Throughout history, humans have wrestled with comprehending the nature of power. Certain individuals argue that power inevitably breeds corruption and devastation. Nonetheless, there are occurrences where influential figures employ their authority for benevolence, assisting those who are disadvantaged. This suggests that power has the potential to corrupt only in specific scenarios. In Shakespeare’s renowned play Macbeth, characters such as Lady Macbeth, Macbeth himself, and Banquo all face the consequences of wielding power.
Lady Macbeth is depicted as a wife who commits murder driven by her ambition to become queen. Upon realizing that she will attain this authority, she becomes entirely consumed with desire and devises a strategy to assassinate King Duncan. Aware of her husband’s hesitancy and fear of backing out, she shrewdly manipulates him by challenging his masculinity and insinuating his excessive kindness. Nevertheless, she swiftly realizes the consequences of her actions as Macbeth’s ascent to power brings about an adverse transformation in him.
Macbeth’s mind teetered on the edge upon hearing the witches’ prophecy. A mix of fascination and revulsion consumed him as he contemplated murdering Duncan. Ultimately, persuaded by his diabolical wife, he succumbs to the darkness and unleashes his violent act while the king rests. The descent into further darkness continues as Macbeth plots to eliminate his friend Banquo and his family, perceiving them as potential threats to his reign, with their sons poised to claim the throne. Although not entirely corrupted initially, Macbeth’s choices ultimately transform him into a tyrannical ruler.
Alongside Macbeth, his companion Banquo was present to listen to the three witches foretell the future. In the prophecy, Banquo’s offspring were mentioned as future rulers. Specifically, they were destined to ascend the throne and become kings of Scotland. Rather than embracing the prospect of his children’s royalty, Banquo remained doubtful. He exercised caution in deciding whether to trust the witches’ words, perceiving them as malevolent. Despite being offered assistance to aid Macbeth, Banquo opted against participating in any dishonorable actions.
Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo all demonstrate how power can corrupt individuals, particularly Macbeth. He serves as a prime example of how easily corrupt individuals can sway others. However, it is important to note that those who remain uncorrupted also possess the ability to exert the same influence. While Lady Macbeth represents darkness and Banquo represents light, Macbeth stands as a neutral figure gradually succumbing to poor choices.
Cloning Informative Speech
Specific purpose: Today I’m going to inform you about “Cloning Technology and Stem Cell Research”. Attention getter: Imagine yourself dying from heart disease or liver failure, and the only way to live was to have an exact clone of your heart or liver. The only way this could be possible was to have an exact copy made by your organs, and this process is achieved only by cloning. Reveal central idea: Stem cell research and cloning, is one of the most exciting and controversial ethical issues today. We must see both the benefits and the ethical issues concerning this process.
Credibility: while I was doing this research I read an article in “The Guardian” about a perfect match between mice and human cells as Alok Jha science correspondent reports. This grabbed my attention and I really raised my interest to conduct a more specific research about my topic. Goodwill: I hope you will enjoy hearing about “Cloning and Stem Cell Research” as I enjoyed preparing for this speech. (Transition: Let`s take a look at what cloning and stem cells are) * BODY I. What is cloning and stem cells? Which is the process of cloning a human being or an animal? A.
Definition of cloning: Clones are genetically identical organisms. This means that every piece of DNA is exactly the same between the ‘clones’ which causes them to have exactly the same features. B. History of cloning: Cloning before 1990s was not well known and people didn’t know much about it although the very first clones date since 1885. The first cloning process took place in The University of Utah by scientists Robert Briggs and Thomas King who cloned an American frog. This frog was cloned by nuclear transfer; they removed the nucleus from an embryo and placed it in a recipient frog egg cell that didn’t have nucleus.
There were other cloning processes through years 1958, 1975 which used the same procedure. The climax of cloning came at year 1996 when Dolly sheep was cloned in Roslin Institute in Scotland by scientists Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut from (University Of Utah). This was special because was the first animal to be created by from differentiated adult cells. C. What stem cells are: Stem cells are cells at the earliest stage of development. They have two main characteristics, they can divide themselves, and can become specialized for a particular function and become organs or tissues if they are developed correctly.
There are three types of stem cells 1. Embryonic stem cells: These kinds of stem cells are the most popular ones they appear as the first element in development of a human being. 2. Fetal stem cells: These cells are taken from aborted fetuses 7-8 week’s development. 3. Adult stem cells: are cells taken from different organs of an adult such as tissue, lungs, pancreas, fat etc. * (Transition: Now that we know what cloning and stem cells are let`s explore their benefits and the impact they have in our lives. ) II.
