Equivalence in Translation Essay Example for Free

Equivalence in Translation Essay Professionally, however, the term translation is | |confined to the written, and the term interpretation to the spoken (Newmark, 1991: 35). If confined to a written language, translation is a | |cover term with three distinguishable meanings: 1) translating, the process (to translate; the activity rather than the tangible object), 2)| |a translation: the product of the process of translating (e. g. the translated text), and 3) translation: the abstract concept which | |encompasses both the process of translating and the product of that process Bell (1991: 13). The term translation used and discussed | |throughout this paper is confined to the written language, and refers to both the product and process of translating. | | | |The definitions of translation suggested above imply that producing the same meaning or message in the target language text as intended by | |the original author is the main objective of a translator. This notion of sameness is often understood as an equivalence relation between | |the source and target texts. This equivalence relation is generally considered the most salient feature of a quality translation. | | | |2. Problems of Equivalence | | | |The principle that a translation should have an equivalence relation with the source language text is problematic. There are three main | |reasons why an exact equivalence or effect is difficult to achieve. Firstly, it is impossible for a text to have constant interpretations | |even for the same person on two occasions (Hervey, Higgins and Haywood (1995: 14). According to these translation scholars: | | | |before one could objectively assess textual effects, one would need to have recourse to a fairly detailed and exact theory of psychological | |effect, a theory capable, among other things, of giving an account of the aesthetic sensations that are often paramount in response to a | |text (Hervey, Higgins and Haywood (1995: 14). | | | |Secondly, translation is a matter of subjective interpretation of translators of the source language text. Thus, producing an objective | |effect on the target text readers, which is the same as that on the source text readers is an unrealistic expectation. Thirdly, it may not | |be possible for translators to determine how audiences responded to the source text when it was first produced (ibid, p. 14). Miao (2000) | |gives a specific example of the impossibility of the equivalence relation: | | | |If an original was written centuries ago and the language of the original is difficult to comprehend for modern readers, then a simplified | |translation may well have greater impact on its readers that the original had on the readers in the source culture. No translator would | |hinder the readers comprehension by using absolute expressions in order to achieve equivalent effect (Miao, 2000: 202) | | | |Because the target text can never be equivalent to the source text at all levels, researchers have distinguished different types of | |equivalence (Lauscher, 2000: 151). Nida (1964) suggests formal and dynamic or functional equivalence. Formal equivalence focuses attention | |on the message itself, in both form and content. It requires that the message in the target language should match as closely as possible the| |different elements in the source language (p.159). Dynamic equivalence is based on the principle of equivalent effect, where the | |relationship between the receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the | |message (p. 159). Newmark (1981) makes a distinction between communicative and semantic translation. Like Nidas dynamic equivalence, | |communicative translation also tries to create the effect on the target text reader which is the same as that received by readers of the | |source language text. Koller (1997) proposes denotative, connotative, pragmatic, textual, formal and aesthetic equivalence. Munday (2001) | |describes these five different types of equivalence as follows: | |1. Denotative equivalence is related to equivalence of the extralinguistic content of a text. | |2. Connotative equivalence is related to the lexical choices, especially between near-synonyms. | |3. Text-normative equivalence is related to text types, with texts behaving in different ways. | |4. Pragmatic equivalence, or communicative equivalence, is oriented towards the receiver of the text or message. | |5. Formal equivalence is related to the form and aesthetics of the text, includes word plays and the individual stylistic