 : Analysis and Discussion |p. 20-26 | |4. 1 The truth about youth smoking | | |4. 2 The effectiveness of government measures on encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking | | |4. 3 Suggestions to help smokers to quit smoking | | |4. Limitation of the study | | |4. 5 Areas for further study | | |4. 6 After thoughts | | |Bibliography |p. 27 | |List of Appendices |p. 8-43 | |Table of contents: | | |Summary table of the results of questionnaires | | |Questionnaire samples ( in Chinese and English versions) | | Chapter 1 : Introduction Smoking is not good for health and it smells bad. I want to know why some young people still smoke. Hong Kong government has passed some laws about banning smoking in indoor areas and some public areas such as parks.The government also shot some advertisement about quitting smoking, such as the smoke-free Hong Kong advertisement. I want to know whether these measures are effective in helping smokers to quit smoking. My grandfather died because of tuberculosis. He was a heavy smoker. I want to know how smoking affect people’s health. My uncle also has a smoking habit. I want to know some ways to help smokers to quit smoking through this Independent Enquiry Studies. The focus questions of my Independent Enquiry Studies are â€Å" Why do some Hong Kong young people start smoking? , â€Å"What are the non-smokers and smokers’ views towards smoking? †, â€Å" How does smoking affect Hong Kong young people’s quality of life in economic and social aspect? † and â€Å"What can we do to help the smokers to quit smoking? † In this Independent Enquiry Studies, â€Å"smoking† refers to the smoking of all forms of tobacco, including cigarette, cigar, hand rolled cigarette and pipe-smoking. â€Å"Hong Kong smoking young people† refers to Hong Kong residents aged 10-25 who at the time of doing the survey have a smoking habit, no matter what type of tobacco they smoked and their smoking pattern. People who smoked before and have now quitted smoking† refers to people who previously had a smoking habit for at least 1 month continuously. â€Å"Quality of life† refers to the degree of satisfaction in the material and s piritual aspects of life. There are 4 chapters in the Independent Enquiry Studies. Chapter 1 is Introduction. It includes the background of the Independent Enquiry Studies. Chapter 2 is Methodology. It includes the method of doing research in the Independent Enquiry Studies. Chapter 3 is Findings. It includes the findings of the research. Chapter 4 is Analysis.After analyzing the findings, I will suggest some possible answers to the focus questions. In the appendix, samples of questionnaires and a summarizing table of the findings are attached. Through the Independent Enquiry Studies, we should be able to gain knowledge of non-smokers view towards smoking, assess the effectiveness of government’s measures on helping and encouraging smokers to quit smoking and know some effective methods in helping smokers to quit smoking. Chapter 2 : Literature Review and Methodology 2. 1 Literature Review 2. 1. 1 Youth smokersAccording to the survey on Pattern of Smoking conducted by the Cen sus and Statistical Department during December 2007 to March 2008, 10500 people in Hong Kong aging from 15 to 19 smoked. 2. 4% of them are daily smokers. 107800 people in Hong Kong aging from 20 to 29 smoked. 15. 9% of them are daily smokers. The percentage of daily smokers was on a gradually decreasing trend over the past 15 years from 1993 to 2008. Average daily consumption of cigarettes of 15-19 smokers was 11 cigarettes in the survey conducted during Dec 2007-Mar 2008, while the average consumption of cigarettes of 20-29 cigarettes smokers was 12 cigarettes. 1] 2. 1. 2 Causes of youth smoking According to the survey on Pattern of Smoking conducted by the Census and Statistical Department during December 2007 to March 2008, 59. 8% of daily cigarette smokers started smoking because of â€Å"influence of friends†, 36. 7% â€Å"out of curiosity†. Other reasons included â€Å"necessity in social functions† (8. 1%), â€Å"influence of family members† (7. 8% ) , â€Å"easing tension† (4. 2%), â€Å"refreshing one’s mind† (3. 7%) and â€Å"killing time† (3. 4%). [2] 2. 1. 3 Impacts of youth smoking Many sources suggest that smoking can cause various diseases and hence has a negative impact on smoker’s health.On the website of Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, it suggests that cigarette smoking is hazardous to health. Smoking can cause different cancers, such as cancers of the mouth and throat, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer. Smoking also causes cardiac diseases, pulmonary and respiratory diseases and genital diseases, such as impotence in male smokers. [3], The website of Tobacco Control Office Department of Health also suggests that smoking is a causative agent of many fatal diseases and cancers.Smoking can cause disorders and problems such as impotence, infertility, wrinkling and halitosis. Smoking would also bring about socio-economical consequences. [4] 2. 1. 4 Methods of q uitting smoking The website of Tobacco Control Office Department of Health includes some tips and methods that can help smokers to quit smoking. When you start to quit smoking, you will still have urges to smoke. The urge will last for just a few minutes and you will be able to get over it. The website provides some methods to help smokers get over this urge.For example, when smokers have urges to smoke, they can try to divert their attentions to smoke by washing face, listen to music, etc. [5] 2. 