A deeper understanding of power and control emerges free essay sample

A deeper understanding of power and control emerges from considering the parallels between Animal Farm and V for Vendetta. Compare how these texts explore the ideas of power and control. George Orwell’s allegorical novella, Animal Farm and Alan Moore’s dystopian novel, V for Vendetta are prominent texts in English Literature which clearly establish the ideas of power and control. Both texts have a differentiation in terms of the ideas of power and control due to the contrasting political and social contexts involved. The authors, Orwell and Moore both succeed in demonstrating the context of communism and fascism respectively as a result of abusing the use of power and control. In Animal Farm and V for Vendetta, the use of propaganda is displayed through government manipulation over the populace. The oppression of people in the form of fear and violence reinforces the idea of maintaining the power a group or individual possesses. We will write a custom essay sample on A deeper understanding of power and control emerges or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The exploitation of power enforces the corruption of society thus ensuing disunity and rebellion. Through the use of these themes, the ideas of power and control can be thoroughly explored and compared. Propaganda and manipulation, a theme present in both texts has been employed in order to establish and maintain the power and control of the leader. The leaders’ control over the knowledge of the masses allow the implementation of power and control over society, hence the success in demonstrating the context of communism and fascism. Within Animal Farm, propaganda and manipulation is exhibited through the main source of propaganda, Squealer. This is evident in the quote, â€Å"He was a brilliant talker and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail in a way that said of Squealer that he could turn black into white. â€Å" This quote manifests Squealer’s skilful communication enabling him to have power and control, thus the ability to manipulate and mislead facts. When Orwell describes Squealer as being able to â€Å"turn black into white†, he is referring to his persuasive talent to exploit the animals thoughts as to what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, Squealer’s actions establish the destructive nature of communism and fascism enabling the exploration of the ideas of power and control. Likewise in V for Vendetta, the populace’s knowledge is manipulated through propaganda by one supreme leader who controls everything possible which therefore exemplifies the role of a fascist government. Propaganda is evident in the quote, â€Å"Britain’s belief in the Integrity of Fate is the cornerstone of our new order. † This quote suggests how the Norsefire Regime has manipulated and brainwashed the British populace has become to believe that the Norsefire leaders have their best interest in mind. If this â€Å"new order† was to have just a slight failure, the merciless leaders would be overthrown and this demonstrates how important government propaganda is to Norsefire. So to maintain this order, it was vital for the Regime to maintain the publics’ opinions through the use of propaganda. Thus, it is due to propaganda that the government is able to manipulate the people’s knowledge and view on society, allowing them to possess the power and control over Britain. The idea of propaganda and manipulation in both texts is to maintain the power of the leader and this is demonstrated through Squealer and the Norsefire Regime’s actions. Oppression, another prominent theme, has been reinforced to enable the continuation of an individual or group’s power and control. The reinforcement of oppression through fear and violence has clearly displayed the background of communism and fascism as it demonstrates the cruel treatment or control over a society of people. In Animal Farm, Napoleon abuses his power and control because he utilises oppression. This is exposed through the quote, â€Å" Napoleon uttered a high pitched whimper and immediately the dogs bounded forward, seized four of the pigs by the ear and dragged them, squeaking with pain and terror. † The fact the Napoleon, a dictator, uses his â€Å"personal military† to silence opposition exemplifies the existence of abuse within his intent. Napoleon abuses this power by keeping the other animals fearful and in subjection as shown in the quote above. As displayed, Napoleon’s actions exemplify that of the characteristics of communism due to his exploitation of power and control. Similarly, in V for Vendetta, oppression is derived from mainly the totalitarian government, Norsefire Regime through utilizing strategies involving fear and violence. V’s message to the populace, â€Å"You have encouraged these malicious incompetents, who have made your working life a shambles. You have accepted without question their senseless orders. You have allowed them to fill your workspace with dangerous and unproven machines. You could have stopped them. All you had to say was â€Å"no†. You have no spine. You have no pride. † suggests that the British populace have let themselves become oppressed. By saying â€Å"All you had to say was no†, V was trying to show that the people of Great Britain were really the ones with the total dominance. The people had the potential to overthrow this totalitarian government, except they just needed to be steered into the right direction. Although V may have been viewed as a threat to society, V’s words and actions was that steer. However, the populace had been oppressed greatly through the Regime’s corrupt power and control, hence showing the characteristics of a fascist government. Therefore, oppressing the populace through fear and violence is illustrated through Napoleon’s abuse of power and V’s influential speech which depict the characteristics of communism and fascism. Disunity and rebellion is another theme applied to emphasis the consequences of abusing the use of power and control. The individual or groups power when misused lead to a corrupt society, thus revealing the authors’ aim to expose the consequences of communism and fascism. In Animal Farm, rebellion and disunity is shown in the scene where hens were forced to surrender their eggs. This is evident in the quote, â€Å"Squealer announced that the hens, who had just come in to lay again, must surrender their eggs †¦. When the hens heard this, they raised a terrible outcry†¦. For the first time since the expulsion of Jones, there was something resembling a rebellion. † Due to the hen’s persistence of not surrendering their eggs, Napoleon ruthlessly exploited his use of power, causing several hens to die. This scene exemplifies the parallels between Napoleon’s manipulation of power and communism, which both serve to result in disunity and rebellion. However, in V for Vendetta, rebellion is utilised as vital to overthrow a fascist government who immorally uses their power and control. This is demonstrated in the comic, V for Vendetta through V who was initially the symbol of rebellion. This is portrayed in the scene where he blew up the Old Bailey justice building. However, although V is the symbol of rebellion the purpose behind this terrorist operation was because he was urging people to rebel against the morally corrupt leader of the Norsefire Regime, Adam Susan. Thus, it concludes the fact that rebellion is necessary to overthrow a totalitarian regime who seized force through the abuse of power and control. Ultimately, the idea of disunity and rebellion in both texts is utilised for entirely different situations whether it is to achieve power or freedom in a communist or fascist government. To conclude, propaganda, oppression, and disunity and rebellion are prominent themes in both texts, Animal Farm and V for Vendetta as they aid in demonstrating the parallels and differences in the texts as well as the contexts of communism and fascism. Through taking in the parallels between the two texts, the understanding of power and control has deepened because it has exhibited the consequences of the corrupt use of power and control by communist and fascist governments.