features of the | |source text (p. 47). | | | |Baker (1992) classifies various problems of equivalence in translation and suggests some strategies to deal with them. Adopting a bottom-up | |approach, she begins with simple words and phrases and continues with grammatical, textual and pragmatic equivalences. | | | |3. Strategies to solve problems of equivalence | | | |As has been mentioned above, problems of equivalence occur at various levels, ranging from word to textual level. The equivalence problems | |emerge due to semantic, socio-cultural, and grammatical differences between the source language and the target language. These three areas | |of equivalence problems are intertwined with one another. The meaning(s) that a word refers to are culturally bound, and in most cases the | |meaning(s) of a word can only be understood through its context of use. | | | |Due to semantic, socio-cultural, grammatical differences between the source language and the target language, loss and addition of | |information in translation cannot be avoided. Basnett-McGuire (1991) states that once the principle is accepted that sameness cannot exist | |between the two languages, it is possible to approach the question of loss and gain in the translation process (p. 30). Bell (1991: 6) | |suggests a similar point that something is always lost or, one might suggest, gained in the process, and according to Nida (1975), all | |types of translation involve 1) loss of information, 2) addition of information, and /or 3) skewing of information (p. 27). To conform to | |the stylistic demands and grammatical conventions of the target language, structural adjustment in translation is inevitably needed. These | |possibilities are expanded below. | | | |3. 1 Addition of information | | | |Information which is not present in the source language text may be added to the target language text. According to Newmark (1988: 91), | |information added to the translation is normally cultural (accounting for the differences between SL and TL culture), technical (relating to| |the topic), or linguistic (explaining wayward use of words). The additional information may be put in the text (i. e. by putting it in | |brackets) or out of the text (i.e. by using a footnote or annotation). Such additional information is regarded as an extra explanation of | |culture-specific concepts (Baker, 1992) and is obligatory specification for comprehension purposes. Native speakers of Batak Tapanuli | |language (the native language of Batak community in North Sumatra), for example, have the word marhusip which literally means to whisper. | |If the word marhusip is used in the context of discussing marriage within the community in question, its meaning is more than to whisper. | |It refers specifically to a situation where family members of the bride meet family members of the groom to talk about the dowry. In the | |meeting, family members of the bride whisper with one another while deciding the amount of dowry they ask from the groom. Family members of | |the groom also do they same thing while deciding whether to accept or reject it. In this context, the word marhusip may be translated into | |to whisper, but additional information to clarify the meaning of marhusip is needed to help target readers understand its underlying | |concept. | | | |Addition of information for specification purposes is also required if ambiguity occurs in the receptor language formation and if the fact | |that greater specificity may be required so as to avoid misleading reference (Nida, 1964: 227). It would be misleading, for example, if the| |word men in Tannen is an apologist for men is translated into para pria in Indonesian. The reason is that it does not actually refer to men | |in general but to American men in particular, who became the focus of Tannens study on male-female interactions. It can be argued that | |translators should add the word Amerika to the Indonesian version to avoid ambiguity or to avoid a misleading interpretation of the outcomes| |of the study by Indonesian readers (Nababan, 2003). | | | |Amplification from implicit to explicit status is another factor that requires additions. In relation to this, Nida (1964) states that | |important semantic elements carried implicitly in the source language may require explicit identification in the receptor language (p. | |227). In a given context, the meaning of the sentence, This rule is to round to the nearest even number, is implicitly stated and can easily| |be understood by readers of the original text (See Nababan, 1989 