Chinese Culture and Political Police in China in the Movies Joy Luck Essay

Chinese Culture and Political Police in China in the Movies Joy Luck Club and Not One Less - Essay Example These films mainly about China, driven by means of the modernity’s blinding light, while, at the same time, no longer acknowledging its own children, in addition to its primitive past. In Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, there are four mothers, four daughters and four families whose histories change with the four winds according to the person narrating the stories. During 1949, four Chinese women, who happened to be recent immigrants to San Francisco, started meeting while eating dim sum, playing mahjong, and talking. Joy Luck Club is the name this group united by shared unspeakable loss, as well as hope, they referred to themselves. Instead of allowing themselves to sink in tragedy, they opt to gather by raising not only their spirits, but also money. Forty years down the line, the stories, as well as history persist (Tan 56). Amy Tan explores the sometimes painful, in most cases tender while always deep link between mothers and daughters with wit, as well as sensitivity. As every w oman exposes her secrets, attempting to unravel the truth concerning her life, the strings end up getting extensively tangled, while, at the same time extremely entwined. Apparently, mothers boast or despair over daughters, while daughters roll their eyes although they feel the inextricable tapering of their matriarchal ties. Amy happens to be an astute storyteller, who entices her readers into immersing themselves to these lives of complexity, as well as mystery. In Not One Less, Wei Minzhi who is a representative of an agrarian society, with all her backwardness, together with naivete, exemplifies the humanity that gets rejected by modern man pursuing an industrial civilization. Wei Minzhi is the replacement teacher of 13-years who is bigger than life; although she seems to be primitive, uncouth, silly, as well as immature; she happens to be China’s self-depiction as a third-world country along with a tenacity to modernize when she begins going to the city by foot thereby f inding her student, an act that is foolish yet heroic (Ebert 21). She turns out to be an expediently dumping ground for the pessimistic human emotions of the perfectly educated, which lecture her on rules, as well as etiquettes; with her solid resolution of letting no one be absent from her class, she exemplifies a spirit of the people on a pursuit for equitable growth, along with a more democratic society. She turns out to be a representation of China's resolve of being strong while catching up with the other part of the world. She happens to be courageous since she has a group of children behind her; to the point she is in control, they are capable of accomplishing things like moving numerous bricks to coming up with some money for her to purchasing a bus ticket. This means that, in Shui Quan elementary, there happens to be socialism still at work whereby people tend to share things such as coke while doing things within a collective manner; Wei Minzhi's courage, together with per sonal dignity lie on the continuation of this community. Wei Minzhi encounters the urbanites in the vast metropolis are a symbol of the â€Å"adult† world whereby Minzhi, together with Huike have a lot to learn as â€Å"children†; yet these city folks have suspicious morals: informed but uncaring, urbane but indifferent, wealthy but miserable; the ticket conductor tosses Minzhi out of the bus for not purchasing a ticket with the policeman guarding the television station’

Developmental Biology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Developmental Biology - Research Paper Example Epigenetic factors refer to changes other than the changes at the level of DNA that lead to changes in heredity. These include DNA methylation which is present in all known vertebrates. This paper aims to study recent literature and studies that have been produced in order to find out the factors that affect aging. For this purpose, literature dated after 2006 has been used in order to ensure that the information is as recent as possible. This study will be useful in developing a better understanding of a vital part of developmental biology that is aging. INTRODUCTION Human race has always been fascinated by the idea of eternal youthfulness and functionality. The physiological and psychological changes that occur with age have always haunted humans and as a result, a lot of time, money and effort have gone into discovering the reasons behind aging in order to avoid the effects of growing age. With the advent of newer technologies, scientists have come to see aging as a process that o ccurs at the molecular level that eventually shows its effect at the level of the organ and later the whole organism. Some of the physiological changes that occur with age include decreased activity of neurotransmitters, a fall in sensory acuity and perception and a reduction in circulatory capacity. These changes lead to the loss of functionality that is associated with aging at the level of an organism. At the level of the organ, these changes occur due to the inability of the existing cells to replace the dying or damaged cells in order to maintain function. Thus, we see several diseases that pertain to specific organs and are closely related to increasing age. The inability to replace the older cells with new ones is a loss of functionality at the cellular level. The biochemical machinery within a cell enables the cell to replicate adequately so that the number of functional cells is always enough to maintain the health of an organ. However, with age, changes within this machine ry shift the balance such that the process slows down gradually affecting the organ hence the organism (Morimoto and Cuervo). Therefore, the real key to unlocking the secret behind aging lies in the factors that affect the cellular machinery. Whether it is the change in DNA, a change in gene expression or a change in the environment of the organism which eventually penetrates his system that regulates aging and to what extent is a question that has been investigated extensively in recent past. This research paper takes a detailed look at such investigations in an attempt to understand how aging is affected by genetic, epigenetic or environmental factors. Aging: effect of genes, epigenetics and environment Genes and aging The field of biological aging has been exploring the effect of genes on aging with a view of not only attaining the capability to slow or stop the process of aging but also to stop the development of several disease that have very strong links with increasing age. H owever, most of these investigations have been carried out on worms, rodents and drosophila on the basis that not only are they easily accessible but also because certain studies suggest that worms, yeast and people have common genes for aging (Callaway). In 2008, scientists from Eovtos Lorand University, Hungary, conducted a research on nematodes, Caenorhabditis elegans, that were deficient