How is tension created and sustained in The Monkeys Paw Essay Example

How is tension created and sustained in The Monkeys Paw Essay Example How is tension created and sustained in The Monkeys Paw Paper How is tension created and sustained in The Monkeys Paw Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Monkeys Paw is a short, horror story written by WW Jacobs. It was written and set in the 19th century in a time where there was almost an obsession with the gothic, Victoria genre. Jacobs uses a range of techniques which create and add tension of the audience. The setting, structure, genre, characters, language and atmosphere all contribute to the ascending build up of tension throughout the story. The setting of the story is typical of the time in which it was set. There are many clues given by the author, which help us to distinguish the time period in which the play was set. Items such as the china candlestick and the fire would not be used commonly today because of the introduction of electrical heaters etc. Furthermore, when Mr white says: A rat. It passed me on the stairs, we find it difficult to comprehend this. This is because we would find a rat scuttling around in our houses today extremely peculiar and probably unbelievable whereas Mr and Mrs White do not seem to make much of a fuss about it because it may have been normal in that time. The rat may have been common then, in a time where plague and diseases were very active. This all contributes towards the spooky/horror theme of the story which creates a feeling amongst the audience that they expect something to happen. The setting/atmosphere created in the story is very carefully thought out by the author. It starts with the father and son playing chess together, indicating that they have a close relationship and the family is close-knit. The family are in the warmth of their cosy home, at least the author gives this impression to us anyway, the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess. This image given to us by the author is very ironic because they may seem safe at the moment but later on we come to find out that they are far from it and are in fact extremely insecure. The weather is described to us as being, cold and wet, which has depressing, gloomy connotations which is therefore in complete contrast to the atmosphere inside. This signals a change in the plot, and the with the cold, wet weather, the author is almost hinting to use that something negative is going to happen in the story. Therefore, the reader is encouraged to read on because of the tension that has been created. However, the weather outside also reflects the mood of Mr. White who is upset after losing the chess match, so therefore it is pathetic fallacy, which in turn creates an eerie mood. Another significant factor in the setting of the story is Sergeant-Major Morriss introduction of India. Since India is a foreign country, the audience may not be so familiar with it. Therefore, they would not be too sure what to expect of the monkeys paw in terms of its powers and therefore mystery is created. This leads to the curiosity of the reader, creating tension as the reader gets eager and wants to know what will happen. The family live in a villa, away from everything, which gives us the impression they are isolated; Mr White says, Thats the worst of living so far out .. Only two houses in the road are let. This tells us that they live in a very secluded area, away from a town or city. By situating the family in this area, the author is hinting to us that something bad is going to happen because the thought of them with nobody else to help them if something goes wrong makes them seem vulnerable to us. Furthermore, Mr White saying to us that only two houses in the road are let enhances the idea that they are isolated because that means only two of the other houses are occupied. Sergeant-Major Morris is an extremely mysterious character. We seem to imagine him as a gigantic, mean, imposing, muscular man when hearing of his arrival because of the heavy footsteps, which he makes as described so by the author. His arrival is somewhat sprung on use and we do not get to know much about him until he starts conversing with the Mr White and family about the paw. Therefore he is almost like an unknown character to us. Once Mr White mentions the Monkeys Paw, he seems eager to change the