A Historical Approach on Racism and Identity Crisis...

A Historical Approach on Racism and Identity Crisis Through Langston Hughes’s Mulatto Imagine living in the 1930s as an African-American human being; the white man and woman have control and authority over all. During these times a great African-American writer tried to convey to his people that there was no such thing as a superior race. Langston Hughes was not an average African-American for those times. He was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance and a pusher for equal rights. Through his many writings he showed his disappointment and disbelief with the behaviors of North and South African-Americans. In 1934, he wrote and published a book called, â€Å"The Ways of White Folks†. The play â€Å"Mulatto† is a version of one of the†¦show more content†¦She was subservient and well behaved for the Colonel. The 1930s were a wicked time and even harder for an African-American woman. Not only were they the wrong color, but they were the wrong sex as well. The women had to pacify and treat their men well if they wanted to be looked afte r. The character of Cora was a fictionalized version of how Hughes saw most African-American women. He did however give Cora a little bit of a back bone. Hughes made her strong and protective and that is how most African-American women are today. Black or white? One of the children in this play is going through an emotional and situational conflict with his self. He is not white and he is not black. He wants to be accepted, but he does not want to be considered as just another darkie. Cora begs her son to accept that he is not white, but he refuses and causes nothing but hardships for himself. In the 1930s there were only two races, white or â€Å"the other kindâ€Å". Being a mixed child brought nothing but pain and sorrow. They knew they were different and they wanted other people to accept it. Unfortunately the 1930s were filled with some very cruel and stupid individuals who saw only color and nothing else. There were two different worlds going on back then. T here was the white side of life and then there was the darkie side of life. There was a â€Å"color line† in place and that line was very hard to cross, especially in Georgia during the 1930s.Show MoreRelatedLangston Hughes Research Paper25309 Words   |  102 PagesIn 1919, when Langston Hughes was seventeen years old, he spent the summer with his father, Jim Hughes, in Toluca, Mexico. Langston had not seen his father since he was a small child, and he was excited about making the trip. However, during this visit, no affectionate bond would develop between Langston and Jim. Jim Hughes was a cold, difficult man, who was driven by ambition to make money and achieve respect. He had moved to Mexico to avoid segregation and racial injustice in the United States

How are social change and changes in knowledge linked Free Essays

It will then proceed by discussing aspects of social change in history, in particular how changes after the 2nd world war challenged old and traditional systems of knowledge. In this discussion this essay will focus on two dominant systems of knowledge, medicine and religion, and in what way the changing role of women in society has challenged these knowledge systems. With regard to religion this essay will also discuss the development of new age beliefs in today’s society with relevance to the question is religion in decline? This essay will aim to use relevant examples in this discussion in order to reach a conclusion of the link between social change and changes in knowledge in our society. We will write a custom essay sample on How are social change and changes in knowledge linked? or any similar topic only for you Order Now So lets begin by answering the question what is knowledge? ‘All knowledge is produced, collected, collated and disseminated by human beings living in societies.’ (Goldblatt 2000). It is inherited through the language we learn in our daily lives. We use many different sources of knowledge in order to understand where we Come from, who we are and the society within we live it shapes what we know and what we don’t know. It is the social structures and institutions within society, which shape the content of knowledge systems, be it in medicine, religion, the political ideologies and so on. They decide who holds the power in within these knowledge systems.’ They determine, for example, who has access to specialized knowledge languages (like medical training) and who has socially sanctioned and legal authority to make pronouncements on a given subject.'(Goldblatt 2000). Aside from specialized or expert knowledge there is also a different type of knowledge known as common sense knowledge. This is knowledge, which we all inherit or learn from family and friends, or acquire through outside influences accessible to us such as media or the Internet. It helps us understand or gain alternative knowledge on issues such as our health for example. It often comes in the shape of old wives tales, which have been passed down through generations. The dominant knowledge systems such as medicine religion and so on are not fixed however and when social change occurs, they are forced to respond to these changes, and in consequence it is also knowledge that can then influence change in society and determine how we live our lives. Throughout history society has seen many radical changes within its dominant knowledge systems. We have witnessesed major advances in scientific research, medicine, changes in ‘traditional’ religious beliefs and challenges to the