Gender and Sexuality in “Twelfth Night” and “The Merchant of Venice” Essay

â€Å"Twelfth Night† and â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† are two of William Shakespeare’s comedies which are famous for their theme of sexuality and cross-dressing characters. â€Å"Twelfth Night† tells the story of a young woman named Viola who pretends to be a man to be able to find work in the household of the Duke of Illyria. On the other hand, â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† is a story of a merchant named Antonio who helps his friend Bassanio to win the hands of his love, Portia, by allowing Bassanio to loan money from Shylock and to make Antonio his loan guarantor. These two Shakespearean comedies similarly contain scenes where a woman cross-dresses as a man to achieve a particular goal. In â€Å"Twelfth Night,† Viola pretends to be a man named Cesario to able to get a job under Duke Ullyria, while in â€Å"The Merchant of Venice,† Portia and Nerissa dress as men to prevent Shylock from taking a pound of Antonio’s flesh. The cross-dressing of the characters, therefore, reveals a theme of sexuality in the plays. Another aspect in the plays that discloses the theme of sexuality is the concept of close friendships or attraction between the same-sex characters in the stories such as Antonio and Bassanio in â€Å"The Merchant of Venice,† Olivia and Viola (pretending to be Cesario), Antonio and Sebastian, and Duke Orsino and Cesario (finally revealed as Viola) in â€Å"Twelfth Night.† These complicated relationships in the stories show the complexity of sexuality and gender in relation to the attraction, whether physical or emotional, felt by the characters towards the other. With the characters cross-dressing, Shakespeare reveals the nature of sexuality in an obscure light. Brief Summary of â€Å"Twelfth Night† William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Twelfth Night† starts with a scene where the Duke Orsino of the kingdom of Illyria hangs around with music in the background as he thinks about his love for the beautiful Lady Olivia. Unfortunately, Olivia does not return his love because she is still in the midst of mourning for her brother who has died a long time ago. She rejects suitors and does not entertain marriage proposals. Unknown to these two characters, a young woman and survivor of a shipwreck with the name of Viola lands in the shore of Illyria. Unfamiliar with the place, she wonders if her twin brother Sebastian has died in the shipwreck. Upon hearing the story of Orsino and Olivia from a captain, she decides to work for Olivia in the meantime. However, upon finding out that Olivia does not entertain any strangers, she resorts to working for the Duke instead. This is where the pretension as a man starts. Viola begins dressing as a man with a new identity as Cesario. Duke Orsino immediately approves of Cesario and hires her as his messenger. The conflict of the story now arises as Viola begins to fall in love with the Duke who thinks she is a man, and he later asks Cesario to send his love letters to Olivia who, also believing that she is man, immediately falls for Cesario. In the end, all is revealed when Cesario and Duke Orsino arrive in Olivia’s house. Olivia greets Cesario with warmth believing her to be her new husband Sebastian, who was rescued by Antonio from the shipwreck. Witnessing this, Duke Orsino feels betrayed, but when the real Sebastian appears in the scene everyone realizes the truth of Viola and Sebastian’s personality. Duke Orsino proposes marriage to Viola upon finding out that he is truly in love with her, and Sir Toby and Maria also privately marry. The play ends with Malvolio being freed and feeling defeated. Sexuality and Gender in â€Å"Twelfth Night† â€Å"Twelfth Night† embodies a great deal of issues with regard to sexuality regardless of whether it is homosexuality or heterosexuality. Shakespeare has clearly illustrated the ambiguity of the nature of gender and sexuality. The issue of sexuality is evident as characters of the story have their own love interests. Firstly, Orsino’s love for Olivia is described by Cesario to be â€Å"With adorations, fertile tears, / With groans that thunder love, with sighs of fire† (1.5.238-239). Cesario’s line evidently depicts a passionate feeling which is intensified more by the use of words such as â€Å"adoration†, â€Å"groans†, â€Å"thunder† and â€Å"fire†. This choice of words obviously demonstrates an immense imagery of sexuality. It is also clear that Viola (as Cesario) has fallen in love with the Duke Orsino. She proclaims her misery in â€Å"wooing† his lady when in fact, she wishes to be his wife. â€Å"To woo your lady. Yet, a barful strife! / Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife† (1.4.41-42). The concept of hasty attractions between characters is always present in Shakespearean plays. In â€Å"Twelfth Night†, Viola quickly falls in love with the duke, Olivia also hastily becomes attracted to Cesario despite the fact the she has just met him, and Orsino swiftly switches his feelings from Olivia to Viola as soon as he finds out that Cesario is actually a woman. The notion of physical attraction to the opposite clearly demonstrates the concept of sexuality as the characters have not even spent enough time with each other to dismiss their feelings to be of love already. It is most likely to be feelings of lust as the characters would often refer to the physical attributes of the person first every time they ponder about love such as Olivia’s lines â€Å"I’ll be sworn thou art: / Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit,† (1.5.273-274) The fact that Olivia also feels an attraction towards Cesario opens the issue of lesbianism as the audience all know that Cesario is Viola pretending to be a man. Her final monologue upon the departure of Cesario from Olivia’s house reveals her attraction towards the young and handsome messenger. â€Å"I’ll be sworn thou art: / Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit, / Do give thee five-fold blazon. Not too fast: soft! soft!