2 Methodology Questionnaire will be employed to collect the data for the IES. There are many good points. 1. Quantitative Research Orientation 1. Scientific approach Quantitative researchers work on simplifying complicated social phenomena into measurable figures. After calculation, the researcher can know the general situation of different social phenomena and their interrelationships. 2. Objective approachThe personal opinions of respondents may affect their answers to some questions. Fo r example, when the respondents are asked whether the government policy is effective in tackling smoking, it is difficult to define effective. However, the researcher can use a more objective approach, such as when using literature review, the researcher can compare the number of smokers before and after the government policies are implemented. Assume there are 10000 people quit smoking after the banning smoking in restaurants. Some people may think that it is effective while some people may think that it is not effective.From this figure, we can know the actual situation. 3. Require less time and resources Instead of arranging a time doing interview with the respondents face-to-face, we can send the questionnaire to target respondents through mails. We may also upload the questionnaire online and invite respondents to answer the questionnaire through online forums and social-networking software and websites. 4. Can reach more respondents As the time required for each respondent to give response is shorter, there is more time to invite more respondents to give responses.Some people may be scared or shy when doing a face-to-face interview, a questionnaire is more suitable to these respondents. Since Hong Kong people are busy, many of them cannot arrange time for doing the interview. Sending a questionnaire to them enables them to answer when they have time. 1. Research Procedures The mini pilot questionnaire Before actual questionnaires were distributed, the researcher discussed the questionnaire with his teacher and classmates to ascertain whether the questions are understandable and sensible to the respondents.This also gives rough ideas of the suitability of wording and the appropriateness of the sequence of questions and the questions being asked. The questionnaires The researcher used online questionnaire at first to save time and resources between 1 February 2011 and 20 March 2011. However, the number of respondents was not satisfactory (237), while the t arget sample size was 300 and the researcher decided to distribute questionnaires directly in Causeway Bay on 27 March 2011. In the research, the researcher divided the respondents into three target groups, including non-smokers, smokers and ex-smokers.Each target group had a unique set of questions in order to answer different focus questions in the research. The questions were provided with choices to make data analysis easier and save respondents’ time. Questionnaire questions Most of the questionnaire questions were provided with options and the option â€Å"others† for respondents to give answers that were not given in the options. There were a lot of options in the questions so as to cover most possible opinions of respondents. This surely saved respondent’s time in completing the questionnaire and the researcher can analyze the data easily.The questionnaire had both Chinese and English versions, so the respondents could understand the questions easily and give appropriate responses. Examples were also given after the some relatively difficult words to ensure the respondents understand the questions clearly. 1. Data Analysis Numerical expression of data In order to make the data comparable, all answers are arranged in different categories and both numbers of respondents choosing that option and the percentage of respondents choosing that option (only in questions that the respondents could only choose one option) were shown. . Limitations The questionnaires are distributed online and in the Causeway Bay, so people who do not live in Causeway Bay and cannot access to the internet cannot get the questionnaire. Therefore, the responses may be biased and confined. 3. Chapter Summary This chapter has given the theoretical framework for this research, including the literature review and methodology of this research. In this research, questionnaire was used mainly.To enhance readers’ understanding of the research, both the research p rocedure and data analysis with also its objective and scientific approach were included. Chapter 3: Findings In this chapter, the researcher is going to present the data collected through questionnaires. The research emphasizes on the causes and impacts of youth smoking on Hong Kong smoking young people’s quality of life. In 3. 1, there will be a discussion on the reasons why some Hong Kong young people start smoking. In 3. 2, the Hong Kong non-smoking young people’s view towards smoking will be investigated.In 3. 3, how smoking affects Hong Kong smoking young people’s quality of life in the economic and social aspects will be explored. In 3. 4, the researcher will attempt to give some suggestions to help Hong Kong smoking young people to quit smoking. In 3. 5, the researcher will give a discussion on the effectiveness of government measures on encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking. 3. 