The Step Pyramid of King Zjoser Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Step Pyramid of King Zjoser - Essay Example From this essay "The Step Pyramid of King Zjoser" it is clear, that Egypt is bordered by the Red Sea and Israel on the east side. (1) The country is divided into two extreme arid regions, The North-West flowing Nile River. The Nile starts 110 miles (162 km.) south of the Mediterranean and fans out to a sea front of 155 miles between the cities of Alexandria and Port Said. The ancient Egypt was divided into two major parts, first was â€Å"black land,† and another was â€Å"red land.†The black land was situated on the bank of the river Nile and it was very fertile land. The land was used for growing crops. This was the only land in Egypt which was formed due to a layer of rich, black silt, deposited there every year after the flood of the Nile. The Red Land was a barren desert that protected Egypt from its neighboring countries and invading armies. This region provided precious metals and semi-precious stones to Egyptians. The major responsible factor for flourishing the ancient Egyptian civilization is the river Nile. It is the gift given by God to the Egyptian people. It is hardly possible to think Egyptian civilization without the river Nile. (2) The river Nile is the longest river in the world which is over 4000 miles long. The shape of Nile is like that of a lotus flower and it is always depicted in ancient Egyptian art. The river Nile has been playing a very crucial role in developing the Egyptian civilization. The Nile River plays very important role in giving food, water to the people.

African American English Essay Example for Free

African American English Essay When it comes to arguing whether African-American English/Ebonics, enriches or contaminates Standard English, most of the negative tone that African-American English gets comes from an educational stand point. One argument teachers, who do not believe in using Ebonics, use is that there is no place for Ebonics in the class room. Stacey Thomas, in her article â€Å"Ebonics and the African-American Student: Why Ebonics Has a Place in the Classroom† writes that teachers can use Ebonics as a way to facilitate the learning of Standard English to African American students. In order to use Ebonics as a vehicle to teaching Standard English, teachers must be bilingual; meaning they most know both Ebonics and Standard English. Thomas states, â€Å"†¦once students see and comprehend the differences between Standard English and Ebonics in terms of structure and syntax, they display a great[er] understanding in Standard English, and as a result, decrease their use of Ebonics† Ebonics and the African-American Student (6). In other words, by working on activities where students have to compare both Ebonics and Standard English, students’ knowledge of Standard English is increasing and their use of Ebonics is decreasing. Another arguments teachers use against Ebonics is that it obstructs the academic potential of African-Americans. Thomas goes further on by stating the Oakland school board Ebonics issue. In 1996, the Oakland, California school board started using Ebonics as a way to teach to African American students whose grades were lower than other ethnicities. As a result of using Ebonics as a vehicle to teaching, Thomas states, â€Å"the Oakland School Districts use of Ebonics in the classroom, [and] the students performance in reading and wring has improved†¦ the students have tested above district averages there was a in reading and writing skills† Ebonics and the African-American Student (6). So not only is the teaching of Ebonics facilitating school work for students, but it is also increasing their grades. Ebonics, a language that is stereotyped as ignorant and uneducated, is now becoming a great tool for educating students.

The Importance of History and Culture in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club Es

The Importance of History and Culture in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club   Ã‚  Ã‚   The impact of history and culture on an individual's life is tremendous. History plays a large role in forming an individual because it helps them develop morals, ideals, and goals in life. It begins the process of finding an identity. The past is never forgotten because it leaves marks on ones life as a scar does to ones body. It may go unseen physically, but the emotional effects it produces last a lifetime, and can continue on for generations to come.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The women in the novel, The Joy Luck Club, deal with all of the good and the bad that their history and culture have to offer. At times they experience difficulties because the mothers and daughters, although they are as one, share different cultures, while their history is the same. Ying-Ying St.Claire is the mother of Lena, who is a Chinese-American women. Lena and her mother don’t see eye to eye at all times because of the fact that they were raised in different cultures.   Ying-Ying grew up in China in a very well-to-do family. At first she had very few worries, other than being obedient. Her Amah once told her, â€Å"You don’t need to understand. Just behave, follow your mothers example (Tan,66)†. As she grew older, she had to prepare for her future; a life of following future husbands orders and taking care of her husbands family. Chinese women would do this because it was expected of them. They would care for their husbands parents so th at when they were old they would be taken care of as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Ying-Ying learned everything, all of the lessons and life’s meanings, from her mother. Her mother learned everything that she knew from her own mother, as well as through experiences from her own... ...all Chinese, and the daughters are Chinese-American. The mothers grew up in a more strict environment and followed the rules by the book. They were taught by their mothers, how to act, who they were, and what being Chinese meant. The daughters in this story grew up in a more relaxed world, where being an individual was accepted and appreciated. No one was punished for being themselves in America. For the women in this novel, finding their true identity was one of the most important things. By using their cultural background and discovering who their mothers were, they were able to find their true selves in the end as well giving them a complete sense of identity.    Work Cited Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club, Ballantine Books, 1989    Thi Do, Thuan. â€Å"Chinese-American Women in American Culture†, available at http://www.ics.uci.edu/~tdo/ea/chinese.html, 1992.