and 1999) If translated into Indonesian, an addition of information of | |suatu angka yang berada pada dua batas kategori (a number lying between two categories) and alteration of word class (the active verb | |membulatkan into the passive verb dibulatkan) are required to achieve grammaticality and produce an explicit meaning for Indonesian readers. | |It is by convention the Indonesian transitive verb membulatkan, as the equivalence of to round, needs an object. In such case, that sentence| |should be rendered into: | | | |Target sentence: | |Menurut aturan pembulatan ini, suatu angka yang berada pada batas dua kategori dibulatkan ke angka genap terdekat. | | | |Back-translation: | |According to the rule, a number lying between two categories is rounded to the nearest even number. | | | |Addition of information may also be required due to the shift of voice and the alteration of word classes to avoid misinterpretation (Nida, | |1964: 227). The word cut in I cut my finger is an active voice. If translated into Indonesian, the word class should be changed into a | |passive one, tersayat (was cut) and the addition of oleh pisau (with knife) is needed if a native speaker of Indonesian means that he or she| |did it by accident. There are also cases where two languages use a different class of words and a different level of utterances to denote | |the same meaning. The adjective adjustable in I have an adjustable chair is changed or translated into an adjective clause yang dapat | |disetel (which can be adjusted) in which the addition of yang (which) is obligatory to achieve grammaticality. | | | |3. 2 Deletion of information | | | |Baker (1992: 40) refers to deletion as omission of a lexical item due to grammatical or semantic patterns of the receptor language (Baker,| |1992: 40). She states further that | | | |this strategy may sound rather drastic, but in fact it does no harm to omit translating a word or expression in some contexts. If the | |meaning conveyed by a particular item or expression is not vital enough to the development of the text to justify distracting the reader | |with lengthy explanations, translators can and often do simply omit translating the word or expression in question (Baker, 1992: 40). | | | |There are cases where omission is required to avoid redundancy and awkwardness (Nida, 1964: 228) and this strategy is particularly applied | |if the source language tends be a redundant language. The category of plural in English is both morphologically conditioned (e.g. | |child/children, mouse/mice), and phonologically conditioned (e. g. book/books, box/boxes, pen/pens). In some circumstances, a plural noun is | |also preceded by a determiner showing plurality (some books, three pens). If the double expression of such category is reflected in | |Indonesian, redundancy will occur. It is by convention that the category of plural in Indonesian is lexically formed by repetition of the | |noun buku-buku (book-book) or by adding a noun quantifier such as beberapa (some) or tiga (three). Once a given noun is in the plural form, | |the quantifier has to be deleted. On the other hand, once there exists a quantifier denoting plurality, the noun in question should be in | |the singular form or the repetition of the noun should be avoided. | | | |As implicitly stated by Baker (1992: 40) above, deletion may also refer to pieces of content rather than restructuring for grammatical | |purposes. Such a deletion of expressions or information is debatable in relation to the translation of academic texts, however. Anyone who | |writes an academic text, for example, will not include unimportant information in his or her writing. Similarly, anyone who reads such a | |text should consider that all information in the text is important. Translators are not an exception; they should read the text as the | |original reader or a non-translator reader reads it. That is to say that this notion of information deletion should not be used as an | |excuse to hide the inability of translators to understand and transfer message of the original text. | | | |3. 