Building Construction

The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River had done major damages in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Many assumptions and speculations about the causes of the collapse of the bridge system had appeared in the public. The public was seemingly confused about the real cause of the incidents and it is their right to be informed about the state of the investigation. The closest and very logical of the causes indicated in some of the investigations are stress or fatigue failure and lack of redundancy.Environment, Design, and Description of the I-35W bridge The I-35W bridge supports a total of eight lanes (four lanes on each direction). The average daily traffic (ADT) is given as 15,000 in each direction , with ten percent trucks. Constructed in 1967, the 581 meter long bridge has 14 spans. The main span is consist of a steel deck truss. The south approach spans are steel multi-beam. The north approach spans include both steel multieam and concrete slab span. There are two steel deck trusses. Builtup plates mostly composed the truss members.Rolled I-beams comprised the diagonal and vertical members. The truss members undergo poor welding details with the connections as mainly riveted and bolted. According to recent evaluation and inspection before the collapse of the bridge, corrosion at the floorbeam exists and rust are forming between connection plates. The two main trussses have an 11. 6-meter cantilever at the north and south ends. Twenty-seven floor trusses spaced at 11. 6 meters are also present. These floor trusses were framed into the vertical members of the main truss.The floor trusses consist of WF-shape members and have a 4. 97- meter cantilever at each end. The design specifications used in the bridge was the 1961 American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHTO) Specifications. During that time, most of the design uses unconservative fatigue design provisions. According to the fatigue evaluation report provided by the University o f Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies in 2001, the approach spans had exhibited several fatigue problems promarily due to the distortion of the girders.The bridge truss and the floor truss system also exhibited poor fatigue details. Lack of redundancy in the main truss system was also present in the design. It is stated in the evaluation report of the University of Minnesota that cracking due to fatigue cause by a future increase in loading will first appear on the floor truss. According to them this future cracks is detectable since the floor truss are easy to inspect. In the incidence that cracks are not detected, the bridge could still hold the bridge system without the entire collapse of the system.In the report, the failure of the two main trusses of the bridge will definitely take much effect to the bridge system. Fatigue Resistance The Standard Specification and the Load and Resistance Factor Design provided by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AA SHTO) contain similar provisions for the fatigue design of welded details on steel ridges. These details are designed ased on the nominal stress which can be calculated using standard design equations and does not include the effects of welds and attachments.Since fatigue is usually present during sevice load application, the design parameters is only applied during service load conditions. Cracks due to fatigue have insignificant effect on the structures in compression but have tremendous effect on structures that experience tension. With this idea, the assessment on the cracks that propagate on such a bridge as the I-35W should only be consider to elements in tension. Structural Redundancy In all the design criteria of any structural system, loads existed in variety of paths should be significantly consider.The strength and reliability of the system can be ensure by the existence of the redundant paths or elements. Without the existence of this redundant system of elements, the fa ilure of the entire system is much possible. Past survey of the Committee on Redundancy of Flexural System on steel highway ad railroad bridges. The report summarized that a total of 96 structures were suffering some distress. It was also take into account that most of the failures were related to connections which were mainly welded.The report had also collected data which indicates that few steel bridges collapse if redundancy is present. Bridge systems with no redundancy was reported to have large number. In another research conducted by Ressler and Daniels, they found that the number of fatiguesensitive details present in the structure significantly affected the bridges with no redundant elements. Theoritical and Actual Bridge Response Many studies have shown that the simplified calculations used to predict the stresses provide a much higher value compare to the actual service stresses.Though the design calculations and load models provide appropriate results, it has great uncer tainty in the maximum life of a bridge system. However, it is still beneficial to have an accurate estimate of the typical everyday stress ranges. In a large bridge, 20 Mpa is the typical value of the service live-load stress ranges. The stress ranges are typically governed by dead loads and strength design specifications. This is the reason why the stress ranges are small. Since the strength design must account for a single case loading scenario over the life of the bridge, conservative load models are used.In addition to load conservative models, the assumptions provided in the analysis of the design can also be the cause of the large difference of the predicted stress and actual stress. A great example of the effect of the assumptions is the case of the US Highway 69 in Oklahoma. Fatigue damage was said to be present upon the welding that had been used in the widening of the bridge. The design computations of the bridge illustrated that the allowable stress ranges could be exceed ed at over 100 locations on the bridge.However, when the bridge was inspected, it appeared that the measure stress ranges was only 27 percent of the allowable stress ranges. This only shows the great effect of the assumptions used in the design of a certain structural system. Moreover, another study that indicates fatigue failure to be caused by the considerable amount of corrosion takes into account. This is the case of the Bridge 4654 in Minnesota where measured stress ranges ranged from 65 to 85 percent of the calculated analysis.These differences are to be point out to the fact that analytical methods provide assumptions that neglect ways in which the structure resists loads. For example, the study conducted y Brudette et al. , more than 50 years of bridge test data were collected and examined to determine specific load-resisiting mechanisms that are ignored in the design of the system. The study concluded that lower stress ranges in a structure can be due to unintended composit e action, contribution from non-structural elements, unintended partial fixity at abutments and direct transfer of load through the slab to the supports.In another study of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, they conducted a program of bridge testing that included more than 225 bridges over a period of 15 years. The study noted that much of the bridges can sustain much larger loads than their estimated capacities. Observations were also made regarding the behavior of the steel truss bridge. The observations are as follows: 1) the stringer of the floor system share a large tensile force thus reducing the strains experienced by the chord in contact with the floor system and 2) Composite action in non-composite system was shown to exist.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Summary

