The Importance Of Storytelling

The Importance Of Storytelling In her insightful essay on the tradition of Pueblo Indian storytelling Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective Leslie Silko displays the huge role that stories play in the life of the ethnic group she originates from, she reveals the importance of storytelling for her family, ancestors, neighbors, closest friends and personally herself. In spite of the title that draws our attention to the concepts of language and literature, the main and central issue of her essay, which first appeared as a speech for delivering before the audience, is story proper. Story is not a thing to be told at certain moments in certain circumstances, if we deal with the lifestyle of Pueblo Indians. The whole life of those people is saturated with the multitude of stories and stories-within-stories. A Pueblo Indian, from his/her very birth on, hears and listens to the stories, then, growing up, begins narrating them him/herself, and in such a way all his/her life is accompanied by this vivid tradition. Thus, storytelling may be thought of as a texture of their life, for, on the one hand, the entire world and reality are perceived in the light of stories, and, on the other hand, all the collective and individual experience of the Pueblos is transformed into stories and then orally passed on to the following generations. This custom is more than just an equivalent of folklore in European or Asian traditions. Leslie Silko emphasizes that a written speech or statement is highly suspect among her people as it does not allow sharing the feelings appropriately. Mere graphical symbols are not able to express all the copiousness of human experience, but an oral word is. At first sight, it seems somewhat odd for a person reared in European tradition, but if we look back at such ancient celebrities as Socrates who also rejected the written word as contributing to the deterioration of our memory, it becomes not so alien for us as well, although the following epochs established the importance and even the preferable credibility of what is written or typed. The same may be said about the Jewish tradition, its pre-Talmudic period when Torah she be-al-pe  [1]  was prohibited from being put down; the same is about early Christian tradition when Gospels were merely told by one person to another; the Vedic period of the Hindus when their sacred texts were recited orally and were not fixed in written form. There could be found much more parallels to the phenomenon of Pueblo story telling in the history of other ethnic groups and civilization. Leslie Silko goes on and says that, for the Pueblos, language is story (Silko 49). It is most clearly illustrated by the fact that many words in the Pueblo Indian language have their own stories. When a story is told, the teller often goes into the stories of words, and thusly a phenomenon of stories-within-stories emerges. The story becomes a web that is woven in all directions, which is contrary to the convention of linear step by step narrating in European tradition. Language is story, story is language that dialectic unity of Pueblo weltanschauung determines the structure and content of their stories and the essay devoted to them in particular. The basis of any nations, ethnicitys mentality lies in their cosmogonic and theogonic myths, which constitute their collective unconscious, the latter predetermines the style of thinking, living, and interacting of a certain nation. The Pueblo Indians are not an exception here, and the author introduces the Creation story for us to understand the peculiarities of Pueblo perception of the universe. The story is significant both for its parallels and discrepancies with the Biblical creation story; moreover, the latter are more numerous and are worth being mentioned first. The world was created by Thought Woman Tseitsinako thinking of her sisters and, together with her sisters, she thought of everything that is and there appeared the world. Thus, everything that is immanent in our world is a part of the whole; every element, every constituent of the reality belongs to this whole. The humans are also an inseparable element of the universe and belong to this universal entity. Contrary to the Bible where the world emerges as a result of Gods word, or Logos (Genesis 1, 3; John 1, 1-3), the universe appeared through the thought of the goddess and her sisters, the tight link of humans to the nature are also more apparent in Pueblo Creation story. In the Bible, people are created and let in the Garden of Eden directly by God, in the Pueblo tradition they come into the world due to th e hard efforts of the animals Antelope and Badger. Such a world outlook determines the monistic perception of the reality, it influences both the language and the storytelling of the Pueblo people. Stories are the part of their everyday life, they are