Process essayA PROCESS OF DIGESTION

The digestive process is important in maintaining the lives of living organisms and in providing them with needed energy. Groups of organs, such as the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines, work together to perform this complex task. Digestion is theprocess of breaking down food from large molecules into small ones to makeit easier for absorption. The three major steps involved in the digestive process are ingestion, digestion, and absorption.

Ingestion, which occurs in the mouth, is the first step of the digestive process. After food enters the mouth, the teeth chew it. Saliva, which is produced by the salivary glands, plays a major role in breaking down the food into smaller pieces. These small pieces travel to the stomach through the esophagus.

In the stomach, the second step of the digestive process begins. When the chewed food reaches the bottom of the esophagus, a valve lets the food enter the stomach. Contraction of the stomach wall mixes the food. Acidic gastric juices, which are secreted by the gastric glands in the stomach, help in mixing the food and in turning it intoa partial liquid so it will have the ability to move into the small intestine.In the small intestine, enzymes are secreted, and digestion is completed.

The last step in the digestive process is absorption. Absorption takes place in the small intestine. The wall of the small intestine is lined with small, finger like projections called villi. Small molecules of food are absorbed by the huge number of villi. Someof these absorbed molecules enter the bloodstream to be distributed throughout the whole body.

In conclusion, the digestive process involves three major steps: ingestion, digestion, and absorption. Ingestion, which occurs in the mouth, helps to increase the surface are of the food particles and prepares them for digestion. In the stomach, digestion begins, and it continues until it reaches the small intestine, where absorption takes place. The digestive process maintains organisms' lives by providing them with energy needed for different functions.

cause and effect essay

What Causes Low Self-Esteem?

Throughout the recent decades, psychology has become extremely popular in western countries. Starting from all kinds of coaching programs, personality trainings, and professional psychotherapy sessions, psychology is constantly being at the center of public attention. Terms like "subconsciousness," "psychological resistance," "self-esteem," calls to "love yourself" and "accept your uniqueness" sound from almost everywhere. At the same time, people seem to often simplify and misunderstand the basics of psychology. People talk about how important it is to increase self-esteem and accept oneself—but no one says how exactly this can be done, or what may become an obstacle. Self-esteem, in particular, is the term that is juggled with the most frequently; "increasing self-esteem" is probably the most popular advice people give to each other on every possible occasion. At the same time, as it is often the case in psychology, low self-esteem is not just the way a person thinks about himself or herself, but rather a complex aggregate of behavioral and mental patterns, changing which requires much more patience and effort than simply saying to oneself, "I am awesome." Let us take a closer look at what exactly causes people to underestimate themselves.

Decreased self-esteem, or the inhibited feeling of self-worth is influenced, as it is often the case, by the problems in communication with authoritative others in childhood. This is especially true if a child is raised while being constantly criticized, taught how to do things "right," and not appreciated no matter how hard he or she tries, or shamed and blamed. This causes a child to grow up into an adult that constantly doubts his or her worth, trying to please other people in order to gain acceptance or to avoid critics. At the same time, there is a "passive" way parents can harm their child. Even if they do not criticize their child, inactive, emotionally-cold parents contribute to a child developing low self-esteem in the future; children need to feel love and attention from their parents, and if parents are preoccupied and do not (or cannot) notice their child's behaviors, accomplishments, and manifestations, it can also cause psychological harm. A child in such a family may feel unnoticed, unimportant, and abandoned. This may cause a person to develop a need to "apologize" for their existence—for example, trying to be "useful," or justify the fact of his or her life in some other ways. In addition, when parents or other authoritative figures raising a child are in conflict with each other, it can pose psychological danger as well: feeling overwhelmed and scared by constant conflicts, a child may develop a sense of guilt, considering himself or herself somehow responsible for the fact that adults are fighting with each other. This may result in feeling "tainted," "guilty," and can be carried on into adult life (Psychology Today).

