Underlying Meanings of Superstitions Essay Example for Free

Underlying Meanings of Superstitions Essay Superstition is thought to be a belief that does not have clear scientific or reasonable evidence to support it. But some superstitions were taught from parents to children orally for a long time. Many superstitions have underlying meanings that contain useful knowledge, so they may be worth telling. One famous Japanese superstition is related to lightning. â€Å"The god of lightning likes humans’ navel, so when you hear thunder, hide your navel in case he steals it.† No one, except some children, believes that literally. Then is it just a silly expression? No, it’s not. I think it is formed for a lazy child who sleeps with their stomach naked. When it thunders, it often starts to rain, and the temperature goes down, so such a child is likely to catch a cold. That is, this phrase teaches lazy children to sleep with their shirt on in case they catch a cold. Another common superstition is â€Å"When removing belly button lint, you will have a stomachache.† This teaches about the stomach. Some studies show that the superstition is wrong, and the black grain is just dirt. It may be told so that children won’t scratch their navel violently. There is little muscle or fat around navel and important organs such as the bowels are just next to thin skin. If a child scratched it violently, a little injury would occur, and various kinds of minor germs would enter their body through the injury. As a result, they would suffer from a stomachache. The superstition may be told to prevent these problems. Finally, the last superstition is a little dirty, but also worthwhile. â€Å"Don’t urinate to earthworm, or your reproductive organ will puff.† I used to urinate on the street; however, I never experienced that my manly symbol puffed. It is also superstition that contains underlying meanings. The purpose of this superstition may be to advise against urinating on the street, because it may cause infection of the various kinds of minor germs, or humans have to express gratitude to earthworm, which gives nutrition to fields. In conclusion, there are a lot of superstitions in the world, but it is wrong to judge them as silly expressions just because they don’t have a clear scientific or reasonable basis. However, they often contain important underlying lessons. They are worthwhile to be taken over to next generation.

Male Reactions to Female Power in Antigone Essay -- Literary Analysis

Western society has a long history of subjugating women to men. Some cite the idea that women are somehow weaker or inferior to men as a reason for the existence of this social dynamic. In Sophocles's Antigone and, Dürrenmatt's The Visit, however, the female leads show great strength and are even able to threaten the male leads with their power. Creon and Alfred Ill's disdainful and oppressive treatment of women stems not from the supposed inferiority of women, but from the theme that man is afraid to lose control. This theme is developed through particular events in the plot: the men begin in positions of power, which are then threatened by the women. Their amateur reactions to the powerful women cause them to lose more control until in the end, they have nothing. Their redemption comes not through defeating the women, but through accepting responsibility for their own actions. To begin with, Creon and Ill have power socially and politically. Creon is the King of Thebes and Ill is the â€Å"most popular personality† (Dürrenmatt 15) of Guellen. Sophocles and Dürrenmatt set the stage by implying that their current situation will last–– â€Å"the gods† (Sophocles 170) themselves appoint Creon as king and the people of Guellen unanimously â€Å"[agree] to nominate† (Dürrenmatt 15) Ill as the mayor's successor. Furthermore, foreshadowing of their actions towards Antigone and Claire appears as approval. The elders of Thebes assure Creon that he has power over the â€Å"living and the dead† (Sophocles 172), justifying his actions towards Polyneices's body and empowering his punishment of Antigone. Ill, on the other hand, represents Guellen's last chance for survival. â€Å"All depends† (Dürrenmatt 14) on Ill's ability to capitalize on his and Claire's ... ...no reason to continue mistreating Antigone and Claire. A series of events catalyzed by powerful women and ending with a tragic loss for the male leads of The Visit and Antigone reveals a reason for the mistreatment of women in western society. Dürrenmatt and Sophocles show that the oppression of women stems from man's fear of losing control. By identifying this fear, the authors underscore the importance of treating women as equals, as the decision of the male leads to blame the women rather than to accept responsibility for their actions is what causes their downfall. Works Cited Dürrenmatt, Friedrich. The Visit: a Tragi-comedy. Trans. Patrick Bowles. New York: Grove, 1982. Sophocles. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles; Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. Trans. Paul Roche. New York: New American Library, 1958.

