Domestic Production of Marijuana and the Implications of Legalization Essay Example

Domestic Production of Marijuana and the Implications of Legalization Paper Widespread marijuana production and use, and lately, the calls for its legalization have created a stir in recent years. As such, there are a lot of things we need to know in order to understand this issue. What is the current state of marijuana domestic production? Who are the players in the legalization issue and what are its implications? This paper posits that legalization is being pushed primarily by business wanting a share of the market which is currently dominated by illegal organizations and users who wish to ease the moral and legal restrictions on its use. As such legalization will increase domestic marijuana production. Overview of the Domestic Marijuana Production Current Domestic Marijuana Availability Canabis has earned its status as the most valuable cash crop today. In 2006 alone, the current gross value of the estimated 68. 1 million marijuana plants in the U. S. stood at $35. 8 billion, far exceeding the value of legal, essential crops such as wheat. Outdoor marijuana made up 82. 8% of total production with a corresponding value of $31. 7 billion. Indoor marijuana accounted for 5. 2% pegged at $4. 1 billion (Gettman, 2006). Weed is typically for local consumption but its export is also viable. The annual supply of domestically produced weed is estimated between 8. 7-21. 8 million kilograms, a manifold increase since the 80’s (Gettman, 2006). Marijuana growing has been found everywhere. However, Alabama, California, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia rank as the top ten producers (Gettman, 2006), despite intensive eradication operations by the DEA. Large-scale production outdoors is easy and inexpensive with minimal plant care. We will write a custom essay sample on Domestic Production of Marijuana and the Implications of Legalization specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Domestic Production of Marijuana and the Implications of Legalization specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Domestic Production of Marijuana and the Implications of Legalization specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Radical improvements in quality or potency have been achieved with advancements in technology such as the hydroponic system. As such, potency rates (measured in total plant THC content, the main mind-altering component) can now reach as high as 8. 77% from the 1. 5% average in the ‘70s (NDTA 2008). Local marijuana is expensive compared to other countries. According to one site, the average price for a quarter ounce of weed is $40 for low quality, $50 for medium quality and $80 for high quality and has remained steady for the past years (e-stoned. com). This proves that there is an established consumer base, proof that it is a very lucrative business and tax free too! Current Domestic Marijuana Consumption Among all the available illegal drugs, it is the most commonly used with consumers from all ages, genders, race and economic status (DEA website). However, use is most common among young people with its treatment as a recreational drug. There is no current government data on the actual number of marijuana users but the results of latest DHHS drug use survey show that there were 2. 1 million Americans, mostly minors, who used marijuana for the first time in 2006, a figure that has not changed dramatically since 2002 (NSDUH 2006). An estimate by one group using the current estimated supply and average consumption/user puts the number of American marijuana users at 15 million (NORML. com). This corresponds to 5% of the total population. The Global Youth Network also ranks the U. S. as one of the top 6 marijuana using countries in the world. Who Controls the Domestic Marijuana Production and Distribution? DEA 2008 reports show the involvement of drug trade organizations from Cuba and Asia in marijuana trafficking all over the country and they are now into indoor marijuana production as well, with expansions targeting the northern states. Mexican DTO’s, on the other hand are targeting outdoor marijuana production in the eastern states and marijuana smuggling in the border areas. Although there are freelance dealers who operate small-scale, widely commercial grade marijuana cultivation and sale, the wider, more systematic production and distribution targeting densely populated areas is controlled by drug-trade organizations. In addition, there is also a proliferation of internet pharmacies that offer marijuana (Scott hearing on the DEA’s Regulation of Medicine). Medical or Research Grade Marijuana Legal high potency Cannabis is used for FDA-approved studies or as prescription medicine. Medical marijuana is now legal in 13 states, permitting doctors to prescribe high-potency marijuana to increase the appetite of patients suffering from AIDS, alleviate pain or decrease the pressure in the eyes of glaucoma patients among others. Research grade marijuana cultivation is currently exclusive to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Medical marijuana is produced only after acquisition of a license. In the case of California, which was the first state to legalize, patients/care providers are allowed possession of 6-12 plants or a maximum 8 ounces of dried marijuana (SB 420). Further, possession in excess of this is permissible if prescribed by a doctor. Counties and municipalities can also impose local ordinances that allow possession/cultivation beyond the limits set by state law. Further, the joint efforts at marijuana cultivation by patients/caregivers as well as marijuana dispensaries are also allowed (SB 420). The Legalization of Marijuana In 2001, the U. S. Supreme Court voted unanimously not to allow the use of medical marijuana and the drug remains in the DEA Schedule 1 (DrugFreeAmerica. com). However, states can adopt state-wide laws with regards to Canabis. Of the 13 states that legalized medical marijuana, 6 of them have further adopted decriminalization. There are 6 other states that decriminalized but did not legalize marijuana. Fourteen qualify â€Å"drug use in driving† as a criminal offense while 20 states issue marijuana tax stamps (NORML. com). Legalization efforts range from lobbying for the legal cultivation and use of