“The Bronze Horseman”

This paper evaluates on the three characteristics concerning the Romantic nature as exhibited in this narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin.
It is evident from the text that romantic nature is particular between the two characters Alexander and Tatiana. This begins with an exciting expression at their first meeting leading to a striking relationship. According to Tatiana, “the first time I saw Alexander, I had a feeling I have never experienced before” (Pushkin 118). The nature of romance is particular when the bond between Tatiana and, Alexander becomes strong. It turns out to be complicated when Tatiana comes home with Alexander, and realizes he met Dasha her sister. At this moment, Dasha rekindles her casual romance to a serious love relationship.

However, Alexander fails to reciprocate Dasha’s feelings despite the fact that she believed she was in love with him. In this case, romantic nature is particular when Alexander chooses Tatiana over Dasha. It is obvious when Tatiana and Alexander rekindle their affair by meeting secretly.
According to “the bronze horseman”, the other characteristic of romantic nature is that it is not only composed of living things but it’s a living thing. This reflects the relationship that Tatiana and Alexander had in this narration. For instance, the fact that Tatiana in her pregnant situation sacrificed to offer blood to Alexander exhibits how much affection she felt for him. Furthermore, it shows what lovers can do to keep their affection strong hence; portrays the nature of romance as a living thing.

On the other hand, Dasha dies of heartbreak after learning that Alexander had no affection for her. This simply implies how romantic nature is a living thing, it dies when a person in love realizes that the person she cares for does not have feelings for her. As a result, love ceases from existing when one realizes that their romance nature is not lively.

Evaluating this article, it is clear that romantic nature is grand, especially when love become intense between Tatiana, and Alexander. This grand or impressive part begins when the two get an existing feeling when they first meet. As a result, they fall in love instantly in a way that Alexander offers to assist Tatiana to find the food she was searching. Furthermore, the romantic bond between the two becomes beautiful in that they see each other secretly. This occurs after Dasha claims that she met Alexander first at the club, and fell in love with him. In addition, romantic nature exhibited in this text is grand when the two sacrifice to assist each other. For instance, Tatiana in her pregnant condition donates blood to save Alexander from dying (Damrosch 154).

There are various ways that reveal how gender, ethnicity, race, or historical context of a writer affects production of creative literature. Gender affects production, and reception of literary works in a way that a section of audience develops attitude towards female writers. This leads to imbalance whereby readers prefer male to female writers. Historical context affects creative literature when the artist receives critics concerning his work by original readers. Race and ethnicity affects production of creative literature when a writer chooses to present work about his or her own background. As a result, this affects creativity because; not all readers develop interest of a specific work, but prefer diversity.

Works Cited
Damrosch, David. The Longman anthology of world literature. New York: Longman, 2004. Print.
Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. The bronze horseman: selected poems of Alexander Pushkin. New York: Viking Press, 1982. Print.

Surname 1

Important Anthropological concepts for my profession

The three anthropological concepts that will help me in my life and profession are culture, Adaptation and Holism.
The concept of culture is very crucial in my professional life in the medical field. This is because humans are defined by the different values, beliefs and general pattern of life that makes meaning to them. For instance, in the profession of medical anthropology, understanding the culture of the people will help in resolution of problems in consideration of the social environment.
Holism is the anthropological concept based on the fact that the different parts of a society, community or organisation cannot be explained individually but as part of the whole system. In applied anthropology like medicines, the concept of holism demands that the introduction of a program that would change an aspect of culture, should be in such a way that it does not affect other parts or department that would be detrimental to the survival of the entire culture. All the human behaviour, social institutions and the cultural logics have a specific function that serves the entire system.

Adaptation is another core concept in the consideration of the society as evolving. As organism go through some beneficial adjustment in order to survive the environment, the cultural and social systems also need people to make decision about accepting the changes that are brought by the technological advancement. For example in my work in the medical field, new practises that include medicines and technology are being adopted to reduce or eliminate the scourge of malaria in Africa and Asia. Through cultural adaptation, humans have been able to meet the basic needs of food, shelter, social order and procreations.

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Understanding Anthropology

Initial Expectations about the Course Topic
My expectation about this course was to come into terms with anthropology. I also expected to know the sub-divisions available in the study of anthropology. This will help me understand the human kind in a better way including a better understanding of my origin and changes that happen to me.

What I Had Thought Initially About Anthropology
I perceived anthropology as a course about digging up fossils of human beings who died thousands of years ago for study and relating it to the present life. I also thought that anthropology is a fluffy course and thus it will be an easy task that will not require extra efforts like other courses. In addition, I perceived anthropology as a study which appalled and deconstructed all issues sociologically. Therefore, this made me take the study very lightly. Change of Perceptions after Reading the Course Module

After reading this first module about ‘what is anthropology?’ my perceptions about the field have changed. I have got to understand that anthropology is not merely digging up and studying fossils, but it is much more than that. Through the definition in the module, I understood that anthropology, which is the study of humankind, also entails human groups, both the past and present. I got to understand that it is a very wide course with sub-disciplines such as cultural and physical anthropology, as well as, archaeology. The perception that anthropology deconstructed matters sociologically also changed and I got to understand that the course helps to understand the living society.

Under physical anthropology, a lot is learned about the living society, and this entails the human evolution, primatology, human commonality and variation, human osteology and the holistic nature of anthropology. I never thought that anthropology dealt with culture, but by reading this module, I came across cultural anthropology, which involves norms, values and standards of behavior shared by members of a living society. In conclusion, the module has increased my knowledge about anthropology, and this has changed by perceptions enabling me to take the study seriously as it is a demanding course like others.

