International Baccalaureate program of studies Essay Example for Free

International Baccalaureate program of studies Essay It has always been my dream and my desire to complete a higher education and be able to have a strong foundation upon which to build my success. I have many goals in life and, while I sometimes have not known exactly what route I wanted to take for my life, but I always knew that I wanted to be successful and create a place for myself in the world. The International Baccalaureate Program would be the perfect place for me to begin my journey towards becoming a successful professional who can both support herself and create a great life for her family, as well as make an effect on the world around me, beginning with my community. This program would give me the opportunity to begin that journey towards a newer, better future in which I can show the world that just because you have a slow start, doesn’t mean you cannot accomplish a great deal with your life. I have had many struggles throughout my life, particularly in terms of my grades and my studies in high school. Subjects do not always come easy to me, and while I have not always had the highest grade in the class, the grades I have earned I have worked very hard for. I do not feel that any failure, either personally, professionally, or academically, is really a waste, because even when I have made mistakes I have learned a great deal from them and this has allowed me to become a better student and individual. I feel this way because not everyone is perfect or has an easy time of things, and by struggling myself I can better understand and appreciate other people with similar issues. This is why my goal of becoming a social worker or a businesswoman is so important to me. I believe that my background and my ability to overcome so much will make me into a better student in college and a better professional in my future career. I wish to challenge myself to become a better person, and this program would be a great starting place for my future. Whatever I do, I do with my full heart, even if I do not succeed right from the beginning. I am a very artistic person that enjoys exploring my own creativity and looking outside of the box. One of the hobbies that I have taken the most interest in has been drawing, and I have thrown myself into this with a great amount of enthusiasm. My drawing is very important to me as it gives me a creative outlet for all of my hopes, fears, dreams and realities. I also play the flute, and this has taught me discipline and how important it is to see things through to the end. It has always taught me the value of practice and how I can see myself improving through hard work and dedication to something that I am involved in. This can easily carry on to my commitment to this program and all that it has to offer. Overall, my life is improving and I have been becoming a stronger individual because of my struggles in school. I know that now that I have found ways for me to succeed academically I will continue to become a better student and eventually a better professional. With my hard work, dedication, commitment to improvement, and creativity, I would make a strong candidate for admission into the International Baccalaureate Program. I look forward to being a part of your program.

Say No to Columbus Day Essay Example for Free

Say No to Columbus Day Essay It is my belief that although many people celebrate the holiday of Columbus Day, that it should be celebrated because Christopher Columbus was not who he had seemed to be. I have learned that not only did he not know where he was, but he wasn’t even the first to discover the New World. He also committed a mass genocide against the Arawak’s. Columbus Day is a U.S. holiday that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. Columbus Day was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century but did not become a federal holiday until the 1937. For many, the holiday is a way of both honoring Columbus achievements and celebrating Italian-American heritage. Throughout its history, Columbus Day and the man who inspired it have generated controversy, and many alternatives to the holiday have appeared in recent years When Columbus first arrived at the Bahamas, he was greeted by the Arawak Indians who showered him and his crew with gifts and food. After being around them for some time, he decided to take the search for valuable items to a new level. He took some of the people by force and demanded to know where the materials like gold and such were located and then he forced them to show him and start to find them, sort of like slaves. He also learned that the Arawak people were so generous that they would give him anything he asked them for; he then proceeded to ask them for nearly all of their belongings which had any monetary value. The fact of him doing this is easily enough to prove that he was just out for money and did not care about any of the Arawak Indians or his crew for that matter. He is said to have been greedy enough to take credit for finding land even though a crew member, Rodrigo, had found it first and it is also said that he is to have taken the $10,000 yearly pension for life (Source B). The second treachery Columbus was a part of was the taking of the Arawak Indians as slaves and servants, here is a quote from his journal: â€Å"They would make fine servants†¦With fifty men we could subjugate them and make them do whatever we want† (Source B). This just shows that he is a man who