marijuana for medical and research purposes to its commercial production and distribution alongside other substances like alcohol or tobacco. Subsequently, decriminalization aims to apply the individual freedom of choice and eliminate the penalties for marijuana-related offenses. Lobby work for federal legalization has resulted in H. R. 2592, initiatives and referendum polls in the various states. The Arguments for Legalization and Counterviews The primary arguments for legalization are 1. marijuana has medicinal properties, 2. marijuana will bring in more revenue and save taxes on the federal marijuana eradication drives, 3. marijuana is relatively harmless and 4. legalization will actually decrease marijuana use. That it does have medicinal properties for specific ailments is already proven by initial research and actual practice. That marijuana will contribute to state revenue along with cigarettes is also not debatable. An economist calculated that the state of California can put up $1 billion from taxing a joint for $1, up to $400 million retail sales taxes and save $156 million from law enforcement (CANORML. com). That the federal government has been largely unsuccessful in its well-funded marijuana eradication drives also holds true as indicated in various news reports. That marijuana legalization will actually decrease its use will depend on a lot of factors. It might lessen the number of first time users if we reason that alcohol consumption was at its peak when it was illegal. However, habitual users will continue to be a steady market. Finally, that marijuana is a safer alternative to harder drugs, alcohol or even coffee is relative. Federal government agencies and anti-legalization groups also argue that there are alternative drugs for the same that cause no â€Å"highs†. They also present the immediate and cumulative ill-effects of marijuana while the more liberal call for more extensive research on it for commercial, federally approved medical use. For people who put premium on their health, using marijuana or any other addictive substance for that matter might not be acceptable. The government’s main reasons for not budging on the issue besides citing the health effects of its use include the membership of the U. S. in international treaties banning marijuana (Scott hearing on DEA’s Regulation of Medicine). Some Proponents of Marijuana Legalization There are 2 prominent groups campaigning for legalization. The Marijuana Policy Project is the advocacy arm of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS. org), the first pharmaceutical company aiming to break NIDA’s monopoly over research grade marijuana by funding the construction of a medical marijuana production facility in the University of Massachusetts. This is the first step in a 5-year marijuana drug development study worth $5 million (MAPS. org). The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a non-profit public-interest advocacy group representing the interests of millions of responsible American marijuana smokers, started its advocacy way back in 1970. Working with the NORML Foundation, it currently has community/school chapters in 45 states and in 7 other countries. Active in lobby work and media campaign, it also provides legal assistance to people charged with marijuana offenses. It favors the Democrat campaign as it hopes to have a more favorable response to pro-legalization from Congress. Conclusion Marijuana’s promising medicinal values is a minefield for pharmaceutical companies which would explain their financial involvement in and all-out support for the pro-legalization advocacy. The equally promising possibility of being granted the right to choose to use marijuana without fear of being punished legally and morally anywhere in the country is motivation enough, given the vast number of users. Politicians will also be happy with more taxes and guaranteed votes. Legalization, especially at the federal level, will affect production by stimulating legal private enterprises involved in medical/research grade as well as commercial marijuana production. Canabis will become another profit commodity which does not need much effort in marketing with the intensive campaigning by pro-legalization groups that target recreational users and patients as well. However, the effect of legalization on illegal production remains to be speculated but it will surely lose a portion of the occasional users market to legal marijuana producers. Finally, the greatest challenge and burden will fall on parents and law-enforcement agencies in how they can successfully educate children to prevent future marijuana addiction. For one, legalization makes further access to marijuana a whole lot easier because unlike other drugs that are manufactured in laboratories, this is planted everywhere. References Clint. Marijuana Prices in the USA. Retrieved February 12, 2008 from http://www. e- stoned. com/rec/44-Marijuana-Prices-in-the-USA/ Economics of Canabis Legalization. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from http://www. norml. org/index. cfm? Group_ID=4421 Gettman, John. (2006). Marijuana Production in the United States (2006). Retrieved February 12, 2008 from The Bulletin of Cannabis Reform, http://www. drugscience. org/bcr/index. html National Drug Threat Assessment, 2008. (2007). Retrieved February 12, 2008 from http://149. 101. 1. 32/dea/concern/18862/2008. pdf National Survey on Drug Use and Health. (2006) Retrieved February 12, 2008 from http://www. oas. samhsa. gov/nsduh/2k6nsduh/2k6Results. pdf MAPS DEA Lawsuit. Retrieved from Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Drugs, http://www. maps. org/mmj/DEAlawsuit. html#6 Marijuana Overview. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from the Drug Enforcement Agency, http://149. 101. 1. 32/dea/concern/marijuana. html Medical Excuse Marijuana. (2008) Retrieved from DrugFreeAmerica, http://www. dfaf. org/marijuana/excuse. php Putting a Value on Cannabis. (2008) Retrieved February 12, 2008 from National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, http://www. norml. org/index. cfm? Group_ID=4424 Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from the Office of Applied Studies-SAMSA, http://www. oas. samhsa. gov/nhsda. htm Rep. Robert C. Scott Holds a Hearing on the Drug Enforcement Administrations Regulation of Medicine. Retrieved February 12, 2008 from http://www. maps. org/mmj/dealawsuit_congressional_hearing. html Senate Bill 420. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from http://www. albanyca. org/archive/pdf/022007_8_1_AttF. pdf