† (1.5.273-275). She is easily drawn to the sentimentality of Cesario’s idea when he declares that if he is the one courting Olivia and not his master, he would stay outside her gates and cry out his love for her until she takes pity on him. Viola’s assurance to Olivia as Cesario also reveals a somewhat obvious attraction of Cesario to Olivia. By delivering those lines, despite the fact the Cesario is a woman, shows that Cesario does believe that Lady Olivia is attractive and beautiful. â€Å"’Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white / Nature’s own sweet and cunning hand laid on.† (1.5.222-223). He could not have delivered it so effectively without imagining Olivia to whom he is referring. Scholars agree that the concept of cross-dressing in Shakespeare’s plays illustrates the possibility of lessening conflicts between homosexuality and heterosexuality. â€Å"Perhaps, the cross-dressed heroines of ‘Twelfth Night or As You Like it offer a symbolic way in which the conflict between male-male friendships and heterosexual marriage can be reconciled† (Smith 147). Cleary, in Olivia’s case of falling for Cesario, she fell in love not only for his handsome appearance but also because he has the sincerity that a woman needs from a lover. Obviously, Orsino does not possess them as he makes no risky effort to prove his love to Olivia. All he does is merely whine and complain about how his love is unrequited. Another part in the story that engages in the theme of sexuality is the seemingly homosexual love of Antonio to Sebastian. After rescuing Sebastian from the shipwreck, Antonio goes with him wherever he decides to go. He even goes as far as accompanying him to Illyria where he has many enemies. â€Å"I have many enemies in Orsino’s court, / come what may, I do adore thee so / That danger shall seem sport, and I will go† (2.1.35-6). According to Smith, The word ‘adore’ is a strong one: â€Å"where it’s used elsewhere by Shakespeare, it tends to refer either to the love of mortals for gods, or for an exalted form of romantic courtship† (148). Antonio also entrusts his purse to Sebastian as they part, which reveals his genuine affection for Sebastian. This gesture clearly describes Antonio’s unrequited homosexual love for Sebastian. At the end of â€Å"Twelfth Night,† Duke Orsino still accepts Viola even after discovering that she has fooled him to believe that she was a man. Surprisingly, Orsino tells her that he actually loves her. â€Å"Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou shall never shouldst love woman like to me† (5.1.259-260). It is noticeable that despite his confession of love to her, he still refers to him as â€Å"Boy,† which is an indication that he still sees her as Cesario. It can be dismissed that the Duke’s feelings towards Olivia and Viola may be just physical because he is easy to switch his feelings of love from Olivia to Viola. According to the book, A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works, â€Å"[i]n Twelfth night, embodied sexuality appears to be less important than clothing in establishing gendered identity† (Rackin 123). Brief Summary of â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† is the story of Antonio, a Venetian merchant, who encounters a predicament when Bassanio borrowed a big amount of money from him so he could afford to travel to Belmont and win the hand of Portia. Antonio replies that he cannot lend him any money because he has already invested them on his trade ships, but he assures Bassanio that he could lend from any money lending investor and refer to him as a complete guarantor. The two men approach Shylock, a Jewish money lender who secretly despises Antonio for humiliating him numerous times in the past. He agrees to lend money to Bassanio under the condition that if Antonio fails to pay the debt, he is entitled to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio. They closed the deal. Fortunately, Bassanio is able to win Portia’s hand despite the complexity of her dead father’s will but when he finds out that Antonio’s trade ships have been reported missing, he goes back to Venice to help his friend out. With the help of the Duke of Venice and his hired attorney, Balthasar, who is in fact Portia pretending to be a man, try to convince Shylock to negotiate and just take double of the money that he has loaned to Bassanio. Shylock refuses to hear it and insists that he cuts a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Balthasar agrees by also adding that Shylock must cut the