Journey to the West Essay Example for Free

Journey to the West Essay Growing up, we all had our favorite stories. My personal favorite was the Harry Potter series; I spent hours and hours immersed in those books. For a lot of Chinese children however, the story they grew up with was called Journey to the West, or XiYouJi. This story was written by Wu Cheng’en, an author who lived during the 16th century in the Ming dynasty. A very famous piece of literature, it is considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature. The novel starts by telling the story of SunWuKong, who was born from a rock. He went on to learn 72 polymorphic transformations and becomes super powerful, powerful enough to challenge the Taoist Gods. The story goes on to tell about SunWuKong’s great rebellion against heaven, where he basically goes around and beats up everyone in the sky by himself. Eventually however, his arrogance leads to his downfall, and the Buddha manages to trap him under a mountain for five hundred years. The story then jumps to the introduction of Tang XuanZang, who is instructed by the Gods to go east to India on a pilgrimage and retrieve the Buddhist Sutras. After setting out on his journey, Xuan Zang bumps into SunWuKong who is still trapped under a mountain. With the help from the gods, Xuan Zang frees SunWuKong and takes him on as a disciple. He also meets a pig named ZhuBaJie and an ogre named ShaWuJing. Together, the 4 of them walk west towards their eventual goal of LeiYingSi. Along the way, they encounter nine thousand nine hundred eighty one hardships, including crossing treacherous rivers, fighting off monsters who want to eat XuanZang, and battling through a mountain of fire. The majority of the book describes their journey from the Tang Capitol, all the way to LeiYingSi. Once they arrive at their destination, they retrieve the sutras and return to China.

Santa Claus :: essays research papers

Santa Claus   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most important imaginary figures on this earth, who has touched the hearts and souls of many children, is Saint Nicholas. St. Nick, better known as Santa Claus, is notorious for bringing gifts to children that are in need. Known for having a huge belly and a gigantic heart, Santa Claus brings hope to kids who are hopeless and smiles to those who have lost theirs. While snuggled in their bed, desperately trying to catch a wink of sleep, children around the world await the arrival of St. Nick. Dressed in red and with a jolly old smile, he manages to fulfill the dreams of kids throughout millions of miles. Santa Claus brings a whole new meaning to the season of Christmas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite his buxom body and his bag of goods, St. Nick succeeds in fitting down various narrow types of chimney's. Quickly yet quietly, he sneaks in and out of houses, leaving only gifts, milk stains and cookie crumbs as evidence of his presence. And he sets off to the next home, hoping that a lit fire place would not come to his surprise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The task of fulfilling the dreams of millions of children is not an easy one. It requires many trusted helpers. These helpers include parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and of course elves and reindeer. Reindeer play an important role in the scheme of things. Without the famous Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen or Rudolph, Santa would not have any transportation. They fly faster than a speeding bullet, yet never seem to miss a single home. Together, Santa, the elves, and the reindeer work to make the Miracles of Christmas happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  St. Nick not only showers children with gifts, he also instills in them that giving is far more important than receiving. By setting this example, the feeling of Christmas becomes alive within each and every one of our hearts. Therefore, we are able to look at Christmas, through a whole new perspective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Santa Claus also gives children an escape from the harsh reality of today's world. He gives kids something to believe in when there is nothing really to look forward to. St. Nick actually is a savior for many kids who have had to mature pass their age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The look on the children's face, when they awake Christmas morn, fulfills not only their hearts but the people around them.

Why Should We Ban Gmos?

