The Internet :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Introduction Welcome to a world beyond reality; a world full of problems, promise, and possibilities. You are now in hyperreality, virtual reality, or cyberspace. It is whatever you want it to be. "[T]he Internet is like a highway, feeding small communities and large cities, and connecting their loops, backroads and alleyways" (Estrada XU). In other words, the Internet is a network of networks-a web that connects a vast number of computers. Wait! Don't give up yet, it's easier than you think. Using the Internet isn't "rocket science". An area that was once only for researchers is now used by a wide range of people from elementary students to farmers. The internet is an interactive environment. In her book, The Internet Companion Plus, Tracy Laqey gives the difference between television and the Internet by saying that when it comes to television, "we are only the watchers, but with the Internet we are "the reporters, the viewers, and the production team" (3). The Internet has very few restrictions these days, so for the most part you are free to do and say whatever you choose. It is the value of what you say, not who you are, that gets people to listen. The Internet is an "open and sharing environment" (3), as well as a complicated environment. With every involved endeavor a certain amount of information is required to fully enjoy and benefit from the experience. As for the Internet, this information is at first overwhelming. Let's put aside the details of connecting the systems and the technicalities and concentrate on the actual usage of the web. The internet has made our lives easier through ingenious inventions like computeriz ed card catalogs and e-mail. But, in order to fully understand this huge system, we must first know where it came from. The Internet had a modest start as ARPANET, a U.S. Defense Department network, and was designed to withstand a nuclear bomb attack. Information could be put in many different places to avoid a centralized storage of information. It was later split into two networks, and from one of these networks the Internet was born. Today the Internet has evolved into a monster. In their book, The Mosaic Handbook, Dale Dougherty, Richard Koman, and Paula Ferguson describe the Internet as "a cultural icon . . . [it] has come to represent what the future looks like today" (2). The possibilities are endless, and although we won't list them all here, we will introduce a few.

Greek Architecture Essay -- Greece Essays Temples Building History

Greek Architecture The Greek culture has had a huge impact on the history of the world. There is something Greek in almost everything, especially in the world’s architecture. Greece no longer had one king, so they focused on building temples for their gods. Architecture began small and plain but evolved into impressive pieces of art. As time passed from the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period, the people of Greece developed a type of formula for their buildings and their pieces of art.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Ancient Greece, religion dominated their life, so it is understandable that their architecture would be dominated by their religion. Before Greece became many different city-states, they had kings, and they would build a room called a megaron to show they King’s authority. A typical megaron is a single chamber with a fire pit in the middle with a throne off to the side. This room opened up into a porch (portico) that had four columns in the front. After there were no more kings these megarons turned into temples. The fire pit, which turned into some type of altar or a place to show a sacrifice for that god, was now outside in front of the temple. The altar was now outside so people could see you make these sacrifices to their gods. The first Greek temples were made out of wood and were long rectangular buildings with a porch all the way around which was supported by columns made from tree trunks. A Greek temple consists of five basic parts: the pediment, entablature, columns, base, and the cella, or the inner sanctum. The pediment is triangular and would have a type of sculpture or ornament known as acreteria on each corner. An entablature consists of three parts: the cornice, frieze, and architrave, which holds up the pediment. The columns are the support between the entablature and the base. The base usually consists of three steps. The cella is the inner sanctum, which has different rooms with more columns for support. Each temple would have a cella but they were not identical.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greeks developed an architectural system called an order, to distinguish the different styles of temples. Each order has a different proportions, entablature, and columns. The three Greek orders are called Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The Doric order is considered to be the masculine order. The columns are short and stout and very plain. A Doric column has no base a... ...he most important part of the agora. The stoa would be used for political, economical, or financial reasons. The Greeks also built gyms to exercise. During the Hellenistic period, the Greeks seemed to build more buildings where men could gather and socialize than places for worship.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Hellenistic period, you find the first monument built to celebrate someone who was not a general, god, or ruler. The Monument to Iysicrates is located in Athens, and is the first time a Corthinian column is used on the exterior. There was not a lot of money to spend on new temples but they still managed to build the Temple of Zeus Olympius. There is not much left of it today but it was huge. This temple was decastyle, meaning ten columns across, and the columns were sixty-five feet tall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even today the ideas and formulas of Greek architecture influence present day architects. When you think of Roman architecture, you think of the arch but even then they used the Imperial Motif to decorate their buildings. The Imperial Motif is the art of trabeation on arcuated architecture. The architecture of Ancient Greece will continue to influence the architecture of today and tomorrow.