Children, when in groups, can be extremely cruel—this is a well-known fact, although it does not mean that children are bad: because they are in the process of adopting and understanding social norms, since they are only learning empathy and compassion, children often cannot distinguish between what is wrong and what is right. As a result, they can cause physical and psychological pain to each other. Rather often, there is a child who is somehow different from others: poorer, smarter, awkward, and so on; such children usually become objects for bullying and hatred. Negative attitudes from peers and being subjected to bullying decreases self-esteem dramatically. It is an innate need of every person to be a part of some group, to be respected and recognized; even for adults, it can be difficult to stay in a hostile or negligent collective of people. For children, it can be devastating: having to face hostile environments day by day, year by year (for example, because a child has to go to the same school, and is ashamed to tell his or her parents about being bullied and humiliated) may cause an individual to think that something is wrong with them, that they are somehow "bad" or inferior (Good Choices Good Life). Needless to say that such feelings transit to adult life, causing painful doubts in a person's self-worth, obstructing communication and trust with other people, and making such a person to feel ashamed for every small discrepancy in their looks, way of thinking, and so on.

Yet another way to cause a child to develop low self-esteem is abuse: emotional, physical, or sexual—it does not matter. Any case of abuse is a potential psychological trauma, which can remain in a child's psyche for years (sometimes for his or her entire life); abuse in the past may even cause PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), which only makes a child's condition worse, making him or her constantly feel "damaged" and worthless (self-confidence.co.uk). For many people, the facts of physical or any other abuse cause severe distress, and can lead to depression, addiction, and other forms of negative self-attitude. An abused child requires psychological help—the sooner, the better.

There are many ways in which parents, environments, and peers can cause a child to develop low self-esteem, which later transits to adult life. Negligence, emotional coldness, criticism, a lack of appreciation, bullying, humiliation, as well as abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual) can harm a child's psyche. In order to help a person overcome such traumas, the help of a professional psychotherapist may be needed.

Psychological Effects of Having an Abortion

Although public morals have become more flexible and indulgent in the 21st century compared to previous epochs, there are still questions and moral problems that are difficult to evaluate and treat without bias. Abortion is one of such issues; although many progressive people have nowadays become more tolerant to abortion, there are still many arguments—apart from public opinion—that speak against this procedure. In particular, abortion causes severe psychological and emotional damage to a woman who has undergone this surgery.

One of the most common dangers awaiting women who have committed an abortion is post-abortion syndrome (PAS). It is a complex of emotional and psychological symptoms connected with the traumatizing experience of terminating pregnancy. The most common PAS symptom is the sensation of guilt, connected to recognition of an abortion as a murder; at the same time, according to studies, about 70% of women who have had abortions disapproved of abortion in general, but tended to think of themselves as exceptions. Anger is another common emotion for women who have undergone an abortion. Usually, this anger is directed at oneself when completing an abortion, and/or other people involved in making a decision about the abortion, such as spouses or relatives; however, this anger may be also directed at the woman's current or future children. Broken relationships, psychological numbing, and depression are also a part of PAS (Leadership U).

The with its symptoms is not the only danger that possibly awaits women who have decided to terminate their pregnancies; there are other emotional and psychological problems that are not necessarily included into PAS. For example, a woman who has undergone an abortion procedure may develop such persistent symptoms as shame, a sense of isolation, a loss of self-confidence and/or trust in other people, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts. As an unpleasant bonus, these symptoms can be accompanied with various eating disorders (American Pregnancy Association).

Post-abortion women often develop defensive mechanisms, allowing them to cope with stress caused by abortion; one of them is repression, which manifests itself as ignoring or suppressing emotions. This leads to various psychosomatic illnesses, deviated behaviors, and other conditions requiring psychiatric assistance. According to a study conducted in Canada throughout five years, women who had an abortion tend to seek psychiatric help much more often than those who did not terminate pregnancy—25% versus 3% respectively. Teenagers, divorced or lonely women, and those who had more than one abortion are especially vulnerable, tending to need psychiatric care most often (AfterAbortion).