flesh without causing it to bleed or else all his properties would be confiscated. Unable to protest any longer, Shylock surrenders and agrees to take the money from Bassanio. He is then prosecuted for attempting to kill a citizen, so half of his properties must go to the government and the other half to Antonio. In the end, Bassanio and Graziano thank Balthasar and his assistant, who is actually Graziano’s wife Nerissa, by offering presents to them. Balthasar demands to have his ring to which Bassanio hesitates but later gives. Upon returning to Belmont, Portia and Nerissa confront and accuse their husband of infidelity because of the ring that they promised never to give under any circumstances. After a short while of arguments, they reconcile by revealing their true identities in the case of Shylock and Antonio. Sexuality and Gender in â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† Similar to â€Å"Twelfth Night†, â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† also includes a scene where a woman dresses as a man to accomplish a goal that would later benefit the protagonists at the end of the story. In this case, Portia is the woman character who pretends to be a male attorney to rescue Antonio from being cut by the vengeful Shylock. By using her wits and intelligence, she is able to notice a lapse in the earlier contract that the two men have agreed upon which leads to the successful negotiation of Shylock by just taking the money instead of taking a pound of Antonio’s flesh. In this regard, the empowerment of the female sexuality is insinuated by means of giving Portia authority in the case. The concept of feminism is clear in this play as female sexuality is deemed to be more empowered in the story than the male sexuality. Cross-dressing obviously plays a large role in symbolizing sexuality and gender in the play. â€Å"Shakespeare uses Portia’s disguise to highlight the struggle between heterosexual love and homosexual love found within the love triangle consisting of Portia, Bassanio, and Antonio† (eNotes.com). In the first part of the story, we witness Antonio’s unexplainable sadness, and when Bassanio arrives, he immediately asks him of his lady-love. This can be an indication that Antonio feels some kind of affection for Bassanio and it might be the reason why he cannot explain his own sadness. It is also apparent that upon Bassanio’s arrival, Antonio is very interested in finding out about Bassanio’s new love. Antonio’s reference to Basssanio as, â€Å"My purse, my person, my extremest means, / Lie all unlock’d to your occasions† (1.1.138-139), reveals an indication that there is more to Antonio’s brotherly feelings towards Bassanio. It is also clear that Antonio has lent Bassanio a big amount of money before and it is not the first time that Bassanio asks a big favor from him. This gesture of eminent closeness between two male friends demonstrates an implicit depth of relationship which is more than friendship. The pound of flesh can be a symbol of sexuality in the play. Flesh clearly symbolizes the lust of the flesh, and even though there is no direct evidence that Shylock is homosexual, it can be regarded that the symbolism of flesh refers to the other characters in the story. Clearly, there are a number of couples in the story such as Portia and Bassanio, Jessica and Lorenzo, and Nerissa and Graziano. This could be a reference that they are examples of people who lust after flesh because of their quick engagements despite the short span of time that they have known each other. It is also apparent that love in this play is much more associated with the hasty physical attraction rather than the concept of extensive courting and getting-to-know-each-other stage. The fact that Portia’s dead father prefers to have a groom for her who can luckily choose the right casket reveals that the present society of the play does not give much importance to feelings but more on practicality. The concept of patriarchal authority is also apparent in the plot of the play as symbolized by Portia’s father’s will. The will represents the authority that her father still has over her decisions despite the fact that he is already dead. The will, therefore, holds the remaining power of her father which clearly reveals a society where men rule. According the play’s guide, â€Å"The plot parallels and contrasts the rivalry between Portia and Antonio in the main plot and highlights the ‘conflict between male friendship and marriage’ which runs throughout [Shakespeare’s] works† (Janik 186). Clearly, in this play, Portia seems to be the hindrance between Antonio and Bassanio’s friendship. However, in the end, she proves to be the one with the authority, as she disguises herself as a man of law to save Antonio. Thus, Portia’s female sexuality becomes more authoritative in the play because she is able to resolve the problem that neither Antonio nor the Duke of Venice can resolve. Conclusion â€Å"Twelfth Night† and â€Å"The Merchant of Venice† encompass a complex plot of mistaken identities and deliberate cross-dressing. The fact that the female characters ultimately save the men from their miseries in the end proves that these Shakespearean plays also include the concept of feminism. However, the theme of sexuality is more focused on the relationships between the heterosexual major characters, while the implicit concept of homosexuality is ambiguous in the male-male friendships. Nevertheless, these two Shakespearean works still embody a story that modern readers could still relate to as the theme of sexuality is continuously present in our society. Works Cited Janik, Vicki K. The Merchant of Venice: A Guide to the Play. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. Rackin, Phyllis. â€Å"Shakespeare’s Crossdressing Comedies.† A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works. Eds. Richard Dutton and Jean Elizabeth Howard. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford: Barron’s Educational Series, 2001. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night: Or, What You Will. Ed. Cedric Thomas Watts. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 1992 Smith, Emma. The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2007.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Merchant of Venice (Vol. 40): Introduction.† Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Dana Ramel Barnes. Vol. 40. Gale Cengage, 2006. eNotes.com. 12 Mar 2009

International Student Identity Essay

Identity is sort of behaviour that can be symbolized by individual or communities by showing how they interact to each other and how they represent their culture of origin. These essay will discuss and analyse some theories of indentity through culture and languange views and then show the reader how these lense might influence international student identity. The structure of essay will be organised as follows; First of all, introduction will explain an overview of it. This is followed by describing the theory of identity. The next section is about discussion of identity by using culture and language focuses. Furthermore, writer will explain the impact of new culture and language to international student’s current and future experience. Finally, a conslusion paragraph will be the final section of the essay. What is Identity? In last three decades, the theory of identity evolves continously. According to Borowski (1976, 501), identity does not have a definite concept. Many scholars explore what identity is. For example, in his paper, Burke and Reitzes (1981) summarise the work of McCall and Simmons (1966), Stryker (1968), and Burke and Tully (1977) to divide the concept of identity in three unique characteristics that are, identities are produced by society, identities are personal sense, and identities are spontaneous and representational character. This distinctive feature is obtained by an individual throughout childhood period to become his/her fundamental character (Sokefeld et. al. 1999, 2). Later on, Fearon (1999, 4) broadly explains that identity of a person can be defined as social identity (a person is recognised by â€Å"rules deciding membership and performed characteristic features or attributes†) and personal category (special feature, might be permanent, that make a person is looked important by society). Furthermore, Hall (1990, 222) argues that the theories of identity keep to be produced, â€Å"which is never complete, always in process and always constituted within, not outside, representation† In addition, there are still challenges to identity theory to have obvious meanings that related to self and society (Stryker and Burke 2000, 284). Culture Identity According to archaeological term (SAA 2008), culture means â€Å"a set of learned beliefs, values and behaviours the way of life shared by the members of a society. † It is performed because there is relationship between each of members (Ferdman 1990, 186). They usually gather in a group of society. For example, if some Javanese people (one of Indonesian ethnics) live outside of Indonesia, they tend to live in a place where other Javanese live. They interact with each other and applying Javanese’s values that they have before. These dispositions maintain and develop their values and applying it in their daily living. Other people who are not a member of that society might look this mind-set as culture identity of that society. In addition, Hall (1990, 229) argues that cultural identities are the special character that emerge from history and culture. For instance, culture identities of England and Ireland are quite same, because they have similar history and culture. Cultural identity represents individual or group’s behaviour. According to Kochman (1987, 220 cited in Ferdman 1990, 190), cultural identity can be represented by ethnic and indirect link between an individual and the group. It has main value that the beliefs and act becomes a symbol of the group, and the member realise that he/she has direct relationship with the most important and unique part of their culture (Smolic 1981, 75-77 cited in Ferdman 1990, 190) . This value is simple, however its â€Å"malleability, imprecision, and multivocality†, make cultural identity become complicated (Cohen 1993, 202). Furthermore, it can be influenced by anything because of cultural identity is unstable (Hall 1990, 229). Language Identity Language is generally used when people interact to each other. Yihong et. al. (2005, 39) state that language is not just to communicate, but It associated with culture which create one’s self-identity. Moreover, it