3. Structural adjustment | | | |Structural adjustment is another important strategy for achieving equivalence. Structural adjustment which is also called shift (see | |Catford, 1965) or transposition (see Vinay and Darbellnet, 1977) or alteration (see Newmark, 1988) refers to a change in the grammar from SL| |to TL (Newmark, 1988: 85). Similarly, Bell (1991: 6) states that to shift from one language to another is, by definition, to alter the | |forms. The alteration of form may mean changes of categories, word classes, and word orders. Structural adjustment, according to Nida (1964:| |226), has various purposes, including: 1) to permit adjustment of the form of the message to the requirements of structure of the receptor | |language, 2) to produce semantically equivalent structures, 3) to provide equivalent stylistic appropriateness, and 4) to carry an | |equivalent communication load. | | | |Newmark (1988: 85-87) divides the shift of forms into four types. One type of shift is the change from singular to plural or in the position| |of adjective. The position of an adjective in English, for example, may occur before a noun (i.e. a difficult text) or before and after a | |noun (i. e. a difficult text available in the library). An adjective in Indonesian always comes before a noun. Therefore, a difficult text | |and a difficult text available in the library should be translated into sebuah teks sulit (a difficult text) and sebuah teks sulit yang | |tersedia di perpustakaan itu (a difficult text which is available in the library or a difficult text available in the library) respectively. | |A second type of shift is required when a SL grammatical structure does not exist in the TL. In English, for example, cohesive devices such | |as however and nevertheless may be put at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. In Indonesian, such cohesive devices always occur at| |the beginning of a sentence. The third type of shift is the one where literal translation is grammatically possible but may not accord with | |natural usage in the TL. The English sentence The man to whom she is talking on the phone lives in Jakarta can be translated literally into | |Laki-laki kepada siapa dia sedang berbicara di telepon tinggal di Jakarta. This literal translation is accurate in content but doesnt sound| |Indonesian . To conform to natural usage in Indonesian, the structure of the sentence should be adjusted into Laki-laki yang sedang | |berbicara dengannya di telpon tinggal di Jakarta (The man who is talking to her on the phone lives in Jakarta). The fourth type of | |transposition is the replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a grammatical structure (see Newmark, 1988: 87). | |In addition to the types of alteration described above, alterations of word classes (i. e. shifts from one class of words to another or from | |word level to phrase or clause level) are also required due to grammatical differences between the source and target languages. The | |preposition with in I am married with three young girls is changed into a conjunction dan (and), and the verb mempunyai needs to be added in| |Indonesian. The prepositional phrase in red in The woman in red is my wife is altered into an adjective clause yang berbaju merah (who wears| |the red clothes). | | | | | |References | | | |Baker, M. 1992. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Sage Publication. | |Bell, R. T. 1991. Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. London: Longman. | |Bassnett-McGuire, S. 1991. Translation Studies. New York: Methuen Co.Ltd. | |Catford, J. C. 1965. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Longman. | |Hervey, S. , Higgins, I. , and Haywood, L. M. 1995. Thinking Spanish Translation: A Course in Translation Method: Spanish into English. | | London; New York: Routledge. | |Koller, W. 1995. â€Å"The concept of equivalence and the object of translation studies†. Target, 7 (2), 191-222. | |Miao, J. 2000. â€Å"The limitations of equivalent effect†. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, Vol. 8. No. 3, 197-205. | |Munday, J. 2001. Introducing Translation Studies. London; New York: Routledge. | |Nababan, M. R. 2003. â€Å"Translation Processes, Practices and Products of Professional Indonesian Translators. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Schools| |of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. | |_________. 1999. Teori Menerjemah Bahasa Inggris. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. | |_________. 1989. â€Å"Analisis terjemahan buku Research Methods and Analysis: Searching for Relationship karya Michael H. Walizer dan Paul, W. | |Wienir ke dalam bahasa Indonesia oleh Sadiman dan Hutagaol†. Unpublished Thesis. Surakarta: Universitas Sebelas Maret. | |Newmark, P. 1991. About Translation. Great Britain: Longdunn Press, Ltd. | |__________. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice-Hall International. | |__________. 1981. Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press | |Nida, E. 1975. Language Structure and Translation. Standford, California: Standford University Press. | |______. 1964. Towards a Science of Translating. Leiden: Brill. | |Vinay, J. P. and Darbelnet, J. 1965. Stylistique Comparee du Francois et de L’angalis. Paris: Didier. | http://www. proz. com/translation-articles/articles/2071/1/EQUIVALENCE-IN-TRANSLATION%3ASOME-PROBLEM-SOLVING-STRATEGIES