Alternative Rural Construction Technologies in North East India

Dissertation LITERATURE REVIEW ALTERNATIVE RURAL CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES ( NORTH-EAST INDIA ) Introduction:The North Eastern portion of India has ever been a absorbing country for travelers and adventurers. The rich heritage is exemplified through the ethnicity, tradition, support, and besides by the architectural typologies. Several distinguishable architectural characteristics are seen in North East provinces, which differ by clime and deep frozen traditions. The architecture of this country evolved in class of clip and were largely built by the dwellers themselves, without any preparation in building. Yet, due to uninterrupted engagement in the field of building, they finally came to cognize about the different margins considered in planing a house, which can be seen or understood through their home grounds. These houses, built with locally available stuffs, were sensitive to the bing environment and took into consideration the restraints imposed by the clime. These countries are able to supply its home ground with the building needs, but due to the deficiency of knowledge/awareness, these resources has non been utilized expeditiously. In order to use these available resources most expeditiously, it is necessary to advance the usage of advanced edifice stuffs and building techniques. Extension of energy and cost effectual edifice stuffs, use of agricultural by-products/wastes every bit good as locally available stuffs, cheaper and clip salvaging building techniques and efficient house programs at low-cost cost, has a great significance in the present rural scenario. This paper aims at the survey of common architecture of these country. Note the pros and cons of the present building scenarios, and better on them to do a more efficient home grounds, through alternate technologies/improving on the available resources to do a more efficient houses. The architectural solution can be attained through a deep survey and apprehension of this field. The research inquiry being, How to advance and widen appropriate building engineerings to better rural architecture? Thus it aims to analyze the present rural architecture ( taking NE India as a mention ) and better on it, to utilize the available resources most efficient. Reappraisal:Alternate rural building engineerings aims at happening the resources available in the North East India, and bettering on them to do the most out of it. Ever since adult male become colonist, he experiment assorted natural resources for constructing a shelter. Certain stuffs become the rule edifice stuffs and are continued to be used in building, some of them in its original signifier while some after intervention or byproduct of nature. But, due to scarceness of the resources, inaccessibility on site, deficiency of cognition for using the help stuffs and assorted other grounds, demands for innovation of new stuffs arise. Some of them, even though normally used in building and dependable stuffs, are scarce or a menace to nature. Therefore, using the natural resources and utilizing them in a more efficient manner demands to be prioritized instead than trusting on imported materials/ engineerings. Let’s expression at the North east country as a whole and see, what the conditions of edifice building are, the pros and cons of the present scenario. Here is the program of a edifice made out of clay, ( writer ) . In this, we have a house widening 6.9m/ 4.9m, it has an country in the which are being used for cookery and fixing nutrient, and comes the following subdivision, where other day-to-day activities happens, or instead their twenty-four hours infinite, and the other room being the bed room. All other activities like, bathing, fixing nutrient for farm animal, making their demands go on near their house. The present issues here are like, shelter for them while making their other activities outside their place. Sufficient air and light motion in the house. Unnecessary use of building stuffs, like for illustration, the thickness or the sum of stuffs usage ( beginning: writer ) in building the walls, roofs, flooring could hold been reduced by decently reenforcing the stuffs or by utilizing them in a more appropriate ways non merely to cut down the sum of stuffs used, but besides to do it last longer, fire cogent evidence or even utilizing other more appropriate stuffs. In malice of the fact that stuffs used for building or programs of the edifice are non satisfactory, yet these present edifices provides them with a thermic comfort, and other assorted margins which one frequently fails to accomplish in the modern houses. Therefore, non merely implementing new materials/ design of a edifice or planning, bettering and happening alternate agreement on the pros of the present rural building and replacing the cons. Besides, some or instead, many of the present issues faced in the rural building are merely because of the deficiency of cognition, the short approachs of these issues could be solved non merely by replacing the stuffs or alteration of design, but by agencies of minor alterations, like the sum of stuffs used, care jobs, etc. farther testing is needed, since cognition of grounds of failure/ short coming of certain issues are limited. These issues could be solved by farther study/ research to supply the appropriate solutions and non merely rely on premises made to be the ground for failure of the bing design or certain stuff. These research