doesn’t care about other people’s feelings and is perfectly fine with killing and enslavement, two things America is against. In total, the records show that originally, Columbus rounded up 1,500 Indians, he chose 500 as the best, killed the other 1,000, and 200 died on the ship due to poor living conditions and starvation. The 300 who were left were auctioned off as slaves in Spain. Nearly all of the rest of the Arawak people were killed by foreign disease. A third and final reason why we should not celebrate Columbus Day is because Christopher Columbus did not find North America on purpose and he was also not the first to find the continent. Leif Ericsson of the Vikings found North America and had already established a settlement in Nova Scotia by the time Christopher Columbus found his way here which just proves that his skills as a navigator and a sailor were not even very great, if he kept sailing to Asia and had not found North America, he would have done a circle around the world, missed Asia and ran into Africa. Many Americans view Columbus as a heroic figure whom is celebrated every year. Children look up to him, as an amazing person for being able to â€Å"discover† America and citizens are able to spend a whole day off from work/school to reflect on his greatness. However, this greatness should in no way be glorified, because it is absurd to call Columbus a hero. Columbus had taken credit for things that he didn’t accomplish, brutally abused Native Americans and caused slave trade, which led to mistreatment of Native Americans for years to come. I strongly believe that Columbus day should not be celebrated because of the torture, slavery, and lying that was caused by him. Columbus had taken credit for things that he didn’t accomplish. He wasn’t the first to discover America since there were already people living there  and others had known about this land. Also, there was a myth being taught at schools that had said Columbus was the one to prove the earth was round. Many educated Europeans had already believed in the world not being flat during the time of Columbus. However, those who didn’t agree with this statement mocked the ones who did. Lastly, Columbus was not the first non-American to discover the new world. â€Å"There is, indeed, considerable evidence that people from all around the world, including Europe, had visited the Americas for trade, fishing, refuge, and even settlement.† (Source: Why We Should Abolish Columbus Day by G Rebecca Dobbs) Therefore, Columbus had not truly succeeded in the things we know about him and did more negative things than positive. Columbus Day, a holiday dedicated to the famous explorer for his achievement of arriving in the New World. We construct plays, arrange parades, and have erected monuments of Columbus to praise him for his discovery; for he had triggered the wave of European interest in the Americas. When it comes to the roots of Columbus’s arrival in Hispaniola, most people think that he arrived on an island with primitive natives who gladly gave up their land to him†¦without so much as a complaint. Only recently have the true accounts of his expedition come to light. Nowadays, the innocent and naive tale of Columbus’s discovery has turned into a story about a horrifying and unjust conquering of a land, and the domination of its inhabitants. When Christopher Columbus arrived in Hispaniola in 1492, he had thought that he arrived in India, and he expected for the land to be inhabited by the Indians. Instead he landed in present day Hispaniola, which was home to the friendly, and defe nseless, Arawak people (also known as the Taino people). They had never seen Europeans before with their giant ships, extravagant clothing, and strange language; so they were excited and interested in meeting Columbus and his crew. The Arawak brought the Europeans gifts, food, and water. They wanted to open their home to the newcomers, and hoped to be able to become acquaintances with them and that they would trade with each other. Instead of returning the natives’ generosity and kindness, Columbus treated them cruelly, by making them slaves and forcing them to work to exhaustion and death, slaughtering thousands of men, women, and children till there was only five hundred Arawaks left by 1550, and not giving them  enough food, so they died from famish. Christopher Columbus has been viewed as a hero for several centuries. Children in elementary schools all over the nation are taught that he discovered America. However, there were many other people who were indigenous to the land already and the Vikings arrived in America almost 500 years before Columbus. Christopher Columbus, as it turned out, was responsible for widespread genocide; he permitted his men to rape, murder, mutilate and enslave indigenous people. The evil deeds of Columbus far outweigh the few accomplishments he achieved. It doesn’t make sense for the United States to recognize this supposed Christian with a national holiday, so America should stop celebrating Columbus Day. The initial recorded Columbus Day celebration in the United States was on October 12, 1792. Nevertheless, the first official Columbus Day happened in 1892, when President Harrison issued a proclamation for Americans to commemorate the day. The Knights of Columbus lobbied state legislatures to legalize the holiday. Colorado did so on April 1, 1907. New York followed suit in 1909. In 1971, Columbus Day was designated as a federal holiday on the second Monday of October (Library of Congress).