Unhappy Ending I think that the outcome of Ambrose Bierce’s story, â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,† was credible because Bierce hints that Peyton Farquhar, the main character, is dead throughout his journey. If the reader pays close attention to the story, it becomes obvious that the escape is imagined and he is actually going to be hanged. The first piece of evidence that Farquhar is hallucinating is how unaware he is of his own struggle to free himself underwater.Farquhar states that â€Å"he was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist [told] him that he was trying to free his hands† suggesting that he isn’t actually aware of his own attempts at escape (Bierce 493). Some may argue that Farquhar wasn’t aware of his effort because he had an adrenaline rush, but the injuries are too close to the injuries of a hanging to be ignored. The second piece of evidence that Farquhar didn’t escape is the pain in his neck and h ead.As he is fighting to get free, Farquhar describes how â€Å"his neck ached horribly; [and] his brain was on fire† (Bierce 494). A person struggling at the end of a hanging rope would experience the same pain. He simply imagines breaking free as he dies, but in reality, the intense pain is caused from the noose tightening and eventually choking Farquhar. His freedom swim is clearly a dying dream. The third piece of evidence that proves that Farquhar imagined his freedom is the unbelievable detailed description of nature.There is no sort of adrenaline rush that could show the â€Å"prismatic colors in all the dewdrops upon a million blades of grass† just for Farquhar (Bierce 494). It is more probable that Farquhar imagined his escape right as he strangled to death. In conclusion, the ending of â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† was credible and powerful because it hints to the reader that Farquhar doesn’t survive and merely dreams of the beautiful escape from his horrible fate.

The Recovery and Investment Plan to Rebuild the American Economy after Essay

The Recovery and Investment Plan to Rebuild the American Economy after Recession - Essay Example The Boskin commission states that accurate measures in the costs of living are among the most useful and important data necessary to evaluate economic performance. The living cost change between two periods indicates how much income people would have needed in the previous period given the price of goods and services available then. For example if a family with $15,000 income in 2000 would have needed $45,000 in 1999, then the cost of living has dropped by two thirds. The commission argues that the complexity of the dynamicity of the economy should not be reasons to bemoan the difficulties in the construction of an accurate cost of living index.It highlighted sources of possible bias and further suggests improvements to the various official statistics currently used as proxies for changes in the cost of living like the consumer price index that measures the cost of purchasing a fixed market basket of goods and services. The CPI is calculated, while keeping the weights fixed through t ime, by attempting to measure changes from one month to another in prices of the same or quite closely related goods and services. But this weights would no longer reflect what consumers are actually purchasing because through consumption baskets change in part because of changes in the relative prices of goods and services. Where the purchases are made also do change just like consumers do change their purchases. The current methodology suffers from outlet substitution bias that insufficiently takes into account the shift to discount outlets. This occurs when shifts to lower price outlets are not properly handled.  

Evaluating Technology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evaluating Technology - Assignment Example educate the community on how to protect their families and spread the stem of water borne diseases that are now becoming a common occurrence whenever an area happens to be hit by a hurricane. The proposed program will focus on areas that are generally perceived as being high risk areas in regards to the threat of being affected by hurricanes. With a few relatively easy modifications, the program will also be modified and expanded to other cities and areas outside the United States that happen to face the same threat. After going through the program, the nurses and various community health workers would be equipped with the necessary knowledge that would help them educate the affected communities and potentially prevent the loss of lives as a result of persons getting infected by some preventable water borne diseases. The health workers and nurses would be able to achieve this via encouraging the various communities to implement measures that would ensure that the whole community is safeguarded from any potential infections. The most suitable technology that can potentially be used in the proposed learning program would be, the use of web based resources such as data technology in distance education Data technology would mostly involve the use of some common technologies such as computers, internet connection, World Wide Web based computer applications such as computer learning systems, facsimile (fax) and electronic mail (e-mail) (Kidd & Chen 2009). Both SECTIONS and ACTIONS are acronyms. ACTIONS as an acronym can be seen to have letters that represent the words Access, Costs, Teaching and learning, Interactivity/ user-friendliness, Organizational issues, Novelty and Speed. SECTIONS can be seen to indicate Students, Ease of use and reliability, Costs, Teaching and learning, Interactivity and Organizational issues (Bates & Poole, 2003). Bates modified the SECTIONS framework model of media selection from the ACTIONS framework Bate (2003) that he had previously

