Trends in UK Rape Statistics Over Time

Trends in UK Rape Statistics Over Time National statistics about crime in England and Wales have been collected and published by the Home Office since 1805 (Clarke, 2006). Originally, the statistics only included proceedings and convictions data from the courts. However, in 1857, data about crimes reported to and recorded by the police were also introduced in to the statistics, with the introduction of the latter, the government seized the opportunity and could exercise oversight over what was then a highly localised policing structure accountable at the local political level (Clarke, 2006, p. 7), meaning that the government could watch over the statistics produced by the police when it came to politics. This essay is going to look at the figures for Rape from these statistics provided, and comment and discuss the trend of rape over the last 120 years, and will also look at the origin and location of these statistics and how they have changed and the impact the changes have had on rape. There are many different definitions to the word Rape in the English language. But overall it is not all that hard to define because most of the definitions broadly have the same concept of what rape is. One definition of Rape, comes from Randy Thornhill and Craig Palmer, who define rape as: copulation resisted to the best of the victims ability unless such resistance would probably result in death or serious injury to the victim or in death or injury to individuals the victim commonly protects (Thornhill Palmer, 2000, p. 1). However, they do also acknowledge that other sexual assaults such as oral or anal penetration of a man or a woman under the same conditions, can also be classed as rape (Thornhill Palmer, 2000, p. 1). Another definition of rape comes from Merriam-Webster, which defines Rape as: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception (Merriam-Webster, 2017, p. 1). However, the main legal definition comes from government legislation website, by The National Archive, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which defines Rape as: (1) A person (A) commits an offence if- (a) He intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (B) with his penis, (b) B does not consent to the penetration, and (c) A does not reasonably believe that B consents. (2) Whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B consents. (3) Sections 75 and 76 apply to an offence under this section. (4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life. (Sexual Offences Act, 2003, p. 1). In addition to this, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 also has definitions of rape for rape offences committed against children under the age of 16 and even younger children, who are under the age of 13. The definition for rape or other sexual activity of a child under 16 is as follows: The elements of the offence are: (A) aged 18 or over intentionally causes or incites another person (B) to engage in an activity the activity is sexual, and either (B) is under 16 and (A) does not reasonably believe that B is 16 or over, or (B) is under 13.(Sexual Offences Act, 2003, p. 1) Finally, the Rape of a child under 13 is defined as: (1) A person commits an offence if- (a)he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with his penis, and (b)the other person is under 13. (2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life. (Sexual Offences Act, 2003, p. 1). Now that the definition of rape has been outlined, we can now move on to look at the trend of rape over the last 120 years and how it has changed over time and the reasons for it. If we look at the graph for Rape over the last 120 years, we can see that there has been a huge increase in the amount of rape that has taken place compared to the amount of Criminal Damage that has occurred. As we can see from the graphs below, the trend for Rape has significantly increased over the last 120 years. Even though the graph for Criminal Damage shows that the trend for Criminal Damage has increased, we can see from the chart that criminal damage peaked in 2008/09 and then the figures started dropping, resulting in the trend decreasing. As far as rape goes, the main increase has been over the last 20 years, mainly because of the new laws that were introduced in the Sexual Health Act 2003 replacing the old laws of the Sexual Health Act 1956. As can be seen from the graph, after the new laws were introduced in the Sexual Health Act 2003, the rate of rape per year increased by 2561 between the year 2001/02 and 2002/03. This is because the Sexual Health Act 2003 introduced the new law that allowed for more sexual offences to be classed as rapes. For example, before this new law, it can be seen from the two bar charts below that the rape of a child under 16 or even under 13 wasnt even recorded by the police until 2004/05 when Sexual Health Act 2003 was properly taking form. Further to this, the rape of a female in general wasnt even recorded by the police in these statistics until 1995 as can be seen in the graph below. A reason for this can be because before 1991, it was legal for a husband to rape his wife. This was suggested by Sir Matthew Hale, in Historia Placitorum Coronea, who stated that the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given herself up to her husband, consent which she cannot retract (Hale, 1736, p. 629). However, after this case, that rule was abolished by the judge hence making marital rape illegal. Despite this, female rape wasnt recorded pre-1995 because it wasnt until 1994 when S.1 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 was substituted by S.142 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to include marital rape, and so added the following to the definition of rape: (3) A man also commits rape if he induces a married woman to have sexual intercourse with him by impersonating her husband.