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Human Evolution

Introduction

Evolution of human beings have been observed to form an evolution tree on which each species can be connected and related to other species, thus forming branch like alignment. Scientific discoveries have excavated numerous fossils remains that have enabled the study of hominids and evolution of the modern man. This essay aims to discuss key human fossils and their characteristics. The discussion will also highlight the hypothesis of evolution and emerging trends in light of new fossils discoveries.
Australopithecines directly translate to “southern ape” referring to South Africa where the first fossils were discovered. According Leakey, australopithecines constitute the following species, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. anamensis, and Paranthropus members, which include P. robustus, and P. boisei (Richard et al).

Leakey postulates that A. anamensis are believed to have evolved 6 million years ago. A. anamensis display both primitive and developed morphological features. They had ape like crania and dental features, with large canines, asymmetric premolars and molars. However, they also had bipedal characteristics similar to modern man. Male height was 5 feet and female height 4’3”. A. afarensis are believed to have evolved from A. anamensis. A. afarensis had low forehead, flattened nose and lacking chin but with a distinct boney ridge above the eyes. It had similar pelvis and leg bones to those of modern man. A. africanus also a member of Australopithecines had a similar anatomy to A. afarensis. It had a rounder cranium, which indicated a larger brain size. These species had longer arms, steeply sloping face with robust jaw structure. Their pelvis, femur and hind bones indicated it had bipedal capabilities.
Australopithecine further constitutes Paranthropus whose key member’s are P. robustus and P. boisei. P. robustus demonstrated robust dental and facial features of australopithecines. They had large dish shaped face with broad cheek teeth for eating fibrous diets. Males weighed 54 kg and had average height of 3’9” while females weighed 40kg with a height 3’3”. Similarly, P. boisei also had robust chewing dentition, larger cheek teeth compared to P. robustus and a flattened bigger brain skull, which indicated an increase in the brain size. Males weighed 49 kg and had height of 5’4” while females weighed 34 kg and height of 4’1”. According to evolution timescale, paranthropus fossils were followed by the Homo erectus species. Rightmire wrote that an increased body and brain size characterized this species. They had longer legs and shorter hands, advanced bipedality, expanded brain size and face with receding foreheads. Homo erectus, made tools and is believed to have discovered fire. Closely related Homo erectus is the Homo habilis. This species is closely related to modern man. It had a brain capacity of 500 to 800 cc, with an average height of 6 ‘and weighed 50kg. It had a face with smaller arch row ridge, roundly arranged teeth, and made chopper tools.
The modern man is classified as Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens initially gathered and hunted for food. They developed speech abilities and walked on two feet. They have light skeleton structure with massive brain averaging 1300 cc. In addition, they have flat and almost vertical foreheads

Lovejoy argued that living African apes behavior and physical features have evolved; hence, should not be utilized scientifically to establish models of characteristics of ancestral primitive apes. Instead Ardipithecus ramidus preserves most of these features more accurately; hence providing a comprehensive linkage to Australopithecus. Consequently, evolutionist will have to discard theories and hypothesis founded on the study modern living apes, because current apes have evolved hence do not represent features of ancestral apes.
Based on the writing of Tattersall, “Out of Africa” hypothesis argues that modern human species were originally settled in Africa but later migrated to other parts of the world. o n the contrary, “Multiregional” hypothesis argues that modern human species evolved in different regions of the world independently but at the same time, Tattersall argued that the discovery of Denisovans people fossils in a Denisova cave in Siberia further necessitate modification of the hypothesis of “Out of Africa”. The finding provided new evidence of unique species, which is not directly related to species from Africa. DNA analysis of these fossils foot bones indicated Neanderthal origin, while other bone’s DNA did not march Neanderthal or modern man genome.
The discovery of a hominid fossil of which had height of 1m existed 12,000 years ago has led to widespread speculation. Analysis of the fossil indicated an adult species, which had primitive features in comparison to modern man. There are excitements because the fossil is a unique species resembling “hobbit”. However, controversies surround the findings, the fossil is related to erectus yet there are no other evidence of erectus in the island and how did erectus build a boat to reached the island? It also suggests that the discovery is a link, which should be incorporated in the evolution tree.

The discovery of Homo floresiensis in the island of Liang Bua cave has led to formulation numerous hypotheses that try to explain the origin of the species. One explanation is the island dwarfing. This is where animals living in the islands are dwarfed as an adaptation mechanism due to limited resources. Another theory suggests that the species was an offshoot of a more primitive pre erectus species that emerged in the island.
The findings and study of hominid fossils plays a fundamental role in the understanding of human species. The study of these fossils provide an overview how the modern human have evolved, showcasing the development and transformation of human features, cultures, behaviors and adaptations over the years. We come to appreciate the existing capabilities of modern man.