multidimensional, web-like, organized in a complex structure that stretches far beyond chronological or formal logical framework. There are many repetitions, characteristic of the oral speech, digressions, stories-within-stories etc that make their stories a multilayer texture. There are no separate stories in Pueblo folklore each story is a part of some more general or fundamental story, and the latter in turn constitutes larger stories, so that the whole Pueblo traditional and even modern everyday discourse is one big story with a huge number of smaller and infinitesimal subdivisions. The stories are always bringing us together, keeping this whole together, keeping this family together, keeping this clan together tells us Leslie Silko. The destination of story is thus to preserve the wholeness of the universe. The author gives us three illustrations, three stories that are still being told and re-told until nowadays. The first one relates about a young man who lost his new Volkswagen and felt very bad about it. The structure of the story may be defined as the threefold one: 1) the guy earns money, purchases the car and drives it; then 2) it falls into the ravine and is broken to pieces; 3) there come his friends and relatives trying to offer him consolation. What do they do in particular? They tell stories about the people who also lost their cars in the ravine, moreover, many of them lost their children and parents when their cars were going down into the arroyo. The third part of the story is an essential element of Pueblo storytelling. Those stories join the guys life experience to those of the other people, and when put into that context, his loss is (or seems) not so great, he turns out to be relatively lucky, because he shunned the danger of losing his own and his relatives lives. The stories of the friends and neighbors turn grief into consolation, desperation into hope, loneliness into amiable support. Finally, that guys experience joins the common discourse of people whose cars fell into the arroyo, that guy consequently joins those people, he is not alone and that is the greatest consolation possible in such circumstances. The second story about a girl who drowned herself in Kawaik Lake is more dramatic. There can be also distinguished three parts: 1) girls request to her mother to cook her yashtoah, the conditions her mother announces; 2) girls decision to get drowned; 3) carrying out her decision and her mothers return home. The core part of the story seems to be the second one, for it shows the transformations in the girls decisions and intentions. There are also stories-within-stories here, and certain periods and details are highly repetitive, they are yashtoah, Im going to Kawaik and jump into the lake there and similar phrases. The girl tells the old man about her quarrel with her mother and her suicidal decision, the man, in turn, goes to her mother and tells her what her daughter is about to do. These stories are so intertwined and interwoven, so organically situated in the context, that it is problematic to take them out of there. The story is more or less organized in a chronological order, the sequence of events is not interrupted but attention should be paid to the fact that this story was heard by the author of the essay in a modernized version from her aunt. It is a vivid argument that traditions, and Pueblo storytelling in particular, possess a dichotomic nature on the one hand, they pass the ancient experience of the ancestors on to modern generation, on the other hand, they include the present experience of the people and add them to the common stock of Pueblo history. So, the previous, present and future generations are not separated, they are connected by a strong link of storytelling, which preserves the past and provides space for the future. What is more, this story explains why the butterflies are so beautiful and multicolored. The story of a girl is tightly connected to the biological diversity in the animal world. The third story happens in modern time, but it is nevertheless organized according to the existing pattern of Pueblo storytelling tradition numerous repetitions, associations, reminiscences, stories-within-story etc. The woman goes into details of the troubles of her life loss of husband and mother, hardships of employment etc but it ends with a glimmer of hope, she meets with her aunt and grandfather, the latter gives her a very dear present a silver 1907 dollar, which shocks every member of their family. Later, as she writes, I kept it for a long time because I guess I wanted to have it to remember when I left my home country. The silver dollar presented by her poor grandfather became a material token of her warm memory of her family, childhood and homeland. Thus, the storytelling does not appear to be something that is done at bedtime in the life of Pueblo Indians, it is the essence of their life. Detaching