will take at analyzing farther more into these issues and seek to come up with an appropriate solution for the issues. Alternate rural building engineerings non merely aims at merely changing/ bettering on the bing stuffs, but it besides aims at doing the house program for a more efficient usage of infinite, both the negative and positive. To suite a ) the clime B ) the geographics on which the edifice is supposed to sit degree Celsius ) the civilization ( including the faith, tradition, societal activities ) & A ; and most significantly vitamin D ) the inhabitants. Therefore, alternate engineerings can be looked upon under three different stairss the first being the design ( planning of the house- before the onsite executing of the house ) , Construction ( materials- the onsite executing of the designed house ) and Home/ home ( culture- the after executing of the house ) .The design ( planning of the house- before the onsite executing of the house ) – Design of a rural house is more complex and hard than the urban 1s, as it normally has to get by non merely for the family/owner but with their farm animal excessively ( Baker Laurie ) . There is besides normally a demand for covered infinite outside the house for all kinds of businesss, weaving, basket devising, cyberspaces and fishing, nutrient drying and processing etc. Because, many of the abodes if non all are normally husbandmans. The unfastened infinite around the house is every bit of import as the house itself, as it is really much in usage for cookery, storing, animate being, dome stic fowl etc.The present conditions in these countries could non supply desirable shelter for different season of the twelvemonth for the said demands, due to miss of cognition, economic position, etc. Therefore, these of import activities happens in the country which are uncovered/ sometimes making ineluctable issues during rainy season, rough summer/winter, etc. So, basic programs which aims at minimizing and spread outing every bit and when possible is needed or by supplying some short of shelter for these out-of-door activities for these seasons.Construction ( materials- the onsite executing of the designed house ) –Execution is the phase where the conceptual is being shaped into things that can be sensed by other people. An thought must be realized in stuffs ( Henry Glassie, 1984 ) materialisation raises complexnesss in architectural communicating non met in verbal communicating and it limits construct. The determination to make a edifice is the determination to destruc t some portion of the material existence. Our natural things are destroyed- trees have been cut down, rock being broken into pieces, old places are razed off– to do things better. The effort to better our homes by destructing the nature is technological. Every technological act entails alterations in two major dealingss: one between the homo to the non-human universe, and the other one within the universe of the people itself. Technology required the forfeit of extant stuffs that finally do non owe their presence to human existences. Therefore, by sagely using what Mother Nature gave us, we non merely give back to nature, but the human- ourselves, as Brundtland ( 1987 ) provinces, Sustainable development is development that meets the demands of the present without compromising the demands of future coevalss to run into their ain demands. This definition of Brundtland contains within it two cardinal constructs: the construct of demands, to which overruling precedence should be given and the construct of restrictions, to run into the present and future demands. One needs to take stuffs for building sing the undermentioned points-They should be locally available.Preference should be given to stuffs of low embodied energy.Minimum C footmark stuffs.Biodegradable and renewable stuffs.They should hold long life and lasting, andMaterials should be reclaimable and reclaimable.Home/ home ( culture- the after executing of the house ) – Culture, intending the people who are populating in the executed house, the tradition, society, life style, is one of import facet for planing a house. A place is a house where the household lives. So, the manner the household maintains or uses the house besides plays an of import function in the lastingness of the house, stableness and even thermic responds of the house. For case, a traditional Earth houses provide changeless thermal comfort by regular care, it needs to be plastered after every five old ages, due to its exposure to the exterior atmosphere. If non, the thermic comfort provided by the houses red uces, same goes for a thatch roof, without regular care H2O sipping through the roof can be experienced. Therefore regular attention has to be provided to the houses, even after it is one time constructed. Last, this research/ findings purpose at supplying a building stuffs which is more lasting, needs less care, and stable, these can be achieved by choosing the right type of stuffs for the right clime, geographics and handiness, or by intervention of the bing stuffs to do it needs less care. Yet, continue attention has to be taken by the proprietors, for the place to supply them healthy built in environment to populate in.Bibliographies: Glassie Henry, Material Culture, Vol. 16, No.1 ( Spring 1984 ) . Common Architecture and Society, Pioneer America Society. Bakers Laurie, Rural house programs. Anubha, Barun, Belal, Kartik, Kaushik, Nitin, et Al. 1990, Clay Products Manufacture, Clay undertakings III yr. B.Arch, SPA Delhi.

