Oranges and Fair Trade Essay

In both poems â€Å"Oranges† and â€Å"Fair Trade† by Gary Soto, the author explores the recurring theme of compassion and pride. Both poems have several ways to show the theme. The poem â€Å"Oranges† is about young love and knowing how it once felt. At the beginning of the poem, I get the sense that the boy is a little apprehensive in meeting his girl as he states, â€Å"Cold and weighted down / with two oranges in my jacket. † Certainly two oranges aren’t going to weigh anyone down, therefore the image described must be the nervousness along with the anticipation of seeing meeting her. As I walked toward / her house, the one whose / porch light burned yellow / night and day, in any weather,† tells me about his burning passion for her. â€Å"She came out pulling / at her gloves, face bright / with rouge,† tells me that she is also excited to see him and that she is either blushing or has applied some makeup in the manner a young inexperienced woman would. As she comes out of her house, some of that nervousness exits him because he smiles and even has the courage to touch her shoulder. The line about the â€Å"used car lot† and â€Å"newly planted trees† is imagery about his reality and what kind of life he lives. As they enter into the drugstore and look at the candies, the boy is probably feeling for the first time a sense of maturity as he asks her what she wanted; because he’s able to buy her something. â€Å"The lady’s eyes met mine, / and held them, knowing / very well what it was all / about. † The imagery here provides some tension for the reader: â€Å"Will the boy ask the girl to change her selection? Will the saleslady demand cash or no sale? Although his courage is impressive, the risk was also a safe and intelligent bet: If the saleslady had refused to honor his orange for payment, he would still have the two oranges to share with the girl on their way home. The oranges give the narrator â€Å"weight† and importance, and then they became a medium of exchange used to buy the candy. â€Å"I took my girl’s hand / in mine for two blocks,† The boy’s reference to the girl as â€Å"my girl,† shows that he now feels in control. The boy proves himself and impresses the girl, which was the goal in the first place, and he is rewarded for his bravery by being allowed to hold her hand on the walk home. As the narrator describes â€Å"I peeled my orange / that was so bright against / the gray of December / that, from some distance, / someone might have thought / I was making a fire in my hands,† symbolizes the new energy of confidence he has in himself, as well as his increased affection for his girl. As a result, the imagery in this poem reflects the boy’s struggle in life from adolescence to adulthood. The poem â€Å"Fair Trade† is about money, pride, and sympathy. The title gave off an aura of sarcasm as he states, â€Å"she said, â€Å"Dollar thirty,† / I thought, No meat or butter. It wasn’t really a fair trade, because a dollar thirty for two slices of bread is quite expensive at his time. Neither did the waitress offered meat nor butter. â€Å"The man / hesitated, then fumbled for / coins from his pocket,† tells me that the man is poor, because he wouldn’t have been taken aback if he have lots of cash. Only the narrator sympathize the Mexican man as he states, â€Å"I stabbed the carrots, / hurting for this man. † I conclude that the bread may not have satisfied the man because he didn’t leave anything on his plate. At the end of the poem, the narrator tells us that the experience had left him a mark, that he wouldn’t forget the memory of that day. The images of the poem reflect the Mexican man’s pride and the narrator’s compassion towards him. Both poems teach us the same lesson; â€Å"Compassion comes from seeing others struggle. † The poems’ similarities are that they both have people who show sympathetic pity and concern to others. In the poem â€Å"Oranges,† the narrator describes compassion by his own experience, how pride affected him. On the other hand, the poem â€Å"Fair Trade,† describes the narrator’s interpretation of pride.