(4) Subsection (2) applies for the purposes of any enactment. (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994, p. 1). After this law was introduced, female rape started to be recorded by the police. Furthermore, two feminist researchers, Jalna Hanmer and Sheila Saunders, found that the encounters that women faced by men everyday were not revealed in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) because the CSEW is not designed to disclose information of that kind of nature. This suggests that rapes which may have occurred prior to 1995 were only reported to the police in the last decade. This may have been because of the changing in the social construction of the police, meaning that there are more female officers now than there used to be, which makes rape victims more likely and willing to talk to instead of male officers. In addition to this, society has also changed to provide more victim support for rape victims by establishing rape centres for victims (Hanmer Saunders, 1984). However, having said this, we are looking at police recorded crime statistics. These statistics are not exactly accurate because there are some rapes or crimes not recorded by the police at all. This is because we are looking statistics from the Crime Survey for England Wales. According to a Crime Statistics 2006 report, by the then Home Secretary of State Charles Clarke, even though there is a lengthy history of reported and recorded crime statistics, that were used to judge police performance, the statistics, for a while now, have been documented as having a number of weaknesses (Clarke, 2006, p. 7). He went on to outline three main weaknesses in the statistics from the CSEW. He stated: First, there have been regular claims that the police adjust their crime statistics to improve measured reported performance (Clarke, 2006, p. 7), meaning that the statistics recorded by the police are not exactly, as they have been adjusted so that the police look more credible and it looks as thou gh they have high performance. Second, the processes and categories used by local police to record crime have historically had a significant degree of local variability; this has made it difficult both to make comparisons among local forces and to form aggregates to provide a meaningful national picture (Clarke, 2006, p. 7). This suggests that the categories that police use to categorise the crimes, are only clear to the local police who have created these statistics, as the statistics are mainly based on the crime in their area, which makes things very ambiguous in the grand scheme of things, when a bigger picture of crime rates in England and Wales. Third, the picture that emerges from recorded crime is potentially distorted by the unknown and uncontrollable variability in the publics reporting of crime to the police (Clarke, 2006, p. 7). This weakness proposes that when the crimes are recorded, the statistics are not entirely accurate because it is not possible to distinguish how many people from the public reported a crime, and how many of the statistics have been adjusted by the police like the first weakness. However, the then home secretary did state that whilst the problems we have remain, there have been several attempts made over the years to address these perceived problems that are there in the Crime Survey for England Wales. These weaknesses are a big factor in the statistics we have for rape, as they came from the CSEW. As the weaknesses mentioned in the report exist, our statistics for rape may not be entirely accurate. This leads us to believe that there may have been more rapes reported by the public but not recorded by the police, and of those that were recorded, only a few maybe accurate as the others may have been adjusted to make the police look more efficient. A further problem this creates for the statistics we have is that, like the second weakness mentioned above, some rape statistics may not have been recorded in the survey by the police as they may not have fell into any of the categories that the police were using to define rape. This could possibly have had a major impact on the statistics we have, hence, impacting the graphs that have been used above to illustrate the trend of rape. To summarise, this essay has looked at the overall trend of rape over the last 120yrs and compared it to the trend of Criminal Damage statistics over the last 120yrs, to show the trend of rape over this period. This essay then delved deeper into the main statistics and broke them down into figures of rape over the last 20 years and then went even further and showed the trends of rape of females of different ages, for example under 16s and under 13s. After that, this essay looked at reasons as to why the statistics are showing what they showed and then went onto discuss the location of where the statistics were found and outlined the problems with the CSEW. Because of these weaknesses, the essay finally looked at how the weaknesses impacted on the rape statistics that we had and used to illustrate the trend of rape from 1898 to 2014/15 which has increased. References   Clarke, C. (2006). Crime Statistics: An Independent review. London: Home Office. Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http:/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/crime-statistics-independent-review-06.pdf Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. (1994, November 3). Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Retrieved March 13, 2017, from The Government Legislation Website The National Archive: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/142 Hale, S. M. (1736). Historia Placitorum Coronae: The History of the Pleas of the Crown (Vol. 1). Oxon (Oxfordshire): Professional Books Ltd. Hanmer, J., Saunders, S. (1984). Well-founded fear : a community study of violence to women. London: Explorations in Feminism Collective (Great Britain). Merriam-Webster. (2017). Rape. Retrieved February 27, 2017, from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rape Sexual Offences Act. (2003, November 20). Sexual Offences Act 2003. Retrieved February 27, 2017, from The Government Legislation Website The National Archive: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42 Thornhill, R., Palmer, C. T. (2000). A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

