Chinese Literature Essay Example for Free

Chinese Literature Essay 1. Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) Development of Chinese Writing * Historical record and archaeological evidence are present in this era. * Hieroglyphic writing system later evolved into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters. 2. Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature * The great literary works of philosophy and religion that became the basis for Chinese religious and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and the Warring States Period (475-221). * Taoism, Confucian literature, and other prominent religious and philosophical schools all emerged during these two periods or the so called â€Å"One Hundred Schools of Thought. † * They say that most of the philosophical and religious works of that time were destroyed. If there were great fictional books created, they have been lost. 3. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Literary Disaster and Legalism * A big philosophical and religious school then was called Mohism. * An early form of Buddhism was also established in China at that time. * The emperor wanted to reduce and destroy the â€Å"One Hundred Schools of Thought† * So the â€Å"Book Burning and Burial of Scholars† was a literary disaster. * The Qin Dynasty standardized the written Classical Language. * The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism (æ ³â€¢Ã¥ ® ¶). 4. Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Scientific and Historical Texts * Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. * Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history concerning the overall history of China from before the Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. * The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. * Two or three mathematical texts showing advanced mathematics for the times were written. 5. Tang Dynasty (618-907) Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry * This era’s main contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. 6. Song Dynasty (960-1279) Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics * Has made remarkable scientific and technical advances. * Invention of movable type which helped to spread knowledge since printed material could be published more quickly and cheaply. * Travel literature in which authors wrote about their trips and about various destinations became popular perhaps because the texts could be cheaply bought. * The Confucian Classics were codified and used as test material for the entrance examination into the elite bureaucracy, advanced scientific texts and atlases were published, and important poems were written. * The Five Classics and Four Books were written in the written Classical Language which include: * * Five Classics: * The Book of Changes, * The Classic of Poetry, * The Record of Rites * The Classic of History, and * The Spring and Autumn Annals * Four Books: * The Analects of Confucius * The Doctrine of the Mean * The Great Learning * Analects of Confucius * .Shen Kuo (1031–1095) is said to have discovered the concepts of true north and magnetic declination towards the North Pole * Su Song (1020–1101) wrote a treatise called the Bencao Tujing with information on medicine, botany and zoology. * Song poet named Lu is thought to have written almost 10,000 poems. Su Tungpo is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era. Here is a stanza he wrote: â€Å"The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?† 7. Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Drama and Great Fictional Novels * An era whereof some historically renowned dramatic playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular language. * The Yuan â€Å"Zaju† style of opera was similar to their shadow plays. Perhaps the playwrights adopted the plots and the features. The music of the Zaju operas was called Yuan Qu (Yuan Music). * After the Yuan Dynasty, the operatic style developed into the Painted Faces style of Chinese opera that was popular until modern times. * Guan Hanqing is regarded as one of the best playwrights of the times. He wrote Midsummer Snow that was one of the most popular drama pieces. * The Romance of the Western Chamber was written by Wang Shifu. It is considered one of the best romantic dramas ever written in China. * Novels were another outstanding achievement of the Yuan era. 8. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Novels * The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn Buddhist teachings and bring back scriptures and information. 9. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Novels and Pre-modern Literature * In the 19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the middle of this era, the last of China’s four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber (ç ´â€¦Ã¦ ¨â€œÃ¥ ¤ ¢); and near the end of the era, modernistic literature developed. * Educated Chinese had easier access to foreign literature, and they were more influenced by Western culture. Chinese Literatures 1. Chinese Classical Prose * Prose writing in ancient and pre-modern China differed from poetry in that it was less rigidly structured and wasnt like verses in a song or like one of the common styles of poetry. But compared to English prose, literary prose before the year 1900 was often much more formalized. * Classical prose can be divided into three types called * Piantiwen style or parallel prose style is more formalized style of prose writing * Guwen style is less formal and more ancient style * Vernacular style which is used in operatic dramas and in the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. 