oneself from the mentioned stories, and having a look at the essay as the whole, it becomes evident that the essay itself is a Pueblo story, although told to the non-Pueblo people. It incorporates the analyzed stories, it is originally oral, it is saturated with the monistic worldview and it has a fair chance to be incorporated into a larger piece of storytelling and is already the constituent of the Pueblo Indian discourse. The essay is also peculiar for being addressed to the two worlds the traditional world of the Pueblos and the modern globalized world. This essay intends to initiate and hold a dialogue between these worlds, to deepen the mutual understanding that may result in mutual enriching of the two distinct cultures. The author herself and the people she tells the stories of are inspiring examples of the success on this way of reciprocal understanding. She and the characters of the stories are integrated into modern American society, but they did not lose touch with their cultural and ancestral legacy either. Although this view is not in full accord with Paul Lorenz who states that the values of American Indian cultures have been forced to confront the alien values of European American culture (Lorenz 59). One more important aspect of the storytelling should be paid due attention to as well the unity of teller and listener. Leslie Silko emphasizes the importance of the latter a great deal of the story is believed to be inside the listener; the storytellers role is to draw the story out of the listeners (Silko 51). Ib Johansen, however, views this issue from a bit another perspective In traditional societies storyteller plays an important role; he/she is placed at the very center of the community, and his/her activities are considered as essential to the very self-awareness or sense of identity of the community (Johansen) it is the teller whom Ib Johansen places as the key figure in storytelling. Here we see a classic example of the European approach. As it occurs to me, there is not the notion of central or key role / importance in Pueblo Indian world outlook. Important are all the inhabitants and objects of the world despite their role, size, destination; all of them are of equal relevance, all are necessary, all indispensable, all divine. The monistic and pantheistic approach to life, people, phenomena and objects determines the reverent attitude towards them, on the one hand, and creates difficulties in establishing the hierarchy of values, on the other hand. It is indeed problematic to define what passage is most important in a certain story, or what relations are more preferable either personal, or tribal, or clan ones. Paul Lorenz recognizes that the fiction of Leslie Silko is the product of American Indian, rather than Western, cultural values (Lorenz 59). Indeed, the very style of her essay shares many common features with the traditional Pueblo Indian narratives. It is evident in her reference to ethnologists and anthropologists who tend to differentiate the types of stories the pueblos tell she says that the people of her ethnic group never divide the stories into classes, family stories are given equal recognition (Silko 51). A distinctive characteristic of the storytelling among this tribal group of Indians is that they attach more importance to what is said than how something is said, the content is more important than the form according to Pueblo weltanschauung. The particular language spoken isnt as important as what a speaker is trying to say, writes the author of the essay. That peculiarity is also marked by Ib Jansen when he retells case of an Eskimo woman accused of killing a storeman. Thus, the notions of myth, legend, parable, tale and the like are not quite applicable to the tradition of Pueblo storytelling, they are difficult or, even impossible, to differentiate in the context of their culture. The Creation story, Home Country story, the story of the young mans Volkswagen and the speech of Ms Silko are of equal relevance and credibility in the eyes of Native American. They do not abandon negative stories of their own families and clans; they are always trying to convey the content, essence of the story so that the expressive means retreat to the background. The cosmogonic and sacred myths are as plausible as their own experience in the context of Pueblo Indian Culture. Summing up, it is reasonable to point out that Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective and the other works mentioned in this paper focus on the essential characteristics of Pueblo peoples storytelling tradition, they emphasize its monistic worldview, illustrate how several stories may unite into one; their language and the whole life are tightly linked to the stories and cannot be imagined without each other. Pueblo Indian storytelling tradition cannot but be recognized as a truly valuable constituent of the American and world culture.