Prevention to Threats and Attacks on Computer Network Assignment

Prevention to Threats and Attacks on Computer Network - Assignment Example An IDS based signature monitors the network for packets and compares them against signatures or known threats in the database. Tremendous increase of services and information that is sensitive on networks has made security very important. However, the more network technologies have developed, the more network attacks have increased in severity and numbers. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) can effectively provide network security by preventing, detecting, and possibly fighting attacks. Such systems monitor sources of activities while employing various security techniques. Therefore, they ought to be precise in quickly defining attacks, in training and generating very few positives. Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) monitor networks for intrusions or attacks, reporting them to the administrator for necessary activity. A NIDS server that is large enough may be created on a backbone of network, to check and asses all traffic; or other smaller systems may be created to check or asses traffic for a specific server, gateway, switch, or router. The computing environment is constantly evolving and this demands Intrusion detection products to aid in managing attacks in this changing environment. Threats can be individuals or groups that wish to compromise a computer system such as disgruntled employees, rival companies or even foreign governments and their attacks can be devastating on the network systems. Intrusion attacks are those where an attacker enters ones network to read, damage, and/or steal data (Albitz 1992). These attacks can be divided into two: Port scans: A scanner is a program that probes a system remotely to establish which TCP/UPD ports are open and if they are subject to attacks. It identifies a computer at risk within the network, find the services that are installed on the computer, and show weaknesses in operation (Hudson KURT and Stewart Michael.

Impact of Music Education and Issues Stopping its Implementation Research Paper

Impact of Music Education and Issues Stopping its Implementation - Research Paper Example Music may be used to inform, express a sentiment, and entertain. Through music education, there are a lot of things that individuals have enjoyed. Elimination of music education in schools’ programs has negatively affected the society both in the present and the long run. Many reasons such as lack of funds; have contributed to its elimination in school programs and the society should look at the issue of the impacts of music, and what is stopping its implementation in order to bring it back to school programs. It has been discovered that music programs in schools help in exposing pupils and students to life (Olson, 1996). However, although music education has positive effects, it also has negative effects. Primary sources such as conduction of surveys of individuals in the field of teaching, and secondary sources such as books, periodicals, articles, and journals will be used in the study. Problem statement Music has contributed a lot in schools and society at large since it h elps students to gaining understanding of the things that they expect in life. Through music education, one acquires information that he did not have, and in another way, he is entertained. This implies that music education plays an important role in the life of students in the functioning of the brain in relation to academics. However, music education has not been taken seriously during incorporation in many school programs or by teachers all over the world due to different reasons, which will be discussed in this paper. This assignment is going to focus on the impacts of music education and the issues stopping its implementation. Objectives of the Study This assignment is going to be performed for the following two reasons: 1. To determine what are the effects of music on overall development of the brain including academics. 2. To find out why music education is not taken seriously by educators and the reasons for withholding the implementation of music education permanently by th e educators. Effects of Music on Overall Development of the Brain Different researches that have been conducted show that there is a connection between music and the brain. Different individuals have different opinions regarding the different styles of music and their effect on the mind. However, different individuals have concluded that classical music improves the ability of an individual’s thinking while rock music improves an individual’s brain power. Some researchers are of the opinion that listening to Mozart by children enhances their thinking ability (Piro &Ortiz, 2009). Another effect of music is that it improves concentration, which is necessary for studying (NAFME, 2012). For example, the Mozart piece soothes the mind thus increasing focus during studying or helps one to acquire concentration when carrying out a task (Lu, n.d.). According to opinion reached by several researchers, music creates concentrating in performing a task by blocking external noise an d creating a background noise, which is beneficial in carrying out the task (Hodges, n.d.). Different researchers have studied the Mozart effect and have come to a conclusion that; listening to Mozart before testing improves temporal reasoning on standardized tests while listening to Mozart at the time of testing can cause neural competition; by inferring with the brain’