subject: Nothing said the soldier hastily. This tells us that he was not keen to disclose information about the Monkeys Paw and was clearly hiding some details at the beginning. Once he realises the others are interested in the paw, he tries to play down its powers: its just an ordinary little paw dried to a little mummy. The reason for him acting this way is not clear to us at first but later on we get to know that the reason for this is because he has bad experiences with it. We know this because of his reaction when being asked is he had used his three wishes, his blotchy face whitened. This indicates that he has had some bad encounters with the paw because ones face usually whitens when feeling sick, shocked or frightened. However, he does warn the Whites about its powers, it has caused enough mischief already, although he prevents himself from revealing the full details of these events for some reason. It is also ironic that he says to the Whites, dont blame me for what happens, and but I warn you of the consequences, because although there are plenty of strong warnings, the Whites seem disinterested but in the end they pay for this i. e. Herberts death. On the whole, Sergeant-major is a mysterious character of whom we know little of. He seems to be hiding something about his experiences with the Paw. His character creates an eagerness in the audience resulting in tension. Another character who contributes to the tension created in the story is Mrs White. From what she says (her speech), we get to know that she is quite suspicious: He dont look to have taken much harm, is what she says when responding to something the sergeant said. This tells us she is not scared to point something out, and is prepared for an argument if she does not agree with somebody. It also tells us that she may know something about the sergeant that we do not. Similarly, she is very curious about the monkeys paw and is surprised upon hearing of its powers, Sounds like Arabian nights, she says. Here, she is mocking the sergeant major, making a mockery of a highly respected figure. It also tells us that she is a very curious person. This suspicious, curious attitude of hers adds to the tension. However, Mrs Whites attitude to the paw very much changes towards the end of the story. After learning about the death of her son, Herbert, she wants to bring him back by using the powers of the paw. This is in high contrast to her attitude at the beginning when she thought it was just a toy. She urges her husband to wish for Herbert back using the paw: Wish she cried in a strong voice. This tells us of her eagerness to bring Herbert back, indicating she loves her son very much. During the climax, the language devices and style used by the author are all very interesting, and were all created in order to create a rush of tension at the end. The sentences used at this point in the story are shorter ones in comparison to the more complex and compound sentences used beforehand. Sentences such as, His wife sat up in bed listening, Let go and I must open the door are use by the author in order to increase the pace of the story and to create anxiety amongst the audience. The sentences are short in order to delay the point of climax, so that the audience find the ending of a better quality. There are also short bursts of action at this point in the story to get the reader excited about what will happen, and frantically breathed his third and last wish. This is probably the part of the play where the tension is at its highest because the audience are holding their breath as to what it going to happen. The adverbs used by the author help to create this tension because words such as frantically, hoarsely and appealingly give us an insight to the actual feelings of the characters. This helps us because then we can relate to the characters. In conclusion, I can say that in the monkeys paw the author uses a variety of methods to create tension. These include characters, setting, structure, language and style. Overall, I would say that Sergeant-Major Morris is the person who contributes to providing the most amount of tension in the play. His mysteriousness and whole demeanour just makes the audience think that something bad is going to happen in the play because of him. I also think that the climax used by WW Jacobs was a very clever way to build up a lot of tension.