What are the benefits of stem cells? According to scientists stem cell research is the solution to fight some diseases that are very difficult or have no cure in now days. Also another advantage is to study the early stages of human development which till now is a mystery. A. Some diseases that need an answer. 1. Parkinson`s disease: Even though scientists don’t know the causes of this disease, they know which nerve cells are affected by it. So by replacing these damaged nerve cells with new ones we will have a solution about this disease. 2.
Cancer disease: Scientists think that by developing some specific cells they can find a way to cure cancer. So these cells might be directly injected to patients for therapy. This could be realized in the near future,” say Hiroshi Kawamoto. 1 3. Diabetes: People who suffer from type I diabetes have problems with the regulation of insulin. In this case research says that by taking some of this cells who are not capable to produce insulin, in laboratory conditions we can guide this cells to generate other cells that will be able to produce insulin.
Then transplant these cells into diabetics, in order to remove their need for insulin injection. B. Transplanting damaged organs. Stem cells are very important in this process, because from your own cells scientists can develop organs. And if you will need any transplant this organs can be used at any time and have no risk that your organism might reject them. The first successful transplant from this technique of “growing your own organs” took place in Barcelona, Spain 2008, and this was a 30-year old woman from Colombia, who replaced her windpipe because of tuberculosis.
C. Testing medications and drugs. Stem cells have an important role in this field. New drugs and medications can be tested on stem cells to see if they are safe, before we use them on humans or animals. Scientists by doing this tests can find new ways to treat some diseases. For example a cancer cell can be created to test an anti-tumor drug. If the results will be positive we will have a cure for that kind of tumor. (Transition: The final part that we will look at is the ethical issues and government funding of stem cell research) III.
Ethic issues and government funding of stem cells. Lately one of the most debated issues is the controversy of the stem cell research. Can we use embryonic cells in order to find some answers for our diseases? Scientists, religious group’s politicians are having a massive debate about this issue. D. Embryonic stem cell research is immoral. For the opponents of stem cells research destruction of an embryo is considered an abortion so they think that it’s not fair to destroy a life in order to save another.
E. Human life becomes cheaper. By taking these cells and developing them into organs, we can say that our lives become cheaper it’s like we are playing with God, also it’s unethical because we are destroying other lives to for experimental purposes. None has played with human lives before and we cannot allow this to happen now. F. Government funds and stem cell research. President George W. Bush used his veto power in July 19, 2001 to prevent the increase of funds in stem cell research.
Bush and his supporters think that extending the research in this field is controversial, because we can’t destroy human embryos for whatever reason. Scientists will continue their research but under the control of government. Bush allowed scientists to research in just 60 stem cell lines; they cannot destroy additional embryos even though stem cells might have a massive impact in our future. Also president Barrack Obama had the same opinion for this matter when he says that: “We are not opening the door for human cloning” or “It is dangerous, profoundly wrong and has no place in our society or, in any society”.
President Obama allowed scientists to continue their research on the cell lines that president Bush had allowed ,and also he said that he will allow them to find better treatments about some of the diseases that concern our society starting from cancer and Parkinson disease. He warned of falling behind other countries by not developing the scientific research and cited that he will decide his policies in sound of science and not by political considerations. IV. Conclusion (Transition: Lastly, I hope that you have learned something about this process which is a very important issue in now days. ) I.
In this speech I informed you about: A. That cloning is an old process dating approximately one century ago, but his climax was in 1997. B. The benefits of stem cells treatment of diseases, transplanting of organs and the testing of medications and drugs. C. The ethical issues of stem cell research and government funding. References 1. Document: “Cloning, Policy Issues”. EISEMAN, E. (2000). Cloning, Policy Issues. In T. H. Murray, & M. J. Mehlman (Eds. ), Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal and Policy Issues in Biotechnology (Vol. 1, pp. 157-172). New York: Wiley. Retrieved from Gale Virtual gallery.
2. Document: “Cloning” Hull, R. T. (2009). Cloning. In C. D. Bryant & D. L. Peck (Eds. ), Encyclopedia of Death & the Human Experience (Vol. 1, pp. 202-205). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. . Retrieved from Gale Virtual Gallery. 3. Article: “Benefits of Stem Cells. ” Author: Ian Murnaghan BSc (hons), MSc – Updated: 27 February 2013. 4. Article: “First woman to have stem cell organ transplant: Exclusive interview” “The Telegraph” By Fiona Govan in Barcelona 10:08PM GMT 19 Nov 2008 5. Article: “The History of Cloning Humans and Animal” by, Allison Royal Cluster 7 Dr. LeFebvre 27 July 2009.
