Tobacco Smoking and Its Effect on Periodontal Disease Essay Example for Free

Tobacco Smoking and Its Effect on Periodontal Disease Essay The purpose of oral health research is to find out more information on areas which can be improved to benefit not only the public’s oral health knowledge and status but to improve oral health professional methods of practice as well (Petersen, 2003). The research’s main objective is to inspect tobacco smoking and its effect on periodontitis on the New Zealand adult population. Principal methods to be used include collecting data from participants that would be randomly selected from a sample which could represent the New Zealand adult population and interviewed from a telephone using a survey. The participants would categorize themselves as either as a non-smoker, former smoker or current smoker. The participants would then have their probing pocket depth and gingival recession clinical measured at three different tooth sites with 2.5-3.5mm, 3.5-5mm and over 5mm range recorded. The research hopes to impact the fact that smoking is a risk factor to periodontitis and that smoking should be prevented. Summary of PROPOSED Research Background: Periodontal disease arises from inflammation of the gingivae that is untreated commonly known as gingivitis. The inflammation and infection moves from the gingivae to the bone and supporting ligaments of the teeth. This loss of bone and support will cause the tooth to become mobile and this may lead to it eventually falling out. Being susceptible to periodontal disease is different according to a person as bacterial flora and local and systemic factors (Thomson et al, 2007). It is an important area to research for the New Zealand adult population as tobacco Smoking is known to effect periodontal disease this is done through affecting the level of bone attachment and the soft tissues around the gingivae (Obeid Bercy, 2000). The appearances clinically of gingivae for a smoker is different as it is fibrotic with rolled margins that are thick, pocketing depth which is larger consistently in maxillary lingual sites, the gingivae being less inflamed compared to the disease level seen and a person having a deeper probing depth, attachment loss and tooth loss than a person at the same age who never has smoked. Smokers have also been known to have impaired healing of gingivae due to blood flow and poorer clinically results to both surgical and non-surgical treatment (Obeid Bercy, 2000). It is necessary to research this area to find out if the amount of cigarettes smoked has more of an effect on the stage of periodontitis. When researching this topic the necessary confounding factors such as age, sex and socio economic status has to be considered (Bergstrom et al, 2000). Aim: The research’s main objective is to inspect tobacco smoking and its effect on periodontitis on the New Zealand adult population. Description of Study and Design: A descriptive cross sectional study will be researched to try and find out if tobacco smoking is a casual risk factor for periodontal disease. Principal methods to be used include collecting data from participants 18 and over that would be randomly selected from a community sample which could represent the New Zealand adult population and interviewed from a telephone using a survey. The participants would categorize themselves as either as a non-smoker, former smoker or current smoker. The current smokers would then have their smoking listed as heavy, moderate or light depending on the amount of cigarettes smoked daily. The participants would then have their probing pocket depth and gingival recession clinical measured at three different tooth sites with 2.5-3.5mm, 3.5-5mm and over 5mm range recorded by a Dentist and Dental Hygienist. The periodontitis will be recorded as no, moderate and severe depending on the bone attachment loss. Age and sex would be used as main confounders. The study will have to be ethically approved by the Otago University Human Ethics Committee. The adults income will be a confounder factor also as it effects their ability to have dental care. The data will be statistically analysed and the results published. Participants: The research study requires randomly selected participants male and female over eighteen which will give a sample of adults which could represent the New Zealand adult population. The recruitment process will be through telephone numbers provided from a district health board such as Public health south. The inclusion criteria would be adults over the age of 18 that do not wear full dentures, have enough dentition to be examined at three different random tooth sites and also do not have a medical condition which prevents them from partaking in the clinical examination. Main Outcome Measures: The research’s main goal is to prove through a descriptive cross sectional study that tobacco smoking is a casual risk factor on periodontitis regarding the New Zealand adult population. Another goal is to measure the severity of periodontitis regarding the amount of cigarettes the person smokes weather the risk is increased with more cigarettes smoked or not. References: Bergstrà ¶m, J., Eliasson, S., Dock, J. (2000). A 10-year prospective study of tobacco smoking and periodontal health. Journal of periodontology, 71(8), 1338-1347. Obeid, P. (2000). Effects of smoking on periodontal health: a review. Advances in Therapy, 17(5), 230-237. Petersen, P. E. (2003). Tobacco and oral health-the role of the World Health Organization. Oral Health and Preventive Dentistry, 1(4), 309-316. Thomson, W. M., Broadbent, J. M., Welch, D., Beck, J. D., Poulton, R. (2007). Cigarette smoking and periodontal disease among 32†year†olds: a prospective study of a representative birth cohort. Journal of clinical periodontology, 34(10), 828-834.

