Literature

In the poems  When the Somber Slaughterhouse Opens Its Caverns of Death  by Andre Chenier and  The Village Bell  by Alphonse De Lamartine, the poets use symbolism to illustrate the human condition and the freedom of death. Cheniers piece uses the imagery of a slaughterhouse to show the dehumanization of human life as a mechanism which frees us from the restraints of death, while de Lamartine uses the image of a village bell as symbolic  of a kind of spiritual death toll that is equally universal. Both concentrate around the concept of the fallibility and mortality of human life, and highlight through their use of symbolism the fleeting nature of existence and the very personal and transcendent nature of death. Through their understanding of death they foster a sense of renewal in life itself embracing the individual life as a precious thing that is enhanced in the awareness of death.

Andre Cheniers poem uses the powerful imagery of the slaughterhouse and the combination of denial and awareness that accompany the presence of death. Seeing the slaughterhouse for what it is, a house of death, which provides purpose and profit from one of the most basic of human realities, highlights the impersonal yet universal experience of human death. The use of the slaughterhouse as a central idea in the poem is of particular importance because it is an obvious symbol. There can be no misunderstanding in the purpose of a slaughterhouse, as noted before it is a house of death but more importantly it creates a business of mortality. In the inner workings of a slaughterhouse create a distance from death as a spiritual cataclysm, breaking death down to a basic physical transition. Its presence in Cheniers imagined community, allows the people to live side by side with death while stubbornly refusing to make themselves a part of it and continuing the business of living.

Chenier clearly illustrates how community and the individual intersect and divide over the reality of death in the opening lines of his poem. The entire community is aware of the death happening in the slaughterhouse, man and animal,
Shepherds, dogs, the other sheep, the whole farm
Is no longer concerned with its fate.
The children who followed its sporting in the plain,
The maidens with lovely complexions  (ll. 3-6).

This awareness of death enhances their understanding of life through association, reminding them of their mortality  but giving reassurance in the fact that it is not their own death they are experiencing. While life can be felt from within the context of a larger community, seen in the daily actions and collective mentalities of life in large groups, death is universal and individual. The sheep that are herded into the slaughterhouse, to be killed and quartered, go in the doors as a group and their collective cry falls on deaf ears. There is denial in the actions of the townspeople,
Who crowded about to kiss it, and on its white wool
Tied knots of ribbons and flowers,
Without thinking of it further, eat it if it is tender,
Buried in this abyss (ll. 7-10).

There is no doubt in the details of this poem that the fate of these animals is unknown, however, by denying the fate of these sheep the people can deny their own fate. When their deaths are realized, they become part of another reality, and transition into a byproduct of life and lose their individuality. Chenier senses a universality not only in the realization of death but also its reception. His own fate, he comes to understand, is linked to the deaths of those sheep in the slaughterhouse. In societys reaction to death, part acknowledgment and part denial, the individual becomes lost,
Let us become accustomed to neglect.
Forgotten like me in this frightful lair,
A thousand other sheep, like me  (ll. 12-14).

Death becomes a matter of rote, to be forgotten behind closed doors, and the victims of human life become one in their shared experience.

Despite the dehumanization of the individual and the failure in confronting the connectedness of life to death, Chenier does not condemn this reaction. There should be a separation between life and death, because to be too concerned with death is to avoid the full benefits of living,
They were right to live.
Live, friends, live in contentment.
In spite of (Fonquier), be slow to follow me  (ll. 15-17).

In many ways the life the person will leave behind should be nurtured rather than the memory of their death. Here we can see the twofold manner in which Chenier uses the slaughterhouse, that at once negatively and positively portrays the mortality of human life. Humans are all just part of a larger construct, where at times the individual is lost in the masses. On the other hand, the impersonal nature of the death of the sheep illustrates a detachment that allows for the co-existence of life and death in the memory of an individual. While death retains its reality, through not dwelling on it in life but allowing for its inevitability the individual can more fully realize the potential for life while they are still fully part of it.

