Geography of Belize :: Essays Papers

Geography of Belize Belize which was formerly known as British Honduras until 1981 is an 8,867 acre plot of land located in Central America. The territory covered by Belize is slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts (Gall 45). Mexico surrounds Belize to the north, Guatemala to the southwest and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The population of Belize conists of approximately 256,000 people. Rougly seventy-one percent of Belize's population resides in cities such as Belize City, San Ignacio, and Punta Gorda. The remaining population lives in rural areas (Krutzinna 66-67). Belize's climate is tropical and humid throughout most of the year. The rainy season falls between the months of May and October. THe average temperature along the Belizean coast is 78.8Â °, while temperatures rise inland. The hurricane season is the most influential climatic element to Belize's environment and well being, which lasts from July to October. For example, the capital city of Belize was moved from coastal Belize City to Belmopan central Belize in 1971 because of the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Hattie in 1961 (Krutzinna 105). Belmopan has been Belize's captial since 1971. It is seated in the center of Belize on the Belize River, half way between the coastal Belize City and the Belize- Guatemalan border town of San Ignacio. The capital has not become the bustling metropolis that Belize City continues to be, but it does provide a train station for travelers as well as cultural buildings for some light sight-seeing. Belmopan, Belize is geographically and politically important to Belize, however, it is still not the center of Belizean culture and economy (Krutzinna 105-106). Forests and woodlands cover about ninety-two percent of Belize's terrain (Marshall 447). These forests and woodlands are home to seven hundered species of trees and approximately four thousand species of flowering plants. Among the seven hundred species of trees living in the forests and woodlands are mahogany, pine, cedar and rosewood. Belize exports much of its mahogany, pine and cedar woods, which directly affects the issue of deforestation it is currently facing from the abundance of trees that have been cut down in the past (Gall 49). Deforestation has become an important topic in Belize since many of its trees have been cut down for sale on the international market.

