Child Abuse in American Samoa Essay Example for Free

Child Abuse in American Samoa Essay Child abuse and neglect good novel can do countless things for its reader. It ignites curiosity, triggers emotions, expands knowledge and encourages life lessons while transporting eager minds to unimaginable places. Active readers are completely encouraged by these vibrations. However, untold tales can occasionally capture the oppressed narratives of others. The silent pleas of vulnerable individuals can tell a memoir of its own. One key issue is that of child abuse, which has the potential to rob children of the happily ever after that they deserve. The World health organization (2013) defines â€Å"child abuse† as a breach of a child’s basic human rights and encompasses a variety of unethical practices that damage the holistic welfare of a child. Al Dosari, Ferwana, Abdulmejeed, Aldossari and Al-Zahrani (2017) add that incompetent parents or caregivers are at fault and should be held accountable for their forceful and or negligent conduct towards a minor in their care, especially when the potential risk or traumatic event that the child was exposed to could have been avoided entirely. Paterson, Fairbairn-Dunlop, Cowley-Malcolm, and Schluter (2007) assert that abusive parenting is an issue that is limitless in scope and transcends every border, including factors such as ethnicity, nationality and generation. Child abuse occurs in various ways, but the result remains the same, serious physical or emotional harm. Physical or sexual abuse may be the most striking types of abuse since they often, unfortunately, leave physical evidence behind. However, physical abuse is commonly encountered among large families. Parents with either a lower level of education or no education at all, abuse children with good health status and with a significant association (Elsaied, Alsehly, 2017). On the other hand, psychological abuse and neglect are serious types of child abuse that are often more subtle and difficult to spot.Types of Child abuse physical A documentary was filmed following Samoan foster children in New Zealand. A scene in the film shows the consequences a boy faces after being caught attempting to run away from his foster home. The consequences he faced was not your typical western punishment. His foster mom did not ground him or send him to his room. Instead, she had every other boy in the foster home brutally beat him for at least two minutes. One key issue here is that of Physical abuse, it has the potential to injure and ultimately damage the growth and development of children. The Canadian Department of Justice (2012), defines child physical abuse as the involvement or the deliberate use of force on a child, that it causes injury to the child or the child may be at risk of injury. The force may include such acts such as smacking, punching, beating, shaking, kicking, biting, burning, shoving, choking, throwing, stabbing, grabbing or leaving a child in an undignified posture for a long period of time. These usually occur when a parent or a person in the position of responsibility, power or trust takes advantage of their child. The injury is considered abuse whether the person intended to hurt the child or not. Some of the physical signs of abuse would have clear warning signs, such as unexplained bruises, welts or cuts. According to Dr. Joseph A Zenel (2008), that if a child has more bruises, fractures, head trauma, or burns that would simply raise the suspicion of physical abuse (as cited in McNamara, 2008).While all children will take a tumble now and then, look for age-inappropriate injuries, injuries that appear to have a pattern such as marks from a hand or belt, or a pattern of severe injuries. Emotional/Psychological Sexual OtherPolicyWellbeing/symptomsCountry – what is American Samoan doing about the issue? References Elsaied, H., Alsehly, A. (2017). A study of child physical abuse. The Egyptian Journal of Psychiatry, 38(2), 120. J.N. Fishe (2016). Child Abuse and the Law. Rethinking the CAPTA Amendments. Vand Law Rev 1998;183. Fry, D., McCoy, A., Swales, D. (2012). The Consequences of Maltreatment on Children’s Lives: A Systematic Review of Data From East Asia and Pacific Region. Trauma, Violence Abuse, 13(4), 209-233. doi:10.1177/1524838012455873 Neela Dabir, Mohua Nigudkar. (2007). Child Abuse: Confronting Reality. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(27/28), 2863-2866. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.byuh.idm.oclc.org/stable/4419782 Paterson, J., Fairbairn-Dunlop, P., Esther, T. C., Schluter, P. J. (2007). Maternal childhood parental abuse history and current intimate partner violence: Data from the Pacific islands families study. Violence and Victims, 22(4), 474-88. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.byuh.idm.oclc.org/docview/208556625?accountid=9816 Xiangming Fang, Deborah A. Fry, Derek S. Brown, James A. Mercy, Michael P. Dunne, Alexander R. Butchart, Phaedra S. Corso, Kateryna Maynzyuk, Yuriy Dzhygyr, Yu Chen, Amalee McCoy, Diane M. Swales, The burden of child maltreatment in the East Asia and Pacific region, In Child Abuse Neglect, Volume 42, 2015, Pages 146-162, ISSN 0145-2134, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.02.012

Marxism literary and the new criticism theory