Just as the slaughterhouse is an obvious reference of death, the solemn toll of the bell in Alphonse de Lamartines poem acts as a universal symbol of mortality. The bell, reminiscent of John Donnes  Meditation 17,   The bell doth toll for him, that thinks it doth,  is a connection to a common metaphor even now used to symbolize death. Speaking to the child, who symbolizes youth, de Lamartine professes to love the bells  mystic voice that is faithful to death  (ll. 4). For him, it is a pure symbol that, like the slaughterhouse, does not cater to a sentimentality of death but rather a constant reminder of its existence. As a music of death, it is a background noise to life as the two are inextricably woven. Like the transition between individual notes in the song of the bell, the punctuations of life and death stand both alone as cycles of individual humanity and collectively as a song of nature. Life as we understand it cannot exist outside the context of death death however, can and should exist separately from life. Our deaths and the mortality of loved ones, should not act as a deterrent to a full enjoyment of life.

In fact, de Lamartine presents death itself as a kind of prison, a loss of freedom that can never be regained, with mourning an even worse fortress of unhappiness. As he illustrates in the third stanza of the poem, he wishes his death not to be an occasion for individual martyrdom in mourning,
Do not go begging tears from the horizon
But put on your festival voice, and ring over my tomb
with the joyous noise of a chain falling
On the free threshold of a prison  (21-24)

Life itself is to be lived and the sounds of death should be a reminder to live life to its fullest. While the sound of the bell is music to his ears in many respects, a companion to which he can count on in his daily errands, it is also a betrayer of unhappiness. It acts as a call to life and to death, a simultaneous symbol that serves both purposes in this poem, to show the drawing darkness of dwelling in death and the joy of release.

In the song of the bell, de Lamartine hears a celebration and lamentation for life that underlines the constant presence of death as a background to the functions of life. While the mechanics of human death can sometimes be brutal and are often, in the end, practical and devoid of humanity in its most obvious sense, they are rituals through which the commonality of mans end become part of living. Such rituals can be seen as indulgent of death, forcing a connectedness between the living and the dead that ultimately undermines the beauty of life. In describing his own impending death and the handling of his remains, De Lamartine does not mince words or evoke complex symbolism or language to describe deaths impersonal and dehumanizing mechanics,
when plowmen carry within my bier
The little of my dust that is to remain here below ...
when hired mourners, a cold and banal escort,
Deposit my sleeping body beneath the gate (ll.13-14  16-17).

To view the rituals of death as more important than the continuance of life, to dwell in the sadness of mortality is to deny one of its most important ideals to truly understand life we must accept death as part of it. By showing making the scene of his own burial a cold and impersonal affair, de Lamartine illustrates physical death as a mere trifle. Buried in the ground is not life but the shell by which it navigated its brief existence. In this way, there is no need for sadness in the confrontation of physical death nor should it be viewed as an ending. Instead, in experiencing and confronting death, humanity transcends to a new concept of life that is enriching in its acknowledgment of its temporary nature.

Much as Chenier encourages his friends to look beyond his death, to the joys and moments of living, de Lamartine stresses an acceptance of death. More so than Chenier, de Lamartine looks at the individual freedom inherent to death, whereby the chains fall away  on the free threshold of a prison  (ll. 24). Death is a turn in the spiritual cycle begun at birth and continued after, as we move from the confines of our physical bodies and transcend to a higher place of being. The sadness of the bell is a reminder but equally misleading symbol of death, that drapes this move from the temporal to the corporeal with its own black cloths. In mourning death, the process of human life as more than a simple physical existence becomes undermined and the continuance of life devalued.

Central to both poems is the idea that death must be realistically embraced death is neither shameful nor inhumane but instead a fulfillment of the cycle that is life. In the commonality of the symbols used to represent death, the slaughterhouse and the tolling church bell, both Chenier and de Lamartine are seeking to redefine the way in which we approach the notion of dying. Namely, they wish to transcend thinking of the notion altogether, to dwell in death is to commit a kind of suicide against your own happiness. For those who are buried in the ground, mourned from above, death is both a freedom and a prison. No longer can they enjoy both the debauched and pure reasoning of being alive, so in a way they are imprisoned in their own mortality. However, I think Chenier and de Lamartine strive to illustrate that death itself is nothing but nature carrying our spirit to another level, it is not to be feared or dwelled upon. It is an inevitability from the day we are born. Both show in the poems that to die is to transcend the dehumanization of society and to embrace the full spiritual and physical possibilities of life. Seeing physical death as impersonal ritual, enriches rather than denotes the concept of spiritual life. Physical death is the culmination of physical life by which man must transition before he can move to another spiritual plain. In this way, death is beautiful and simplistic, a compliment of life rather than a tragedy. For those left behind, death should act as an re-enforcer of life. Through death, man can recognize and embrace the full physical and spiritual possibilities of individual life.