The Subject of Love in Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter :: Rappaccinis Daughter Essays

The Subject of Love in Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter Many spend their entire life looking for true love. It is that one love between a man and a woman that spurred spin-off stories of every kind for us to watch on TV or to read in books. Rappaccini's Daughter is a perfect example of this age old search for an inner peace, believed only to be found in a relationship with that "perfect" person. Giovanni sought this peace and believed he had found the one for him. Unfortunately, Giovanni was only led into disappointment after overcoming the obstacles that were in his was and then losing her after the fact. All of this leaves a question to be abswered; is it better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all? Giovanni felt a need to seek love in his life, only to find a young lady that inded caused him to seek her out. This young lady was of course Dr. Rappaccini's daughter, Beatrice, whom Giovanni first saw in the garden below from his window. This was only the beginning of the always painstakingly brutal process that two people encounter as they start on their journey toward the actual "in love" stage. Fortunatley for Giovanni, Beatrice did take a special interest in him. Beatrice came from a rather background. Her father had raised her as one of his many experiments. The downfall to this was the fact that she was a walking, talking poisonous flower created by Rappaccini, just like his other poisonous plants. Giovanni did not know this however. It was without this knowledge that he pursued her and they became well acquainted to each other. It would not be until later that Giovanni would find out this truth that few knew about. Giovanni was overwhelmed with this relationship that he had acquired with Beatrice. Their lives had almost come to the point of living and "breathing" each other. This is actually one of the first clues to Beatrice's lifelong handicap. It is her breath Giovanni notices that has such a sweet aroma to it, just as sweet as that of the aroma released from one of her father's plants. Giovanni had also noticed, the first day he peered into the garden, that Beatrice had touched and sniffed of all the plants which her father was so careful not to get close to or touch.

Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights :: Free Essay Writer

Wuthering Heights centers around the story of Heathcliff. The first paragraph of the novel provides a vivid physical picture of him, as Lockwood describes how his â€Å"black eyes† withdraw suspiciously under his brows at Lockwood’s approach. Nelly’s story begins with his introduction into the Earnshaw family, his vengeful machinations drive the entire plot, and his death ends the book. The desire to understand him and his motivations has kept countless readers engaged in the novel. Heathcliff, however, defies being understood, and it is difficult for readers to resist seeing what they want or expect to see in him. The novel teases the reader with the possibility that Heathcliff is something other than what he seems—that his cruelty is merely an expression of his frustrated love for Catherine, or that his sinister behaviors serve to conceal the heart of a romantic hero. We expect Heathcliff’s character to contain such a hidden virtue because he resembles a hero in a romance novel. Traditionally, romance novel heroes appear dangerous, brooding, and cold at first, only later to emerge as fiercely devoted and loving. One hundred years before Emily Brontà « wrote Wuthering Heights, the notion that â€Å"a reformed rake makes the best husband† was already a clichà © of romantic literature, and romance novels center around the same clichà © to this day. However, Heathcliff does not reform, and his malevolence proves so great and long-lasting that it cannot be adequately explained even as a desire for revenge against Hindley, Catherine, Edgar, etc. As he himself points out, his abuse of Isabella is purely sadistic, as he amuses himself by seeing how much abuse she can take and still come cringing back for more. Critic Joyce Carol Oates argues that Emily Brontà « does the same thing to the reader that Heathcliff does to Isabella, testing to see how many times the reader can be shocked by Heathcliff’s gratuitous violence and still, masochistically, insist on seeing him as a romantic hero. It is significant that Heathcliff begins his life as a homeless orphan on the streets of Liverpool. When Brontà « composed her book, in the 1840s, the English economy was severely depressed, and the conditions of the factory workers in industrial areas like Liverpool were so appalling that the upper and middle classes feared violent revolt. Thus, many of the more affluent members of society beheld these workers with a mixture of sympathy and fear. In literature, the smoky, threatening, miserable factory-towns were often represented in religious terms, and compared to hell. The poet William Blake, writing near the turn of the nineteenth century, speaks of England’s â€Å"dark Satanic Mills.† Heathcliff, of course, is frequently compared to a demon by the other characters in the book.

