English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

English - Essay Example This attitude is established by Douglass’s description of Mrs. Auld as â€Å"a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings† (Douglass, p 159) until she is corrupted by the poison of slavery. Likewise, he expresses his deep affection for the little white boys who taught him to read. On the other hand, Douglass is unequivocal in his attitude towards white people who are slaveholders. He declares, â€Å"I loathed them as being the meanest as well as the wickedest of men,† (Douglass, p 164). He holds Andrew and Mrs. Hamilton to be the examples of this bestiality. Douglas is undoubtedly bitter about his slavery experiences. His learning makes him acutely conscious of slavery as a violation of human rights. His hatred of the unjust society, which has denied his people their freedom, is evident throughout the Narrative. He describes such a society as composed of â€Å"a band of robbers,† (Douglass, p 164). Douglass is particularly anguished by the cruel treatm ent meted out to his grandmother, who is abandoned and turned out to die alone in her old age. He condemns a society that supports slavery as one in which â€Å"the exercise of irresponsible power† (Douglass, p 162) is sanctioned. It is slavery which makes barbarians of a society. Charles Darwin’s Natural Selection deals with the significance of natural variations, and the evolution of those variations which are favorable for the survival of the species.

Short Interfering RNA Essay -- Biology

missing figures Background Information RNA inference (RNAi) was first discovered in Cenorhabditis elegans nearly a decade ago and have been revolutionizing gene-function analysis ever since. This discovery began the process by which scientists work with a known gene sequence and attempt to define its biological function by disrupting its activity in vivo. It involves the introduction of homologous double stranded RNA (dsRNA) to specifically target a gene's product and to disrupt the function of that gene in vivo. The resulting effects on an animal are referred to as a phenocopy due to the fact that it copies the phenotype of a loss-of-function mutation of that gene, but is not really inherited like how a true gene deletion would be. Despite the variety of technologies, this was not possible before due to the lack of genome information. The advances in gene sequencing throughout the past couple of years have allowed various usages of available technology to go after any gene and try to identify the gene, as well as to understand its specific function. Once the sequence is known, an open reading frame can be obtained to find a specific coding region of a gene by looking for the universal start codon, AUG, and the universal stopping codon, UAA, UUA, or UAG. From there, RNAi can be introduced into cells of certain organisms, with dsRNA as the interfering agent that can result in the destruction and degradation of a sequence specific messenger RNA (mRNA) that mimics a loss-of-function phenotype. In other words, RNAi is a very efficient and highly specific way in which to inactivate gene function and can serve as an alternative to gene knockouts, or the conventional antisense technology. The mechanism of how dsRNA results in... ...of a marker gene and a hairpin expression cassette in a viral vector would allow single-cell or mosaic analysis of gene function. †¢ It may be possible in the future to apply this process of hairpin siRNA synthesis to studies of neurogenesis and differentiation in mammals. The information contained in this website comes from (or was sought out because of) the paper entitled "RNA interference by expression of short-interfering RNAs and hairpin RNAs in mammalian cells" written by Dr. Jenn-Yah Yu, Dr. Stacy L. DeRuiter, and Dr. David L. Turner at the University of Michigan's Department of Biological Chemistry. Citations: DeRuiter, Stacy. Yu, Jenn-Yah. Turner, David L. "RNA interference by expression of short-interfering RNAs and hairpin RNAs in mammalian cells." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. Vol. 99, Issue 9, 6047-6052, April 30, 2002