Works Cited
Leakey, Richard et al. The Paleobiology of Australopithecus (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology). New York,Springer, 2013. Print
Rightmire, Philip. The Evolution of Homo Erectus: Comparative Anatomical Studies of an Extinct Human. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993. Print
Stringer, Christopher. Rethinking out of Africa. Edge. Web. 20 Nov.2013. Retrieved 20 Nov. 2013
Tattersall, Ian. Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print

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Gerontology

This study exhibits aging procedure among individuals starting from middle age category to later stages of their lives. It incorporates matters that revolve around social, physical and mental changes in adults as they grow old.
Case Study
I have chosen to use a 70-years old individual for this case. He is white, and at his age, he has experienced various changes in life. First, he suffers from a chronic heart disease, a condition that keeps worsening, as he grows old. This condition has become persistent in his life, and resistant to most treatments. As a result, this has made the white man to suffer a lot, as he grows older because; he experiences pain each day of his life. In addition, this chronic heart illness in such patients who are old affects two or three arteries. This implies that at a young age, heart attack is rare and can only affect a single artery that can be treated at an earlier age to avoid recurring. At age of 70 years, this patient requires more attention, and good care to be in a position to cope with his situation.
It is also evident that when this illness became acute, this man developed a heart failure. At this stage, it was difficult for his heart to pump sufficient blood to all parts of his body as required. This severe condition came after chronic stage where he experienced gradual heart problems. This man started by experiencing a heart failure at one side of his heart, a situation that becomes worse as he grows old. I had to change living arrangements to suit situation of this man who is now suffering from severe or acute heart disease. First, I realized that lack of proper exercise, and poor diet were factors that contributed to his worse condition. At his age, seventy years, I have to take care of him by ensuring that he feeds on a healthy diet. In addition, he has to engage in regular exercises to improve his living standards, and increase his life span despite his condition.

Acute heart disease has subjected him to a series of serious illness without improving especially at his age. Furthermore, the nature of this disease makes it hard to predict remaining time he is left with because; he is already old. In this regard, families and friends prepare his living arrangements by practically taking care of the patient on a daily basis. These arrangements will incorporate activities such as assisting patient to prepare his meals, washing and other house errands he cannot tackle himself.
As caregivers, we can also improve his living conditions by arranging a schedule where physicians visit him, and managing medications to ensure that he does not skip his dose. Support systems are also vital when giving care to such a patient. For instance, professionals in counseling play a significant role of ensuring that they offer him advice as a way of motivating him to live for a long time. The advance directives that suit this patient are issued out by medical practitioners. In this case, doctor advices this man to have enough rest, and avoid stressful situations that could reduce his life span. This man tries hard to ensure that he abides by all directives to live more years. At his age of seventy, he wishes to grow older without experiencing much pain as he deals with his acute heart attack situation.

Care Plan

As a caregiver, I understand that at seventy, this man cannot handle all chores on his own given that he is suffering from a severe illness. I intend to care for this person, and satisfy his needs by preparing him a balanced diet meal. This is a vital step because; I will be sure that by giving him food that is nutritious, it keeps him fit as he fights against the disease. Various ways can be used to treat symptoms of this illness. A medical way that is suitable in treating a heart attack disease will vary depending on the situation.
In this case, where this condition developed from acute to chronic, I would prescribe drugs to him. For instance, drugs such as super aspirins will assist him to prevent new formation of clots, which are symptoms of this illness. Therapeutic intervention may also be useful to ensure that the patient restores his flow of blood in a quick way. Nutrition is also an important factor that treats signs of a heart attack disease, which affects this man. This means that a healthy meal will give this patient energy to cope with his situation. Health prevention method that curbs symptoms of this disease is a medical checkup in case a patient feels unwell. New living arrangement, help or support system contribute a lot in caring for this patient. This is evident when medical practitioners use modern techniques to give a quick diagnosis hence; reduces risk of patient to die at an earlier age.

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V. Gordon Childe’s Evolutionary Theory

V. Gordon Childe’s Evolutionary Theory

Urban Revolution is the process through which small, kin-based illiterate agricultural villages went through a transformation of socially complex, large, urban societies. Childe was the first archeologist to synthesize data in relation to urbanism concept. Most archeologists describe his urban revolution as an evolutionary theory. This is because after synthesizing the archeological data, he was able to apply the social representations to the archeological data regarding the major transformations marked by the evolution of different societies. The nature of planning in the modern cities borrows Childe’s concept of the evolutionary theory. The fact that ancient urban planning borrowed his ideas, and that the modern urban planning relate to each other, shows that he had a vision of evolution when others could not perceive the idea. This has seen societies undergo many transformations in the social structures. Civilization and modernization mark the changes that human beings have undergone in the past, unlike the kind of living they led some thousands of years ago, where societies used to live in small, mobile subsets who survived on wild plants and animals. Population has grown thus far; societies turned to agriculture and longer rely on wild plants. These societies later turned to bigger, more complex social systems, and inequalities and political states marked the differences of the societies.

Childe believed that for urban revolution to take place, population had to grow considerably. Societies subsisted in small groups, which were mobile and did not have specific homes. They also subsisted with wild plants and animals, mostly hunted animals. However, with the growth in population, it would prompt these societies to settle down for a formal settlement area, and form bigger societies. These bigger societies would then form bigger settlements, which would influence the formation of cities. Another aspect included fulltime specialization and an advancement of labor. With the larger society living in one place, ideas would merge and different talents and capabilities are definite. This would lead to specialization of areas of interest and help advance the well-being of the society. Monumental public architecture is another aspect that Childe considered. A coexisting society having different abilities and thinking capacities would come up with ideas to build monumental public architecture to make it their formal place and some remembrance. In addition, agricultural production would be a major factor that would take place for revolution to take place. Societies that subsisted on wild plants would turn to agriculture. Other aspects are having a ruling class, trades across the boundaries, the state, sophisticates styles of art, and writing, exact, and predictive sciences.
Today’s society reflects Childe’s ideas of urban revolution in many ways. Population has grown very fast few hundreds of years and urban centers are growing faster than perceived. The biggest number of population live in urban cities across the world and immigration has made this dream come true. Urban cities are also growing larger as immigration takes place. Living on the urban cities has created space to carry out agriculture. Everywhere in the world, people rely on agriculture for the source of food. Specialization of labor is a core factor that has come true. We have states and some people have created a ruling class impression in the society. There are international trades across different countries in the world and science has improved greatly to exactness. For example medicine has improved from wild plants to the modern medicine where sick testing takes place before any form of treatment, an aspect which was no there in former times.