Terminating pregnancy is a serious procedure that causes harm not only to a fetus, but to a would-be mother as well. Apart from possible physiological risks, women who have undergone an abortion tend to have severe emotional and/or psychological problems. Among these problems are the post-abortion syndrome; a wide range of such problems as persistent shame, insomnia, eating disorders, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts; psychosomatic illnesses, deviant behaviors, and other symptoms requiring psychiatric help. All this proves that abortion is not a choice one should consider.

comparision and contrast

Early to mid-20th century was marked by the rise of many ruthless dictators who have brought much violence and terror to both their own citizens and many people abroad. The most notorious of these dictators, are surely, Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin of Soviet Russia. These dictators' reigns resulted in one of the most outstanding human rights abuses in the modern history. The Holocaust campaign, initiated by the Nazis, cost the lives of more than 13 million people (The Holocaust Death Toll). On the other hand, millions have perished under Stalin's ruthless gulags. It is often asked, whether Stalin's Soviet Union or Hitler's Germany was morally worse. In this essay, I will argue that while Stalin's atrocities were of course cannot ever be justified, Hitler's actions were morally worse, because Adolf Hitler was an ideologue, unlike Joseph Stalin.

Now, one must explain, what is an ideologue? An ideologue is someone who blindly adheres to one particular ideology. In modern times, we generally associate this word with negative connotations, although this does not have to be this way. Mahatma Gandhi was an ideologue, he adhered to the idea of non-violence. However, Hitler was also an ideologue. Hitler's whole political career was shaped around the ideology of Nazism, which was embroiled in xenophobia, anti-Semitism and fascism. Hitler never saw his ideology as a means to his goals, his ideology was both his means and his ultimate goal. Hitler's NSDAP (shortly known as the Nazi Party) was democratically elected by the German people and the party, ever since its inception, did not hide its ideology. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Joseph Stalin. In his critically acclaimed biography of Stalin, Isaac Deutscher claims that Stalin became a Bolshevik not because of his ideology, but rather he became a Bolshevik because of the circumstances (24). As a poor Georgian cobbler, Bolshevism opened a path away from the Tsarist oppression. Stalin was not an ideologue, on the contrary he was the ultimate pragmatist. The horrible atrocities of Stalin's era was purely caused Stalin's political pragmatism and paranoia, not because of ideology.

Although, many have claimed that atrocities such as the Ukrainian famine was deliberately caused by Stalin as a racial cleansing tool, there is no consensus of historians whether this was true or not (Marples). Stalin's pragmatism is also the reason why, where Hitler's actions have started a war that have affected millions and millions lives worldwide (because he was an ideologue who wanted to shape the world in his vision), Stalin's actions only affected people in the USSR.

In conclusion, in this essay I argued that Hitler's Germany was morally worse compared to Stalin's Soviet Union because Hitler was an ideologue, and the ideology he adhered to was a toxic one. Not only that, he had created millions of people who also adhered to his appalling beliefs. On the other hand, Stalin committed atrocities just because of his cult of personality, paranoia and political pragmatism. He was not an ideologue, in fact, many in his inner circle loathed the purges and collectivization. And if his acts were rooted in any ideology, his successors would continue Stalin's policies and the Soviet Union would collapse just like the Third Reich did. This does not justify the acts he has committed, but it gives us a perspective on the dangers of ideology in the hands of dangerous ideologues. A dictator, however vile he may be, will come and go just as any other dictator. However, toxic ideologies like the one Hitler has propagated will continue to haunt us for a very long time.

