The Great Ireland Potato Famine Effects Essay -- Essays Papers

The Great Ireland Potato Famine Effects The Great Ireland Potato Famine was a horrible event that had many lasting effects. Some of these effects were starvation, disease, poverty, emigration, and lost traits. These effects plagued mostly western Ireland, but had an overall effect on all of Ireland. Many of the traditional ways of economics and society changed drastically because of the famine. Many people also blamed the British for letting the famine get so bad. These effects will be discussed throughout the paper. Starvation was one of the main effects of the Great Potato Famine, which was â€Å"unlike other subsistence crises† (Crawford, 114). The Irish people were very dependant on potatoes as a source of food. â€Å"The majority of the Irish peasants did not have access to the type of land or amount of land required for wheat (grain) production, and thus the potato became the crucial staple crop† (Braa 200). When the blight struck, the Irish people lost this source of food and had nothing else to turn to. For this reason, the people starved to death. Some people were so hungry that â€Å"they ate dogs and rats, often dogs and rats that had already eaten human corpses† (Leo, 16). The Irish people had no other knowledge of farming other crops because they had become so use to growing potatoes. They also did not have the stomach to eat different foods, like seafood, which resulted in a poor nutrition that led to many more deaths not from starvation, but from diseases. Diseases played a big part in the fatalities of the Irish people. Some of these diseases were â€Å"typhus and relapsing fevers, small pox, tuberculosis, dysentery, marasmus (starvation) and other famine disorders† (Crawford 135). These diseases did not just occu... ...ttle between the Irish and the British. The Irish people were ready to get out of their slavery from the British, and were ready to start a new life. They blamed the British, so they went after them. Soon enough, the Irish would get want they have been long wanting for. Works Cited Abbot, Patrick. Ireland’s Great Famine 1845-1849. Apr. 2000. 16 Jan. 2004 . Braa, Dean M. â€Å"The Great Potato Famine and the Transformation of Irish Peasant Society.† Science & Society 61.2 (1997) : 193-215. Crawford, E. Margaret. Famine: The Irish Experience. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers LTD, 1989. Daly, Douglas C. â€Å"Famine's ghost.† Natural History 105.1 (1996) : 6 Kinealy, Christine. The Great Irish Famine. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2002. Leo, John. â€Å"Of Famine and Green Beer.† U.S. News & World Report 122.11 (1997) : 16

Michelle and the Wedding Essay

She had been drifting in and out of consciousness in the way only a working man – or woman – could. Spending most of her days tap-tap-tapping away on a keyboard had taken its toll on her, and her attention span was now at the point where she spent most of the afternoon doing the open-eyed sleep that most office workers have perfected. She snapped out of it in time to see the computer clock flick to 5:10. â€Å"Damn† she swore to herself. She knew she was going to be late at this rate. Hurriedly she threw her things into her bag, grabbing her keys and phone and hammering on the keyboard with a vague hope that it would shut the computer down faster. Sadly, the outburst of violence seemed only to annoy the computer, causing it to dot out a long series of beeps. Guiltily, Michelle stood back and calmed herself down, hoping nobody saw or heard what she did. After what felt like forever it finally shut down. Breathing a sigh of relief she grabbed her bag and in one deft movement swept her coat onto her back, exchanging the bag between hands in a fluent split second, finishing with the bag on her shoulder. She smiled to herself; she knew that Phil would have seen it, and knew how impressed he would be. How impressed he always was, in fact. She knew he had a crush on her, and he probably knew she was aware of that. She always took it lightly though. Everyone knew how happy she was with Jason. Not that anybody could blame him for liking her though. She was, when she wasn’t dozing, the life of the office; she knew everybody by first, last, and nickname, and was always chatting or making jokes. She was beautiful too, there was no denying that. With long brown hair contrasting with large blue eyes, she was a welcome change from the office bimbo. Her straight hair framed the side of her face, and added an accent to her sharp and well carved features. She was at the perfect height between tall enough to talk to properly, but small enough to avoid an awkward posture. She was slim with an athletic body, and always wore clothes that seemed plain yet pretty. Her skirt was never too short, her shirt never too low, and the effect of this was a feeling of wanting to see more. Nobody ever did though, she was far too attached to Jason. Or she would be, were she not running late. Fortunately, as she burst out onto the stairway, he seemed to be late too. She slowed down a bit as she always did on the stairs. Not for safety reasons – in fact, she always secretly hoped she’d fall so she could claim compensation – but because the