V. GORDON CHILDE’S EVOLUTIONARY THEORY 3

Running Head: V. GORDON CHILDE’S EVOLUTIONARY THEORY 1

Anthropology

Second-order information

Second-order information according to Gershon is the background knowledge that is gathered from a situation and the expectation of communication that permits an individual to provide an interpretation of words (2010:123). This means that second order information does not comprise of that is actually said rather, it accompanies the exact phrases in a given message and guides people into interpretation of other people’s actions and intentions (2013: 124). Gershon derives examples of second-order information from breakup stories which he says are full of instances of this kind of interpretation. In such situations, people use what they know about an act of sending a message via social media sites such as Facebook and the medium through which the said messages are sent and provide an interpretation for what is actually said or typed (2013: 124).

When interpreting second-order information, the main aim is always to figure out the sender’s intentions and sometimes it is about what the second order information indicates concerning the context in which the said message was sent (Gershon 2010:123). In other situations, individuals are always trying to control that which is revealed concerning their own intentions. According to Gershon, breakups in relationships always present some form of social dilemma which may be aggravated when there is no common ground in the understanding about the kinds of second-order information that various forms of media provide. Every media offers a different way of interpreting any kind of information. This is because as people use different new media they must develop strategies of interpretation. It is important to note that interpretation of intentions and the determination of what an individual actually knows are entwined tasks. This is because second-order information can be circulated by the design of the media in use without anyone sending a message. For instance sites such as Facebook lets people know when a user is logging in since a profile can be accessed by only one user at a time (Gershon 2010:123).
In her article Shakespeare in the Bush, Laura Bohannan brings out the idea of second- order information when she recounts the reaction of the members of a tribe in West Africa’s as she told the story of Hamlet. The main objective of telling the story of this person was to confirm her belief that the general plot of any story would be clear to everyone (Bohannan 2000: 1). Bohannan believed that human nature was the same all over the world. Members of the Tiv tribe interpreted the story, placing it in the context of their beliefs and traditions (2000: 1). The story of Hamlet’s father appearing as a ghost seemed new to the Tiv community and according to them that was an omen sent by a witch. In this community they believed that a chief was to have many wives (Bohannan 2000: 2). They wanted to know the fate of the other women considering that Hamlet’s uncle (brother to his father) remarried the mother just a few months after his father’s (Hamlet’s father) death (Bohannan 2000: 2). Second-order information allows individual’s to interpret words in ways that seek to satisfy their understanding and the intentions of the writer (Gershon 2010: 124). To this extent Bohannan noticed that the story, in the African context, had an altered meaning from what he understood.

Jason De Leon in his Journal of Material Culture also uses second-order information as a way of finding the perfect interpretation for the suffering and the way of life of immigrants in the Sonoran desert. One of the factors that De Leon considered were the injuries that people sustained in their attempt to cross the desert on foot. Men, women and children returned to the desert, after unsuccessful crossings, with deep gashes on their arms and legs. These must have been a result of getting caught on barbed wire fences while fleeing border patrols or scratches from the cactus covered desert (De Leon 2013: 323). In addition, De Leon uses the use- wear patterns to understand how objects are used by immigrants in the desert to accomplish their intended objectives (2013: 324). The shoes and clothing left behind by immigrants are according to De Leon essential in illuminating individual immigrant’s desert experiences into a broader framework that improves any researcher’s understanding of the shared techniques of the body and collective suffering of the immigrants (2013: 325).
Anthropological methods
Both Philipe Bourgois in his journal Understanding Inner City Poverty and Laura Bohannan in her article Shakespeare in the Bush engages in the research methodology of participant-observation framework as a way of collecting accurate and reliable data. This is made possible by the violation of the cannons of traditional positivist research. They therefore get intimately involved with the subjects of their study by establishing long-term, respectful and mutually empathetic relationships.
Bourgois for instance, develops an organic social relationship with the residents of East Harlem where he intends to conduct his survey to ensure that his presence in that setting minimally if any distorts indigenous social interaction (Bourgois 2012: 18). By developing this kind of relationship with the residents of East Harlem helps him seek a legitimate social role in order to develop friendships of at times enemies that allow him, with an informed consent from his subjects, to participate in direct and unconstructive observation of behaviour. As a participant observer in an anthropological field recognizes that he has a responsibility of empathizing with the drug dealers in East Harlem in order to understand the local realities from their perspective (Bourgois 2012: 18). During his time as a researcher at East Harlem, Bourgois observes that Drug dealing in the underground economy offers the youth in that society with the real possibilities of upward mobility. He further notes that despite the economic incentives majority of the population in East Harlem shun drug dealing and operate legal jobs. However, the law abiding majority has lost control of the public space to the drug dealers (Bourgois 2012: 22).
Bohannan also applies a participant – observation framework in order to understand the Tiv tribe of West Africa, especially on their interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In her study, Bohannan’s objective is to find out whether all people are subject to the same feeling. To achieve the answers she asked whether great stories of human endeavour carry the same messages to all audience despite their background (Bohannan 2000: 1). Using the participant- observation framework, she travels to West Africa, lives according to the norms of the Tiv society and gives Hamlet an African story telling approach putting every detail in the African context to enhance understanding while maintaining the intended meaning. This was to ensure objectivity and accuracy in the data collected.one of her findings after conducting the study through ethnography was that it was difficult to translate a classic tale from one language to another without losing the original story (Bohannan 2000: 3).