Marxism literary and the new criticism theory Marxism literary theory and the new criticism theory are among many wide schools of theory with historical importance. These theories differ in their methods and conclusions as well as their text. Different theories complement and supplement each other in their goals, methods, conclusions and text. The present day literary theory dates back in the 1960s. Literary theory was at its highest peak in popularity in some of the leading universities in America such as John Hopkins and Yale. It is from these universities that the influence of literary theory started spreading and by 1980s it was being taught almost everywhere. During this time, literary theory was supposed to be an academically cutting-edge, and as a result the majority of university literature departments wanted to teach and learn theory and integrate it into their curricula. The goal of Marxist literary theories is to represent class conflict as well as to reinforce class distinctions through literature. Marxist theorists frequently champion writers who are sympathetic to the working classes and those whose works challenge the economic equalities in capitalist societies. In maintaining the spirit of Marxism, literary theories developing from the Marxist paradigm have sought Modern ways of understanding the relationship between literature and economic production as well as cultural production. Literary theory has drawn a lot of influence from the Marxism analyzes society. New Critics in their works usually include inherent moral dimension, and occasionally a religious dimension. For instance, New Critic may read a poem by Thomas Eliot for its level of honesty in expression of torment and contradiction of a serious exploration of belief in the present world. On the other hand Marxist critic might see New critics point of view as ideological instead of critical. They would argue that critical distance should be kept from the poets religious standpoint for the poem to be understood. New criticism theories look at literary works in the view of what is written and not upon the authors goals or biographical issues. In contrast, the Marxists emphasize themes of class conflict. Marxist literary criticism Marxist literary criticism is used to describe literary criticism influenced by the philosophy of Marxism. Twentieth century leading proponents of Marxist theory are also literary critics. They include, George Lukà ¡cs, Terry Eagleton, and Raymond Williams. Marxist theory has different goals. One of its simplest goals is literary assessment of the political inclination of a literary work, hence determining whether its literary form is progressive. According to Marxists legal systems, religious beliefs, and cultural frameworks are determined by social and economic conditions. Therefore Art should represent these conditions truthfully and also seek to better them. The popularity of Marxist aesthetics has reduced in nowadays consumerist society; however it continues to pose responsible questions. Marxist basis of evaluation is hard to establish although it is one of the vigorous and varied 20th century school of aesthetics. Marxist theory has not been able to explain how the political, artistic, and legal superstructure of a nation reflects in its economic constitution. Assumptions from its generalizations have been stunningly inaccurate. For instance the hypotheses with which Marxism explained the rise in living standards of capitalist working class; the Russian-Chinese conflict revolution in Russia; and the uprisings in Berlin. The fact that Marxism fails intellectually is a prove that it has weaknesses in literary criticism. Despite Marxist critism theories having weaknesses it is a good thing that it allows intellectual freedom. Sometimes the authors writing may have been influenced in some way by the state. For instance, the communist world was totally different from what writers were allowed to show. This means that the literary work of time could not be analyzed by simply looking at the authors goal as it is proposed by new criticism. Reading the literary work very closely and particularly the language used by the author would help to analyze the work more critically. In this case Marxism is very crucial because what people read that is what they practice. Some contemporary Marxists such Terry Eagleton have tried to rehabilitate or revise marx. She recognizes the fact that literary work like that of Shakespeare create value because by reading them we are made to think and get something out of them thus getting some values from them. This supplements new criticism theory that looks at the moral and sometimes the religious dimensions such as honesty. Georg Lukacs contribution In his contribution towards Marxism and literature, Georg Lukacs, maintained that the text contained in classic realist writings in describing events of ordinary occurrence and social conditions give a vivid picture of the entireness of a society and its evolution. He argues that the literature of naturalism shows the contradictions that exist in societies and within the individual in the context of a dialectical unit. He acknowledged the fact that realist novels present a partial image of a society. However, he also supported the idea that the value of a novel lies in its description of the nature of a society in a historic period. He also argued that any literary work does not reflect individual phenomena in isolation as modernist text depicts, but should be the whole process of life found in realism. However, Lukas was opposed by Bertolt Brecht, who argued that society is dynamic and hence reality also changes. This is why Bertolt maintained that modes of representation should cha nge accordingly. The