J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings - Frodo Baggins as a Christ-Fi

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Frodo Baggins as a Christ-Figure J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has delighted readers since its publication owing to its author's skillful development of his fantastic realm and its inhabitants adventures therein. In fact, Tolkien is rightly regarded as the father of the modern fantasy genre, and it often seems all fantasy imitates his work in some way. However, as readers return to the work, it often becomes apparent that the work is more than a simple escapist journey into an imaginary world; the work represents the finest traditions in literature and rich grounding in Tolkien's study of language and mythology. Equally surprising, though, Tolkien himself admits that the series is a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work†¦"[1] To the casual reader, Middle-Earth, the setting, seems a world devoid of religious practice, Christian or otherwise. Unsurprisingly, Tolkien added that the religious aspect about which he spoke appeared "unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision," and that "the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism."[2] Therefore, an investigation into probable sources of Christian symbolism leads to questions of characterization and its most obvious target: Frodo Baggins, a Christ-figure. The protagonist of the story, Frodo Baggins is a Hobbit, a small humanoid creature, short in stature and big in appetite. As soon as Tolkien introduces him in the first chapter, Frodo's status as a Christ figure emerges: "Anyway: there was this Mr. Frodo left an orphan and stranded," gossip Frodo's new neighbors when his uncle Bilbo adopts the him.[3] immediately, Frodo possesses two important characteristic of any Christ ... ...ery land of Mordor, conquering an evil which seems far greater than himself. In doing so, Frodo makes up for carelessness of the nations of Middle-Earth who in their sloth allowed the evil to rise up, despite forewarning of the danger. In all these things, there exist clear similarities with Christ who undertakes a similar goal, vanquishing the evil of sin from the world with total selflessness, compassion, and determination. In the end, Frodo admits admirably, "I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved†¦."[6] [1] Tolkien, J.R.R.. "To Robert Murray, S.J." 2 December 1953. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1981) 172. [2] Ibid. [3] Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Lord of the Rings (Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1954) 31. [4] Ibid, 217. [5] Ibid, 309. [6] Ibid, 309.