Equality Act Essay

Learning intentions: Investigating the legislation that protects all groups covered Breaking down the key features of the legislation Assessing the ways in which the legislation addresses their needs Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the legislation To consider how a range of care workers would use anti-discriminatory practise Success Criteria Can I name the legislation that protects all groups covered? Can I explain the key features of this legislation? Can I assess how this legislation meets the client’s needs? Can I evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this act? Research Questions: 1. New definitions of discrimination As well as direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation The Equality Act outlines three new categories of discrimination that certain groups of individuals are protected against. Define the three additional types of discrimination below: 2. Who is protected under the Equality Act (protected characteristics)? a) Age- The Act protects employees of all ages but remains the only protected characteristic that allows employers to justify direct discrimination, i.e. if an employer can demonstrate that to apply different treatment because of someone’s age constitutes a proportionate means of meeting a legitimate aim, then no discrimination will have taken place. The Act continues to allow employers to have a default retirement age of 65, as long as the default retirement age remains. b) Disability- The Act includes a new protection arising from disability and now states that it is unfair to treat a disabled person unfavorably because of something connected with a disability. An example provided is the tendency to make spelling mistakes arising from dyslexia. Also, indirect discrimination now covers disabled people, which mean that a job applicant could claim that a particular rule or requirement disadvantages people with that disability. c) Gender reassignment- It is discriminatory to treat people who propose to start to or have completed a process to change their gender less favorably, for example, because they are absent from work for this reason. d) Marriage and civil partnership- The Act continues to protect employees who are married or in a civil partnership. Single people are however not protected by the legislation against discrimination. e) Pregnancy and maternity- The Act continues to protect women against discrimination because they are pregnant or have given birth. f) Race- The Act continues to protect people against discrimination on the grounds of their race, which includes color, nationality, ethnic or national origin. g) Religion or belief- The Act continues to protect people against discrimination on the grounds of their religion or their belief, including a lack of any belief. h) Sex- The Act continues to protect both men and women against discrimination on the grounds of their sex. i) Sexual orientation- The Act continues to protect bisexual, gay, heterosexual and lesbian people from discrimination on the grounds of their sexual orientation. http://www.fpb.org/hottips/601/The_Equality_Act_2010:_protected_characteristics_and_types_of_discrimination.htm 3. Research examples of discrimination and place them into the chart in the correct place Type of Discrimination Example Direct discrimination For example, when people are treated less favorably than others because they have some ‘irrelevant’ characteristic; i.e., they are from a different ethnic background or belong to a religious minority. Indirect discrimination For example, a dress code that requires women to wear a knee length skirt (which has no direct relation to their ability to carry out their work) could be indirectly discriminatory against women from certain cultural or religious groups. Harassment Victimisation For example, a person is victimized (punished or treated unfairly) because  they have made a complaint, or are believed to have made a complaint, or supported someone who has made a complaint (this is a form of harassment). Discrimination by association For example, refusing to promote a woman who has some caring duties because her mother has recently had a stroke is discrimination arising from association. Perception discrimination For example, a heterosexual man who has a gay friend cannot be discriminated against because someone believes (wrongly) that he is also gay. Third party harassment For example, a waitress of Asian origin has complained on several occasions to her employer that a particular customer has been making racist remarks to her. The employer should take steps to protect the employee from harassment by a third-party, such as banning the customer from the restaurant.

Dna Is The Amazing Structure Known As A Double Helix

Narrative: DNA has the awesome structure known as a double helix. Even though we as people may have the same bases of DNA as a plant or animals, the way the DNA sequences appear, are very different. Both animal and plant DNA are made from the same four chemical building blocks that we have, adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. DNA sequencing is the procedure of determining the ordering of the base pairs in a section of DNA. The way the nucleotides are arranged, and the information they encode, decides whether the organism will produce scales or leaves – legs or a stalk. Every species has a characteristic number of chromosomes, called the chromosome number. Animals have more chromosomes; plants have fewer. There is a process known as DNA fingerprinting, this is the way scientists can determine if the DNA is male or female and even match it to a particular person. One the DNA is obtained it goes through a process. After obtaining the DNA, the DNA gets extracted. The next step is to ad d an enzyme added to the sample, and then it goes through electrophoresis. This process is the movement of charged particles in a fluid or gel under the influence of an electric field. Mitosis is a good representation of what DNA can do when it comes to regrowth or tissues and just growth like people growing. Mitosis is when a single cell divided into two new daughter cells. Sometimes if a problem is not fixed in time and Mitosis starts then there can be problems with the changes in DNAShow MoreRelatedThe Discovery Of The Double Helix And Dna979 Words   |  4 PagesDNA is the central dogma of modern biology, it is present in all living things from bacteria to mammals. DNA carries the genetic information of the organism and is used in processes like mitosis, meiosis and protein production. The reason as to why I chose this topic specifically is because it is central to my favourite aspect of biology, genetics. 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