The History Of English Language Vocabulary English Language Essay

The History Of English Language Vocabulary English Language Essay English is one of the most important languages of the world. Today it is being spoken almost in every part of the world. It is the native language of America, Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. Currently, nearly two billion people around the world understand it. It is the official language of some countries like Pakistan, India, China and Singapore. It is the language of commerce, trade, internet, diplomacy and science. It is also the language of United Nations and many other organizations. Now is has become a connecting language worldwide. In this paper I will discuss the history of English vocabulary. In the study of English vocabulary, it is essential to know about the history of English. In this paper we will look at the foremost past events that have formed the English language. This paper will pay special consideration to the development of the native Germanic vocabulary, and also to the factors that introduced a large number of foreign words into English, mai nly from Latin, Greek, and French. I choose this topic because we use English in every walk of life. It has cosmopolitan vocabulary and many languages of the world have barrowed words from English, like in Urdu table, pen, glass, car, ambulance, TV, radio etc. English has barrowed many words from other languages like Latin, French and German which I will discuss in this paper. It is considered as universal language. Most of the universities worldwide include English as one of their major subject and it is used as a medium of instruction in colleges and schools. It holds a key place in the culture, political and economic affairs in countries all over the world. So it is important to know about the history, development and the origin of English language particularly its vocabulary. History of English vocabulary is multipart and complex. English belongs to Indo-European group of languages. ( Barbara A.Fennell. year of publishing). It can be divided into four periods: Old English, Middle English, Early-Modern English, and Late Modern English. Old English (500 1100AD) In the fifth century, the three West Germanic tribes Anglo, Saxon and Jutes from Jutland and southern Denmark invaded and occupied the eastern part of the British island. These tribes spoke a Germanic Language, which is near to modern Frisian. Anglo, Saxon and Jutes introduced four major dialects, e.g. Northumbrian in the north of England, Merican in the Midland, West Saxon in the south and west, and Kentish in the Southeast. They occupied the greatest part of the country and brought Germanic civilization, often called Anglo Saxon that emerged in Britain. These tribes gave England its name, language and culture. Before these tribes occupation, the Celts were the real inhabitants of Britain. After the occupation Celts were pushed out of England into Scotland, Wales, Cornwell, and Ireland. At the time of King Alfred, only the land south and west remained in Anglo Saxon hands. The Danish invasion and subsequent settlement had a considerable influence on English language, and many words were borrowed into English, especially into the dialects of the north. (Knowles 1997) Alfred the Great encouraged English literacy all over his territory. During the sixth century, St. Augustine the head of Roman missionaries brought Christianity to these Germanic tribes specially the Saxon. The English language adopted numerous words from Latin, the representative language of the church. Latin provided religious vocabulary e.g. abbot, alter, disciple, hymn, nun, mass, pope and priest. Latin also provided a significant number of what are now everyday words e.g. candle, cap, school and spend. During ninth and tenth centuries and into eleventh, Norwegian and Danish Vikings made an important impact on English language. Many North Germanic words entered into English during that period. Large number of Norse invaders settled in northern and eastern part of Britain in the middle of ninth century. Many words beginning with SC and sk were entered into English at that time from Scandinavian languages, e.g. score, scorch, skill, skin, skirt, sky. This formed an interesting combination, because Old English was very alike to this close Germanic. For example, Old English Norse loan shrub scrub lend loan rear raise shirt skirt craft skill Old English adopted several hundreds Norse words, among them till, flat, they, skin, egg, birth, bull, gap, quest, leg, egg, sister, skin both, some, their, them, they, are, call, die, drown, get, give, lift, raise, take, etc. The North Germanic speech had a significant influence on English which added basic words like that, they and them. (Bragg 2003) The words that represent Modern English do not come from Old English root but about one sixth of known Old English words have descendants existing today. Most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots. Like water, strong, the, of, a, he and no. Some other basic words that are uses in modern English are derived from Old English (Bragg 