dominant political ideologies, particularly following the Second World War. One of the foremost debates today is whether or not there has been a decline in the trust of expert knowledge within all aspects of society. There have always been experts with specialized knowledge even in ancient times. However years ago experts in their field be it science, medicine or religion were always trusted their knowledge was respected and believed as true, scientists, doctors, priests and the like. Although they were never completely unchallenged the authority of their knowledge was secure. However it could be argued that at this time people had no way of acquiring the knowledge to know any different and had no reason to challenge the experts. In time however new discoveries in science, medicine, and with new communication technology evolving all the time in all aspects of society, allowed people much more access to alternative knowledge and information. With this new knowledge people began to ask questions and have their say regarding issues of importance to them. Also new experts were emerging all the time to challenge old knowledge systems. ‘Debates that were once confined to a small circle of influential figures and institutions within each of these traditions are now amplified through the enormously expanded means of communication that now exists’ (Goldblatt 2000) It could be fair to argue then that it is not so much that there has been a decline in the trust of experts but that the old and traditional and trusted knowledge systems have become more diverse due to the emerge of alternate forms of knowledge within society, for example, alternative medicine, new political ideologies and so on. Following the 2nd world war feminism had a huge impact for women in all spheres of society. Science, medicine and religion, had largely been dominated by men throughout history. Women had been pretty much excluded from all these dominant knowledge systems. It was men who held superior patriarchy power within all aspects of society. This allows us then to not only question and discuss gendered knowledge but to also look at the interrelation between knowledge and power within these knowledge systems. Lets look at the at a feminist approach adopted by Fox Keller, with relevance to women’s place within medical science. She argues that knowledge production is gendered and shaped by patriarchy within social structures in society. ‘Modern science †¦ is based on a division of emotional and intellectual labour in which objectivity, reason and mind are cast as male and subjectivity, feeling and nature are cast as female. Science involves a radical separation of subject and object and ultimately the domination of mind over nature. The result is a popular conception of science – one that is more suited to men than women’. (Fox Keller). An example of this is the Royal Society founded by Charles II in1662. It was argued that the knowledge produced within this society was because of its ‘gentlemanly origins. They saw the importance of objective knowledge over subjective knowledge within the field of science and medicine. Women’s knowledge at this time was ‘devalued and relegated to folk medicine’ (Thompson and woodward 2000). It was due to the fact that women were excluded from higher education and therefore unable to attend medical universities, hence were unable to enter the medical field without training. ‘Power over Knowledge was used to maintain a structure in which women were systematically excluded from a male medical monopoly’ (Thompson and Woodward) Today however, due largely to the emerge of feminism, women now have equality with men in the medical profession, and other dominant knowledge systems such as religion. As with medicine religion too was dominated by the patriarchy power within society. In fact it wasn’t until 1992 that women were finally accepted into the priesthood. In contemporary society women have challenged the patriarchy of old and traditional religious beliefs in favour of new understanding of religion and what it means for them. Many women now focus on a more spiritual beliefs, one movement dedicated to this is that of eco-feminism. ‘Eco-feminism is a new term for an ancient wisdom. As women in various movements – ecology, peace, feminist and especially health – rediscovered the independence and connectedness of everything, they also discovered what was called spiritual dimension of life – the realization of this interconnectedness was itself sometime called spirituality†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.The desire to recover, to regenerate [this] wisdom as a means to liberate women and nature from patriarchal destruction also motivated this turning towards spirituality.'(Mies and Shiva, 1997, p,500). So it is fair to argue that due to social change brought about by the emerge of feminism women have challenged both gendered knowledge and the power of knowledge in medicine and religion. The rise of Eco-feminism however is just one of the many alternative or new age beliefs within religion today. Which begs the question of religion in contemporary society and whether it is in decline. Or could it be that as with the knowledge system of medicine or expert knowledge in general, religion has become so diverse due to social change and the emerge of alternative religious beliefs brought about because of these changes. Religion has changed significantly throughout history. Following the emerge of the Royal Society and the intellectual movement throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, known as ‘The Age of