The relationship between Religion and Ethics in todays World Essay

The relationship between Religion and Ethics in todays World - Essay Example But we see everyday ethical notions being deliberated upon and changed to suit particular circumstances and individual and mass preferences. Religious precepts are based on the revelations of the original prophets. The precepts were later formalized into written texts of all the religions. Whereas on one hand religious precepts lay the roadmap to salvation, on the other, they also help a human to judge between right and wrong. But slowly decadence set in the free thinking ideals of every religion and the religious precepts got permanence as dogmas. The modern ethics are based upon the theories of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The ethical notions witnessed resurgence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The ideas of liberty, freedom and equality took route in European society later got spread out all over the world. What began as an intellectual movement pioneered by such free thinkers as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Hobbes acquired political dimensions in the French Revolution and the American War of Independence. Individual liberty is both the cause and effect of free thinking. Free thinking also promotes the cause of ethical judgment. The sphere of Ethics now spreads beyond individualized thinking to help mankind to frame rules for societies, cultures, and countries. What may be ethical in one country, a geo-political region, or a continent may not be so in another. In other words, ethics hold a huge scope for variance, and argument, whereas religion is guided by dogmas that are most part rigid, unalterable and beyond question. Religious dogmas, too, may have had very logical origin but with passage of time they come to be accepted as divine ordainments and have to be accepted by the people without question. The clash of religion and ethics today gets reflected in different forms. The debate over ethics and

Reposition sense in the knee joint in individuals with and without low Essay

Reposition sense in the knee joint in individuals with and without low back pain - Essay Example (Gill & Callaghan 1998; Newcomer et al. 2000; O`Sullivan et al 2003). Although not significant to prove the hypothesis, it could be seen how the result of this study has drawn the realization of the fact that proprioception needs to be increased among patients of LBP as they undergo particular therapies to treat their health issues. Through focusing to this need, it could be noticed how the entire system of therapy applied among those in need of healthcare assistance in connection with LBP could be improved through the implication of the importance of seeing how giving attention to bodily proprioception could be a huge difference in the process of curing those who have LBP. The limited proportion of the samples between each other has a huge significance with the result that has been garnered from this study. The fact that the participants came from the same institution and are having quite the same age range made the study more focused on a particular group of the population who may or may not be in constant possibility of developing LBP, which is the youth. Diversity was perhaps the lacking factor in this study. As this study lacked the said element, the application of the results to a more general scope of population affected by the health situation becomes a huge question of limitation. The LBP subjects included in this study described their pain as mild to minimal severity. Moreover, the recruitment period was conducted during summer vacation. Likely because of the situation, the season and the perception of the participants with the time, they are rather expected to have moods and certain perceptive reactions to the experiment which could have likely affected the whole result of the study. To overcome the whole limited sense of the study, an application of the isokinetic testing could be applied. This testing could help in