Skyscrapers, Damping Systems, and Physics :: physics buildings skyscraper architecture

Skyscrapers are amazing! Architectural defeats. Wonders of the world. How are they able to withstand even the strongest of winds and earthquakes? Today, engineers rely on damping systems to counteract nature's forces. There are many types of damping systems that engineers can now use for structures, automobiles, and even tennis rackets! This site focuses on damping systems in structures, mainly architectural variations of the tuned mass damper. How Tuned Mass Dampers Work A tuned mass damper (TMD) consists of a mass (m), a spring (k), and a damping device (c), which dissipates the energy created by the motion of the mass (usually in a form of heat). In this figure, M is the structure to which the damper would be attached. From the laws of physics, we know that F = ma and a = F/m. This means that when an external force is applied to a system, such as wind pushing on a skyscraper, there has to be an accleration. Consequently, the people in the skyscraper would feel this acceleration. In order to make the occupants of the building feel more comfortable, tuned mass dampers are placed in structures where the horizontal deflections from the wind's force are felt the greatest, effectively making the building stand relatively still. When the building begins to oscillate or sway, it sets the TMD into motion by means of the spring and, when the building is forced right, the TMD simultaneously forces it to the left. Ideally, the frequencies and amplitudes of the TMD and the structure should nearly match so that EVERY time the wind pushes the building, the TMD creates an equal and opposite push on the building, keeping its horizontal displacement at or near zero. If their frequencies were significantly different, the TMD would create pushes that were out of sync with the pushes from the wind, and the building's motion would still be uncomfortable for the occupants. If their amplitudes were significantly different, the TMD would, for example, create pushes that were in sync with the pushes from the wind but not quite the same size and the building would still experience too much motion. The effectiveness of a TMD is dependent on the mass ratio (of the TMD to the structure itself), the ratio of the frequency of the TMD to the frequency of the structure (which is ideally equal to one), and the damping ratio of the TMD (how well the damping device dissipates energy).

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley :: Papers

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Set in a modern Victorian house in South America. It is mid autumn in October.Charmaine lives with her mother,Liz. ''Ive told you already,Charm, your not having a Halloween party!'' ''But mum, you have never let me have a party before.'' ''I know and whatever you do or say isnt going to change my mind about it.'' ''Just at least let me take responsibility for something for once!'' ''No,your not having a party in this house.'' ''Why are you being so unfair, i hate you sometimes!'' ''Dont you ever say you hate me. Just go to school. Ive had enough of you!'' exclaims her mother. Charmaine grabs her bag,sandwich,Snickers bar and bottle of Evian,then she checks her long,silky hair in the mirror before she leaves. As Charmaine arrives at school she sees her friend Maxine starting to approach her,Maxine looks kinda upset and Charm wasnt really in the mood to make her best friend feel as happy as usual. Also Charm had bad news to tell her friend about the party. ''Hey Max, are you alright?'' ''Not really, I had an argument with my mum this morning and she said I am not aloud to go out tonight,I have to babysit Liam because shes going to a meeting at work.'' ''I had an argument with my mum too, I asked her if I was aloud a party tonight and she said ''No'' just like everything I ask for.'' ''Oh maybe we should just give Halloween a miss this year.'' ''Well I had an idea. My mum is going out tonight night with some work mates and maybe if I asked her if I could have a couple of friends round to watch a few scary movies,she might let me.'' ''Yeah she might do and I could ask her if I could bring Liam with me to your house, if you don't mind him being there.'' ''Sure,I dont mind, it will be well good,get to see Johnny Depp,in his new flick.'' ''He is so gorgeous!''