How Europeans Affected the Indians Essay

The arrival of the Europeans affected the Indians in several different ways. The Indians were exposed to new experiences such as diseases, religion, racism, land ownership, and trade to name a few. The Indians way of life changed forever with the arrival of the European colonists. Diseases were introduced to them as early as 1550 by European fisherman who stayed on the New England shores during the winter. The fisherman brought devastating illnesses which the Indians had little resistance to such as diphtheria, cholera, typhus, measles, and small pox. The coastal Indians were the first infected by these aliments and in turn, they spread them to the inland Indians. These diseases were ruinous and cost many Indians their lives. The Indians had their own customs and religions. They were introduced to the colonist’s religion, Protestant Christianity. They did not immediately take to the Puritan religion as the Indians took to Catholicism brought in by the Spaniards. They found it difficult to embrace a religion that taught that all but a few of them were damned to hellfire. Also, the Puritan or Anglican religion was complicated with English ways of eating, dressing, working, and looking at the world. The Indians that did embrace the Protestant religion were forced to adhere to the Protestant ways and abandoned their own. The Indian men were to farm and the women to weave, they lived in English houses and not wigwams, they were to barber their hair as the Puritans, and they were to stop using bear grease toward off mosquitoes. Racism was introduced to the Indians by the English colonists. Before the colonist’s arrival, they knew nothing of prejudice. Captives were adopted into the tribe, white prisoners as well as Indians born into another tribe. They were fully accepted as their brothers and sisters. Tribes would even raid other tribes and white settlements in order to increase their numbers. Extramarital miscegenation produced â€Å"half-breeds† which were consigned to the Indians. This was done in part because they were illegitimate, but mostly because of the consciousness of race that steadily grew in intensity in the colonial societies. The English referred to the Indians as savages because they were racially inferior. They abhorred their culture, morals, manners, and religion. They thought of all Indians as enemies. The Indians  were exposed to this narrow mindedness and bigotry which had been made by the colonist and so they learned of racism. The colonists assumed possession of lands that were vacated, like the site of Plymouth, on the justification of ancient legal principle that unoccupied land is anybody’s picking. The colonists did acknowledge the legal and moral rights of the tribes to own land they occupied and purchased what they could of it. The problem was that when the Indians sold land to the colonists, their understanding was that they were then willing to share their hunting grounds with them, just as they would with other tribes. They did not understand the concept of ownership. This was not a practice in which they had ever been exposed. This misunderstanding between the Indians and colonists caused wars between them which were inevitably won by the colonists. The Indians way of life was not suitable to live where the English lived due to the colonist’s agricultural ways. The Indians farmed by borrowing fields from the forest. They cultivated the soil for a few years and then moved elsewhere. The fields then reverted to hunting grounds. But the colonists did not allow this to happen. They destroyed the forests for hundreds of acres. They farmed these fields until the soil was depleted. Then they would turn the fields into pastures for their livestock. The livestock would renew the soil after several years. But during this time, the colonists would clear more hundreds of acres for their farming. This caused the flight of wildlife and game, which was vital to the Indians way of life. The Indians were anxious to trade with the colonists. They would trade furs for such things as beef, baubles, vessels, tools, iron tomahawks, woven wool blankets, liquor, and muskets. In order to trade with the Europeans, the Indians hunted and trapped for the hides of deer and the furs of other animals which the colonists wanted. Competition for furs between the tribes introduced a vicious kind of war between the Indians. The fur trade also resulted in the destruction of the ecological system of the area. Before fur trading with the Europeans, the tribes killed only moose, deer, beaver, and the other animals which were necessary and they had an immediate need. But with the need for more hides and furs, the Indians hunted until they had extinguished all the animals in their hunting grounds. The