GMOs or genetically modified organisms have been a controversial term since the middle 1990s when the FDA approved the papaya to be genetically altered to save it from a worldwide virus leading to its demise. The rash and uneducated decision to save the papaya came without any form of long term effects to the delicate balance of our eco-system and populous. The problem with genetically modified foods is the potential unknown and the long term affects they very well potentially could propose.According to a poll taken by CNBC on April 28th, 2011 eighty-two percent of Americans are against GMOs [1]. The long term effects are becoming more and more prevalent within our society as GMOs continue to be around longer and with more research being done the possibilities for harm increase daily. While I won’t deny the overall idea here has great potential such as potentially virus and fungi immune crops as well as drought resistant crops [2] the overall study and research on this subject is very limited and vague.The side effects of GMOs is already showing up in certain grains and beans such as chronic wasting of internal organs to rats fed genetically modified potatoes and large amounts of defects produced in rats being fed high a diet of herbicide resistant soybeans such as sterile babies and stunted birth [3]. I feel the decision to push heavily for GMOs and filling over seventy percent of American grocery stores with unlabeled GMOs [4] has largely to do with the tyrants who control the market such as Nestle, General Mills, PepsiCo, and Monsanto.While America is being controlled by such companies being the largest consumer of GMOs by over double any other continent or nation [5] while many others such as Japan, Australia, and many of the European Union have heavy restrictions or bans on such goods where consumer rejection has taken place forcing GMOs out. If eighty-two percent of America are against GMOs they must stand up for their beliefs and not be conquered by these tyrants. The FDA’s states, â€Å"Theoretically, genetic modifications have the potential to activate cryptic pathways synthesizing unknown or unexpected toxicants, or to increase expression from active pathways that ordinarily produce low or undetectable levels of toxicants. † The FDA encourages companies that are concerned about toxicity to â€Å"consult informally with the agency on testing protocols for whole foods when appropriate. )† meaning these laws are hardly enforced, if the company is concerned with toxicity they suggest testing and do not require it [4]. In a bio technicians terms genetic modification is the insertion of a gene from a completely foreign and non-related species or organism using a virus or bacteria as a gateway entry into the cellular compound. These gateway and seemly harmless viruses and bacteria are now becoming active in humans due to large amounts of GMO consumption.This is also posing another problem by triggering other genes within the human body and DNA to bring about new allergens among many other things. The FDA refuses to require testing of GMO products claiming they have â€Å"not found it necessary to conduct, prior to marketing, routine safety reviews of whole foods derived from plants. † The FDA is also against labeling GMO products with the mind set of it creating a public concern and panic for goods that are safe to eat. Food manufacturers also worry that labeling GM products with warnings could cause food prices to rise and create uncalled for concern among consumers. † If there is so much concern for stating the potentially increasing side effects then GMOs should be taken off the market and a very in-depth and detailed study should be conducted for the next several years to really make sure this is a revolutionary step for the Earth and its people.

Suicide And The College Life - 1918 Words

James Dykes SOC 201 Professor Bobys 28 October 2014 Suicide and the College Life Among the general population of young adults aged eighteen to twenty four, homicide and suicide are, respectively, the second and third leading causes of death. While no studies currently compare homicide and suicide rates on campuses, the risk of homicide is generally lower, and many campus professionals dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health promotion often refer to suicide as the second leading cause of death among college students (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2004). Available data suggests that suicide occurs at a rate between six point five and seven point five per one hundred thousand among college students, approximately half the rate†¦show more content†¦According to Durkheim there are four major types of suicide anomic, altruistic, egostic and fatalistic suicides. Anomic is when people feel lost and alone, altruistic is when there are social factors, egostic is where someone is or feels detached from society, and fatalistic is someone who kills th emselves before they are taken to jail usually death by cop. Most college students would fall into the anomic suicide they mostly feel lost or alone in a strange new place. The rate of suicide in college students can be linked to depression, sexual orientation, and the fear of failure. Depression in college students is one of the main factors of suicide Some of the triggers of college depression include being away from home, lack of a normal social support group, and a history of depression. According to the article, Suicide Ideation Among College Students Evidencing Subclinical Depression students who thought about suicide more often were more depressed. Almost half of students who have reported suicidal behavior never received psychiatric help. This shows that past attempts at suicide could lead to future attempts at suicide. Being away from home is another major factor in depression. Most people agree that for the first month away from home they are depressed about being in colle ge. People do not realize that when they go to college they are leaving behind most of their social