Free Slaughterhouse-Five Essays: Manipulation of Time and Place :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

Slaughterhouse Five - Manipulation of Time and Place Kurt Vonnegut's manipulation of time and place adds a science- fiction element to Slaughterhouse-Five. Structarally, the novel is far from traditional. Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, jumps from place to place and is in a constant time warp while on the planet Tralfamadore. Since Vonnegut uses the planet Tralfamadore and the Tralfamadorian people to take Billy from place to place and time frame to time frame, in the novel he constantly respects the phrase "So it goes," which describes the Tralfamadorians' view of death. Vonnegut's manipulation of time and place is definitely unusual. Billy, an optometrist in Ilium, New York, finds himself "time tripping" with the people on Tralfamadore. To the Tralfamadorians time does not exist. Billy can be on Tralfamadore for years, while only being absent from earth for a microsecond (26). Billy's "time tripping" also allows Vonnegut to join the three main settings and experiences of the book: the horrors of the war and Dresden, Billy's normal life in Illim, and his time on Tralfamadore. Billy has no control over his being in a time warp. In the midst of his life in New York he will suddenly find himself Tralfamadore; he has become "unstuck in time" ( 22). The Tralfamadorians eventually show Billy the important moments of his life, but they do not always show them in sequence. They do this so Billy can fully understand the true reasons for and the importance of the events. Vonnegut also uses this tactic of time manipulation. He tells and shows the occurrences of Billy's life in a juxtaposed manner which parallels the "time tripping." The "time tripping" and being "unstuck in time" allow Vonnegut to present the events of the war in a sequence through which they would have the greatest impact on the reader. Vonnegut's manipulation of time and place in Slaughterhouse-Five allows him to use the phrase "So it goes" for special impact . The phrase appears after every death scene. It allows the bridge from death to life, and it also allows Vonnegut to change the time frame or place of the action. According to one source, the phrase "So it goes" appears in the novel over 100 times (Boomhower).

Cosmetic Surgery Is Moving Toward Multiethnic Beauty Ideals Essay

â€Å"The increasing number of nonwhites getting cosmetic surgery is helping society accelerate from a crawl to a full-bore sprint toward one truly melted, fusion community.† In the following viewpoint, Anupreeta Das questions whether minorities go under the knife to look more Caucasian. She suggests that as ethnically ambiguous beauties emerge in entertainment and the media, many African American, Asian, and Latino cosmetic-surgery patients want changes that harmonize with their ethnic features. In fact, Das states more surgeons today are specializing in race-specific procedures. This blending and reducing of racial characteristics through cosmetic surgery allow minorities to fit in with beauty standards that are moving away from a Caucasian ideal, she claims. Das is a journalist based in Boston. As you read, consider the following questions: 1.As stated by Das, how do rhinoplasty procedures differ among Caucasians, African Americans, and Asian Americans? 2.Why did Jewish people embrace cosmetic surgery, according to the viewpoint? 3.According to Das, what do critics say about the increase of ethnic models in the fashion industry? For almost a century, the women who have turned to cosmetic surgery to achieve beauty—or some Hollywood-meets-Madison Avenue version of it—were of all ages, shapes, and sizes but almost always of one hue: white. But now, when there seems to be nothing that a few thousand dollars can’t fix, women of color are clamoring in skyrocketing numbers to have their faces and bodies nipped, snipped, lifted, pulled, and tucked. This is a step forward, right? In the land of opportunity, we applaud when barriers break down and more people get to partake in the good life, as it were. There are many explanations for the new willingness of minorities to go under the knife: their swelling numbers and disposable income, the popularization of cosmetic surgery and its growing acceptance as a normal beauty routine,  and its relative affordability. What’s significant are the procedures minorities are choosing. More often than not, they’re electing to surgically narrow the span of their nostrils and perk up their noses or suture their eyelids to create an extra fold. Or they’re sucking out the fat from buttocks and hips that, for their race or ethnicity, are typically plump. It all could lead to one presumption: These women are making themselves look more white—or at least less ethnic. But perhaps not to the extent some suppose. â€Å"People want to keep their ethnic identity,† says Dr. Arthur Shektman, a Wellesley-based plastic surgeon. â€Å"They want some change, but they don’t really want a white nose on a black face.† Shektman says not one of his minority patients—they make up about 30 percent of his practice, up from about 5 percent 10 years ago—has said, â€Å"I want to look white.