High School Life Essay Example for Free

High School Life Essay High school is a place where young teens learn to become mature and responsible. It is a place where students get trained to take on bigger challenges in life. Obstacles such as college. From my own personal experiences, high school didnt seem that way. Students were more concerned about getting a passing grade then about what they were taught. They would even cheat their way out of high school. This would prepare them for college. My freshman year of high school, I was in a totally different place and it seemed quite interesting and fascinating at first. As the year passed by, I started to notice the techniques students were using to pass classes. It was something I didnt see while I was in junior high school. Students were cheating on almost all the tests. They would bring little print-out cheat sheets to class to use on the tests. Hardly anyone got caught by the teacher. When students did get caught, all they would do is deny and usually the teacher would just let them get away with it. As Casey Banas wrote in Why Students Are Turned Off? I sometimes estimated that half to two-thirds of a class cheated on a given test, Glanz said. Worse, Ive encountered students who feel no remorse about cheating but are annoyed that a teacher has confronted them on their actions (Banas 659). Cheating seemed like the popular thing to do and if you didnt cheat you would be considered real foolish.. Everyone in the class knew what was going on and it was basically a whole class effort to cheat. Students would discuss what the answers were before taking the test and give each other opinions on how to cheat safely. When the test came back, every student in the class would have a real close score, but the teachers didnt seem to notice anything at all. Most of the students that go into a certain class usually wouldnt even know what went on even after the class has ended. As Casey Banas wrote: The teacher is convinced that the subject matter is worth knowing, but the student may not agree. Many students, Glanz said, are not convinced they need to know what teachers teach; but they believe good grades are needed to get into college†¦.(Banas 659) These kids could literally just sit there for forty-five minutes daydreaming. I find that many students feel the classes are extremely boring and is of no use to them in the future. I always used to ask myself Why do I need to know this stuff for?. When students feel this way, they dont do the work because they dont think they need it in life. When I used to go to high school, my whole class would get assignments and home works and about almost three-fourths of the class didnt do it. Instead they would wait until someone who was paying attention and did do the assignment to come along and let them copy the assignment. They would do it in way that the teacher wouldnt even know by slightly changing some words here and there. After that, that paper gets passed around the entire class to the students who didnt do the assignment and everyone would have a slightly different paper. This way all the students hand in the assignment and will get a passing grade, but did they even learn anything?. These techniques that were used in the high school that I attended did work and a lot of students graduated from high school using these techniques. I, myself, used these techniques and got through my freshman year. As time went on I found that high school was really boring so I decided to cut and eventually dropped-out of school. These students got good grades and did all the assignments, but the truth is, they didnt learn much at all. They can have a 85 average and get into a good college, but will they be prepared enough to survive college level work? I dont think so.

Examine the factors which explain the differences between economic Essa

Examine the factors which explain the differences between economic growth rates in countries. Economic growth is the long term increase in productive capacity as shown by an outward shift on a PPF curve. The PPF shows the maximum potential output of the economy. Productive capacity is an economies ability to produce goods and services, so if an economy grows, it can produce more goods and services for the population of the economy to use. Differences in Economic growth in countries result due to many factors, such as land and its resources. The amount of land a country possesses, and all the natural resources it finds on the land can affect the amount of output. For example, Saudi Arabia has experienced very high growth rates due to the richly endowed lands which contain much oil. In this developing economy, the oil exploitation was vital for its growth. Some 3rd world countries are so poor, and lack such growth as Saudi Arabia, because they have insufficient land, or insufficient resources to produce goods and have a higher output, and therefore have a higher economic growth. Another supply side factor determining the growth rate of countries is labour, i.e. the number of workers in an economy. More workers mean more output, so should lead to economic growth. Growth rates in different countries may differ due to population differences, as an economy with a higher population, will have a larger workforce. Some countries have immigration laws which can help increase economic growth. For example, an economy can employ migrant labour, by allowing migrants into the country only if they are educated, and in a position to work. This includes only letting younger people into the country, so that there are... ..., and experiences high growth rates. China, one of the fastest growing countries, also concentrates strongly on educating people at a young age. Another factor influencing growth is the significance of international trade. In countries that don’t participate in international trade, such as , there is very slow or no economic growth. This is because it is very hard for one economy to produce all goods which people require. It is better to specialise in a few goods, use them, sell the surplus, and use the money to buy other goods from other economies, rather than the economy to produce everything itself, which is very inefficient. In this country, there is a much slower rate of economic growth compared to other countries. So altogether, there are many factors influencing economic growth, and this leads to different growth rates in different countries.