How to Structure an AURAP Sample Essay

How to Structure an AURAP Sample EssayAURAP (The American University Professional Application) sample essays are designed for students applying to a university or college. The results of an AURAP sample essay will influence your admission decision. You have to submit the same essay for different applications. This can be helpful when you plan to change your major for better job opportunities.If you have written your own application, you may need to modify your essay for an online application or for a U.S. college entrance exam. The essay test will help the interviewers to determine whether you are qualified for admission. The AURAP sample essays are not sufficient because they are outdated and do not properly reflect your writing style and knowledge.The essay should first explain the background of the applicant's name and the purpose of this application. It should also explain why you are applying for the college. Further, it should show how your personal experience and education hav e impacted your decision to apply for the college.When you are submitting the essay, make sure that it is a reflection of your abilities and interests and it is not biased in favor of any one year unit. If it has been edited by the university or college, take care not to ask for changes in certain dates. To improve your grade point average, revise the essay for the next semester.Also, make sure that you can clearly identify the student's goals and aspirations as well as the importance of the student to the society. It is important to make your essay interesting and unique. Make sure that you identify your preferred college and institution, but do not make it a personal statement. This will save time and effort on your part.The writer's creativity and ability to relate his experiences and build a strong argument should also be given a mention. Make sure that your work follows the existing norms. The essays should address the campus and community and be reflective of the city you inte nd to enroll in. An AURAP sample essay will not give you enough information.AURAP sample essays are not intended to inform you about the requirements of the college or university. They are meant only to let you know what your college requires for admission. With an updated sample essay, you can achieve higher grades and fulfill all the requirements for admission.

Introduction to New England Colonial Architecture

Introduction to New England Colonial Architecture When the British landed on the shores of the New World, they not only brought place names from England (e.g., Portsmouth, Salisbury, Manchester), but the colonists also carried the knowledge of building traditions and architectural styles. The religious separatists we call Pilgrims arrived in 1620, quickly followed by a group of Puritans in 1630, who settled in what became the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Using whatever materials they could find, the immigrants constructed timber-framed houses with steep roofs. Other settlers from Great Britain spread throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, building rustic dwellings like the ones they had known in their homeland. They colonized land that became New England. The earliest dwellings were likely hastily-constructed sheds and cabins - the recreation of the Plymouth Colony shows us this. Then, shoring up against the cold New England winters, colonists built single-story Cape Cod houses with massive chimneys placed at the center. As families grew, some colonists built larger two-story homes, still to be seen in communities like  Strawbery Banke on the New Hampshire coast. Colonists expanded their living space and protected their property with sloping saltbox roof additions, named after the shape of boxes used to store salt. The Daggett Farmhouse, built in Connecticut around 1750, is a good example of the saltbox roof style. Wood was plentiful in the northeastern forests of the New World. The English people who colonized New England grew up with architecture from late medieval and Elizabethan England. The British colonists were not far removed from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and medieval timber-framed houses, and they continued these building practices through the 1600s and well into the 1700s. The 1683 Parson Capen House in Topsfield, Massachusetts is a good example of Elizabethan architecture in New England. Since these simple homes were made of wood, many burned down. Only a few have survived intact, and fewer still have not been remodeled and expanded. New England Colonial Types Styles Architecture in Colonial New England went through many phases and can be known by various names. The style is sometimes called post-medieval, late medieval, or first period English. A New England Colonial home with a sloping, shed-like roof is often called a Saltbox Colonial. The term Garrison Colonial describes a New England Colonial home with a second story that juts out over the lower level. The historic 1720 Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, Connecticut is described as a post-medieval style, because of its second-story overhang, but a later lean-to addition transformed the  Garrison Colonial into one with a saltbox-style roof. It did not take long for colonial styles of architecture to combine to form new designs. Modern Colonials Builders often imitate historic styles. You may have heard words like New England Colonial, Garrison Colonial, or Saltbox Colonial used to describe modern-day homes. Technically, a house built after the American Revolution - after communities were no longer colonies of England - is not colonial. More correctly, these homes of the 19th and 20th centuries are Colonial Revival or Neocolonial. Northern versus Southern Colonial Houses Early New England colonial houses were usually located mostly along the shores of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Remember that Vermont and Maine were not part of the 13 original colonies, although much of the architecture is similar, modified by French influences from the north. Northern