1 Reasons of smoking among Hong Kong young people The researcher h as distributed 100 questionnaires to Hong Kong smoking young people.As shown in figure 1, the reasons why some Hong Kong young people smoke are influence of friends (60%), curiosity (36%), influence of family members (8%), releasing pressure (8%) killing time (4%) and refreshing one’s mind (4%) |Options |Number of respondents | |Influence of friends |60 | |Influence of family members |8 | |Curiosity |36 | |Release pressure |8 | |killing time |4 | |refreshing one’s mind |4 |Figure 1: Summary table showing the reasons why some Hong Kong young people smoke 3. 2 Non-smokers’ view towards smoking The researcher has also distributed 100 questionnaires to Hong Kong non-smoking young people. As shown in figure 2, among 100 Hong Kong non-smoking young people, 95 of them do not like people who smoke, only 5 of them like people who smoke. [pic] Figure 2: a pie chart showing the general opinions of Hong Kong non-smoking young people on Hong Kong smoking young people As show n in figure 3, among the 5 Hong Kong non-smoking young people who like smoking people, all of them like people who smoke because they think that smoking people are attractive. 4 of them also like the smell of cigarettes. Options |Number of respondents | |Smoking people are attractive |5 | |I like the smell of cigarettes |4 | |Secondhand smoke is good for my health |0 | Figure 3: Summary table showing the reasons why some Hong Kong non-smoking young people like people who smoke. (they can choose more than 1 option) As shown in figure 4, among the 95 Hong Kong non-smoking young people, 80 of them dilikes people who smoke because they think that smoking people are not attractive. 85 of them hate the smell of cigarettes. All of them agrees that secondhand smoke is bad for their health,so they dislike people who smoke. Options |Number of respondents | |Smoking people are not attractive |80 | |I hate the smell of cigarettes |85 | |Secondhand smoke is bad for my health |95 | Figure 4: Summ ary table showing the reasons why some Hong Kong non-smoking young people dislike people who smoke (Respondents can choose more than 1 option) 3. 3 Effects of smoking on smokers’ quality of life in the economic and social aspects As shown in figure 5, among the 100 Hong Kong smoking young people, 9% of them spend $0-50 in buying cigarettes per week. 80% of them spend $51-100 in buying cigarettes per week. 11% of them spend $101-150 in buying cigarettes per week. So, smokers have a greater expense and thus smoking have a negative impact on smokers’ quality of life in the economic aspect. Options |Number of respondents |percentage | |$0-50 |9 |9% | |$51-100 |80 |80% | |$101-150 |11 |11% | |$151-200 |0 |0% | |$201-250 |0 |0% | |$251-300 |0 |0% | |$301-350 |0 |0% | |$350 or above |0 |0% | Figure 5: Summary table showing how much do Hong Kong smoking young people spend on buying cigarettes per weekAs shown in figure 2, 95% of Hong Kong non-smoking young people responded dis like people who smoke. This shows that smoking has adverse impacts on the relationship between smokers and non-smokers. Hence, smoking adversely affects smokers’ quality of life in social aspect. 3. 4 Suggestions to help smokers to quit smoking The researcher has conducted questionnaires with 100 ex-smokers in Hong Kong. As shown in figure 6, among 100 ex-smokers responded, all of them discarded all cigarettes and ashtrays to quit smoking. 80 of them used medications for quitting smoking. 90 of them tried to avoid staying in places where people smoke. 77 of them used smoking cessation services provided by smoking cessation clinics. Options |Number of respondents | |Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays |100 | |Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine |80 | |patch and nicotine gum) | | |Avoid staying in places where people smoke |90 | |Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking |77 | |cessation clinics | | Figure 6: Summary table showing what measure s ex-smokers took to quit smoking (Respondents can choose more than 1 option) 3. The effectiveness of government measures in encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking According to figure 7, 76 of the 100 ex-smokers responded decided to quit smoking because of the advice from health care professionals. 54 of them decided to quit smoking because of health reasons. 23 of them decided to quit smoking because of influence of friends. 59 of them decided to quit smoking due to influence of family members. 9 of them decided to quit smoking as requested by boss or teachers. 43 of them decided to quit smoking due to government policies. |Options |Number of respondents | |Health reasons (with advice from doctors/ other health care 76 | |professional) | | |Smoking is not good to my health |54 | |Influence of friends |23 | |Influence of family members |59 | |Requested by boss/ teachers |9 | |Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking |43 | |areas) | |Figure 7: Summary ta ble showing why ex-smokers decided to quit smoking ( Respondents can choose more than one option) 3. 