While in the field, both Bohannan and Bourgois encountered numerous problems during the process of data collection. For instance, Bourgois had encountered the problem of racial segregation with the police and the drug dealers in East Harlem. To deal with the problem of the police, he had to demonstrate that he was a researcher by constantly producing an identity card whenever it was required (Bourgois 2002: 19). To deal with problem of earning the trust of the drug dealers, he moved with his family and even gave birth to one of his children in that community to prove that he was not a traitor but a resident of the town (Bourgois 2002:19). Bohannan encountered the problem of finding a point of intersection between the original English settings of Hamlet and the African context. To solve this problem, he let the elders and other members of the society give their perspective of how they understood the story to ensure that he gets their interpretation without any form of interference (Bohannan 2000: 4).
Bourgois gives a detailed explanation of how he came into East Harlem, the challenges he faced while trying to win the trust of the members of the said community. For an individual to successfully use the participant –observation framework according to Bourgois, the society must accept the researcher and acknowledge the fact that his studies will be of benefit to the society (Bourgois 2002: 18). The society in East Harlem was aware that Bourgois was conducting a study on their way of life. Transparency in the context of Bohannan does not appear vividly since the writer does not explain how she got to interpret with the society and earned their trust to live in their midst. In addition, as she tells the story of Hamlet she does not reveal to her audience that she is conducting a study of their interpretation of the story (Bohannan 2000: 5).

Bibliography
Bohannan, Laura
2000 Shakespeare in the BushIn Lang�u�a�g�e� �A�w�a�r�e�n�e�s�s�:� �R�e�a�d�i�n�g�s� �f�o�r� �C�o�l�l�e�g�e� �W�r�i�t�e�r�s�.� �E�d�s�.� �P�a�u�l� �E�s�c�h�o�l�z�,� �A�l�f�r�e�d� �R�o�s�a�,� �a�n�d� �V�i�r�g�i�n�i�a� �C�l�a�r�k�.� �8�t�h� �e�d�.� �B�o�s�t�o�n�:� � �B�e�d�f�o�r�d�/� �S�t�.� �M�a�r�t�i�n� s� �P�r�e�s�s�:� �1�-�5�.�
�B�o�u�r�g�o�i�s�,� �P�h�i�l�i�p�p�e�
�2�0�0�2� �U�n�d�e�r�s�t�a�n�d�i�n�g� �I�n�n�e�r�-�-� C�i�t�y� �P�o�v�e�r�t�y�:� �R�e�s�i�s�t�a�n�c�e� �a�n�d� �S�e�l�f� �D�e�s�t�r�u�c�t�i�o�n� �u�n�d�e�r� �U�.�S�.� �A�p�a�rtheid. In Exotic No More: Anthropology on the Front Lines. Jeremy MacClancy, ed. Pp. 13-19. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
De León, Jason
2013 Undocumented migration, use wear, and the materiality of habitual suffering in the Sonoran Desert. Journal of Material Culture 18 (4): 323- 325.
Gershon, Ilana
2010The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media. Ithica, NY: Cornel University
Press, pp.123- 124.

Be an Anthropologist

Anthropology is a wide field focused on the nature of human beings, where they are coming from, and where they are at present. It incorporates the different aspects of humanity to help understand their past and present, and track a given timeline for man’s genealogy. Thus, different subfields of anthropology help cover all areas of man’s development. They include linguistic anthropology, archeological anthropology, physical anthropology, and socio-cultural anthropology. This paper addresses different aspect regarding physical and cultural anthropology.
Physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that deals with evolutionary changes that occur in the body structure of human and non-human primates and the classification of modern races. The other name for physical anthropology is biological anthropology. It usually utilizes mensurational and human body structure, and descriptive techniques. Further, it examines the genetic aspects of human development, physical variations, and adaptation to environmental stresses.

Evolution refers to the gradual changes that take place over time to give rise to a new and better form of matter. In physical anthropology, evolution refers to the heritable or hereditary changes that occur in populations of organisms or groups of these populations over generations due to changes in allele frequency. The changes occur because of transfer of genetic material from one generation to another. This is the reason why the changes are considered hereditary. Evolution in physical anthropology refers to populations rather than individuals and usually results in appearance of new species (Futuyma, 1998). In most cases, the definition of evolution is based on Charles Darwin’s ideas of the theory of natural selection. According to this theory, the fittest organism survives, while the weak organism undergoes extinction. The measure of this superiority is in the genetic makeup modifications that help a given species survive adverse environmental conditions. Hence, as species undergo genetic change over time, they can evolve into a different species, although often with a few similarities with the original species. The new form has a superior genetic makeup, able to adapt to its environment, and capable of surviving various conditions. The similarities between the new and the original species help scientists to track the ancestry path of an organism and recognize the advancements through generations of a given species (Curtis, 1989).

