American films Essay Example for Free

American films Essay be at work making sure he works his ass off to get us where we are now. Although I don’t see him most of the time during my childhood, and he missed almost every one of my birthday’s I can never be mad at him for it. Something I most admire my father for is the fact he gave up his family and life he had back in the islands to support his daughter and pregnant wife, which changed all our lives. As soon as he joined the military he flew us 2 kids and my mother out to America to see our new house in Hawaii. The day we all came to America was the day we left behind the poverty and worries back in Samoa. Since that day, I have always respected my father. Even though I sometimes abhor is actions towards discipline, I constantly think back to the days we had it rough and who it was that became our hero from there on out. Without his decisions on coming to America and toward his responsibilities, I wouldn’t have had hope in finding a future for myself back in the islands. Because of my father’s life changing choices, I am living a life of a lifetime; a humble lifestyle.

I Am Woman!!! :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

I Am Woman!!! So, why don't gynecologists have contests to make it at least interesting? I mean, while you're lying there, legs splayed to the world, why not move things along with a touch of frivolity? Count-the-Holes-In-The-Ceiling-Tiles or Count-How-Many-Miles-'Til-He-Reaches-China or even How-Many-Organs-Will-Still-Be-Intact? The act of submitting oneself to the humiliation of inspection has, since the first cavewoman squatted in childbirth, loomed in the female consciousness as a unifying force likely to explode in repressed rage. Women have been prodded, probed, peered at, pared down, palpated, pregnant, penetrated and pawed since the dawn of civilization. From the information I have gathered over my years of blooming womanhood, the paradigm should be shifting as least as much as breasts to gravity. I am not alone. In locker rooms, sorority dorms, at Tupperware parties and at PTA meetings, sisterhood has been built on the collective misery from the malfunctioning and misfiring of the female anatomy. I have heard stories that would send television producers running for a time slot to resurrect "Queen for a Day." Who wouldn't be moved by the woman in Syracuse who felt like she had the flu--no energy, aching back and stomach cramps? To her surprise she delivered a nine-pound baby boy on the Simonized kitchen floor of her double-wide mobile home. That is some flu. Maybe, by now, there is a scientific name for it (so the condition can be recognized by the AMA for possible funding). Something like the Haagen-Daz Syndrome or Gherkin-itis would help these women and their doctors differentiate between the flu and pregnancy. Then there's the woman in Des Moines who, at the age of 75, gave birth to triplets and then sued her doctor for malpractice. The birth-control pills he had prescribed for her were not the correct dosage. So say her lawyers. It goes on and on. The sponsors of the show could give out huge prizes ranging from a year's supply of feminine pads to a gross of Midol. The grand prize, after the battle of the bulges, could be a trip to the Smithsonian Institution to view gynecological instruments from the period of Western expansion of the United States. That would cheer up the most distended and distraught among us. Nothing builds solidarity like good old-fashioned trouble. Women, blamed for being distracted by instinct, have a penchant for tracking the woes of their sisters.