American Literature Before 1865

While the land issue is frequently invoked as the reason behind the extermination of indigenous Americans by European settlers, the real issue was a clash of cultures that held incompatible world views. Among Native Americans (hereafter referred to as â€Å"Indians† for convenience and because this is actually Native peoples’ preferred appellation according to Coeur d’Alene writer Sherman Alexie), society was usually very egalitarian, and even democratic. Europeans on the other hand believed in top-down, societal structures with rigid orders and classes.Most Indians were hunters and gatherers; this is how they survived, acknowledging game and wild edible plants as gifts of nature. In light of the harsh, puritanical Yahwist world view of the Europeans, it is significant that those in a hunting-gathering society rarely have to work more than five or six hours per week in order to satisfy their basic needs; Euro-Christians were children of a vengeful, patriarchal go d who demanded that they earn their bread by the sweat of their brow (unless of course, one was a successful capitalist, in which lower classes would do it on one’s behalf).Their warped belief system demanded that they till the earth; hunting was for sport. Many (not all) Indians found the thought of agriculture as an affront to the earth; if the Great Spirit had provided berries, roots and game animals, why would they scratch open the Great Mother seeking more?Sexuality was another issue; while most Indians embraced it as any normal, healthy life form and exhibited great tolerance for homosexuality and trans-gendered people (some of whom had high status, as was the case of the Cherokee â€Å"Two Spirit†), Europeans were – as many Americans are now – embarrassed, ashamed, intolerant and repressive when it came to sexual matters. Women among many Indian tribes also had a huge degree of freedom and equality with men, which was rigidly denied to European wom en. Different European groups had very different experiences and problems in encountering and interacting with Indians.In A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virgina, written in 1587 prior to the mysterious disappearance of the Roanoke Colony, the explorer Harriot – a product of the Elizabethan England of Shakespeare – wrote under the heading Of The Nature and Manners of the People that the Indians â€Å"†¦are not to be feared, â€Å" but warning â€Å"that they shall have cause to feare and love us, that shall inhabite with them† (241). Harriot goes on the describe them in some detail as to their animal-skin clothing, their lack of edged tools and their style of warfare.He writes, â€Å"In respect of us, they are a people poore, and for want of skill and judgement in the knowledge and use of our things, doe esteeme our trifles [toys, coins and cooking tools] before things of greater value† (242). This statement is significant, partic ularly in light of later experiences of the English in Virginia – experiences that involved great suffering, death and privation. Here, Harriot indulges in typical English chauvinism, judging Indian society and culture by the standards of his own.It should have become obvious over the ensuing twenty years that a lack of technology did not necessarily make for an inferior culture; masters of their environment, the Indians were well able to survive and even thrive in a place where the first English settlers starved, existed in poverty and frequently died. Even Harriot’s statement that â€Å"should they desire our friendship and love, [they will] have the greater respect for pleasing and obeying us† – a clear declaration of intentions to enslave Indians – proved to be based on this faulty logic as future English settlers discovered when they attempted to do just that.Harriot’s description of the local Indian’s religion indicates there we re some traits shared with their own Christianity; immortality of the soul, analogues to Heaven and Hell, and even formal worship rituals held in â€Å"houses appropriate or temples† (243). While by no means typical of all Indian spirituality or religion, it was these kinds of similarities that some Catholic missionaries were able to use in their successful conversions elsewhere.With similarities such as described by Harriot, one wonders if some elements of Christianity had not filtered north from Spanish claims in Florida. Alternatively, given the chauvinistic tendencies of Europeans in general and the English in particular that led to so many misunderstandings, it is quite possible that Harriot may have been simply seeing what he expected and/or desired to see. In any event, the English did not hesitate to use the Indian’s own normal fears of the unknown against them for their own advantage.During a drought, local Indians (some of the few who did engage in