Outline Some of the Key Issues in Education Today Essay

Outline Some of the Key Issues in Education Today - Essay Example Currently, measures of ensuring that all children acquire appropriate education relevant to the prevailing conditions has become of more importance than ever before. Consequently, numerous issues have emerged in the education sector. Some of the major issues include provision of universal education to all children through polices such as Every Child Matters and educating students on global citizenship in order to improve their ability to function in a globalised world. The modern education is faced with several challenges that undermine provision of the appropriate skills and knowledge to the learners. Boyer and Hamil (2008) indentified three main challenges affecting the education sector in developed and developing world. These problems include lack of well motivated teachers, which contribute to high attrition rate, lack of adequate parental involvement in learning of their children and poor reading habits among the students in education institutions (Boyer and Hamil, 2008). These shortcomings have elicited various reactions from educational policy makers, resulting to formulation of policies aimed at addressing the problem. Teaching as a profession is demanding and characterised by immense responsibilities which the society places upon the teachers. In spite of the heavy responsibilities, Altshuler, (2003) notes that teachers are not adequately motivated to perform under such demanding environment, leading to high rate of attrition and declining interest in the profession. Various research studies have been conducted to investigate the duration of service of teachers in the profession. A study conducted by Boling and Evans (2008) in United States established that forty six percent of teachers in the country quit the profession after less than five years. This trend is more pronounced in urban areas where about half of the entire professional workforce quit the profession for other careers (Boling, C., and Evans, 2008). Another study by Boyer and Hamil (2008) established that over ninety percent of newly recruited teachers are hired to replace those who quit the profession because of other reasons except retirement. High teacher attrition has various adverse effects on education. Some of the effects include straining the available resources allocated for the education sector. Boyer and Hamil (2008) noted that schools spend considerable amounts of financial resources while searching and recruiting new teachers, a situation that drains their budgetary allocations considerably. Uradan, Solek, and Schoenfelder (2007) estimated that schools in United States spend about $ 7 billion annually in the process of recruiting, hiring and retaining teachers in the country. These financial resources could be invested in other important academic ventures, such as investing in modern technology and purchasing of other necessary teaching resources. High teacher turnover rate undermines the quality of education provided to the children. Bransford, et al ( 2009)argue that the trend denies the profession considerable skills, when well trained and experienced teachers leave the profession for other pursuits. Consequently students receive poor quality education, which ultimately undermines their future progress. Ward and Eden (2009) attributed the high rate of teacher attrition to working in a demoralising but demanding environ

Consumer behavior and pruchasing decisions Essay

Consumer behavior and pruchasing decisions - Essay Example It is only through this manner that the understanding between the business world and the consumer can transform into a profitable venture. Customers need the business world to understand them and avail to them what they want. On the other hand, the players in the business world need the resources that the consumer has in order to turn in a profit. Hence the concept of understanding the marketing stimuli is a mutually beneficial affair. This paper then discusses this concept through an analysis of the marketing dynamics and the marketing stimuli in the need to anticipate and fulfill the customer’s expectations and wants. In so doing, the paper will examine several elements under this concept which includes an explanation of how an understanding of consumer behaviour reduces decision risk for marketers in the definition of target markets and the design of marketing mixes, the analysis of the consumer decision making process, the understanding of how consumers evaluate the goods and services they buy and consume, the consumer involvement and types of buying decisions that these consumers make, the cultural factors that influence purchase decisions, the social factors and purchase decisions and the individual psychological factors influencing the purchase decisions. ... Marketing mix and stimuli defined Marketing mix is a concept widely applied in the world of business to ensure that the products that are delivered to the customers fit the four basic dynamics of place, price,  product and promotion. Marketing stimuli takes a look into the four elements as have been analysed in the marketing mix too. However, the marketing stimuli goes further to address other elements namely economic, technological, political, cultural as well as competitive element. For a product to be attractive to the customers, it must be selling at a price that appeals to the specific target of consumers, it must be made available where and when it is needed and a certain degrees of promotion of the product must have been carried out. However, it is important to note that other factors also influence the manner in which the marketing is conducted out. The marketing stimuli as named above clearly shows that the marketing dynamics could also be affected by other external forces . The economic aspect is one of them. If the economy of a country is doing well, then that particular country becomes a target for many marketers and many business people. Technological forces may also affect the marketing stimuli. Without the knowledge and subsequent employment of technology in such a manner that allows for the production of goods in an optimal capacity, there is a challenge of producing products that fit with the consumer’s expectations. The other factors namely political, technological, cultural and even competitive also contribute towards the market stimulation or otherwise. The coca cola brand; brief introduction Coca cola is worldwide recognized brand. They are the makers of the