Indians then went into other tribes’ territories to hunt which in turn caused warfare between them. Another problem with trading with the colonists arose out of the Indians want of the liquor which the colonists provided. They took to the intoxicating effects of the liquor which in turn caused new problems within the tribes and with the people of the tribes. The colonist’s actions also caused another first for the Indians. The hanging of three Wampanoag’s at Plymouth for murdering Sassamon, a â€Å"praying Indian† caused the first pan-Indian attempt to preserve traditional culture. Metacomet, called King Phillip by the New Englanders, was the one to convince the other tribes to work together as he saw that the colonists with their ever increasing numbers were destroying the Indians way of life. Slavery was the involuntary capture of human beings who were sold and then owned by their masters. They were forced to work for their entire lives. Slaves had no personal rights and no hope of freedom. Slavery was first notable in the southern colonies. At first, colonists saw the indentured servants as better investments than spending money on the slaves. Later, they realized that the slaves seem to have a built up immunity to certain diseases such as malaria, which often killed the indentured servants in their care. The colonists came to see the slaves as an investment, worth the money for the outcome of a lifelong worker who could do manual labor, did not have to be replaced after a specific number of years of service, and also could assist in bearing children born into slavery which only would increase the master’s workforce. Eventually, all of the colonies became involved in owning slaves. Indentured servitude was an adaptation of the well established English means of training boys to be artisans and caring for orphans. Fathers would sign an indenture with a master of a craft. This bound the boy to the master for a period of years, usually seven years. In return for his labor, the master agreed to shelter, clothe, and feed his apprentice and teach him the craft. This institution of indentured servitude was also used to provide for orphans. Indentured servants were well suited for farmers who needed  laborers. People were recruited in England to sign indentures to work in the colonies as servants for an agreed number of years. In return for signing the indentures, the servant’s passage across the Atlantic was paid. Some servant’s were forced by English courts which sentenced convicts to transportation to the colonies. There they served out their sentences as bound servants. Unlike slaves, the indentured servants had personal rights. The term of the servitude was written down which varied from three to seven years. At the end of the agreed time, they were freed. They were given clothing, tools, a little money, and sometimes land.

Objective Strategies Essay

Competitive advantage of the product = only perceived by buyers. LEADERSHIP IN COSTS: When consumers value low cost as a factor very important in their purchase decision. It relies on the productivity dimension and is usually linked to the existence of an experience or economies of scale effect. This strategy involves close monitoring of costs operating costs of products and services and expenditure reduced advertising sales and while the emphasis is essentially obtains a low unit cost in relation to its competitors. Differentiation When the client buys by factors other than price These strategies are intended to give the product qualities important for the buyer distinctive and distinguishing it from the offers from competitors. It can be based on an image of brand, a recognized technological advance, the outward appearance. SPECIALIST When focused on the needs of a segment or a particular group of buyers, without pretending to go to the market Primary strategy: Get place in all stores. At least one of our bikes. To achieve this we use the following tactics: Contact one by one with all the shops and they personally show you our portfolio. Method: will be contacted by telephone and as far as possible will visit the shops. Emphasis will be placed on the price of our products to better pleasing our customers. . id that â€Å"no child deserves to suffer and die if it could easily have been prevented†), since I have no evidence of Basson contributing to charity to create a better world for all. My comment that I would like to see Basson contribute to enable the underprivileged to create a better life for themselves and that this is what I would do if I were to earn that much is, however, compatible with my opinions of both assignments 3 and 4, since I expressed in both that we should help others as much as we can, and not let children die needlessly. Sources consulted: Collins Dictionary. [Sa]. [O]. Available at: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/altruism (accessed on 23/08/2014) Eccles, N. 2013. Sustainability and Greed. [O]. Available at: https://my.unisa.ac.za/portal/site/SUS1501-14-S2-16T/page/a5485ad2-c031-4ffd-a90f-3313380c55b4 (accessed on 23/08/2014)