Comment on Shakespeare’s portrayal of Othello

In Shakespeare's time black people were classed as second-class citizens. They were often looked at as devil-like and evil. This was, however, a stereotypical view, often accepted by the people of Shakespeare's day. People looked at the Bible to show that black people were devil-like and evil. The Bible tells the story of Noah and the Ark. In the Ark it was forbidden to have children, as there would not be enough food. However, Ham, one of Noah's sons, decided to disobey these rules, as he wanted to have the son who would be ruler of the world. When Noah found out and they returned to land, Noah banished Ham to Africa. Ham had committed sin and was evil and devil-like because he had disobeyed his father for his own self-interest, risking the lives of others in the Ark. As black people were said to have originated form Africa, where Ham was banished, they could be descendants of Ham, who was evil, and therefore black people were evil and devil-like too. Black people were also said to be over-sexed, unstable, irrational, suffer from fits, and be devil-like. In the prejudiced mind, Shakespeare presents Othello to match all of these stereotypical categories that black people were said to be. People with an open mind, however, can simply see that Othello is a man in love. In Act 4, Scene 1, line 40, Othello has a fit. This matches with the stereotypical view that back people have fits. However, Othello has a fit because he was in a rage. The reason being that he had become so disturbed by the stories of his beloved wife having been unfaithful. It is possible for anyone, white or black, to have a fit if they were as distressed as Othello was. Othello may be seen as over-sexed. He talks in a very passionate manner. Shakespeare presents Othello to have a glorified situation of his and Desdemona's affection for each other. It is more likely; therefore, that Othello is infatuated in their love than over-sexed. The depth of his passionate language, in which you can see that his love is more than a hallucination, is shown throughout the beginning of the play. â€Å"Amen to that, sweet powers/ cannot speak enough of this content/ it stops me here: it is too much joy†(II i 188). Othello declares this after he and Desdemona are reunited after their journey to Cyprus. Othello is talking passionately to Desdemona, however, this does not immediately prove him of being over-sexed, it shows the love he is sharing with Desdemona. Othello could be seen as irrational when he kills Desdemona by smothering her, Act 5, Scene 2, and Line 85. Iago, however, is far more irrational then Othello ever could have be seen to be and Iago is white. Iago's irrationality can be seen in one of his soliloquies. † I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip, / Abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb-/ For I fear Cassio with my night cap too-â€Å"(II i 286-288). Here Iago is saying how he believes his wife has been sleeping with Cassio, of which he has no verification. He says in effect that he wants Cassio dead. This shows Iago's irrationality because he has no reason to have Cassio dead, or to even contemplate that he has slept with his wife. Iago provokes many deaths, without remorse, which shows that he has extreme irrationality. Being devil-like was another typical view people had of blacks. Othello while he is in a rage could be seen as devil-like. † Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin;/ For to deny each article with oath/ Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception/ That I do groan withal. Thou art to die† (V ii 54-56). Othello speaks these words to Desdemona before he murders her. Othello has no prove of her infidelity, except from what Iago has told him. Othello is in a huge rage as he is about to kill her and therefore could be seen as devil-like. Iago is also very devil-like, more than Othello and he is white. This contradicts the stereotypical view of black people in Shakespeare's' time. Act 5 Scene 2 Line 235 Iago kills his wife Emilia for speaking of Desdemona's faithfulness, therefore showing Iago's deceitfulness. Shakespeare cleverly presents Othello stereotypically, but also as a normal person. He could have done this to suit the different audiences, but he may have used these contradictions as a way of making people less prejudiced. Shakespeare thought carefully about the presentation of Othello's character as it shows two sides of a black man. Othello is a great general who has also won the affections of a white woman. Shakespeare was not the first to have presented a black man on stage. But he was the first to have not presented that black character as beastly and ferocious. He presents a warrior with great passion. Othello's language throughout the play is full of great passion. â€Å"All's well now, sweeting; come away to bed†(II i 234). This is one example of Othello's passion. At this point in Othello his passion is only towards Desdemona in a loving way. As Othello develops, Othello's passion changes as he becomes wrapped in a passion of jealousy. Othello then becomes an uncontrollable, violent man. Othello never stops his passionate loving for Desdemona but feels it his duty to kill her before she breaks more men's hearts. â€Å"Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men†(V ii 6). Othello says these words to himself while Desdemona is sleeping, before he is about to smother her. At the beginning of Othello you would never have thought that anything could ever come between a couple bearing so much love for each other. However, all that was needed to break this loving couple apart was Iago, gently introducing ideas, mentioning, just little things like Cassio's quick departures from Desdemona. â€Å"Cassio, my lord; No sure I cannot think it/ That he would steal away so guilty-like, / Seeing you coming.†(III iii 38-40). Iago keeps slipping in comments about Desdemona, until Othello becomes so caught up with jealousy that he is convinced of his wife's unfaithfulness. As Othello has so much passion, his anger is brewed into a huge mental tornado, which takes time to build up, but when at full strength can destroy even what seem like the strongest things, Othello and Desdemona's marriage, and resulting in the death of Desdemona.

