Smog is one of the major forms of air pollution. It makes being outside a healththreat. Some of the major contributers to smog are automobiles, factories, andother things of this nature. High temperatures stimulate the effects of smog,therefore, the highest levels of smog are on hot summer days. This means thatmost of the problems associated with smog occur in the summer months. Healtheffects vary from person to person. There is evidence that suggests that it cancause some short-term breathing problems. This includes coughing, shortness ofbreath, and pain with deep breathing. Individuals with asthma are much moresensitive to smog. There are a few factors that determine how unhealthy smog isto a person. The first factor is the amount of ozone in the air. Since heat isusually associated with ozone, it will make the effects of smog greater. Thesecond is the length of the exposure. The longer a person is exposed to smog,the greater the symptoms are. Finally, the third factor is how deeply a personis breathing when exposed to smog. The heavier an individual breathes, thebigger dose of smog is going into their lungs. Scientific studies have suggestedthat the lungs adapt to smog and other air pollution after prolonged exposure.
This defense mechanism disappears once a person is no longer exposed topollutants. Tests on rats, which were exposed to a polluted environment for aextended period of time, concluded that there was no sign of lung cancer. Thegovernment has stepped in to combat air pollution in general. They passed theClean Air Act in 1990. This act made provisions such as placing centralizedemissions testing facilities in high risk areas. The problem with the provisionsis that they cost a lot of money and the state governments do not want to paythe exorbitant price tags. Locally, a law was recently passed which will all carowners to get an emissions test on their cars by May of the year 2001. If theirautomobile does not pass the test, they will have to get it fixed until itpasses the emissions test. The price of the repair is not expensive but it ismandatory for the car to be able to drive on the road.
Environment
Time And Fate In Romeo And Juliet
Time and Fate in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet, said to be one of the most famous love stories of all times, is a play anchored on time and fate. Some actions are believed to occur by chance or by destiny.
The timing of each action influences the outcome of the play. While some events are of less significance, some are crucial to the development of this tragedy. The substantial events that inspire the conclusion of Romeo and Juliet are; the Capulet ball, the quarrel experienced by Tybalt and Romeo, and Friar John’s plague. A servant to Capulet, who is incapable of reading the list of guests, asks for Romeo’s assistance.
Romeo notices that Rosaline, his lover, is among these names. Benvolio challenges Romeo to compare her with other “beauties.” Benvolio predicts, “Compare her face with some that I shall show,/ And I will make thee think thy swan a crow.” (I, ii, l 86-87) To show his appreciation, the servant asks for Romeo’s presence at the ball. Romeo should have considered the servant’s warning; if Romeo occupies the name of Montague, he shall not be permitted. Once at the ball, Romeo is searching for a maiden to substitute the unrequited love of Rosaline. Romeo happens to gaze upon Juliet, who charms Romeo. Romeo proclaims, ” Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (I, v, l 52-53) Since Romeo declares his love for Juliet, she feels the attraction also.
They believe that they are in love and must marry. However, it is a genuine coincidence that Romeo and Juliet were at the same place, at the same time. Some days after the ball, Benvolio and Mercutio are conversing, in regard to the quarrelsome weather. Benvolio declares, “The day is hot, the Capulets abroad,/ And if we meet we shall not ‘scape a brawl,/ For now these got days is the mad blood stirring.” (III, i, l 2-4) At this point, Tybalt, who has challenged Romeo because of his appearance at the masquerade, enters, seeking Romeo. On Romeo’s behalf, Mercutio struggles with Tybalt, while Romeo, who is filled with love for his new cousin, tries to end their boldness. Before escaping, Tybalt plunges his sword into Mercutio, causing death to fall upon him.
Mercutio blames Romeo and the feud for his fate. Romeo kills Tybalt, who taunts Romeo, upon his return. Romeo fears he will be condemned to death if he does not flee before the arrival of the Prince. Benvolio recalls the events that have happened, with some embellishment.
The Prince declares: And for that offence/ Immediately we do exile him hence./ I hav an in your hate’s proceeding,/ My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding;/ But I’ll amerce you with so strong a fine/ That you shall repent the loss of mine./ I will be deaf to pleading and excuses;/ Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses;/ Therefore use none. Let Romeo hence in haste,/ Else, when he’s found, that hour is his last./ Bear hence this body and attend our will./ Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill. (III, i, l 185-195)Due to the disturbance of Verona’s street and the losses of Tybalt and Mercutio, the Prince must penalize Romeo. However, the Prince agrees that Romeo was acting in self defense.
Juliet, who desires not to wed Paris, asks for Friar Laurence’s assistance. The day before the wedding, Juliet is to drink the poison, which will make her appear to be dead. In forty two hours she shall awake, with Romeo by her side. Romeo will then bring her to Mantua with him.
In the meantime Friar Laurence will convey a message to Romeo in Mantua, telling him the plot. When she gains consciousness, Romeo and Friar Laurence will be there. Friar Laurence says, “Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift,/ And hither shall he come; and he and I/ Will watch thy waking” (IV, i, l 114-116) Following Juliet’s intake of the poison, Romeo is anticipating news from Verona. Balthasar, a servant to Romeo, tells Romeo that Juliet has passed on.