agricultur e, apparently) came to believe their problems had been brought on by their own actions, and offered to play to the â€Å"God of England, that he would preserve their Corne,† offering the English a portion when the harvest came in. Later, when diseases carried by the English were spread to those Indians who had no natural immunity, the English were all too happy to attribute the plague to their vengeful God for their â€Å"wicked practises† (245).In the case of Indians to whom such things had never happened and had no concept of how disease spread through bacteria and viruses, this self-serving explanation on the part of the English was all too acceptable. The Spaniards’ experiences with Indians were as varied as the Indian cultures they encountered. For example, with complex urban societies such as the Aztecs and Incas, the Spaniards were forced to deal with powers that were nearly equal to their own in terms of technology and organization; only through collabor ators within these civilizations were leaders like Cortez and Pizzaro able to succeed in their conquests.Further north, the Dine (Navajo) and Zuni presented somewhat less of a challenge. Unlike the English who came for land, the Spaniard’s main objective was plunder; gold, silver, slaves and souls. Unlike the primarily secular English expeditions, the Spaniards operated under the blessings of an aggressive Roman Catholic church, whose tool was the Holy Inquisition (rather different from the â€Å"kinder, gentler† brand of Catholicism brought by French missionaries to Indians further north).The Zuni – linguistically related to the Nez Perce, Yakama, Klamath and Modoc peoples of the Pacific Northwest, yet living in New Mexico – embraced a kind of spirituality that was completely unlike Christianity. There religion was organized into different â€Å"societies,† each of which governed a specific aspect of the community (22). In many ways, Zuni religion resembled that of the ancient Mayans; a â€Å"sun priest† known as a Pekwin kept a calendar; there was also a belief in â€Å"Hero Twins,† hearkening back to the Mayan legends of Hunahpu and Xibalanque.The Hero Twins also appear in the mythology of other Southwest peoples, including the Navajo (34). This and many other aspects of Zuni culture are revealed in their own creation myth, whose relationship with the Spaniards was hostile practically from the beginning; taken as one of the â€Å"Seven Cities of Cibola,† this sedentary, semi-urbanized, agricultural people successful drove off the initial Spaniard invasion in 1540. A Catholic mission was eventually established some ninety years later, but in 1680, the Zuni were in rebellion once again, joining other Pueblo Indians against the Spaniards.Zuni attitudes toward the Spaniards are apparent in a later version on the Zuni creation story, in which the Trickster, or â€Å"mischief-maker,† is associated wit h Mexicans, or Spaniards. The Trickster is a common figure in nearly all myths in all cultures on the planet; the late Joseph Campbell considered the Trickster as an integral part of the archetype â€Å"mythic journey,† or Hero’s Quest. The purpose of a Trickster was to lead the Hero astray, or attempt to delay or even foil the Quest.Among American Indian cultures, the Trickster could take many forms, but most frequently appeared as a Coyote. While he could be a teacher and frequently force one to confront that which they might not otherwise wish to deal with, Coyote could also be a mischief-maker. Associated Coyote with Mexicans/Spaniards had a negative connotation. In this version of the creation story, Mexicans also emerge later than the Zuni. This is yet another point of significance; like many tribal peoples, their name for themselves translates as â€Å"The People,† with the implication that others are not â€Å"people.† The name Halona-Iriwana, the Zuni pueblo, means â€Å"The Middle Ant Hill of the World,† suggesting that chauvinistic self-centeredness was not unique to the English and Spaniards. It has been suggested that this type of mentality was what allowed the Europeans to decimate the Indian populations; had all Indian peoples been able to unite against the invaders, European settlers might not have been quite as successful. The problem with this idea is in the sheer diversity of Indian peoples, not only in terms of language, but culture and even physical traits.While warfare among American Indian tribes never reached the kind of wholesale slaughter that it did among Europeans, conflict and competition for resources and prestige was still quite common. Cultural diversity may be something to treasure today, but in American history, it has had great – and often tragic – consequences. Works Cited Baird, Forrest E. and Walter Kaufman, eds. From Plato to Derrida, 4th Ed. (Upper Saddle River: Prentice H all, 1997).