† He believes this is evidence that the dominant Caucasian-centered idea of blond, blue-eyed beauty is giving way to multiple â€Å"ethnic standards of beauty,† with the likes of Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, and Lucy Liu as poster girls. â€Å"No way† is the answer Tamar Williams of Dorchester gives when asked if her desire to surgically reduce the width of her nose and get a perkier tip was influenced by a Caucasian standard. â€Å"Why would I want to look white?† Growing up, the 24-year-old African-American bank teller says, she longed for a nose that wasn’t quite so wide or flat or big for her face. â€Å"It wasn’t that I didn’t like it,† Williams says. â€Å"I just wanted to change it.† Hoping to become a model, she thinks the nose job she got in November [2007] will bring her a lifetime of happiness and opportunity. â€Å"I was always confident. But now I can show off my nose.† Yet others are less convinced that the centuries-old fixation on Caucasian beauty—from the Mona Lisa to Pamela Anderson—has slackened. â€Å"I’m not ready to put to rest the idea that the white ideal has not permeated our psyches,† says Janie Ward, a professor of Africana Studies at Simmons College. â€Å"It is still shaping our expectations of what is beautiful.† A Peculiar Fusion Whether or not the surging number of minority patients is influenced by a white standard, one point comes with little doubt: The $12.4 billion-a-year plastic surgery industry is adapting its techniques to meet this demand. The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), for example, has in recent months held meetings on subjects ranging from Asian upper-eyelid surgery to so-called ethnic rhinoplasty. The discussion will come to Boston this summer [2007] when the academy will host a five-day event that will include sessions on nose reshaping techniques tailored to racial groups. And increasingly, plastic surgeons are wooing minorities—who make up one-third of the US population—by advertising specializations in race-specific surgeries and using a greater number of nonwhite faces on their Web sites. It could be that these new patients are not trying to erase the more obvious markers of their ethnic heritage or race, but simply to reduce them. In the process, they’re pursuing ethnic and racial ambiguity. Take Williams. With her new smaller nose and long, straight hair, the African-American woman seems to be toying with the idea of ambiguity. And maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. The intermingling of ethnicities and races—via marriages, friendships, and other interactions—has created a peculiar fusion in this country. It’s the great mishmash where Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are celebrated in one long festive spirit, where weddings mix Hindi vows with a chuppah, where California-Vietnamese is a cuisine, where Eminem can be â€Å"black† and Beyonce can go blond. And the increasing number of nonwhites getting cosmetic surgery is helping society accelerate from a crawl to a full-bore sprint toward one truly melted, fusion community. There were 11.5 million cosmetic procedures done in 2005, including surgical ones such as face lifts and rhinoplasties and nonsurgical ones such as Botox shots and collagen injections. One out of every five patients was of African, Asian, or Hispanic descent (separate statistics aren’t available for white versus nonwhite Hispanics). According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of minority patients undergoing cosmetic procedures increased from 300,000 in 1997 to 2 million in 2005.  Although the total demand for cosmetic procedures also increased—from 2 million in 1997 to 11.5 million in 2005—the rate of increase for minorities is higher than the overall rate. (Women account for more than nine-tenths of all cosmetic procedures.) Different ethnic and racial groups favor different procedures. Statistics compiled by the AAFPRS show that in 2005, more than six out of every 10 African-Americans getting cosmetic surgery had nose jobs. Unlike rhinoplasties performed on Caucasians, which may fix a crooked bridge or shave off a hump, doctors say African-American and Asian-American nose reshaping usually leads to narrower nostrils, a higher bridge, and a pointier tip. For Asian-Americans, eyelid surgery—either the procedure to create an eyelid fold, often giving the eye a more wide-open appearance, or a regular eye lift to reduce signs of aging—is popular. According to the AAFPRS, 50 percent of Asian patients get eyelid surgery. Dr. Min Ahn, a Westborough-based plastic surgeon who performs Asian eyelid surgery, says only about half of the Asian population is born with some semblance of an eyelid crease. â€Å"Even if Asians have a preexisting eyelid crease, it is lower and the eyelid is fuller.† For those born without the crease, he says, creating the double eyelid is â€Å"so much a part of the Asian culture right now.