2. Chinese Poetry * Poetry has been a favorite literary genre for thousands of years. Poetry isnt taken very seriously in the West, especially in the last two hundred years, but Chinese ancient poetry is still read and ancient Chinese poets are honored. * There are Five Major Kinds of Major Ancient Poetic Styles * Shi è © © poems are composed of couplets. They are poems of two more coupled lines. The two lines of a couplet usually rhyme and match rhythmically and complement each other tonally. Modern Mandarin only has five tones, but ancient languages usually had more, so the tonal rhythms are generally lost. * Ci è ©Å¾ poetry can be described as poems that have patterns of syllables and tonal patterns. In making a Ci poetry, a poet chooses words that fit a specific pattern. These patterns may have once been part of a song. But the music has been lost. There are various patterns that provided affective settings for various effects or moods. * Ge æ ­Å' means song. Ge poems are the words to a song that can be sung. There were folk songs as well as songs composed by the literate and educated composers. * Qu æ› ² is the style of music and song in the operas or Mongol Music. The songs from the operas and popular songs were a poetic style that was also popular in later eras. The poetic style is freer of form. * Fuè ³ ¦ is the fifth major style of poetry . These are descriptive poems that contain both prose and couplets. These were popular about 1,500 years to 2,000 years ago. Often poets included rare or unusual written characters from preceding eras in their poems. * The greatest ancient poets are thought to lived in the Tang, Song, and Han eras. The following were considered to be the exemplary poets: * Du Fu (712-770) liked to write in a structured form of poetry that was called Lu Shi Ã¥ ¾â€¹Ã¨ © © or regulated poetry. He is thought of as one of the greatest realist poets of China. His poems reflect the hard realities of war, people dying next to rich rulers, and primitive rural life. Here is a famous couplet: â€Å"Behind redden doors stink wine and meat; But upon the road die frozen men.† * Li Bai (701-762) liked to write in a free form poetry like that of more ancient times. This kind of poetry was called Gu Shi (Ã¥  ¤Ã¨ © ©). He wrote about places he visited and things he saw. He is described as a romantic poet. * Su Tungpo (1037-1101) is also called Su Shi. He is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era (960-1127). More than 2,000 of his poems survive. Here is a stanza he wrote: â€Å"The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?† 3. Chinese Scientific Texts * Chinese science texts give an idea of the state of knowledge in the dynastic eras. During several eras,Chinese scientists and inventors led the world in various fields. * Suan Shu Shu (Computation and Numbers Book). It shows how to solve arithmetic problems that officials or people doing business face. * Jiuzhang Suanshu (Nine Chapter Computation Book). The book features basic algebra such as finding cube roots and square roots. Negative numbers are also used. * Zhoubi Suan Jing (The Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon and the Circular Paths of Heaven) about astronomical problems. It is said text has a mathematical proof for the Gougu Theorem (å‹ ¾Ã¨â€š ¡Ã¥ ®Å¡Ã§ â€ ; a2 + b2 = c2) that is known as the Pythagorean Theorem in the West. A method of determining the distance of the sun from the earth by using a right angled triangle is described. * The second period of rapid scientific and technological advancement was the Song era. Two men in particular stand out: Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and Su Song (1020–1101) both wrote scientific treatises about their research and about various fields. 4. Chinas Classic Novels * Four long fictional novels are usually thought to be the best novels in Chinese literature. And the following two novels set a standard for classical literary works. * The Romance of the Three Kingdoms The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a semi-historical work said to be written by Luo Guan Zhong. It is historical fiction about the lives and struggles of rulers and the wars at the end of the Han Dynasty and in the Three Kingdoms Period. The novel describes the machinations, court intrigues, and the shifting alliances of the three kingdoms that emerged from the Han Empire. * Water Margin Water Margin is about the lives and ideals of a group of characters who fought against the corrupt Song Dynasty that the Mongols conquered. It is said it was written in vernacular language by Shi Nai An. The setting of the novel is during the Northern Song Dynasty era before the northern part of the Song Empire was overrun by a northern tribe and before the Mongols conquered the whole area. Water Margin is reminiscent of the story of Robin Hood. Likewise, there may have been actual outlaws, and popular legends and stories later grew. But Water Margin is probably more fictional and less historically accurate than The Romance of the Three Kingdoms * The other two novels. * Journey to the West The long tale about a fantastic journey to the west of a group that went to India was written at a time that the Silk Road land routes were blocked by Mongol and Muslim countries. Perhaps one of the reasons the novel was popular was that people during the Ming era wanted to travel to the west, but they couldn’t. The latter Ming Dynasty was isolationist. In the novel, a great intelligent monkey and a small band of characters protects a defenseless monk during his journey. Buddha commissioned the monk to help India that had fallen into gross sin and immorality. The monkey and other characters have magical skills. Journey to the West is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Chengen in the 16th century though scholars have doubt about the authorship. * The Dream of the Red Chamber The fourth major novel that made an impact on Chinese history and literature is The Dream of the Red Chamber. It was the last of the Four Classic Novels to be written. It is about the fortunes and lives of the people of two branches of a clan in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) era. The two families had adjacent compounds. It is appreciated because it gives a view into the lives of two ruling families of that time. One of the members of the clan was made a concubine of an emperor. But then the imperial court turned against the two families.

