Biography of Leo Tolstoy, Russian Writer

Leo Tolstoy (September 9, 1828-November 20, 1910) was a Russian writer, best known for his epic novels. Born into an aristocratic Russian family, Tolstoy wrote realist fiction and semi-autobiographical novels before shifting into more moral and spiritual works. Fast Facts: Leo Tolstoy Full Name: Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyKnown For: Russian novelist and writer of philosophical and moral textsBorn:  September 9, 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana, Russian EmpireParents:  Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and Countess Mariya TolstoyaDied:  November 20, 1910 in Astapovo, Russian EmpireEducation: Kazan University (began at age 16; did not complete his studies)Selected Works:  War and Peace (1869), Anna Karenina (1878), A Confession (1880), The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), Resurrection (1899)Spouse:  Sophia Behrs (m. 1862)Children:  13, including Count Sergei Lvovich Tolstoy, Countess Tatiana Lvona Tolstoya, Count Ilya Lvovich Tolstoy, Count Lev Lvovich Tolstoy, and Countess Alexandra Lvona TolstoyaNotable Quote: â€Å"There can be only one permanent revolution—a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world every body thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself. Early Life Tolstoy was born into a very old Russian aristocratic family whose lineage was, quite literally, the stuff of Russian legend. According to family history, they could trace their family tree back to a legendary nobleman named Indris, who had left the Mediterranean region and arrived in Chernigov, Ukraine, in 1353 with his two sons and an entourage of approximately 3,000 people. His descendant then was nicknamed â€Å"Tolstiy,† meaning â€Å"fat,† by Vasily II of Moscow, which inspired the family name. Other historians trace the family’s origins to 14th or 16th-century Lithuania, with a founder named Pyotr Tolstoy. He was born on the family’s estate, the fourth of five children born to Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and his wife, the Countess Maria Tolstoya. Because of the conventions of Russian noble titles, Tolstoy also bore the title of â€Å"count† despite not being his father’s eldest son. His mother died when he was 2 years old, and his father when he was 9, so he and his siblings were largely brought up by other relatives. In 1844, at age 16, he began studying law and languages at Kazan University, but was apparently a very poor student and soon left to return to a life of leisure. Tolstoy did not marry until his thirties, after the death of one of his brothers hit him hard. On September 23, 1862, he married Sophia Andreevna Behrs (known as Sonya), who was only 18 at the time (16 years younger than him) and was the daughter of a doctor at court. Between 1863 and 1888, the couple had 13 children; eight survived to adulthood. The marriage was, reportedly, happy and passionate in the early days, despite Sonya’s discomfort with her husband’s wild past, but as time went on, their relationship deteriorated into deep unhappiness. Leo and Sonya Tolstoy, circa 1906.   Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Getty Images Travels and Military Experience Tolstoy’s journey from dissolute aristocrat to socially agitating writer was shaped heavily by a few experiences in his youth; namely, his military service and his travels in Europe. In 1851, after running up significant debts from gambling, he went with his brother to join the army. During the Crimean War, from 1853 to 1856, Tolstoy was an artillery officer and served in Sevastopol during the famous 11-month siege of the city between 1854 and 1855. Although he was commended for his bravery and promoted to lieutenant, Tolstoy did not like his military service. The gruesome violence and heavy death toll in the war horrified him, and he left the army as soon as possible after the war ended. Along with some of his compatriots, he embarked on tours of Europe: one in 1857, and one from 1860 to 1861. Tolstoy served as an officer during the Crimean War. Bettmann / Getty Images   During his 1857 tour, Tolstoy was in Paris when he witnessed a public execution. The traumatic memory of that experience shifted something in him permanently, and he developed a deep loathing and mistrust of government in general. He came to believe that there was no such thing as good government, only an apparatus to exploit and corrupt its citizens, and he became a vocal advocate of non-violence. In fact, he corresponded with Mahatma Gandhi about the practical and theoretical applications of non-violence. A later visit to Paris, in 1860 and 1861, produced further effects in Tolstoy which would come to fruition in some of his most famous works. Soon after reading Victor Hugo’s epic novel Les Miserables, Tolstoy met Hugo himself. His War and Peace was heavily influenced by Hugo, particularly in its treatment of war and military scenes. Similarly, his visit to the exiled anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon gave Tolstoy the idea for his novel’s title and shaped his views on education. In 1862, he put those ideals to work, founding 13 schools for Russian peasant children in the aftermath of Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs. His schools were among the first to run on the ideals of democratic education—education which advocates democratic ideals and runs according to them–but were short-lived due to the enmity of the royalist secret police. Early and Epic Novels (1852-1877) Childhood  (1852)Boyhood  (1854)Youth  (1856)Sevastopol Sketches (1855–1856)The Cossacks  (1863)War and Peace  (1869)Anna Karenina  (1877) Between 1852 and 1856, Tolstoy focused on a trio of autobiographical novels: Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth. Later in his career, Tolstoy criticized these novels as being overly sentimental and unsophisticated, but they’re quite insightful about his own early life. The novels are not direct autobiographies, but instead tell the story of a rich man’s son who grows up and slowly realizes that there is an insurmountable gap between him and the peasants who live on the land owned by his father. He also wrote a trio of semi-autobiographical short stories, Sevastopol Sketches, which depicted his time as an army officer during the Crimean War. For the most part, Tolstoy wrote in the realist style, attempting to accurately (and with detail) convey the lives of the Russians he knew and observed. His 1863 novella, The Cossacks, provided a close look at the Cossack people in a story about a Russian aristocrat who falls in love with a Cossack girl. Tolstoy’s magnum opus was 1869’s War and Peace, a massive and sprawling narrative encompassing nearly 600 characters (including several historical figures and several characters strongly based on real people Tolstoy knew). The epic story deals with Tolstoy’s theories about history, spanning many years and moving through wars, family complications, romantic intrigues, and court life, and ultimately intended as an exploration of the eventual causes of the 1825 Decembrist revolt. Interestingly, Tolstoy did not consider War and Peace to be his first â€Å"real† novel; he considered it a prose epic, not a true novel. Illustration of Natashas first ball in War and Peace from a 1893 edition.   Leonid Pasternak / Wikimedia Commons Tolstoy believed his first true novel to be Anna Karenina, published in 1877. The novel follows two major plotlines which intersect: an unhappily married aristocratic woman’s doomed affair with a cavalry officer, and a wealthy landowner who has a philosophical awakening and wants to improve the peasantry’s way of life. It covers personal themes of morality and betrayal, as well as larger social questions of the changing social order, contrasts between city and rural life, and class divisions. Stylistically, it lies at the juncture of realism and modernism. Musings on Radical Christianity (1878-1890) A Confession  (1879)Church and State  (1882)What I Believe  (1884)What Is to Be Done?   (1886)The Death of Ivan Ilyich  (1886)On Life  (1887)The Love of God and of Ones Neighbour  (1889)The Kreutzer Sonata  (1889) After Anna Karenina, Tolstoy began further developing the seeds of moral and religious ideas in his earlier works into the center of his later work. He actually criticized his own earlier works, including War and Peace and Anna Karenina, as not being properly realistic. Instead, he began developing a radical, anarcho-pacifist, Christian worldview that explicitly rejected both violence and the rule of the state. Between 1871 and 1874, Tolstoy tried his hand at poetry, branching out from his usual prose writings. He wrote poems about his military service, compiling them with some fairy tales in his Russian Book for Reading, a four-volume publication of shorter works that was intended for an audience of schoolchildren. Ultimately, he disliked and dismissed poetry. Two more books during this period, the novel The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) and the non-fiction text What Is to Be Done? (1886), continued developing Tolstoy’s radical and religious views, with harsh critiques of the state of Russian society. His Confession (1880) and What I Believe (1884) declared his Christian beliefs, his support of pacifism and complete non-violence, and his choice of voluntary poverty and asceticism. Political and Moral Essayist (1890-1910) The Kingdom of God Is Within You  (1893)Christianity and Patriotism  (1894)The Deception of the Church  (1896)Resurrection  (1899)What Is Religion and What is its Essence?  (1902)The Law of Love and the Law of Violence  (1908) In his later years, Tolstoy wrote almost solely about his moral, political, and religious beliefs. He developed a firm belief that the best way to live was to strive for personal perfection by following the commandment to love God and love one’s neighbor, rather than following the rules set by any church or government on earth. His thoughts eventually garnered a following, the Tolstoyans, who were a Christian anarchist group devoted to living out and spreading Tolstoy’s teachings. By 1901, Tolstoy’s radical views led to his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church, but he was unperturbed. In 1899, he had written Resurrection, his final novel, which critiqued the human-run church and state and attempted to expose their hypocrisy. His criticism extended to many of the foundations