† It’s probable that this procedure is driving the Asian demand for eyelid surgeries. Breast augmentation and rhinoplasty top the list of preferred procedures for patients of Hispanic origin, followed by liposuction. Asian-Americans also choose breast implants, while breast reduction—the one procedure eligible for insurance coverage—is the third most preferred choice for African-American women after nose reshaping and liposuction. Doctors say African-American women typically use liposuction to remove excess fat from their buttocks and hips—two areas in which a disproportionate number of women of this race store fat. The Culture of Self-Improvement Of course, the assimilative nature of society in general has always demanded a certain degree of conformity and adaptation of every group that landed on American shores. People have adjusted in ways small and large—such as by changing their names and learning new social mores. Elizabeth Haiken, a San Francisco Bay area historian and the author of the 1997 book Venus Envy: A History of Cosmetic Surgery, says ethnic minorities may use plastic surgery as a way to fit in to the mainstream, just as another group used it in the early 20th century. â€Å"The first group to really embrace cosmetic surgery was the Jews,† says Haiken. Her research indicates that during the 1920s, when cosmetic surgery first became popular in the United States, being Jewish was equated with â€Å"being ugly and un-American,† and the Jewish nose was the first line of attack. Most rhinoplasties therefore sought to reduce its distinct characteristics and bring it more in line with the preferre d straighter shape of the Anglo-Saxon nose. That people would go to such extremes to change their appearance should come as no surprise. â€Å"Going back to early 20th-century culture, there is a deep-seated conviction that you are what you look like,† Haiken says. â€Å"It’s not your family, your birth, or your heritage, it’s all about you. And your looks and appearance and the way you present yourself will determine who you are.† In the initial sizing-up, the face is the fortune. Physical beauty becomes enmeshed with success and happiness. Plastic surgeons commonly say that minorities today choose surgery for the same reasons as whites—to empower, better, and preserve themselves. â€Å"It’s the universal desire to maintain youthfulness, and it doesn’t change from group to group,† says Dr. Frank Fechner, a Worcester-based plastic surgeon. The culture of self-improvement that surrounds Americans has also made plastic surgery more permissible in recent years. â€Å"Making oneself over—one’s home, one’s car, one’s breasts—is now a part of the American life cycle,† writes New York Times columnist Alex Kuczynski in her 2006 book, Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 Billion Obsession With Cosmetic Surgery. â€Å"Doctors have sold us on the notion that surgery †¦ is merely part of the journey  toward enhancement, the beauty outside ultimately reflecting the beauty within.† Nothing captures this journey better than the swarm of plastic surgery TV shows such as ABC’s Extreme Makeover, Fox’s The Swan, and FX’s Nip/Tuck. These prime-time televised narratives of desperation and triumph, with the scalpel in the starring role of savior, have also helped make plastic surgery more widely accepted. Through sanitized, pain-free, 60-minute capsules showcasing the tr ansformation of ordinary folks, reality TV has sold people on the notion that the Cinderella story is a purchasable, everyday experience that everyone deserves. Mei-Ling Hester, a 43-year-old Taiwanese-American hairdresser on Newbury Street, believes in plastic surgery as a routine part of personal upkeep. So when her eyelids started to droop and lose their crease, she rushed to Ahn, the plastic surgeon. He sucked the excess fat out while maintaining, he says, â€Å"the Asian characteristic† of her eyelids. Hester also regularly gets Botox injected into her forehead and is considering liposuction. â€Å"I feel great inside,† she says. With hair tinted a rich brown and eyes without lines or puffiness, her beauty is groomed and serene. â€Å"I work out, I eat right, I use good products on my face. It was worth it,† she says of her surgery. Although Hester says she pursues plastic surgery for betterment and self-fulfillment, she recognizes her privileged status as someone born with the double eyelids and sharper nose so prized in much of the Asian community. â€Å"I just got lucky, because if you look at my sister, sheâ₠¬â„¢s got a flat nose.† Another sister was born without the eyelid crease and had it surgically created, says Hester. The concept of the double eyelid as beautiful comes from the West. â€Å"For many, many years, the standards for beauty have been Western standards that say you have to have a certain shape to the eye, and the eyelid has to have a fold,† says Dr. Ioannis Glavas, a facial plastic surgeon specializing in eyelid surgery, with practices in Cambridge, New York City, and Athens. Sometimes, the demand for bigger eyes can be extreme. Glavas recalls one young Asian-American woman he saw who, in addition to wanting a double eyelid procedure, asked him to snip off some of the bottom lid to expose more of the white. â€Å"I had to say no to her,† he says. Glavas says both Asian women and men demand the double eyelid surgery because it is a way of looking less different by reducing an obvious ethnic feature. Presumably, Asian patients aren’t aiming to