The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

The Things They Carried Essay In the short essay â€Å"The Things They Carried† the setting takes place during the Vietnam War. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his troops are assigned different missions, one of which is to look for the enemies in tunnels. â€Å"After five minutes, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross moved to the tunnel, leaned down, and examined the darkness† (p. 597). Throughout the story the narrator gives a background on the war and describes the different things the troops have to carry with them, both physical and emotional baggage. The Vietnam War began in 1959. The United States declared a war against Vietnam to stop the spread of communism. Many young man were drafted most of them did not want to go to war. Once they were at war they did not want to leave the war; if they could not move, they stayed to fight the enemy. â€Å"It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor† (p. 598). Everyone in the war wanted to survive, so they had to carry everything they needed to stay alive. The story constantly lists the physical baggage the troops have to carry with them. â€Å"Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water† (p. 596). Some troops took things with them that they did not really need and made their baggage heavier. Along with physical baggage, the troops carried emotional baggage. After Ted Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross felt like it was his fault and he should have cared about his troops more than Martha. â€Å"He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war† (p. 599). The story does not describe much of what other troops’ emotional baggage was, but just like every other soldier in combat they all had something that troubled them. The story ends with the Lieutenant Cross hating Martha and becoming stricter with his troops. He did not want to lose another soldier because of some girl, and he understood that the troops might not favor him as much, but it was for their well-being. â€Å"Among men there would be grumbling, of course, and maybe worse; because their days would seem longer and their loads heavier, but Lieutenant Jimmy Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead† (p. 606).

Public Health in 1665 :: Public Health Care Essays

â€Å"Ring around a roses, A pocket full of Poses, A tissue! A tissue! We all fall down!† Even today, children innocently chant this old nursery rhyme, bringing the old saying into reality, â€Å"Ignorance is Bliss†. It’s eerie, to think that this old rhyme in fact gives a perfect description of one of Europe’s worst nightmares, the Great Plague. Many people forget the horrors of the Plague, and when they do remember and think about it, Public heath is rarely a factor that plays a big part when people start to think things through. There were quite a few public health measures in 1665 – the time of the plague. However, how many of these measures worked? An important fact to remember is that in those times, opinions and actions were either based on or blamed on religion and superstition. For example, people started marching across the country, punishing themselves on the basis that the plague was the result of all of man’s sin, whilst trying to persuade people of their cause. Also, charms were used by some cultures, such as the â€Å"Abra Kadabra† charm, which was either carved, or worn as protective jewellery to ward off the evil spirits causing the plague. It looked similar to the image below. A B R A K A D A B R A B R A K A D A B R R A K A D A B A K A D A K A D A One measure they had was that of the â€Å"red cross†. This is where they would paint a red cross on the doors of people who were diagnosed with the plague. I think this would have worked because it would let people know who had the plague, so that they could avoid falling ill themselves. A law was made, saying that once someone was ill with the plague they were to stay in their house. Anyone who happened to live in the same house as the unfortunate soul was also locked in, with fear that they could spread the disease. Beggars were not allowed to wonder the streets at anytime, and were executed immediately for doing so without a given reason. All of these, although sensible ideas (apart from the execution..) would not contribute towards public health, as the disease was not contagious in the human community. It was in fact passed on from fleas living on black rats, but this knowledge had not yet been developed.