of society at the time, including private property and marriage. He hoped to continue spreading his teachings throughout Russia. Tolstoy at his desk, circa 1908. Library of Congress / Getty Images For the last two decades of his life, Tolstoy largely focused on essay writing. He continued advocating for his anarchist beliefs while also cautioning against the violent revolution espoused by many anarchists. One of his books, The Kingdom of God Is Within You, was one of the formative influences on Mahatma Gandhi’s theory of nonviolent protest, and the two men actually corresponded for a year, between 1909 and 1910. Tolstoy also wrote significantly in favor of the economic theory of Georgism, which posited that individuals should own the value they produce, but society should share in the value derived from the land itself. Literary Styles and Themes In his earlier works, Tolstoy was largely concerned with depicting what he saw around him in the world, particularly at the intersection of the public and private spheres. War and Peace and Anna Karenina, for instance, both told epic stories with serious philosophical underpinnings. War and Peace spent significant time criticizing the telling of history, arguing that it’s the smaller events that make history, not the huge events and famous heroes. Anna Karenina, meanwhile, centers on personal themes such as betrayal, love, lust and jealousy, as well as turning a close eye on the structures of Russian society, both in the upper echelons of the aristocracy and among the peasantry. Later in life, Tolstoy’s writings took a turn into the explicitly religious, moral, and political. He wrote at length about his theories of pacifism and anarchism, which tied into his highly individualistic interpretation of Christianity as well. Tolstoy’s texts from his later eras were no longer novels with intellectual themes, but straightforward essays, treatises, and other non-fiction work. Asceticism and the work of inner perfection were among the things Tolstoy advocated for in his writings. Portrait of Tolstoy later in life. Photos.com / Getty Images   Tolstoy did, however, get politically involved, or at least publicly expressed his opinions on major issues and conflicts of the day. He wrote in support of the Boxer rebels during the Boxer Rebellion in China, condemning the violence of the Russian, American, German, and Japanese troops. He wrote on revolution, but he considered it an internal battle to be fought within individual souls, rather than a violent overthrow of the state. Over the course of his life, Tolstoy wrote in a wide variety of styles. His most famous novels contained sweeping prose somewhere between the realist and modernist styles, as well as a particular style of seamlessly sweeping from quasi-cinematic, detailed but massive descriptions to the specifics of characters’ perspectives. Later, as he shifted away from fiction into non-fiction, his language became more overtly moral and philosophical. Death By the end of his life, Tolstoy had reached a breaking point with his beliefs, his family, and his health. He finally decided to separate from his wife Sonya, who vehemently opposed many of the ideas and was intensely jealous of the attention he gave his followers over her. In order to escape with the least amount of conflict, he slipped away secretively, leaving home in the middle of the night during the cold winter. His health had been declining, and he had renounced the luxuries of his aristocratic lifestyle. After spending a day traveling by train, his destination somewhere in the south, he collapsed due to pneumonia at the Astapovo railway station. Despite the summoning of his personal doctors, he died that day, on November 20, 1910. When his funeral procession went through the streets, police tried to limit access, but they were unable to stop thousands of peasants from lining the streets—although some were there not because of devotion to Tolstoy, but merely out of curiosity about a nobleman who had died. Legacy In many ways, Tolstoy’s legacy cannot be overstated. His moral and philosophical writings inspired Gandhi, which means that Tolstoy’s influence can be felt in contemporary movements of non-violent resistance. War and Peace is a staple on countless lists of the best novels ever written, and it has remained highly praised by the literary establishment since its publication. Tolstoy’s personal life, with its origins in the aristocracy and his eventual renunciation of his privileged existence, continues to fascinate readers and biographer, and the man himself is as famous as his works. Some of his descendants left Russia in the early 20th century, and many of them continue to make names for themselves in their chosen professions to this day. Tolstoy left behind a literary legacy of epic prose, carefully drawn characters, and a fiercely felt moral philosophy, making him an unusually colorful and influential author across the years. Sources Feuer, Kathryn B.  Tolstoy and the Genesis of War and Peace. Cornell University Press, 1996.Troyat, Henri. Tolstoy. New York: Grove Press, 2001.Wilson, A.N. Tolstoy: A Biography. W. W. Norton Company, 1988.

Superstitions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by...

