Magdalena And Balthasar Essays - Steven Ozment, Biblical Magi

Magdalena And Balthasar Based upon evidence, fact, and logical reasoning, Steven Ozment explores the relationship of a sixteenth century German merchant and his wife. The piece talks about the hardships of long distance marriage, the Black Plague that swept through Germany, the death of their only child, and the business that helps bind the two lovers together. One of the tactics that Magdalena and Balthasar use to keep each other sane, is the writing of love letters back and forth. No matter where they may be just to make sure that their undivided love will never part. The nature of the relationship between Magdalena and Balthasar consisted of a very strong love for one another. They exchanged love letters whenever Balthasar had to go away on a business trip. The first place he wrote to his wife was from Lucca. Magdalena would receive his letter about three to four weeks later in their hometown of Nuremberg. Eight of the letters written were from Balthasar and three were from Magdalena. "Magdalena receives all Balthasar's letters with ?longing and heartfelt joy'. A letter from him at Christmas time becomes ?a true gift from the Christ Child'" (Ozment 28). With every written letter, a sense of love and devotion is seen. "I have at 12:00 this might received with great longing your letter of November 11. As I had carefully considered and calculated the mail delivery with which your reply to my letter must come, I waited with longing for a letter last Sunday" (28). This quote shows that Balthasar is devoted to his wife because he is willing to give up a good day's worth of trading just to hear from her. Besides all the love that was expressed between the couple in their letters, some tensions are seen. For example, Magdalena became angry with Balthasar because he did not write back to her as soon as he received her new letter. Something like this would worry most wives during this era due to the high death rate caused by germs, viruses, and the Black Plague. "Magdalena complains on December 1 that she has not heard from Balthasar for over two weeks and accuses him of giving his business mail priority over writing to her" (45). Magdalena is a prime example of most women because they both like to be put ahead of everything else in the world. Little Balthasar was the child of Balthasar and Magdalena in the story. He was born with a deformity in his neck that could not be cured. The old fashioned treatment that was given was a type of ointment called salve. Little Balthasar saw his father as a man with near-magical powers. Anything the young lad asked for, his father would try his hardest to get it to him. Otherwise, Magdalena would write in her letter how perfect of a child they had. "Magdalena is advocate and sentinel for her son, reminding the absent father of the boy's worthiness and encouraging paternal recognition and praise... ?You must have a satin purse made for little Balthasar'" (92). Magdalena devoted herself to little Balthasar's education and training. He was attending music lessons by the age of seven. His teacher was even praising him because she never had a pupil grasp the fundamentals so quickly. With the success of new talent, Magdalena insists that Balthasar ought to send his son something. "Balthasar treated gifts strictly as incentives for good conduct, using them to threaten the boy into behaving well" (94). In the reply letter from his wife, Balthasar instructs her to tell her son how he should be acting. "Magdalena is worried that Balthasar played too much upon the boy's emotions and did not realize the harsh impact his words and actions could have" (94). He also said that the "quality of their relationship upon his return would depend on his behavior during his absence" (94). Things like this would scare a child into being a perfect angel. Balthasar's plan wad to keep order in his house while he was on business. When little Balthasar was eight-years-old, he became ill with worms and dropsy. Neither doctor that looked at him could determine a remedy that would eliminate his pain. Everything from enemas, herbal purgatives, and stomach plasters diluted some of the pain, but not all of it. Magdalena wrote to her husband to come home immediately because she did not know when their son was going to die. Three days after sending the letter, little Balthasar passed away. Magdalena wept for a while and it is

