Technologies of humility free essay sample

Sheila Jasanoff’s â€Å"Technologies of Humility† are new approaches to decision-making that ‘seek to integrate the ‘can-do’ orientation of science and engineering with the ‘should-do’ questions of ethical and political analysis† (Jasanoff, 2003). In other words, technology needs to be accountable in the production and use of scientific knowledge. The whole premise is to ask the questions: what is the purpose; who will be hurt; who bene? ts; and how can we know? † These questions are presented a counter-balance to what Jasanoff refers to as â€Å"technologies of hubris†Ã¢â‚¬â€a command and control approach to science and technology. The idea behind ‘technologies of humility’ is to consider the consequences of a particular invention/technology through the review of various groups – community, professionals, etc. Oftentimes the consequences are not considered prior to the technology being put out into the community. Framing: In 1800 Thomas Jefferson wanted to develop a waterway to promote the movement of products across the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Technologies of humility or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As such, the invention of transportation was designed initially to move material and products from one point to another more efficiently and improve economies. The elements not initially considered were the roadblocks they would encounter. The waterway that Jefferson envisioned was not quite possible due to the Rocky Mountains that divided the land and the lack of a waterway across North America. There were also elements such as the fuel needed to operate the boats, trains and cars, the maintenance required and the pollution these vehicles would ultimately cause. Vulnerability: People who live near railroads experience health issues ranging from asthma to cancers due to the pollution and toxic fumes emitted. Not only are many people affected Technologies of Humility by the pollution produced by trains and cars, but the environment has suffered as a result. Global warming is in part due to the excessive pollutions caused by these technologies. Distribution: Better testing of pollution emissions must be done prior to releasing these transportation avenues into the communities. What can be done to reduce the emissions that are causing environmental issues and healthy problems for the community residents? Finding other ways to power cars and trains is imperative. The implementation of hybrid and electric vehicles is without a doubt a good start but needs to be expanded upon. Learning: The lessons learned have been those that have affected the health and safety of the community and the impact to the environment. The Clean Air Act is a good way to help prevent future damage to the residents and environment but I’m not sure it goes far enough just yet. The government is fully aware of the damages these inventions have caused – the issue is what all can be done to minimize further damage and reduce or repair the damage already caused. Conclusion: The initial problem that transportation was meant to address was getting people and product from one place to another in a timely, more efficient manner. The problem was addressed correctly but the long-term health and environmental effects of transportation were not considered and as a result, many people have gotten sick and the environment has suffered. Further research and improvements to transportation options is essential to protect the people and to prevent and/or minimize future damage to the environment.

Teachings of Islam

Teachings of Islam Introduction Religion can be defined as the belief and worship in a certain god or gods. It can also be defined as a set of belief observed by a specific group of people concerning their origin or purpose in life. There are many different types of religions in the world with different narratives, and sacred history. The word religion can also be used in place of belief or faith although it is more of a belief and is more related to the public.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Teachings of Islam specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Islam is a religion that pays allegiance to God and Mohammed (a prophet of God). All of Islamic teachings are found in the Koran. Mohammed is believed to have received revelation from Angel Gabriel over a span of 23 years. This paper looks at some of the teachings in Islam, compares these teachings as interpreted in many Muslim countries such as USA-Britain, the Middle East, India and P akistan and other Asia countries Islamic Principles The Koran contains many teachings that form the basis of sharia law. It is in the Koran that we find the daily prayer requirements, alms giving, and fasting which should be observed during the wholly month of Ramadan. The Islamic faith is built upon five main pillars; Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Hajj, and Sawm. The Shahada talks about the uniqueness of Allah and his prophet Mohammed, Salat is a description of how Muslims worship or pray to Allah, Zakat, refers to the practice of helping the poor members of the society (Every Muslim is expected to give 2.5% of his capital assets annually), Hajj, is also known as pilgrimage to Mecca, every Muslim is expected to observe this practice in their lifetime, and Sawm refers to fasting during Ramadan (Bates, 2007).. Distribution of the Population of the Muslims In the world, about 20% of the population is Islamic. Majority of the Muslims respects other