All the Things You Missed in Ready Player One Book Review

Ready Player One Critic Reviews Ernest Cline who wrote Ready Player One in 2011 could have scarcely predicted that his vision (or preview) of the dystopian future would turn stale and sour less than a decade after the book’s publication. The proliferation of VR sets has rendered the once groundbreaking Literary Role Playing Game (LitRPG) genre farcical if not downright anachronistic. This pesky fact notwithstanding, the book works. It is surprisingly popular with readers not because the writer painted a realistic future they can expect in the coming decades, but rather because he showed them the past they are yearning for. He struck a chord with a nostalgic audience whose coming of age occurred during the scintillating synth-pop era. The book is bursting with clever nods to the geek-fodder of the 1980s. The author takes cherished pop icons of the era and bangs them against one another in a manner not uncharacteristic of a 4-year-old kid playing with plastic action figures. As the pandemonium of pop-cultural icons breaks out, one can hardly notice how dystopian the depicted future really is. For more discernible readers, it is thoroughly clear from the outset that the disheveled world is completely devoid of Christian, family, or any other values except corporatism. It is also understandable that the world is broken beyond repair and a teenager with no living parent – Wade – cannot mend it. In this book review, I will argue that the novel perfectly exemplifies unrestrained and self-indulgent pandering to the readers’ desire to be rewarded for mediocrity. GET READY PLAYER 1 BOOK REVIEW Ready Player One Book Characters Parzival or Wade Watts, who is the main character of the book, functions as a bridge through which other characters both alive and deceased gallop, waltz, leap, scurry, and march toward the readers. The teenager introduces the audience to scrappy heroes with zany avatar names. There is Art3mis – a flirtatious denizen of the virtual world whose preoccupation with Easter eggs is only matched by her inexplicable pull toward Wade. Having done a great job developing the character, Cline bungles all the progress by failing to distinguish Artemis from her virtual milieu: by the end of the book, she is turned into a reward for Watt who finds her in the middle of a labyrinth. Even more obnoxious than the labyrinth scene is i-r0k (alternatively spelled as i-rok or irok) who helps the head of Innovative Online Industries (IOI) Nolan Sorrento and the Sixers to find the first key. The sparkling world created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow is home to Chucky, Gundam, Iron Giant, Mechagod zilla, and Voltron among others. The list of pop-culture icons, goodies, and qutes if too long to place it here without transforming the essay into a listicle. Ready Player One Discussion Questions The unbridled use of alliteration and allusion turns the book into an Easter egg hunt for literary-minded readers. It is as if Cline challenges his audience to pay attention to a witty turn of phrase. Those belonging to a book club can make a scoreboard and entertain themselves with the literary device hunt. Alternatively, they can pose and try to answer several book club questions: â€Å"What does OASIS stand for in Ready Player One?†, â€Å"What is the motivation of people claiming that everything wrong with race scene, in general, and DeLorean car, in particular?†, â€Å"Does anybody think they will make the OASIS from Ready Player One?†, â€Å"Who made the OASIS and why?†, â€Å"Has VR been created to enslave people?†, â€Å"How did Ready Player One get the rights to popular characters?†, â€Å"Is there a sequel?†, â€Å"Can the final battle be interpreted as a beta version of Apocalypse?†, â€Å"Is Ready Player One good re presentation of the 1980s pop-culture?†, and â€Å"Has the ending explained the way out for the humanity?† PURCHASE THE BOOK READY PLAYER ONE REVIEW Why Is Ready Player One So Different from the Book? Even though the screen adaptation of the futuristic novel strikingly differs from the Cline’s original story, the philosophical spirit that informed the book is very much in evidence. Ready Player One philosophy of the full-scale humanitarian crisis in VR and IRL (in real world) is there. Thus, it can hardly be argued that book better than movie. At the same time, the question begs the answer: â€Å"How close are we to Ready Player One technology?† At this point, it is an article of faith for many people that rampant technological escapism is inevitable. Given that the book’s quotes about reality (e.g. â€Å"Going outside is highly overrated†) are eerily reminiscent of sentiments held by our society, we should be more than cautious about creating a real life OASIS. Do you think the Ready Player One technology will come to life in the future? All References in Ready Player One Book and Cameos Galore Reay Player One Easter eggs, 80s references, and themes are head-spinning. The list of anime allusions (e.g., Evangelion) and games paraphernalia (e.g., Overwatch) is too long to even mention here, but it certainly makes for a wild ride. That being said, one should not necessarily understand every pop culture reference in order to enjoy the book. The menagerie of quirky characters is infinitely amusing in its own right. Ready Player One Analysis: The Book Is Bad? The controversy that erupted over the book has completely engulfed the literary blogosphere. Harsh criticism has not spared either the author, who was accused of racism, or the protagonist, who has been proclaimed a bad guy. The novel itself has been repeatedly called sexist and overrated. The worst quotes about the book include such masterpieces of biting writing as â€Å"a dull, pandering tableau of reference points as an end unto themselves† and â€Å"a one-note celebration of pop-culture nostalgia.† So why has the book garnered so much scorn from the readers whose differences of opinion†¦ ORDER READY PLAYER ONE BOOK REVIEW