stairs had enormous windows spanning two of the walls. She loved the view of the city at night. The far off street lights and headlamps glistened against the crystal-like windows, and the sky was a tranquil yellow with large dark clouds with glowing edges taking their mysterious formations for the night. No stars were out yet, but the moon was showing between the clouds, surrounded by light. She snapped out of her daydream again. Hurrying down the remaining steps, she was already fumbling for her keys. Stepping out of the building after saying goodbye to the security guard, she pulled her coat up around her neck. It was a bitter cold night, and the clouds above had given birth to a fine mist that hung over the car park, making it hard to breath and hard to see. She reached the car and unlocked it. It wasn’t hers; she never drove since her accident a few years back. She sat, tempted to turn on the heating, but she decided against it in favour of having rosy cheeks ready for Jason. Just as she was thinking that rosy was all very well and good, but blue and blotchy wasn’t, the door opened and in a swift movement he was in the car. She always felt out of breath when she saw him. He was tall, dark, and handsome. His eyes were deep and dark and his hair was short and rough looking. His face was well formed, giving him a huge smile that spread from his mouth to his ears. He was fairly tall at 6 foot, but he was well built and strong, with just a hint of muscle under his shirt. His lightly tanned skin glistened with condensation from the mist outside. He put out an arm and pulled Michelle close as he planted a kiss on her forehead. â€Å"Sorry I’m late†, he said meekly, as a grin flashed across his face again. â€Å"The boss held me back, refused to let me go!† â€Å"That’s fine† she responded, trying to fight back a similar smile. â€Å"I’ve been here since five, though. You need to tell your boss where to stick it!† She couldn’t hold the lie, and she laughed out loud with the last comment. She didn’t know why she was so giggly with him. It was as if she was a child again. Jason was the same though. He was very mature and patient, but he was very childish at heart. He was definitely the best of both worlds. She was the happiest she had ever been. When he had popped the big question four years ago, presenting a large diamond ring, she had almost fainted with joy. The wedding day was in a week’s time, and they were going to go see about renting a tuxedo for him. Sadly, that was cut short. Due to the pair of them being late, the city centre was brimming with people and the stores were doing their best to close on time. Feeling a little dismayed, they headed home. Michelle was cursing to herself. She had tried so many times to make this journey, as had Jason, but they never seemed to be able to get to the stores. Listening to â€Å"Men In Black† on the radio, she smiled to herself as she made a mental note that irony is a cruel thing. During next day’s lunch break she went to the smaller town centre to pick up her wedding dress. She had selected the perfect one before she had even been proposed to, shortly after her best friend’s wedding. It was a magnificent dress. The train was long and frilly, and the dress itself felt and looked silky. It was covered by a fine layer of lace, and the whiteness was so bright it was practically radiant. Michelle felt slightly disheartened when her name didn’t seem to be down for collection. Well, she was disheartened in a â€Å"shout and scream loud swear words and start tearfully stamping† kind of way. After the young shop assistant managed to calm her (by pointing her towards the coffee machine) the manager had sorted everything out. Her dress looked even more beautiful than before. She phoned her boss and told her she wouldn’t be in for the rest of the day. Well, she had to try the dress on, didn’t she? Indeed she did, and as she danced around the living room when she first got home the urge was getting stronger and stronger. She decided to make a drink first – it had been a tough day. She made up her cup of coffee and set it on the chest of drawers in the front room, and hurried into the bedroom to try the dress on. She looked fabulous. The whiteness of the dress blended immaculately with her pale complexion, and as she ran her fingers along the surface of the fabric it shimmered with a silky glow. She heard a knock on the door – that’d be Emily, her best friend, to see the dress. She ran excited out into the living room, having completely forgot that she set the mug up on the chest of drawers just outside the room†¦ She had booked the next day off of work to meet up with the wedding planner. She spent the best part of three hours sat in an unfriendly feeling office whilst having various cards and brochures thrown at her. The defense mechanism she had perfected throughout her professional life kicked in, and her eyes glazed over as she started to daydream. She started by wondering what the wedding planner was giving her all these things for. Surely the whole point of a wedding planner is to avoid the brochure flipping? Deep inside, she cursed all wedding planners into a large cage, which she then dropped off a large cliff. Unfortunately, there was one which had not been able to fit inside the cave, but this one quickly had his clothes torn off by a ferocious bear. He had a willy in the shape of a pig’s tail. She laughed, startling the wedding planner and herself so much that the two of them jumped out of their seats. The planner quickly replaced her look of shock with her familiar scowl, and said in a tone similar to that used to discipline young puppies said â€Å"Since you seem to find the fact that this churches graveyard is a funny thing, I suppose you won’t be put off by a feeling of death at your wedding.