methods and goals of representation are always changing in the quest to describe present-day realities. Raymond Williams contribution According to Williams, any literature potraying an ever changing culture has the counter-hegemonic and dominant ideology. Therefore Marxist criticism leaning towards Williams theories considers literature as an important vehicle for ideology. Williams believed that where there was no common culture, a cultural and literary tradition is founded on selections made in the present and shaped by value decisions and power interests. This way he deconstructed the idea that truth is integral in a literary tradition. This contribution complements the new criticism theory that seeks to understand moral dimension of every literary text. He also suggested the term structure of feeling for analysis of literature. Even though she acknowledges that the term cannot be equated to an ideology since it lacks specificity of class and it is not universal; the term gives the dimension of experience more emphasis. Structure of feeling supplements new criticism theory since it emphasizes the experience dimension. This means that the text is not subjected to critical interpretations but instead the primacy of the text is upheld. New criticism New Criticism as a school of thought of literary interpretation stresses the significance of studying texts as comprehensive works of art in themselves. They argued for upholding primacy of text other than analysis based on context. According to proponents of this theory literary texts are usually comprehensive in and of themselves. They elevate the purpose of criticism in academics such as in the maintenance of language and poetry at the same time helping their development. Criticism is very important as it forms an inherent part of social development. Majority of new criticism studies see the theory as one that focuses on close reading of structure, theme, technicalities and the message contained in the literary works. New criticism supplements the Marxism criticism theory in its objective. Marxism theory interprets every literary work on the basis of how it responds to social inequalities. Social development is therefore an inherent part of the Marxism theory. New criticism also gives some focus to social development though indirectly. New criticism theory expects that by focussing on criticism at the academic level, the same will trickle down to the society at large and hence leading to social development. Unreasonable assumptions of Marxism and new criticism One of the assumptions of the New Critics is that biographical and historical information is not important in the study of a literary text. This assumption restricts the reader so much and is often seen as excessively authoritarian. Historical and biographical information is necessary as it can create an experience dimension that can pass some values to the reader. In so doing social development occurs. Marxism emphasizes the use of historical and biographical information in analyzing literary works. Marxism assumes that a literary work is a reflection of the society that produces it. This assumption is not always true. Some literary works may have had some external influenced thus depicting a society in a way that people wants to see it and thus may not be a true reflection of the society. Since new criticism does not emphasis the historical and biographical information of text, but instead on close reading of structure, theme, technicalities and the message contained in the literar y works, it complements the Marxism assumption. Therefore the blend of both Marxism and new criticism can complement each other as mentioned above. Humanism Marxism does not put emphasis on the use of Marx ideology of class conflict for academics but instead for social development. Therefore proponents of Marxism criticism theory believe it is most useful in the humanist world outside the academy. As discussed earlier, the new criticism is so much focussed on academics and not the society. It is so restrictive to the reader and does not use biographical and historical information in analysis of a literary work. On the other hand, Marxism can be referred as being humanistic. It is humanistic because it empathizes with the victims of social inequalities. Marxism therefore seeks to analyse literary works using the Marx ideology of class conflict. The Marxists hope that by analyzing literary works using class conflict ideology, the reader will be able to recognize the inequalities existing in the society and thus can find ways of overcoming them and bring about an equal society. According to Patricia Waugh humanism is not only found in Marxism but rather in all theories. She sees theories as a means by which one can exercise crucial capacities of being human. One can reflect or be rational about life through a theory and in the process one can stand back to make second order judgements about the world and our behaviour in it. In conclusion, Marxism criticism theory and New Criticism are different in many ways. These differences are what complements and supplements each other. For instance, since New Criticism does not emphasize on the use of historical and biographical information in analyzing literary works, Marxism complements it. On the other hand, New Criticism supplements Marxisms structure of feeling by emphasizing moral dimension in the analysis of literary works. Raymond Williams a proponent of Marxism acknowledge values such as truth as integral to the literary tradition.