Grandpa Blakeslee in Burns Cold Sassy Tree :: essays research papers

In life, people crave guidance. At some point, everyone needs a helping hand. Some people turn to one another, while other turn to great forces of power, such as God. Many people live accordingly to the rules of God, and in turn are directed in leading a better life. In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa Blakeslee is such a person. Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God. Grandpa turns to God whenever he needs true help. Grandpa is a type of person who is mild, witty, and rather religious. Grandpa uses religion to solve many of his problems. At the beginning of the story, Miss Love was the target of gossip. The entire town viewed her as an outsider and couldn’t understand why she married Grandpa, especially after his wife had recently died. After Grandpa elopes, he comes back to the house and finds a group of people mourning the sad death. When Grandpa prays, â€Å"Lord above, afore this gatherin’ assembled, I ask You to bless the memory of Miss Mattie Lou† (99). Everyone stood shockingly, in silence as Grandpa continued the prayer. When he finishes singing the praises of his deceased wife, and asking for guidance for his new one, the crowd has a change of heart. It was a strange thing that happened then. My mama went up to her pa and kissed him and, crying, hugged Miss Love, who, crying, hugged her back. My daddy kissed Miss Love on the cheek and then shook hands with Grandpa. Uncle Camp naturally did the same thing (100). Slyly, Grandpa used the power of God to divert the feelings of the crowd. While Will is talking to Grandpa about his frightening encounter with the train, he asks Grandpa if â€Å"[he is] alive [because] of God’s will† (97). Without fail, Grandpa responds with wise words. He tells Will that â€Å"God gave [him] a brain† (97). This shows that Grandpa believes God doesn’t deal with the everyday mumbo jumbo, only the things that are life altering. He believes that God doesn’t need to be there for us twenty-four hours a day, but will give us certain abilities that assist you when you need assistance. Conclusively, Grandpa starts to give Will a sermon.

Set Theory in the Flesh :: Numbers Mathematics Essays

Set Theory in the Flesh The idea of infinity has been around for thousands of years. It it impossible to even conceive of this number or anything that pertains to the infinite. There is always one more. A billion is a fairly large number, 1 with 9 zeros after it. If one counted by seconds without breaks, it would take over 32 years to reach it. A Google, is a number written as 1 with one hundred zeros after it. One couldn't even count the number of lifetimes it would take to count to this number. Yet there are even much higher numbers such as a Googleplex. This number is one with a Google zeros. It would take far far too long to even write out the number. If the entire known universe was packed with quarks, the smallest known material, the number of quarks would not add up to a Googleplex. Compared to infinity, though, this number is as far away as the number one. Set theory is an area of mathematics that deals with inconceivable numbers, and bottomless concepts such as infinity. As it turns out there are many different kinds and orders of Hartmann 2 infinity that were documented by George Cantor, who opened up this area of math for the world. One way of describing these different levels of infinity is with Cantor's theoretical "Hotel Infinity" which is also an Allegory of his work and struggles in set theory. The story is interesting and also explains the fundamentals of infinity. Cantor and his assistant built a wondrous hotel that was made in such a way that there are infinitely many rooms. When he makes this hotel, his enemy Mr. Kronecker, criticizes itsaying that it's impossible and breaks the material of logic and should therefore be destroyed. Kronecker was a real person who criticized Cantor's works from the start trying to get it dismissed as not real mathematics. However, Cantor was able to publish his works, and in the story, his famous hotel was able to be printed in news paper advertisements. When the hotel finally filled up with an infinite number of people, Cantor's assistant didn't know what to do. Finally, Cantor told him to make everyone move from their room to a room that is numbered one higher than the previous one they were in. By doing this, Cantor was able to make room for one more person.