Dialectic Behavior Therapy Paper Essay Example for Free

Dialectic Behavior Therapy Paper Essay This paper will review the article: â€Å"Mechanisms of change in dialectical behavior therapy: Theoretical and empirical observations.† This paper will summarize the theoretical and empirical observations that indicate why DBT is successful in treating clients with borderline personality disorder. This paper will discuss the specific aspects of how dialectical behavior therapy is used. Dialectical behavior therapy is the recommended treatment for clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder based on several evidence based successful studies. These studies found that dialectical behavior therapy has reduced client depression and harmful behavior by combining acceptance and change techniques. There therapist looks to transform a clients behavior by supplying the client with a hypothesis for their problem. Clients with dialectical behavior therapy in a sense learned poor coping techniques in response to not knowing how to regulate their emotions. It is a goal of dialectical behavior therapy to reduce the client’s emotional dysregulation by helping the client learn how to control their emotions and changing their behaviors (Lynch Chapman, 2006). The philosophy behind dialectical behavior therapy is that you must look at the whole client system to figure out the client’s reality because each part of the client’s system is interrelated. Each aspect of a client’s life can affect their emotions and behaviors. Dialectical behavior therapy is based on a biosocial theory that looks at the client’s childhood environment that could have led them to be emotional susceptible as a child causing emotional dysregulation as an adult. A client’s inner personality as a child of being emotionally sensitive was refuted by adults in their life through punishing the child in forms of abusive behaviors. Growing up these clients are in a feedback loop cause there emotional dysregulation to continue (Lynch Chapman, 2006). It is important for the therapist to create an environment where the client’s feelings are validated. Therapists help clients be mindful of their current emotions without trying to change it. Clients learn to be mindful of their beliefs, their logic and what emotions are real to them in that present moment. During treatment the therapist helps the client learn to communicate what is truly experienced by the client and for the client to be conscious aware of what to do. The client learns that they have control over how they process the situation. The client then applies rational thoughts and emotional regulation to the situation to achieve a sense of harmony. The client then learns not to resort to previous feedback loops. The client is encouraged to experience and accept their emotion fully without any attempts to regulate it. Clients therefore learn to stop the pattern of trying to control their affect (Lynch Chapman, 2006). Being mindful can stop feedback loops and change how a client responds to an emotional situation. Therapists help clients identify and challenge their belief systems that focuses on a rule where people must behave a certain way when faced with certain event. Clients are taught in dialectic behavioral therapy to focus their attention on what is happening instead of how the situation makes them feel. It is important for therapist to validate clients’ feelings and efforts towards change. Validation allows client to increase their self-confidence in their ability to self-regulate. This unconditional positive regard by the therapist helps clients learn how their history has affected their current behavior through emotional dysregulation and why dysfunctional behavior patterns are preventing them from having healthy relationships. The therapist then trains the client in healthy relationship skills and reinforces the clients’ use of the new skills (Lynch Chapman, 2006). This paper reviewed the article: â€Å"Mechanisms of change in dialectical behavior therapy: Theoretical and empirical observations.† This paper summarized the theoretical and empirical observations that indicate why DBT is successful in treating clients with borderline personality disorder. This paper discussed the specific aspects of how dialectical behavior therapy is used. References Lynch, T., Chapman, A. et al (2006). Mechanisms of change in dialectical behavior therapy: Theoretical and empirical observations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(4), 459-480. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=aphAN=19901233loginpage=Login.aspsite=ehost-livescope=site

Managing cultural diversity in hospitality industry Essay Example for Free

Managing cultural diversity in hospitality industry Essay Throughout human history, hospitality has made a great and significant impact on all cultures. The events in Sundiata and The Odyssey both show how the importance of hospitality can influence or determine one’s fate. For instance, Odysseus fate, which states that he will be returned home to be with his family, is impacted by Telemachus hospitality towards Athena. Similarly, in Sundiata, hospitality plays a major role in his path towards founding the empire. Although hospitality was a vital custom in older transitions, they also varied and were carried out differently in both books. In present-day hospitality was treated as simply a small act of kindness towards the guest, whereas in ancient times it was an unwritten law. â€Å"Straight to the door he came, irked with himself to think a visitor had been kept there waiting, and took her right hand, grasping with his left her tall bronze bladed spear. Then he said warmly: â€Å"Greetings, stranger! Welcome to our feast. There will come time to tell your errand later.† (1: 150-155)†As one can see, those who were being entertained expected to be provided with food, shelter and the basic needs. Telemachus offered these services without questioning his guest’s background and identity. In addition, Telemachus sincerity portrays him as a trustworthy and excellent host, despite having little left to offer from Penelope’s suitors. This contributed to the success of Odysseus fate, which was determined by the Gods that he would return home safely to be with his family. â€Å"The tale was that your father had come home, therefore I came. I see the gods delay him but never in this world is Odysseus dead – only detained somewhere on the wide sea (1: 238-239).† Furthermore, if Telemachus had failed to honor and acknowledge Athena disguised as the mortal Mendes, then she would not offer to guide Telemachus in bringing his father home, as well as, give him the knowledge and assertiveness needed to fulfill the fate of Odysseus. In fact, the legend of The Odyssey would never be known today, considering Odysseus would not make it home without the guidance and protection of Athena, together with the support of Telemachus. Similarly, Sundiata’s fate was already predicted before he was born and it was told that he would be one of the great rulers of Mali. Hospitality also plays a major role in his path towards founding the empire. For instance, when Sundiata and his family were exiled, they searched for places to stay but when they visited Mema, the King’s sister welcomed them lavishly. â€Å"A great escort was sent to meet the travelers and a proper reception was held before Mema (Niane 36).† In addition, â€Å"The whole Mema was at the city gate and you would have thought it was the King’s homecoming (Niane 36).† This depicts hospitality at its peak. Moreover, because Sundiata’s family was welcomed into the palace, he was given the opportunity to meet the King who was a great warrior and admired strength. Hence, the king trained and taught Sundiata to fight in an army and enhanced his intelligence, which in turn helped towards achieving his destiny – ru ling the Mali Empire. Had Sundiata not been welcomed into the palace, he would not have gained the wisdom to fight in an army and acquired the principles of a king, which once again, paved the way to making his fate an actual reality. Although hospitality was a vital custom in older transitions, they also varied and were carried out differently. Sundiata escaped death at the hands of his host, Mansa Konkon and the guest-host relationship was changed. However, Sundiata did not show any hatred or anger towards his host. Rather, he responded in a kind and intelligent way to show the king that he is above all the deception. â€Å"No king, do not accuse anybody (Niane 30), Sundiata also said, â€Å"It is nearly up to three months I have been living with you and you have never up to now suggested a game of word (Niane 30-31).† Whereas, in the Odyssey, the suitors were being a nuisance to Telemachus and Penelope, which led to them both showing their anger towards each other. To demonstrate, it was mentioned, â€Å"Go feasting elsewhere, consume your own stores. Turn and turn about, use one another’s house (2: 424-426).† Sundiata showed respect towards his host despite all the threats, anger and plan to end his life, whereas Telemachus vented his anger towards the suitors as they did to him. Though different, the events in both these books eventually influenced the fate of both characters in the long run.