† Trying hard to hide her grin, now bought on merely by the adrenaline rush she had when she startled herself, she simply nodded. At this point, after something going wrong every single time she tried to arrange anything, she just wanted the wedding to go ahead and didn’t care how much death, tuxedos, or indeed people attended. She didn’t even care if Jason was in a cheap Tesco suit or that she had to hurriedly form a white bouquet of flowers to cover the large coffee stain on her dress. The waiting room was a small and grotty place. Michelle never enjoyed sitting there; the padding was thin on the seats, and her bum always felt sore. She also had a habit of going away on another daydream. Not that that was such a bad thing though; she would far rather be flying away with neon spaceships than sat with increasingly numbing buttocks. Sipping at a cup of lukewarm water, she tapped her feet on the floor, nodding her head along with the resulting rhythm. She was so caught up in her thoughts and tapping that she didn’t even notice the man run in and shoot the wedding planner, before setting fire to the office. She didn’t bat an eyelid when the sirens wailed, and the shocked bystanders looked in as she sat in a burning room, surrounded by flames, tapping her feet in time to nonexistent music. She didn’t even cast a glance towards the yelling policeman and fireman, whilst the flames climbed slowly up her arms and legs. She didn’t even flinch when a beam fell from the ceiling, exploding into a strangely attractive shower of sparks. She didn’t care, because she’d been there so many times before. Michelle woke up. She was sweating, she was breathing heavily and she was shaking, but she didn’t cry. She didn’t let out any screams. She sat up slowly, her head brimming. She had so many thoughts racing around, it was hard to make out what she was thinking. She walked slowly towards the room of her cell, and clawed weakly at the padding as she had done so many times before. Part of her was sobbing silently inside, mourning for Jason even though four years had passed since he was hurled through the windscreen of her car, bouncing like a rag doll down the rocky and hilly terrain of Norway. Outside, the workers at Dorsetshire County Asylum started preparing for the day shift.

Essay about Gangs - 692 Words

Being that the closest that I have ever come to gangs or gangs violence is in television of movies, this topic intrigued me. What makes a person want to become part of something that is so violent and dangerous? Why would someone risk everything to put their lives on the line for people that are not even their blood relatives? As I read the material that I found in the library about gangs, I found out a lot about how this childrens though process works. They believe that the gang members are their family; to them it is not seen as the sinister organization of careless violence as it is to us quot;normalquot; Americans. To them the gang is their family. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Children are joining gangs at younger ages; our†¦show more content†¦In some cases they are traveling out of state to spread their violence and crime. Gang members range in age from 8 to 22 years old, but there are exceptions. Some gangs have members as old as 40. Trying to explain why children become part of a gang is something that has been a question for sometime. The reason given most often is that gangs to these children are like a family. So many of the gang members come from broken homes, or are victims of child abuse. The gang to these kids believe it or not is like a safe haven from the violence that they see at home. Also the industry can be partially blamed for the increase in children joining gangs. Not to say that just because a child likes quot;gangsterquot; rap and watches violent T.V. shows and movies, that they are going to join a gang. But if you add the violence in the home, abuse, neglect and the media then you have a recipe for a child that will be more likely to join a gang. The main word that I feel can be attributed to children joining gangs or become delinquent is supervision. The lack of supervision by a parent or responsible adult can lead the child to wander and become influenced strongly by the wrong people. The media also glorifies gang violence, with the language, colors, and symbols. In videos we seeShow MoreRelatedGang Report On Gang Groups840 Words   |  4 Pages2013 National Gang Report, gangs continue to flourish, progress, and develop criminal tradecrafts (p. 3). Based on state, local, and federal law enforcement reporting, the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) calculated that the US gang