Virginity in D. H. Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy :: Virgin and the Gipsy Essays

Virginity in D. H. Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy In D. H. Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy, the character of the gipsy is much easier to define than that of the virgin. Virginity, in this novella, is something very different, and much more comprehensive, than simply lack of sexual experience. We usually associate virginity with purity, but Lawrence associates it much more closely with innocence—innocence and purity being mutually exclusive. Virginity is a state of primary selfishness and absence of control over one’s will. Losing one’s virginity is a process that must be gone through that does not involve an actual sex act, but sexual feeling can empower the will. The common ideas of feminine virginity revolve around a personality that is generally guileless, unmanipulative (at least consciously so), and honest. There is an absence of knowledge and wisdom. Yet, Yvette does seem to be dishonest, manipulative, to have some kind of worldly knowledge, and even is described as â€Å"always wayward, always perverse.† It goes against common reason to think of a virgin as perverse because perversion involves consciousness of normalcy and a decision to act abnormally. To make this distinction and decision involves knowledge. Sexually speaking, a virgin cannot be perverted not only because of lack of opportunity to commit a perverted act, but also because of lack of experience and understanding of a normal sexual encounter. One cannot pervert what is not known. During her first visit to the gipsies (24-29), Yvette comes to understand that she has something in her that the gipsy woman responds to. She knows she is different from the other young people and senses that her difference is powerful. When she perceives the mental penetration of the gipsy woman, she is scared and initially backs away from exposing this difference to those around her and to herself. Yet, her curiosity is piqued and she agrees to hear her fortune in private. This decision seems quite unvirginal because it involves a knowledge of normalcy and difference and a decision to act upon difference. It is â€Å"wayward, perverse† (27). Not only does she seek wisdom, but she makes a decision to hide this wisdom from those around her. This is not innocence or honesty. When Yvette emerges from the caravan she is twice referred to as â€Å"witch-like.† A witch has supernatural and evil powers that she uses to manipulate people. Virginity in D. H. Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy :: Virgin and the Gipsy Essays Virginity in D. H. Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy In D. H. Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy, the character of the gipsy is much easier to define than that of the virgin. Virginity, in this novella, is something very different, and much more comprehensive, than simply lack of sexual experience. We usually associate virginity with purity, but Lawrence associates it much more closely with innocence—innocence and purity being mutually exclusive. Virginity is a state of primary selfishness and absence of control over one’s will. Losing one’s virginity is a process that must be gone through that does not involve an actual sex act, but sexual feeling can empower the will. The common ideas of feminine virginity revolve around a personality that is generally guileless, unmanipulative (at least consciously so), and honest. There is an absence of knowledge and wisdom. Yet, Yvette does seem to be dishonest, manipulative, to have some kind of worldly knowledge, and even is described as â€Å"always wayward, always perverse.† It goes against common reason to think of a virgin as perverse because perversion involves consciousness of normalcy and a decision to act abnormally. To make this distinction and decision involves knowledge. Sexually speaking, a virgin cannot be perverted not only because of lack of opportunity to commit a perverted act, but also because of lack of experience and understanding of a normal sexual encounter. One cannot pervert what is not known. During her first visit to the gipsies (24-29), Yvette comes to understand that she has something in her that the gipsy woman responds to. She knows she is different from the other young people and senses that her difference is powerful. When she perceives the mental penetration of the gipsy woman, she is scared and initially backs away from exposing this difference to those around her and to herself. Yet, her curiosity is piqued and she agrees to hear her fortune in private. This decision seems quite unvirginal because it involves a knowledge of normalcy and difference and a decision to act upon difference. It is â€Å"wayward, perverse† (27). Not only does she seek wisdom, but she makes a decision to hide this wisdom from those around her. This is not innocence or honesty. When Yvette emerges from the caravan she is twice referred to as â€Å"witch-like.† A witch has supernatural and evil powers that she uses to manipulate people.