look white by getting double eyelids (after all, African-Americans and other minorities have double eyelids), but the goal is social and cultural assimilation, or identification with some dominant aesthetic standard. Across-the-Board Appeal In recent years, the dominant aesthetic standard in American society has moved away from the blond, blue-eyed Caucasian woman to a more ethnically ambiguous type. Glossy magazines are devoting more pages to this melting-pot aesthetic, designed (like the new Barbies) for across-the-board appeal. Today’s beautiful woman comes in many colors, from ivory to cappuccino to ebony. Her hair can be dark and kinky, and she might even show off a decidedly curvy derriere—a feature that has actually started to prompt some white women to get gluteal augmentation, or butt implants. However, critics say these are superficial changes to what is essentially a Caucasian-inspired ideal—the big-eyed, narrow-nosed, pillow-lipped, large-breasted, boyishly thin apparition. â€Å"There has been a subtle change in the kind of models you see in Victoria’s Secret catalogs or Vogue,† says Dr. Fred Stucker, the head of facial plastic surgery at Louisiana State University, Shreveport. But â€Å"they take the black girl who has the high cheekbones, narrow nose, and pouty lips.† It’s not uncommon, he says, to find â€Å"a white face with dark skin.† Going by the recent surge of minorities demanding plastic surgery, it is plausible that this attempt by canny marketers and media types to promote a darker-skinned but still relatively uniform ideal is working. After all, they are simply following the money. According to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, which compiles an annual report on the â€Å"multicultural economy† in the United States, minorities had a combined buying power of several trillion dollars in 2006. In 2007, the  disposable income of Hispanics is expected to rise to $863 billion, while African-Americans will collectively have $847 billion to spend. By 2010, Asians are expected to have buying power totaling $579 billion. And all of these groups are showing a greater willingness to spend it on themselves and the things they covet, including cosmetic surgery. Katie Marcial represents exactly this kind of person. The 50-year-old African-American is newly single, holds a well-paying job in Boston, and has no qualms about spending between $10,000 and $20,000 on a tummy tuck and breast surgery. â€Å"I’m doing this mainly because I’m economically able to do so,† says Marcial, a Dorchester resident whose clear skin and youthful attire belie her age. With her three children all grown, her money is hers to spend. â€Å"I can indulge in a little vanity,† she says. Marcial says she chose a young, Asian-American doctor to perform her surgery because â€Å"I thought she would know the latest techniques and be sensitive to ethnic skin.† Historically, plastic surgery has been tailored to Caucasian women. Glavas says that in medical texts, the measurements of symmetry and balance—two widely recognized preconditions of beauty—were made with Caucasian faces in mind. Such practices led to a general sense among minorities that plastic surgery was for whites and kept them away from tinkering with their faces and bodies. But even as the industry now adapts to its new customers, plastic surgeons are divided over whether surgical specialization in various ethnicities and races necessarily caters better to the needs of minority patients. Dr. Julius Few, a plastic surgeon at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, hails the fact that plastic surgeons are customizing their procedures to focus on minorities, â€Å"so it’s not just the one-size-fits-all mentality of saying, well, if somebody’s coming in, regardless, they’re going to look Northern European coming out.† He even sees â€Å"a sort of subspecialty† emerging in various ethnic procedures. Meanwhile, Dr. Jeffrey Spiegel, who is chief of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Boston University Medical Center and has a large number of nonwhite patients, is skeptical of the notion of specialization in ethnic and racial cosmetic surgery. â€Å"It strikes me more as a marketing tool  than a real specialization,† he says. In 1991, Michael Jackson crooned â€Å"It don’t matter if you’re black or white.† Jackson’s message about transcending race may have won singalong supporters, but his plastic surgeries did not. His repeated nose jobs and lightened skin color (he has maintained he is not bleaching but is using makeup to cover up the signs of vitiligo, a skin condition) were perceived by minorities—especially African-Americans—as an attempt to look white. Doctors say that â€Å"Don’t make me look like Michael Jackson† is a popular refrain among patients. â€Å"People were put off by dramatic surgeries and preferred subtle changes,† says Shektman, the Wellesley-based plastic surgeon. The New Melting-Pot Aesthetic Choices have expanded since then. Minorities can now hold themselves up against more ethnically and racially ambiguous role models that may still trace their roots to the once-dominant Caucasian standard but are becoming more composite and blended. â€Å"The concept of ideal beauty is moving toward a mix of ethnic features,† says plastic surgeon Ahn, a Korean-American who is married to a Caucasian. â€Å"And I think it’s better.