6 Chapter summary With the aids of pie charts and tables, the chapter attempts to give a discussion on the reasons why some Hong Kong young people start smoking, the non-smokers’ views towards smoking, how smoking affect smokers’ quality of life in the economic and social aspects, the effectiveness of government measures in helping and encouraging the smokers to quit smoking and suggestions to help smokers to quit smoking. The main reasons why some Hong Kong young people start smoking are influence of friends and curiosity.Most Hong Kong non-smoking young people dislike people who smoke. Smoking has adverse impacts on smokers’ quality of life in both economic and social aspects. Government measures are effective in helping the smokers to quit smoking as 77 of the 100 ex-smokers responded used smoking cessation services provided by government smoking cessation cli nics. Government measures are not effective in encouraging the smokers to quit smoking since only 43 of the 100 ex-smokers responded quit smoking because of government policies such as expanding statutory no smoking areas. Further discussion and analysis are to be followed in chapter 4. Chapter 4: Analysis and DiscussionBased on the findings done in Chapter 3 and related studies, this chapter would discuss the causes of youth smoking, the impacts of youth smoking on Hong Kong smoking young people’s quality of life in the economic and social aspect, the effectiveness of government measures in encouraging and helping the smokers to quit smoking and further explore some methods to help smokers to quit smoking. 4. 1. The truth about youth smoking 4. 1. 1. The causes of youth smoking As said in chapter 3, the causes of youth smoking are influence of friends, curiosity, influence of family members, releasing pressure, killing time and refreshing one’s mind. To explain the ca uses of youth smoking, the following may serve as reference. †¢ Influence of friends In general, adolescents value the relationship with their friends.In order to have a good relationship with their peers, they will try their best to obtain their affirmation and acceptance. So, influence of friends is a main reason why some Hong Kong young people start smoking. †¢ Curiosity Nowadays, smoking scenes frequently appears on television and films. Hong Kong young people and children often see people smoking on the street. They may have a wrong concept that smoking people are cool. They begin to develop the curiosity to smoke. When there are some chances for them to start smoking, such as being invited by friends they are more likely to start smoking. †¢ Influence of family members In the childhood, parents are the idols of their children. Children tend to follow what their parents do.If children see their parents smoking, they will have a higher tendency to follow their par ents and start smoking. They will also have a higher curiosity towards smoking. Smoking parents is harder to stop their children from smoking because the parents themselves smoke, too. So, influence of family members is also one main cause of youth smoking. 4. 1. 2 The impacts of smoking on smokers’ quality of life As mentioned of chapter 3, smoking has adverse impacts on smokers’ quality of life in the economic and social aspect. The following will explain the impacts of smoking on smokers in details. †¢ In the economic aspect Smokers have to spend money on buying cigarettes.The government has recently increased the tobacco tax and worked hare to tackle contraband and counterfeit cigarettes problem. The prices of cigarettes therefore increases and smokers have to pay more on cigarettes. As shown in chapter 2, smoking is detrimental to health as it may lead to different cancers and other diseases such as infertility. So, smokers may be easier to get a disease and their medical expenses may increase. Therefore, smoking brings negative impacts on smokers’ quality of life in the economic aspect. †¢ In the social aspect As shown in chapter 3, most non-smokers dislike people who smoke. Therefore, smokers have a poor relationship with most non-smokers.Smokers have a poorer relationship with non-smokers and hence the social aspect of quality of life of smokers is negatively affected. On the other hand, smokers may have a better relationship with other smokers. For example, cigarettes are often used as gifts among businessmen in China. People can get recognition from other smokers by smoking. So, smokers have a better relationship with other smokers and hence smoking brings positive impacts on smokers’ quality of life in the social aspect. 4. 2. The effectiveness of government measures on encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking 4. 2. 1 The effectiveness of government measures Smokers are often addicted to cigarettes.They e xperience many withdrawal symptoms when they try to quit smoking, such as dizziness, headache and poor concentration. Therefore, it is difficult for smokers to quit smoking. As mentioned in chapter 3, the effectiveness of government measures on encouraging smokers to quit smoking is low. 2. The effectiveness of government measures on helping smokers to quit smoking As stated in chapter 3, many ex-smokers used smoking cessation services provided by smoking cessation clinics to quit smoking. This shows that government measures are effective in helping smokers to quit smoking. 2. Suggestions to help smokers to quit smoking It is difficult to quit smoking.However, smokers can use some methods adopted by most ex-smokers to quit smoking. Here are some examples. †¢ Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays †¢ Avoid staying in places where people smoke †¢ Using medications for quitting smoking ( such as nicotine patch and nicotine gun) 3. Limitation of the study First and foremost, the study involving 300 respondents for sampling may not be able to represent the opinions of non-smokers, smokers and ex-smokers. The distribution of questionnaires are done online and in Causeway Bay, so people who do not have the access to the internet nor live in Causeway Bay may not get the questionnaire. Therefore, the responses may be biased and confined.Due to the limited resources, the researcher has already tried to work out the generalized pattern of people’s opinions towards smoking as much as possible. The researcher has also studied similar studies done by the government in a much larger scale. Hence, the reliability of the study can be increased. Time has always been a constraint to the researcher. So as to ensure the general trend of people’s opinions, the researcher has spent considerable time on analyzing the data and arranging them into summary tables and pie charts. 