colonial homes were wood framed construction, usually the plentiful white pine, with clapboard or shingle siding. Early homes were one story, but as more family arrived from Britain these starter homes became two-stories, often with steep roofs, narrow eaves, and side gables. A large, center fireplace and chimney would heat upstairs and downstairs. Some homes added the luxury of saltbox-shaped lean-to additions, used to keep wood and supplies dry. New England architecture was inspired by the beliefs of the inhabitants, and the Puritans tolerated little exterior ornamentation. The most decorative were the post-medieval styles, where the second story slightly protruded ove r the lower floor and the small casement windows would have diamond-shaped panes. This was the extent of decorative design. Beginning with the Jamestown Colony in 1607, New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies were established up and down the eastern coastline of what would become the United States. Settlers in southern regions such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Virginia also constructed uncomplicated, rectangular homes. However, a Southern Colonial home is often made with brick. Clay was plentiful in many southern regions, which made brick a natural building material for southern colonial homes. Also, homes in the southern colonies often had two chimneys - one on each side - instead of a single massive chimney in the center. Tour New England Colonial Homesteads The New England Colonial home of Rebecca Nurse was built in the 17th century, making this giant red house a true Colonial. Rebecca, her husband, and her children moved here to  Danvers, Massachusetts around 1678. With two rooms on the first floor and two rooms on the second, a large chimney runs through the center of the main house. A kitchen lean-to addition with its own chimney was built in about 1720. Another addition was constructed in 1850. The Rebecca Nurse house has its original floors, walls, and beams. However, like most homes from this period, the house has been extensively restored. The lead restoration architect was Joseph Everett Chandler, who also oversaw the historic restorations at the Paul Revere House in Boston and the House of Seven Gables in Salem. Rebecca West is an interesting figure in American history for being a victim of the Salem Witch Trials- in 1692 she was accused, tried, and executed for practicing witchcraft. Like many historic homes throughout New England, the Rebecca Nurse Homestead is open to the public for tours. Many of New Englands finest colonial homes are open to the public. The Hoxie House in Sandwich, Massachusetts was built in 1675 and is said to be the oldest house still standing on Cape Cod. The Jethro Coffin House, built in 1686, is the oldest house on Nantucket.  The home of author Louisa May Alcott, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, is a good example of farmhouses built between 1690 and 1720. The town of Salem, Massachusetts is a museum itself, with the House of Seven Gables (1668) and the Jonathan Corwin House (1642), also known as the Witch House, being two popular tourist attractions.  A Boston home built in 1680 and once owned by American patriot Paul Revere is a popular post-medieval style to view. Lastly, Plimoth Plantation is the Disney-equivalent of 17th century New England living, as the visitor can experience an entire village of the primitive huts that started it all. Once you get a taste of Colonial American house styles, youll know some of what has made Ame rica strong. COPYRIGHT: The articles you see on these pages are copyrighted. You may link to them, but do not copy them in a blog, web page, or print publication without permission. Sources Architecture of New England and the Southern Colonies by Valerie Ann Polino, http://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1978/4/78.04.03.x.html [accessed July 27, 2017]English Colonial Domestic Architecture of New England by Christine G. H. Franck, https://christinefranck.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/english-colonial-domestic-architecture-of-new-england/ [accessed July 27, 2017]Architectural Style Guide, Historic New England, https://www.historicnewengland.org/preservation/for-homeowners-communities/your-old-or-historic-home/architectural-style-guide/#first-period-post-medieval [accessed July 27, 2017]Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses, 1984Lester Walker. American Shelter: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Home, 1998John Milnes Baker, AIA. American House Styles: A Concise Guide, Norton, 1994Architectural Style Guide, Boston Preservation Alliance, bostonpreservation.org/advocacy/architectural-style-guide.html [accessed July 27, 2017]

Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Letter from Birmingham Jail - Essay Example King wrote a letter in response to criticisms he had received while in prison. He was responding to the critics of nonviolence means and injustices before the law. He addressed his letter to his fellow clergymen who termed his actions as unwise. He said that he was trying to answer their criticisms in realistic terms. His response begins by expressing the reasons for his presence in Birmingham. He added that his presence in Birmingham is because he is invited for organizational ties. He refutes the accusations of his fellows who had argued that he is an outsider in Birmingham. King says that his desire to end injustice like the eighteenth century prophets drove him to Birmingham. King accuses the leaders of criticizing his acts of peaceful demonstrations, yet they could not address the conditions that fuelled the demonstrations.King says that, any nonviolent campaign involves four steps; assembling of facts on the existing injustices, meditation, self- purification and real action. F acts about the situation must be established, and brutality identified. Campaigns require facts, not guesswork and are meant to change the existing conditions of injustice and not personal gain. He argues that Birmingham is the most segregated city in the United States, leading in brutality and unjust treatment of Negroes. He added that the Negro fathers had tried to negotiate with the city leaders who refused to listen to them. The promises made to the clergy leaders by the city fathers were unfulfilled.

Papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Papers - Essay Example The payment gateway used at the time of completion of an online transaction normally involves World Wide Web and some times even wider range of technologies. There are a few transactions for which there is no need of any physical labor like access to premium contents on a web site, being a paid member of some of the web group or library, transferring money from one bank account to another but most of the other transactions include transportation of goods in at least some way. Interesting terms like e-tail or e-tailer are used to define online retailers these days. Almost every bid retailer has a presence on the internet and even the websites comparing prices of same product that available online from different vendors are present for the ease and comfort of the consumer. Referred to as business-to-business or B2B and the other that is conducted between business and a consumer also called Business-to-consumer or B2C. In a B2B, there can be predefined business parties or arbitrary parties involved over the internet whereas B2C is primarily practiced The National Privacy Policy for Australia says that any organization must not collect data until and unless it is important for the smooth functioning of the organization. Ebay appears to be following most of the underlying principles of national privacy policy for the country including Use and Disclosure, Data Quality, Data Security, Access and Correction etc. but I felt that there are a few fields which may not be essential for the smooth functioning of the organization and thus therefore not in accordance with the privacy policy. For example a phone number is one such field that you need to enter while creation of the account on eBay and that you need to verify. If a person chooses not to verify his phone number then he is required to verify his credit card which is even more sensitive

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot Essay Example for Free

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot Essay The Waste Land is a modernist poem by T. S. Eliot caused a sensation when it was published in 1922. It is today the most widely translated and studied English-language poem of the twentieth century. This is perhaps surprising given the poems length and its difficulty, but Eliots vision of modern life as plagued by sordid impulses, widespread apathy, and pervasive soullessness packed a punch when readers first encountered it. Pounds influence on the final version of The Waste Land is significant. At the time of the poems composition, Eliot was ill, struggling to recover from his nervous breakdown and languishing through an unhappy marriage. Pound offered him support and friendship; his belief in and admiration for Eliot were enormous. Pound, like Eliot a crucible of modernism, called for compression, ellipsis, reduction. The poem grew yet more cryptic; references that were previously clear now became more obscure. Explanations were out the window. The result was a more difficult work but arguably a richer one. Eliot did not take all of Pounds notes, but he did follow his friends advice enough to turn his sprawling work into a tight, elliptical, and fragmented piece. Once the poem was completed, Pound lobbied on its behalf, convincing others of its importance. He believed in Eliots genius, and in the impact The Waste Land would have on the literature of its day. That impact ultimately stretched beyond poetry, to novels, painting, music, and all the other arts. John Dos Passoss Manhattan Transfer owes a significant debt to The Waste Land, for example. Eliots take on the modern world profoundly shaped future schools of thought and literature, and his 1922 poem remains a touchstone of the English-language canon. Major Themes Death Two of the poem’s sections â€Å"The Burial of the Dead† and â€Å"Death by Water† refer specifically to this theme. What complicates matters is that death can mean life; in other words, by dying, a being can pave the way for new lives. Eliot asks his friend Stetson: â€Å"That corpse you planted last year in your garden, / Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?† Rebirth The Christ images in the poem, along with the many other religious metaphors,  posit rebirth and resurrection as central themes. The Waste Land lies fallow and the Fisher King is impotent; what is needed is a new beginning. Water, for one, can bring about that rebirth, but it can also destroy.. Hence the prevalence of Grail imagery in the poem; that holy chalice can restore life and wipe the slate clean; likewise, Eliot refers frequently to baptisms and to rivers – both â€Å"life-givers,† in either spiritual or physical ways. The Seasons The Waste Land opens with an invocation of April, â€Å"the cruellest month.† That spring be depicted as cruel is a curious choice on Eliot’s part, but as a paradox it informs the rest of the poem to a great degree. What brings life brings also death; the seasons fluctuate, spinning from one state to another, but, like history, they maintain some sort of stasis; not everything changes. In the end, Eliot’s â€Å"waste land† is almost seasonless: devoid of rain, of propagation, of real change. The world hangs in a perpetual limbo, awaiting the dawn of a new season. Lust Perhaps the most famous episode in The Waste Land involves a female typist’s liaison with a â€Å"carbuncular† man. Eliot depicts the scene as something akin to a rape. This chance sexual encounter carries with it mythological baggage – the violated Philomela, the blind Tiresias who lived for a time as a woman. Love The references to Tristan und Isolde in â€Å"The Burial of the Dead,† to Cleopatra in â€Å"A Game of Chess,† and to the story of Tereus and Philomela suggest that love, in The Waste Land, is often destructive. Tristan and Cleopatra die, while Tereus rapes Philomela, and even the love for the hyacinth girl leads the poet to see and know â€Å"nothing. Water The Waste Land lacks water; water promises rebirth. At the same time, however, water can bring about death. Eliot sees the card of the drowned Phoenician sailor and later titles the fourth section of his poem after Madame Sosostris’ mandate that he fear â€Å"death by water.