Dialectics

Dialectics has been considered as one of the three original liberal arts known to classical philosophers as the Trivium, with the other two as rhetoric and grammar Dialectics Dialectics has been considered as one of the three original liberal arts known to classical thinkers as the Trivium, with the other two as rhetoric and grammar. During the ancient times in Greece, dialectic's forte was at the affairs of persuasion, very much like its sister counterpart rhetoric. Dialectic's purpose was to resolve discrepancies and disagreements through logical and rational discourses.The simple approach and explanation to how dialectics work is through the three step process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis, which was postulated by a German idealist philosopher named Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel. He identified that for which, say a given premise, would be the emergence of a proposition (the theses) only later to be refuted (hence the anti-thesis of it). Being in this state of unacceptability, the only alternative is to arrive at a higher understanding or denial of the supposed presupposition of the thesis and anti-thesis forming a third proposition termed as the synthesis.A more simple and un-Hegelian example to understand dialectics is, let's suppose you just got a hold of a brand new cell phone. Being new to you, you have a limited understanding of it. You start on a state of ignorance knowing that its only purpose or the only reason for having one is to enable you to communicate. (thesis) Sooner or later, one way or another, the batteries will run out(assuming it is not a solar powered device) and it will stop functioning, hence the opposite of communicating or not being able to communicate. anti-thesis)Only then when you have a deeper understanding that for a cell phone to work and operate it needs a power source and learning the concept of recharging/changing the power source(a synthesis is reached and you gain a higher knowledge about the cell phone)will you get it to function properly again. Frederick Engels and Karl Marx, two very well-known revolutionary thinkers during their time applied this philosophical thought in studying the ideal and material condition of the world.It has been the theoretical foundation of Marxism which led to the development of dialectic materialism, which is simply the combination of Hegel's theory of Dialectics and Materialism and Historical Materialism, the application of dialectic materialism in studying history. The first principle of dialectics according to Frederick Engels is that everything, be it physical and material objects to real world processes, is made of opposing forces or opposing sides. (Fleck) To elaborate on this principle just look at everything around you.Everything works like a magnet. Objects hold each other because of the opposing forces that keep them from flying separately. The chair you sit on tries to break away from the earth, but the planet's gravity keeps it from doing so, the sun is he ld together by gravity which counteracts the nuclear reaction from its core. Even seemingly abstract concepts are made of opposites. For instance, to have an idea of the concept of bad, we need an idea of what is good, to have an idea of what is hot, we need an idea of what is cold and so forth.This is what Engel called the interpenetration of opposites which he frequently referred to as the unity of opposites. Many critics have argued on this property of dialectics which up to until now, many thinkers, new and old alike have yet to settle. Another important principle of dialectics that Engel stated in his work about dialectics is that in everything, gradual changes lead to turning points. (Fleck) What happens is that the two opposing forces in a process of change push against each other. Change would be gradual if one side is stronger than the other one.But when the other side becomes stronger, there is a turning point, much like when too much trees is cut down in a mountain slope, a mud slide occurs (turning point), you heat a kernel of corn until it turns into popcorn (turning point). This is what Engel referred to as the principle of the transformation of quantity into quality. Quantitative change results from the steady but continuous dominance of one opposing side or force. Things then follow a qualitative change when the other or opposite side dominates the other.The third principle of dialectics is that changes moves in spirals, not circles. (Fleck) Around us processes of change are cyclical in the sense that at first, one side dominates, then the other as in the cycle of day and night, breathing in and breathing out, one opposite then another. Engels claims things turn in cycles. However, it is not indispensable that they would return to where they came from and how they started. It is therefore cyclical but not circular. Change is ever-changing, moving in spirals.This principle is referred to by Engels as the law of negation of negation. This seeming ly complex principle, according to Engel goes on and on in everyday life. This happens when one side overpowers the other making the first negation. The dominated side then overpowers the dominating side at some point making the second negation. This is what law of negation of negation explains. In real-life drama, dialectics play a crucial role, in communication specifically in day-to-day normal conversations more than we ought to think.Traditionally, dialectics has been considered as a linguistic process that leads to generation of new ideas and thought by one's apprehension of a contradiction and paradox between two or more opposites. It layman's term, a conversation starts with stating a point of view followed by the others verification of its validity or questioning it from other points of view. In this whole conversation process, the clash of ideas or propositions trying to reach a consensual agreement which in turn is still ultimately questioned from other perspectives.Much l ike dialectics, in dialogues there is an imminent clash of ideas that are going on between individuals which ultimately lead to a consensus. The use of the dialectical approach or method in analyzing our history has long been used by its pioneer thinkers, more notable in arts, philosophy, science and religion. This may have been due to the analytical and critical capability of dialectics in explaining why and how changes occur which is essential for historians in probing the past.By pinpointing what stream of thinking and clashing ideas during a particular epoch, much can be surmised to wisely presuppose what will would or could happen next. Dialectics is essential in understanding fully the how's and the why's of how things happen. It provides the tool that gives wisdom on knowing the factors of change in a society and how it is ultimately molded and formed. Another concept that is noteworthy in the field of dialectics is called the â€Å"principal contradiction†, termed by Mao Zedong.This is defined as the contradiction in all things that needs to be resolved first and foremost. In determining what the principal contradiction in a thing, it is necessary to look at the overall or main goal of it. The three principle of dialectics namely. (1)the unity of opposites,(2)quantity into quality, and (3)negation of negation fits clearly on how to identify and possibly solve the principal contradiction in our society though it does not give a clear blueprint on what should be done.