Creationism in Public Education Essay -- Religion

A hotly debated topic these past few years centers on the origin of life. Now more than ever, science and religion are butting heads trying to come up with a conclusion, and one that public schools would teach to their students. Alex Rainert, meanwhile, reasons that both â€Å"science and religion are engaged in the same project, to discover the origin of life† (141). In short, one could better describe the debate as a crusade between evolutionists and creationists. Both sides have their well-founded arguments, but when one looks at the decisions of the courts, clearly only one side may win the battle when deciding biology curriculum in schools. Despite the overwhelming number of people in favor of teaching creationism in public schools, it may be better to leave science classes free from matters of religious belief. In 2004, Sharpes and Peramas report that â€Å"nearly two-thirds of all Americans surveyed favored teaching creationism together with evolution in schools,† according to a poll organized by CBS Broadcasting (qtd. in Costley and Killins). Thus, it seems as if the public has bought into the fair play argument proposed by creationists. After all, why not have a place to teach equally credible theories of the origin of life in schools? (Eldredge 634). Chet Raymo, a noted science professor of physics and astronomy at Stonehill College, rejects this notion, stating, â€Å"one might as well give equal billing to those who believe the Earth is flat† since creationism stands on little factual ground (156). At any rate, the U.S. Supreme Court illustrates that teaching creationism puts pressure on minorities to conform to the obviously favored religion when the power of the government backs up the theory (qtd. in Anti-Defamation League ... ...ligion Will Transform Your Life and Our World. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print. Eldredge, Niles. â€Å"Creationism Isn’t Science.† The Conscious Reader. 6th ed. Ed. D. Anthony English and Eben Ludlow. Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, 1995. 633-638. Print. Hickman, Cleveland Pendleton. Integrated Principles of Zoology, sixth edition. St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Company, 1979. Print. "Of Darwin, Dover and (un)intelligent design: scholar says the future of science— and Church-State separation--are at stake in the creationism/evolution conflict." Church & State 62.2 (2009): 10+. General OneFile. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. Rainert, Alex. â€Å"Creationism V. Evolutionism in America’s Public Schools.† Cooke 138- 41. Print. Raymo, Chet. Skeptics and True Believers: The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion. Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 1998. Print.

Invisible Man :: Literary Analysis, Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellison uses symbolism in the first chapter of Invisible Man to illustrate the culture in which he lived and was raised. In the chapter, entitled â€Å"Battle Royal†, Ellison intends to give his graduation speech to the white elite of his community. However, before her can deliver said speech, he is forced to perform humiliating tasks. The use of symbols is evident throughout â€Å"Battle Royal† particularly with regard to the Hell imagery, power struggle, and the circus metaphor. The setting of the chapter is significantly symbolic. The story takes place in a luxurious ballroom, which Ellison has masterfully transformed into Hell. This is the smoker. The men in the audience are â€Å"smoking black cigars† (1255). The room was â€Å"foggy with cigar smoke† even though the room is described as large and has a high ceiling (1255). The narrator also gives these men animalistic qualities that essentially revealing them to be savages. They are seen â€Å"wolfing down food† (1254). Later, they â€Å"run laughing and howling after [the dancing woman]† (1257). Although far less of a ravenous image, the narrator even compares the perverted old man to an intoxicated panda. The narrator also describes them as having â€Å"red faces† (1259). In this characterization the men seemingly have all the characteristics of demons in Hell. The Hell image is advanced further when the fighters are blindfolded. The narrator explains, â€Å"..now I felt a sudden fit of blind terror.† (1257). When the fight begins, he adds, â€Å"[t]he smoke had become thicker and with each new blow it seemed to sear and further restrict my lungs. My saliva became like hot bitter glue.† (1258). The men demonstrate their authority over him and his classmates. A prime instance of this is the dancing woman. The ten fighters were positioned in the front of the ballroom. Then the woman was exhibited, all eyes were on her. She was completely naked, except for her makeup and a tattoo of the American flag. Her face was â€Å"heavily powdered and rouged†¦ [her] eyes hollow and smeared a cool blue.† (1256). She represents America, and therefore freedom. The men in the audience even though they are just as fixated as the fighters, have more control. In their society, they are allowed to look at a white woman. The fighters however, are black, and therefore are supposed to suppress any thoughts regarding her so they do not get killed. This display also serves to rob them of some of their masculinity.

