A Review of Things Fall Apart essays

A Review of Things Fall Apart essays I really enjoyed reading the book Things Fall Apart. Achebe did an excellent job of portraying the pre-colonial culture of the Ibo. This book was not only educational, but entertaining as well. His ability to focus mainly on one individual and still show the complexity of the entire clans beliefs and self-governing tactics was incredible. It is hard to believe that he was able to show us so many aspects of the pre-colonial culture in so few pages. This book definitely left me wanting to learn more about their culture. Some of the areas, I feel, really stood out to show they were a civilized people included their social organization, their economic system, and their religious beliefs. The Ibo seemed to have a very structured social order. Everything from the way one attains status in the village to the way the people receive their guests leads me to believe this. The use of titles in the village to determine status demonstrates that they had a hierarchy of sorts in place, much like we have judges, mayors, senators, and a president. For instance, the egwugwu acted as judges by passing sentence in disputes between the people. Their use of titles also seemed to make up a sort of government. Along the same lines, the way they interacted shows that they were a civil people. They seemed to try to settle everything peaceably, if at all possible. As Achebe pointed out, they believed that a war of blame was an unjust thing. Also, the way they interacted between each other leads me to believe they were not the savages the English had thought. The sharing of the kola nut and palm wine between neighbors shows a mutual respect for each other. They seemed to have a deep feeling of kinship not only among their families, but with the clan as a whole as well. Although it may be considered somewhat primitive by English standards, the Ibo had an existing economic system as well. Their economy was...

Emphysema essays

Emphysema essays Emphysema or COPD, chronic obstruction pulmonary disease, is the destruction of the alveoli in the lungs where the gas transfer takes place. The bronchioles distribute the air throughout the lung to the individual alveoli. Once damaged, the bronchioles tend to collapse, trapping stale air in the isolated sacs and no longer transmitting fresh air. As the alveoli are destroyed, more and more air is required to provide a sufficient amount of oxygen. This need for more air eventually leads to lung overinflation. The lungs gradually enlarge, completely filling the chest cavity and causing a sense of shortness of breath, one of the most common symptoms. The other most common symptom is coughing. Other symptoms may include insomnia, weight loss, memory loss, morning headaches, blurred vision, chronic fatigue, impaired concentration, and swelling of feet and ankles. More than 80% of all emphysema is directly related to smoking. Tars, smoke, and toxic chemicals added by tobacco compa nies, combine to block the production of apha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), leading to the destruction of the elastic fibers of the alveoli. There is also a genetic form of emphysema not related to smoking. It is due to an AAT defiency that leads to A1AP-related emphysema. The liver produces insufficient AAT to control an enzyme known as neutrophil-elastase. Though this enzyme plays an important role in fighting bacteria and cleaning up dead lung tissue, it eventually causes irreversible damage to the alveoli by damaging their elastic fibers. Diagnosis may involve a chest x-ray or a series of other respiratory tests. Sometimes the doctor may tap on the chest while listening with a stethoscope; it will result in a hollow sound because of the destroyed alveoli. The goal of treatment is to provide relief of symptoms and prevent progression. Advice from the doctor may include, quitting smoking, bronchodilator drugs which relax and open air passages in ...