Reason’, (Enlightenment), it was argued that ‘Science replaced religion as the dominant source of knowledge'(Woodward and Watt 2000) However religion has always played an important role for people within society due to the fact that unlike scientific knowledge it is religion, which helps us make sense of the moral issues that, can affect us in our daily lives. Social scientists debate into the question is religion in decline is known as the secularization thesis. Some argue that it is modernization, which is a threat to traditional religious thinking by citing new age beliefs as being responsible for this. Some argue that people now fill their time with other leisure activities instead. It is also argued that other forms of thought have taken over religion such as science for example. The fact also that the UK is now a multicultural society means there are many diverse forms of religion apart from the church of England. There are two main approaches in this debate positivist, whose approach is based on observing peoples behaviour toward religion. They use quantitative evidence such as questionnaires and surveys, which is argued may be limiting. The interpretative approach however would argue humans cannot be observed in the same way as objects. There aim is understand what religion or people’s beliefs mean to them and aim to explore those meanings from different perspectives. It can be argued that religion in contemporary society has become a significantly diverse knowledge system. Ethnic beliefs, women’s challenge to patriarchal religion and the emerge of new age beliefs, be it alternative medicine or green issues have meant that the traditional Church of England the dominant form of religion any more. So in conclusion then this essay began by defining what is knowledge. It then proceeded by questioning expert knowledge with regard to social change. It then focused on two dominant knowledge systems medicine and religion and discussed how the emerge of feminism challenged the knowledge systems. Lastly it discussed briefly the role of religion in contemporary society and questioned whether it is in decline and the relevance of women’s, ethnic and new age beliefs. It is fair to argue that the discussion in this essay does conclude that there is a significant link, not only between social change and knowledge but knowledge and social change. How to cite How are social change and changes in knowledge linked?, Papers

The Solar System Essay Research Paper Assignment free essay sample

The Solar System Essay, Research Paper Assignment 1: The Solar System The solar system consists of the Sun ; the nine planets, 67 orbiters of the planets and a big figure of little organic structures ( comets and asteroids ) . The inner solar system contains the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars: The planets of the outer solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto: The orbits of the planets are ellipses with the Sun at one focal point, though all except Mercury and Pluto are really about round. The orbits of the planets are all more or less in the same plane ( called the ecliptic and defined by the plane of the Earth # 8217 ; s orbit ) . The ecliptic is inclined merely 7 grades from the plane of the Sun # 8217 ; s equator. Pluto # 8217 ; s orbit deviates the most from the plane of the ecliptic with an disposition of 17 grades. Below you see a diagram that show some comparative information about most of the objects in our Solar System: Diameter ( kilometer ) Moons Surface temp. We will write a custom essay sample on The Solar System Essay Research Paper Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Surface gravitation Axial disposition Axial rotary motion The Sun 1 390 000 # 8211 ; 5800c # 8211 ; 25 # 8211 ; 36 yearss Mercury 4 878 None 350c / -170c 0.38 0 58 yearss Venus 12 104 None 480c 0.9 178 243 yearss The Earth 12 756 1 20c 1 23.4 23h 56m Red planets 6 787 None -23c 0.38 24 24h 37m Jupiter N/A 16 -150c 2.64 3.1 9h 50m Saturn 199 300 18 -180c 1.2 26.7 10h 39m Uranus 51 800 15 -210c 1.2 98 17h 10m Neptune 49 500 8 -220c 1.2 29.5 18h 24m Pluto 2 320 1 N/A 0.04 50 178 old ages The Moon 3 474 # 8211 ; 107c / -153c 0.17 1.5 27 yearss The Sun The Sun is the most of import portion of our solar system. It is the biggest object and does hold about 98 % of the whole mass of the solar system. About 1,3 billion Earths would suit inside the Sun. The Sun travels around the galaxy together with planets and other objects bound to it by gravitative forces. The largest of the organic structures we call planets, most of which are in bend are orbited by smaller Moons or orbiters. These objects, together with many lesser multitudes, are known as the Solar system. The Sun is merely a star, one of a 100 billion populating our galaxy entirely. Bing a star the Sun is an illustration of the cardinal edifice blocks of our existence. It formed, 4.5 billion old ages ago, as the karyon of a cloud of gas which was fall ining under its ain gravitative attractive force. At formation, H was the most abundant gas, as elsewhere in the existence, and accounted for three quarters of the Sun # 8217 ; s original stuff. This will alter as the H is burned, and within the really cardinal parts virtually all the H has been converted to He. The outer parts have non yet taken portion in H combustion. Astronomers have measured the chemical composing of the Sun, and can therefore gauge that of the initial solar nebula from which the Sun and planets formed. In add-on to 78 per centum by weight of H, they find 20 per centum to be helium, while merely 2 