Aspire...To Be More Than Youre Worth Essay -- Literary Analysis

Multiple readings took place during the postmodern time period; they described ideas ranging from conceptual frameworks and ideologies to science and realism. The novel took place during the postmodernism era, yet it still strongly relates to today’s society. How humans interact with one another plays a huge role throughout this novel as; Camus exemplifies a haunting nineteenth century postmodern novel that expresses human emotions through his characters; making The Stranger one of the greatest pieces of literature for generations to come. Before writing his novel, The Stranger, Albert Camus became experienced in writing. The French novelist â€Å"†¦was born in Mondovi, Algeria, and was educated at the University of Algiers† (Olafson 1). After studying theater, Camus soon came to the realization he wanted to become a novelist. During the first few months out of college, Camus â€Å"†¦was active writing and producing plays for a theater group he had founded in Algiers. About the same time he began his career as a journalist, and in 1940 he moved to Paris† (Olafson 1). Producing plays set a respectable background for Camus; as this led him to become an improved writer and produce novels as well. Albert Camus began his literary frame â€Å"†¦in 1942 [with his first] novel, L’etranger (The Stranger)† (Olafson 1). This novel was one of Camus’s more famous pieces of work; it describes human battles as well as their aspirations. Throughout The Stranger, Camus uses worl d views of well-known philosophers; even â€Å"Though he was baptized, raised, and educated as a Catholic and invariably respectful towards the Church, Camus seems to have been a natural-born pagan†; therefore, the development of Christian literature and philosophy helped influence Cam... ...e Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 May 2012. "Postmodernism." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 6. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 395-397. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 May 2012. Boucher, Jean-Yves. "Camus, Albert." Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Ed. Robert Kastenbaum. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 87-88. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 May 2012. Camus, Albert. The Stranger. United Kingdom: Vintage International Books, 1988. Print. Danesi, Marcel. "Postmodernism." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 1462-1464. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 May 2012. Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski and Deborah A. Stanley. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale, 1999. p276-296.

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Essay

Health promotion and disease prevention has always been in the forefront in the health care system. Focus has been always on the physical factors that contribute to the birth and progress of a disease. Very few researches and studies are carried out on the psychological factors that influence the adoption of health improving behaviors. Many psychological theories and models have been proposed to explain patient’s health behavior. The two studies that I have read and I use in my daily clinical practice are the health locus control (HLC) theory and health belief model (HBM). The study which uses HLC is on managing diabetic foot ulcers and the second study is about using HBM for weight management. Both the studies focus on factors that would lead a patient to adopt changes in his behavior to promote health. I usually come across male patients in my unit within the age group of 45 – 65years admitted with acute coronary syndrome. Their health assessment mostly reveal unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, high cholesterol, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and sedentary life which are all modifiable factors along with non-modifiable factors such as age, family history and gender. Rotter in 1966 proposed the HLC and the internal –external locus scale. According to Rotter internal locus of control is the belief that positive/ negative life changes are a consequence of one’s own action whereas external locus of the control is the belief that positive/ negative life events are unrelated to one’s own behavior and so are beyond one’s own control. In my daily clinical practice I use HLC to give insight to patients that unhealthy life styles are creating the negative trend in their health. Patients with high health values and high internal HLC’s request more information about the disease and are more receptive towards health education, they are more compliant with treatments and they make use of the support system. Health belief model (HBM) was propounded by Baranowski, Cullen, Nicklas, Thomas and Baranowski (2003). Table 1.Health Belief Model applied to above mentioned scenario. Perceived susceptibility| A person’s perceived risk for contracting an illness or health condition of concern to the researches. Inform patients that poor life styles make them prone to acquire diseases such as heart attacks, strokes , atherosclerotic conditions, peripheral vascular diseases etc.| Perceived severity| A person’s perception of the personal impact (clinical or social) of contracting the illness.Informing patients the seriousness and co morbidities associated with the conditions like heart attack, strokes, PVD’s etc.