Treatment and Quality of Life of Heart Failure Patients

Treatment and Quality of Life of Heart Failure Patients Compliance to treatment and quality of life of Sudanese patients with heart failure Mugahed AL-khadhera,*,Imad Fadl-Elmulab ,Waled Amen Mohammed Ahmedc Abstract Background: Heart failure is known to decrease the quality of life, especially in non-compliance patients with regards to medications and life style changes. Objective: The present study aimed to determine the level of compliance to treatment and quality of life of Sudanese patients with heart failure. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 76 patients with heart failure admitted to the Sudan Heart Institute. Demographic and clinical data including the compliance (medication, sodium restriction, fluid restriction, daily weights, exercises, and appointment-keeping) were collected. The quality of life was measured using the Minnesota living with heart failure Questionnaire. The data were collected from all patients and the analyzed using SPSS version 22 software. Results: Heart failure patients showed low compliance ranged between 11.84% and 75% of which the highest compliance was to medication (75%) followed by the follow-up appointments (71.05%), and the lowest compliances were to the fluids restrictions (11.84%), the weight monitoring (17.10%), regular exercise (21.05%), and the sodium restriction (27.6%). Quality of life score ranged between 62-97 score and the Mean (SD) 83.6 (7.82) which reveled of poor quality of life in most of Sudanese patients with heart failure involved in the present study. Conclusion: The study showed that patients with heart failure in Sudan have low compliance to treatment and poor quality of life. Key words Heart Failure, Treatment Compliance, Quality of life, Sudan Introduction: Heart failure incidence increases with age, increase from approximately 20 per 1000 individuals with age 65 to 69-year-old to more than 80 per 1000 individuals aging 85-year-old (1). In fact few epidemiological data on heart failure in Sudan exists and the recognition of the disease as a major health issue remains questionable, the prevalent of heart failure accounts for 2.5% of the population, and hence it is one of the major causes of hospital mortality (2). The WHO defined adherence as extent a person’s behavior –taking drugs, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle modifications, follow the agreed recommendations from a health care providers (3). Poor compliance â€Å"noncompliance† usually refers to patients’ failure to follow health interventions as recommended by the health care provider, but it can also refer to the providers’ failure to act according to practice guidelines or standards of care(4). The factors affecting the compliance could be divided into patient-related factors, regimen-related factors, and health care providers-related factors (5). Non-compliance to medications and diet contributes in many cases to worsening heart failure symptoms. The compliance to prescribe medications or other caregivers recommendations such as lifestyle changes is a widely acknowledged problem leading to hospitalization ((6-8). The non-compliance of HF patients is a major problem and remains to be a continuous source of concern for patients. It is mainly for diet and fluid, daily weight and exercises (9). Quality of life (QOL) is defined as the individual’s unique cognition and a way to express feelings about his/her health status(10).Moreover, QOL is a good predictor of mortality and the need for hospitalization (11-13). Patients in class II and III heart failure of New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification cannot normally do their daily activities (9). Although, several studies on compliance of HF patients and their quality of life have been performed worldwide, to our knowledge this is the first ever study conducted in Sudanese HF patients, aimed to assess the compliance to treatment and quality of life in Sudanese patients with heart failure. Materials and Methods This descriptive study was conducted on 76 patients with heart failure admitted to the Sudan Heart Institute. A total of 76 Sudanese HF patients were randomly selected from Sudan Heart Institute in Khartoum, January-March 2014. The patients participated were above 20 years, confirmed diagnosed as heart failure by the cardiologist at least a month, already start HF treatment, in class II or III heart failure of NYHA, and with ability to communicate. The questionnaire consists of 36 questions of which 10 for demographic and clinical data, 5 questions for compliance, and 21 questions for quality of life. Demographic and clinical data were collected from medical records and/or by interviews. The demographic data included age, gender, educational level, and marital status, whereas clinical variables include left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), previous hospitalization in the past three months, and duration of HF. Revised HF Compliance Questionnaire was used (14), on a five-point scale (1=‘never’; 2= seldom; 3= half of the time; 4 =mostly; 5=‘always’) (15). the participant’s compliance to medications, diet, fluid restriction, exercise, weight, and appointment keeping was evaluated by asking patients to rate their compliance of the last week (drugs, diet modifications, fluid restriction, and exercises), the last month (daily weighing), and the last 3 months (appointment keeping) before hospitalization. The patients were divided into two groups; either compliant or noncompliant (16-19). Patients were considered ‘overall compliant’ the compliance with four or more of the six recommendations.(20) (Table 2). The quality of life data were collected and measured using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire after translated to Arabic language (9). This instrument used most widely to evaluate quality of life in research studies (21-24) .Which Contains 21 questions and overall score of 105 (521) with possible answers ranging from 0 (no) to 5 (very much), (0= no; 1= Very Little ; 2= little: 3= moderate; 4= much; 5= very much). The final score is the sum points obtained for the 21 questions; it can therefore vary between 0 and 105. It evaluates how heart failure affects patients ‘physical (8 questions), emotional (5 questions), and socioeconomic (8 questions) dimensions (25). The sum of responses reflects the overall effects of heart failure and treatments on individual’s quality of life (9). Data was presented using descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean with standard deviation (SD) and P-value of ≠¤0.05 was considered statistically significant for relationship investigations. Ethical approval was obtained from Al Neelain Ethical committee at Al Neelain University. All patients signed an informed consent before participate in the study. Results The study showed that out the 76 patients, 63.2% were male and 36.8% were female; the mean age was 61.4  ±13.5 years. The education levels were 34.2% of patients were illiterate, 32.9% had completed primary school, 19.7% secondary school, and 13.2% had university graduation (Table 1). Although the vast majority of the patients were chronic patients with diagnosis for more than 5 years, the participant ask to define what