2003). One of the significant works in Old English is the epic poem Beowulf, which is one of the best examples of Old English literature (McCrum, 1986). The Old English period ended with the Norman Conquest in 1066. Middle English (1100-1500) William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy conquered England in 1066. After the conquest, the Norman kings and the aristocratic class spoke a dialect of Old French as Anglo-Norman. At that time common people spoke English language. This class distinction can be seen still in Modern English words like, beef and cow, pork and pig. The upper class generally ate beef and pork and used these words while the common people, who tended the cattle and hogs, retained the Germanic and ate cow and pig. The Norman Conquest can be seen as yet another Germanic assault. But there was a difference this time. The Normans had prior been given the control of a huge part of land along the northern coast of France. Now they were the French subject and they adopted French culture and French language. The language they spoke at that time was not Germanic, but French. This was a Norman dialect of French which was the language of upper class and English language lost its importance. English was only used by the peasants and people of the working class. This resulted in an enormous borrowing of French words into English vocabulary. During this period, English barrowed many words from Old French. This conquest has influence on Church, government and military. Crystal (1988:174) gives the following list of barrowed word of French; Government: liberty, majesty, minister, peasant, parliament, prince, realm, sir, tax, tyrant, trial, government, crown, country, baron, duke, court Religion: virgin, trinity, solemn, miracle, immortality, sermon, salvation, saint, abbey, baptism, pity, prayer, religion, mercy, confess, charity, cathedral Military: ambush, captain, defend, guard, retreat, spy, soldier, navy, battle, army, moat, arms, enemy, peace. There are some general words too that are; wait, joy, music, romance, city, easy, emerald, diamond, feast, robe, gown, savory, sugar, age, paper, foreign, hour, people, real, reason, river, special, use. Geoffrey Chaucer (1387-1400) a great English poet is regarded as the pioneer of Middle English. He wrote The Canterbury Tales first writing in English language and gave a birth to English literature. He is considered as the fore father of English literature. Before Chaucer the Latin and the French were the languages of literature. He broke this ice and wrote his first book in English which is regarded as the greatest and most renowned work in Middle English. He took words from French like, chivalrye (chivalry),honour, courteisye. He used mostly English words some are difficult to pronounce and different from Modern English like, tyme(time), bigan (began), fredom (freedom), trouthe (truth) ,loved, knight, worthy, man etc. The Middle English period came to an end around 1500 with the rise of Modern English. Early-Modern English (1500-1800) This is considered to be most important period in the history of English language because of the Renaissance, the revival and rebirth of knowledge. During this period many scholars translated literature from Latin and Greek into English. Many words from Latin and Greek entered into English division from Old English to Modern English as books become more widespread and literacy increased. Among the borrowed words from Latin were exterior, appendix, contradict, exterminate, temperature. Greek also provided catastrophe, anonymous, lexicon, skeleton and so on. Publishing books became noticeable occupation and books written English were more popular than books in Latin. The printing press also gave a standard and an identity to English language. The written and spoke language of London began to spread to the entire country, and with the influence of printing press, London English began to flourish. London English was widely accepted in written and spoken. Due to this English spelling and grammar were fixed and first dictionary of English was published in 1604 (Bryson 1990). In fifth century, the Great Vowel Shift a series of change in sounds also changed English to the great extent. These changes in vowels of English still characterize many languages today. Due to this linguistic change, most long and short vowel sounds were lost. The Great Vowel Shift was impulsive and most changes occurred within a century. This shift is still in process and vowel sounds are shortening. This shift occurred due to excessive Romance loanwords so that English vowels started to sound more like French loanwords (Bragg 2003). The vocabulary which William Shakespeare used at that time set trends in Early Modern English. Firstly, the lexicon expands distinctly, introducing many new words which are quite common, even very significant today e.g. agile, critical, demonstrate, emphasis, horrid, impertinency, modest, prodigious, accommodation, apostrophe, assassination, dexterously, frugal, misanthrope, obscene, pendant, premeditated, reliance, vast. (Fennel B.A.2001) Late-Modern English (1800-Present) The