composition is approximately 88 percent street gang members, 9.5 percent prison gang members, and 2.5 percent outlaw motorcycle gang (OMG) members. Street gangs pose the most violent and significant threat in most communities, while prison gangs are viewed asRead MoreCharacteristics Of Chicago Gang Gangs988 Words   |  4 Pagescharacteristics of Chicago’s gangs of the 1920 was the division across ethnic lines. In other words, representatives of the same ethnic group stuck together and frowned upon the inclusion of outsiders into their gangs. Of course, larger gangs were often multiethnic, but their core was predominantly monoethnic. The same tendency prevailed across the country, as gangs in New York and Philadelphia were also increasingly homogenous. Asian triads, Italian mafia, Irish and Jewish gangs were all incestuous organizationsRead MoreGangs: Crime and Gang Violence1549 Words   |  7 PagesGangs Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today s cities. What has made these groups come about? Why do kids feel that being in a gang is both an acceptable and prestigious way to live? The long range answer to these questions can only be speculated upon, but in the short term the answers are much easier to find. On the surface, gangs are a direct result of human beings personal wants and peer pressure. To determine how to effectively end gang violence weRead MoreAfrican American Gang Gangs1943 Words   |  8 Pagesis relative in space and time. Gangs are a seen as a deviant subculture within itself. While not all gang members have a criminally deviant agenda, many do perform deviant acts such as graffiti, robbery, larceny, assault, drug deals and homicide. Regardless of what the intentions of joining are, becoming a gang member is considered a deviant behavior in our society. There are different types of gangs such as street gangs, prison gangs, motorcycle gangs, ethnic gangs etc. For this paper, the focusRead MoreThe Violence Of Gangs And Gangs1377 Words   |  6 PagesGangs have become one of the nation’s fastest growing problems within recent history. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with about 2.4 million members are criminally active in the U.S. today. They use violence to control neighborhoods and boost their illegal moneymaking activities, which include but are not limited to: robbery, drug and gun trafficking, fraud, extortion, and prostitute rings. With as much researchRead MoreU.s. Gangs And The Gangs1317 Words   |  6 Pagesoriginated with U.S. gangs in an effort for drug cartels to amp up and focus on their production, leaving the logistics to the gangs. The drug cartels have chosen to align with U.S. gangs based on similar philosophies of honor, a llegiance, and loyalty combined with similar business practices and levels of hierarchy. The largest U.S. gangs are structured similarly to giant corporations that succeed with levels of management teams with the ultimate goal of profit, U.S. gangs are no different as theyRead MoreGangs And Gang Crimes All Together2177 Words   |  9 PagesI have chosen to write my paper on Gangs and Gang crimes all together. I want to explain the history and reasoning of modern gangs and how and why they came about. I also want to give examples of some of the most common gangs known world wide and examples of the crimes they commit. I will also include insight on the reasoning behind the joining of gangs. Lastly, I would like to go into some detail about the criminal investigation of gang crimes. I have chosen this topic because I believe it is oneRead MoreDo Gang Behavior And Gang Affiliation?1845 Words   |  8 Pagesacknowledge and challenge communities to recognize gang behavior and gang aff iliation. This paper will also describe the culture and what it means to be in a gang; key findings of the research; recommendations the community can employ to remedy the need; and discussions and implications for further study. Keywords: African-American, Black men, Hip hop, Rap music, Nigga â€Å"There are approximately 27,900 gangs, with 774,000 members, impacting towns, cities, andRead MoreClassification of Gangs847 Words   |  4 PagesClassification of Gangs Introduction The problem of classifying gangs has interested both sociologists and law enforcement. For the purpose of law enforcement, a gang is generally defined as an organized group among the members of which there is well-designed communication. This paper evaluates classification schemes from current research for gangs. The objective is to discover the issues and problems in creating classifications for gangs including a definition which delineates what constitutes a gang and differentiatesRead MoreGangs and Injunctions1330 Words   |  6 PagesGangs and Injunctions Criminal activities and gangs have mostly always been an on going problem in the United States. Gangs and gang members are frequently involved with a variety of different crimes. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey reported that there are approximately 774,000 active gang members in the United States (Egley, Howell, Moore, 2010). The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey also states that there are about 27,900 active gangs in the United States (Egley et al., 2010). The active