The Poem Death Of The Hired Man English Literature Essay

The Poem Death Of The Hired Man English Literature Essay Authors of poems use many different types of devices to help convey the theme of their poem. These devices can range from structural or poetic devices to examples of meter. In Robert Frosts poem, The Death of the Hired Man, the theme of the poem that the author is attempting to portray is the need to forgive and accept people for who they are before it is too late; Frost presents this to the reader through structural devices, poetic devices, and metrical devices. The significance of most of Robert Frosts life having been spent in the New England area is because for many of his poems but especially for his poem, The Death of the Hired man, the setting is in New England (Bloom 1). Also, for the poem, The Death of the Hired Man, which is based on a farm in New England and its family, Frost uses personal experience in writing the poem because he has lived, worked, and owned a farm in New England (Bouchard 3). The significance of the setting and characters in this poem is that he presents speakers who are marked by extraordinary severity and power (Blooms 1). The life history of Robert Frost is very important in helping the reader analyze and understand the poem and the theme of the poem that the author, Robert Frost, is attempting to convey in his poem The Death of the Hired Man. The basic summary of the poem is that the main characters, Warren and Mary, who are the owners of the farm, have a hired man who decides to leave them to find better pay ing work when the busy times approach; but when work is slow, then he will return looking for odd jobs to earn money. Warren has had enough, and he is seriously contemplating with his wife what actions he should take with this man. Mary is a woman of an abundance more compassion than her husband, and she realizes from the beginning that Silas is a dying man and that he has returned to the only home he knows. Now Mary is attempting everything she can to show her husband the better parts of Silas but even she realizes how hard this is; she has from the beginning already forgiven Silas for his past actions and life with wide open arms accepting him into her home and attempting her best to take care of him. This is what she is attempting to accomplish all throughout the poem with her husband so that he will feel the same way about Silas that she does before the rest of Silass very short life ends. There are many critics that have analyzed and agree that the theme that Robert Frost presents in his poem The Death of the Hired Man is that people need to be forgiven and accepted before it is too late. In the critical essay by Bloom on the second page, he mentions that in the poem the main character Warren begins to focus in the word home and the idea of home. This continues in the conversation between the husband and wife, Warren and Mary, as they subtly consider human responsibility, kinship, and justice (Bloom 2). Through this conversation, Frost uses the dialogue to examine the social and familial fabric of a place where interaction with neighbors punctuates a potentially unbearable sense of isolation (Bloom 2). This means that Warren and Mary are having a conversation in which Mary is attempting to convince her husband to see that their farm is the only home that Silas has and that in the end he wasnt such a bad guy, so then Warren needs forgive him and accept him into their h ome with open and loving arms. Also, Bloom notices that Mary has a perspective of compassionate identification and emotional response that contrasts Warrens more rational view of fair judgment. Frost encapsulates Marys attitude in one present tense, active sentence, I sympathize (Bloom 2). The line that Bloom quotes from the poem is located in line eighty of the poem. This representation of Mary gives hint to the allusion that Robert Frost gives in the poem and that allusion is seen in Luke 15 verses 11-32 in the Bible and that is the parable of the Lost Son that Jesus presents. The attitude that Warren has toward the idea of Silas claiming their home and their farm as his one and only home even when he has a very wealthy brother who happens to live thirteen miles down the road is that he believes that Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in, and for this reason he believes that their home should not be claimed by Silas as his home for that very reason (Bloom 3). That quote is located on lines one-hundred-twenty-three and one-hundred-twenty-four. In addition, in the critical essay by Katherine Kearns argues that Mary acquires a maternal nurturing figure with Silas and that is why she forgives and accepts him more readily than her husband because he takes on a fatherly role and sees Silas as a son that has chosen a relatively dissolute life and not learned a single lesson or moral from him through all the years that he has employed him. This also correlates with the allusion that Frost attempts to show in his poem because Mary shares the same role that the father in the parable does when he accepts his lost son with open and loving arms back into his life and his home. The evidence that critics have found in the poem to support the theme of how there is a need for people to accept and forgive others before it is too late, Robert Frost supports this more thoroughly through structural, poetic and metrical devices that come dir ectly from the poem and he uses them specifically to help show the theme of his poem The Death of the Hired Man. There are many different poetic devices, structural devices, and metrical devices that Robert Frost uses throughout his poem to grab the readers attention to that specific point to help show the