Praise Song for my Mother by Grace Nichols Essay

The poem, as the name suggests is a song where the poet is rejoicing her relationship with her mother by making use of simple but powerful imagery. It is important to note that unlike the commemorative poems that are usually written by Western writers, â€Å"Praise for My Mother† does not have a requiem like elegiac mood. The overall tone of the poem is pleasant. â€Å"Praise Song† is a panegyric on the writer’s mother. in which she celebrates a woman who gave her both roots to grow from and wings to fly with. Writing about her own mother, Nichols once commented that she was a ‘†¦ warm, intelligent, loving woman who was full of stories, anecdotes and songs from her own childhood. People loved being around her and I can’t remember a single day when our home wasn’t visited by some friend, neighbour or relative who had dropped in â€Å"just fuh [sic] minute† but ended up staying hours. ‘ Starting with the vocabulary, it is vivid but hard-hitting. The writer uses the images of water, moon and sun- all powerful symbols of nature, to describe her mother’s character which shows her strength of personality and the extent of her love and affection towards her. The red colour of the fish’s gills is reminiscent of the maternal love; a break from the clichi d usage of the colour red in â€Å"standard† English literature where the colour is usually associated with sensuality. Talking about the lyrical style, a look at the formative years of Grace Nichols in Guyana may shed some light on her writing and choice of subject. She was born into a world of books and music. Her father was a head teacher and at home she was surrounded by books – she was fascinated by the kingdom of books and language. Her mother used to give piano lessons. The first 8 years of her life that she spent in a village left an imprint on her that shows in the poem as well; the rhythm of music and the beat of pan, the call of the fisherman and the fruit vendor, the odour of mud and salt when she went crab hunting (â€Å"the crab’s leg†), the whole of the morning sky, the whole of the evening sky, (â€Å"sunrise† and â€Å"moon’s eye†). The poem is also repetitive, ‘replenishing replenishing’. The poet may have opted for this because it brings a sense of childhood as a young child would repeat words. Nichols wants to use this effect because the repetitive content relates to a child’s attitude, which will then recall the memories Nichols had of her mother when she was a child. Food is a very important part of Caribbean culture and tradition. The home-cooked food is something that does not have any alternative. The writer’s memory of her mother is not complete without thinking about or mentioning the food she used to cook. This intensifies the sacrifice that the writer’s mother had to make for her daughter’s brighter, â€Å"Wide futures†. As Nichols once pointed out, â€Å"Like a beacon in London, every now and then I get this craving for my mother’s food. I leave art galleries in search of plantains, salt fish, sweet potatoes; I need this link, I need this touch of home, swinging my bag like a beacon against the cold. † Praise song for my mother Fat Black Woman Tropical Death Grace Nichols puts the image across that the issue of culture is extremely important to her. Through her poems we understand that she is confused of her identity. When she moved to London she felt as though she was living in an alien world. Grace Nichols was longing for a cultural identity in Britain and she tends to describe Britain negatively and the Caribbean positively. This is why throughout the poems she applies her own dialect of Creole, which is the official dialect of the Caribbean. She also uses Creole because she feels as though she should preserve it. She maintains that her Caribbean language is ‘genuinely exciting’ and that Creole’s aspects are very vivid which concludes her to believe that there is no equivalent in the English language. Nichols has successfully carved a niche for her culture and poetry in the existing canon of complex poets and poetry by writing in a laymen’s register. This is a poetry that everyone can understand and read. This is a poetry that everyone can identify with. This is the poetry the Nichols has written for her countrymen, for her mother, for her roots- it is a tribute to her roots back at home. We get a clear sense of this in ‘Praise Song for My Mother’, in which she talks of a mother who is ‘deep and bold and fathoming’ and who ‘replenishes’ her whenever she needs comfort.