Child development Essay

1. Understand the development and learning of babies and young children. 1.1 Explain the pattren of developments in the first three years of life and the skills typically acquired at each stage. Babies and toddlers show amazing progress in all aspects of their development from birth to three years, considering they are born with simple reflexes and are quite helpless and dependent. It is essential to have a good understanding of the development stages in this group in order to support their development. The changes that occur in a child’s development in the first few years of life are truly remarkable. Practitoners note children’s development as they begin to smile, laugh, sit, crawl, babble and talk. Children begin to socialize and play cooperatively with other children. They acquire important skills to get along with others such as turn-taking, sharing and following instructions, as well as skills that will help them academically such as drawing, counting, reading, and writing.(REF:http://www.beststart.org/OnTrack_English/3-childrensdevelopment.html) Early child development usually follows a sequence, as the child needs to master one skill before he/she can a cquire the next, but all children develop at their own rate. At times, a child may take a long time to master a new skill; at other times, he/she may seem to skip a skill in the expected sequence in his/hers speed of development. Through careful observation, assessment and communication with the child’s key worker, they can draw a clear picture of the child within their setting. 1.2 Explain: How development and learning are interconnected How and why variations occur in rate and sequence of development of learning That learning may take place in different ways The importance of play Development and learning are closely tied. Children need to develop certian  skills in order for them to learn, but also the desire to learn something or achieve a goal can motivate a child to develop the necessary skills. A good example of this is walking, for a baby to begin to walk, a level of coordination and growth is required, but the baby must also have the desire to walk. during the process of learning to walk, the child will develop balance, strength in the legs, and improved coordination. Once the child can walk, a whole new world can be discovered as the child can now reach things and see things from an different level. Therefore, Learning to walk has improved both the child’s physical development, and his or her cognition. It is not fully understood why some children appear to learn faster than others, but it is thought that there both genetic and environmental factorsat play. Some children have learning difficulties that prevent them from learning in the same wa y – or at the same rate – as other children. The causes of learning difficulties vary and include chromosomal conditions, medical conditions and others that are not yeat understood, however, although the term ‘ learning difficulties’ is used, it does not mean that such children will have difficulties in learning in every area of their lives. So some children will learn some skills, for example the ability to draw or socialise, at the same rate as others. Some children are seen as ‘bright’ very early on. Adults may notice how quicky the remember things and how fast they are to learn new skills. For these children, it would seem that they are able to process information more quickly and effectively than other children of the same age. This is thought to be linked to the presence of a stimulating environment combined with a strong genetic component. Children can learn in a variety of ways. They can copy adults and other children, they can also learn from thier own experiences as they will repeat activities that fascinate them or are enjoyable. Interestingly, most of what babies and toddlers will learn comes from ‘doing’ rather than being ‘taught’ by adults. As children can learn in variety of ways, it is important for us to provide them with a range of different opportunities and experiences. Play is essential for children’s development. through play, children can delelop a variety of skills that support every area of development. Good play opportunities allow children not only to have fun and to explore, but also to learn about materials, concepts and how to socialise. Play begins very early on in babies’ lives as long as they have an adult who can engage  with them. As ch ildren grown an develop, they are able to choose and create their own play; Physical – A range of physical skills, including fine and gross motor skills, are developed as children make movements, balance or sit in order to play with toys or engage in games with adluts. Cognitive – Children learn concepts and about the world around them by playing with materials, resources and learning by trial and error what things can do. Language – Play gives children a reason for taking and communicating. At first this is with adluts, but as children can play together, they talk to each other. Emotional – Play is fun. It makes children feel happy and also helps them to feel powerful and learn about feelings; when they engage in role play they also learn about different perspectives. Social – From playing with adults, babies learn social skills such as talkingturns and co-operating. They so learn to ‘read’ faces. With age and language skills. children also learn to play with other children. 