is the heart failure? Only 24% had basic conscious about their disease, the remaining 76% of patients had no idea what the heart failure is. Overall compliance among the patients was 28.95%, whereas 71.5% of the patients were classified as non-compliant. Of those compliance with medication was 75% and 70% compliance with appointment-keeping. In general most patients showed low compliance with diet restriction (27%), exercise (21%), weighing (17%), and fluid restriction (11%) (Table2). The quality of life data showed that poor quality of life, the score ranged from 62-97 score /105, and the Mean (SD) quality of life was 3.2 (1.3) which reveled of poor quality of life in most of Sudanese patients with heart failure involved in the present study .There is statistically significant in compliance and quality of life (p value= 0.002) in compression with patients who is noncompliant. Also statistically significant with improved NYHA classification, LVEF and quality of life (pTable 3). (Table.1): Demographic and clinical variables of the study population (n=76) in Sudan. (Table.2) Compliance (Medications, diet, Fluid restriction, Exercise, weight, and appointments keeping) in Sudan. (Table.3) Quality of life of heart failure patients in Sudan (N=76) Discussion The patients’ compliance in this study ranged between 11.84% and 75% of the patients. Although the differences in measurement instruments and differences in interventions, the result of the this study showed low compliance compared with other previous studies including knowledge of the patients about their illness, the hazard of high salt consumption, and the daily weighing. Study done by Baghianimoghadam MH, et al, reported that the disease knowledge in Iranian patients reached 38% (26), whereas our result showed that 76% of HF Sudanese Patients lack essential knowledge of their disease or what the heart failure is. According to definition of ‘overall compliance (16).The overall patients’ compliance of the present study was 28% compared with the study conducted by van der wal in which the overall compliance reached 72% of patients with HF(16). In the same study compliance with medication (98.6%), appointment keeping, salt restriction (79%), fluid restriction (73%), exercise (39%), and weighing (35%) where all higher compared with the results of the present study(16). Also the compliance level of present study is lower than Evangelista study which found higher levels of compliance more than 90% for (follow-up appointments, medications, smoking, and alcohol cessation), low compliance dietary 71% and exercise recommendations 53% (17). Medicati on compliance in the present study result is similar to the study done by kamlovi yayhd which found 74.7% that compliance to medication (27). This may be a reflection of lack of knowledge and training programs offered to HF patients in Sudan. The Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire (MLWHFQ) showed that poor quality of life, the score ranged between 62-97 score /105, and the Mean (SD) quality of life was 83.6 (7.82) which reveled of poor quality of life in most of Sudanese patients with heart failure involved in the present study . It was also found that no correlation between age and quality of life (p value =0.925) ,this similar to study done by Kato N,et al (28), some studies found association between age and quality of life (29). We did not observe sex differences in quality of life ( p value =0.99 ), which similar to study done by Heo S, et al 2007 (29). But other studies have reported quality of life worse in female (30;31). Also we found marital status had no influence on QOL in our subjects (p value =0.34) , it is lower to study done by Luttik ML, which found differences in QoL between married patients and those living alone were most pronounced with regard to future expectations of QoL (6.5 vs 5.0, P=.00 (32). Our study shows there is statistically significant in duration of disease with QOL (p value =0.004), Also statistically significant with improved NYHA classification, LVEF and Quality of life (p In this study, the researcher found that total compliance was poor for HF Sudanese patients, compliance for drugs and appointments keeping were high but still in an unacceptable level. Compliance with diet, fluid restriction, activity and daily weighing was low. Also the study revealed that non-compliance negatively affects the quality of life of Sudanese HF patients. Based on result of present study, education and counseling are extremely needed to increased patients-knowledge about their disease, leading to more compliance and improvement of their quality of life.

Motif of Play in John Updikes A&P Essay -- John Updike A&P

The Motif of Play in A & P  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the short story "A & P" the author, John Updike, uses the motif of play as one of the main means by which he develops the character of Sammy, the nineteen-year-old narrator and protagonist of the story. In his many and varied references to play, Sammy reveals, along with his obvious immaturity, his rich imagination and potential for possible growth. The story takes place in the summertime of 1960 on a Thursday afternoon. Sammy is employed at the A & P grocery store located in the middle of a town north of Boston, about five miles from the beach. Along with Sammy, the other characters involved in this story are three girls shopping in the A & P in their bathing suits, whom Sammy names Plaid, Queenie and Big Tall Goony-Goony; Stokesie, Sammy's married co-worker; and Lengel, the A & P manager. "A & P" is told from Sammy's point of view. Sammy presents himself as a nonchalant and flippant young man. He appears to be somewhat contemptuous of the older people shopping in the store. However, near the end of the story, we see that he does take responsibility for his conscience-driven behavior and decision, revealing his passage out of adolescence into adulthood through the courage of his convictions. We see Sammy's immaturity at its worst with his snide labeling of the customers in the A & P. An example of this occurs when he calls one lady "a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows" (p.33). Sammy places the blame on her for his mistake at the cash register. He claims she would have been burned at the stake in Salem if she had been alive then. In another instance, he refers to the housewives shopping as "houseslaves in pin curlers" (p.34). He seems to be fo... ...gives him some insight into his future. As he is walking away from the A & P he sees "Lengel in [his] place in the slot, checking the sheep through. His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he'd just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter" (p.37). Sammy begins his transition from adolescence into adulthood here. He realizes that if he stays at the A & P he may end up like Lengel or the other sheep. He wants more out of life and his fantasy about being Queenie's "unsuspected hero" (p.36) allows him to escape. Sammy comes to the conclusion that life is not going to be easy and he is going to make decisions for himself that the people around him will not necessarily support. Work Cited Updike, John. "A & P." Literature (4th ed). Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998.