Octopus Facts Habitat, Behavior, Diet

Octopuses (Octopus spp.) are a family of cephalopods (a subgroup of marine invertebrates) known for their intelligence, their uncanny ability to blend into their surroundings, their unique style of locomotion, and their ability to squirt ink. They are some of the most fascinating creatures in the sea, found in every ocean in the world, and every continents coastal waters. Fast Facts: Octopus Scientific Name: Octopus, Tremoctopus, Enteroctopus, Eledone, Pteroctopus, many othersCommon Name: OctopusBasic Animal Group: InvertebrateSize: 1 inch–16 feetWeight: 1 gram–600 poundsLifespan: One to three yearsDiet:  CarnivoreHabitat: Every ocean; coastal waters in every continentPopulation: There are at least 289 species of octopuses; population estimates are not available for anyConservation Status: Not listed. Description The octopus is essentially a mollusk that lacks a shell but has eight arms and three hearts. Where cephalopods are concerned, marine biologists are careful to distinguish between arms and tentacles. If the invertebrate structure has suckers along its entire length, its called an arm; if it only has suckers at the tip, its called a tentacle. By this standard, most octopuses have eight arms and no tentacles, while two other cephalopods, cuttlefish and squids, have eight arms and two tentacles. All vertebrate animals have one heart, but the octopus is equipped with three: one that pumps blood through the cephalopods body (including the arms), and two that pump blood through the gills, the organs that enable the octopus to breathe underwater by harvesting oxygen. And theres another key difference, too: The primary component of octopus blood is hemocyanin, which  incorporates atoms of copper, rather than hemoglobin, which incorporates atoms of iron. This is why octopus blood is blue rather than red. Octopuses are the only marine animals, apart from whales and pinnipeds, that demonstrate primitive problem-solving and pattern recognition skills. But whatever kind of intelligence these cephalopods possess, its different from the human variety, probably closer to a cat. Two-thirds of an octopuss neurons are located along the length of its arms, rather than its brain, and theres no convincing evidence that these invertebrates are capable of communicating with others of their kind. Still, theres a reason so much science fiction (such as the book and movie Arrival) feature aliens vaguely modeled on octopuses. Octopus skin is covered by three types of specialized skin cells that can quickly change their color, reflectivity, and opacity, allowing this invertebrate to easily blend in with its surroundings. Chromatophores are responsible for the colors red, orange, yellow, brown, and black; leucophores mimic white; and iridophores are reflective, and thus ideally suited to camouflage. Thanks to this arsenal of cells, some octopuses can make themselves indistinguishable from seaweed. Fleetham Dave / Perspectives / Getty Images Behavior A bit like an undersea sports car, the octopus has three gears. If its in no particular hurry, this cephalopod will walk lazily with its arms along the ocean bottom. If its feeling a bit more urgent, it will actively swim by flexing its arms and body. And if its in a real hurry (say, because it has just been spotted by a hungry shark), it will expel a jet of water from its body cavity and zoom away as fast as it possibly can, often squirting a disorienting blob of ink at the same time. When threatened by predators, most octopuses release a thick cloud of black ink, composed primarily of melanin (the same pigment that gives human beings their skin and hair color). This cloud is not simply a visual smoke screen that allows the octopus to escape unnoticed; it also interferes with predators sense of smell.  Sharks, which can sniff small droplets of blood from hundreds of yards away, are especially vulnerable to this type of olfactory attack. Marevision / age fotostock / Getty Images Diet Octopuses are carnivores, and the adults feed on small fishes, crabs, clams, snails, and other octopuses. They typically forage alone and at night, pouncing on their prey and wrapping it in the webbing between their arms. Some octopuses use venom of varying levels of toxicity, which they inject into its prey with a beak similar to a birds; they can also use their beaks to penetrate and crack hard shells. Octopuses are night hunters, and they spend some of their daylight time in dens, generally holes in shell beds or another substrate, vertical shafts sometimes with multiple openings. If the sea floor is stable enough to permit it, they can be as deep as 15 inches or so. Octopus dens are engineered by a single octopus, but they can be reused by later generations and some species are co-occupied by male and female for a few hours.   In laboratory situations, octopuses build dens out of shells (Nautilus, Strombus, barnacles), or artificial terracotta flower pots, glass bottles, PVC tubes, custom blown glass—basically, whatever is available.   Some species have den colonies, clustered in a particular substrate. The gloomy octopus (O. tetricus) lives in communal groups of about 15 animals, in situations where there is ample food, many predators, and few opportunities for den sites. Gloomy octopus den groups are excavated into shell middens, a pile of shells built by the octopuses from prey.   Reproduction and Offspring Octopuses have very short lives, between one and three years, and they are dedicated to raising the next generation. Mating occurs when the male approaches the female: One of his arms, typically the third right arm, has a special tip called hectocotylus which he uses to transfer sperm to the females oviduct. He can fertilize multiple females and females can be fertilized by more than one male.   The male dies shortly after mating; the female looks for a suitable den site and spawns a few weeks later, laying the eggs in festoons, chains which are attached to rock or coral or to the walls of the den. Depending on the species, there can be hundreds of thousands of eggs, and before they hatch, the female guards and cares for them, aerating and cleaning them until they hatch. Within a few days, after they hatch, the mother octopus dies.   Some benthic and littoral species produce a smaller number of larger eggs which house a more highly developed larva. The tiny eggs produced in the hundreds of thousands begin life as plankton, basically, living in a plankton cloud. If they are not eaten by a passing whale, the octopus larva feeds on copepods, larval crabs, and larval seastars, until they are developed enough to sink down to the bottom of the ocean.   An octopus mother fiercely guards her den.   Getty Images Species There are nearly 300 different species of octopus identified to date—more are being identified every year. The largest identified octopus is the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), the full-grown adults of which weigh about 110 pounds or so and have long, trailing, 14-foot-long arms and a total body length of about 16 feet. However, there is some tantalizing evidence of larger-than-usual Giant Pacific octopuses, including one specimen that may have weighed as much as 600 pounds. The smallest (so far) is the star-sucker pygmy octopus (Octopus wolfi), which is smaller than an inch and weighs less than a gram. Most species average the size of the common octopus (O. vulgaris) which grows to between one and three feet and weighs 6.5 to 22 pounds. This bioluminescent pelagic octopus is in the Red Sea at night. Jeff Rotman/Photolibrary/Getty Images Conservation Status None of the octopi are considered endangered by either the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) or the ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System. The IUCN has not listed any of the octopuses. Sources Anderson, Roland C., Jennifer A. Maher, and James B. Wood. Octopus: The Oceans Intelligent Invertebrate. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2010.  Bradford, Alina. Octopus Facts. Live Science / Animals, June 8, 2017.Caldwell, Roy L., et al. Behavior and Body Patterns of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus. PLOS One 10.8 (2015): e0134152. Print.Courage, Katherine Harmon. Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea. New York: Penguin Group, 2013.  Leite, T. S., et al. Geographic Variability of Octopus Insularis Diet: From Oceanic Island to Continental Populations. Aquatic Biology 25 (2016): 17-27. Print.Lenz, Tiago M., et al. First Description of the Eggs and Paralarvae of the Tropical Octopus, Octopus Insularis, under Culture Conditions. BioOne 33.1 (2015): 101-09. Print.Octopuses, Order Octopoda. The National Wildlife Federation.Octopus Fact Sheet. World Animal Foundation.Scheel, David, et al. Octopus Engineering, Intentional and Inadvertent. Communicative Integrative Biology 1 1.1 (2018): e1395994. Print