My Beliefs and Values

‘My Beliefs, Values, and Clinical Gestalt with Individual’s and Systems’ Paper Ariele Henderson University of Phoenix CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY: I  certify that  the attached  paper,  which was  produced for  the class identified above, is my original work and has not previously been submitted by me or by anyone else for any class. I further declare that I have cited all sources from which I used  language, ideas and information,  whether quoted  verbatim or paraphrased, and that any and all assistance of any kind, which I received while producing this paper, has been acknowledged in the References section. This paper includes no  trademarked material, logos, or images from the Internet, which I do not have written permission to include. I further agree that my name typed  on the line below is intended to have, and shall have the same validity as my handwritten signature. Student's  signature (name typed here is equivalent to a signature):   _________Ariele Henderson__________________ ___ ‘My Beliefs, Values, and Clinical Gestalt with Individual’s and Systems’ Paper When it comes to being a human services worker there are many needed attributes. A human service worker’s beliefs, values and clinical gestalt play very important role in how they treat and assist clients. Human service workers strive to put their clients at ease, and to help them meet their needs. Through the text exercises and classrooms discussions I have learned that there are many things that I need to work on in order to ensure that I will be an effective and productive social worker. In the exercise â€Å"Clients I might find hard to accept† I learned that it is not for me to agree or disagree with their beliefs, but it is for me to try to see things through their eyes in order to assist them properly. The goal of every human service professional is to help those in need. To do these human service professionals must not push their beliefs or values onto their clients. I will come across clients that come from different backgrounds, environments, and who different beliefs and values. None the less they are human and should be treated as such. One must keep an open mind when working with clients. When doing so clients will feel respected, confident, and comfortable. Human service professionals must learn, and grow from past experiences. A Human service professional’s repose should be calm, exhibit reliability and confidence. Clinical repose is an area that I need to work on. I need to be able to ensure that I can remain calm, regardless of what is occurring around me, or in my personal life. Large societal and system contexts, lead to immediate contexts. It is always good to know where a problem comes from, in order to find a solution that will be beneficial. Dillon & Murphy (2003) states: The clinician's anchored and relaxed presence acts as an island of calm and allows the client to stay self-focused without being distracted by the clinician's needs or anxieties. This repose is central to supportive presence. It provides a clear but unobtrusive holding environment for the work and the relationship. Clients come to know that they can count on the clinician to remain centered and steady regardless of events and developments. Even in the face of the unexpected, clinicians try to remain as calm and reliable as possible (p. 1). My personal and professional assumptions about clinical helping and their relationships to my beliefs, values, past experiences, familiar and cultural background are: that in clinical helping one must see value for the lives, health, and well being of others. In clinical helping one can learn from past experiences, from an individual’s cultural background, and maybe by even changing one’s values after learning and forming a connection with clients. Before this course I was under the impression that my beliefs, and values have no place in the human services field, I thought that leaving them out would be best for my clients, I have learned otherwise. I have come to the realization that one’s values and beliefs are what make them an excellent human services worker. Human service professionals have a genuine concern for other people. When seeking employment in the human services field, future employees look for agencies that share their beliefs and values. I would find it very difficult to work with staff members who do not try to the best of their ability to help clients due to differences in values, beliefs, backgrounds, or