Exemption of military from environmental conservation Research Paper

Exemption of military from environmental conservation - Research Paper Example This is done by proper legislation through acts of parliament, formation of organizations that ensure protection of endangered species and supporting world organizations whose mandate is to protect the environment. In the process of environmental conservation, an important question about the military involvement is environmental conservation normally surface. Scholars like Benedict Cohen and Jamie Clark have been able to argue out ideas on the military involvement in environmental conservation. Indeed, the issue of environmental conservation should be taken with the seriousness it deserves hence no person or personality should be exempted in the efforts of environmental conservation. Background information Environment is the conditions or the surroundings through which a human being, plant or animal operates. It involves the air, the waters, the soil, forests, etc. The environment is beneficial because it is a habitat to living things, source of food for animals, source of medicine and provides beautiful scenery during man’s relaxation. Over the past century, the military activities have been strongly linked to being insensitive to the conservation of the environment. Research through books, journals, newspaper articles and other forms of media has shown that the environmental pollution and degradation is due to the some of the military activities. The military may affect the environment unwillingly such as during combat or even during the training and testing sessions. In the training sessions and even live combat, the military use weapons, which release harmful chemicals to the environment (Bowden, 2004). These chemicals pollute the environment hence leads to death of biodiver sity. In addition, the contaminated air may lead to increase in temperatures hence tropical diseases like malaria become widespread. Moreover, it has been proven that the radiation caused due to nuclear weaponry causes faster multiplication of body cells hence development of cancer. Thus the effect caused by military activities are more severe that leave the question should the military be exempt from environmental conservation. Method To address the issue, I will conduct a review of related research from the books, journals, newspaper articles and other forms of media. The review will give information on various scholarly materials that have researched on the issue. The findings will be summarized to give the results that on whether military should be exempt from environmental regulations. Literature review Land degradation is the deterioration of top soil in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combinations of human-induced methods. The explosi ves used during testing or live combats affect the nature of the land by creating large dents in the ground (Schwartz, 2006). These dents accumulate water hence the land becomes unsuitable for agriculture. In addition, the heat generated by the explosives kills the microorganisms, which are responsible for the fertility and aeration of the soil. These lands are left bear hence no agricultural activities can take place. According to Schwarts (2006), military activities during either war or practice may result into leaving some dangerous substances in the environment. These substances may include radiations, unexploded ammunitions, burning oil wells etc. These environments are risky for

Oil and the U.S. economy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Oil and the U.S. economy - Assignment Example The US remains very dependent on these foreign oil reserves for its functioning economy which leaves us helpless to disruption. The US consumes more than 25% of the world’s oil and this is going up by 2% every year; 57% of this oil being consumed is imported from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Mexico (Churchill). What this means is the US is built around the use of oil for cheap, reliable energy. The US economy, from its most basic consumer base, cannot survive without it for very long. Despite the US’s clear dependence on foreign oil the US is less dependent on this oil as it was in 1973 and 1980. According to the New York Times, â€Å"the energy used for each dollar of gross domestic product in 1980 was almost 70 percent greater than it is today. While we have collectively wrung our hands over the decline of manufacturing in the country, it has also reduced the relationship between energy prices and growth† (Goolsbee). The US commuter is more dependent than ever though. People live farther from their work and drive more. Because fuel efficiency standards in the US stopped going up in 1990, fuel inefficiency creates a higher demand among US commuter for oil to fill their tanks. When oil prices go up dramatically like in summer of 2008 the US commuter was forced to make difficult choices, and the economy scaled back because the consumer was left in shock by such high prices. This oil shock was right before the economic downturn (Panzner). On the stock market commodity prices and stock prices have an interesting relationship. When commodities go down in value, stocks usually go up in value (Mitchell). This relationship causes some people to look at oil prices in relation to the US economy as a whole when thinking about where the US economy will be going. Oil prices are a big commodity that many analysts look at, and if oil prices change, commodities in general change. This is because oil

Economic or Gender Concerns During the Interwar Period Essay

Economic or Gender Concerns During the Interwar Period - Essay Example Some societies made an objective of addressing their economy during the interwar period whereby they emphasized on leisure to help improve their economy status. They would change employment patterns and working hours so that they can facilitate the growth of leisure time. According to Joseph Starlin, â€Å"in our country, in the U.S.S.R the workers have long forgotten unemployment. Some three years ago we had about one and a half million unemployed. It is already two years now since unemployment has been completely abolished. Look at the capitalist countries; what horrors are taking place there as a result of unemployment!†According to Mustapha Kemal â€Å"Youth undoubtedly considers the republic a gift presented by your genius and decisiveness to Turkishness more valuable than life itself In its defense, no sacrifice is too great It will be jealously guarded against nothing to existence from the darkness into the light, at the call to follow the path of deliverance we are an d shall eternally be, with laws written with our blood, the guardians of freedom and the future†In eugenicssociety, in the year 1921, there was an attempt to criminalize lesbianism. For the matrimonial causes, Act of 1923 made adultery the sole ground of divorce for either of the spouse.Additionally, further grounds were added in the year 1937 comprising of a wife’s right to divorce her husband for a case of rape.In this society of Eugenics, a person named Marie Stopes came up with a birth control clinic.