4. Areas for further study Despite the limitations, the study can hopefully uphold the complexity of the causes and impacts of youth smoking. This study has brought some insights to the policy makers in encouraging and helping Hong Kong smoking people to quit smoking.The following suggestions may also serve as good topics for further studies †¢ New methods to stop people from starting to smoke †¢ New methods of encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking by other stakeholders (besides the government and individuals) The rationale behind these suggestions is highly understandable. â€Å"Prevention is better than curing. † It is easier to stop people from starting to smoke than helping smokers to quit smoking because smokers are addicted to cigarettes. Therefore, looking for methods to encourage people not to start smoking is a more useful method to reduce the smoking population in Hong Kong. As stated in 4. 2. , the current government measures are not effective in encouraging smokers to quit smoking. Also, development of new cheaper and more co mfortable methods to quit smoking may encourage smokers to quit smoking. Therefore, a research on new methods to encourage and help smokers to quit smoking is contributive to reduce smoking population in Hong Kong. 5. Afterthoughts To the researcher’s belief, this study helps readers to gain knowledge of people’s view towards smoking and know some effective methods in helping smokers to quit smoking. This study has also assessed the effectiveness of government’s measures in encouraging and helping smokers to quit smoking. Bibliography Books: Census and Statistical Department. Pattern of smoking†, Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics (Hong Kong, June 2009) Websites: Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health. â€Å"Risks? Active Smoking† http://smokefree. hk/en/content/web. do? page=ActiveSmoking (Retrieved on 17 April 2011) Tobacco Control Office Department of Health. â€Å"Smoking and Health† http://www. tco. gov. hk/english/infostation_sh. h tml (Retrieved on 17 April 2011) Tobacco Control Office Department of Health. â€Å"Quitting Smoking† http://www. tco. gov. hk/english/quittting/quitting_vcqs. thml (Retrieved on 17 April 2011) Appendix I Summary table of the results of the questionnaires For non-smokers 1. How old are you? Choices |Number of respondents | |10-15 |23 | |16-20 |45 | |21-25 |32 | 2. What is your sex? |Choices |Number of respondents | |Male |79 | |Female |21 | 3. Can you suggest some methods that you think that are effective in helping smokers quit smoking? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays |100 | |Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine |90 | |patch and nicotine gum) | | |Avoid staying in places where people smoke |90 | |Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking |93 | |cessation clinics | | |Others(please state) |0 | 4. Do you like people who smoke? |Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes ( please go to question 5) |95 | |No (please go to question 6) |5 | 5. Why do you like people who smoke? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Smoking people are attractive |5 | |I like the smell of cigarettes |4 | |Secondhand smoke is good for my health |0 | |Others(please state) |0 | 6. Why do you hate people who smoke? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Smoking people are not attractive |80 | |I hate the smell of cigarettes |85 | |Secondhand smoke is bad for my health |95 | |Others(please state) |0 | 7. Do you have relatives or friends who smoke? Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes (please go to question 8) |63 | |No (Thank you for completing the survey) |37 | 8. Have you tried to persuade your relatives or friends to quit smoking? |Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes (please go to question 9) |27 | |No (Thank you for completing the survey) |26 | 9. After your persuasion, did your relatives or friends try to q uit smoking? Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes |8 | |No |15 | |I do not know |4 | For smokers 1. How old are you? |Choices |Number of respondents | |10-15 |3 | |16-20 |45 | |21-25 |52 | 2.How long have you been smoking? |Choices |Number of respondents | |1-3 years |63 | |4-6 years |19 | |7-10 years |15 | |10 years or above |3 | 3. Do you agree that smoking is bad to your health? Choices |Number of respondents | |Agree |92 | |Disagree |8 | 4. Do you agree that you are addicted to cigarettes? |Choices |Number of respondents | |Agree |87 | |Disagree |13 | 5. How many cigarettes you smoke per day? Choices |Number of respondents | |1-3 |12 | |4-6 |34 | |7-9 |40 | |10-12 |13 | |13-15 |1 | |16-18 |0 | |18-21 |0 | | 22 or above |0 | 6. How much do you spend on buying cigarettes per week? (Hong Kong Dollars) Choices |Number of respondents | |$0-50 |9 | |$51-100 |11 | |$101-150 |80 | |$151-200 |0 | |$201-250 | 0 | |$251-300 |0 | |$301-350 | 0 | |$350 or above |0 | ? $3 01-350 ? $350 or above 7. Where do your money buying cigarettes come from? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Work |44 | |Petty cash from family members |78 | |From illegal ways |0 | |Borrow from family members/friends |23 | |Others(please state) |0 | 8. Do you relatives or friends know that you smoke? Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes (please go to question 9) |67 | |No (please go to question 10) |33 | 9. Generally, do they support you to smoke? |Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes |13 | |No |33 | |I do not know |21 | 10. Why do you smoke? (You may choose more than 1 option) Choices |Number of respondents | |Influence of friends |60 | |Influence of family members |8 | |Curiosity |36 | |Release pressure |8 | |Killing time |4 | |refreshing one’s mind |4 | |Others(please state) |0 | 11. What are the bad effects of smoking on you? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |I am not welcomed |23 | |I am less healthy |92 | |Not enough money |30 | |Makes me ugly |43 | |Bad image |33 | |Poor relationship with relatives |37 | |Poor relationship with friends |29 | |Others(please state) |0 | 12. What are the good effects of smoking on you? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |I am welcomed |63 | |I am more healthy |8 | |I have more money |47 | |I am more handsome/beautiful |57 | |Good image |57 | |Better relationship with relatives |10 | |Better relationship with friends |70 | |Others(please state) |0 | 13. Have you tried to quit smoking? |Choices |Number of respondents | |Yes (please go to question 14) |20 | |No (Thank you for completing the survey) |80 | 14. Why did you quit smoking? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Health reasons(with advice from doctors/ other health care |3 | |professional) | | |Smoking is not good to my health |5 | |Influence of friends |2 | |Influence of family members |13 | |Requested by boss/ teachers |15 | |Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking |3 | |areas) | | |Others(please state) |0 | 15. What methods did you use to quit smoking? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays |20 | |Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine |17 | |patch and nicotine gum) | | |Avoid staying in places where people smoke |18 | |Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking |18 | |cessation clinics | | |Others(please state) |0 | 16. Why did you fail to quit smoking? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Not determined enough |20 | |Smoking has become a habit/favourite |20 | |Quitting smoking is suffering |20 | |Others(please state) |0 | For ex-smokers 1. How old are you? |Choices |Number of respondents | |10-15 |0 | |16-20 |15 | |21-25 |85 | 2. Why did you smoke? (You may choose more than 1 option) Choices |Number of respondents | |Influence of fr iends |83 | |Influence of family members |15 | |Curiosity |40 | |Release pressure |13 | |killing time |15 | |refreshing one’s mind |3 | |Others(please state) |0 | 3. Why do you quit smoking? You may choose more than 1 option) |Choices |Number of respondents | |Health reasons(with advice from doctors/ other health care |76 | |professional) | | |Smoking is not good to my health |54 | |Influence of friends |23 | |Influence of family members |59 | |Requested by boss/ teachers |9 | |Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking |43 | |areas) | | |Others(please state) |0 | 4. What methods did you use to quit smoking? You may choose more than 1 option) |Options |Number of respondents | |Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays |100 | |Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine |80 | |patch and nicotine gum) | | |Avoid staying in places where people smoke |90 | |Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking |77 | |cessation clinics | | 5. What is the most important factor that help you to quit smoking successfully? Choices |Number of respondents | |Health reasons(with advice from doctors/ other health care |76 | |professional) | | |Determination to quit smoking |100 | |Support from family member and/or friends |67 | |Requested by boss/ teachers |13 | |Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking |43 | |areas) | | |Others(please state) |0 | Appendix II Samples of Questionnaires ( ) 2007 10500? 15 19 , , 10 25 1. ? 10-15? 16-20? 21-25 2. ? ? ? ? 3. ( ) ? ( ) ? ? ? ( ) 4. ( 5? ) ( 6? ) 5. ( ) ? ? ? ( ) 6. ( ) ? ? ? ? ( ) 7. ( 8? ) ( ) 8. ( 9? ) ( ) 9. ( ) , 2007 10500? 15 19 , , 10 25 1. ? 10-15? 16-20? 21-25 2. ? ? 3. ?1-3? ?4-6? ? 6-10? ? 10 4. 5. 6. ?1-3 ? 4-6 ? 7-9 ? 10-12 ? 13-15 ?16-18 ? 19-21 ? 22 7. ( ) ?$0-50 ? $51-100 ? $101-150 ? $151-200 ? $201-250 ? $251-300 ? $301-350 ? $350 8. ( ) ? ? ? ? ? ( ) 9. ( 10? ) 11? ) 10. , 11. ( ) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ( ) 12. ( ) ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ( ) 13. ( ) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ( ) 14. ( 15? ) ( ) 15. ( ) ? ( ) ? ? ? ? ( ) ? ( ) 16. ( ) ? ( ) ? ? ? ( ) 17. ( ) ? ? / ? ? ( ) ( ) , 2007 10500? 15 19 , , 10 25 2. ? 10-15? 16-20? 21-25 2. ? ? ? ? 3. ( ) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ( ) 4. ( ) ? ( ) ? ? / ? ? ? ( ) ? ( ) 5. ( ) ? ( ) ? ? ? ( ) 6. ? ( ) ? ? ? ( ) ? / ? ( ) Youth Smoking (non-smokers)Background Information In recent years, the number of youth smoking increases steadily. A survey in 2007 reveals that 10500 Hong Kong people aged 15-19 smoked. Through this survey, I want to identify the opinions of non-smokers and smokers towards smoking, the reasons why smokers smoke and how smoking affect smoker’s and non-smoker’s quality of life. This survey is only set for people aged 10-25 1. How old are you? ? 10-15? 16-20? 