In studying evolution, a physical anthropologist has a number of options he can choose for investigating material. For instance, he may choose to conduct a fossil research to investigate human or near human remains. This may include remains of bones, hair, soft tissues or other physical remains, which can better explain genetic variation and human evolution. The anthropologist extracts the DNA of various populations from these remains and this helps track the hereditary changes over generations. Fossil data makes it possible to examine the new species coming into existence more accurately since the data shows the changes in DNA patterns that trigger these genetic changes. For instance, in studying human remains, the anthropologist may study the DNA of primates or their remains. It is not possible to study the differences between different generations of the same species due to the time differences. The use of fossils to study the differences in genetic makeup provides anthologists with tangible evidence concerning evolution. This makes it possible for the anthropologist to evaluate the possibility of early human evolution from other species as well as find commonalities between different species making it possible to develop a timeline of evolution.

Physical anthropologists can investigate evolution timelines by studying the DNA sequences in the fossil data or primate remains. Different studies make efforts to understand evolution. The most common of these include the Human genome project and the Neanderthal genome project. There is a need to lay focus on the Neanderthal genome project, since most people understand the human genome project. According to Noonan (2010), researchers recovered ancient DNA of Neanderthals through extraction of DNA from the femur bones of three 38,000-year-old female Neanderthal specimens obtained from Vindija Cave, and Croatia. The researchers also used other bones found in Spain, Russia, and Germany. Analysis of DNA obtained from the specimen shows that the modern human and Neanderthal lineages most likely diverged before contemporary humans emerged. It is possible to integrate a reconstructed Neanderthal genome sequence into human-primate genome comparisons to reveal the evolutionary genetic events that produced modern man. The Neanderthal reference genome is able to determine how distinct modern human beings really are from all earlier versions of humanity. All studies of Neanderthal genomic DNA used material obtained from fossilized Neanderthal bones that are tens of thousands of years old. Generation of a Neanderthal genome sequence is therefore essential for enhancing our understanding of modern human evolution. Findings from the project indicate that 99.7% of the base pairs of the modern human and Neanderthal genomes are identical, compared to humans sharing around 98.8% of base pairs with the chimpanzee (Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, 2005). This provides anthropologists with quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding the evolution of human beings from chimpanzees and thus helps in developing a timeline for human evolution.

The other branch of anthropology is cultural anthropology. Cultural anthropology, also known as social anthropology, is a branch of anthropology that deals with the holistic study of the origins, history and development human culture. Its scope encompasses the fields of archeology, ethnology, and ethnography. Cultural anthropologists often focus their studies on contemporary societies rather than ancient societies and they consider cultural evolution to be an outgrowth of Darwinian evolution. In this case, the cultural anthropologist presume that cultural evolution results from a rise in social inequalities or a rise in agriculture as humans adapted to non-cultural stimulus. Examples of the changes that may lead to cultural evolution include climate change and population growth (Feinman, 2000). Thus, cultural evolution seeks to understand the long-term change in human beings socially. It focuses on the changes that human beings acquire socially, rather than biologically. For example, some changes occur because of migration into new geographical locations following wars or climate-induced extreme weather events. Unlike physical anthropologists, cultural anthropologists consider evolution directional, in that as human populations transform themselves, their culture also becomes more complex.

Investigating cultural anthropology requires a different approach from that used in investigating biological anthropology. One of the things a cultural anthropologist can investigate in an effort to understand cultural evolution better is the influence of forced migration. For example, wars may force people to migrate into new geographical areas, either temporarily or permanently. The anthropologist can examine the effect of this migration on the clothes that the migrants wear, the food they eat or their relationship to each other. For instance, if people move into very warm areas they may be forced to put on less clothing if they were fond of covering themselves fully. This change may also force the individuals to eat new kinds of foods in order to survive if they can no longer find the foods they initially used to eat. The researchers in most cases have to live among the group of people they are studying, learn their ways, and document the cultural changes in articles or books. This helps preserve the information for future generations. Thus, current anthropologists may use data from the studies of previous anthropologists in to understand the past (Doda, 2005).

The study of physical anthropology and cultural anthropology compare in that by Charles Darwin’s ideas of the evolution of species influences both studies. The social scientists use the framework of biological evolution to understand the origin and development of social behavior since the evolution of humans following genetic changes influences their culture and way of life. The two sub-fields differ in that evolution of cultural anthropology is directional while that in physical anthropology is non-directional because genetic changes occur spontaneously. The scope of the different subfields of anthropology is also different. For instance, the two subfields use different methods of investigation.
In conclusion, anthropology studies evolution of man through generations in different fields. For instance, physical anthropology studies hereditary evolution while cultural anthropology studies cultural evolutions of a given people. I now realize that anthropology is necessary as it helps individuals understand their origins and their present. It preserves the history of humanity from one generation to another and helps the current generation understand their timeline. This gives man a sense of identity and belonging.