Celiac Disease Presenting as Unexplained Infertility

Celiac Disease Presenting as Unexplained Infertility Title- Celiac disease presenting as unexplained infertility and pancytopenia- A Case Report Abstract – Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine significant association with several extraintestinal features, such as reproductive disorders in women with undiagnosed celiac disease. Worldwide, CD prevalence is approximately 1%. Several studies suggest a higher prevalence of undiagnosed CD in patients with infertility. A 21 years old Indian woman who presented with history of primary amenorrhea, diminished secondary sexual character, asthenia, history of weight loss and chronic diarrhea. On admission her hemoglobin (Hgb) was 4.2 g/dL. Laboratory investigations confirmed a Immunoglobulin A (IgA) anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (IgA-tTG) was markedly elevated to more than 300 u/ml, colonoscopy was normal, Bone mass densitometry revealed osteopenia and hypercellular bone marrow on bone marrow biopsy. Celiac disease diagnosis was made multivitamins, mineral, intravenous iron replacement and gluten free diet replacement treatment was initiated. In order trilineage hematopoiesis, iron deficiency anemia, granulocytic hyperplasia and mild megakaryocytic hypoplasia. Both her platelet counts and white blood cell recovered uneventfully with continuing iron, calcium, vitmine D3 and folic acid supplementation. The possible mechanism for this phenomenon is discussed in this report. Introduction Celiac disease (CD) is a multifactorial chronic autoimmune systemic disease, triggered by gluten consumption in genetically predisposed individuals [1]. Classically the disease is manifested by symptoms of diarrhea, flatulence and malabsorption, however, it is also associated with variable systemic manifestations, including metabolic bone disease, diabetes, thyroid dysfunction and lympho-proliferative malignancies [2]. Worldwide, the prevalence of CD in the general population is approximately 1%; female: male ratio is 2 : 1 [3-7]. Several studies have confirmed the implications of celiac disease on the reproductive health of women. Celiac disease Development in cases of acute leukemia after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from Human leukocyte antigen identical siblings who suffered from celiac disease [11,12]. We report the first case of celiac disease presented as pancytopenia with unexplained infertility in woman Case report A 21 year old Indian woman presented with primary amenorrhea, diminished secondary sexual character, asthenia, history of weight loss and chronic diarrhea. On admission her hemoglobin (Hgb) was 4.2 g/dL (normal range: 11.0–15.1 gm/dL), red cell distribution width (RDW) was 39% (normal range: 11.3–15.5%) and mean corpuscular volume was 63.6 fL (normal range: 79–97 fL). Reticulocyte count was low at 9000/mm3(normal range: 25–100 Ãâ€" 103/mm3), total iron binding capacity of 486 ÃŽ ¼g/dL (normal range: 250–450 ÃŽ ¼g/DL), percentage saturation of 5 and a ferritin level of 3/mcL (normal range: 150 – 400 Ãâ€" 103/ÃŽ ¼L), white blood cell (WBC) count was 3.2 Ãâ€" 103/ÃŽ ¼L (normal range: 4–11 Ãâ€" 103/ÃŽ ¼L) with 4-6 segmented neutrophils. On the bone marrow core sections ring sideroblasts was not found. Bone marrow iron store showed decreased amounts of storage iron. Total colonoscopy was normal. Upper gastrointestinal endos copy showed a loss of folds in the second part of the duodenum and a biopsy from the second part of duodenum showed intraepithelial lymphocytes, flattening of duodenal mucosa, lymphoplasmacytic infiltration in lamina propria, and crypt hyperplasia (Marsh class 3). Immunoglobulin A (IgA) anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (IgA-tTG) was markedly elevated to more than 300 u/ml. Bone mass densitometry revealed osteopenia. He was under observation in short intervals at the Oncology clinic with abnormal finding as hypercellular bone marrow on bone marrow biopsy. Celiac disease diagnosis was made multivitamins, mineral, intravenous iron sucrose complex given at a dose of 100 mg twice weekly. Replacement and gluten free diet replacement treatment