1.3 Explain the potential effects on development, of pre-conceptual, pre-birth and birth experiences. All babies and children show different rates of development,but some do so because of difficulties linked to experiences during conception, pregnancy and birth. We know that even before a baby is conceived, the lifestyle of the parents can have an effect on thier potential development. this is because men’s sperm and woman’s ova can be easily damaged. Parents are advised to think about stopping smoking, about taking folic acid supplements, cuttting down on alcohol and avoiding recreational drugs. They are also advised not to leave starting a family too late because not only does it become harder for a woman to conceive as they get older, but also the quality of a woman’s eggs can deteriorate over time. Conception At the moment of conception, when a sperm and egg fuse, a transfer of genetic information takes place. the fertilised eggs will have 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 chromosomes from the mother, which are used to determine its development. This is mixing of genetic information is often described as  nature’s lottery, as some medical conditions and disabilities are the result ofthis genetic combination. Pregnancy Between conception and birth, babies can be affected by the health of their mother as well as her lifestyle choices. Stress, deit and alcohol are examples of factors that can affect development. It is now recognised that the first twelev weeks of pregnancy is when the foetus is at it’s most vulnerable. During this time the foetus becomes recognisably human and all the organs are formed. Smoking Smoking restricts the amount of oxygen the unborn baby is getting and affects the groth and development. Bbaies born to mothers who smoke are therefore more likely to be lighter at birth and also premature. Ther seems to be other long-lasting effects on health as well. These include a higher incidence of cot death and a greater predisposition to asthma. Substance abuse the use of recreational and prescribed drugs can affect the developing foetus. Drugs enter the mother’s blood stream and the cross via the placenta into the baby. the effect of drugs can be devastating – especially in the first twelve weeks when the foetus is developing. Pregnant woman are therefore advised not to take any drugs during their pregnacy unless told to do so by a doctor. Alcohol Alcohol can enter the foetus’s blood stream in the same way that drugs can. Again this can have a serious impact, especially in the first few weeks of a pregnancy when sometimes mothers may not even know their pregnant but the baby is at a critical point of development. During the rest of the prgnancy alcohol can effect the development of the bay an so doctors advised mothers not to drink threw out their pregnancy. A specific condition known as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is cuased by alcohol during pregnancy, has now been identifed. This condition negatively affects aspects of the children’s cognitive development including their concentration. Infections Some infections that a mother may pick up during pregnancy can affect the  development of the foetus. The common cold is harmless, but food poisoning, rubella or sexually transmitted disease such as genital herpes can put the unborn baby at risk. Babies who have been exposed to rebella often have sight and hearing problems. Maternal Health Most women should have healthy pregnancies, but some woman can develop complications, including diabetes and pre-eclampsia (which can even be fatal). If left undereated, these conditions can affect the health of both mother and baby. This is why pregnant women are offered refu;ar antental check ups. Maternal Diet Diet is particularly important in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy when lack of a mineral called folic acid, found in green leafy vegetables, can cause spina bifida. Women who are consirdering a pregnancy are therfore urged to take supplements of 400mcg of folic acid daily untilthe twelfth week of their pregnancy. Pregnant woman can also become deficient in iron and so are encouraged to eat high in iron such as red meat, green vegetables, dried apircots and fortified breakfeast cereals. The process of birth can present various dangers to both mother and child, which is why mothers are monitored before and during birth. Most women give birth vaginally but sometimes a Caesarean Section is given. This is when an incision of approximately 20cm is made across the lower abdomen and the baby is delivered through this opening; the mother is given an anaesthetic beforehand. A Caesarean may be planned in advance, for example when a woman is carrying triplets, or may have to be carried out at short notice if there are difficulties when giving birth. The main danger for babies during the birthing process is a lack of oxygen. During labour, the oxygen supply to the baby might be interrupted for several reasons, including the umbilical cord becoming entangled or the baby being slow to breathe at birth. In extreme cases anoxia can be fatal or leave the baby with permanent brian damage. It is important to emphasise. However, that this is relatively rare and most abies are born safe ly.