theme of the poem; these along with the allusion that is present all throughout the poem, help the reader understand the authors theme. The first of these is the characterization of the main character of Mary that Frost presents in the poem. This characterization presents her as a very kind, compassionate, loving, understanding, and motherly person who cares very much for the character of Silas because of the hard life that he has lived. The reader can see this in lines one-hundred-and-fifty-five to one-hundred-sixty-one when Mary says, No, but he hurt my heart the way he lay And rolled his old head on that sharp-edged chair-back. He wouldnt let me put him on the lounge. You must go in and see what you can do. I made the bed up for him there to-night. Youll be surprised at him how much hes b roken. His working days are done; Im sure of it. Also, the use of unrhymed iambic pentameter in the poem helps Robert Frost create a sense of the poem appearing as a conversation between two people. This metrical device helps the reader connect with Frosts theme because the dialogue that it creates helps the reader feel like this is more of an every day problem that helps the reader relate and it helps show how hard Mary is actually attempting to convince her husband to forgive and accept Silas before it is too late. Furthermore, in line twenty and twenty-one when Frost says, Enough at least to buy tobacco with, wont have to beg and be beholden. Frost uses alliteration here for the words beg and beholden to show how poor and desperate Silass life actually is and it helps the reader make the connection between Silas and that of the Lost Son in the allusion that Frost presents in the poem. In like manner, the simile that Frost presents in line seventy-five when he says, Well, those da ys trouble Silas like a dream. This use of a simile helps show the reader that Silas is attempting desperately to change, and he wants to make this change so that he will not disappoint his family any more and so that they will accept and forgive him and let him be a part of their life again. In lines eighty and eighty-one there is an example of foreshadowing that Frost uses when he says, I sympathize. I know just how it feels To think of the right thing to say too late. This foreshadowing shows that Warren will know this feeling because at the end of the poem after he discovers that Silas is already dead, he realizes that he needed to tell Silas that he forgives him and accepts him before he had died but now it is too late. In addition, there is another simile that is important when Robert Frost says, He takes it out in bunches like big birds nests. Frost uses this simile because it is another way to correlate the idea of a home with that of Silas, because a birds nest is a birds h ome so that is another hint to show the reader that the farm is Silass home since the hay that looks like the birds nests was the hay from Warrens farm. In lines one-hundred-and-four to one-hundred-and-six, there are examples of parallel structure in the first two lines and a tricolon crescens that involves all three lines when Frost says, And nothing to look backward to with pride, And nothing to look forward to with hope, So now and never any different. Frost shows in these lines that unless something changes in Silass life he has accomplished nothing, he has nothing really positive in his life to look toward, and that this will never change; so at this moment Mary is attempting to convince her husband to forgive and accept Silas because otherwise his life really isnt worth living and because he has already lived such a hard life. The use of the parallel structure in the first two lines helps to emphasize how bad Silass life is and will be while the tricolon crescens emphasizes th e fact that his life will stay like this until he dies unless something changes. The imagery that Frost creates at the end of the poem in lines one-hundred-sixty-eight to one-hundred-seventy-two not only creates an image in the readers mind, but Robert Frost also uses it to foreshadow the ending of his poem. The image describes a small cloud that looks like it may hit the moon, which it does, this little cloud symbolizes Silas where as the moon symbolizes Warren and the hitting symbolizes if Warren will ever forgive and accept Silas, when the cloud does strike the moon in the image it tells the reader that Warren finally does forgive and accept Silas. Finally, there is the allusion that Robert Frost shows throughout the whole poem and that he uses to help convey the theme of the poem. This allusion is a Biblical allusion that is in Luke 15: 11-32, it is a parable that is called the Parable of the Lost Son, and Jesus is the one to tell it. The reason that Jesus tells this story is be cause it was to show that even when we as Christians stray in our faith that our Heavenly Father, God, will always forgive us and accept us back with open loving arms. The reader can take this to an even more literal level and that is where the theme of the poem is realized because it also shows that we as people need to always forgive and accept others for who they are before it is too late. For this poem though Mary symbolizes the father, Warren the angry obedient son and Silas would be the foolish young son that wasted all of inheritance. Through the use of poetic devices, structural devices, and metrical devices, Robert Frost has been able to emphasize and show the many different parts of his theme throughout the poem. Also the readers are able to conclude that Frost is telling them that they need to forgive and accept anybody in their life and accept them before it is too late because you never know when you might not get the chance to ever attempt it again.