was initiated. On day 14th of treatment hemoglobin increase upto 6.1 g/dL , WBC count to 6.4 Ãâ€" 103/mcL, and platelets were 195 Ãâ€" 103/mcL. We present the first case of celiac disease that presented as primary amenorrhea with pancytopeni a. Discussion – A patient came to medicine OPD presenting primary amenorrhea, diminished secondary sexual character, asthenia, history of weight loss and chronic diarrhea. However, celiac disease is also associated with variable systemic manifestations, including metabolic bone disease, diabetes, thyroid dysfunction and lympho-proliferative malignancies [2]. Given the extreme anemia and the marginal thrombocytopenia and leucopenia. In to improve erythropoiesis she was initiated on iron replacement therapy. Initially which led decrease in WBC counts and platelet. Even though iron deficiency is related with a reactive thrombocytosis [13], when the severity of the iron deficiency increases lead to normalization [14,15] and infrequently even decrease in platelet counts [16,17,18]. Still The precise mechanism of this is indistinct. Cause of pancytopenia in our patient may be related to decrease density of bone and increase free radical damage to hemopoetic stem cell in bone marrow. Extremely low levels o f estrogen hormone observed in our patient which is associated with bone demineralization and infertility, poor secondary sexual character in female. Conclusion Undiagnosed celiac disease is a jeopardy of infertility and pancytopenia. Pancytopenia may be due to decrease bone density result of that more exposure bone more ( haemopoetic stem cell) to free radical. Due to lack of proper nutrition, ovarian capsule could not protect newly growing follicle which lead to poorly development of estrogen hormone dependent secondary sexual character. Women seeking medical advice for this meticulous situation should be screened for celiac disease and bone density (DEXA scan). Adoption of a gluten-free diet could have a positive knock on fertility in such kind of patients. It may be a potentially modifiable (and treatable) risk factor. Futher, a large scale study prospectively study for bone density and ovarian capsule composition to evaluate association between celiac disease and infertility in woman, pancytopenia to clarify these hypothesis. References – Sà ¡nchez E, de Palma G, Capilla A, et al. Influence of environmental and genetic factors linked to celiac disease risk on infant gut colonization by Bacteroides species. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2011;77(15):5316–5323. 1b. Green PH, Cellier C. Celiac disease. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:1731–1743. Rashtak S, Murray JA. Review article: coeliac disease, new approaches to therapy. Alimentary Pharmacology Therapeutics. 2012;35(7):768–781. Ravikumara M, Tuthill DP, Jenkins HR. The changing clinical presentation of coeliac disease. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2006;91(12):969–971. Rossi M, Bot A. Celiac disease: progress towards diagnosis and definition of pathogenic mechanisms. International Reviews of Immunology. 2011;30(4):183–184. Aggarwal S, Lebwohl B, Green PHR. Screening for celiac disease in average-risk and high-risk populations. Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology. 2012;5(1):37–47. Megiorni F, Pizzuti A. HLA-DQA1 and HLA-DQB1 in Celiac disease predisposition: practical implications of the HLA molecular typing. Journal of Biomedical Science. 2012;19, article 88 Bargetzi MJ, Schà ¶nenberger A, Tichelli A, Fried R, Cathomas G, Signer E, et al. Celiac disease transmitted by allogeneic non-T cell-depleted bone marrow transplantation.Bone Marrow Transplant.1997;20:607–9. Borgaonkar MR, Duggan PR, Adams G. Differing clinical manifestations of celiac disease transmitted by bone marrow transplantation.Dig Dis Sci.2006;51:210–2 Schloesser LL, Kipp MA, Wenzel FJ. Thrombocytosis in iron deficiency anemia.J Lab Clin Med.1965;66:107–114. Dincol K, Aksoy M. On the platelet levels in chronic iron deficiency anemia.Acta Haematol.1969;41:135–143. Choi SI, Simone JV, Jackson CW. Megakaryocytopoiesis in experimental iron deficiency anemia. Blood.1974;43:111–120. Lopas H, Rabiner SF. Thrombocytopenia associated with iron deficiency anemia.Clin Pediatr.1966;5:609–616. doi: 10.1177/000992286600501008. Berger M, Brass LF. Severe thrombocytopenia in iron deficiency anemia.Am J Hematol.1987;24:425–428. doi: 10.1002/ajh.2830240412. Mubarak AA, Awidi A, Rasul KI, Al-Homsi U. Thrombocytopenia responding to red blood cell transfusion.Saudi Med J.2004;25:106–109.