† When the rain finally arrives at the close of the poem, it does suggest the cleansing of sins, the washing away of misdeeds, and the start of a new future; however,  with it comes thunder, and therefore perhaps lightning. History History, Eliot suggests, is a repeating cycle. When he calls to Stetson, the Punic War stands in for World War I; this substitution is crucial because it is shocking. At the time Eliot wrote The Waste Land, the First World War was definitively a first the Great War for those who had witnessed it. There had been none to compare with it in history. The predominant sensibility was one of profound change; the world had been turned upside down and now, with the rapid progress of technology, the movements of societies, and the radical upheavals in the arts, sciences, and philosophy, the history of mankind had reached a turning point.Eliot’s poem is like a street in Rome or Athens; one layer of history upon another upon another. The five parts of The Waste Land are titled: 1. The Burial of the Dead 2. A Game of Chess 3. The Fire Sermon 4. Death by Water 5. What the Thunder Said - The Waste Land Section I: â€Å"The Burial of the Dead† The first section of The Waste Land takes its title from a line in the Anglican burial service. It is made up of four vignettes, each seemingly from the perspective of a different speaker. The first is an autobiographical snippet from the childhood of an aristocratic woman, in which she recalls sledding and claims that she is German, not Russian. The second section is a prophetic, apocalyptic invitation to journey into a desert waste, where the speaker will show the reader â€Å"something different from either / Your shadow at morning striding behind you / Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; / [He] will show you fear in a handful of dust† (Evelyn Waugh took the title for one of his best-known novels from these lines). The almost threatening prophetic tone is mixed with childhood reminiscences about a â€Å"hyacinth girl† and a nihilistic epiphany the speaker has after an encounter with her. These recollections are filtered through  quotations from Wagner’s operatic version of Tristan und Isolde, an Arthurian tale of adultery and loss. The third episode in this section describes an imaginative tarot reading, in which some of the cards Eliot includes in the reading are not part of an actual tarot deck. The final episode of the section is the most surreal. The speaker walks through a London populated by ghosts of the dead. He confronts a figure with whom he once fought in a battle that seems to conflate the clashes of World War I with the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage (both futile and excessively destructive wars). The speaker asks the ghostly figure, Stetson, about the fate of a corpse planted in his garden. Analysis Eliot’s opening quotation sets the tone for the poem as a whole. Sibyl is a mythological figure who asked Apollo â€Å"for as many years of life as there are grains in a handful of sand† (North, 3). Unfortunately, she did not think to ask for everlasting youth. As a result, she is doomed to decay for years and years, and preserves herself within a jar. Having asked for something akin to eternal life, she finds that what she most wants is death. Death alone offers escape; death alone promises the end, and therefore a new beginning. Eliot’s poem, like the anthropological texts that inspired it, draws on a vast range of sources. Eliot provided copious footnotes with the publication of The Waste Land in book form; these are an excellent source for tracking down the origins of a reference. Many of the references are from the Bible: at the time of the poem’s writing Eliot was just beginning to develop an interest in Christianity that would reach its apex in the Four Quartets. The Waste Land Section II: â€Å"A Game of Chess† This section takes its title from two plays by the early 17th-century playwright Thomas Middleton, in one of which the moves in a game of chess denote stages in a seduction. This section focuses on two opposing scenes,  one of high society and one of the lower classes. The first half of the section portrays a wealthy, highly groomed woman surrounded by exquisite furnishings. As she waits for a lover, her neurotic thoughts become frantic, meaningless cries. Her day culminates with plans for an excursion and a game of chess. The second part of this section shifts to a London barroom, where two women discuss a third woman. Between the bartender’s repeated calls of â€Å"HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME† (the bar is closing for the night) one of the women recounts a conversation with their friend Lil, whose husband has just been discharged from the army. She has chided Lil over her failure to get herself some false teeth, telling her that her husband will seek out the company of other women if she doesn’t improve her appearance. Lil claims that the cause of her ravaged looks is the medication she took to induce an abortion; having nearly died giving birth to her fifth child, she had refused to have another, but her husband â€Å"won’t leave [her] alone. Analysis The first part of the section is largely in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines, or blank verse. As the section proceeds, the lines become increasingly irregular in length and meter, giving the feeling of disintegration, of things falling apart. As the woman of the first half begins to give voice to her paranoid thoughts, things do fall apart, at least formally: We read lines of dialogue, then a snippet from a nonsense song. The second half of the section is a dialogue interrupted by the barman’s refrain. Rather than following an organized structure of rhyme and meter This is perhaps the most poetically experimental section of the entire poem. Eliot is writing in a lower-class vernacular here that resists poetic treatment. This section refutes the prevalent claim that iambic pentameter mirrors normal English speech patterns: Line length and stresses are consistently irregular. The two women of this section of the poem represent the two sides of modern sexuality: while one side of this sexuality is a dry, barren interchange inseparable from neurosis and self-destruction, the other side of this sexuality is a rampant fecundity associated with a lack of culture and rapid aging. The comparison between the two is not meant to suggest equality between them or to propose that the first woman’s exaggerated sense of high culture is in  any way equivalent to the second woman’s lack of it; rather, Eliot means to suggest that neither woman’s form of sexuality is regenerative. The Waste Land Section III: â€Å"The Fire Sermon† The title of this, the longest section of The Waste Land, is taken from a sermon given by Buddha in which he encourages his followers to give up earthly passion (symbolized by fire) and seek freedom from earthly things. A turn away from the earthly does indeed take place in this section, as a series of increasingly debased sexual encounters concludes with a river-song and a religious incantation. The section opens with a desolate riverside scene: Rats and garbage surround the speaker, who is fishing and â€Å"musing on the king my brother’s wreck.