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buy custom Health Improvement in Taiwan essay According to the Taiwan Association of Medical Experts for the Study of Obesity, 33.1 percent of males and 21.4 percent of females in Taiwan were considered Obese as of the year 2010 (Chang, 2011). Opitz and Gilbert-Barness (2007) state that the obesity has been classified as a leading preventable cause of deaths universally with large scale studies in American and European continents being carried out. This indicates that obesity-related deaths are more prevalent with increasing Body Mass Indices (BMI). In the U.S. alone, obesity causes between 110,000 to 365,000 deaths each year, and 1.7 million people in Europe die from overweight-related complications per year (World Health Organization, 2012).Other regions in the world are similarly affected, except Sub-Saharan Africa, the only region where obesity is currently not a major threat. An even larger number of persons in each region are considered overweight, pausing serious health concerns over the long term period. Important studie s have been carried out to create awareness in people regarding their health status (Opitz Gilbert-Barness, 2007). This essay will focus on public health awareness in Taiwan and obesity statistics as a particular case of the effect of health awareness. Health, Weight, and Obesity Health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the state of complete well-being mentally, physically, and spiritually and not the absence of disease (Chang, 2011). The environment, mainly the state of the air, water, and living quarters, is a key determinant of individuals and societys health. According to the WHO, other health determinants are social and economic environments, the individual behavior, as well as the physical environment (WHO, 2011). As food security situations become better and lifestyle changes lead towards less physical activity, more people throughout the world face the risk of becoming overweight while an increasingly large umber are becoming obese. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to determine if one is overweight, underweight, normal weight, or obese. Obesity is a state of having excessive body fat. In many instances, obesity results from the lack of exercise, where one intakes high fat food. Few cases take place where it may be caused by genetic p roblems, certain medication, as well as certain mental diseases (Chang, 2011). Taiwan The Journal of Clinical Nursing administered questionnaires to 816 male and 781 female high school students in 2007-2008 with the aim of finding out their status of health literacy and how this affected obesity prevalence (World Health Organization, 2012). The study also focused on the respondents' awareness of their family incomes as well the education level of their parents. Students were taken from six schools, with 55% of respondents in senior high school and the rest in vocational high school. Most were currently living with their parents (World Health Organization, 2012). Health awareness was assessed using six items: nutrition, appreciation of life, stress management, health responsibility, and social support and exercise. 1620 forms were filled and returned, whereby health literacy scores were awarded as follows. All students who scored above 75 percent on the health awareness scale were awarded a high level health literacy status. Those who scored below 25 percent on the HL form were classified as having low health literacy, the rest were termed as medium level HL students (Opitz Gilbert-Barness, 2007). Results The results showed that 40.6 % were high level HL respondents, 49.3 % were medium level HL respondents while 9.7 % were low level HL. 68.3 % of senior high school respondents were ethnic Taiwanese who knew their parents monthly incomes and had college graduate parents. These students tended to have higher HL scores than those in vocational scchools or had no knowledge of their family incomes and had non-college graduate parents. This shows the role of family support and educations as well as the type of school attended in promoting Health Literacy. 51.4 % reported having had health problems, and 59.2 % as having poor health. There was found a correlation between health literacy and health status (Opitz Gilbert-Barness,2007). Additionally, low health literate students appeared to have less knowledge concerning health promoting behavior (were less aware of nutritional contributions to health and had poorer interpersonal relations) (Chang, 2011). However, little evidence was found to suggest that low HL students exercised less or had poorer stress management skills. The achievement of a healthy body weight is a key factor in preventing obesity. It is necessary to continually promote health literacy in students in order to sensitize them on the healthy body mass index (BMI) range and, further, to help them maintain it by choosing the type of food to use as well as the role of exercise and good interpersonal relations (Chang, 2011). As the studies indicate, only 40.6 % were well informed about the existing health issues (Opitz Gilbert-Barness, 2007). Obesity is, in most cases, related to controllable health practices, such as nutrition and exercise, yet its presence can enormously raise chances of other diseases like heart diseases and diabetes. Informing the society about all the simple ways of maintaining healthy practices as a way to prevent being overweight, thus significantly reducing chances of developing obesity should be the key factor in maintaining a healthy community (Chang, 2011). The studies in the above report suggest that more than a half of respondents are not sufficiently aware of what they need to do in order to remain healthy. Creating awareness through educational policies and community initiatives might help in reducing the obesity threat in Taiwanese communities (World Health Organization, 2012). Buy custom Health Improvement in Taiwan essay

Political attitude Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Political attitude - Essay Example s making students more aware of the political environment and nurture their minds in order for them to make well-informed political choices in the future. The education has increased my understanding of American values of political tolerance, free society and liberty and thus I can confidently make individual political decisions without being swayed away by popular media opinion. College has enabled me understand the importance of political tolerance and democracy in the US since I am capable of respecting other people’s political opinions. College faculty has the effect of indoctrinating students consciously since it allows the students to select their own political orientation after offering different views points and perspectives of a certain social issue. For instance, college faculty will outline the controversial debate of issues such as abortion or gun control and outline the arguments advanced by those who are either for or against the controversial societal issue. In this case, I am of the opinion that college faculty guides students in gaining more political awareness by teaching the basic tenets of democracy, freedom, and civil liberties that are outlined in the US Constitution. The faculty does not impose any political thought or attitudes to individual students and is not affiliated with any political party. The aim is to enable the students appreciate the multiple viewpoints of a particular political issue. College education has contributed to my development of a more realistic view of the world and thus I am able to make informed political decision without being influenced by the prevailing public opinion. I now understand the importance of participating in voting in ensuring change in the society or getting certain government policies