pronunciation, grammar, and spelling of Late-Modern English are essentially the same as Early-Modern English, but Late-Modern English has significantly more words due to several factors. First, discoveries during the scientific and industrial revolutions created a need for a new vocabulary. Scholars drew on Latin and Greek words to create new words such as oxygen, nuclear, and protein. Scientific and technological discoveries are still ongoing and neologisms continue to this day, especially in the field of electronics and computers. Just as the printing press revolutionized both spoken and written English, the new language of technology and the Internet places English in a transition period between Modern and Postmodern. Second, the English language has always been a colonizing force. During the medieval and early modern periods, the influence of English quickly spread throughout Britain, and from the beginning of the seventeenth century on, English began to spread throughout the world. Britains maritime empire and military influence on language (especially after Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earths surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries

Comparing Women in Anna Akhmatova’s Lot’s Wife, Crucifixion, and Rache

Powerful Women in Anna Akhmatova’s Lot’s Wife, Crucifixion, and Rachel â€Å"But Lot's wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt† (New Geneva Study Bible, Gen. 19. 26). â€Å"Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John† (Matt. 27:56). â€Å"Jacob went over to the well and rolled away the stone and watered his uncle's flock. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and tears came to his eyes†¦But when Jacob woke up in the morning – it was Leah! ‘What sort of trick is this?’ Jacob raged at Laban. ‘I worked seven years for Rachel. What do you mean by this trickery?’† (Gen. 29). These are among the few verses dedicated to three women of the Bible. No commentary or insight into their inner persons is given. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt, Mary was present at her son’s crucifixion, and Rachel’s older sister took her place in the marriage bed. Plain and simple, these are the cold, hard f acts. In her poems â€Å"Lot’s Wife,† â€Å"Crucifixion,† and â€Å"Rachel,† Anna Akhmatova breathes life into these women by delving into their emotions and painting a picture of them in their surroundings. The Biblical account of Rachel and Jacob’s relations gives only the details of their encounters and the fact that Jacob loved Rachel so much that he was willing to work for seven years in order to have her as his wife. When he is deceived and takes Leah instead, the Bible makes no mention of Rachel’s feelings, which were undoubtedly overpowering. The beautiful young daughter, Rachel, who is stabbed in the back by her sister and father, demands more detail; how deeply did this deception affect her? Through imagery, use of detail, and figurative language Akhmatova begins to op... ...tegrating as her legs were stuck to the ground. The last stanza despairs that that no one mourned the death of this woman who dies for the love of her home and emphasizes that women like Lot’s wife should not be forgotten. Masterfully, Anna Akhmatova takes three flat women from the pages of the Bible and paints their deepest emotions. These three women deserved to have their inner hearts revealed, and delicately, Akhmatova justifies them to her readers. In her readers’ minds, Mary, Lot’s wife, and Rachel are no longer objective women, but true-to-life women who suffer pressing trials. Works Cited Akhmatova, Anna. "Rachel". Trans. D. M. Thomas.  Anna Akhmatova: Selected Poems. New York: Penguin, 1985. New Geneva Study Bible. New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995. PID 8047 1 Marlow Engl. 12. Sect. 37

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac :: essays research papers

"Physical Laws should have mathematical beauty." This statement was Dirac's response to the question of his philosophy of physics, posed to him in Moscow in 1955. He wrote it on a blackboard that is still preserved today.[1] Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (1902-1984), known as P. A. M. Dirac, was the fifteenth Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933 with Erwin Schrodinger.[2] He is considered to be the founder of quantum mechanics, providing the transition from quantum theory. The Cambridge Philosophical Society awarded him the Hopkins Medal in 1930. He was awarded the Royal Medal by the Royal Society of London in 1939 and the James Scott Prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1952 the Max Plank Medal came from the Association of German Physical Societies, as well as the Copley Medal from the Royal Society. The Akademie der Wissenschaften in the German Democratic Republic presented him with the Helmholtz Medal in 1964. In 1969 he received the Oppenheimer Prize from the University of Miami. Lastly in 1973, he received the Order of Merit.