Muslims believe in submission to Gods will as dictated by the Koran, which contains the Islamic laws. Unlike the Christians who emphasis on the right doctrine, the Muslims emphasis on the right action. As a sign of faith, the Muslims base their belief in one God, his prophet-Mohammed, and the Koran, which acts as the source of Gods revelation. The Quran spells out directives against certain practices such as fornication, female infanticide, murder, exploiting the poor, theft and false contracts  (Arberry, 2001).
             
Gambling and alcohol is also prohibited since they make men to sin, and Satan gets the opportunity to incite hatred and enmity when a person is under the influence of intoxicants. The moral guideline of the Koran is to lessen or redefine existing practices rather than abolishing or replacing them. According to Islam, faith is essential in portraying commitment and faithfulness in spreading and reaffirming Sharia, which acts as Gods law for general Islamic community.
         
The Muslim faith further emphasize that breaking the law in an offence against God and the entire society, and the crime is punishable in this  and the next life. Muslims legal rights and tasks are classified under two broad categories. First, Muslims are required fulfill the five pillars of Islam which include profession of faith, prayers, almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage. Second, they are required to serve others through commercial, penal and family laws. The five pillars act as the core or the basic denominator of the Islamic faith. In conclusion, the Islamic law acts as law as well as a system of ethics (Arberry, 2001).  

St. Augustines Confessions provides an account of his spiritual and philosophical development. Divided into different sections, the text provides an in-depth account of Augustines internal struggles not only in defining the terms of his faith and his religion but also in determining the relationship of both the soul and the body in determining an individuals relationship with the divine. His importance in medieval literature can be traced to his inclusion of both classical and medieval topics in his text (Hyman  Walsh, 1983 Cooksey, 2006). In the case of Augustines Confessions, the text is notable for the following reasons (1) its discussion of both the will and passions effect in human action and (2) its discussion of both the will and passions relationship to the problem of evil (Augustine, 2009).

The text provides a more expanded and versatile understanding of the problem of evil as opposed to classical texts such as Platos Republic as it assumes that evil is not merely caused by ignorance as Plato argued or darkness residing within ones soul as the Manicheans argued but  is due to an individuals inability to commune with God (Augustine, 2009). He argues that the cause of evil is the wills separation from God (Augustine, 2009). Such is the case since even if one wills to do good, if one refuses to commune with God then it is impossible for an individual to follow his good desires and intentions (Augustine, 2009).

Augustines Confessions thereby manifest the conditions in his time as the inner spiritual conflict that he narrates in his text also mirrors the social and cultural conflict that occurred during the period. It is important to note that Augustine existed during the initial growth of power of the Christian religion. It was thereby a period wherein individuals were forced to shift from a Roman to a Christian worldview (ODonnell, 2001). His internal struggle in his Confessions provides an example of both the internal and external struggles experienced by individuals whose social and cultural conditions shifted from one which glorified the human being to one, which glorified the divine.

Allegory was an established feature of Elizabethan life, and was mentioned by a range of contemporary literary commentators. As Sir John Harington emphasized in the introduction to his translation of Orlando Furioso (1591), the honeyed sweetness of the verse is not where the underlying meaning of an Elizabethan text is to be found, and those of stronger stomachs should look beneath the surface to digest the allegory.

Traces of allegories being employed on the English Renaissance stage include the plays of John Lyly, personified figures such as Rumour in the plays of Shakespeare, the stage directions in Wilsons plays, the administrative papers that describe the symbolism of Gorbudoc, and occasional accounts of audience reactions to plays like The Cradle of Security or the political allegory in The Game at Chess (qtd. In Hudson 3)

A Midsummer Nights Dream is a comic play penned by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan era when allegorical plays were used to amuse the spectators as well as provide a commentary on any situation in indirect and subtle meanings. A Midsummer Nights Dream is a play that is an allegorical discussion of the Roman and Jewish war of 66-73 C.E.