preconceived ideas. The National Association of Social Workers (2009) states that an ethical principal for social workers is that: Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers promote clients’ socially responsible self-determination. Social workers seek to enhance clients’ capacity and opportunity to change and to address their own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibility to clients and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts between clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards of the profession (p. 1). Insights that I have gained about the strengths, I have are that my strengths in listening, and open my mind to the views of my clients are needed strengths, and will be beneficial to me and my clients. There are some areas in which I have determined that I need to work on further. I need to be more aware of the gestures that I am making, and my facial expressions, so that my clients will feel comfortable, and place their trust in me. I also need to find a way to use my values and beliefs to assist clients, but not to form my opinions, or influence decisions. Dillon & Murphy (2003) acknowledges that: Individual values are cherished beliefs that develop in the context of family and sociocultural influences. Clinicians may value anything from personal autonomy to personal hygiene and can find themselves dismayed or offended by clients who do not share their value systems. As clinicians, we need to be aware of our values and how they influence our responses to clients in ways that may leave them feeling unaccepted. Clinicians must be dedicated to being nonjudgmental—unconditionally accepting people for who they are without necessarily accepting all their behaviors. The clinician's nonjudgmental stance leaves clients free to confide openly and honestly without fear of rejection, shaming, or reprisal. As we work with clients and are exposed to diverse situations and beliefs, we often find that our values are challenged and changed. A side benefit of clinical work is that our lenses are inevitably widened so that we both see and appreciate more of the world beyond our own. We ourselves stretch and grow through exposure to differences (p. 1). Human service professionals must be able to put their feelings aside in order to serve the client. It is our ethical responsibility to not let our beliefs and values get in the way of our decision making. It is up to the social workers to ensure that their clients feel comfortable, respected, and that they have confidence in them as a change agent. I believe that I have a lot to learn, and a lot of areas that I need to work on, but with practice and awareness I will go far. Reference Dillon & Murphy (2003) Interviewing in Action: Relationship, Process, and Change. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from e-books chapter 4 University of Phoenix National Association of Social Workers (2009) Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from www. socialworkers. org/pubs/Code/code. asp Rankin (n. d. ) Motivational Interviewing in Human Services. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from http://www. media. ncrtm. org/presentations/ARCA_50/ppt/rankin. ppt

How to handle stress Essay

Manage stress at university Stress occurs in human life is frequency because there are many challenge people need to face in daily. Also it is a part of student’s life, when the student study at university, they may face more difficult problem such as more expectation from their parents, financial problems, exam or assignmen Premium962 Words4 Pages How ot manage stress How to manage stress When it comes to how to manage stress, there are loads of methods to deal with this problem. Today, with the increasing number of people getting overwhelmed pressure on their study or job, more and more people are paying their attention to how to solve stress problem more effec Premium568 Words3 Pages Stress essay Stress is something everyone experiences sometime throughout their life; it is essential. This essay will first define stress and comment on both good and bad stress. Secondly, it will give examples of physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms of stress. Thirdly, it will discuss common causes ofThe best way to help student to deal with stress The best way to help student to deal with stress†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. -Attending stress management course Stress is an integral part of life, especially for a student. In fact, not all stress is bad. When you recognize that the stress is detrimental to your life, you need to take action. Attending stress ma Premium309 Words2 Pages How to deal with stress as a college student M. Rowe Professor Bowl CMAT-61 December 6, 2011 How to Deal With