[3] Dirac was well known for his almost anti--social behavior, but he was a member of many scientific organizations throughout the world. Naturally, he was a member of the Royal Society, but he was also a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforsher and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He was a foreign member of Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques and the Academie des Sciences, the Accademia delle Scienze Torino and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the National Academy of Science. He was an honorary member and fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, the Chinese Physical Society, the Royal Irish Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the National Institute of Sciences in India, the American Physical Society, the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in India, the Royal Danish Academy, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.[4] The world wide respect he earned for his work was well deserved. A prolific writer, Dirac published over two hundred works between 1924 and 1987, mainly papers in physics journals on topics relating to quantum mechanics. His book Principles of Quantum Mechanics , published in 1930, was the first textbook in the discipline and became the standard.[5] Some predictions made by Dirac are still untested because his theoretical work was so far reaching, but many other predictions have been verified, assuring him of a special place in the history of physics.[6] Dirac was three years old when Einstein published his famous papers on

Art Comparison Essay example -- essays research papers

Compare and Contrast Works of Art Bright colors jumping at you asking for attention, images so real viewers can not tell the difference. These are the thoughts that came to my head as I gazed at two works of art by two Mexican artists at MoLAA museum of art . I visited two museums, Bowers Museum of cultural Art in the heart of Southern California and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach for my report unfortunately I only liked the works in MoLAA and will talk about it through out my paper. I will talk about two Mexican artists Rafael Cauduro and David Alfaro Siqueros that caught my eye, and made me want to learn more of them and their approach to art. Siqueiros caught my eye and interest because according to his biography â€Å"no individual associated with the arts with the possible exception of Andrà © Malraux, had been involved in direct political action more than David Alfaro Siqueiros† (Siqueiros Biography online). Personally that to me said a lot and that got me intrigued, and made me want to know more about him and his work. Cauduro on the other hand got me intrigued through his illusionistic approach to art and interpretation of his view of things. Eve thought they seem like different approach to art they are both similar in different ways. My first artist is Rafael Cauduro. Rafael Cauduro was born in capital city of Mexico and now resides in the city of Cuernavaca (state of Morelos) 1950. Rafael started out making superior studies of architecture and industrial design in the Latin American University in Mexico City. According to his biography Cauduro is a self taught painter who steps outside of traditional artist’s standard. Cauduro’s paintings contain a â€Å"trompe de l’oeil† (Fool the eye) quality as indicated in by how in his paintings walls, fences, and objects are so real that people can almost touch them. To the visual realism of Cauduros work, according to critic Ruiz Soto, adds what he termed â€Å"critical illusion† which combines an extreme technical proficiency with fantasy-filled concepts(www.rafael cauduro.com). Rafael Cauduro painting technique is of a surrealism in which the reality of dreams, or subconscious mind are as more real than the surface reality of everyday life (Sayre p.51). Cauduro paints in a Surrealistic way usually portraying the forces of dreams and subconscious that he has been famous for. This artistic movement originat... ...eiros and Cauduro works are politically motivated, but like people, depict them in their own way. Siqueiros because of his military background and more no nonsense look at life is more straight forward as compared to Cauduro, but have similar objectives. Cauduro a more recent unknown artist is more contemporary in the sense that explorers the mind of viewers and makes them think and come with their own conclusion of his views. I liked both of these artist and enjoyed learning more about them and how similar they were, yet so different in terms of style. Art is a language of its own and with out he proper understanding, people are like expression goes â€Å"left on the outside looking in†. In other words, people without the proper understanding of art, technique and form as well as other elements can’t appreciate a work of art as much as when you understand why an artist painted in the way they did and what they are trying to get across to his audience. Despite artists attempts to try and make their works as viewer friendly as possible, without the understanding and knowledge gained from an art class as this one people will never fully understand the a work of art as it is meant to be.