In1998, Patricia Parker, an expert on the play presented to the world that the play contained religious allegory. She debated that every character in the play is inter linked and a part of the complete bigger picture. Titania(Titus Caesar) is fighting Oberon (Yahweh) , god of Jews who  has come from India. Titania has stolen the Indian changeling boy (the Messiah) from the Jews and his mother Virgin Mary (votaress). The flower of love-in-idleness is an allegorical implication to the Gospel which has made people love BottomPyramus, an indication towards Jesus. Oberon decides to take revenge and with the assistance of Puck or Robin Goodfellow, both words which are understood in English literature to mean a mischievous spirit or in this case the devil (Parker n.p), Oberon (Yahweh) gives the flower (Gospel) to Titania so that she falls in love with Jesus (BottomPyramus), an implication that the Jews did not want to be considered as a sect that followed Jesus but also wanted its spread in the entire Roman Empire. The Romans persecuted European Christians after the Great Fire of Rome since Nero had blamed the fire on Christians to avoid blame and responsibility (Tacitus 44)

As in the war, Titania (Titus) orders cutting of the limbs of the bees (Macabees, a Jewish family whicg rebelled against the Romans). The later part of the play where the Mechanicals decide to present a play between BottomPyramus and Thiesbe(Church) which is again an indication in medieval allegory as Jesus and his wish to unite with the Church. The play also mentions that Pyramus and Thiesbe met through a hole in the wall which is an allegorical implication to the partition between the Earth and the Heavens which will finally come down on the Last day or the Apocalypse.

As for the lovers in the play namely Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius the difficulty in forming correct unions can be an allegory of the lovers as the four elements of the planet, Water, Air, Fire and Earth. Hermia is Fire since her eyes are fiery stars. Helena is allegorically Water since her eyes are always filled with tears, Lysander is Air and Demetrius is Earth, adamant like a stone (qtd in Hudson 8)
Oberon is allegorically portrayed as a jealous God . Oberon is the Indian king from whom Titania has stolen the boy which is another point in the direction of the Roman-Jewish war which Titania (Titus) fought against Oberon (Yahweh) upon Jewish insistence on monotheism and their insistence upon refusing Caesar as divine.

In order to release the fairy queen, Oberon recites the charm Dians bud over Cupids flower (IV,i,72). Dians bud is also known as Wormwood and in the Gospel of Matthew (2734) the figure on the cross is offered gall or Wormwood to drink which is a convulsive poison. Having been tricked into falling in love with BottomJesus, the identity of this herb suggests that Titania is now killed and resurrected as a compliant soul. In the death scene of Pyramus he is stabbed in his side and there is reference to dice playing die,die,die. This scene is between two mentions of the word Passion, pointing to the Passion Story which is the term used by the Church to notify the death of Jesus. Just as Jesus dies for the love of Church, Pyramus dies for the love of Theisbe (qtd in Hudson 26)

Another allegorical mention is that when Titania (Titus) stole the boy (Messiah) from Oberon(Yahweh), she dotes over him and makes a wreath of flowers for him symbolizing the crown of thorn worn by Jesus which was placed over Jesus head before crucifixion.

Thus the above paragraphs mention the several allegories which are used in Shakespeares comedy play titled A Midsummer Nights Dream and their interpretation in modern times as a religious allegory.

Thesis Statement
The identification process of the true cause of the Lyme disease and the accurate diagnostic tools of the causal organism has significantly increased the knowledge of the disease since 1975. Several treatments are being developed and novel drugs are still in the pipeline. Thanks to the women of Connecticut and the doctors who led to the discovery of the bacterial cause of Lyme infection.

Causes of Lyme disease
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by bacterium in the genus Borrelia generally known as spirochete although the bacterial species in Europe and United States tend to differ. The bacterium causing Lyme infection in the United States is Borrelia burgdorferi while that in Europe is Borrelia afzeli .the host organisms of the bacteria causing the infection are ticks which harbor spirochetes in their stomachs. These ticks are usually found on deer which serves rather as an intermediate host. Two types of ticks have been identified to cause Lyme disease in the United States the deer ticks and the western black-legged ticks (Nick, Stephen, 2004). The former type of ticks is typical in the Northeast and the Midwest of the United States while the latter is predominant along the Pacific coast particularly in the Oregon and northern California. The identification process of the true cause of the Lyme disease and the accurate diagnostic tools of the causal organism has significantly increased the knowledge of the disease since 1975. Several treatments are being developed and novel drugs are still in the pipeline. Thanks to the women of Connecticut and the doctors who led to the discovery of the bacterial cause of Lyme infection.