Women and Driving in Saudi Arabia Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Women and Driving in Saudi Arabia - Article Example Men and the Saudi government, in general, do not have any right to direct women on what they should do and what they should not engage in. Moreover, women all over the world including Saudi Arabia have proven that they are worth more than domestic objects. Accordingly, women are involved in management and leadership positions initially reserved for their male counterparts. This goes to show that the same way women are capable of managing other duties including work and family responsibilities, they are also able to manage driving and the challenges that come with this task. Thus, there is no obstacle holding back the government of Saudi Arabia to consent to lift of the driving ban. The Saudi government should let women drive because they have expressed a great willingness to drive. This reveals that the decision to deny women the right to drive is not welcomed by this population. As a result, women have come out and openly to show resistance towards the ban on driving. For example, on October 26, 2013 camping, women set behind the wheel and proved to the people that they could drive (Bynes 1). They recorded themselves driving and uploaded the videos on YouTube. Some people saw the women when they drove and gave them thumbs up which means that many people support women driving. In another protest, women came out in large numbers to test drive around the city. Ironically, as one of the participants narrates the experience, not even the police stopped her, and people around seemed not to notice (Burke 2). Notably, banning women from driving is just in perception, but in reality, it does not raise any concerns.

Online Dating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Online Dating - Essay Example Some people have found themselves involved in online dating, regardless of the seriousness of their involvement. Recent research has shown that more men are involved in online dating than women and various reasons have been found to be the cause. To begin with, men are naturally attracted to the physical appearance of the person who they are involved with. As a result, they may find themselves in a relationship without having thought of the consequences of their actions. This increases the possibility of someone being involved in multiple relationships without any serious inclination to the people involved (Barlow 2009, p. 61). To a woman including me, dating is perceived to be something that is very sensitive and doing it online is perceived to be a sign of desperation. I think that dating online is a show of how desperate someone is, and as a result, ladies keep off the online dating even if they are desperate in reality. This limits the number of women involved in online dating. As compared to other places such as a bar, I find it to be a more convenient way of finding a boyfriend so long as both parties share similar objectives and interests. On the other hand, research carried out by Cornell University has shown that most women believe that those who date online do that only for fun. I personally find online dating impossible and perceive it as a lie and do not believe that anyone can really find true love through the internet. Ladies have difficulty in trusting someone they have never met due to the distance and the fact that most of the information about the person is usually read on a profile. According to the research, it is perceived that meeting someone physically makes it much easier to create a bond and now the person than communicating through a text and email. It is also believed that most of the men met online are extraordinarily evil or immoral and thus may be

Whole Foods Market Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Whole Foods Market - Case Study Example This case study provides a different look at the situation, wherein the specificity of the supplies is what gives the product and services of WFM its value. Following the turn of the millennium the market for natural and organic food sales shifted from niche to mainstream. Once considered excessive in terms of cost and unimportant in terms of health, WFM pioneered and developed an industry that now accounts for more than 2.5%, or $13.8 billion in US food sales annually. This product line has shown greater growth in sales than traditional grocery offerings for the last several years. Further, studies indicate that this trend will continue into the future as the Baby Boomers reach senior status, their children enter middle age and their grandchildren reach adulthood. Each of these generations has enjoyed a greater degree of disposable income and exposure to higher education; factors which both play a major role in WFM’s market demographic. With that said, at the time this study was written, their organizational objective was to reach $12 billion in revenue and have more than 300 stores in operation (Harasta & Hoffman, n.d.). They w ere able to achieve only half of this objective by reaching 304 store locations domestically and another 12 internationally for a total of 316 current locations (â€Å"Our Stores,† n.d.). Unfortunately, while up 12% from 2009, they fell short of their fiscal goals reaching $9 billion in sales in 2010 (McCann, 2010); however with only half of the 2011 fiscal year gone they have significantly overtaken the half-way mark of 2010 by already producing $5.4 billion in sales (McCann, 2011). WFM face three pivotal issues that are hindering their ability to expand at a faster pace: Increased competition, rigid target market requirements and a limited supply of natural and organic goods.  Currently, they control 47% of organic food sales in the US; however similar vendors and national supermarket chains have taken notice of the profitability of natural products and entered the market with varying degrees of success.