Thursday, January 30, 2020

George Orwell, 1984 Essay Example for Free

George Orwell, 1984 Essay The introduction of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four says it all. It cannot be denied that control is present in the society. A few sentences in the first paragraph: â€Å"On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran (Orwell 2). † How do you feel when you keep being reminded that someone is looking after you? Or, to be more politically correct, having you under surveillance? The introduction of the book is about Winston Smith who gets inside his London apartment. The tone of the introductory sentences is depressing and dark. The living conditions are undeniably squalid. In this part, it was clear that Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia are the three superpowers that divide the world into pieces. Oceania is where Winston Smith came from (Orwell 1). These superpowers are never in good terms with each other. Because of the wartime conditions that seem constant in the environment and the nature of the countries, the people of Oceania are always repressed. The conditions brought about by war caused the government of Oceania to let its people suffer through repression. The people are always monitored. Surveillance is as common as eating. The party members, however, are not always given enough supply. There is also a private rebellion taking place because the government was no longer humane. In this private rebellion, Winston Smith is a member of the Outer Party. Winston is writing in his diary every single day. Because this decision is crucial, he accepted that what goes with private rebellion is doing some forbidden steps. He has to do forbidden steps because he is serving a party that he did not want to serve (Orwell 2). He buys the diary which was part of the things confiscated during a raid into the proletariats. He meets a young lady outside the shop where he purchased the diary, and he noticed that it is the same girl who keeps on eyeing at him for a few days. Because Winston started feeling that he should be there, and because he felt that the woman was spying on him, he immediately tries to stay away from her (Orwell 2). With this introduction, it clearly shows how totalitarianism has ruled the world. Nineteen Eight-Four is a novel that shows negative utopia. It cannot be denied that totalitarianism was at its most rigid. Totalitarianism was the kind of power used to execute total control of the people (Ellis and Reed, 2008). Orwell had been successful in representing control, in which he introduced through an entity referred to as Big Brother. This has four branches. One is called the Ministry of Love, in which law enforcement is done. The other is called Ministry of Plenty, where economic affairs and issues are handled. The Ministry of Peace is what takes charge of the war taking place in the country and around the world. The Ministry of Truth is the one that manages the dissemination of propaganda. Without the Ministry of Truth, the printed materials and other things needed for administering propaganda won’t be equally distributed. These four ministries make up the government (Ellis and Reed 2). Meanwhile, Winston Smith does not conform to this ideology. This idea is spoon-fed to him, with the concept of Big Brother being used. The government is feeding him with unnecessary things and ideas that he, himself, knows he does not need. Going back to the life of George Orwell, it can be seen that he reflects the character in his novel. George Orwell, like Winston Smith, has the same aesthetic and social characteristics. They both have the same political perceptions. This may be the reason why the novel is undeniably an excellent one, because he could write it as easily as writing his own thoughts, beliefs and feelings. He wrote excellently the representation of control in just simple paragraphs like: â€Å"Behind Winston’s back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away about pig-iron and the overfulfilment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard (Orwell 8). † In the novel, there was clearly no way of being aware about how an individual is being watched. If an individual had to make a sound, someone will always hear it. If an individual is in the dark, then he or she can be safe. But if it is bright out there, then there is no chance that the movement of the individual is monitored and fully observed (Orwell 8). The practice of control as a way of administering power was done through television surveillance in the novel. Security cameras are everywhere. Just about any spot, a speed camera will be seen. The citizens were disturbed, and especially Winston Smith, because the people were not free and they were no longer happy with their lives of what the government was doing to them. In a more physical point of view, George Orwell wrote the following to give the audience a better picture of how the government, in the novel, had controlled and repressed the people (Ellis and Reed 2). The political perceptions of George Orwell are shown through Winston Smith. Aside from Orwell’s perception of politics, he also showed his disbelief, or skepticism, rather, of mass media, through the character of Winston Smith. It is no surprise that George Orwell was skeptic of the media because he has spent some of his time working for BBC, also known as the British Broadcasting Company. By working for BBC, he was able to see how information was distorted before it is distributed to the public (Ellis and Reed 2). The information they got were not presented as is on television. He was aware as he witnessed how propaganda was distorted. Because of his experience in working for a mass media outfit, he knew that whatever the public was getting from the television, the radio and the newspapers