† The river-song begins in this section The speaker then proclaims himself to be Tiresias, a figure from classical mythology who has both male and female features (â€Å"Old man with wrinkled female breasts†) and is blind but can â€Å"see† into the future. Tiresias/the speaker observes a young typist, at home for tea, who awaits her lover, a dull and slightly arrogant clerk. The woman allows the clerk to have his way with her, and he leaves victorious. Tiresias, who has â€Å"foresuffered all,† watches the whole thing. After her lover’s departure, the typist thinks only that she’s glad the encounter is done and over. A fisherman’s bar is described, then a beautiful church interior, then the Thames itself. These are among the few moments of tranquillity in the poem, and they seem to represent some sort of simpler alternative. Queen Elizabeth I in an amorous encounter with the Earl of Leicester. The queen seems unmoved by her lover’s declarations, and she thinks only of her â€Å"people humble people who expect / Nothing.† The section then comes to an abrupt end with a few lines from St. Augustine’s Confessions and a vague reference to the Buddha’s Fire Sermon (â€Å"burning† ). Analysis This section of The Waste Land is notable for its inclusion of popular poetic forms, particularly musical ones. The more plot-driven sections are in Eliot’s usual assortment of various line lengths, rhymed at random. â€Å"The Fire Sermon,† however, also includes bits of many musical pieces’ the use of such â€Å"low† forms cuts both ways here: In one sense, it provides a critical  commentary on the episodes described, the cheap sexual encounters shaped by popular culture (the gramophone, the men’s hotel). But Eliot also uses these bits and pieces to create high art, and some of the fragments The opening two stanzas of this section describe the ultimate â€Å"Waste Land† as Eliot sees it. The wasteland is cold, dry, and barren, covered in garbage. Unlike the desert, which at least burns with heat, this place is static, save for a few scurrying rats. Even the river, normally a symbol of renewal, has been reduced to a â€Å"dull canal.† while Buddha can only repeat the word â€Å"burning,† unable to break free of its monotonous fascination. The poem’s next section, which will relate the story of a death without resurrection, exposes the absurdity of these two figures’ faith in external higher powers. That this section ends with only the single word â€Å"burning,† isolated on the page, reveals the futility of all of man’s struggles. The Waste Land Section IV: â€Å"Death by Water† The shortest section of the poem, â€Å"Death by Water† describes a man, Phlebas the Phoenician, who has died, apparently by drowning. In death he has forgotten his worldly cares as the creatures of the sea have picked his body apart. The narrator asks his reader to consider Phlebas and recall his or her own mortality. Analysis While this section appears on the page as a ten-line stanza, in reading, it compresses into eight: four pairs of rhyming couplets. Both visually and audibly, this is one of the most formally organized sections of the poem. It is meant to recall other highly organized forms that often have philosophical or religious import, like aphorisms and parables. The alliteration and the deliberately archaic language (â€Å"o you,† â€Å"a fortnight dead†) also contribute to the serious, didactic feel of this section. The major point of this short section is to rebut ideas of renewal and regeneration. Phlebas just dies; that’s it. Like Stetson’s corpse in the first section, Phlebas’s body yields nothing more than products of decay. However, the section’s meaning is far from flat; indeed, its ironic layering is twofold. The Waste Land Section V: â€Å"What the Thunder Said† The final section of The Waste Land is dramatic in both its imagery and its events. The first half of the section builds to an apocalyptic climax, as suffering people become â€Å"hooded hordes swarming† and the â€Å"unreal† cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna, and London are destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again. A decaying chapel is described, which suggests the chapel in the legend of the Holy Grail. Atop the chapel, a cock crows, and the rains come, relieving the drought and bringing life back to the land. Curiously, no heroic figure has appeared to claim the Grail; the renewal has come seemingly at random, gratuitously. Eliot launches into a meditation on each of these aspects of the thunder’s power. The meditations seem to bring about some sort of reconciliation, as a Fisher King-type figure is shown sitting on the shore preparing to put his lands in order, a sign of his imminent death or at least abdication. The poem ends with a series of disparate fragments from a children’s song. Analysis The final stanzas of The Waste Land once again link Western and Eastern traditions, transporting the reader to the Ganges and the Himalayas, and then returning to the Thames and London Bridge. Eliot’s tactic throughout his poem has been that of eclecticism, of mixing and matching and of diversity, and here this strain reaches a culmination. The relevant Upanishad passage, which Eliot quotes, describes God delivering three groups of followers -– men, demons, and the gods -– the sound â€Å"Da.† The challenge is to pull some meaning out of this apparently meaningless syllable. For men, â€Å"Da† becomes â€Å"Datta,† meaning to give; this order is meant to curb man’s greed. For demons, â€Å"dayadhvam† is the dictum: these cruel and sadistic beings must show compassion and empathy for others. Finally, the gods must learn control – â€Å"damyata† – for they are wild and rebellious. Together, these three orders add up to a consistent moral perspective, composure, generosity, and empathy lying at the core. The initial imagery associated with the apocalypse at this section’s opening is taken from the crucifixion of Christ. Significantly, though, Christ is  not resurrected here: we are told, â€Å"He who was living is now dead.† The rest of the first part, while making reference to contemporary events in Eastern Europe and other more traditional apocalypse narratives, continues to draw on Biblical imagery and symbolism associated with the quest for the Holy Grail. The repetitive language and harsh imagery of this section suggest that the end is perhaps near, that not only will there be no renewal but that there will be no survival either. Cities are destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed, mirroring the cyclical downfall of cultures. The meditations upon the Upanishads give Eliot a chance to test the potential of the modern world. Asking, â€Å"what have we given?† he finds that the only time people give is in the sexual act and that this gift is ultimately evanescent and destructive: He associates it with spider webs and solicitors reading wills. Just as the poem’s speaker fails to find signs of giving, so too does he search in vain for acts of sympathy—the second characteristic of â€Å"what the thunder says†: He recalls individuals so caught up in his or her own fate—each thinking only of the key to his or her own prison—as to be oblivious to anything but â€Å"ethereal rumors† of others. The third idea expressed in the thunder’s speech—that of control—holds the most potential, although it implies a series of domineering relationships and surrenders of the self that, ultimately, are never realized.