represents the identity of a society (Miller 2000, 69). For example, International students from Indonesia, Middle East countries, or China, will speak by using their native language when they interact to student from same country. Indonesian language, Arabic language, Mandarin or Cantonese languages are their identity. People might know who they are by listening to their conversation. Language and identity can not be separated. Scholars argue that language use and identity is inherent with social practices and membership (Miller 2000, 69). He also affirms that self-representation is a product of language use and identity (Miller 2000, 69). How person speaks, what type of vocabularies, represent the identity of the speaker. For instance, a truck driver will not use same language as a Professor use, and a postgraduate student has different style of language that high school student does. Even though they have same mother tongue, such as English, they speak differently because they come from different society. Their identity shows what and how they differ. International Student Identity People who pursue their study to overseas’ university will have new identity as international student. They become member of student society. During study, each individual enacts its duty as student (Fearon 1999, 19). A student can be seen by another member of society as college student, or the other way around. Furthermore, he or she may establish a self-identity embedded with academic consequences (Reitzes and Burke 1982 cited in Reitzes and Burke 1991, 243). By representing their new identity, they should study hard, submit the assignment on time, do some examinations, interact to other students and lecturer, and so on. Being international student in Australia, a person who comes from country which has different culture and language use will do some adjustments related with culture and language. He or she should accustom with Australian or western culture, and using English language more frequent. These adjustments may be done to make his or her study successful and to make their live during here easy. For instance, using English language to communicate to another student from different country and lecturer or tutor is a must; otherwise he or she can not interact. Another illustration is when he or she has group assignment which requires working with Australian student or western countries’ student. Possibly, Australian people is very common with assertive behaviour (Putnis and Petelin 2007, 3. 3), which can annoy him or her. Instead of the study group is unsuccessful, acceptation to this behaviour should be considered, since it has positive impact to the group. Postgraduate student identity It is very interesting for me to deal with new culture. I have to make a lot of adjustments while I am here. For example, I should say â€Å"thank you† to the bus driver to show my politeness and appreciation. It might be sort of Australian culture which is unusual attitude in my country. Another case is about calling a lecturer or someone who has higher position than me just by mentioning his or her first name. For the first time, it is so unfamiliar for me, because in Indonesia, I have to call them by saying ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’ before their name. In spite of the example above, I am very surprised to know that drinking alcohol and get drunk is frequently done by most of Australian people. They always do this thing every week end. Using English as new constraint language in the university is a remarkable thing for me. All things that related with my study are in English. At the beginning, it is quite difficult for me to be used to English language, because English is not my first or second language. However, I must try hard to improve my English, by speaking and interacting more often with other native or international student. After all, now I feel my self-representation changes. According to (Yihong et. al. 2005, 39-40), I am in the level of â€Å"self confidence change and additive change. â€Å" As a postgraduate student, to establish reading habit and critical thinking are also new culture for me. To do my assignment well, all problems should be keen evaluated and analytically critiqued (Atkinson and Longman 2003 cited in Davies and Maldoni). They also suggest that critical thinking can be established by doing a lot of reading. For example, I need to read a lot of references to support my opinion in a discussion essay. Impact to my future There are many Australian cultures which can influence my self identity. However, I have to sort whether it will be positive or negatif impact for me. For the negatif one, such as drinking alcohol habit, I will not allow my self to be influenced by that thing. On the other hand, assertive behaviour and the way how Australian people appreciate someone else will give the positive impact for me. In the future, my self will be more assertive and will appreciate people more. Another good impact for me is high level of English proficiency. Practising english everyday will make non-native speaker highly confident (Yihong et. al. 2005, 39-40). Conclusion The concept of identity still changes and many experts try to formulate the suitable definition of identity. New culture and language use which faced by international student will affect to their self identity. These new lenses might have positive or negative impact to them. They will have high self-confidence in interacting to another people. However, they should make a choice to absorb whether native culture is acceptable to be used as their self-representation or not. Reference Borowski, E. J. 1976. Identity and Personal Identity. Mind. 85 (340) : 481-502. http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=00264423%28197610%292%3A85%3A340%3C481%3AIAPI%3E2. 