Thoughts :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The strange thing that happened to Tolstoy was that he was overcome with perplexity and an arrest of life. He said it was if he didn’t know how to live or what to do. Eventually they went away but then those moments came back oftener and oftener. The arrests of life always appeared in the question: Why? Well, and Then. I think that the perplexity Tolstoy is evoking in the phrase, â€Å"Why? Well, and Then?† deals with his thoughts about life and death. The why part deals why he should do anything in life. He talks about his son’s education and why he should be involved with it. If he can’t think of why he should be involved with it he cannot be a part of it. I think the well has to do with when he finally figures out why he is doing something he needs to find the best way to do it. The then is when Tolstoy does something; he needs to know what is going to happen when he is done. Tolstoy says without answering these questions he could not live.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tolstoy feels like someone has played a mean trick on him by creating him. He believed that someone is having fun looking down upon Tolstoy and his life. Tolstoy felt this way because he couldn’t think of one single act in his whole life that meant anything to him or anybody. He thought that all of his accomplishments would be forgotten. He thought his life was a big deception. Tolstoy also believed that he had learned, developed and fully grown in his body and mind. He knew that the, potentially, best part of his live was in front of him and he thought there was nothing in life for him now and there never would be. Tolstoy believes that the â€Å"cruel truth† of life is that most people see the bad in things and forget about the good. In the Eastern story about the traveler, the man is absolutely going to die. If he should fall down the well a dragon will eat him. If he climbs out of the well the infuriated beast will kill him. He is hanging by a branch that two mice are nibbling away at. He knows he is going to die. Then he sees some drops of honey on the leaves of a bush. He licks the honey off the branch and it gives him no pleasure.

Joseph :: essays research papers

Joseph Joseph was born in the royal line of King David, but in his time the descendents of David no longer held power or wealth. He left his ancestral home of Bethlehem in Judea to become a builder and carpenter in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. There he met Mary and became engaged to her. When she became pregnant before their marriage, he was uncertain as to what he should do. He finally decided to break off the engagement in accordance to the Law; but do to so quietly, so that she would not be subjected to charges of adultery and quite possibly a death sentence. However, an angel appeared to him in a dream and explained to him that God Himself was the father of Mary's child, and that Joseph should not be afraid to marry her. Joseph accepted the angel's message and the will of God and married Mary. After Mary's son was born, Joseph named him Jesus, as he and Mary had been told by the angel. He raised Jesus as his own son, and likely trained him in carpentry. The Gospels make no mention of Joseph during Jesus' adulthood, and so it is likely that he died before Jesus' ministry began. By marrying Mary, despite her pregnancy, and by accepting and naming Jesus, Joseph became Jesus' father in the eyes of the Law; and by raising Jesus and caring for Him, he became his father in all ways but one. Therefore, while God is truly the Father of Jesus, Joseph can also be called His father. The Gospels call Joseph a "just" and "righteous" man, and his righteousness can be shown in his acceptance of God's will, despite inconvenience and public scandal; the care he showed to his wife and Son; and his

Medical Assistant Ethics

There are numerous ethical issues that a medical assistant may encounter in a daily office or hospital setting. It is unethical to have a conversation with a fellow coworker regarding a patient. The patient may overhear or worse they may be related to someone in the office. It is no one’s business as to why the patient had an appointment. Another unethical behavior that is unacceptable is foul language in front of the patients. They do not need to hear that kind of language under any circumstances. When a patient comes in to see you and smells of urine or alcohol, be courteous to the patient and do not judge the patient. This patient may not have the means to shower daily or they may be sick and are unaware of the odor. A good thing to remember when dealing with an ethical issue is always do the right thing at the right time and it will never become an issue. Medical Assistants need to put themselves into the shoes of the patient. They need to ask themselves, how would I want to be treated? How would I like to be recognized in the eyes of the health care worker? How would I want my family treated? In doing this little experiment on a daily basis they will come to realize that we all are human and need to be treated equally, no matter what the situation may be. The general skills of a Medical Assistant consist of basic customer service. They must be able to communicate between the doctors and the patients. They need to do this within the legal and ethical boundaries. Document every conversation because if it is not documented then the conversation never happened. Educate the patient within the scope of practice. Let the patient know of community resources for future reference of patients’ needs. Operational functions are also a part of the daily duties of a Medical Assistant. Performing inventory of supplies and equipment so items can be replenished. Doing these functions will always help in maintaining the highest quality of care for the patient. Clinical skills of the CMA of general patient care to make them as comfortable as possible. Many diagnostic procedures are required of the CMA; from collecting specimens to performing radiology tests. Fundamental principles consisting of sterilizing rooms and equipment are skills that a CMA will do daily. Doing these clinical skills while practicing standard precautions must be a high priority for everyone in the health care facility. Administrative skills are essential for a CMA to do the job that is required of them. It is all done via computer so there typing skills must be adequate for them to succeed. From patient schedules to bookkeeping to insurance forms, all is done on a daily basis. Licensure is when a government agency authorizes individuals to work in a job. A CMA does not need a license to work. Professions needing licenses are nurses and therapists. Registration is a professional organization in a specific health care field that administers exams and/or maintains a list of qualified individuals. CMA’s can apply for a registration credential. This would give them a better paying job and more responsibilities at their present facility. Certification involves the issuing of a certificate and credentials by a professional