Lyme infection occurs only when the ticks bite the skin to permit bacterial entry otherwise without any skin bites on the body, infection is not feasible.  The infection cannot be spread from one person to another by contact it is not a contagious disease and healthy individuals are never exposed to any risk when they touch the skins or fluids of infected individuals. The infected individuals may complain of skin problems which might present some abnormalities. The paining of the joints is also not unusual and there could be some cardiac function interferences commonly represented as inflammation of the heart tissues and arrhythmias (Boltri, Vogel, 2002). Cardiac arrest may also occur due to a simple bite from a carrier tick. The nervous system of the infected individual has some aberration meaning that some sensory and motor functions in the diseased cases are not fully normal.

The cause of the disease was only identified in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut. The discovery followed several complaints from the women of Lyme living close to each other that all their children had tested positive with the rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. The researchers of Connecticut were challenged in their unusual identification of the disease which appeared to represent rheumatoid signs. Doctors finally identified the exact cause of the infection in the children of Connecticut as bacterial. The condition was later in 1982 renamed Lyme disease and was treated appropriately not as rheumatoid arthritis.

It was then established that ticks are carriers of the Lyme disease pathogen and they harbor several bacteria in their stomachs. The ticks therefore act as vectors which transmit the pathogen to healthy humans through bites. The epidemiology of the disease in an area will therefore depend on the population of ticks that is present and the frequency of bacterial infection of the ticks by the pathogen. For instance, in particular areas of New York which experience several cases of Lyme disease infection, more than half of the total tick population are infected with the Lyme disease causing spirochete. The disease is more predominant in the northeastern parts of the United States although it has also been reported in all the 50 states in the United States, (Ekins, et al, 1999, p.4). The disease is also common in Europe, china, Australia, Japan and other parts of the former Soviet Union. The disease is mainly contracted in the United States primarily in the Northeast from the Maine state to Maryland. It is also contracted in the Northern California and the West in Oregon and in the Midwest in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Treatment of Lyme disease
Lyme disease being a bacterial infection is effectively managed using antibiotics. Although it has been argued that the response of Lyme disease to antibiotics is poor, the lack of the disease in the patient in the first place should be blamed. It might be caused of misdiagnosis of the disease and if there is no Lyme disease in the patient, how can it be expected that the patient responds to antibiotics meant for Lyme disease

Interventions into treatment of the disease have been thorough and doctors have come up with specific treatments for specific stages of the disease such as late or early and the part of the body of the affected patient. Oral medications are recommended for early stages of the disease and patients can have doxycycline antibiotics, amoxicillin or even cerufuroxime axetil can have good result in illnesses which have not advanced. Early stages of the disease can present as a bulls-eye skin rash which often develops around the area of a tick bite (Karen, 2003). In this case, medical attention should be sought as soon as possible and the patient should be put on the antibiotics, amoxicillin or doxycycline and the condition always vanishes within a week or two without long-term complications. Howver, later stages of infections presented by the nervous system infection may require administration of intravenous medications such as ceftriaxone and penicillin G.

Lyme disease can be a very painful experience among the patients. Pain management is therefore an important aspect in treating the infection. Pain medications are not meant to kill the causal pathogen but to relieve the patient of the pain. Oral medications such as ibuprofen have shown great efficacy in reducing inflammation and also improving function. From a simple tick bite, a patient can develop swollen joints due to Lyme disease, (Reed, 2001, p.545). The swollen joints may require a doctor to remove them through a procedure called arthrocentesis. In this procedure, fluid is removed from joints where a swelling is seen and this process requires utmost sterile conditions when using needles and syringes for aspiration. This procedure is usually done in the offices of doctors or technicians with exceptional experience.

The arthritic condition may however proceed even with appropriate administration of antibiotics. In fact, other researchers have pointed out that the inflammation of the joints can persist even after fully eradicating the Lyme bacteria. Some of the explanations which have been put forward to explain the persistence of the Lyme condition despite the eradication of the causal pathogen include the immunological arguments. Researchers have blamed the autoimmune response to be responsible of the continued arthritic condition such as the inflammation of the joints which is initially evoked by the original infection by Lyme bacteria.