0. CO%3B2-L (accessed at 24 March 2008). Burke, P. J. and D. C. Reitzes. 1981. The link between identity and role performance Social Psychology Quarterly. 44 (2) : 83-92. http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=01902725%28198106%2944%3A2%3C83%3ATLBIAR%3E2. 0. CO%3B2 (accessed at 20 March 2008). Cohen, A. P. 1993. Culture as identity: An anthropologist’s view. New Literary History. 24 (1): 195-209. http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=00286087%28199324%2924%3A1%3C195%3ACAIAAV%3E2. 0. CO%3B2-R (accessed at 27 March 2008). Davies, A. and A. Maldoni. Meeting the Needs of International Postgraduate Students: Modifying the EAP Curriculum for Masters Preparation Programs. http://www. englishaustralia. com. au/index. cgi? E=hcatfuncs&PT=sl&X=getdoc&Lev1=pub_c05_07&Lev2=c04_davie. (accessed at 27 March 2008). Fearon, J. D. 1999. What is identity (as we now use the word). Department of Political Science. Stanford University. http://www. stanford. edu/~jfearon/papers/iden1v2. pdf (accessed at 24 March 2008). Ferdman, B. M. 1990. Literacy and Cultural Identity. Harvard Educational Review. 60 (2): 181. Academic Research Library. http://eric. ed. gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini. jsp ?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ408106&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ408106. (accessed at 27 March 2008). Hall, S. 1990. Culture Identity and Diaspora. http://www. lwbooks. co. uk/ReadingRoom/public/IdentityDiaspora. pdf. (accessed at 27 March 2008). Kagan, H. and Cohen, J. 1990. Cultural adjustment of international students. Psychological Science. 1 (2): 133-137. http://www. blackwell-synergy. com. ezp02. library. qut. edu. au/doi/abs/10. 1111/j. 1467-9280. 1990. tb00082. x (accessed at 27 March 2008). Miller, J. M. 2000. Language use, identity, and social interaction: migrant students in Australia. Research on Language & Social Interaction. 33(1): 69-100. http://dx. doi. org/10. 1207/S15327973RLSI3301_3. (accessed 7 March 2008). Putnis P. and R. Petelin. 2007. Improving personal communication. In QCD210/220/211 book of readings. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology. Stryker, S. and Burke, P. J. 2000. The past, present, and future of an identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly. 63 (4) : 284-297. http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=0190-2725%28200012%2963%3A4%3C284%3ATPPAFO%3E2. 0. CO%3B2-G. (accessed at 24 March 2008). Society for American Archaeology. 1996. http://www. saa. org/publications/sampler/terms. html (accessed at 27 March 2008). Sokefeld, M. , Chaudhary, M. A. , Driessen, H. , Ewing, K. P. , Fuchs. , Gellner, D. N. , Haley, B. D. , et al. 1999. Debating self, identity, and culture in anthropology (and comments and reply). Current Anthropology. 40 (4): 417-447. http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=00113204%28199908%2F10%2940%3A4%3C417%3ADSIACI%3E2. 0. CO%3B2-5 (accessed at 27 March 2008) Yihong, G. , Ying, C. , Yuan, Z. , and Yan Z. 2005. Self-identity changes and English learning among Chinese undergraduates. World Englishes. 24 (1):

Terrorism Waves In America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Terrorism Waves In America - Research Paper Example This study is structured around the hypothesis that terrorism in the US lacks particular/substantive definition due to evolutionary forces experienced under different waves. The definition of terrorism is therefore multifaceted according to the various waves experienced. Terror is a deep-rooted phenomenon in the modern world. Though having begun in the late nineteenth century in Russia, the modern terror has evolved to cover the whole world, with the US such a hard hit victim. The simplest definition of a wave is an activity cycle per a given period characterized by phases of contractions as well as expansions. According to the report, each wave as described had a particular predominant defining feature, which also would explain the naming. This paper makes a conclusion that , terrorism is the use of force unlawfully against a person or property with a motive of intimidating and or coercing a sovereign government, the population of civilians or such a segment guided by an objective of political as well as social gain. This definition serves as the basis of the paper with the understanding that it is not wholly universally accepted but that it has common features that are ascribed to terror activities in general. Terrorism activities in the United States have nevertheless been very dynamic and this explains the evolution of the definitions accorded to terrorism in the states. The terrorism waves are ‘anarchist wave,’ ‘anti colonial wave,’ ‘new left wave’ as well as ‘religious wave’.