organization to someone who has met the experience and education guidelines of that organization. This basically tells everyone that you have finished your schooling for Medical Assisting. For a Medical Assistant to maintain his/her certification they must recertify either by passing the CMA exam again or by receiving sixty recertification points, thirty of which must be AAMA approved CEU’s. The points must be as follows 10 administrative, 10 clinical, 10 general and 30 from any combination of the above three categories. You must also submit proof (photocopy of the card and length of program) of current, provider level CPR certification. Continuing education units (CEU’s) can be received by reading online books and taking a test when finished. The AAMA sponsors many workshops, seminars, and county, state, and national conferences for MA’s to remain current in their field and earn the CEU’s. For the safety of the patient and employee, an MA should never perform any tasks that are outside the scope of the MA practice. Outside the scope of a Medical Assistant’s practice would be suturing a wound, administering a pap test for a female patient, or possibly giving the patient the diagnosis of the symptoms they are experiencing. A physician should never delegate the full range of physical therapy to anyone other than a physical therapist. Under no circumstances should the Medical Assistant do any duties that are outside their scope of practice. If I were approached by my supervisor to perform outside of my scope of practice, I would calmly and rationally refuse the request. I do not feel that any job is worth losing if you are asked to perform it wrong. I would explain to my supervisor politely that I am not qualified to perform the task asked and I would suggest someone else in the facility that is capable. I would let them know I would be willing to help out with any other task that is within my scope of practice. In order to find the article listed, I went to google. com and found an article from AAMA website on scope of practice act for Wisconsin. You can also go to AAMA website. Click on site map. Go to CMA today and scroll down. Click on Public Affairs Articles. Scroll down until you see the article found on google. If I were approached by a patient or a fellow coworker and referred to as a nurse, I would explain to them that I am a Medical Assistant and explain some of my job functions. I would let them know that there is a big difference and the title does need to be corrected. I would let them know that if I were to acknowledge the comment of being called a nurse, I could lose my job as well as my career. They may not understand that it is a very serious offense. I would explain them that the actual nurses would not be able to be titled as a doctor so the same holds true for me. When a medical assistant misrepresents herself/himself, they are in fact making the entire profession look bad in the eyes of the patient. The disciplinary results that could happen to the medical assistant are far greater than the prestige of stating you are who you are not. State disciplinary actions can result in fines and other criminal penalties. All office personnel should avoid referring to the medical assistant as a nurse also not just the patient. The doctor can also lose his career and/or a fine. I could lose my certification also.

Explain how the part of Macbeth should be played to show Essay

Explain how the part of Macbeth should be played to show how he reacts to events and how his relationship with Lady Macbeth develops in this scene. Act two scene two is very significant to the play, as this is where the tragedy of Macbeth really begins. Up until then, Macbeth can still change his mind, but after this scene there is no going back for either him or Lady Macbeth. It marks the point when Macbeth changes from a national hero, loyal to his King and country, into a liar, a murderer and a traitor who embarks on a course of evil that will eventually cause his death. All of this takes place because of ambition, both his own and Lady Macbeth’s. The scene is highly dramatic and full of tension, and although we do not actually witness the murder of King Duncan, it has to be the most violent and intense part of the play. This is the first of many murders to come, and we can only guess that Shakespeare chose to have Macbeth kill Duncan offstage to increase the tension by letting the audience use their imagination to supply the bloody details. The story so far is that Macbeth and Banquo, co-leaders of the Scottish army, whilst returning from a successful battle, are met by three â€Å"weird sisters†. These sisters, who would definitely have been thought of as witches by Jacobean audiences, give several prophecies in the form of riddles, predicting that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and later King. Macbeth recoils at this news, and it could be interpreted that this is because he has already a great ambition to become King, and hearing the witches voice aloud what he has been pondering shocks him. They tell Banquo that he will not be King, but that his children will be Kings in the future. They also predict that he will be â€Å"lesser than Macbeth and greater, not so happy and yet much happier†. Later, Macbeth finds that he has been made Thane of Cawdor and because of this, begins to seriously consider the possibility of becoming King. When Duncan names his son Malcolm as heir to the throne, Macbeth’s hopes are dashed. He sees Malcolm as â€Å"A step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies.† Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband telling her of the prophecies and his new title. She is determined to help him become King, and when he returns home, she persuades him to kill Duncan, who will be staying with them overnight. Macbeth later chickens out, and so Lady Macbeth agrees to do it. Why then, at the start of the scene do we see Lady Macbeth waiting for her husband to return from killing the King? This would have confused the audience greatly, and increased the tension in the scene. The scene takes place at night, with the darkness representing what is unnatural, cruel, and evil. The curtains would open on Lady Macbeth, standing outside in the courtyard, anxiously pacing up and down carrying a candle. The only other light would be a thin beam of pale blue moonlight. Light represents good, and the light from the candle would show hope, the small chance that Macbeth could still go back and change his mind. There would be lots of shadows cast around the stage, and at the start of the scene, Lady Macbeth would emerge from the darkness in order to represent her guilt. There would also be fleeting silhouettes of birds and animals glimpsed, making Lady Macbeth jump, illustrating her paranoia that they will be caught. These animals could be familiars of the witches, which would show their supernatural influence over everything evil. There shouldn’t be any sound; the theatre should be deathly quiet in order to create the atmosphere of tension in the castle, as the Macbeths would be terrified of