argumentative

  Single Parent Struggle For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewedas different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over thedecades it has become more prevalent. In today's society many children have grown upto become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to showthem the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in thedifference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a motherand a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figurearound? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parentsand step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguingargument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely onthe structure of a family but should be more focused on the process or values that aretaught to these children as they learn to mature. Children of single parents can be just asprogressive with emotional, social and behavioral skills as those with two parents. People claim that the only way for children to gain full emotional and behavioralskills is to be raised by both a mother and a father. When a topic such as this one has abroad amount of variables it is impossible to simply link these problems to only havingone parent. In the article, "Single-parent families cause juvenile crime", author Robert L.Maginnis states, "Children from single-parent families are more likely to have behavior Polito 2problems because they tend to lack economic security and adequate time with parents".The simple statement that raw criminals are products of single-parent adolescence isabsurd. What this writer must understand is that it can be extremely difficult for oneparent to raise a child by themselves for many reasons. A single-parent must work fulltime to be able to afford to provide for themselves and their child. They must also be ableto still have time to offer an exuberant amount of emotional time for the well being oftheir child. However, even though this may seem impossible, it can be done.As this subject continues to be looked down on people must realize that singleparents are becoming more common in today's world. Since 1995 the American familystructure for children ages fourteen to eighteen consists of forty-two percent living in afirst marriage family with both parents, twenty-two percent living in a second marriagestep-family, twenty-one percent living in a single parent, divorced or separated family,six percent living in a single parent never married family and three percent living in asingle parent widowed family. This is an extremely scary statistic considering that fiftyeightpercent of children in America are living in a single parent family. This is a chillingpercentage because it shows how little faith is put into a relationship before actuallydeciding to have children. Unfortunately not all single-parents take the time to performthe vital tasks needed to raise their children. Parents who think they would never be ableto provide emotional stability for their children by themselves should have taken the timeto think this through before deciding to become parents. Accidents may happen once inawhile but in most cases adults know what is at stake when planning to have a child.Plain and simple, if you're not ready, than don't do it. If you do decide to have this child Polito 3and you love this child, then you can be a good parent. There are many ways to enhancethe well being of your child if you simply apply yourselves as parents. Magginnis later states that, "Boys who do not have fathers as male role modelssuffer especially". While it is extremely important for a male child to have his fatheraround, there are other ways of teaching a young boy the lessons he needs to become aman. I know from personal experience that what the author of this article is trying toconvey is wrong. I never had my father around while growing up and I did in fact havemany positive male role models. My Grandfather was always there to help guide me as Islowly blossomed into a young man. Anytime my mother had to work to support us, mygrandparents, aunt's, uncles and cousins would step up and provide the time and attentionI needed. Therefore, I had the best support group I could have had as a young man. Beinga child with a single mother had its benefits. Although I came to find how hard it reallywas for her to always meet the needs of her child, she did the best job that she possiblycould and gave me the knowledge that I needed to become a successful man without theguidance of my father. I did however have the experience of dealing with a step-parent. Today, twentyfivepercent of all American children will spend at least some time of their growing-upyears in a stepfamily. This seems fine for single parents because they feel like they canstart over in a new relationship and receive help from their spouse both emotionally andfinancially. A step-parent can cause confusion and emotional stress on the child sincethey have just had to adjust to only one parent and now have to adjust to a new parentalfigure stepping into the family role. Another factor of bringing a step-parent into a singlefamily's life is new step-siblings to get along with. It might not be justified for a step- Polito 4parent to punish their step-child like they would their own flesh and blood. As long asboth parents have an understanding that their family comes first and that it is important tocommunicate between themselves and with the children, a step-family could survive.Children who are raised with both a mother and a father have more attention fromboth parents therefore they get the emotional time they need to progress in life. Thiscould be true but not in all circumstances. It would not be beneficial at all to grow up in atwo parent family who did nothing but argue and put each-other down. Naturally, a childwho sees this from a very young age until they are ready to be out on their own wouldonly follow in the footsteps of all that they have ever known. Children who are raised byone parent who devotes their time and emotion into their child would benefit much morethan a child who has both parents showing them that fighting and arguing is acceptable.Not all families are lucky enough to have a healthy structure. It is important forsociety and government aids to notice these structural differences and take action. Thereshould be government funded programs to help assist single-parent families withchildcare and finances for parents who must work and still have time for their children.Whether it's a mother and a father, a single mother, or a single father, childrenneed guidance. They will only become a product of what they are taught from a youngage and these children are deeply affected emotionally by the amount of love andcompassion that is put into raising them. Whichever family structure is implied it must beone of respect and strong moral values that they can someday pass on to their family.