Bamboozled: Black People and White Man Essay

In 2000, Spike Lee wrote and directed the film Bamboozled. When discussing his satirical film, Spike Lee claimed, â€Å"I want people to think about the power of images, not just in terms of race, but how imagery is used and what sort of social impact it has – how it influences how we talk, how we think, how we view one another[. . . ]how film and television have historically[. . . ]produced and perpetuated distorted images. † Spike Lee certainly conveyed this message in Bamboozled. Images are powerful and carry massive social impact. They should never be misrepresented. Are all African Americans either lazy or dim-witted or â€Å"happy servants†, always ready and willing to please the White Man? The short answer is, no. However, throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, many people believed this. The ultimate question is, why? As explained in the film Ethnic Notions, this false perception grew and grew, even past the time of slavery, due to images. Derogatory images of African Americans as â€Å"happy servants† or â€Å"savages,† were everywhere; they were published in children’s books and slapped on cans of food to be used as a marketing tool. People bought into this perception of African Americans, as they became acclimatized to it. Today, our society likes to believe that times have changed and there is no longer an issue of race or false perception of African Americans in the media. However, Spike Lee argues, â€Å"A new â€Å"phenomenon† has emerged in film in recent years, in which an African-American character is imbued with special powers, filmmaker Spike Lee told a student audience ? This new image is just a reincarnation of â€Å"the same old† stereotype or caricature of African Americans ? Lee cited four recent films in which there is a â€Å"magical, mystical Negro† character ? in â€Å"The Legend of Bagger Vance,† a black man â€Å"with all these powers,† teaches a young white male ? how to golf like a champion ? â€Å"How is it that black people have these powers but they use them for the benefit of white people? † Spike Lee seems to be under the impression that African Americans are still misrepresented in the media. They have only improved their ability to mask the fact. False image is still there, but it is subtle. His film Bamboozled ripped viewers’ eyes wide open. The film explored and demonstrated two images of African Americans. The first image, is the Black Man who is just like the White Man or the Asian Man or the Middle-Eastern Man; a man who can be rich and successful like Pierre Delacroix in Bamboozled; a man who can be poor and when without money will do almost anything for it like Manray and Womack. However, when Pierre Delacroix pitched television shows about a Black Man living in an upper-middle-class white, suburban neighborhood, his superior, Thomas Dunwitty turned them down, â€Å"they definitely don’t want to see dignified black people [on television]. † However, the network would allow Pierre Delacroix to create a show which blatantly degrades African Americans; a show which goes back to the 1900s, to the time of black face and minstrel shows; a time when black people were considered subhuman. This is where Spike Lee demonstrates the other image of the African American; an image that the media has gently forced down viewer’s throats. Spike Lee, however, did not do so gently. The fictional television show in Bamboozled, â€Å"Mantan’s New Millennium Minstrel Show†, starred African Americans in â€Å"black face† acting like buffoons. It might as well have been an authentic minstrel show in the 1900s. There was dancing and singing. The two main characters hid from the White Man in a chicken coup, saying â€Å"ain’t nobody in here but us chickens! â€Å"4 The creator, Pierre Delacroix’s initial intention with this show was not to degrade his own race. It was to â€Å"break the stereotypes. â€Å"5 He figured the nation would be shocked and outraged! Instead they ate it up. The studio audience dressed in black face. Children trick-or-treated in black face. It was the latest craze of the nation. Black face is an act which digs back to a time of slavery, a time where African Americans were considered inferior. It was now socially acceptable to publicly highlight a moment in history that pained African Americans. People figured it’s on TV, it’s OK! The black man was degraded, as he has always been, but in Bamboozled no mercy was spared. Spike Lee used the film in a variety of ways. He attacked today’s media and the way in which it portrays African Americans. He explored the wide scope of African American’s lives, which is no different than the lives of any other race. He demonstrated the consequences of greed and sacrificing one’s dignity. Furthermore, he exposed society for what it really is: mindless. The majority of a population does not question the media. Instead it swallows images whole, even if those images are as false and misleading as a painted black face.

Simple French Conjugations for Punir (to Punish)

The word  punir  is French for to punish. In order to use this verb to mean the past tense punished or the present tense punishing, youll need to know how to conjugate it. Luckily,  punir  is a relatively easy one because its a regular verb. A quick lesson will introduce you to the essential forms of  punir  youll need for French conversations. The Basic Conjugations of  Punir French verb conjugations do require some work. You need to memorize it in the various tenses and theres a new form for every subject pronoun within each tense. That means you have a lot of words to study. However, because  punir  is a  regular -ir verb, you can apply what you already know for similar verbs to this one. The first step is to identify the verb stem, which is  pun-. From there, you will add the ending that corresponds to the subject pronoun and either the present, future, or imperfect past tense. For instance, I am punishing is  je punis  and we will punish is  nous punirons. Present Future Imperfect je punis punirai punissais tu punis puniras punissais il punit punira punissait nous punissons punirons punissions vous punissez punirez punissiez ils punissent puniront punissaient The Present Participle of  Punir The  present participle  of  punir  is  punissant. This is a verb, though there may be some instances where youll also find it helpful as an adjective or noun. Punir  in the Compound Past Tense The past tense can be expressed with the imperfect or the  passà © composà ©. This is a compound, so you that requires the  past participle  puni. To begin, conjugate the auxiliary verb  avoir  into the appropriate present tense for the subject. This results in phrases such as  jai puni  for I punished and  nous avons puni  for we punished. More Simple Conjugations of  Punir At times, you may need a few more conjugations for  punir.   The subjunctive, for instance, questions whether the punishment will happen.  In a similar fashion,  the conditional  implies that its an if...then situation.  The passà © simple  and  imperfect subjunctive  are typically reserved for written French, but they are good to know as well. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je punisse punirais punis punisse tu punisses punirais punis punisses il punisse punirait punit punt nous punissions punirions punmes punissions vous punissiez puniriez puntes punissiez ils punissent puniraient punirent punissent A useful verb mood for a word like  punir,  the French imperative  is used when you want to be assertive and very direct. In this case, its acceptable to skip the subject pronoun, so  tu punis  becomes  punis. Imperative (tu) punis (nous) punissons (vous) punissez