were not at all completely true (Ellis and Reed 2). Other information and important facts were omitted before news is aired. Now, he came up with the novel to let the public know what is happening behind authorities, and how much control is being executed before the public gets what it gets (Ellis and Reed 2). Control, in this novel, is clearly represented because it does not state that control is destroying the society just because it is there. The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four clearly suggests that the government, or the state as a whole, is there to manipulate everything. Individuals in the society are being controlled by the state, and control is employed on the information being released to the public. In the novel, the â€Å"telescreen† is a constant object. The telescreen, in the novel, is a tool for control. Everyone needs to have a telescreen. It is a dominant item in any household in London, especially in Airstrip One, the capital city, which used to be referred to as England. Aside from the telescreen, other ways are used to employ power and a quote from the book is here to show it, â€Å"There will be no love, except the love of BIG BROTHER. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life† (Orwell 238). Indeed, the state, just like in today’s society, aims to reshape the minds of the people. Whatever is happening in the novel of George Orwell does not end there. It continues and is widely seen in our society today. Out society, through the television, convert our minds into what the government or the media thinks we should think about. The theories of mass media are there to help us understand that for the media to sell, they need to create something interesting for our eyes. We need to see controversies. With all these, we learn to create our sides. Creating our sides is never pure anymore because even before we learn to form our opinion, the media and the state already manipulates the information given to use. The tools we use to shape our minds when it comes to our thoughts on the elections, the issues on war and terror, and economic crisis, are shaped by a higher power by using control.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Searching For Independence In Dubliners :: Essays Papers

Searching For Independence In Dubliners James Joyce is the author of Dubliners, a compilation of Irish short stories that reflect on the feelings he associates with the city of Dublin, where he grew up in a large impoverished family. After he graduated from the University College, Dublin, Joyce went to live abroad in Paris, France. This action indicates a sense of entrapment that led to his desire to escape. The situations in his stories differ significantly, but each character within these stories experiences this sense of escape that Joyce had. In â€Å"An Encounter†, two boys make their first real move at being independent by skipping school to explore Dublin. In â€Å"Eveline†, the main character has a choice between taking care of her unstable father or leaving him to lead a new life with a man she has been seeing. In Joyce’s story, â€Å"The Dead,† a young man is thrown into deep human assessment, becomes unsure of who he is, and soon after is frightened of this newly discovered truth. The stories in Dubliners implicate this need for independence through characters in different situations and experiencing the feeling of entrapment. â€Å"An Encounter,† takes a unique approach in describing the need for escape through the viewpoint of a young boy. The story is written in first-person giving the reader an advantage in knowing the thoughts of the narrator. The narrator and his friend, Mahony, desire independence from their ordinary lives at home. They have read several stories about the Wild West that cause them to think about exploring the world outside of the one they already know. An incident that happens in school triggers the boys to finally make plans to skip school to go explore downtown Dublin. This is the major independent action taken on the part of the main characters and another boy, Leo Dillon. Obviously, school has become predictable and playing in the backyard is no longer satisfactory. The narrator describes school as a, â€Å"restraining influence,† and he, â€Å"began to hunger again for wild sensations, for the escape which those chronicles of disorder (storybooks about the west) alone seemed to offer me† (12). Parts of the story begin to demonstrate how the journey the boys have embarked on have awakened their senses. In the middle of the story, Mahony states it would be fun to board one of the large boats along the river, and set off to lands that they had only heard about in school.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Patient Education Plan Essay

This is a Patient Education Plan for a patient suffering from a gastrointestinal disease called liver cirrhosis. Gastrointestinal infection is said to be any communicable disease which involves the gastrointestinal tract making it as its portal of entry of affecting it by any means. The organisms which produce toxins cause this kind of infectious intestinal disease all by themselves. Thus, cirrhosis is an irreversible type of liver damage described as a dense scarring (fibrosis) of the hepatic tissues. In the United States, the major causes are excessive alcohol consumption and viral Hepatitis C. Other known causes include chronic hepatitis B and D, iron overload, autoimmune/inherited diseases, chronic bile duct obstruction, and drugs, toxins and other infections as well. The patient in this specific case is a 38-year old male who has been working as a gardener and janitor in one of the prestigious learning institutions in the United States. Even if he is only 38, he looks like he is 50 years old already. Let us call him