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto Book Critique Essay

McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Subway, Jimmy Johns, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s and countless other food places are visited by thousands of Americans each day. Sadly, because of the convenience and price I am one of these people who give in to the endless fast food options we have in America today. Grocery shopping for most Americans is buying food that is the â€Å"best bargain,† or something you can get your moneys worth for. Quantity over quality is the mindset that a lot of people have in today’s society and how can you blame them? With rising costs in every aspect of living, a lot of people cannot afford to purchase organic, better quality food. Reading Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto has surprisingly helped me in becoming a better consumer and to make healthier choices in what I eat on a regular basis. As the title suggests, throughout the book the author tries to get the reader to take common sen se approaches in improving the way they eat. The main argument he points out is that having science incorporated into the way we eat (especially the additives and chemicals put into foods) has vastly decreased the quality of our food and increased diseases and health complications in America. The â€Å"Western diet† compared to other regions of the world is obviously not the best diet and it would be in the best interest of everyone to go back to a more traditional diet. Pollan also wants us to remember to â€Å"Eat food, not too much. Mostly plants.† Interestingly enough while I was writing this paper I was drinking Mango Passion Fruit Juice from Welch’s and I thought I would read the ingredients because there is a section in Pollan’s book that says to not eat or drink things with ingredients you don not know or cannot even pronounce. My juice contained high fructose corn syrup, filtered water, apple juice concentrate, mango puree concentrate, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid, gum acacia, beta carotene (color), and ester gum. Most of the ingredients listed sound like they are from a science laboratory experiment and not the ingredients needed to make simple fruit juice. Pollan discusses many methods an d guidelines of how to eat healthy and what foods to avoid and to eat more of. Throughout the book the main arguments that I thought were the most important and that I agree with was that having science dictate what we deem is healthy or nutritious in our diet should be changed and have us go  back to traditional diets, that foods are essentially the sum of their nutrient parts, nutritionalism (the history of the isolated nutrients in our diet) is not a good approach to eating and the food manufacturing industry does not help the consumer’s health because all they really care about is marketing their products and increasing yields, and that our mindset when eating and purchasing food should be quality over quantity. The first main argument from In Defense of Food is the one that says having science dictate what we deem is healthy or nutritious in our diet should be changed and we should go back to traditional diets (versus a Western diet). An article by Livestrong.com compares a specific Asian diet versus a western one. The traditional Japanese diet includes fresh fish, rice, soy, vegetables, fruits, and green tea, while the Western diet relies heavily on red meat, poultry, fried foods, and processed foods that are high in salt or added sugar (Campbell). Looking at the two diets from a broad perspective and not from a narrow scientific view, it seems that the Japanese diet seems much more healthy to the consumer. Another few guidelines he lays out is that people should eat whole foods, purchase free range meats, buy from fair and local farmers markets or even directly from the farmer, savor your meals at the table with friends or family, avoid foods your great grandmother would not recognize, and to grow a garden to get the most fresh, ripe produce. I whole-heartedly agree on all of these points. It seems that the most natural and close you can get your food from the original source itself, the better quality it will be. There are many health claims and benefits about eating free-range meats, which include less cruelty inflicted on the animals, being able to obtain better nutrients from the meat itself, and to help local farmers. Compared to free range meats, conventional meats are fed a specific grain diet that increases rapid weight gain (Walls-Thumma). There actually is a difference in the meat that comes from rapid weight gained animals from the slow free-range animals. Slow growing animals produce meat with lower lipid content and higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids, making this type of animal attractive from a nutritional point of view (Bianchi et al. 318). In today’s world, science and technology are a part of our everyday lives and has improved our quality of life tremendously. With such improvements in our well being due to science, it seems silly that there would be a drawback to having â€Å"too much science† in one’s life. However,  with the increase in health conscious consumers, most food products that are currently sold have added ingredients in them to make them more nutritious. Jennifer L. Pomeranz writes that health and nutrition claims have been shown to increase consumers’ perception of healthfulness and willingness to purchase the products. However, studies indicate that these claims are misleading and confusing, detract from the use of the Nutrition Facts