per centum remains for other elements such as O, C, N, and Fe. Subsequently, as its H becomes depleted, it will germinate into a elephantine ruddy star, swelling to steep the Earth and the interior planets. The remnant Sun will melt bit by bit to limbo, go throughing through the white midget phase on its manner. Mercury Mercury is named after the courier of the Roman Gods. It is the smallest of the interior planets and the 2nd smallest in the whole Solar System. It has a really weak magnetic field and # 8211 ; being the closest planet to the Sun # 8211 ; has merely a really thin ambiance of He captured from the solar air current. The surface of Mercury is really much like the Moon # 8217 ; s # 8211 ; with craters, mountains and vales. Since there is no signifier of ambiance, life on Mercury is impossible. Nor will at that place be any manned flights in the forseeable hereafter. However, there will be new remote-controlled investigations sent out, if merely to finish the map of the surface. Although Mercury has merely a 3rd the diameter of Earth, its denseness is about the same. This suggests that 65 to 70 per centum of Mercury # 8217 ; s weight is made up of a heavy stuff, likely Fe. This is concentrated in Mercury # 8217 ; s big nucleus. The outer bed is made of sillicate stone similar to the Earth # 8217 ; s mantle. Venus Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love. It is the 2nd planet from the Sun and the brightest object in the sky other than the Sun and the Moon. It was one time believed that life could be in Venus but that has been proved incorrect by assorted investigations. In fact, Venus has the most hostile environment in the full Solar System. The surface temperature is ferociously hot and the atmospheric force per unit area is oppressing. One of the more evident things that separate Venus from all the other planets in our solar system is that it rotates from E to west ( all the other planets rotate from West to east ) . Because of this, Venus is said to be about upside down. Conditionss may hold been better in the yesteryear. In the early phases of the Solar System, the Sun was non every bit bright as it is now and so Venus and the Earth would hold formed likewise. When the Sun became brighter, the Earth was far plenty off to get away serious harm but Venus was non. The surface temperature rose and the oceans dried up. Earth The Earth, the 3rd planet ( stone ) from the Sun, is the largest of the interior planets and besides has the highest denseness. It is the lone planet in the Solar System to be covered mostly with H2O, the lone planet with an ambiance made up chiefly of N and O and the lone organic structure that has a temperature suitable for life of the type that we know. It is besides the lone interior planet with a big Moon # 8211 ; Mercury and Venus have none and the Martian Moons are little. If the conditions on the Earth changed even somewhat, the life as we know it could decease out. The Earth # 8217 ; s rotary motion period is non changeless. It is easy lengthening due to tidal clash between the oceans and the sea floor. This is caused by the influence of the Moon. Our Moon The Moon has fascinated world throughout the ages. By merely sing with the bare oculus, one can spot two major types of terrain: comparatively bright Highlandss and darker fields. Current cognition of the Moon is greater than for any other solar system object except Earth. This lends to a greater apprehension of geologic procedures and farther grasp of the complexness of tellurian planets. The comparatively bright, to a great extent cratered Highlandss are called terrae. The craters and basins in the Highlandss are formed by meteorite. Red planets Red planets is the 4th planet from the Sun and the 7th largest. Mars is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet. The name of the month March derives from Mars. Mars has been known since prehistoric times. Except for Earth, Mars has the minute T extremely varied and interesting terrain of any of the tellurian planets. One being Olympus Mons, the largest mountain in the Solar System lifting 24 kilometer ( 78,000 ft. ) above the environing field. Like Mercury and the Moon, Mars appears to miss active home base tectonics at present ; there is no grounds of recent horizontal gesture of the surface such as the folded mountains so common on Earth. Jupiter Jupiter is named after the male monarch of the Roman Gods. It is the largest planet in the Solar System, the 5th planet from the Sun and the first of the outer planets Jupiter has had a dominant consequence on a big portion of the Solar System. It is likely that Jupiter # 8217 ; s immense gravitation has prevented a planet from organizing in the country now occupied by the Asteroid Belt. Jupiter has a magnetic field 20,000 times stronger than that of the Earth # 8217 ; s, holding a annihilating consequence on its Moons. Saturn Saturn is the 6th planet from the Sun and the 2nd largest: In Roman mythology, Saturn is the God of agribusiness and has been known since prehistoric times. Galileo was the first to detect it with a telescope in 1610 ; he noted its uneven visual aspect but was confused by it. Early observations of Saturn were complicated by the fact that the Earth passes through the plane of Saturn # 8217 ; s rings every few old ages as Saturn moves in its orbit Like Jupiter, Saturn is approximately 75 % H and 25 % He with hints of H2O, methane, ammonium hydroxide and # 8220 ; stone # 8221 ; , similar to the composing of the aboriginal Solar Nebula from which the solar system was formed. Ouranos Uranus is the