Another possible way to manage Lyme disease is the prevention part of it. since it is already established that the ticks are responsible in causing the disease, it is of importance to embrace the techniques which ensure that tick-bites are kept at bay. These techniques should be applied especially when visiting tick infested areas. The spraying of insect repellant chemicals containing N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) onto the parts of the body that are exposed. Individuals in risky areas can wear long pants which can also be tucked into the boots. Long sleeved shirts can also be worn to protect the hands from tick-bites (Nick, Stephen, 2004). The clothing, pets and the children should be regularly be checked for ticks and the bathing and thorough washing of clothing after visiting tick infested area can help prevent the tick-bites and the transmission of the Lyme disease.

Efforts to develop appropriate vaccines for Lyme disease have not yielded potential results. Prior to 25th February, 2002, there were vaccines in the market until LYMErix TM was withdrawn from the commercial medical shelves by its manufacturer. There have not been major developments of a vaccine for Lyme disease despite the advanced technological advancement in the area of immunology and bacteriology. It should be a challenge to medical researchers to come up with a vaccine to protect humans from the dangers of Lyme disease (Boltri, Vogel, 2002). More than three decades down the line, there has not been an effective vaccine for the management of the disease. The similar effort that was shown by the doctors of Connecticut in the identification of the Lyme pathogen should be applied in the development of the vaccine that will protect human cells from the Lyme bacteria.

Causes and effect of smoking has been the subjects of various researches as it is a public knowledge that smoking causes a variety of diseases in addition to lung cancer. Coldez and Hunter (2000) affirmed that it is not surprising should smoking be a cause of so many different types of cancer (p. 7). Coldez and Hunter asserts that inhalation is a very effective way of distributing chemicals throughout the body (p. 7) while tobacco smoke is believe to contain some fifty chemicals that are known to be carcinogenic in animal experiments. But what is really the cause and effects of smoking remains the subject that demands verdict in order to finally address the health issues confronting this subject.

Causes of smoking
What are the causes of smoking Most studies done on the subject show that smoking causes cancer and various diseases which may rightly be true as many health care professionals confirm that health hazards brought by tobacco smoking. These hazards include cancers of the mouth, lip, oro-and hypopharynx, esophagus, pancreas, bladder, kidney, and stomach to name a few. Apparently however, these are effects of smoking and most studies are concerned on the effects of smoking than most authors are on the causes why people smoke.

Viscusi (2002) cited that people who smoke are aware of the potential hazards of smoking on health. One of the causes of smoking of however is the enjoyment of smoking or perhaps is the allusion that smoking enhances social position, that is, to look more mature while others smoke because they want to experiment. Generally however, most smokers started smoking when they were yet teenagers. Smoking had been identified with maturity and many young people smoke to appear they are already mature. According to Viscusi, smoking was once the norm among the U.S. adult population (p. 1) in which, one in five American adults smoke.

For adults however, smoking is connected to their attitudes especially when confronted by enormous stress and pressures due to economic difficulty. Indeed there may be countless of reasons why adult smoke despite they know the risk associated to tobacco.

According to Ernest Dichter, smoking is pleasurable, it is fun and it is way of relaxing one self for moment. As stated earlier, there are many reasons why people smoke, and these reasons seemed so important that despite the risk it bring, many teens and adult still smoke.

Effects of smoking
Effects of smoking on health are enormous. According to the information report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) smoking is the leading cause of death in the United States. According to the paper, the unpleasant effect of smoking accounted for about 443,000 deaths annually or nearly one of every five deaths, in the United States. The report cited that smoking raises the risk of coronary disease by two to four times. It also increase the chance to have stroke also by two to three times. Martin (2008) noted that in the year 2000, in the global level, smoking had been the cause of some 1, 690, 000 deaths

For developing cancer for men, smoking increase the chance to develop lung cancer by twenty-three times while for women it can cause to develop lung cancer by 13 times. Smoking can also cause death from chronic obstructive lung diseases by twelve to thirteen times.