Buddhism in the West Essay -- essays research papers

Albert Einstein once said, â€Å"the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.†# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being. Buddhism has a fascinating history. Like most religions, you must first understand the background to practice the religion. Buddhism started with a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama, he was born in Nepal#. He was born around 563 B.C.# as a young prince his father suddhodana (ruler of the sakya) kept him from the pain and suffering that can occur in life. All of his childhood life he was kept inside palace walls. Until one day he joined a parade to the city. He wondered of into the city streets and got lost. He found himself in an old village. In this village he saw everything his father had kept him from, he saw pain, suffering, old age and death. After this experience he decided to leave his life of riches and high living. At the age of 29 he left his newborn son and wife. He ventured off into the jungle and began to meditate with a group of extremists, who did nothing but meditate. He stayed there for six long years. One day he realized that he was looking in the wrong directi on to end suffering. So he decided to go the middle way. He went all over teaching ... ... is growing in the west he answers, â€Å"it is not difficult to understand why Buddhism should appeal to Americans at this junction of our history. Theistic religions have lost their hold on the minds of many educated Americans and this has opened up a deep spiritual vacuum that needs to be filled. For many, materialistic values are profoundly unsatisfying, and Buddhism offers a spiritual teaching that fit’s the bill. It is rational, experimental, practical and personally verifiable. It brings concrete benefits that can be realized in ones own life: it propounds lofty ethics and an intellectually cogent philosophy. Also less auspiciously it has an exotic air that attracts fascinated by the mystical and esoteric#.† Many people like Bhikkhu Bodhi think these same things about Buddhism, because of its simple way to life without suffering and the lack of a divine being. Buddhism in the West Essay -- essays research papers Albert Einstein once said, â€Å"the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.†# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being. Buddhism has a fascinating history. Like most religions, you must first understand the background to practice the religion. Buddhism started with a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama, he was born in Nepal#. He was born around 563 B.C.# as a young prince his father suddhodana (ruler of the sakya) kept him from the pain and suffering that can occur in life. All of his childhood life he was kept inside palace walls. Until one day he joined a parade to the city. He wondered of into the city streets and got lost. He found himself in an old village. In this village he saw everything his father had kept him from, he saw pain, suffering, old age and death. After this experience he decided to leave his life of riches and high living. At the age of 29 he left his newborn son and wife. He ventured off into the jungle and began to meditate with a group of extremists, who did nothing but meditate. He stayed there for six long years. One day he realized that he was looking in the wrong directi on to end suffering. So he decided to go the middle way. He went all over teaching ... ... is growing in the west he answers, â€Å"it is not difficult to understand why Buddhism should appeal to Americans at this junction of our history. Theistic religions have lost their hold on the minds of many educated Americans and this has opened up a deep spiritual vacuum that needs to be filled. For many, materialistic values are profoundly unsatisfying, and Buddhism offers a spiritual teaching that fit’s the bill. It is rational, experimental, practical and personally verifiable. It brings concrete benefits that can be realized in ones own life: it propounds lofty ethics and an intellectually cogent philosophy. Also less auspiciously it has an exotic air that attracts fascinated by the mystical and esoteric#.† Many people like Bhikkhu Bodhi think these same things about Buddhism, because of its simple way to life without suffering and the lack of a divine being.

Irony in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart :: Things Fall Apart essays

Things Fall Apart  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That year the harvest was sad, like a funeral, and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams.   One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself.   Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life.   It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.   He knew that he was a fierce fighter, but that year had been enough to break the heart of a lion.   Ã‚   "Since I survived that year," he always said, "I shall survive anything."   He put it down to his inflexible will.   His father, Unoka, who was then an ailing man, had said to him during that terrible harvest month:   "Do not despair.   I know that you will not despair.   You have a manly and a proud heart.   A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride.   It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone."   Ã‚  Ã‚   The above passages were taken from the end of chapter three, part one.   After finishing reading this book and then going back through it, I found these passages very ironic in regards to how the story eventually ended.   Okonkwo believed that because he was such a fierce fighter, he could conquer anything life threw at him.   However, it was his fierce, proud, fighting attitude that was his demise in the face of uncontrollable circumstances in the end.   Okonkwo believed that war and brute fighting would fix everything.   He was a proud and stubborn man constantly struggling to improve his standing in the tribal community.   Okonkwo also had intense pride for his tribe and way of life.   He believed it was the right way of life and not to be questioned.   Everyone was supposed to fear war with Umofia due to their fierce warriors and greatness in battle.   When the white men not only did not fear them, but openly threatened the tribal way of life, Okonk wo prepared to handle the situation the only way he knew how.   He wanted to got to war against the new white invaders, chasing them from tribal lands and ending the threat of different ways of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The passage ends with, "it is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.