â€Å"Dave† for purposes of confidentiality and patient protection. Dave is the breadwinner of a family of five. He has three children and his wife is working as a clerk for an agency within the neighborhood. Being a gardener and a janitor at the same time, he is often on duty the whole day under the intense heat of the sun with little rest or no rest at all. He also works daily without any rest days and frequently engages in over time to get extra pay to sustain life’s needs. Patient 2 Because of too much toiling done, Dave believes he deserves to relax after work so he always drinks alcohol to relax his muscles. This has become a regular habit of his for the past 15 years. It all began as a relaxing strategy until it has become a daily habit. Drinking has become his idea of socialization. Though he knows the dilemmas of habitual drinking, he is finding a hard time to get himself to minimize or stop drinking. Even at work, he keeps a bottle secretly kept so he can take sips or gulps from time to time while keeping himself busy. It has become as sort-of water to him. It should be noted that before Dave became an alcoholic, he has a large frame weighing 180 lbs. and standing at 5 feet and 11 inches. After he became an alcoholic, he now weighs only 150 lbs. which is way below his ideal weight. His skin wrinkled and darkened but with tinges of yellowish areas all throughout his body. His body bulged since his liver has inflamed already and edema has occurred inside him. Physically, one will know right then that he is sick. As to his family history, it is important to be aware that his father was also a habitual drinker but lucky enough for him that he did not develop liver cirrhosis. However, two brothers of his father had liver cirrhosis and one of them died of the disease. Therefore, said gastrointestinal disease runs in their family. Dave had a chance of going to college but because of attitude problems he fell short and finished only high school. So he ended up with a menial job as a school gardener and janitor. Based on his scholastic records, he was a good student. He gained good grades, not academically rewarding but decent enough to pass college scholarships. His alleged stubborn traits had won him over. Patient 3 The patient, Dave, preferred to engage in one-to-one learning technique rather than learning by group method. Dave has several sensitive, private and critical issues which he opts to share only with the learning provider, in this case, the nurse. In fact, Dave did not even approved of the idea of â€Å"learning† at first because of his stubbornness. He wants to do things alone but with thorough explanation, he was able to understand his condition little by little and began cooperating to work on his sick state. So what is liver cirrhosis all about? The disease has been defined earlier as a form of liver damage which affects the gastrointestinal system. Among the early signs include weakness/fatigue, anorexia, stomatitis, tea-colored urine, clay-colored stool, amenorrhea, decreased sexual urge, loss of pubic and axilla hair, hepatomegaly, jaundice, and pruritus or urticaria. Late signs involve hematological, endocrine, GIT and neurological changes. Further, it can complicate into more serious illnesses such as edema and ascites (fluid buildup), bruising and bleeding, jaundice, itching, gallstones, toxins in the blood or brain leading to impaired brain function, kidney failure, sensitivity to medication, portal hypertension, varices, insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes, liver cancer and problems with other organs. In Dave’s case, it began as a severe case of alcoholism combined with malnutrition which led Laennec’s cirrhosis. This went on to the destruction of hepatic cells or hepatocytes then fibrosis or scarring. Following thereafter is an obstruction of blood flow which increases pressure in the venous and sinusoidal channels then fatty infiltration leading to further fibrosis or scarring. Finally, portal hypertension or high blood pressure (hypertension) in the portal veins and its branches resulted. Patient 4 The prevalence of liver cirrhosis can come across all ages starting at the age of 21 but as the age increases, the rate of scarring progression increases as well. This means that liver cirrhosis cases are more serious with higher age. In Dave’s case, his age may directly affect the severity of his condition. Development of his illness was hastened in that it has been at least 15 years since he became a habitual drinker. It was accumulated through time and in his case, progression is faster compared to others. Because of his liver disease, he cannot work as a gardener and janitor anymore as these are jobs which require much strength and energy. He cannot fulfill his responsibilities at home and his family as well since his health is generally impaired. Further, he cannot participate in community activities too. Patient needs to be educated regarding his nutritional needs. He must monitor his calorie intake and the amounts and kinds of food that he takes to avoid obesity. If possible, he must be given a schedule of diet so he can eat the right kinds of food at the right time and place. Moreover, he must be taught how to improve his depreciating self-esteem due to inability to fulfill his usual duties. He must develop healthy lifestyle practices and new behaviors which will help him regain his confidence. From this moment on, Dave must be able to recover from his health and personality deficiencies. Instead of feeling down and troubled, he must mature by seeing the brighter side of life. The key is acceptance of his present condition and avoid feeling regretful and confused as much as possible. This can be done more competently with the support of the nurse and the significant others who are connected to him.