Natsume Soseki has written Kokoro

Natsume Soseki has written Kokoro in such a way that the reader be acquainted with Boku and Sensei.   Through them, Soseki believed that a person’s actions should be coming from their true emotions and not by what others perceive of it.   A person should always do things in accordance to what he thinks is right and not by merely considering what the people dictates to him.   Sometimes people tend to live up to what the people tell them because their reputation is at stake.   Just like the planned graduation party of Boku[1].   Even though Boku did not want to have a party, his parents insisted because his father has a reputation to maintain in their community. Kokoro was also written in such a way that there is a special connection between Sensei and Boku in being able to see their imperfections by means of their shallowness.   Despite the two characters having different worldly views, they still found company in each other’s presence.   Boku is somewhat a person who wants to know who Sensei really is and Sensei was not the type of person who would reveal the real him. The style of the first part of Kokoro resembles that of a detective novel, and helps first to establish the reader’s curiosity towards Sensei. Narrator Boku provides no self-introduction and no adequate explanation for his interest in Sensei. Instead, he continuously feeds the reader small ‘clues’ – pieces to the puzzle of Sensei – to gain the reader’s curiosity. ‘â€Å"I cannot tell you why,† Sensei said to me, â€Å"but for a very good reason I wish to go to that grave alone. Even my wife, you see, has never come with me.† [End of passage]’[2] Sudden breaks in narrative are often used to leave these clues hanging, helping to compound the suspense felt by the reader. Additionally, despite having already experienced all the events he describes, Boku chooses to present them in the original chronological order and to narrate his original thoughts regarding each event.    â€Å"I wondered also why Sensei felt the way he did towards mankind.†[3] Revealing his thoughts and experiences in this manner assists Boku in linking with the reader, as it constructs between them a shared interest towards Sensei. Soseki seeks to direct this interest, as evident in the sentence: â€Å"Had I been curious in an impersonal and analytical way, the bond between us would surely not have lasted.†[4] This explanation of the nature of Boku’s curiosity can be interpreted as a suggestion to the reader; in order to complete the puzzle of Sensei, the reader needs to explore Sensei on a more personal level – not simply to analyse from a third person perspective, but rather to attempt to interpret Boku’s regard for Sensei by examining the similar attitudes and values that the two espouse. In the third part of Kokoro, Soseki switches to a new narrative frame, and we read Sensei’s letter through the eyes of Boku. Sensei directly addresses Boku in the letter – driving us as readers even closer to Boku, as we to try to interpret Sensei’s words through the mindset of Boku. Contrastingly, despite the title ‘My Parents and I’, part two of the novel serves to distance the reader from Boku’s family. As readers, our interest draws to a peak when Sensei agrees to tell Boku about his past. However, Sensei does not, and instead Boku’s father’s illness forces Boku to leave for home. This is frustrating for Boku, and for the reader, as is revealed in the passage: ‘†¦ there was much that I did not know about Sensei. He had not told me about his past, as he had promised. I could not be content until he was fully revealed to me.’[5]  Even as Boku’s father lies on his deathbed, Boku’s thoughts wander towards Sensei – physically represented by his moving back and forth between his bedroom and his father’s bedroom. In the process of affiliation with Sensei and Boku, the reader is exposed to the two characters’ disdain towards external appearances and opinions.  Both Sensei and Boku show their disregard for academia. Boku shows little regard for his diploma – he ‘pretends his diploma is a telescope’ surveys the world outside his window in it, and then throws it down on his desk. Similarly, Sensei does not know where he put his diploma.  In contrast, Boku’s parents hold Boku’s diploma in the highest regard. They scold Boku for not having taken better care of the diploma, and display it in the house. Boku’s narration shows that he also is not interested in the appearance of things.   He tends to observe, conclude and investigate on it.   Just like what happened when he saw Sensei at the beach centre.   He overlooked at Sensei’s appearance and focused his attention more on his behaviour thus speculating Sensei’s state of mind.  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"He was always aloof and [†¦] seemed totally indifferent to his surroundings†.[6] Sensei bears a similar disregard towards appearances to others and describes it:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I used to consider it a disgrace to be found ignorant by other people. But now, I find that I am not ashamed of knowing less than others †¦Ã¢â‚¬ [7]  Sometimes people tend to pull themselves down because they think they know less about things.   But come to think of it, even though a person does not graduate high school or college, it means that he is more ignorant than those who have graduated.   People know different things and not all individuals can learn everything. With these, it forms a sharp contrast with Boku’s parents.   The parents of Boku have a high regard for the physicality of things while Sensei and Boku do not.   Boku’s parents seem to relate the physical aspect of a thing with its value just like the diploma.   For them, being able to have a diploma is something that should be cherished, treasured and be well cared of.   