Alien Invasion

2012 ALIEN INVASION? [pic] Researcher Ian O'Neill said that it’s ridiculous 2012 doomsday theories can get. He also said that according to the Examiner. com (a rather dubious, yet expansive news website), 2012 could be filled with an alien invasion fleet after â€Å"3 very large, very fast moving objects† were spotted in some astronomical images. But there's a problem. The â€Å"UFO Examiner† reporting this nonsense appears to have made the whole thing up, using a fictitious astrophysicist as a source, a dodgy astronomical photograph and a whole truckload of delusional imagination to communicate the fantasy.Researcher said that it’s his first real attempt for some time that he had seen someone trying to indicate there will be an alien invasion in 2012. It's been done before, but the invading aliens involving Zecharia Sitchin's comical â€Å"Annunaki† — are supposed to be traveling aboard a fictional planet called Nibiru (set to arrive on Dec. 21, 2012, of course). Armageddon Planet or Astronomical Baloney? Bad Astronomer Phil Plait clearly points out; the flimsy piece of evidence being used by the â€Å"UFO Examiner† is actually an image defect on the observation plate. It also happens a lot!What makes this particular example (the picture on the top) susceptible to image defects is that the original image was captured on a physical photographic plate and then scanned and digitized (i. e. , copied onto a computer for easy access) through the 2nd Generation Digitized Sky Survey. During the scanning process according to Phil Plait, it is nigh-on impossible to remove all dust and other debris from the plates, so dust and other debris can often be found floating in some digitized images. Also, chips and cracks in the emulsion of the plates will be scanned.But how do you know if what you're looking at is a chip, scratch or coffee stain and not a ginormous alien space ship flying toward Earth? Apart from the simple appl ication of logical thought, astronomers will often photograph the same part of the night sky with several different filters. If the object is in the blue filter, say (as the above photo was lifted from), and not in the red filter, then it is highly likely that the object isn't real and it's just a fleck of dirt on one of the plates. CONCLUSION: HonestIy I really don’t believe in aliens. We might be scraping the bottom of the barrel, come on, aliens?Giant spaceships? Different colored people? Alien invasion in 2012?! I think the explanation above is enough to make us believe that â€Å"alien invasion† is not true. Anyone who wrote about that alien thing is just aiming to earn. They aren't publicizing the end of the world as some helpful public service announcement, obviously we really know that, they're doing it to make money. The writers or researchers who would say that they aren't doing it for money are doing it because they have a dubious grasp on reality. 2012 Phen omenon Myths of the Near Future?The release of the new Roland Emmerich Hollywood blockbuster ‘2012’ has brought fresh fervour to Internet geeks and astrological scholars alike, both of whom might have a keen interest in the prophesies events of December 21, 2012, although most likely for different reasons. The end of the world predictions for 2012 according to some researchers, stem from the belief that at the conclusion of the 5,125 year-long Mayan long count calendar, which coincides with December 21, 2012 in our Gregorian calendar, there will be some sort of earth-shattering event or a series of events that will bring about the destruction of mankind.The modern day interest in all this can be traced back to the late 1950s when Maud Worcester Makemson, an archaeoastronomer (someone that studies ancient astronomy and its sociological implications) noted that the end of this time cycle would have had great significance for the ancient Maya people. This idea was further developed by an American anthropologist, Michael Coe. In his book The Maya Coe claimed that some ancient Mayan writings suggested that the end of the long count calendar on December 21, 2012 marked the end of the world, Armageddon, doomsday!The basis for these doomsday predictions appears to have some slightly thorny origins. The December 2012 date is connected to the conclusion of a time cycle in an ancient Mesoamerican calendar that began its countdown somewhere around 3114 BC. This starting point is when the ancient Maya people believed the previous world ended and a new one (the current one) began. Researchers also found out that there are a number of issues with these theories that should be noted however.Firstly, many scholars argue that in classical Maya literature there are conflicting accounts of what the end of the long count calendar might actually signify, and very few sources suggesting that it might mean an end of world scenario like the one interpreted by Micheal Coe. Secondly, the countdown was calculated differently from one Mayan city-state to another, so the precise date of the conclusion of the Mayan long count calendar is far from clear.It is also interesting that modern decedents of the ancient Maya people place little or no significance on the date December 21, 2012. Also, the ancient Maya scribes wrote about events that were set to take place after the date corresponding to December 21, 2012, so at least some of them did not predict the end of the world to take place on that date. Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that either the end of the long count or its somewhat arbitrary beginning a little over 5000 years ago, have any scientific significance whatsoever.An American author, John Major Jenkins, who has written extensively about the Mayan culture and its relation to New Age mysticism suggests that the ancient Maya knew of this galactic alignment of planets and stars, and that this was part of their calendar coun tdown. However his claims, which relate to where in the sky the zodiacal constellations appear, would have had more credence in 1998 when the alignment he talks about was more precise than it will be in 2012.But there are even more grand things going on in our picture of the end of the world cataclysm predicted for December 2012. Our doomsday prophecy puzzle also incorporates the idea of a significant galactic alignment that just happens to coincide with the 2012 winter solstice in December 2012, meaning the galaxy itself is conspiring against us. It turns out that no end of the world predictions would be complete without a little input from the most famous seer of them all, practically a by-word for futurology, none other than Nostradamus himself.While there are many accounts that can be found floating around the Internet, which say Nostradamus predicted the end of the world in 1997 or was it 1999, or even 2012, none of them are able to say conclusively what the predictions really were, and clearly some of them were just plain wrong, since we are still here. This is mainly because Nostradamus wrote in such an archaic language, mixed with mysticism and metaphor, no one really knows for sure what his precise meaning was in many of his predictions.In any case, most experts agree that if he did set a date for our demise it is somewhere in the late 38th century, so we should be OK for at least our lifetimes. As well as the better known, or at least more talked about end of the world predictions, there is also a theory that a massive geomagnetic reversal is on the cards in 2012 it is according to the researchers. This involves the magnetic poles and the Earth’s magnetic field completely reversing.Scientists in this area do agree that the Earth is long overdue such a reversal, and end of the world theorists have tied this into the predicted peaks in solar flare activity that are due in 2012, which could theoretically affect the Earth’s magnetic field. However experts are keen to point out that geomagnetic reversal is not something that would simply ‘start one day’. The process takes several thousand years and is not necessarily triggered by solar activity.What is more, the original predictions of a peak in solar activity in 2012 have now been put back to 2013. Perhaps the most bizarre end of the world prophecies centers on the mysterious Planet X, which was once thought by scientists to be the tenth outlying planet in the solar system. However, later evidence proved that the perceived gravitational effects of Planet X were actually miscalculations, and that it actually never existed.Not to be put off by mere evidence, New Age thinkers, most notably Nancy Lieder, adopted the planet and re-named it Nibiru, claiming that it she had information that its orbit would take it right by the Earth somewhere around 2010, creating geomagnetic polar shifts that cause absolute devastation across the world, wiping out most of human ity. Incidentally, Lieder’s predictions are based on information she was given through an implant in her brain from aliens living in the Zeta Reticuli star system, honestly. Can Science beat the Doomsday hype?According to Fraser Cain a publisher of the Universe today the world will come to an end. In approximately 4 billion years time, when the sun has depleted its supply of hydrogen in its core, our nearest star will swell like a balloon when it starts to burn heavier elements, swallowing the planets of the inner solar system. Earth will be toast. However, this is the only guaranteed end-date scheduled in our planet's future. Granted, there will undoubtedly be asteroid strikes, â€Å"killer† solar flares, geomagnetic reversals and possibly one or two interstellar gamma-ray bursts, but 4 billion years is Earth's sell-by date.CONCLUSION: During my research about the 2012 phenomenon I have learned that; nothing special is predicted to happen in 2012. Especially that we a re just human and only God knows what will happen in the future. No ancient civilization, prophet or crazed doomsday conspiracy theorist can see into the future. As I have said only God can do it. Indeed, they have never predicted anything of note in the past how could they predict the future. There's also a lot of insanity in the world, there are a lot of people genuinely scared that the world might end in 2012.We already know what are the signs if end of the world like for example, great famine, nations by nations war, fortuitous events that are all acts of God, etc. , not those scientific explanations who doesn’t believe in God. But probably the most frightening thing of all, I think is that many people will blindly believe that the Apocalypse is just around the corner, and no amount of science will convince them otherwise. This often distracts from real-world problems, such as climate change and crisis. Sure, the world will end in 4 billion years time, but we don't need t o worry about that yet.