On the chances of having cardiovascular disease, smoking is the leading cause of death. Cigarette smoking reduces circulation of blood by narrowing the blood vessels putting the smokers at risk of heart attack. The effect of smoking also causes abdominal pain due to deterioration or the swelling of the main artery of the body.

Other effects of smoking on health aside from cancer and cardio-vascular related diseases includes emphysema, bronchitis, chronic airway obstruction, infertility,  miscarriages, stillbirth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome. There are more diseases caused by cigarette smoking which are deadly or lives shortening diseases yet smokers are willing to take the risk.

In view of the enormous effect of smoking on health, most government around the world prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minor but allows older folks and ban cigarette advertisements on print and broadcast media. Because of its deadly effect on health, most cigarette companies faces suit but it has become the choice of the individual to take the risks as its consequences are known.

The cause and effect of smoking therefore lies on ones prerogative, ones freedom to chose, on ones freedom to do what one thinks is best for him. Despite its health hazards, it remains afloat on the market because the government are getting huge amount of money in the form of tax and other charitable contributions of these companies to government programs. According to Viscusi, tobacco companies pay billions of dollars in the form of tax to the government.

The causes of smoking are preventable as well as the million premature deaths are preventable too. However, due to the amount contributed by these cigarette makes in the government treasury, cigarette smoking may not at all be root out from the society. Cigarette companies contributed some thirty-five billion dollars annually and employed thousands of employees. Thus despite of its effect, the government will continue to allow these companies operation producing and selling cigarettes world wide. Tobacco will remain the worlds number one source of diseases and death, but it will also remain number provider of funds for the government and jobs for the individuals. The cause and effect therefore of smoking is the government inability to control the production, sale and distribution of cigarettes in the nation.

Reading through William Shakespeares sonnets, one can easily notice how he compared women to nature, and how he looked at love as an eternal thing.

In sonnets 18, 20, and 130 for example, Shakespeare likened the beauty of a woman to nature and her character to the elements of it. The beginning line of Sonnet 20 goes like this A womans face, with natures own hand painted. This is just one of the several other lines in the above-mentioned sonnets which describe women. Ultimately, Shakespeare used his natural ability of playing with words to portray the image of a woman in his mind. On the one hand, how he looked at a womans character and personality is reflected in the following lines Shall I compare thee to a summers day Thou art more lovely and more temperate Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summers lease hath all too short a date. (Sonnet 18) and A womans gentle heart, but not acquainted with shifting change, as is false womens fashion (Sonnet 20). In Sonnet 18, the implied meaning is that a woman, lovely as she is, can also be temperamental at times. But these mood swings, just like summer, are temporary and seasonal. Teachers taught us that womens tantrums and temperaments are caused by changes in their bodies and these are normal. Having known that, we can understand why they behave the way they do on certain periods of time. Amazingly, Shakespeare had already known this before and he was able to poetically put them into words. The particular line from Sonnet 20 simply suggests that women change their minds very often  one minute they like you, the next moment, they hate you. This behavior is somehow related to the changes that occur in their bodies, thus also a normal thing. Sonnets 29 and 116 speak more of love and how Shakespeare understood it. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove O no It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempest and is never shaken. These lines from Sonnet 116 speak clearly of how Shakespeare viewed love for him it is everlasting, unshakeable, firm, and could withstand anything. Reading the rest of the sonnet would support this claim. He even mentioned that love is not times fool meaning it doesnt depend on time for it to grow and flourish. Love is eternal. Its also something that inspires you and keeps you going. No matter how bad your situation may be, or no matter how gloomy you may feel, love is there to cheer you on and give you reason to smile once more and change your perspective. This is the content of Sonnet 29 Happy I think on thee, and then my state (Like to the lark at break of day arising from sullen earth) sings hymns at heavens gate).

Probably one of the most remembered and remarkable work of William Shakespeare is Romeo and Juliet, a story of a never-ending love, a love that goes beyond death. Perhaps the reason why it made such an impact was because Shakespeare really knew what love is and how expressed it in his writings made him an authority to the topic. Next to Romeo and Juliet are the sonnets, some of which were mentioned above, whose description on love and women and beauty are very clearly stated. Through his works, it is evidently seen that Shakespeare has a high regard and respect for women and in the same manner, he highly-valued love and sees it as something sacred and perpetual.