References
Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium. (2005). “Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome.” Nature 437:69–87.
Curtis, H and N. Sue Barnes. (1989). Biology, 5th ed. New York: Worth Publishers.
Doda, Z. (2005). “Introduction to Socio-Cultural Anthropology.” Carter Centre. Retrieved on 15 November 2013 from http://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/health/ephti/library/lecture_notes/health_science_students/ln_socio_anthro_final.pdf
Feinman, G. (2000). Cultural Evolutionary Approaches and Archaeology: Past, Present and Future. Cultural Evolution: Contemporary Viewpoints, London: Kluwer/Academic Press.
Futuyma, D. (1998). Evolutionary Biology 3rd ed. Sunderland MA: Sinauer Associates Inc.
Noonan, J. (2010). Neanderthal Genomics and the Evolution of Modern Humans. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

BE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST 5

Running head: BE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST 1

Anthropology

The ethnography of visual culture

According to research, ethnography is the study of human behavior, perception and social interaction that occurs between people in a particular setting. This paper looks at visual ethnography of cultures. The project here entails looking at the culture of wildlife tourism around the world. The research study decides to use visual ethnography as a data collection method. According to the researcher, this method allows a person to make use of all their senses while analyzing such data. The researcher states that some moments in life can be best explained using pictographs and film.

Research statement

This research study looks at the effects of visual ethnography on wildlife tourism. This is achieved by using photographs of tourist observing and interacting with animals in their habitats. The research analyzes how these still pictures and the film make the interwoven relationship of individual experience, practices and social relationships meaningful in the world of tourism.

Methodology

The main method chosen for this research is visual ethnography. The researcher has decided to use this methodology because it is the best way to capture the actual activities of the relationship between human behavior and their social relationship with animals in their environment. Pink (2007) states that human interaction and social science are perceived best through visualization. Written materials cannot bring out the nature of interaction between man and animals in their habitat. To come up with reliable results, the activities that go on in the animal parks and game reserves with tourist go about their activities will be observed and recorded.

Visual ethnography allows human beings to their their sensory abilities in analysis cultural data. This method was chosen because it captures real time activities as they happen. The collected data will give the viewers an image of the actual actions that took place at the research site. These are also images that tell a story, and such a story cannot be well documented in written form. Using visual ethnography as a method of data collection come with the advantage in that such data can be interpreted even by the most uneducated people (Pink, 2007). This is because the analysis of pictures and films does not require grand education, instead the person involved only need to use hir/her senses.

The results are documented in a film and some in photographic form. Throughout the fieldwork, social interactions between tourist and animals will be documented in film and pictures. The researcher will record a day long video as well as take some pictures of the actions that transpires inside the parks and reserves. Recording of the videos will take place at night and during daytime while the pictures will be shot at daytime. Visual ethnography is a better method of recording research findings since it also provides vivid images that people can relate to. It is as well easy to interpret and make sense of films and photographs.

Ethnographic research deals with human being and their activities in their surroundings. The researcher knew that most people do not like being disturbed in their habitat. Therefore, in order to have an easy field study, he had to abide by the anthropology code of ethics. These rules are well stipulated in the American Anthropology Association (AAA) code of ethics. The laws states the ways in which a professional ethnographer should carry out her research studies without harming or interfering with the livelihood of other people he/she encounter in the process. Thus the study must be conducted with a lot of professionalism.

The researcher must acquire permission for the study by contacting the association either in writing or in person. During the meeting, he should clearly state that he is ready to abide by the AAA codes of ethics which affirms that he should not harm. This involves not harming people as well as animals. Thus, the researcher agrees to preserve human and animal dignity at all costs during the study. He should also be honest and about his research work. He needs to have an informed decision and principles of doing the study. The AAA expects the researcher to be truthful about his study, the results of the study as well as his area of interest. The researcher must accept to make his results available for use by other people.

He must also accept conditions such as the results might be interpreted in different ways and must aim to protect the heritage of the people in the community. Cases that require confidentiality must be presented to the concerned authority in advance. The ethnographic researcher has the responsibility to preserve and protects the research results. As such, the researcher must accept that his findings will be preserved and protected for future references.

Research findings and data analysis

The success of visual ethnographic research study relies on being at the research site at the right time. This also depends on setting the cameras at the right position during day and night so that all the actions are captures clearly. The results revealed that most tourists had different intention when visiting theme parks. Some came to see scary animals while others were on an adventure trail. Others were caught on camera taking pictures with animals or taking pictures of the same. From the recorded film, it was evident that the man likes animals. Some would go ahead and feed them even though feeding the animals was against the rules. People took long hours tat the parks just observing the animals. The video recorded a greater number of people coming in and out of the park as compared to the weekdays.

Various wildlife at the research site.

The film showed how social people can be with animals. The result was an overwhelming evidence of how mankind treats animals with a lot of care and tenderness, while the contrary is true. The film also showed people being friendly to animals like monkeys, chimps and kangaroos. Some tourists were observed collecting different species of trees, while other just decided to enjoy the magnificent view of the various parts of the park. The tourists coming into the park were of different origin. In this research, visual ethnography clearly brought out the fact that tourism is not an activity for a selected few.

Tourists taking a picture with elephants, kangaroo, dolphin

Tourist frequented the park and set put on their daily routines. The films and picture taken showed how man interacts with these creatures that do not understand their language. Some fed the animals while the other took photos with them. Some tourist went ahead and played with the animals, although such an interaction occurred only between tourists and tamed animals. The research results proved that despite the fact that people know animals to be cruel, some animals are very friendly to human beings. For example, kangaroos, zebras, giraffes and some birds were friendly and did not take off when people approached them on foot. On the contrary, some animals were so dangerous that there were sign posts warning tourist not to get close to them. The sign posts appeared at strategic corners and informed the tourist to interact with wild animals such as lions, cheetah, buffalo and others at their own risks.