| Perceived benefits| A person’s perception of good things that could happen from undertaking specific behaviors, especially in regards to reducing the threat of the disease. Benefit in this case would be leading a long disease free life unless family history, gender and age take controls which are non-modifiable factors.| Perceived barriers| A motivated person would look at the perceived benefits and thereby outweigh the perceived barriers that he/she may come across when adopting healthy life style choices | Self- efficacy| A person’s belief or confidence that he or she can perform a specific behavior. Self-determination and confidence inside the person helps him to make the changes in life to follow a healthy life style.| Health education ( audio + video demonstration), educative materials in regards to the condition such as pamphlets, internet downloaded printed material, booklets all can guide patients to commit themselves to adopt life style changing behaviors. Family education, information about support systems and group activity can also contribute to the increased awareness towards one’s health and the behavioral changes that one should adopt to achieve a disease free life. References Baranowski, T., Cullen, K., Nicklas, T., Thompson, D., & Baranowski, J. (2003). Are current health behavioral change models helpful in guiding prevention of weight gain efforts? Obesity Research, 11(10), 23-42. Daddario, D.K. (2007). A review of the use of the health belief model for weight management. Medsurg Nursing, 16 (6), 363-366. Przybylski, M. (2010). Health locus of control theory in diabetes: a worthwhile approach in managing diabetic foot ulcers? Journal of Wound Care, 19 (6), 228-233. Rotter, J.B. (1966). Generalized expectations for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychol Monogr. 1966; 80: 1 1-28.

Historical context of 1984 †George Orwell Essay

George Orwells 1984 is one of the most important pieces of political fiction; it is a timeless political satire that demands to be read to be truly appreciated. Published in 1948, and set 36 years into the future, 1984 eerily depicts where the world is going, where the truth is shunted and lies are promoted by all mainstream media. Perhaps one of the most powerful science fiction novels of the twentieth century, this apocalyptic satire shows with grim conviction how the protagonist Winston Smiths individual personality is wiped and how he is recreated in the Partys image until he does not just obey but loves Big Brother. Some critics have related Winston Smiths suffering to those Orwell underwent before the writing of 1984. Orwell maintained the idea that the novel was written with the intention to alter other peoples ideas about the society they should strive after. But perhaps, to truly understand the concepts explored and the purpose it was written, we should first consider the historical context of the novel, the period leading up to the writing of 1984 in order to answer just what kind of book he was writing. One of the things that make 1984 such an important work of political fiction is the fact that it was written in a period of unprecedented political instability. It was the end of the worlds great imperial powers and the rise of a new age of politics. Democracy, fascism and communism were vying for dominance and the outcome of their struggle could not be predicted. Most people at the time were content to read 1984 as a straightforward allegory of the about the melancholy fate of the Russian revolution. From the minute Big Brothers moustache appears in the second page of the book, people were immediately reminded of Stalin just as how the despised part heretic Emmanuel Goldstein is like Trotsky. This however did not prevent the novel being marketed in the US as an anticommunist tract. Written in 1948, 1984 arrived in the Mccarthy period where communism was seen as a worldwide menace. The Korean War (1950-53) would soon follow and highlighted the alleged communist practice of ideological enforcement through brainwashing. That something very much like brainwashing happens in  1984, in lengthy and terrifying detail, to its hero, Winston Smith, did not surprise those readers determined to take the novel as a simple condemnation of Stalinist atrocity. This however was not Orwells intention. Though 1984 gave comfort to generations of anti communist ideologues, its main purpose was to condemn the ill effects of totalitarianism. But to understand what fueled his hatred of totalitarian regimes we must first consider the life George Orwell led and the world at that time. George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair, in India 1903 into a middle class family. The name George Orwell was a pseudonym that he wrote his novels under. He was the son of a British civil servant and was brought to England as a toddler. The boy became aware of the clear class distinctions while attending St Cyprians preparatory school in Sussex where he received a fine education but felt out of place. He was often humiliated and looked down on as he was not from a wealthy family like the others. This experience made him sensitive to the cruelty of social arrogance. As a partial scholarship student whose parents could not afford to pay for his scholarship, Orwell was often reminded of his lowly economic status by the school administrators. Conditions improved at Eton where he studied next with Aldous Huxley as his