† The push toward ethnic and racial ambiguity should perhaps be expected, because the cultural churn in American society is producing it anyway. Sure, promoting ambiguous beauty is a strategic move on the part of marketing gurus to cover their bases and appeal to all groups. But it’s also a reflection of reality. Not only are minorities expected to make up about half the American population by 2050, but the number of racially mixed people is increasing tremendously. The number of mixed-race children has been growing enough since the 1970s that in 2000 the Census Bureau created a new section in which respondents could self-identify their race; nearly 7 million people (2.4 percent of the population) identified themselves as belonging to more than one race. For minorities, this new melting-pot beauty aesthetic—perhaps the only kind of aesthetic standard that befits a multiethnic and multicultural society—is  an achievable and justifiable goal. Increasingly, advertisements use models whose blue eyes and dreadlocked hair or almond-shaped eyes and strong cheekbones leave you wondering about their ethnic origins. The ambiguous model might have been dreamed up on a computer or picked from the street. But advertisers value her because she is a blended product—someone everyone can identify with because she cannot be immediately defined by race or ethnicity. By surgically blending or erasing the most telling ethnic or racial characteristics, cosmetic surgery makes ambiguity possible and allows people of various ethnicities and races to fit in. For the Jewish community in the 1920s, fitting in may have had to do with imitating a Caucasian beauty ideal. For minorities today, it’s a melting-pot beauty ideal that is un iquely American. How appropriate this ambiguity is, in a culture that expects conformity even as it celebrates diversity. Das, Anupreeta. â€Å"Cosmetic Surgery Is Moving Toward Multiethnic Beauty Ideals.† The Culture of Beauty. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"The Search for Beautiful.† Boston Globe 21 Jan. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Document URL http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&zid=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010659218&source=Bookmark&u=lawr16325&jsid=8af464626ea9692fea0cb02ef9c121a3 Gale Document Number: GALE|EJ3010659218

Augustus And The Use Of Propaganda - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1297 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/07/29 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Propaganda Essay Did you like this example?   It is often said that history is written by the victors, and the quote could not be more appropriate than for Augustus. He is often called the ?restorer of the Republic by contemporary and ancient time historians. Being a major influence on his life, Augustus was inspired by Caesar practices and propaganda works. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Augustus And The Use Of Propaganda" essay for you Create order He took those propaganda lessons and perfected them. The unprecedented age of peace and stability that Augustus brought, known as the Pax Romana or Roman Peace, did not occur naturally. He was able to maintain control of not only the common people but of the government and other political rivals. The written word was perhaps the most useful tool at his disposal and he used it to manipulate events to tell the story from his perspective and ensured that this perspective would be considered historical fact. When studying propaganda in the age of Augustus, it is crucial to mention Augustus own literary works, The Deeds of the Divine Augustus. The document was written by Augustus himself and meant to be seen and read by as many people as possible. The document t summarizes Augustus image and deeds to the people of Rome. He never tells any outright lies, but does manipulate the light in which certain historical events are presented. The document was written shortly before Augustus death, m eaning that it had no immediate impact in his life. Nonetheless, it is still important in how it shaped his legacy and still serves as evidence for his political propaganda machine. One of the less discussed aspects of Augustus propaganda is in the name ?Augustus itself, that is not a name, but rather a title. Augustus included the moment he was bestowed the title in his own literary work The Deeds of the Divine Augustus: In my sixth and seventh consulates, after putting out the civil war I handed over the state from my power to the dominion of the senate and Roman people. And for this merit of mine, by a senate decree, I was called Augustus   After that time, I exceeded all in influence, but I had no greater power than the others who were colleagues with me in each magistracy. When analyzing Augustus words, it is clear that he understood the significance of what had just occurred. This single verse simultaneously displays Augustus power and authority while also carefully ?clarifying that Augustus was no more powerful than any other