religions, advocate for peace and are involv ed in finance or business. The Muslim population is diverse all over the world. More than fifty countries in the world are concentrated with the Muslim population. This population is mostly concentrated in the Middle East, US, Afghanistan, and Indonesia. Less than 15% of the Muslim population is Arabs. The increase in Muslim population was due to immigration, increase in birth rate, and many people converted to Islamic from year 2004 to 2008. This increase is highest in Britain. It has been projected that by 2025 the number of Muslims will be higher than that of the Christians. According to the projection, Muslims will be about 30% of the total population while Christian will be at most 25%. Of all the total population of Muslims in the world 90% are Sunni whereas 10% are Shia (Bates, 2007). Every Muslim is governed by a divine law known as sheria which regulates how Muslims should behave and conduct themselves. It encompasses all aspects of life such as family relations, taxation, prayer, inheritance among other practices that are common within Muslims.Advertising Looking for research paper on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Family Relations From a very early age, Muslim women are taught to respect their bodies by covering it with black burqas all the way from the head to their feet. They are also forbidden from doing certain things that are done by men for instance, Muslim women are forbidden from going to the mosque and they can not even drive their own car. For along time, Muslim women in Pakistan have been subjected to female genital mutilation although this seems to be fading in certain communities (Syed, 2003). Sex before marriage, homosexuality, and adultery are forbidden in many of the Islam countries and a person found committing such a claim is aggressively punished. Unlike Christianity, Islam regards marriages as mere contracts with certain conditions. They are n ot considered as a covenant being made in heaven and can be broken if one side breaks the contract’s condition. Divorce is common in Islam and is always expected although hadith teachers that, divorce is one of the things that is mostly disliked by God. A divorce is granted if one partner behaviors against what is expected according to the Sunnah of Islam; for instance if he becomes abusive, cruel, unfaithful, neglectful, perverted to name but a few. Contrary to this, Christianity does not allow divorce under any circumstances. Marriages are believed to be made in heaven and should therefore be respected until death. Even if one is granted divorce under Christianity, he/she can not remarry if the other partner is still alive. One is only allowed to marry if the other partner dies (Syed, 2003). After the death of a Muslim, his shares, money, and property is protected and governed by law. In the Middle East, and parts of India, all the diseased children are allowed to inherit p art of their father’s property and money although the girls get a smaller share than the boys because it is assumed that, men are the breadwinners in their family and have an obligation to provide for their families. A woman is not obliged by any law to share part of her property or money since it is termed as hers and hers alone. Likewise, in marriages, a woman is not obliged to use part of her salary to provide for the family unless she wishes to do so. However, a Muslim woman is expected to be kind to every one and be trustworthy. She should always strive to make her family cheerful and support her husband in all his undertakings. Irrespective of whether she has any professional skills, she is supposed to respect and accept her husband as the head of the family although she has a right to refuse anything asked of her by the husband if she feels it is contrary to God’s will. Even if the husband is the head of the family, he can never be her master because she is only expected to observe only one master; that is God.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Teachings of Islam specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Islamic Sheria The Islamic sheriah does not inflict limitation on the forms of money. It only interferes with people’s attitudes in regard to wealth and money but not the form of money. Islamic sheriah upholds regulation in the use and provision of money. It forbids interest (Riba) from any form of business. Islamic finance believes that money can only be invested in worthy business; it upholds the view of socially responsible investing (Abdullah, 1996). Islam perceives that a good person can only invest in good things with good intentions. Investing in drugs, alcohol, porno among others is termed as bad investments. Riba refers to excess money which according to sheriah principles implies to reward earned without appropriate consideration in terms of time worth for m oney. We two types of Riba; the increase in capital without the provision of services and the product exchanges in disproportionate quantities As we have seen earlier, Islam prohibits earning of interest fees. This does not mean that the Islamic financial institutions do not aim at making profit as people tend to believe. Contrary to that, most of the Islamic financial institutions or banks operate on the basis of profit making. In Iran, banks can only offer products that have been clear in accordance with the regulations given by the council of ministers. There is no sheriah board to offer guidance or supervision on the commercial banks. In Bahrain, all banks are required