Integration of the baroque and modern architecture

How magnificent a structure like La Havana Vieja that is over 500 years of old graciously towered over the straits of Florida.   From Colonial to art deco until modernism, tourists wondered around the antiquated city and they were drawn with the old cars lining and architectural gems that can be found in every corner of the city.   In fact in 1982, it has earned the UNESCO Heritage List.   A year after, a preservation campaign was launched in order to protect and restore the authenticity of the buildings. But as years gone by, Cuba became engrossed on tourism.   In 1990 it has brought them large foreign revenue, majority of the buildings followed the bland design of the modern architecture to satisfy customers.   How sad it is to see the exquisite square highlighted by the 18th century baroque â€Å"Columbus Cathedral† incrementally depleted by economic and tourism goals.   Personally, I find it very careless to redesign the building and to change the old architecture that has stood there for long and has remained unchanged through time. The existing challenge thereby to current architectural design within the aforementioned region lies in the necessity of formulating a design that enables the fusion of the modern with what Carpentier refers to as Havana’s strange baroquism in order to balance the city.  Ã‚   The necessity of such is evident if one considers that the path of globalization has been determined for Cuba by the regionalistic character of its architecture.   Tourism is a form of globalism that relies upon the interdependence of a global culture and that of a regional and cultural identity. The difficulty faced by architectural design thereby lies in the necessity of encapsulating modern design with the regionalism and the marketing image of the culture that serves as the unique proposition that underlies the continuous globalization of Havana. It is thereby necessary to enable the rapid reconfiguration of Havana, in order to â€Å"un-fracture† the results of the modern urban changes that have transformed and destroyed the city’s spirit.[1] This dilemma faced by architectural designers is best stated by Paul Ricoeur as he states that the challenge lies in ‘‘how to become modern and to return to sources (while) reviving an old, dormant civilization (in order for it to) take part in a universal civilization’’.[2] This is a difficult task since the two kinds of architecture contrast each other.   Baroque architecture which is reflected by the Havana structures emphasizes on the unity among arts.   The architecture, sculpture, and painting made by the baroque artist were remarkable traits of spatial relationships which may be illusionary or real.   One cannot resist the physical and emotional attraction that baroque arts once they get to glance on them.   The buildings were amassed of great curving which poster rising and falling facades and grounds with extraordinary complexity and size. Various shapes and domes are also vivid in baroque architecture.   On the other hand, modern architecture depicts to the removal of ornament and to the simplification of form.   For many, modern architecture is a result of modern advancement in technology and engineering and of course by the emergence of new building materials such as concrete, steel, iron and glass. Generally, it is all about functionality- the application of the principles of functionalism reflected in the use of materials, quantity and size.   In short it is the rational engineering.   The attempt to integrate the two by not salvaging the old architecture was overlooked by the Cuban government when the investments rise to tourism.   There has also been a disparity between locals and the tourism facilities. Preservation and revitalization of Habana entails a number of restorations and cooperation from the citizens and from the local government.   The goal should poster social and economic exclusion that was created by the restructuring and revitalization in historic district outside Cuba.   Since, modernization is inevitable, as it has already diffused and reached the city, application of modern architecture should be done with thorough planning, wise mapping, and careful infrastructure building without damaging the old ones. Bibliography Coyula, Mario. The Old, Havana Way. DRCLAS website. Retrieved on January 23, 2008 from http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/55 CubavacationWebsite. Habana Vieja. Retrieved on January23, 2007 from http://www.cubavacation.4t.com/photo3.html Ricoeur, Paul.   History and Truth.   Trans. Charles Kelbley.   Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1965. Tung, Anthony. Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis.   New York: Random House, 2001.                                              [1] Anthony Tung, Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis, (New York: Random House, 2001), 430. [2] Paul Ricoeur, History and Truth, Trans. Charles Kelbley (Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1965).