Romeo, who is told there are no letters from the friar, seeks a way to accomplish his suicide. Meanwhile, Friar Laurence, confronts Friar John, who was to deliver the letter to Romeo. Friar John informs Friar Laurence that he was seeking another Franciscan, who was visiting the sick, to accompany him to Mantua. He says, “Suspecting that we both were in a house/ Where the infectious pestilence did reingn,/ Seal’d up the doors, and would not let us forth;/” (V, ii, l 9-11) Friar John tells that he could find no one to deliver the letter, for fear they may catch the infection. The substantial events that inspire the conclusion of Romeo and Juliet are; the Capulet ball, the quarrel experienced by Tybalt and Romeo, and Friar John’s plague. The Capulet ball influences the ending of the play by Romeo’s invitation at the ball, which creates the meeting of Romeo and Juliet.
The ball also gives birth to Tybalt’s anger and causes his challenge. The challenge causes the banishment of Romeo, which produces much grieving by Juliet and Romeo. Also, the quarrelsome weather is partly to blame for the feuding between Tybalt and Mercutio. Since Friar John did not deliver the letter, Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead, sacrifices himself.
Juliet seeing that Romeo is dead, slays herself also.
Hamlet And Youth Of The 1990s Relation
Hamlet identifies with an adolescent of the 1990s more thanhe does with the youth of his own time. Hamlet is immature,sarcastic, and takes action during the heat of passion whichis very much like the behavior of the youth in the 1990s.
Love, control over action, and the ability to overcomedepression are just a few ways to prove maturity. It isobvious Hamlet loves Ophelia in his own way . . . thecelestial and my souls idol, the most beautified Ophelia . . .
(Hamlet. II, ii, 109- 110), but his way is not mature enoughto include trust toward his lover. The trust that Hamletshould have given her was the key of his madness. Thismadness that Hamlet cannot trust his love with is the samemadness that he loses total control over because of hisimmaturity; it then causes him to do things, such as killPolonius, that a person that was mature could stop. Themadness that Hamlet assumes is understandable but he cannever get over the actual death of his father by still wearingblack a year later, and the hasty marriage of his mother toClaudius. Compared to Horatio who is calm and coolthroughout the play, and Fortinbras who collected an armyto fight for his uncles land and honor, Hamlets maturitylevel for his time is low, especially for being a prince. TodayHamlets age group is more immature than during his owntime so he relates to the youth of the 1990s better than hedoes with the adolescents of his own time. Sarcasm, andblunt rudeness is often used by Hamlet in order to offendpeople that, during his time, he should not have offended.
Hamlet often used the hasty marriage of his mother to offendClaudius. The first time that Hamlet offends Claudius in thecompany of another person is when Claudius is supposed tobe helping cheer Hamlet up. A little more than kin, and lessthan kind. (Hamlet. I, ii, 65) is just as rude during Hamletstime as almost anything that a person could say today, it justtakes a little thinking for the people of today to get whatHamlet means. The second person that Hamlet is openlyrude to is Polonius. Hamlet, in front of Claudius andGertrude, insults Polonius by calling him . . . a fishmonger.
(Hamlet. II, ii, 174) This is not the only way that Hamletoffended Polonius. Hamlet offended Polonius by insulting hisdaughter. Hamlet is crude in his own day by asking OpheliaLady, shall I lie in your lap? (Hamlet. III, ii, 115) What isstrange about Hamlets ability to use his mouth is that theyouth of today is able to use the same kinds of sarcasm andrudeness effectively, just as Hamlet does, but with Hamletspolitical position he should not have offended the peoplesuch as his stepfather. Being radical and acting on impulse issomething that Hamlet had to use in order to get his workfinished. Hamlet, having a hard time getting revenge, appliedhis anger from the judgment of his mother to kill who hethought was Claudius. Hamlet also needed to be on his owndeathbed in order to finally get angry enough to kill Claudius.
The way that Hamlet uses his anger to take action is verymuch like the youth today in the fact that if someone has aproblem with log cutting, for example, they hold protests andtake action against that problem. The second way thatHamlet is extreme is when he goes with the ghost that lookslike his father even though his friends warn him that the ghostmay be evil and . . .tempt you toward the flood . . . Or tothe dreadful summit of the cliff . . . (Hamlet. I, iv, 69-70). Ifthe prince was thinking right he would not have gone withthe ghost that resembled the old . . . King, father, royalDane . . . (Hamlet. I, iv, 45) Hamlets radical actions donot just prove that he is immature but also proves that heneeds action from outside sources in order to get a reactionfrom himself. This is just like the youth of the 1990s in therespect that if something is wrong, such as the cutting of anold growth forest, then they usually act against it in dramaticways. An immature, mouthy, extremist is what adolescentsof the 1990s are compared to the youth of Hamlets time.
The inability to love maturely, rudeness towards authority,and reacting to anger is what the youth of the 1990s andHamlet have in common. Hamlet would have a much easiertime living during these times than his own. Hamletsimmaturity, rudeness, and radical behavior is just liketodays youth and that is the insight that Hamlet has towardsBibliography:Hamlet