to set up â€Å"an independent sharia supervision committee† that complies with the supreme principles of Islamic financial institutions. Different approaches have been followed on cases regarding regulatory issues on the sheriah principles in different countries (Abdullah, 1996). Islamic, Christianity, and Judaism The word Islam means entering into peace. This portrays the religion as a religion that has its strong holds in peace development. Just like the religion of Christianity and Judaism that put more emphasis on love; Prophet Muhammad, who is the main character in the Islamic religion, puts more emphasis on mercy. He was the last and greatest of God’s messengers, who were mandated to continue the works of Abraham, Jesus and Mosses. He preached to people to have mercy on each other. He did emphasize on the need of mercy to the less fortunate in the society. This goes in line with the strong holds of the religion which is peace.Advertising Looking for research paper on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The religion call their God Allah, this means God, the true God. The character of the lord is that of peace and mercy (Robinson, 2010). The name of God either in the Muslim or other religion is respected. The ideology that either Christianity or Muslim derived the name was the same or similar. This is in that the Biblical Elohà ®m (God) and h ¥-Elà ´h (the true God) of Moses and the Hebrew prophets or the Aramaic Al ¥h ¥ (God, the true God) of Jesus and John the Baptist the recognition of the supremacy of the lord is recognized. Both religions recognize the works of early prophets in their works of developing the religion. They specifically recognize the work of Abraham, Moses, Isaac and Jesus (Robinson, 2010). In many Muslim and Christian countries, homo- sexual is jailed on long term while other countries do not have any laws that prohibits against such behaviors. Madrasas Madrasas literally means a school that offers instruction in the Islamic subjects including the Koran and hadith and sheria law. These schools were established for the purpose of promoting Islamic based curriculum. In Egypt and Lebanon, madrasas refers to educational institutions whereas in Bangladesh and Pakistan, madrasas refers to Islamic religious schools. The oldest madrasas to be established is known as Nizamiyah and is located in Baghdad. The main idea behind the establishment of this school was to provide lodging faculties, food, and free education to the Muslim population. Afterwards, madrasas spread rapidly to other Muslim countries. Madrasas, in most Muslim countries today, form part of the educational infrastructure. They offer religious-based curriculum, focusing on the Koran and Islamic texts. Beyond instruction in basic religious tenets, some argue that a small group of radicalized madrasas, specifically located on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, are spawning a militant form of Islam and calling on Muslim to fight nonbelievers and stand against what they perceive as the moral immorality of the West. Pakistan has more than ten thousand madrasas that have turned out to be of help now that the country is going through periods of extreme poverty and underdevelopment (Armanios, 2003). Since the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, madrasas in many parts of the world for instance, Asia, Middle East, and central have shifted their focus to the U.S foreign policy makers. Many of these policy makers hold that, there is a close tie between the terrorist organizations (such as AL Qaeda) and madrasas, and hold that these schools encourage Islamic extremism and militancy. On the other hand, other policy makers strongly believe that, most of these religious schools have been blamed for something they have no connection with (that is for fostering anti- U.S.) madrasas attracted more attention when it became evident that, a number of Taliban leaders and members of the AL Qaeda terrorist organization had developed essential political views at madrasas in Pakistan, some of which were believed to have been built and financed by Saudi Arabian (Armanios, 2003). Conclusion The main principle behind Islam is that there is only one God called Allah who is the creator of the universe and Mohammed is the only messenger of Allah. There has been recorded a significance increase in the number of Muslims for the last four years. The Muslim population has grown by almost 10 times while that of the Christian by 2 times. The power of God is seen in both Christianity and Islamic; he is seen as one who the early prophets served and the today’s people have no alternative than to follow his teaching, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam do not allow same sex marriages adultery or sex before marriage. Many policy makers in the United States hold many accusations that madrasas are used to promote Islamic fanaticism and militancy, and are a recruiting ground for terrorism. They are others who maintain that, the madrasas play a very crucial role in eradicating poverty and promoting education in countries where the population of Muslims is high Reference List Abdullah, S. (1996). Islamic banking: a study of the prohibition of riba and its contemporary interpolation. New York: Prentice Hall. Armanios, F. (2003). Islamic religious schools, madrasas: Background. Web. Bates, S. (2007). The beliefs and laws of Islam. Web. Robinson, B. A. (2010). Comparing Christianity and Islam: the world’s two largest religions. Web. Syed, B. (2003). Women in Islam: Hijab. Web.