Superstition In Huckleberry Finn multiple instances of superstitions arise and seem to be engraved in the culture, even the most utmost examples being rarely questioned and continually passed on from generation to generation like a hand-me-down. In modern society, superstition is one big mind game. Eventually, enough people are affected by these notions that they become evidence for others. In both modern day and in the late 1800s when the story of Huck Finn took place, superstition has been used as a cloak to explain events or occurrences that humans cannot or simply choose not to explain in a logical manner, oftentimes showing the illogical thinking and gullibility of a certain society. In the story, Jim is a runaway slave. Because many unfair things happen to slaves, superstition plays a more prevalent role in Jim’s life. Jim uses superstitions to justify unfortunate events that happen to him, just accepting what had happened rather than investigating. In Chapter 10, Huck handles a snakeskin and Jim warns Huck that it would cause them bad luck. Later on, Huck finds another rattlesnake. Once Huck had killed the snake, he put it in the bottom of Jim’s blanket, searching for a good laugh when Jim found it. It eventually attracted another snake that bit Jim when he crawled in. Huck never told Jim that he put the dead snake in his blanket. Jim then scolded Huck about handling the snake skin earlier â€Å"Jim said he reckoned I would believe him next time. And he said thatShow MoreRelatedSuperstition in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain661 Words   |  3 PagesIn the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the theme of super stition is obviously portrayed in both views of Jim and Huck. Huck shows his beliefs in superstition throughout the entire novel, but especially in the beginning. Between Huck And Jim, Jim is by far the most superstitious. Huckleberry Finn is superstitious out of terror, while Jim is superstitious out of beliefs and his education. Huck and Jim have different point of views on how they see superstition. Jim, is Huck’sRead MoreMorality in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay717 Words   |  3 PagesAmerican author Mark Twain was one of the most influential people of his time. Twain is perhaps best known for his traditional classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about an adventurous boy named Huck Finn as he traverses about on the Mississippi. Under first impressions, Huckleberry Finn would be considered nothing but a children’s tale at heart written by the highly creative Mark Twain. However one interprets it, one can undoubtedly presume that Twain included personal accounts withinRead MoreThe Main Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain796 Words   |  4 Pagesattempting to find a plot in it will be shot.† This quote is from Mark Twain at the beginning of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and it shows Mark Twain’s humor, while also setting the tone for the book. This book was published in the 1880’s, which was around twenty years after the civil war, but it showed there were still signs of discrimination against the African Americans. The main themes of this story are racism and slavery, superstitions, and the issue of conforming to society to please othersRead MoreEssay on Prejudice and Racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn833 Words   |  4 PagesPrejudice and Racism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn      Ã‚   The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is an excellent example of racism in literature, because it uses language describing African Americans which goes beyond satire.   It treats them as objects and perpetuates stereotypes. It does not expose and deal with racism, as many advocates of its reading claim, but encourages an attitude of superiority that is unnecessary and intolerable. In order to ridRead MoreLiterary Analysis of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay1100 Words   |  5 PagesLiterary Analysis of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In Huckleberry Finn there are several themes. There are themes of racism and slavery, civilized society, survival, water imagery, and the one I will be discussing, superstition ( SparkNotes Editors). Superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation (â€Å"Merriam-Webster†). Superstition was a very popular theme in Huckleberry Finn that you sawRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1648 Words   |  7 Pagesfeel that you, too, can become great.† (Mark Twain ). Mark Twain rejected romanticism by saturating it with his superstition. By rejecting romanticism, Twain was establishing himself as a writer of the realism movement. Mark Twain was a skeptic about religion, and had especially harsh criticism of extreme evangelical Christians. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most prominent representations of Mark Twain s Realism. Adventure s of Huckleberry Finn is about a neglected 13-year old, whoseRead MoreHuck Finn: Racist or Not Racist?760 Words   |  4 PagesMark Twain went against endless amounts of criticism about his racist’s comments in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The character of Jim is demeaning to African-Americans as he is portrayed as a foolish, uneducated, black slave. The â€Å"n† word is also used in the book describing him and many other African-American characters in the story. However, some see this book as anti-racist and believe that the use of racist’s comments is not racist at all. Those who think that are mistakenRead MoreA Brief Note On Book The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 1310 Words   |  6 PagesSarah Jane Reshetiloff Mr. O’Hearn Honors British Literature 26 September 2015 Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a masterful social satire that demonstrates the awakening of a young, adventurous boy living in a culture of slavery. He uses humor and an unreliable narrator to convey social satire in the novel to reflect the flaws of society toward in the antebellum south. The novel was published in 1884, just after slaveryRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Is, Indeed, A Magnificent1154 Words   |  5 PagesThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is, indeed, a magnificent piece of work. Having said that, Mark Twain wrote this book with qualities that, without a doubt, classify it as a regional text. Twain illustrates specific features of the South such as geography, culture, dialect and characters, which, in turn, aid in adding flare to this notable style of writing. Twain captures the South remarkably through his depiction of the geography in a specific region, which in this case is the Mississippi RiverRead MoreMark TwainS The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Is More1915 Words   |  8 PagesMark Twain s the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is more than just a condemnation of pre-civil war society and its justification of slavery. Twain also uses the novel to challenge the validity of superstition. The main characters, Huckleberry and Jim, are mere marionettes for Twain to express his censure through; he mocks them with their own fears and distortion of superstition. Twain’s representation of superstition throughout the book is indicative of his own thoughts towards the subject. The

Gender Discrimination in the Workplace Free Essays

Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace Unfair treatment of women has been prevalent throughout time. Although there have been many movements to attempt to terminate this tendency, it is still ubiquitous in today’s society. Sex discrimination in the workplace occurs when women are treated differently because of their gender. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Discrimination in the Workplace or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many factors influence employers and coworkers to display prejudice against women. Gender bias in the workplace is an unfair practice that results in lower payment, disrespect, and an overall bad occupation experience for victims. Gender discrimination is not necessarily a new issue, but it remains to be a major struggle despite the attempts that have been made to stop it through legal manners. In a report by The Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Ariane Hegewisch, Cynthia Deitch, and Evelyn Murphy, the results of these attempts are summarized on both simple and complex levels. â€Å"The 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating in their employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Although Title VII banned employment discrimination, it did not require specific actions to achieve this objective. † Because the Act lacks such a critical detail, employers are able to avoid obeying it very easily. Laws besides the Civil Rights Act have been put into place in order to reduce unjust treatment in the workplace. For example, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed. This act was supposed to end â€Å"the practice of paying men more than women when performing the same jobs and duties. Despite these protections, many women still feel gender biased discrimination is a problem† (Gluck). The effects of both the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act have obviously been minimal, seeing as women are still very much looked down upon in the workplace. One of the most direct effects of sex discrimination in the workplace is the stereotyping that occurs. The mass overrepresentation of men in â€Å"senior management positions† is a sub-result of discrimination (â€Å"Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment†). The favoring of the selection of men over women for promotions has had a dramatic effect in the workplace over time. â€Å"Stereotypical views regarding gender can cause supervisors to engage in the llegal practice of passing a person over for promotion due to gender. Supervisors most often pass over women due to preconceived notions about their roles and abilities† (Gluck). Stereotypes about women come not only from their under representation in the workplace, but from preconceived notions about their family roles. Even If a woman is hired withou t being asked about her family responsibilities, once she takes the position, her boss can â€Å"view her employee file to see that she has young children† and then will be able to â€Å"give her less responsibility or assign menial tasks to her that do not fit her job description. Although illegal, this practice still exists in offices today† (Gluck). Once again, employers ignore the laws put in place to stop discrimination because of stereotyping. The only way gender bias will disappear is if stereotypes disappear as well. One of the reasons sexual discrimination is so prevalent today is that sexual harassment has become so accepted in society and in places of employment. â€Å"Women have long been exposed to workplace harassment which involves conduct of a sexual nature or is premised on the sex of the victim† (McCann). Because of the wide range of behaviors that are considered sexual harassment, it is difficult to identify some action as harassment, which means rules against it are easy to ignore. Sexual harassment has terrible effects on the morale of victims. A loss of motivation â€Å"necessary to perform their jobs effectively† is one of the most notable results of bias (Gluck). â€Å"Offensive jokes of a suggestive or sexual nature and jokes implying that an employee’s work is sub-par due to her gender† are one of the major causes for the loss of motivation that victims experience. Sexual discrimination is obviously an extremely negative practice, but one of the most devastating effects of the prejudice is the payment gap between men and women. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), â€Å"in 2011, female full-time workers made only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 23 percent† (â€Å"Pay Equity Discrimination†). IWPR predicts that â€Å"if change continues at the same slow pace as it has done for the past fifty years, it will take almost another fifty–or until 2056–for women to finally reach pay parity. Such inequality in payment is absurd, especially since â€Å"women compromise 47% of the total U. S. labor force† (â€Å"Women’s Bureau†). Throughout history, women have battled gender discrimination inside and outside of the office. The difference in payment of men and women is a significant problem that needs to be paid more attention to. Once stereoty pes are dissolved, problems with gender bias will dissolve as well and the payment gap will become easier to close. Until then, the laws that have been imposed need to become enforced more strictly and individuals need to pay more attention to sexual harassment norms. Women deserve every right that men have and vice versa. Sexual discrimination affects all of society in some way or another, so it is important that society’s members work towards ending it. Works Cited Gluck, Samantha. â€Å"The Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace. † Small Business. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. Hegewisch, Ariane, Cynthia Deitch, and Evelyn Murphy. Ending Sex and Race Discrimination in the Workplace: Legal Interventions That Push the Envelope — IWPR. Rep. N. p. , 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. McCann, Deirdre. Sexual Harassment at Work: National and International Responses, Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 2. † Sexual Harassment at Work. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Pay Equity Discrimination. † — IWPR. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment. † Knowledge Center | Catalyst. N. p. , 1 July 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Women’s Bureau (WB) – Quick Facts on Women in the Labor Force in 2010. † Women’s Bureau (WB) – Quick Facts on Women in the Labor Force in 2010. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. How to cite Gender Discrimination in the Workplace, Papers

ADD / ADHD free essay sample

ADHD by definition is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This is quite common psychiatric disease across the world. According to available literature an approximated 5 percent of children over the globe are victims of ADHD. In addition, the article claims that at least 30 percent of those diagnosed with this disorder still experience it at their adulthood. Further, the disorder is identified about two to four times in boy than is in girls (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). However, these discrepancies have been blamed from bias refereeing by teachers. This paper is written as a discussion of ADHD. The author will in particular look at the symptoms, causes, and treatments of this psychiatric disorder. The actual cause of ADHD is not known. Nevertheless, numerous risk factors have been associated with the disorder. First, ADHD can be caused by genetic factors (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). Available information show that an estimated over 70 percent of all ADHD cases are due to genetics factors. We will write a custom essay sample on ADD / ADHD or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Research findings have it that ADHD is mainly caused by a combination of genes. Such include ÃŽ ±2A adrenergic receptor, dopamine transporter, dopamine receptors D2/D3, dopamine beta-hydroxylase monoamine oxidase A, catecholamine-methyl transferase, serotonin transporter promoter (SLC6A4), 5HT2A receptor, 5HT1B receptor, the 10-repeat allele of the DAT1 gene, the 7-repeat allele of the DRD4 gene, and the dopamine beta hydroxylase gene (DBH TaqI) (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). It is however worthy noting that this disease does not follow the normal genetic disease analysis model. ADHD has also been claimed to be caused by adaptive behavior according to the evolutionary theory as proposed by Thom Hartmann. As per the theory, victims of this disorder are more equipped to seek than to stay put overtime. Another cause of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is non-shared environmental factors such as alcoholism and tobacco smoking (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). This factor still encompasses social relation issues with the young members of the community. In addition, diet has also been closely associated with ADHD. According to research findings by the Southampton University in the United Kingdom, there is a potential link between ADHD and the use of artificial food colors among kids. Victims of ADHD are marked with numerous symptoms. True from available statistics, these victims have inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness as their main identifying characteristics (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). Among the young, this type of disorder is portrayed by the ease to be distracted and failure to focus on one thing. Moreover, ADHD victims are prone to hyper-reaction to normal happenings in life. Such are indeed are direct result to their failure in accomplishing their academic endeavors. Further, ADHD can be witnessed in children who have much daydreaming, moving slowly and are easily confused in life. Management of ADHD has proved to be the most cost effective medical practice. Nevertheless, numerous research findings have shown that the condition can be reliably controlled by the use of stimulant medication. It is worth noting that amphetamine methylphenidate (Ritalin, Metadate, Concerta), dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall), dextromethamphetamine (Desoxyn) and lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) are the most commonly used types of stimulants in controlling ADHD (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). However, it is advisable for medical practitioners to take into consideration the addictive nature of medications aimed at increasing the level of neurotransmitters such as dopamine. This is due to the fact that such medications are quite addictive, a factor that creates more problems to the victim (Council for Exceptional Children, 2010). Therefore, ADHD can be effectively managed to allow the victim lead a sustainable life. This is nevertheless more reliable when the condition is diagnosed at early stages of life.