French tutor. Later, Orwell wrote of being relatively happy at Eton as the school allowed students much independence. But instead of continuing his university classes, in 1922 Orwell joined the Indian imperial police. Stationed in Burma, his class consciousness intensified as he served as one of the hated policemen enforcing British control of the native population. He was troubled by the caste and racial barriers that had prevented him from getting to know a wider cross-section of the people there. Disgusted at his role as an imperialist; he returned to England in 1927 and resigned his position. Orwell planned to become a writer, a profession which he had originally not shown much interest in. Perhaps, to erase the guilt from his colonial experiences, he chose to live among the poor of London, and later in Paris.  His own life provide the material for his first book published in 1933 Down and out in Paris and London which was based on his time living in those two cities with social criticism. The pseudonym George Orwell was used so his parents would not be shocked by the horrific living conditions described in the book. Subsequent novels contained autobiographical references and served as vehicles for Orwell to explore his growing political convictions. In 1936, Orwell traveled to Barcelona to write about the Spanish civil war but ended up joining the battle, fighting against Spanish Leader Francisco Franco and his Nazi supported fascists on the side of the Republicans, supporting the socialist left. There he had quickly learned the difference between real and phony antifascism. Orwell said: ‘This fascism †¦ somebody’s got to stop it’. To Orwell, liberty and democracy went together, guaranteeing, among other things, the freedom of the artist; the present capitalist civilization was corrupt, but fascism would be morally calamitous. It was the Spanish Civil War that played the most important part in defining his socialism. Having witnessed the success of the anarcho-syndicalist communities, and the following brutal suppression of the revolutionaries by the Soviet-backed Communists, Orwell returned from Catalonia a staunch anti-Stalinist and joined the Independent Labour Party. The Spanish war and other events in 1936-7, he wrote 10 years later, turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I know it. His experiences in the Spanish civil war especially arrow escape during a Communist purge in Barcelona made him a lifelong anti-stalinist and a strong believer in democratic socialism, socialism with free elections. In the novel, Winston Smiths job at the ministry of truth consists of falsifying historical records in such a way to make the Party appear incapable of mistakes. This kind of systematic eradication was also present most notably in the Stalinist era in the 1930s. After Joseph Stalin rose to power, the names of the once honored leaders of the Russian revolution men like Leon Trotsky, Nikolai Bukharin, and Lev Kamenev were deleted from the  history books, their faces destroyed even on historical photographs. Articles written in encyclopedias were removed and new pages were written to replace those the subscribers had to cut out. But the Soviets were not the only one who engaged in such practices. The British government also undertook its own propaganda as well, in which Orwell was an unintentional participant. From 1939-41, Stalin was portrayed as villain who had sacrificed Poland by signing a non aggression pact with Germanys Adolf Hitler. But on the day Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin was instantly remade into a friend of Britain. In the British Broadcasting corporation (BBC) which stressed the fortitude of the Russian people and the bravery of the red army. Orwell had worked for the BBC at the time Stalin was made a celebrity. Orwells satirical novel Animal Farm which condemned was rejected by publishers. It was only after World War II, when Stalin was no longer an ally, was his book finally published. In Orwells fictional Oceania, radio broadcasts consists of special announcements of victories and large doses of martial music. This bears a similar resemblance to the successful tactics used by Germanys minister of propaganda under Hitler, joesph Goebbels. Also, Orwells concept of Newspeak, a critical element of degrading the society in 1984, bore a similar resemblance Goebbels’s Sprachregelung (â€Å"language manipulation†). In Sprachregelung, for example, Churchill was referred to by officials as â€Å"that brandy-sodden alcoholic Winston Churchill,† and Roosevelt â€Å"that syphilitic degenerate Roosevelt†. The media’s manipulation of the masses in Nineteen Eighty-Four, then, is drawn not only from Soviet and Nazi propaganda tactics, but also from Orwell’s own experiences as a propagandist in the BBC’s English-language service to India as well. In 1984, the world is subdivided into three great powers, Oceania(united states), Eurasia(Europe and Russia) and Eastasia (china and south east Asia) . This scenario is the same as the actual political alignment that followed WWII. At a conference in the city of Tehran 1943, Roosevelt, Stalin< Churchill met to discuss postwar occupation and demilitarization of Germany. At this meeting it was decided that a secret Allied assault on German  occupied France would take place in 1944. This would cause Germany to fight a war on two fronts both east and west. This was the strategy that would win