Natural Threats To Coral Reef Environmental Sciences Essay

Coral Reef, coastal and pelagic ecosystem renowned for its beautiful life signifiers and for supplying one of the most biologically diverse home grounds on Earth. A reef is a ridge or outcrop of stone in the sea that comes near to the surface. A coral reef is a reef that has been built mostly or wholly by corals, bantam animate beings that live together in settlements. Over 100s or 1000s of old ages the limestone skeletons of coral physique up, with new corals turning on the skeletons of the dead 1s. This physical construction, with its populating surface of corals and other beings, is a coral reef. The corals that build reefs are found merely in warm tropical Waterss where sea temperatures seldom fall below 18 & A ; deg ; C ( 64 & A ; deg ; F ) . They thrive merely in clear seawater where bright sunshine can perforate. This is because corals can non be without the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live in coral tissues and necessitate sunshine for photosynthesis. Many reefs are found around islands, or rather far from land at the border of Continental shelves. Some of the most extended countries of coral reefs are found in the Pacific Ocean, around the islands of Southeast Asia and off the seashore of Australia. Large countries of coral reef are besides found in the Indian Ocean and around the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. Many coral reefs besides exist in the Caribbean Sea. Because their skeletons are made of limestone, corals leave clear and abundant dodos. Some of the earliest signifiers of life-mound- or pillar-shaped fossilised stones known as stromatolites-resemble corals. The oldest stromatolites day of the month back 3.5 billion old ages. They were laid down by some of the simplest beings on Earth-blue-green algae ( besides known as blue-green algae ) . About 560 million old ages ago, limestone reefs built by bacteriums, algae, and sponges foremost appeared. The first complex corals, known as tabulate corals, are recorded at approximately 500 million old ages ago. The corals we know today foremost appeared about 220 million old ages ago, before the age of the dinosaurs. The first true coral reefs began to look about 205 million to 210 million old ages ago. Since this clip there have been several periods of major reef-building, but besides periods when corals declined and did non construct reefs. In all, shallow coral reefs occupy merely about 284,000 sq kilometer ( 110,000 sq myocardial infarction ) , or less than tenth part of 1 per centum ( 0.1 per centum ) of the universe ‘s oceans. Yet in this bantam country, coral reefs house a one-fourth of all marine fish species. Reefs are extremely productive resources for human existences. Hundreds of 1000000s of people live within easy range of coral reefs and trust on them to supply nutrient. Coral reefs besides help protect human colonies from big moving ridges during storms. Types of coral reef: Scientists have identified many types of coral reefs. They are known as spot reefs, fringing reefs, barrier reefs, bank reefs, and atolls. Patch reefs occur along a Continental shelf where mound-shaped knolls on the sea floor are near plenty to the surface to let corals to settle and turn. Fringing reefs occur along a bouldery coastline where corals or coral remains extend outward from the shore and organize an outmost line or ridge that runs parallel to the shore. After many centuries, the reef may turn up to the sea surface. As Marine animals, the corals can non turn above the surface. An unusual type of reef is the coral atoll. This is a big, shallow bank, with a depression in the center, typically annular. The British naturalist Charles Darwin right theorized how coral atolls are formed. Coral atolls get down as fringing reefs about active Oceanic vents. When the volcanic eruptions cease, an island remains. Over long geological periods the island begins to drop. The fringing reef continues to turn as the island sinks. Soon what was a fringing reef around the shore becomes a barrier reef separated from the shriveling island by a deeper laguna. After 1000s of old ages, the volcanic island sinks wholly below sea degree, but the corals continue to turn, organizing a round coral reef, an atoll. Conditionss for coral growing: Corals in general are found in all seas and oceans, even in deep oceans and cold Waterss. Reef-building corals, by contrast, require quite specific conditions in order to boom. None are found in countries where the H2O temperature drops much below 18 & A ; deg ; C ( 64 & A ; deg ; F ) for more than a few yearss. Likewise, although some species in the Arabian Sea on a regular basis encounter temperatures of 36 & A ; deg ; C ( 96.8 & A ; deg ; F ) , more usually corals are adapted to boom in a much smaller temperature scope. Apart from temperature, corals besides require clear Waterss. This is partially because they need sunlight to back up the algae that live within their tissues. They are besides really sensitive to atoms of clay or deposit subsiding on them, which means that corals seldom grow close to rivers or other beginnings of deposit. Menaces to Coral Reef: Natural Threats to Coral Reef: Reefs have ever been capable to natural menaces. Storms and hurricanes on a regular basis sweep across some tropical countries, conveying monolithic moving ridges capable of nailing corals even at deepnesss of 10 m ( 33 foot ) or more. Heavy rainfall can besides harm corals by conveying fresh H2O and deposits onto the reefs. Certain animals eat coral. This is normally a natural procedure on a coral reef, but one animal, the crown-of-thorns sea star, sometimes reaches plague proportions and can destruct all living coral on a reef in a few hebdomads. These pestilences may be natural, and reefs can surely retrieve. However, many scientists believe that overfishing of the natural marauders of these starfish may be declining the job. Starfish populations may besides be turning because they benefit from increased fresh H2O and deposits. Human Threats to Coral Reefs: The great majority of human menaces to coral reefs falls into four classs: pollution, deposit, overfishing, and planetary heating. Corals are susceptible to assorted signifiers of pollution, but likely the most common is merely the flow of foods from untreated sewerage and from agricultural land, particularly where there is heavy usage of pesticides or fertiliser. These foods cause big additions in algae, both in the plankton and in algae turning on the seafloor, which so smother the corals or barricade out the visible radiation. The sum of deposits making the sea has increased quickly over the past hundred old ages or more. This can be linked to the loss of woods and the development of new agricultural techniques that lay the land unfastened to rain and eroding. The deposits are swept into the oceans through rivers and watercourses and, like the algae, can surround and kill the coral. Fishing has been traveling on around coral reefs for 1000s of old ages. Problems arise when excessively many people try to catch fish from the reefs, or when, frequently out of despair, they turn to destructive steps to capture fish. The rapid growing of human populations, combined with the development of progressively efficient angling methods, means that reefs in many countries are overfished. The reefs have fewer and smaller fish than in the yesteryear, a catastrophe both for the reef ecosystem and for the fishers. In a few topographic points, notably in Southeast Asia, some fishers use explosives to capture fish. These explosives kill all fish within a certain country, every bit good as destructing the corals nearby. It takes many old ages for these damaged countries to retrieve. Coral Reef Protection: Despite these menaces, coral reefs can be protected. The consequences of this protection are good for people every bit good as for the reefs. In topographic points where there is chronic overfishing, better, more sustainable direction patterns can increase the entire fish Numberss, leting for more fish to reproduce and raising the gimmicks of the fishers. Sewage intervention and better direction of land countries can assist cut down pollution and deposit, leting reefs to retrieve from degraded provinces. The most of import tools for coral reef preservation are instruction and the constitution of protected countries. Closing off even comparatively little countries of coral reefs to fishing can hold dramatic consequences. Large Numberss of fish build up in these countries and spill over to the environing reefs, where fishers may catch them. These same countries become valuable finishs for tourers as they offer chances to see the reefs. They are besides likely to be of import countries to back up the recovery of reefs when there is devastation of reef countries through natural impacts or coral bleaching. As of 2005 more than 660 coral reefs were being protected, including two of the universe ‘s largest protected areas-the Great Barrier Reef off Australia and the coral reefs of the northwest Hawaiian Islands. The 660 protected reefs represent about 19 per centum of the universe ‘s coral reefs. Some reefs appear to be more resilient to coral decoloring than others. The protection of these reefs from other harmful human impacts will be critical, non merely for their ain endurance, but besides because these same reefs may supply new corals to repopulate damaged reefs. But in the long tally, denominating coral reefs as protected zones will non save any reefs from the planetary effects of clime alteration. Merely drastic decreases in nursery gas emanations, peculiarly C dioxide emanations, can protect coral reefs from the dangers of planetary heating.