6. Article: “Cancer-Killing Stem Cells Could Be Used To Treat Cancer. ” Paddock, C. (2013, January 5). Medical News Today. 7. “Stem cell scientists find almost perfect human match in mice. ” This article was published on guardian. co. uk at 03. 52 EDT on Thursday 28 June 2007. Alok Jha, science correspondent. 8. Obama Says:” Government Will Not Open the Door for Human Cloning” Published March 09, 2009 FoxNews. com 9. Clemmitt, M. (2006, September 1). Stem cell research. CQ Researcher, 16, 697-720. 10. Stem Cell Controversy Author: Ian Murnaghan BSc (hons), MSc – Updated: 13 February 2013
Universities And Goals Of Students
Students enroll to universities with a goal to pursue a higher education. At college, students must cope with different obstacles to achieve his or her academic dream. Studying for exams, and completing homework are only a few of the many. The greatest challenge for students remains as the following; maintaining attendance. Emerson College has a very strict regulation on attendance. Students are allowed to have three unexcused absenses or the grade of the student will be severely deducted.
I belive that academic institution should aim to enhance the student’s experience in learning. This attendance policy, however, fails to aid in the student’s educational performance. Mandatory attendance policy does not enhance students’ performance at school. Regular attendance can only assure the student’s presence in class. However, it does not guarantee the student’s understanding of the class material. Learning all depends on the student’s willingness and motivation. Anyone can be present in a class but can be absent in his or her mind.
A student can easily walk into a lecture. He may have fullfilled the attendance requirement, but because he was not paying attention in class, he could end up getting a poor grade in his exam. A true way of measuring a student’s understanding of the course material should not be attendance but his or her performance in homework and assignments. Let me ask you a question. A student handed in an essay that was very well written. The work exemplified a true “A” work; it followed the course guideline and has presented an excellent understanding of the material.
However, the student is found to have missed several classes. Should her grade be deducted solely due to her poor attendance? Does her absence in class disregards all the efforts she has made to catch up on the course material she has missed? The current attendance policy at Emerson College seems to hold a strong belief in the correlation between attendance and learning. If there is such a strong relationship between the two, why is this attendance policy only mandatory in a few selected classes? Some professors do not even care to write the names down. Some even skip attendacne.
This shows that many professors acknowledges that students are capable of making their own decisions in learning. Mandatory attendance policy discourages independent thinking, self discipline, and self study. College students are considered as adults. They have the free right to decide what is best for them. Attending university is supposed to signify a new found freedom to make important choices regarding education. The transition from high school to university symbolizes adulthood. As adults, students should attain the freedom to make their own decisions in regards to attending classes.
Individual choice in attendence will allow students to learn the skill to both manage and prioritize their time. If a student is required by a higher authority to attend class, does that promote self-discipline? Success in school will be attained by students only through trial and error using their own judgment. They should not be mandated to go to class. Mandatory attendance discourages independent thinking; it encourages a sense of dependence. If students become dependent upon their professors, they will lose the ability to study individually.
It is taking away their right to make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes. Lastly, mandatory attendance policy is detrimental to the individualistic lives of collegs students. College life is not only about going to classes but coping with the real life demands. It is also a time when students learn to explore their interest by taking part in the school organizations. These group activities can sometimes take away a large portion of their time. Sometimes it is these extracurricular activities can be extremely demanding that they can take away the student from regularly attending class.
Some students have jobs they must maintain in order to simply afford going to school, while others have families they need to care for. As adults, students are at an age where they are capable of making rational decisions based on opportunity costs of their own time. Students are faced with time trade-offs, where there will be an opportunity cost for attending or not attending class. Whether students are using their in class time to study, finish an assignment, go to work or simply to relax, they are fully aware of the consequences that come with missing lectures.
Students who require extra help will make the effort to attend class, where those who do not will quite possibly still attain the same level of understanding as their peers. Not all students who want to succeed in school find class attendance as a necessary aspect of school in every given situation. Lastly, mandatory attendance policy assumes that all students have the same learning style. Not all students are auditory learners. Not all students attain information by sitting in class while listening to a professor speak. Students all have
different study habits and learning techniques, some attain information more efficiently on their own reading from a textbook. Not every student will find themselves enhancing their academic performance by attending every class. A policy mandating attendance is not in the best academic interest of all students. Mandatory attendance policy cannot be directly related to enhancing academic performance or success for all university students. Making attendance non-optional discourages self-discipline and independent thinking and overrides student’s freedom to make their own decisions.
It is unrealistic to assume all students can and will place class attendance as their first priority. It is also impractical to generalize all students as having the same learning styles. Emerson College should further consider the individual lives of the students. The school should deviate from imposing a rule that retrogade to the highschool academic system. They should acknowledge the reponsibility a college student can hold in and outside of classrooms. To truly judge a student’s understanding of the course, the school should put much more ephasis on the student’s performacen in their work.