The Qur’an

The Qur'an is recognized as the last literal words of GOD given to his people by Muhammad the last prophet, or messenger of GOD (Quran recitations and translation online, 2006-2009). The Quran is without a beginning, middle, or ending, and consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths called â€Å"Sura†. Each ‘Sura’ is titled dependant on the message being portrayed (Hooker, 1996). It also reveals the following â€Å"five pillars of Islam† (Five Pillars of Islam, 2009) or standards that define Muslim religious belief and practice. These pillars are the foundation of Muslim religion. Good introduction and thesis statement. â€Å"Shahada† means the acceptance of no other GOD but ALLAH and that Mohammad is the prophet of Allah (Five Pillars of Islam, 2009). This same theme is reinereated thoroughout the Quran is is the single most important basis of Muslim religion. Develop paragraph further. â€Å"Salat† is the requirement to pray daily starting at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night facing toward the Mecca. (source? ) This time is seen as a personal conversation with Allah expressing gratitude and worship as well as asking for assistance if needed. It is believed that this practice enables one to remain on a true path of righteousness. (Five Pillars of Islam, 2009) Muslims are seen daily at the Mosques during this ritual prayer but it is not a requirement to pray in a Mosque the only requirement for daily prayer is the area is to be clean. â€Å"Zakah† or charitable giving consists of two main types. First, there is the kajj, which is a fixed amount based on the cost of food that is paid during the month of Ramadan for the entire family. Make an original title that reflects your thesis statement. This could be very expensive depending on the amount of people in the family and whether or not you included the extended family in the accounting. Avoid 2nd person voice. Second, there is the Zakat on wealth, which covers money made in business, savings, income, and valuables held for longer than one year only as long as the value is greater than ‘Nisab’ (the equilivent of 3 ozs of gold). (source? ) One can always give more in order to obtain a greater divine reward. The following guiding principles should be followed when giving the Zakat: the giver must declare is intention to GOD. It must be paid on the day that it is due, or it is considered the refusal to fulfill GODS wishes. (source? ) Payment must be in kind, wealthy people pay in cash while poorer people can pay in goods or time depending on their ability. And finally the Zakat is always distributed in the community it originated. It is through Zakat that the responsibility to eliminate inequity and ease economic hardship in every community is fulfilled. Five Pillars of Islam, 2009) This practice of distribution in the community at times can lead to inequality when economics of the area are factored in. Fragment- Make topic sentence- â€Å"Sawm† or Ramadan Fasting. During this 30 day period one must abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk while being especially mindful of other sins. (source? ) There are three different types of fasting recognized although the act of fasting remains the same. There is ritual fasting, fasting as compensation or repentance, and ascetic fasting. † (source? ) The purpose is to allow Muslims to seek nearness to Allah, to express their gratitude to and dependence on him, to atone for their past sins, and to remind them of the needy. Since there is the fasting in place during daylight hours, some mosques hold early morning breakfast gatherings as well as community dinners at night during the period of Ramadan. (Five Pillars of Islam, 2009) â€Å"Hajj† or the pilgrimage to Mecca is the last pillar of Islam. Every able-bodied Muslim is obliged to make this at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it (Five Pillars of Islam, 2009). This pilgrimage is not dependant on distance either. If living in the States or even further away it is still an expectation that if able the pilgrimage will be made. The five pillars of Islam are just the beginning of the Qur'an’s foundation for living. The Quran is also a book of wisdom giving inspiration and guidance to the people of Muslim religion. As reported in the Sura 17 â€Å"This Qur'an guides to that which is more right and better. It reassures the believers who do the good that their reward will be great† (Topic index of the Quran, 1995-2001). It is filled with reminders of God’s mercy, blessing, warnings of what will occur to those who do not follow the righteous path, instructions for daily living and also includes stories of ancient civilizations and the lessons they learned (Hooker, 1996). This makes the Quran the bible or words of wisdom followed by all Muslims in the practice of their religion and lifestyles.