21-25 2. What is your sex? ? male ? female 3. Can you suggest some methods that you think that are effective in helping smokers quit smoking? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine patch and nicotine gum) ? Avoid staying in places where people smoke ? Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking cessation clinics ? Others(please state) 4. Do you like people who smoke? ? Yes (please go to question 5) ? No (please go to question 6) 5. Why do you like people who smoke? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Smoking people are attractive ? I like the smell of cigarettes ? Secondhand smoke is good for my health ? Others(please state) 6. Why do you hate people who smoke? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Smoking people are not attractive ? I hate the smell of cigarettes ?Secondhand smoke is bad for my health ? Others(please state) 7. Do you have relatives or friends who smoke? ? Yes (please go to question 8) ? No (Thank you for completing the survey) 8. Have you tried to per suade your relatives or friends to quit smoking? ? Yes (please go to question 9) ? No (Thank you for completing the survey) 9. After your persuasion, did your relatives or friends try to quit smoking? ? Yes? No ? I do not know Thank you for completing the survey Youth Smoking (smokers) Background Information In recent years, the number of youth smoking increases steadily. A survey in 2007 reveals that 10500 Hong Kong people aged 15-19 smoked.Through this survey, I want to identify the opinions of non-smokers and smokers towards smoking, the reasons why smokers smoke and how smoking affect smoker’s and non-smoker’s quality of life. This survey is only set for people aged 10-25 1. How old are you? ? 10-15? 16-20? 21-25 2. How long have you been smoking? ? 1-3 years? 4-6 years? 7-10 years ? 10 years or above 3. Do you agree that smoking is bad to your health? ? Agree ? Disagree 4. Do you agree that you are addicted to cigarettes? ? Agree ? Disagree 5. How many cigarettes you smoke per day? ? 1-3 ? 4-6? 7-9? 10-12? 13-15? 16-18 ?18-21? 22 or above 6. How much do you spend on buying cigarettes per week? (Hong Kong Dollars) ? $0-50 ? $51-100 ? 101-150 ? $151-200 ? $201-250 ? $251-300 ? $301-350 ? $350 or above 7. Where do your money buying cigarettes come from? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Work ? Petty cash from family members ? From illegal ways ? Borrow from family members/friends ? Others(Please state) 8. Do you relatives or friends know that you smoke? ? Yes (please go to question 9) ? No (please go to question 10) 9. Generally, do they support you to smoke? ? Yes? No ? I don’t know 10. Why do you smoke? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Influence of friends ? Influence of family members ? Curiosity ? Release pressure ? killing time ? refreshing one’s mind ?Others(please state) 11. What are the bad effects of smoking on you? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? I am not welcomed ? I am less healthy ? Not enough money ? M akes me ugly ? Bad image ? Poor relationship with relatives ? Poor relationship with friends ? Others(please state) 12. What are the good effects of smoking on you? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? I am welcomed ? I am more healthy ? I have more money ? I have better relationship with relatives ? I am more handsome/beautiful ? good image ? I have better relationship with friends ? Others(please state) 13. Have you tried to quit smoking? ? Yes (please go to question 14) No (Thank you for completing the survey) 14. Why did you quit smoking? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Health reasons(with advice from doctors/ other health care professional) ? Smoking is not good to my health ? Influence of friends ? Influence of family members ? Requested by boss/ teachers ? Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking areas) ? Others(Please state) 15. What methods did you use to quit smoking? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays ? Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine patch and nicotine gum) ? Avoid staying in places where people smoke Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking cessation clinics ? Others(please state) 16. Why did you fail to quit smoking? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Not determined enough ? Smoking has become a habit/favourite ? Quitting smoking is suffering ? Others(please state) Thank you for completing the survey Youth Smoking (Ex-smokers) Background Information In recent years, the number of youth smoking increases steadily. A survey in 2007 reveals that 10500 Hong Kong people aged 15-19 smoked. Through this survey, I want to identify the opinions of non-smokers and smokers towards smoking, the reasons why smokers smoke and how smoking affect smoker’s and non-smoker’s quality of life.This survey is only set for people aged 10-25 1. How old are you? ? 10-15? 16-20? 21-25 2. Why did you smoke? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Influence of friends ? Influence of family members ? Curiosity ? Release pressure ? killing time ? refreshing one’s mind ? Others(please state) 3. Why do you quit smoking? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Health reasons(with advice from doctors/ other health care professional) ? Smoking is not good to my health ? Influence of friends ? Influence of family members ? Requested by boss/ teachers ? Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking areas) ? Others(Please state) 4.What methods did you use to quit smoking? (You may choose more than 1 option) ? Discard all cigarettes and ashtrays ? Using medications for quitting smoking (such as nicotine patch and nicotine gum) ? Avoid staying in places where people smoke ? Using smoking cessation services provided by smoking cessation clinics ? Others(please state) 5. What is the most important factor that help you to quit smoking successfully? ? Health reasons(with advice from doctors/ other health care professional) ? Determinati on to quit smoking ? Support from family member and/or friends ? Requested by boss/ teachers ? Government policies(such as expanding statutory no smoking areas) ?Others(Please state) Thank you for completing the survey ———————– [1] Census and Statistical Departmen