Social Differentiation

Gender of human remains can show social differentiation in a variety of different ways. One such factor is damage on the bones may indicate the job of the deceased, for example, signs of osteoarthritis in the Canadian Inuits jaws and right hands indicate that they were sewing skins. In comparison, disease to the right shoulder and elbow in some cases show that the deceased used harpoons which have been interpreted as men who hunted.Social differences have been seen between male and female skeletons at Tell Abu Hureyra; grooves in the sides of women's teeth are thought to have been caused by drawing fibres through them before using the fibres in baskets and male skeletons had lesions and strain injuries to their arms which might be associated with spears. However, these lesions may have been created by post depositional factors. Another evaluative point is that these remains do not prove that all males hunted and all females sewed – it only proves that women had bad teeth.The l ayout of graves also show social differentiation as evidence at Skara Brae shows us; bodies of two females, interred in stone-built graves, were discovered beneath the right hand bed and wall. It was apparent that the females had been buried there before the house was constructed and their presence could have signified some sort of foundation ritual. However, this may also signify that this area was their domain in life. Social differentiation can also be identified through the age of the deceased.At West Kennet, DNA analysis on the bones has shown that 46 individuals were disarticulated into various transepts in the tomb. The bones were sorted into not only by gender, but also age; infant, young adult and elderly, suggesting that each age group had a specific role within the society. To a certain extent grave goods can tell us a lot about social differentiation based on gender. Rich male graves are often interpreted in terms of what he earned whereas when a woman is found which ric h grave goods they are often attributed to her father or husband.Women having their own status is not considered a lot within archaeology. In inhumations, if women over a certain age have certain grave goods, and the younger ones do not it can be argued that those goods represent the dowry exchanged in marriage. A reoccurring theme from the Bronze Age onwards is that women were regularly buried with pins, necklaces and bracelets however, the interpretation that this was a dowry is not always correct as DNA analysis [ARCH 2] at West Hazelton showed some females were buried with weapons and some males were buried with jewellery and so the grave goods may indicate achieved status.Until recently, the sexing of burials relied on grave goods. Jewellery without weapons was expected in female graves and so was used to define these graves. However, the problem with this method is that they might not be compatible with modern society’s biased view on male and female belongings such as the Birdlip Burial. Along with the deceased, this contained a mirror and jewellery and it was thought to be a rich princess’s grave or that of Boudicca herself, however, recent examination and CAT scans of the skull shows that it has masculine traits which contrasts with the original interpretation.The assemblage is also notable in that the artefacts had all been broken and a vessel had been placed over the face of the dead and so it is thought that it may have been a male shaman and not a princess. Grave goods can show achieved or ascribed status which is also shown with the age of the body. Vedbaek Bodbakken shows a child buried on a swans wing and other natural objects such as amber along with its mother. The age of the infant and the mother who was only believed to be about 18 has helped to interpret the grave as one of a wife or daughter of a chief.The grave is thought to be such high status because of the effort and time placed into the burial and ascribed status becaus e the child had not had time to earn it themselves. One problem with using the age is there is a lack of younger burials, high infant mortality rates and so are disregarded. For example the presence of 97 baby inhumations at a brothel at a Roman Villa in Thames Valley shows that the Romans did not consider children to be human until they reached a certain age.The layout of a settlement can help to show social differentiation through gender and age because of the views of modern archaeologists. For example at Skara Brae each of the eight dwellings found have the same basic layout – a large room, with a fireplace in the middle, a bed on either side and a dresser facing the entrance. However, the right hand bed is always larger that than the left hand bed which has led some archaeologists, including one of the site's main excavators, Gordon Childe, to speculate that the layout of the village is gendered – right being male and left being female.Beads and paintpots were als o found on some of the smaller beds – lending to the gendered theory. Also, House 7 in Skara Brae appears very much like the other houses in the community, however, several distinctive features have led archaeologists and historians to interpret that it played a unique part in village life. The house is isolated from the main part of the village and access is gained down a side-passage, it is also the only house in the village in which the door was barred from the outside, not the inside.The bodies of two females, interred in stone-built graves, were discovered beneath the right hand bed and wall. It was apparent that the females had been buried there before the house was constructed and their presence could have signified some sort of foundation ritual. Most theories on the subject involve confinement or separation from the rest of the community – they range from childbirth and menstruation to initiation through ritual and imprisonment.

A Not So Educated Prosperous Society - 1994 Words

A not so Educated Prosperous Society A society built on the foundation of well-educated citizens will prosper and potentially eliminate corruption. Well-educated citizens make important contributions to business innovation, productivity, and national economic performance. (The Conference Board of Canada, 2015). Such citizens tend to make sound decisions that affect their quality of life and earn higher incomes, leading to a lifestyle of prosperity with social security and higher quality of health. Citizens actively contribute to the overall development and growth of the society. The reality in Canada is that about 25% of Canadians aged 25-65 have a university degree and will contribute to the development and growth of the society. Major†¦show more content†¦This constraint restricts their quality of life and contribution to society. Since we are in the business of profiting off of the debt of the next wave of contributors, why not profit from the indebted and their skills? The reality is that students have no realistic horizon and they might as well not live in the present. I believe that a debt must be repaid whether it is in the same or different units of measure. If the student does not have the finances to repay their debt, then it is best that their life and knowledge is no longer their own and controlled by the institutions and governments indebted to until the loan’s conditions have been fulfilled. These institutions can very well farm the knowledge gained by the student and grow the economy without having to worry about salaries, further reducing the cost of research and development that will then lower the baseline of corporations and institutions. I understand that this may be a mouthful to comprehend, but I assure you that it will work similarly to owing a mortgage on a house and declaring bankruptcy. In this scenario, the financial institution claims ownership of the house and the residents are kicked out, as they are unable to meet regular mortgage payments. As for the students, the loans were used to gain knowledge and methodologies from post-secondary programs. This information gained is now under the