magistrate. Even though this was not the reality, it served its purpose. It portrayed the image that Augustus wished to present to the people. The nuanced propaganda depicted the inaccurate idea that the Republic still existed and that the power ultimately rested with the people. Augustus says he had no greater power than the others [senators and statesmen] who were colleagues with him, which was simply not true. Augustus had learned from Julius Caesars the importance of propaganda, but also not to commit the same mistake as Caesar did. He knew he could not allow himself to be declared sole rul er of the Republic as Caesar did prior to his assassination. F Furthermore, another telling example of the image he wishes to portray is in the first verse, A copy below of the deeds of the divine Augustus, by which he subjected the whole wide earth to the rule of the Roman people, and of the money which he spent for the state and Roman people From the very beginning we see reference to his public image, Augustus the Divine. The Res Gestae is filled with many other indications of his legality and importance to Rome. In the first paragraph, Augustus states: on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army with which I set free the state, which was oppressed by the domination of a faction. Here we see that it was Augustus that saved Rome from those who would bring her to ruin. Augustus also shows his dominance in military affairs as well. Throughout the document there are numerous mentions of Augustus conquests, I drove the men who slaughtered my father into exile with a legal order, punishing their crime, and afterwards, when they waged war on the state, I conquered them in two battles. Here, Augustus simultaneously establishes the criminal nature of Caesars assassins while also establishing his military superiority when he claims he won the battle against them twice. Importantly, in the 5th paragraph, Augustus establishes and emphasizes that he had no desire for dictatorship when he says, When the dictatorship was offered to me, both in my presence and my absence, by the people and S enateI did not accept itWhen the annual and perpetual consulate was then again offered to me, I did not accept it. Augustus is telling the people of Rome that he declined an offer of dictatorship twice, both publicly privately. As mentioned above, he knew the dangers of calling himself the only ruler and used all his skills to remove the idea from the people of the Republic. Augustus devotion to propaganda is visible also in Suetonius writings, in his writing The life of Augustus he mentions that From early youth, he devoted himself eagerly and with utmost diligence to oratory and liberal studies In fact, he never afterwards spoke in the Senate, or to the people or the soldiers, except in a studied and written address, although he did not lack the gift of speaking offhand without preparation. Augustus dedication to written words, in a period when not many could read, is a testament of his grand vision of control of the then present and future historical record. In Suetonius writing we also read, Moreover, to avoid the danger of forgetting what he was to sayhe adopted the practice of reading everything from a manuscript. Even his conversations with individuals and the more important of those with his own wife Livia, he always wrote out and read from a note-book, for fear of saying too much or too little if he spoke offhand. The desire to control all aspects of his image stretched into his intimate relationship with close friends and his own wife. Furthermore, being aware of the fact that not many could read his writing, he used the ones that could as magnifiers that would spread his word, as Suetonius writes, He wrote numerous works of various kinds in prose, some of which he read to a group of his intimate friends, as others did in a lecture-room; for example, his Reply to Brutus on Cato. Although these encounters were considered informal and intimate, they served their purpose in the propaganda machine that Augustus bulletproofed. Augustus dedicated a lot of time to writing , especially during his later years, most of it was about his life but he also tried to write a tragedy. In Suetonius Life of Augustus he writes that He also wrote Exhortations to Philosophy and some volumes of an Autobiography, giving an account of his life in thirteen books up to the time of the Cantabrian war, but no farther. Thirteen books dedicated to his life show, written during his later years show that Augustus wan not only interested in the control that the propaganda provided. He wanted to be immortalized in the image of his choice. In conclusion, Augustus is remembered as arguably the greatest leader in Romes history. His accomplishments as a leader are well known amongst contemporary Romans and historians alike. Bringing his writing into historical context and facts, it is clear that some of his deeds and character may be exaggerated. But, Augustus did bring an unprecedented era of peace to the Mediterranean world that helped ensure the longevity of the Roman empire. Nonetheless, when studying such an important figure it is important not to fall prey to Augustus propaganda itself.