Mobile phone addiction Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Mobile phone addiction - Literature review Example The use of mobile phones have also become a constant feature for many people, most especially teenagers who always find the need to stay in touch with each other. As a result, mobile phone addiction has become a significant issue among users. Studies on this problem have been carried out, seeking to establish its causes, manifestations, and remedies. This literature review shall review four peer-reviewed articles on mobile phone addiction. A literature search would first be carried out via an internet search using the following search words and similar combinations of these words: mobile phone addiction, cell phone addiction, causes of cell phone addiction, impact of cell phone addiction. Relevant studies shall be set aside for further analysis. Studies carried out in the last 10 years shall be included in this topic, and shall mostly cover teenage addiction to mobile phones. Studies which cover other forms of addiction (i.e. internet or video game addiction) will not be included in this review. Only peer-reviewed articles carried out by credible authors will be included in this literature review. Studies which cover texting addiction only shall not be included as mobile phone addiction may also include the use of calls in the phones. Text addiction is only a part of mobile phone addiction. ... Not many students manifest extreme addiction to mobile phone use and majority of the respondents to not manifest any addictive mobile phone use patterns (Ahmed, et.al., 2011). In effect, the respondents for this study are able to use their cell phones reasonably and do not manifest extreme addictive behaviours in their cell phone use (Ahmed, et.al., 2011). The results of this study imply that although mobile phone addiction is a reality in the current widespread availability and usage of mobile phones, it can be a controllable and manageable phenomenon. This study also indicates that mobile phone addiction can be a manageable phenomenon and that users are not as prone to addiction as seems to be expected by society. It is possible for users to control their mobile phone usage to cover only their essential mobile phone needs. The topic of the study is very much relevant in the current context where mobile phone use has become very much rampant, especially among the younger population (Garcia-Montes, et.al., 2006. The study deals with a specific issue, mostly on the establishment of mobile phone use and whether or not it has become a necessity or an addiction. The discussion seeks to specifically evaluate cell phone usage among the younger generation, assessing whether or not its use has reached addictive proportions. The study is a theoretical study, as it seeks to dissect the manifestation of respondent’s behaviour in relation to addiction and necessity (Flyvbjerg, 2006). The concepts of addiction and necessity are used in order to evaluate behaviour, using specific qualities for each concept in order to fully understand the respondent behaviour and mobile phone usage (Biel,

How has the sociology of education helped you understand gendered Essay

How has the sociology of education helped you understand gendered issues in education - Essay Example Unfortunately, all these social progress appear void when we hear reports of gender bias, and gender discrimination within the educational institutes. The educational institutions and academicians are the beacon of social reforms, the forum and its owners kindle progressive and visionary principles to sustain and developed society. It is discouraging to observe these vocalists of social and human rights, negating these principles in their professional attributes (Praechter, 1998, pp. 178). The article has elaborated the contributing factors which have caused gender split among the young generation. The faculty of the academic institutions are involved in certain measures which provoke differences between males and females; the steps are although deliberate but such offensive measures are so common in our schools that no one bothers to challenge or restrict such offensive statements. The sociologists have complained against the curriculum being taught to the young generations; and alleged that the basic differences between female and male society are exaggerated and highlighted in these schools. Such teachings in later stages develop a sharp edge