Body and Nature as Signifying System in Jane Smileys A Thousand Acres :: Smiley Thousand Acres Essays

Body and Nature as Signifying System in A Thousand Acres The fascinating aspect of theories about the bodies, is that our bodies lie somewhere in the grey area between the physical and the intellectual realm (in itself testifying to the falsity of such dichotomies). On the one hand, they are biological; genetically programmed flesh. On the other, they are continuous sites of signification; embodying (no pun intended) the essentially textual quality of a human subject's identity. A Thousand Acres foregrounds issues raised by the perspective that one's body can be the vehicle for understanding of the self and the world. One of the ways this is done, is a part of a larger project of ecofeminist rhetoric, creating numerous analogies between the body and nature. This is first seen when Ginny utilizes nature by the Scenic. Not only are "the cattails green and fleshy-looking"(7, italics mine), but the natural scene forms a signifying system like her own body, a way to metaphorically internalize the problems of human interaction. Wonderfully incorporated into this is also the intertextual body created by A Thousand Acres and King Lear. In the storm scene, Lear calls Regan and Goneril "those pelican daughters" (III.iv.75, meaning that they feed on the parent's blood). By the Scenic, Ginny sees pelicans reemerging after supposedly being annihilated by her farmer ancestors, foreshadowing the reemerging of her self after a life of suppression. She can read nature like a text about her own suppression and the suppression and hiding of what is actually going on between the characters in this novel: "The view along the Scenic, I thought, taught me a lesson about what is below the level of the visible" (9). Nature, for Ginny, is understood by way of the intertwining of its and her body's past. She "was always aware [...] of the of the water in the soil, the way it travels from particle to particle", an awareness that eventually evolves into an understanding and identification. She reflects upon the millions of years and billions of "leaves, seeds, feathers, scales, flesh, bones, petals, pollen" (131) that constitute the soil they live on. The hope is that this is a large-scale development of corporeal transformation that transcends the petty exploitative farming of a patriarchal society, and that she is a part of it. After all, her body is not only a part of the soil, and vice versa, but of the poisoning of nature: "My inheritance is with me, sitting in my chair. Body and Nature as Signifying System in Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres :: Smiley Thousand Acres Essays Body and Nature as Signifying System in A Thousand Acres The fascinating aspect of theories about the bodies, is that our bodies lie somewhere in the grey area between the physical and the intellectual realm (in itself testifying to the falsity of such dichotomies). On the one hand, they are biological; genetically programmed flesh. On the other, they are continuous sites of signification; embodying (no pun intended) the essentially textual quality of a human subject's identity. A Thousand Acres foregrounds issues raised by the perspective that one's body can be the vehicle for understanding of the self and the world. One of the ways this is done, is a part of a larger project of ecofeminist rhetoric, creating numerous analogies between the body and nature. This is first seen when Ginny utilizes nature by the Scenic. Not only are "the cattails green and fleshy-looking"(7, italics mine), but the natural scene forms a signifying system like her own body, a way to metaphorically internalize the problems of human interaction. Wonderfully incorporated into this is also the intertextual body created by A Thousand Acres and King Lear. In the storm scene, Lear calls Regan and Goneril "those pelican daughters" (III.iv.75, meaning that they feed on the parent's blood). By the Scenic, Ginny sees pelicans reemerging after supposedly being annihilated by her farmer ancestors, foreshadowing the reemerging of her self after a life of suppression. She can read nature like a text about her own suppression and the suppression and hiding of what is actually going on between the characters in this novel: "The view along the Scenic, I thought, taught me a lesson about what is below the level of the visible" (9). Nature, for Ginny, is understood by way of the intertwining of its and her body's past. She "was always aware [...] of the of the water in the soil, the way it travels from particle to particle", an awareness that eventually evolves into an understanding and identification. She reflects upon the millions of years and billions of "leaves, seeds, feathers, scales, flesh, bones, petals, pollen" (131) that constitute the soil they live on. The hope is that this is a large-scale development of corporeal transformation that transcends the petty exploitative farming of a patriarchal society, and that she is a part of it. After all, her body is not only a part of the soil, and vice versa, but of the poisoning of nature: "My inheritance is with me, sitting in my chair.