Stress as a College Student How does stress affect you? We have all felt this feeling before. Your stomach is twisted, your muscles are tightened, you feel down and out, unhappy and, you cannot think straight. According t Premium814 Words4 Pages How to deal with stress HOW TO DEAL WITH STRESS? Stress is the natural strain which we feel when we have to cope with difficult, unpleasant or dangerous situations. We can’t completely remove it from our lives but we can learn how to deal with it. There is a lot of techniques to cope with stress starting with relaxing Premium322 Words2 Pages Students deal with stress Students Deal With Stress â€Å"Hey, I’m stressed of homework and studying, let’s have a drink†, said by the majority of freshmen students. Alcohol is the easiest coping mechanism to students because we are exposed to alcohol more than anything else. Throughout high school, most students are sh Premium690 Words3 Pages Coping: how to deal with stress Coping: How People Deal with Stress? Whether caused by schoolwork, traffic, or the job, stress is an inevitable phenomenon that is seen daily in the human life. Stress is not always bad. In small doses, stress is a good thing. It can energize and motivate a person to deal with challenges. But prolo Premium702 Words3 Pages How to deal with stress SECTION A 1.1 Scenario 1: Crisis incident (traffic) Lack of time management Scenario 2: Job content and demands Job insecurity Scenario 3: Harassment from her boss Economic/work stress 1.2 PHYSICAL EMOTIONAL SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL Crisis incident Harassment from her boss†¦ Premium887 Words4 Pages Stress Stress CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the Research Problem How do you cope with stress in the workplace to achieve a more balanced lifestyle? Stress is a part of everybody’s life. Depending on the level of stress, it can control our lives, especially in the workplace. We begin to spend Premium1722 Words7 Pages Coping with stress in an organization Coping With Stress In An Organization 26 November 1994 Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Defining Stress III. Types of Stress IV. How to Handle Stress V. Recognizing Stress VI. The Military and Stress VII. Summary I. INTRODUCTION Since t Premium2248 Words9 Pages Psychological stress Psychological stress Psychological stress is a result of many factors and should be dealt with very carefully. Stress can be defined as a set of interactions between the person and the environment that result in an unpleasant emotional state, such as anxiety, tension, guilt, or shame (swi Premium1835 Words8 Pages Stress This report is on stress, what causes it, how and why, and how it can be cured. It will tell you all about stress, why it’s important for people to understand, and what it can do to you and other people. Stress affects everyone and everything, that’s why it’s important that we all be properly ed Premium1327 Words6 Pages Stress Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad depending on the situation which someone is facing. Sometimes, stress can be helpful, providing people with the extra Premium848 Words4 Pages Families and stress – coping skills for living with stress and anxiety Families and Stress – coping skills for living with stress and anxiety Is stress always bad? No! In fact, a little bit of stress is good. Most of us couldn’t push ourselves to do well at things — sports, music, dance, work, and school — without feeling the pressure of competition. Without th Premium1872 Words8 Pages Stress and alzhiemers Stress and Alzheimer’s Disease Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa M.D. is the president of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Foundation, which is a non-profit organization studying the integrated medical approach to the prevention and reversal of memory loss. He has a very different approach to the treatment and pr Premium595 Words3 Pages Stress term paper The Effects of Stress Stress is an ongoing dilemma which occurs in everyone’s life. It is a factor that is without a question apart of daily living. Due to the minor problems that occur in people’s daily lives, massive amounts of stress can arise. Stress means different things to people and effec Premium2630 Words11 Pages Stress and its connection to the mind, the potential health impacts on the body, and its relationship with relationships â€Å"Stress and its Connection to the Mind, the Potential Health Impacts on the Body, and its Relationship with Relationships† Stress is the basic human response to changes that occur as a part of everyday life. Some of the changes that take place are smaller and not as important, but all changes cr

How does Shakespeare explore the theme of love against self-interest in the Merchant of Venice?