between the students and professionals from both the genders. It is suspected that educational institutions establish primary differences between masculine and feminine in their teachings, which eventually translate into social inequality (Maher, 2001, pp. 78). It is alleged that "traditional gender ideologies and present changing gender norms affect the way gender is taught through the hidden curriculum found within every classroom today" (Lloyd, 1992, pp. 86). The schools are accused of teaching gender norms, which is source of intensifying the gender inequalities, "education is one of the leading institutions that teaches and bolsters the gender inequalities". The research reveals that the

Elementary Education Essay Example for Free

Elementary Education Essay Reading Comprehension -The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend grade level text; Strand: Reading Process Listening and Speaking The student effectively applies listening and speaking strategies. Informative The student develops and demonstrates technical writing that provides information related to real-world tasks. Benchmark: LA. 2. 1. 7. 3. The student will summarize information in text, including but not limited to main idea, supporting details, and connections between texts; LA. 2. 5. 2. 4. The student will listen politely to oral presentations by classmates. LA. 2. 3. 1. 1. The student will prewrite by generating ideas from multiple sources (e. g. , text, brainstorming, webbing, drawing, writer’s notebook, group discussion, other activities); LA. 4. 4. 2. 5. The student will write simple directions to familiar locations using cardinal directions, landmarks, and distances, and create an accompanying map. Grade Level: Grade 2 Objectives: 1. Using the book The Trumpet of the Swan, the class will understand the main idea of the story by reading, listening and students discussion. 2. Basing on the journals of Louis in the Trumpet of the Swan, the class will come up with their very own journal writing. 3. Using the given information in the book The Trumpet of the Swan, the class will make a map of the main characters travels and adventures. Activities: Before reading: 1. Ask the class if they know what a journal is and if they have ever written one. 2. Tell the class you are going to read them a story entitle The Trumpet of the Swan. During reading: 3. Read the Trumpet of the Swan. 4. Show a map of Canada and point important spots that are mentioned in the Trumpet of the Swan. 5. Show a sample journal and explain how to write and what to write. After reading: 6. Ask the class to read Sams poem and summarize the text and identify the main idea of the poem (Reading). 7. Ask the class to write a journal about nature (Writing). 8. Have the class make a map of Louis’ travels and adventures including all the important spots in Canada, Montana and the Northeast (Visually Representing). 9. Have the class discuss the book by having them share their favorite part and ask questions like the following: How to behave in the woods if you want to appreciate nature, what are their stand on the ethics of Louis father, why is there a need for Serena to hear the beautiful song of her mate, does anyone identify with Applegate Skinner? Or have someone recite a part of Sams poem (Talking/Speaking). 10. Ask the class to listen when a classmate recites a poem and identify the main idea of the poem (Listening). Assessment of Writing Development: The 2 ways of assessing a students writing development are Rubrics and Portfolio assessment. ? Rubrics are tools teachers and students use to evaluate and classify writing, whether individual pieces or portfolios. They identify and articulate what is being evaluated in the writing, and offer descriptors to classify writing into certain categories (1-5, for instance, or A-F). Narrative rubrics and chart rubrics are the two most common forms (UNL|FLWI, 2008). ? Portfolio assessment is the collection of students work over time reflecting their progress, efforts and achievements and teachers based it on the following items: students Projects, surveys, reports and units from reading and writing Favorite poems, songs, letters, and comments, Interesting thoughts to remember, Finished samples that illustrate wide writing, Examples of writing across the curriculum, Literature extensions, Student record of books read and attempted, Audio tape of reading, Writing responses to literary components, Writing that shows growth in