While for Sensei and Boku, a diploma is somewhat like a representation of the knowledge acquired while in the university.   A diploma is just a paper, nothing more, nothing less.   What is important are the learning obtained during the years studying in the university. In conclusion, Kokoro is a classic example of presenting two characters that may turn out to be indifferent from one another at first but later on saw their similarities.   Even though these two characters obviously come from different generations, they still were able to find a common ground.   These two started out as complete strangers and tended to avoid the fact that they needed each other’s company but in the end, it just proves that no matter the distance of two persons, they still are close when always remembered. Bibliography Soseki, Natsume. Kokoro (Part 2) Chicago: Regnery Gateway, 1957. 21 Jan. 2000. http://www.eldritchpress.org/ns/k2.html [1] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Online Version, 2001. part 2                                                                                                                               [2] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Quiet Vision Publishing, 2001. p11 [3] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Quiet Vision Publishing, 2001. p22 [4] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Quiet Vision Publishing, 2001. p11 [5] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Quiet Vision Publishing, 2001. p65 [6] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Quiet Vision Publishing, 2001. p5 [7] Natsume, Soseki. Kokoro. Quiet Vision Publishing, 2001. p37

Inverse Proportion of Physical Fitness and Awareness Program

Although awareness of the importance of physical fitness has increased in the United States, the average level of an American†s fitness has decreased. In short, most everyday citizens are out of shape. This is partially due to the more modern and easier lives that most Americans lead compared to Americans of earlier time periods. If Americans wish to stay in good health, then their daily regiments must be changed. Among adolescents and teenagers, the same numbers are noticeable. Nearly fifty percent of American youth aged twelve through twenty-one are not vigorously active on a regular basis. Only nineteen percent of all high school students are physically active for more than twenty minutes or more, five days a week, mainly in physical education class (Physical Activity and Health: Adolescents and Teenagers, par. 5-8). These numbers are a significant drop from previous studies of earlier decades. When physical fitness reform was stressed in schools during the fifties, the government administered several test to get an exact figure on American children†s level of fitness. The United States office of Education discovered that in one year fifty-six of 108,000 public schools had strengthened their physical education programs. These modifications were noticed. Between 1964 and 1965, 11,000 boys and girls who took the Youth Fitness test had higher mean scores in every event and at all ages than the results recorded from the previous decade†s tests (Van Dalen 520-521). Although modern, well-designed school-based interventions directed at increasing physical activity in physical education classes have been shown to be effective, only twenty five percent of high school students enroll in physical education class daily. In 1991, forty-one percent of all high school students enrolled in physical activity. That means that in only ten years, the daily level of physical activity amongst teens has been cut almost in half (Physical Activity and Health: Adolescents and Teens, par. 9-10). Not even the best school based interventions directed at increasing physical activity can actually improve a student†s level of fitness if they aren†t participathing in class to begin with. Over sixty percent of adults do not engage in the recommended amount of activity. In fact, over twenty five percent of American adults are not active at all (Physical Activity and Health: Adults, par. 6-8) Concerning the history of physical fitness awareness, physical activity for better health and well-being has been an important theme throughout much of western hemispherical, American history. Since the beginning of awareness, public health recommendations have evolved greatly. They started with emphasizing vigorous activity for cardio-respiratory fitness. The same recommendations are still given, but now it is thought to be better to include the options of moderate levels of activity for numerous health benefits (Historical Background and Evolution of Physical Activity Recommendations, par. 1-2). One of the first specified fields of medicine in the fitness world was sports medicine. Physicians associated with professional sports teams initially practiced sports medicine, but with interest in amateur sports and physical fitness programs in the 1970†³s and 1980†³s the field grew rapidly. Sports medicine still continues to be a fast-growing division of specified medicine that has to revolutionize the understanding of exercise and the body†s reaction to the stress of exercise (Sports Medicine, par.1) These physicians and doctors are not uncovering these earth-shattering discoveries on their own. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is very active in fitness research (The Future of Fitness, par. 2). The official government committee to support physical fitness is The President†s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) is extremely vocal in the education of the public. PCPFS has been fighting its ever-toughening crusade against laziness since the era of President Kennedy, who founded the Council (Van Dalen, p. 520-521). There are also many Internet websites (e.g. efitness.com, emedicine.com, nutricise.com) that provide easily accessible information to the public. Because of groups like ACE and PCFS, the awareness of the benefits to physical fitness are being broadcasted everywhere; it is just a matter of time until every American understands the value of being physically fit. When that time comes, experts say more people will exercise to achieve better health instead of just to improve appearance. Also, exercise will become a vital part of disease management. In the future, adventure workouts such as hiking and mountain climbing will replace traditional treadmill and weight training workout. Sports specific training such as golf and tennis exercises will become more mainstream. It is also said that exercise programs geared towards older adults such as water-based fitness will increase in popularity (The Future of Fitness, par. 3-4, 6-7). Inverse Proportion of Physical Fitness and Awareness Program Although awareness of the importance of physical fitness has increased in the United States, the average level of an American†s fitness has decreased. In short, most everyday citizens are out of shape. This is partially due to the more modern and easier lives that most Americans lead compared to Americans of earlier time periods. If Americans wish to stay in good health, then their daily regiments must be changed. Among adolescents and teenagers, the same numbers are noticeable. Nearly fifty percent of American youth aged twelve through twenty-one are not vigorously active on a regular basis. Only nineteen percent of all high school students are physically active for more than twenty minutes or more, five days a week, mainly in physical education class (Physical Activity and Health: Adolescents and Teenagers, par. 5-8). These numbers are a significant drop from previous studies of earlier decades. When physical fitness reform was stressed in schools during the fifties, the government administered several test to get an exact figure on American children†s level of fitness. The United States office of Education discovered that in one year fifty-six of 108,000 public schools had strengthened their physical education programs. These modifications were noticed. Between 1964 and 1965, 11,000 boys and girls who took the Youth Fitness test had higher mean scores in every event and at all ages than the results recorded from the previous decade†s tests (Van Dalen 520-521). Although modern, well-designed school-based interventions directed at increasing physical activity in physical education classes have been shown to be effective, only twenty five percent of high school students enroll in physical education class daily. In 1991, forty-one percent of all high school students enrolled in physical activity. That means that in only ten years, the daily level of physical activity amongst teens has been cut almost in half (Physical Activity and Health: Adolescents and Teens, par. 9-10). Not even the best school based interventions directed at increasing physical activity can actually improve a student†s level of fitness if they aren†t participathing in class to begin with. Over sixty percent of adults do not engage in the recommended amount of activity. In fact, over twenty five percent of American adults are not active at all (Physical Activity and Health: Adults, par. 6-8) Concerning the history of physical fitness awareness, physical activity for better health and well-being has been an important theme throughout much of western hemispherical, American history. Since the beginning of awareness, public health recommendations have evolved greatly. They started with emphasizing vigorous activity for cardio-respiratory fitness. The same recommendations are still given, but now it is thought to be better to include the options of moderate levels of activity for numerous health benefits (Historical Background and Evolution of Physical Activity Recommendations, par. 1-2). One of the first specified fields of medicine in the fitness world was sports medicine. Physicians associated with professional sports teams initially practiced sports medicine, but with interest in amateur sports and physical fitness programs in the 1970†³s and 1980†³s the field grew rapidly. Sports medicine still continues to be a fast-growing division of specified medicine that has to revolutionize the understanding of exercise and the body†s reaction to the stress of exercise (Sports Medicine, par.1) These physicians and doctors are not uncovering these earth-shattering discoveries on their own. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is very active in fitness research (The Future of Fitness, par. 2). The official government committee to support physical fitness is The President†s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) is extremely vocal in the education of the public. PCPFS has been fighting its ever-toughening crusade against laziness since the era of President Kennedy, who founded the Council (Van Dalen, p. 520-521). There are also many Internet websites (e.g. efitness.com, emedicine.com, nutricise.com) that provide easily accessible information to the public. Because of groups like ACE and PCFS, the awareness of the benefits to physical fitness are being broadcasted everywhere; it is just a matter of time until every American understands the value of being physically fit. When that time comes, experts say more people will exercise to achieve better health instead of just to improve appearance. Also, exercise will become a vital part of disease management. In the future, adventure workouts such as hiking and mountain climbing will replace traditional treadmill and weight training workout. Sports specific training such as golf and tennis exercises will become more mainstream. It is also said that exercise programs geared towards older adults such as water-based fitness will increase in popularity (The Future of Fitness, par. 3-4, 6-7).