Forth largest planet in the Solar System and the seventh from the Sun. Named after the male parent of Saturn, Uranus is a bluish green coloring material due to the methane in its ambiance. Its magnetic axis is at 60 grades to its axis of rotary motion. The unusual axial joust may hold been caused by a hit by a big organic structure early in Uranus # 8217 ; life. Scientists must expect a new infinite mission. Uranus is composed chiefly of stone and assorted ices, with merely about 15 % H and a small He ( in contrast to Jupiter and Saturn which are largely hydrogen ) . Neptune Neptune # 8211 ; named after the Roman God of the sea # 8211 ; was discovered utilizing mathematic computations based on the orbit of Uranus. It is the 3rd largest planet in the Solar System and is normally the 2nd last planet in distance. Because of Pluto # 8217 ; s eccentic orbit, Neptune is the last planet for 20 old ages every 247 old ages. Neptune was the last planet until late, when Pluto past it with its orbit and became the last planet once more. Pluto Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930, doing it the last planet found in our Solar System. Pluto is normally further from the Sun so any of the nine planets. Ground-based observations indicate that Pluto # 8217 ; s surface is covered with methane ice and that there is a thin ambiance that might stop dead and fall to the surface as the planet moves off from the Sun. Pluto has one Moon # 8211 ; Charon # 8211 ; its surface composing seems to be different from Pluto # 8217 ; s. The Moon appears to be covered with water-ice instead than methane ice. Its orbit is gravitationally locked with Pluto, so both organic structures ever keep the same hemisphere confronting each other. Asteroids Asteroids are bouldery and metallic objects that orbit the Sun but are excessively little to be considered planets. They are known as minor planets. Asteroids scope in size from Ceres, which has a diameter of about 1000 kilometer, down to the size of pebbles. Sixteen asteroids have a diameter of 240 kilometers or greater. They have been found inside Earth # 8217 ; s orbit to beyond Saturn # 8217 ; s orbit. Most, nevertheless, are contained within a chief belt that exists between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are material left over from the formation of the solar system. One theory suggests that they are the remains of a planet that was destroyed in a monolithic hit long ago. Meteoroids and Meteorites The term meteor comes from the Greek? meteoron? , intending phenomenon in the sky. A meteoroid is matter go arounding around the Sun or any object in interplanetary infinite that is excessively little to be called an asteroid or a comet. A meteorite is a meteoroid that reaches the surface of the Earth without being wholly vaporized. Meteorites have proven hard to sort, but the three broadest groupings are rocky, rocky Fe, and Fe. The most common meteorites are chondrites, which are rocky meteorites. Radiometric dating of chondrites has placed them at the age of 4.55 billion old ages, which is the approximative age of the solar system. Comets Comets are little, delicate, irregularly molded organic structures composed of a mixture of non-volatile grains and frozen gases. They have extremely egg-shaped orbits that conveying them really near to the Sun and swing them profoundly into infinite, frequently beyond the orbit of Pluto. Comet constructions are diverse and really dynamic, but they all develop a environing cloud of diffuse stuff, called a coma, that normally grows in size and brightness as the comet approaches the Sun. As comets approach the Sun they develop tremendous dress suits of aglow stuff that extend for 1000000s of kilometres from the caput, off from the Sun. History Traditionally histories of Astronomy normally begin with the Greeks. The Grecian philosopher Aristotle held that the Earth is fixed at the centre of the existence while Ptolemy based a mathematical theoretical account of the traveling planets in our Solar System. Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1543, published his hypothesis that the Sun is the centre of the existence but since the instruction of Aristotle had been adopted by the church his position was seen as incredible. 1609 A.D. Five old ages after the visual aspect of the great supernova of 1604, Galileo builds his first telescope. He sees the Moons of Jupiter, Saturn # 8217 ; s rings, the stages of Venus, and the stars in the Milky Way. He publishes the intelligence the undermentioned twelvemonth in # 8220 ; The Starry Messinger # 8221 ; . 1665 A.D. At the age of 23, immature Isaac Newton realizes that gravitative force histories for falling organic structures on Earth every bit good as the gesture of the Moon and the planets in orbit. This is a radical measure in the history of idea, as it extends the influence of earthly behaviour to the kingdom of the celestial spheres. One set of Torahs, discovered and tested on our planet, will be seen to regulate the full existence. 1905 A.D. The first of his many seminal parts to twentieth century scientific discipline, relativity recognizes the velocity of visible radiation as the absolute velocity bound in the existence and, as such, unites the antecedently separate constructs of infinite and clip into a incorporate spacetime. Eleven old ages subsequently, his General Theory of Relativity replaces Newton # 8217 ; s theoretical account of gravitation with one in which the gravitative force is interpreted as the response of organic structures to deformations in spacetime which affair itself creates.