someone awakening. By now, the audience would be on the edge of their seats wondering if Macbeth will actually have the nerve to murder his own King. In the audiences view at the time, after committing treason, anything else would be a lesser sin. This was because Jacobeans believed that the whole universe had an order to it, decided by God. Anything unnatural was against this divine order. Kings were second only to God, so a crime against a King would have been a crime against God. Satan had rebelled against God directly, so therefore, he was responsible through witches and evil spirits etc., for all attacks on this divine order. As Lady Macbeth paces about in a nervous state, awaiting Macbeth’s return, she reveals that she has drugged the guards’ hot drinks. She doesn’t know if what she has given them will kill them, and she remarks that they are on the borders of life and death, that death and nature are locked in a battle over them. She should speak in a confident voice as she says that she has been â€Å"made bold† by â€Å"that which hath make them drunk†, meaning alcohol has steadied her nerves. However, all this confidence is shattered when an owl shrieks, and Lady Macbeth jumps, shouting â€Å"Hark! Peace!† Her relief should be visible when she realises what made the noise, and she goes on to make a sinister comparison between the owl and the â€Å"Fatal bellman† who was paid to ring a bell outside the condemned cell of Newgate prison in London at midnight before an execution. On the last line of her speech, on the word â€Å"die†, we would hear the wind blow and Lady Macbeth’s candle would extinguish. This is the actual moment of Duncan’s murder, and the candle going out represents the end of all hope that Macbeth will change his mind. We would hear loud footsteps, and then a nervous, fearful voice exclaim â€Å"Who’s there? What ho?† The person speaking should not be visible to either Lady Macbeth or the audience, making the tension of the scene come to a climax. Lady Macbeth, on hearing this voice, should start frantically looking around and walk even faster, shaking her hands in a state of sheer panic. Her voice should be trembling as she goes over the preparations she had made to ensure that everything would go according to plan. She had laid the daggers ready, so how could Macbeth have missed them? She is sure that they will be caught because Macbeth has botched the murder up in some way. This shows that she already distrusts him, and that cracks in their relationship are now beginning to form. She tries to justify her reasons for not killing Duncan herself as she had promised, saying, † Had he not resembled my Father as he slept, I had done’t† This means that she couldn’t bring herself to kill Duncan, because he looked so much like her own Father as he slept. The audience has now been provided with an answer as to why it is Macbeth who kills Duncan, and not her. It also shows Lady Macbeth’s true character, and that she doesn’t really know herself as well as she thought she did. She had thought that she would be able to steel herself to do what was needed by â€Å"unsexing† herself, and â€Å"replacing her milk with bitterness†. Unfortunately for her, when it came to the crunch, she couldn’t do it. This small reminder of Lady Macbeth’s humanity helps us to empathize more with what happens to her later on in the play. When Macbeth enters, she should run up to him with relief. Macbeth however, should turn away from her and stare into space with his hands trembling. His voice should be full of horror as he chokes out â€Å"I have†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..† and then he should pause, as if to search for a word to describe the unspeakable crime that he has committed. He finally comes up with â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦done the deed.†, a euphemism, as he can’t actually bring himself to say that he has killed the King. Here, the audience would share in Macbeth’s complete horror at his crime. Then, he should come out of his trance, turn to Lady Macbeth, and grab her shoulder roughly with one hand as he asks her urgently if she heard a noise. Their next few lines are syncopated and monosyllabic, and should be said with highly charged emotion and edgy nervousness. As they say them, they should move closer together and hold each other, as though giving each other support, but they should not look at each other. Instead, they should be frantically looking around into the shadows, paranoid that they will be caught. The fact that Macbeth still holds the daggers intensifies the uneasiness felt in the scene. His hands are covered in blood, making the drama explosive. When Macbeth sees the blood on his hands as he points toward the second chamber, he should shudder as he says â€Å"This is a sorry sight†. His voice should be full of remorse for what he has done, and he should hang his head with shame and regret. His hands should be shaking. Lady Macbeth tries to reassure him, saying, â€Å"A foolish thought to say a sorry sight†. This should be said in a falsely bright tone of voice, as if to say â€Å"Look this is what we wanted, now you can fulfil your dream of becoming King.† However, Macbeth pays her no attention, as thoughts of the murder plague his mind. He should appear transfixed, and very troubled by his actions, as he stares back into space, and tells himself more than Lady Macbeth, about the two people who woke up and prayed, while he was walking past their door. As he says these lines, he should raise his voice, and begin to talk frantically, ignoring Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, while he is doing this, should be worried about someone hearing him, and anxiously trying to shut him up. She should be following him around the stage, but not looking at him. She should be more preoccupied with looking around into the shadows, anxious about getting caught. Macbeth should shout the words â€Å"hangman’s hands† in horror, and look at his hands, which should now be shaking uncontrollably. He should say the words â€Å"but wherefore could I not pronounce ‘Amen’?† quieter and pleadingly, and fall to his knees in anguish. He should be nearly in tears as he says the next lines â€Å"I had most need of blessing and ‘Amen’ stuck in my throat† , meaning that he would need a blessing for what he was about to do, but he obviously was not given one as he could not pronounce the word â€Å"Amen†. He has now realised that he is damned to Hell for the terrible crime he has committed. Lady Macbeth should not go to her husband as she says â€Å"These deeds must not be thought of after these ways; so, it will make us mad.