usage of traits, Samples in which ideas are modified from first draft to final product, Unedited first draft, Revised first draft, Evidence of effort, Self-evaluations, Writing that illustrates evidence of topic generation (Hurst, 2009). Assessment of Grammar Skills: You can informally assess childrens grammar skills by: ? Reviewing childrens work on relevant pages in their Student Books, handwriting sentences they copied during Daily Routines, and especially their own independent Quick Writing. ? Another method is by formal graded assessments such as quizzes, selected homework activities, and in-class tests (Porter and vanDommelen, 2005). Assessment of Spelling Skills: The two ways of assessing the students spelling skills are observation and analysis of the work samples. ? Observation can be done in the classroom by observing the students as they write and as they try to use words that are beyond their ability level. It is important that observation be supplemented later with the students work samples and it should be done in a systematic way. ? Analysis of the work samples is an assessment of students spelling ability from examination of samples of their unaided writing (Westwood, 2008). These samples can be taken from students exercise books, test papers, and language arts portfolios (Fiderer as cited in Westwood, 2008). THE SPELLING PATTERNS: 1. Blends: are 2 or 3 letters combined to form a distinct spelling sound. Examples are : -br- in brown and break and -fr- in fry and freeze 2. Digraph: A group of two successive letters whose phonetic value is a single sound. For example, EA in BREAD, CH in CHAT, or NG in SING. 3. Diphthong: the union of two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice; as, ea in beat, ou in sound. 4. R-controlled vowels: When a vowel is followed by an r, it makes a special sound. These are called r-controlled vowels, or r-colored vowels. Examples are /ar/ sound as in car, /er/ sound as in butter. 5. Long vowel: a sound which is the same as, or very similar to the letter name of one of the vowels. Examples are /a/ as in gate, /e/ as in need. 6. Short vowel: Are vowels of shorter duration. Examples are short /a/ as in bat, short /e/ as in bet. 7. Contraction: is a word made up from a verb and another word where an apostrophe takes the place of any letters that are left out. It can be positive contraction or negative contraction. Examples are: arent are not and heres here is. CUING SYSTEM: 1. Semantics — the study of the development and changes of the meanings of speech forms. Semantics is also a study of the process by which meaning is derived from symbols, signs, text, and other meaning-bearing forms. 2. Syntax — the conventions and rules for assembling words into meaningful sentences; syntax varies across languages. 3. Graphophonic — Refers to the sound relationship between the orthography (symbols) and phonology (sounds) of a language. 4. Phonological awareness — The understanding that speech is composed of sub-parts sentences are comprised of words, words are comprised of syllables, syllables are comprised of onsets and rimes, and can be further broken down to phonemes. Cuing Strategies â€Å"Used by effective readers to figure out unfamiliar words and to make meaning, cuing strategies include knowledge of syntax, semantics, words and word meaning, and graphophonics (letter/sound associations). Teachers can guide students to use cuing strategies by reminding them to ask themselves, did it sound right? Did it make sense? Did the word look right? † (Teacher Resources, 2002). References Advice for Teachers: Assessing Student Writing. UNL | FLWI. 2008. 03 Apr. 2009 http://flwi. unl. edu/advice/studentwriting. html#suggestions. Porter, Patricia, and Deborah VanDommelen. Integrating Assessment with Grammar-for-Writing Instruction. CATESOL: California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. 2005. 03 Apr. 2009 http://www. catesol. org/Porter_vanDommelen. pdf. Hurst, Carol Otis. Portfolio Assessment in the Reading-Writing Classroom. Carol Hursts Childrens Literature Site Reviews and teaching ideas for kids books. 03 Apr. 2009 http://www. carolhurst. com/profsubjects/portfolioassess. html. Westwood, Peter. What Teachers Need to Know about Spelling. Aust Council for Ed Research, 2008. Teaching Reading: Lens on Literacy. Teacher Professional Development and Teacher Resources by Annenberg Media. 2002. http://www. learner. org/libraries/readingk2/front/otherterms. html.