African Wild Dog Facts Diet, Behavior, Habitat

The African wild dog, or painted dog, is a fierce predator found in the open plains to dense forests of sub-Saharan Africa. The Latin name, Lycaon pictus, means painted wolf  and refers to the animals mottled coat. African wild dogs may be mostly solid-colored or painted with patches of black, brown, red, yellow, and white. Each dog has its own unique pattern, although most have a white-tipped tail that helps members of the pack find each other during a hunt. They are long-legged animals with large, rounded ears. Fast Facts: African Wild Dog Name: African wild dogScientific Name: Lycaon pictusCommon Names: African wild dog, African hunting dog, African painted dog, Cape hunting dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dogBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 28-44 inch body; 11-16 inch tailWeight: 40-79 poundsLifespan: Up to 11 yearsHabitat: Sub-Saharan AfricaPopulation: 1400Diet: CarnivoreConservation Status: Endangered Description An African wild dog has a dark muzzle and vertical line running up its forehead. Tom Broadhurst / Getty Images Some characteristics of the African wild dog set it apart from other canines. Although tall, it is the bulkiest African canine. The average dog weighs 44 to 55 pounds in East Africa and 54 to 72 pounds in southern Africa. It stands about 24 to 30 inches from the shoulder, with a 28 to 44 inch body length and 11 to 16 inch tail. Females are slightly smaller than males. The species lacks dewclaws and usually has fused middle toe pads. Its curved, blade-like lower teeth are unusual, only seen in the South American bush dog and Asian dhole. African wild dogs have different fur from other canids. The coat consists entirely of stiff bristles that the animal loses as it ages. There is no underfur. While body marking is unique to each dog, most have a black muzzle with a black line running up the forehead.  Although wild dogs communicate vocally, they lack the facial expressions and body language seen in other canids. Habitat and Distribution While the African wild dog once roamed the mountains and deserts of most of sub-Saharan Africa, its modern range is restricted to Southern Africa and southern East Africa. Groups tend to be isolated from one another. Diet African wild dogs hunt as a pack. Catherina Unger / Getty Images The African wild dog is a hypercarnivore, which means its diet consists of over 70 percent meat. Packs prefer to hunt antelope, but will also take wildebeest, warthogs, rodents, and birds. The hunting strategy depends on the prey. The pack hunts antelope by sneaking up on the herd and then running down an individual, repeatedly biting it on the legs and belly until it weakens. The wild dog can give chase for 10 to 60 minutes, running at a speed of up to 66 kilometers per hour.  L. pictus has a very high hunting success rate, with 60 to 90 percent of chases resulting in a kill. The only significant predator of the African wild dog is the lion. Spotted hyenas commonly steal L. pictus kills, but tend not to hunt the dogs. Behavior Wild dogs sneeze to vote on pack decisions. The sneeze is a sharp exhalation through the nostrils that signals assent or agreement. When a pack gathers and the dominant mating pair sneeze, departure for hunting is likely. If a less dominant dog sneezes, hunting may occur if enough members of the group also sneeze. Reproduction and Offspring Females guard their puppies from predators and other pack members, rather than hunt. Manoj Shah / Getty Images African wild dogs form strong social bonds and are found in permanent packs of adults and yearling pups. The average pack has between 4 and 9 adults, but much larger packs occur. The dominant female is usually the oldest one, while the dominant male may be either the oldest or strongest. Typically, only the dominant pair breeds. Usually, only one litter per year is born. In Southern Africa, the dogs breed in April to July, but there is no fixed breeding season in the East African packs. Mating is brief (less than one minute). Gestation is 69 to 73 days. The African wild dog has between 6 and 26 pups, which is the largest litter of any canid. The mother stays with the pups and drives away other pack members until the pups can eat solid food (3 to 4 weeks of age). Pups get to eat first once they start hunting, but lose priority once they are a year old. Once they are sexually mature, females leave the pack. The average life span of a wild dog is 11 years of age. Conservation Status At one time, African wild dogs roamed all of sub-Saharan Africa except the driest parts of the desert and the lowland forests. Now, most of the remaining dogs live in southern East Africa and Southern Africa. Only 1400 adults remain, divided into 39 subpopulations. The species is categorized as endangered because the packs are widely separated from each other and numbers continue to decline from disease, habitat destruction,  and conflict with humans. African wild dogs cannot be domesticated, although there are instances in which they have been kept as pets. Sources Bothma, J. du P. and C. Walker. Larger Carnivores of the African Savannas, Springer, pp. 130–157, 1999, ISBN 3-540-65660-XChimimba, C. T.. The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region. Cambridge University Press. pp. 474–48, 20050. ISBN 0-521-84418-5McNutt; et al. Lycaon pictus. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2008.Walker, Reena H.; King, Andrew J.; McNutt, J. Weldon; Jordan, Neil R. Sneeze to leave: African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) use variable quorum thresholds facilitated by sneezes in collective decisions. Proc. R. Soc. B. 284 (1862): 20170347, 2017. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0347