Despite the wonderful moments of people being friendly to animals, the contrary was true. Some of the cameras caught a cheetah trying to attack a woman who moved closer to its cage. In another park, there was a recording of a buffalo attacking a man and pinned him on the ground. The animal constantly stepped on the man several times causing many injuries. To show how beastly this animal was towards a friendly man, the buffalo decided to exert several blows to the man’s head using its hooves.

Reliable study results were obtained due to the immense help gained from the local people. For example, navigating the part was not a walk in the park, but with the help of the locals, the journey became a little more bearable. Being new to this park, the researcher had no knowledge of the sports where people frequented the most. The game wardens and the few experienced locals lend a hand to the researcher without asking for any remuneration. The game wardens went ahead and informed the researcher that animals in the park came out to graze at different times of the day. Some animals were early risers while others came late to the scene.

Therefore, the researcher was able to reach the site in time to take photographs of various animals. This revelation enabled the researcher to position his camera in the direction and the places frequented by tourists as they come to see and interact with the animals. This made it possible for the researcher to record and document how animals interact with human beings in their environment. Another result observed had to do with the nature of tourism. From the film, it was found that tourism is not just a regular activity, but most people involved in it do it for different reasons. For example, some people become tourist so that they can collect academic data just like the researcher. Others are in the act due to aesthetic purposes while others engage in tourism for the sake of adventure.

The culture of tourism is one that is embraced by people from different backgrounds and ages. The film recorded people from different races come into the park. Those who had enough money went even to the most expensive sections of the park. On the other hand, those who had little money only went to the sections they could afford. Children seemed more excited by the sight of crawling creatures while some old men and women appeared to be scared to death. Some tourists were brave while other could not even stand two strides close to the animal cages. This is a clear indication that tourism is a social activity that brings people from all walks of life together. some came to study while others just had fun

For research results to be reliable, the researcher needs to use quality tools and materials for data collection. This is because the success of a research study depends on the reliability of the results. In this study, the researcher used high quality video cameras for recording and taking photographs. The researcher decided to be very time conscious during all the days of the study. This enabled him to collect the right data at the right. The most important procedures before the study began involved contacting AAA for permission and alerting the game rangers at the research site about the impending study. This is because in ethnography, AAA must authorize the study.

Alerting the rangers at the study site was necessary since in every setting there are protocols to follow before using their facilities. Some game parks and reserves do not allow strangers to take photos of animals and people. For an individual to do so, he or she must obtain a license from the game reserve management.

The failures

Everything that has a good side must also have a bad side. Success in ethnographic studies does not come easily and the study usually goes through a lot of resistance. The actual field study usually encounters many challenges from people, planners and sponsors. This research study was not an exception. The first challenges was getting the necessary permission from AAA to carry out the research. This is because it took time before answering an email asking for a meeting with them. The second challenge was picking the exact area to do the study. This is because the study needed to be dome in a new and unique place that the researcher was nt used to.

Some sponsors felt that doing that research was expensive as it involved moving to another country would be expensive. The equipment was also exorbitant because study needed a specific type of camera can be weather resistant. Preparing and contacting the park managers to alert them about the study, but their feedback delayed. This as well caused a delay in the study date as it had to be postponed.

The weather at the research site was unrewarding. For example, it rained cats and dogs on the second night of the research. The wind was so strong and powerful that the night vision camera fell from the top of the tree where it was positioned. This means that no data was collected for the second night of the research. This came as a major setback since the data was to be collected day and night for reliability. To correct this misfortune, the researcher had to stay an extra night in the park to make a final recording.

Conclusion

Visual ethnography is a very reliable method of recoding cultural interaction in human life. This method gives the viewer a chance to use all his or her senses in analysis the data. It is also a better way to use, especially in cases when the researcher wants to capture real moments that cannot be explained in writing. It is a method that can be used by the uneducated to analyze data because they do not higher levels of education, they only need to use their senses.

References

Pink, S, (2007). Doing Ethnographic Research. New York, NY: SAGE

Early Civilizations

What forces contributed to cultural makeup?

As the human being evolved, their culture also changed. They became more intellectual and formed tools, houses and simple machines that helped them to cultivate the land and carry on. On the other hand, forms of worship and religion were other forces that facilitated shaping of many early cultures. Initially, religion acted as a way in which early humans explained any unfamiliar factor in their lives. Geography constituted natural features like sun, water, rain and others which determined if they would depend on hunting, agriculture or trade. Sun was an outstanding part of their lives because it was termed as a god. Likewise, rain and water was something that they depended on dearly, for instance, rain would sometimes act as goddess which was part of religious observations. Where a culture was located alongside trading route it would start to be protective and ethnocentric of its own cultures. The natural resource availability affected the kinds of homes they lived in, types of tools and weapons they used, type of food they ate as well as container types used to store their provisions (Trigger, 2003).

What social issues arose because of these cultural makeups?

At the same time as cultures started to develop, social issues also began to crop up. As a result of different combinations of humans, different cultures were formed while disagreements and misunderstandings over land also became more regular. When two communities could not understand one another, they would easily become offended without a reason. Wars and conflict resulted in the formation of armies as well as more production of food. The developments of weapons were as a result of tools development. Similarly, religion wars became more frequent as different groupings worshiped different gods. Some cultures seemed to have a higher standard of living and more abilities, thereby making them much more powerful than others.

Reference

Trigger, G. (2003). Understanding Early Civilization. New York: Cambridge University Press.