Formation Of False Memories :: essays research papers

Have you ever been an eyewitness at the scene of a crime? If you were, do you think that you would be able to accurately describe, in precise detail, everything that happened and remember distinct features of the suspect? Many people believe that yes they would be able to remember anything from the events that would happen and the different features of the suspect. Some people, in fact, are so sure of themselves after witnessing an event such as this that they are able to testify that what they think they saw was indeed what they saw. However, using an eyewitness as a source of evidence can be risky and is rarely 100% accurate. This can be proven by the theory of the possibility of false memory formation and the question of whether or not a memory can lie.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There have been several experiments done to try to prove that false memories can indeed be formed. One experiment, for example, was tried with a 14-year-old boy. The boy was told four memories, one of which was falsely constructed but similar to that of a true memory. The memories that were suggested took place when the boy was about 10 years younger. As the false memory was retold to him, he was asked to explain in detail what he had remembered from that event. Surprisingly, he claimed to remember the event, even though it was falsely created by the interviewer and his brother, and went on to explain what he remember to have happened, details and all. After collecting everything he had said about the four memories, he was told that one of the suggested memories was made-up and he was asked to guess which one it may have been. When he couldn’t decide which one it was, he was told that it was in fact the memory of getting lost in a store. He was confused and had trouble believing the truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Similar studies were done to a different set of college students and they tended to have the same results. After giving as much detail about each memory, the students were interviewed about what they may have written done about what they had remembered. During the last part of the experiment, each of the students were debriefed and asked to guess which memory they believed was false.

On His Blindness – John Milton

On His Blindness (Sonnet XIX) is a petrarchan sonnet about how Milton comes to terms with his loss of sight. The sonnet talks about how he looks for help with his blindness in religion, Milton was a devout Puritan. This strongly influenced Milton’s thinking, his family were often involved in many political and religious controversies. A lot of Milton’s writing was influenced by the Bible and Greek writers such as Homer. Milton follows the typical Petrarchan sonnet form of fourteen lines all in one stanza.This stanza is internally split into an octet (eight lines) – this usually asks a question, here it is Milton complains about his blindness and how he thinks it’s unfair for it to happen to him. The sestet (six lines) – answers the question asked in the octet, here Milton talks about how patience is a virtue. In the sestet there is a quote from the ‘Parable of Talents’, this emphasises Milton’s strong religious beliefs. It has an Iambic pentameter, five stressed then unstressed syllables.Milton uses the contrast of light and dark to understand his affliction ‘My light is spent’ this implies that his time with sight had run out. Alliteration is used ‘dark world and wide’ this emphasises Milton’s struggle to come to terms with his blindness. This contrast helps give an understanding of his blindness. There is a strong link to the ‘Parable of Talents’ Milton uses the Parable to guide him and give him encouragement to come to terms with his blindness. The extended metaphor on lines three to five which implies that being blind is something that Milton is ashamed of and doesn’t want others to know.Milton writes in the past tense which implies that he’s moved on from his issues and he has comes to terms with his blindness. The use of pre-modifiers ‘fondly ask’ to emphasis his problem. Compound sentences show how deep and complex his argument about his blindness is. Enjambment shows that his thoughts on his issue are continuous and that he doesn’t stop thinking about it. However caesuras are used which implies that he swaps from one thought to another quickly. Milton’s rhyming pattern of ‘ABBAABBACDECDE’ follows the typical Petrarchan sonnet form.The audience for this poem would typically have been a society which was ‘God-fearing’. At this time the church and religion was very influential and everyone had to attend church services. Therefore Milton’s audience was universal as everyone would seek approval from God as the most people had a strong belief in heaven and hell and would want God to look down on them positively to send them to heaven. In conclusion Milton used imagery such as metaphors and connotations to help us understand what he’s going through and the struggle he’s facing coming to terms with his blindness.