Panel, generate inaccurate references and often convey healthiness for products that do not meet objective nutrition standards (2). Minute Maid’s Cranberry Apple Cocktail advertises that it is â€Å"all natural† but in actuality contains citric acid, while Thomas’ Hearty Grain English Muffins claim the muffins are â€Å"made with the goodness of whole grain† but is mostly unbleached enriched wheat flour (white flour) (Center for Science in the Public Interest). This goes along with not eating anything your great grandmother would not recognize as food. Too many people are informed on diet by untrustworthy marketing with little knowledge of real science, and even scientists cannot agree with each other. One report would claim that saturated fats are bad while another claims they are healthy (Parker-Pope). Pollan writes that in response to the 1977 and 1982 dietary guidelines, animal scientists genetically bred for leaner pigs and beef. A pork chop could now compete with chicken and be advertised as having â€Å"reduced saturated fat intake.† Genetically modified foods have been ever increasing in our supermarkets and grocery stores because they can be produced in greater quantities and at lower costs. Alcaraz, Bellows, and Hallman reports that by 2004 the U.S. accounted for 59% of the total area cropped with genetically modiï ¬ ed varieties worldwide. This proportion could grow in the coming years due to the increasing rate of adoption of genetically modified crops by U.S. farmers (541). Several health concerns have been raised by researchers on genetically modified foods including not having enough research done on the long and short-term effects on our bodies, how the changes may mutate within our bodies, and the loss of natural seeds (taken from native wild plants) from be ing replaced by genetically modified seeds (Domingo 722). The ideology of nutritionalism (isolated nutrients in our diet) is not in any means a good approach to eating. Throughout the book there are several examples of how overall a particular diet is great for a group of people, but when the nutrients are isolated and added to other  foods, the achieved health effects are not the same. Nonessential and essential nutrients cannot be considered to operate in isolation; rather, they work in a dynamic, constantly changing milieu. Greater attention to all components of the diet and elaboration of their interactions should make possible specific and appropriate recommendations for the general population and allow for recommendations tailored to specific subgroups or individuals (Milner 1658). Also, the food manufacturing industry promotes false health advertising in order to market their products and increase yield. They have helped to justify â€Å"foods† such as vitamin enriched Diet Coke and bread with Omega-3 fatty acids (Pollan 53, 80). Similar to nutritionalism, reductionism also takes complex things and reduces them to simpler constituents. Reductionism as a way of understanding how certain foods or drugs work may be harmless and quite beneficial, but when it comes to actually practicing it by applying to the way we eat (reducing foods and plants to their most salient compounds), can lead to problems. Nutrition scientists especially those involved with conveying health messages should adopt as their primary public health perspective one which recognizes that the influence of diet on health and diseases likely results not only from the subtle effects of a vast multitude of individual food components but from whole foods and the interactions that occur among t heir constituents (Appel et al. 1417). By isolating nutritional elements from the whole foods package in which they originate, food manufacturers can convince us that their highly-processed and nutrient-poor products are heart healthy, rich in omega-3’s, contain zero trans fat, provide daily fiber requirements, or contain no cholesterol. Lastly, I thought that one of the more important arguments Pollan talked about in the book was how we should consume and purchase food that chooses the value of that product over the amount of what we are purchasing. However, in today’s world where our food system is organized around quantity rather than quality, the more low quality food one eats, it seems that the more one wants to eat in a unsuccessful but highly profitable quest for the absent nutrient (Pollan 124). Farmers have doubled or tripled the yield of most major grains, fruits and vegetables over the last half-century. American agriculture’s single-minded focus on increasing yields over the last half-century created a blind spot where incremental erosion in the nutritional quality of our food has occurred. The concentration of a range  of essential nutrients in the food supply has declined in the last few decades, with double-digit percentage declines of iron, zinc, calcium, selenium and other essential n utrients across a wide range of common foods. As a consequence, the same-size serving of sweet corn or potatoes, or a slice of whole wheat bread, delivers less iron, zinc and calcium (Halweil 5). Understanding not just what to eat to obtain our nutrients in the best way possible, but in how to eat will help to improve people’s lives that are on the Western diet. Many health problems, avoidable deaths, and other negative factors that have come from the way they eat will be eliminated if we take into consideration the many valid points that Michael Pollan lists in his book. The few arguments Pollan listed that I was able to validate from other sources were the ones that I thought were the most important but by no means were they the only ones.