The Effect Of Temperature On Rate Of Photosynthesis Of Pondweed Plant Coursework

The Effect Of Temperature On Rate Of Photosynthesis Of Pondweed Plant - Coursework Example Literal meaning of photosynthesis is â€Å"to put together by light†. It is a process that involves capturing sunlight, in the presence of chlorophyll, CO2, water, and then producing starch and oxygen. This starch is then used by the plants either to produce energy, for storage, or to build them into a complex material and then producing starches, oils and proteins. Starch is the best way to store carbohydrates as it is compact and is easily broken down in the body. During the process of photosynthesis plants fix environments CO2 and release oxygen, which is essential for entire living beings for survival. Thus, more than 80% of plant material is synthesized by photosynthesis including respiration process also depends on its byproducts. Chlorophyll is the chemical, which traps light energy and then uses it to synthesize carbohydrates. It acts as catalysts to speed up the process of reaction. Chlorophyll is present in the chloroplasts of the palisade layer of leaves. The equati on for photosynthesis is: 6CO2+6H2O => C6H2O6+6O2 +energy Photosynthesis involves trapping of CO2 from the environment in the presence of Chlorophyll and the sunlight. If a light source is placed near the pondweed plant that acts as sunlight, then the plant will release more oxygen due to splitting of water molecule into hydrogen and Oxygen molecule. The Hydrogen molecule that is released in the process will then combine with the CO2 and produces carbohydrates. This process again gives off more oxygen. The whole process needs to be catalyzed by enzymes to speed up the reaction. Photosynthesis is a two phase procedure. Stage one is light reliant and it captures sunlight to manufacture high energy molecule. In the second phases, which are light free reactions, these molecules are used to incarcerate CO2 and convert them into originators of carbohydrates. There are various limiting factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis. Most important factor is the presence of CO2 in the envir onment i.e., 0.03% to 0.04%. Only at a certain rate can a plant takes up CO2 and proceeds with photosynthesis. Light intensity will also affect the rate as well as temperature. In laboratory experiments, volume of oxygen released per minute is used to determine the rate of the process, and this in turn can be used as the source for determining the effects of limiting factors (Kent, 2000). The law of limiting factor states that, â€Å"When a process depends on more than one factor to be favorable then its rate is limited by the factor at its least favorable value. For a process to go at its maximum rate, all factors need to be at an optimum stage.† Measurement of photosynthesis rate is required to determine the limiting factors that can affect productivity of the process as well as its response to environmental stresses. Most of the measurement techniques being used today involve the gaseous exchange of the plants as an indicator for the rate. Chemical pathway of intake of CO2 and water discharge is the same and hence these two pathways are involved in measurement of photosynthesis through stomata conductance and transpiration method (MILLAN, GUEVARA, TORRES, OSORNIO, 2009). These days modified methods are being used to conduct the analysis, which increases the precision and accuracy of the results. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect of temperature on the photosynthesis of pondweed plant. Basically, temperature does not pose an enormous effect on the rate of photosynthesis individually; it only affects the speed of the process by affecting the rhythm of chemical responses in the plants. This is because photosynthesis is a