the war in next 18 months and also allowed the total soviet domination of Eastern Europe. By the time the leaders met again in 1945 at the Yalta conference, Stalin had driven the Nazi forces back and taken control of Eastern Europe. In 1948, when 1984 had been published, World War II had just ended. One of Englands allies was Russia, ruled by the repressive dictator Joseph Stalin. Stalin had launched an economic system in the Soviet Union where he had forced rapid industrialization of the large rural country. While the Soviet Union and its empire had transformed from an agrarian economy to an industrial powerhouse in a short span of time, millions of people died from hardships and famine that occurred as a result of the severe economic turmoil and party policies. During the continued repressions in the country under Stalin millions of people who were a threat to the Soviet politics or suspected of being such a threat were executed or exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of Siberia or Central Asia much like how the citizens of 1984 were vaporized. A number of ethnic groups in Russia were forcibly exiled for political reasons. Orwell seems to have been particularly annoyed with the widespread allegiance to Stalinism. The Communist Party under Stalin, he felt, were movements agreeing to fight for the working classes against capitalism, but in reality concerned only with establishing and perpetuating their own power. The masses were only there to be used for their idealism, their class resentments, and their willingness to work cheap. Fearful that the Soviets would impose a totalitarian political system on the vast area the soviets occupied, Roosevelt and Churchill pressed Stalin to establish governments through free elections. He conceded but did not allow international supervision of these elections. In the decade following the wars end, a ravaged Europe became the battleground for the two ideologies of communism and capitalism, and nowhere was their inability to agree more  evident than in the political division of Berlin. It was also at Yalta where the leaders set up the United Nations to maintain peace and security. But this coalition had little effect in preventing the growing tension between the US and the Soviets as they both tried to become the leading superpower. The ongoing ideological clash between these nations came to be known as the Cold War. The third great power to emerge after the war was the Peoples Republic of China. Communists captured power from the Nationalists in 1949 and established the People’s Republic of China, totalitarianism again appeared in the newly formed communist state although its appearance seems less indicative of communist ideology than a long history of despotic rulers in both Russia and China. Mao and his lieutenants manipulated all organs of information for indoctrination purposes. Political education was accompanied by mass arrests and executions, forced labor, and the liquidation of anticommunist opponents. Political opponents were rehabilitated rather than eliminated, and often permitted to return to positions of responsibility. The fact that the majority of these events, which are strikingly similar to those recounted in Nineteen Eighty-Four, occurred after the publication of the book is a testament to the novel’s prescience. Other dictators of the time included Benito Mussolini of Italy. These dictators controlled citizens through propaganda and violence. These state of affairs prompted Orwell to create Big Brother, the ultimate totalitarian leader who dominates political, social, and economic activities. Orwell was also concerned about an important invention that came into place after WWII and would eventually become a dominant force in Western culture: the television. Television first appeared in America in 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair. Its popularity continued to grow and today most households in America owned at least one colour television set. Orwell recognized the potential and the influence it can have of this communication tool which eventually everyone would own. He imagined that the television would broadcast propaganda non stop and eventually allow the broadcaster to spy on  the viewers hence the reason for establishing the telescreens in 1984. Political tragedies, such as this, are published constantly, but 1984 is one of the few that has remained timeless and will always be regarded as not only historical, but also prophetic. The book reminds us of what has gone wrong, what can go wrong, and what will go wrong when government becomes all-powerful. It is because of this political and social insight that 1984 is one of the best books of all time. BIBLIOGRAPHY www.wikipeia.org- Spanish civil war-cold war-George Orwell-Joseph Stalin-Mao tse Tungwww.bartleby.com/65/to/totalita.htmwww.britannica.com/eb/article-9073017/totalitarianismww.answers.comhttp://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/introduction.htmlhttp://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/scw/scw.htmwww.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade50.htmlbooks.google.com.au/bookswww.online-literature.com/orwell/www.george-orwell.org/www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-totalitarianism.htmFinding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin1984 by George Orwell (foreword by Thomas Pynchon) 2003 editionLiterature and its times by joyce moss