Charles Dickens most famous Bildungsroman novel Essay

How Does Dickens’ Presentation of Pip as a young boy contrast to Pip as an Adult?  Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens most famous Bildungsroman novel. This story is serialised in journals from 1860 – 1861. It was published chapter at a time therefore would leave every chapter at a cliff-hanger.  Due to this novel being published in journals it made this semi-autobiographical narrative available to the mass of people; soaring its popularity.  The main theme of this novel is associated with the main factors of Victorian era; Being Gentlemen; Education and Crime and Punishment. Dickens was a social observer and would therefore base his narratives on his concerns for the social laws. Great Expectations was an example of this. This story is based on Pip, the main character, and how his life changes as he comes into possession of a lot of money from an unknown benefactor breaking the wall of social mobility on his way to become a Gentleman. The whole essay shows the retrospective view of Pip looking back on his life. Furthermore most of the events experience by Pip could also be his past experiences. This is why ‘Great Expectations’ is Charles Dickens most semi-autobiographical piece of writing. This general aim of this essay is to describe the way Pip was presented as a young boy and later on in his life by this worldwide known author, Charles Dickens.  The key scenes in this novel which will be analysed in detail. The chosen key scenes are; chapters 1-8 where Pip is growing up as a young kid and ahs his first encounter with the convict. The significance of these chapters is that it shows Pip’s childhood and also describes his first meeting with Magwitch, who plays a huge role in this novel. The central point of this report will be focused on chapter 27-38. This shows Pip as a young gentleman. This is very vital as it shows the way Pip has changed from his childhood ways. In these chapters it shows when Pip is reunited with his benefactor.  The Last key scenes will be chapter 57 and 58. This is when Pip is comes together with Joe hoping to propose to Biddy. The significance of this is that Joe is going to get married to Biddy; therefore Pips reaction to this news is very interesting. Pip was bought up an orphan. The only living family member of Pip was his sister Mrs Joe Gargery. â€Å"My first fancies regarding what they were like were unreasonably derived from their tombstones† This quotation emphasis the fact that Pip was an orphan who had never seen his parents and is an example of dual narrative as it is quite humorous but also sad at the same time. At the beginning of the play Dickens makes the readers fell sympathetic towards Pip. This makes the readers like Pip throughout the story no matter what he does. In the Victorian Era being an orphan was very common. It meant they had no prospects for the future, would be illiterate and would therefore lead a very poor life. They would usually be homeless or taken in by gentlemen’s to be their slaves. â€Å"I was at that time undersized for years and not very strong†. This quotation shows that Pip had a lack of prospects which emphasised he came from a poor background. The term undersized could be used for physical terms but also could be used that he had no say in the community as he was a child and he had no say generally as him and his family were very poor. Charles Dickens reversed these points about a poor person and made social mobility possible for Pip.  At the beginning of the narrative Pip is a naive young boy who has no knowing of the outside world. Most of this is due to being brought up without education. Education in that era was very important as only the rich could afford it. This immediately brought up the aspect of class issues in this novel. Education led to people being in a higher social group to those who weren’t educated and possibly shaped their future. Pip suffered abuse from many people. He was bought up ‘by hand’ by his sister Mrs Joe. She had a reputation for this. This showed that Pip was brought with discipline and wouldn’t dare to do a thing wrong as he would get punished for this. Another quotation that explains that Mrs Joe beats Pip to teach him manners and discipline is â€Å"Be grateful boy to them which bought you up by hand†. â€Å"What’s worse she’s got the tickler with her†, this quotation shows how much Pip feared the tickler and getting beaten by Mrs Joe. As well as receiving physical abuse from Mrs Joe he received verbal abuse from many family friends such as Mr Pumblechook and also Estella. It was from the Victorian times that the saying ‘Children should be seen but not heard’ was created. This saying applied to Pip. Many guttural sounds were used to describe the abuse that was inflicted upon Pip such as â€Å"rampage†. This emphasises the un-human like behaviour of Mrs Joe towards Pip.