† She is trying more to convince herself than Macbeth, and these lines are ironic as later on in the play it is her who goes mad and eventually commits suicide. Macbeth’s nervous ramblings are full of guilt and remorse as he uses several metaphors for sleep, and realises that he will never again sleep peacefully because of what he has done. He likens sleep to the main course of a meal, the â€Å"chief nourisher in life’s feast†, and says that sleep is â€Å"the death of each day’s life†, meaning that after having slept, we are reborn each day and can make a new start. The mysterious voice he thought he heard may have been his own guilty conscience, but the words it spoke may also have been another of the witches chilling prophecies. â€Å"Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more†. This makes the audience think once more about the theme of the supernatural depicted throughout the play, and lighting or sounds could be used to convey this, such as a witches cackle after Macbeth has said this line, or a silhouette of the witches gathered around a c auldron could be flashed quickly across the stage. With these words about hearing a voice, Lady Macbeth should turn quickly to Macbeth and say the line â€Å"What do you mean† sharply. She thinks he means that someone saw him and knows what he did. Her voice should be on edge and harsh. Macbeth can’t seem to hear her and just ignores her, saying his next lines in a demented tone of voice, still on his knees. Lady Macbeth should then drag him to his feet and shout at him â€Å"Who was it that thus cried?† urgently. Then, realising that it wasn’t a real voice, and remembering that they don’t want to get caught, quietly tries to get him back on track, and firmly tells him to get some water and â€Å"wash this filthy witness from your hand†. As she looks at his hand, she should grab it with a disgusted facial expression. Then it should change to a look of shock, as she sees the daggers, now together in his other hand, and says, in a quivering voice â€Å"Why did you bring these daggers from the place?† The daggers are a visual reminder of what they have done, and Lady Macbeth should close her eyes and swallow after saying this, as if to try and rid herself of a mental picture of what the bloody scene would look like. Then she should get herself together, as she tells Macbeth to return the daggers to the murder scene and smear the King’s grooms with blood. She should say this firmly, but in a voice that shows she can’t believe that Macbeth would be so stupid as to bring the daggers away with him. Macbeth should shout, â€Å"I’ll go no more† desperately, then should say his next lines quieter, in horror and again nearly in tears. Lady Macbeth is really annoyed with Macbeth when she says â€Å"Infirm of purpose† but she should say it in an angry loud whisper instead of shouting, as if to remind him that they need to be quiet so they don’t get caught. Then she should turn away and muster up her courage before saying, â€Å"Give me the daggers† in a resigned tone of voice. She should turn to him and try to take them, but she would have to force them from him, as Macbeth would be gripping them tightly. When she gets them, she should pause, and then say as if to herself â€Å"The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.† This means that there is no reason to be afraid of a dead body, because it is only a representation of a living person and it can’t hurt you. It’s like a picture of something scary like the devil. Only children should be afraid of a picture of the devil. She is again trying to convince herself more than her husband when she says this and is trying to steel her nerves to visit the scene. She should look back at Macbeth and say her next lines overconfidently, as if she is trying to prove that she is not afraid, when in fact she is. As she exits she should have her back to the audience so they cannot see her face but her shudder should be visible as she carries the daggers to Duncan’s room. Macbeth should hardly notice his wife’s exit as he is too caught up in his guilt and depression. When the tension is increased yet again by the sudden loud knocking on the door, he should jump up in alarm. He should shout his line â€Å"Whence is that knocking?† in a petrified voice with an unnerved look in his eyes. Then he should fall to his knees and cover his face distraughtly with his hands, as he says â€Å"How is’t with me, when every noise appals me?† When he sees his bloody hands, he should pull them away, jump to his feet and shout his next line, â€Å"What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes.† He should close his eyes as he says it, and hold his hands out in front of him in desperation, as if when he opens his eyes the blood will be gone, and it will all have been a dream. We should be able to see his self-hatred as he continues with his nervous ramblings and puts his head down in misery. As he says â€Å"This my hand† he should speak in a disbelieving tone of voice, that says he can’t believe it really is his hand th at killed Duncan. When Lady Macbeth re-enters, she should walk slowly with her head down and she should speak sadly. As she hears the knocking she should jump, and then get moving to get rid of the evidence. In her highly nervous state, she is aware that it is still possible that their acts may be discovered. She says â€Å"A little water clears us of this deed† which is a direct contrast with what Macbeth said earlier, about a whole ocean not being enough to clear the blood from his hands. She speaks again in a falsely bright tone, but also anxiously, as she is trying to hurry while washing her hands. When we see what happens later on in the story, we see the irony in these lines as it is her who sleepwalks in the night, washing her hands over and over, reliving this night in an attempt to cleanse herself of the guilt. With the repetition of the knocks, Lady Macbeth becomes more and more agitated and she should speak in a very highly pitched and nervous voice. However, she still manages to keep her head and tries to speed up Macbeth, who appears to be losing his mind. She tries to usher her disturbed husband to their chamber, where they can rid themselves of the signs of their guilt, but he is still in turmoil over the events of the night and keeps staring into space. In the end, she literally has to drag him off stage. As Macbeth says his final line, he should turn to the direction from which the sound of the knocking is coming and shout in utter despair â€Å"Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst.† His remorse is now at it’s peak, and as the scene ends, the audience would probably be speechless. This scene is definitely pivotal to the story of Macbeth, as everything else that happens throughout the entire play seems to be a result of, or revolve around this particular scene. Not only is it important because it contains the first murderous act, but it also conveys to the audience the beginning of the rapid disintegration of the relationship between the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Their relationship changes in this scene from a trusting one in which both considered each other equal, into one where they lie to each other and neither of them involves the other in their actions. All of the themes of the play are illustrated in this single scene; treason, the supernatural, ambition, light vs. dark, and good vs. evil, and this also shows just how important the scene is. It provides the events on which the whole play is based and after it has taken place, nothing is the same.