How does Shakespeare explore the theme of love against self-interest in the Merchant of Venice? In the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare explores the themes of love and self-interest; the characters own self-interests seem to conquer all feelings of affection towards other characters through money, revenge and spite. The play is about a Christian merchant called Antonio who borrows money from a Jewish money lender called Shylock; hence his friend Bassanio can seek the women he claims to love in the fictional place of Belmont.However, Shylock creates a bond which states that if Antonio does not pay back the money lent to him, Shylock shall receive a pound of Antonio’s flesh. In order to understand the characters’ conflicting emotions and incentives, it is important to understand the definitions of love and self-interest.For now, I will define love as an altruistic affection for someone that may provoke sacrificial acts. As for self-interest, I think this can contrastingly be defined as an egotistical focus on one’s own needs and desires, regardless of those around you. Love is demonstrated in the play by acts of devotion.Portia helps save Antonio from a gruesome death by dressing up as a man and a lawyer. This is an act of devotion towards Bassanio because she is trying to help a man she does not know in order to satisfy Bassanio. She says â€Å"I have within my mind a thousand raw trick of these bragging jacks, which I will practice†.This illustrates her affection for Bassanio because she immediately forms a biased opinion of the men unknown to her who threaten Antonio’s – Bassanio’s greatest friend’s- safety. Shakespeare uses the word â€Å"raw† meaning rude to imply how mean Portia wants to be to these men hurting Antonio.The fact that she is so passionately against these men leads us to believe that Portia cares a great deal for Antonio’s welfare. Portia’s apparent care for Antonio il lustrates her affection for Bassanio who regards Antonio highly as a ‘dear friend’.This affection is increased to the extent that it could be called love as Portia sacrifices her own time, safety and comfort, by traveling a great distance and illegally impersonating a lawyer. However it is debatable as to whether the character of Portia helps Antonio in order to condemn Shylock because he is a Jew.Anti-Semitism and the conflict between Jews and Christians highlights the key theme of self-interest. For example, one could question if Lorenzo only marries Jessica to spite her father because of his religion. He states â€Å"Here dwells my father Jew†.The word dwell is often associated with beasts living in caves and therefore shows that Lorenzo dislikes Shylock and finds him uncivilised. Also, he uses the word â€Å"father† which literally means Lorenzo is Shylocks son which is not true. Dramatically, this particular line is often portrayed sarcastically, givi ng new meaning to the word â€Å"father†.This sarcasm demonstrates that Lorenzo thinks it humorous that Shylock is, or will be, his father in law because he doesn’t like him. This acts in contrast to the common perception of the strength father-son relationships.It also implies that as a son, Lorenzo will receive an inheritance or dowry from Shylock, foreshadowing the future as Jessica steals Shylocks gold and jewels for Lorenzo when she runs away with him. Next, the word ‘Jew’, referring to Shylock’s religion Judaism is used with no definite or indefinite article before it.This could be portrayed as insulting towards Shylock as by using no article, Lorenzo has made the word bitter like he struggles with himself to speak it. This emphasises Lorenzo’s dislike for Shylock and turns his feelings into hate.Through understanding the effects of all these language choices, it is debatable as to whether Lorenzo and Jessica’s relationship is ge nuine or simply a contrivance created to spite Shylock. The fact that Jessica brings Shylock’s money to Lorenzo links to how money is often associated with self-interest and we can compare the power of avarice over that of love. Shylock cries ‘O, my ducats!O, my daughter’. This initially indicates that he values his money over his daughter, implying that his greed outweighs his love. However, when we see Shylock later on he appears more hurt by the fact that his daughter sold a ring, which was given to him by his late wife, than he is by the loss of the ring’s value.He says ‘I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys’. The fact that a â€Å"wilderness of monkeys† would be large and valuable shows a softer side of Shylock which we can sympathise with, and shows that sometimes love and the tokens of that love, matter more to him than his covetous egotism.In conclusion, I think that if we think of the love in Shakespeare’ s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, where the â€Å"star-crossed lovers† –Romeo and Juliet- value each other’s lives above their own in their extreme self-sacrifice, then I do not think this type of love exists in the Merchant of Venice.However, if we define love as a feeling of affection for another individual then we see this clearly, although not without its drawbacks. For instance, although Portia and Bassanio claim to love oneanother, Bassanio seeks Portia in the first place because he is greatly in debt and needs her money. Also, Shylock argues that Jews are human beings just like Christians. He says â€Å"If you prick us, do we not bleed? †Nevertheless, Christians like Lorenzo hate Jews simply because they are Jews. Therefore, although Christians seem to speak more about mercy and love, they do not exhibit these qualities regularly, producing the debate as to whether love in this play is merely a false pretence for self-interest and spite.