To Sir with Love: discourses, positions and relationships :: To Sir, with Love Essays

Research Paper Identify and discuss professional issues in education evident in a film or a piece of young people’s literature in which a teacher plays a fairly cental role. This essay will critically analyse the discourses, positions and relationships, as well as certain individuals habitus’ (after Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, cited in Gale & Densmore, 2000), which influence the classroom of Mark Thackeray (Sidney Potier) in the film To Sir with Love (Clavell, 1966). Via this analysis, I argue that the film portrays a simplistic, commercial palatable rather than a realistic image of the challenges of teaching, leading the viewer to a distorted perception of the implications of the various discourses employed. In order to clarify this point, I compare several incidents depicted in the film, with the same incidents as they are described in the autobiographical book by E.R. Braithwaite(Braithwaite, 1959), upon which the film is based. In doing so, I will evaluate the pedagogy of the films teacher (Thackeray) against the standards set for graduates and teachers respectively by the Queensland Board of Teacher Registration (hereafter BTR) and Education Queensland (hereafter EQ). Identifying the faulty conclusions which an uncritical viewing of the film may lead to, with regard to the availability of equal opportunity and social justice, I will make specific recommendations for reconstructed teaching practice, drawing on literature on social justice and democratic schooling. The film To Sir, with Love (hereafter ‘the film’), centres around three interlinked individualist assumptions: that social and economic advancement is sure if one tries hard enough (meritocracy), that race and class are no barrier to social and economic advancement (‘equal playing-field’), and that innate talent rather than learnt skill, plays the most crucial role in a person’s success (giftedness). These will be referred to in turn below. In contrast to this individualist stance, E.R.Braithwaite describes early in his book To Sir, With Love (hereafter ‘the book’) how his race had mitigated against his acquiring an engineering position for several years, despite excellent qualifications. He reacts to these difficulties by presenting his students with many examples of the interdependency of humanity: the brotherhood of Man. In the film, Mark Thackeray too, continues to apply for engineering positions while teaching at North Quay Secondary.. Only at the end of the film is he finally offered the lowly post of ‘Third Assistant Engineer’ by a firm outside of London, despite his ‘astounding qualifications’, but paradoxically it seems this event is meant to emphasise the recurrent theme of the cinematic retelling of this story: that ‘Anything’ is possible with enough persistence and effort.

American Teenagers and Plastic Surgery Essay -- Health Medicine Beauty

American Teenagers and Plastic Surgery Plastic surgery is not a new field of medicine. Traditionally, plastic surgery dealt with fixing abnormalities of the body, but recently people are enjoying the luxury of plastic surgery simply because they are not happy with their appearance. People make appointments with plastic surgeons for procedures such as rhinoplasty, liposuction, tummy tucks, face lifts, and most commonly breast augmentation. These people look forward to desired results from such procedures without considering the risks. Many risks accompany plastic surgery, but they are rarely discussed in the media. Death is even a possible conclusion of the surgery. Why would people subject themselves to such conditions as having their face swollen for weeks, barely being able to walk, and the excruciating pain that comes after they awaken from surgery? Even more important is the question, why are teenagers becoming more and more eager to get plastic surgery operations performed on themselves? Sometimes teenagers have certain features that can benefit from plastic surgery, but most of the time society makes teenagers have an altered sense of the perfect body image. In reality, the perfect body image is something that does not exist. Plastic surgeons comment about how common it is to meet a young patient who would like to have features of their favorite celebrities. Young women want Jennifer Lopez’s bottom, Jennifer Aniston’s nose, and Britney Spears’ facial features. Young men would like to have Brad Pitt’s facial features. To me, such expectations seem implausible. God made me the way I am. I would not change a thing. But I am sure that at one time the teenagers who are receiving these procedures believed th... ... life is simply to learn to love yourself just the way you are. So the bottom line is: Teenagers should be educated by society on the dangers of plastic surgery. They should be aware of the bad as well as the good. But, when it comes down to the decision whether or not to have plastic surgery, I hope that teenagers will use their better judgment and not the judgment of other people as a factor. Works Cited Bermant, Michael, â€Å"Cosmetic Plastic Surgery in Teens.† American Board of Plastic Surgery (2004). 31 Aug. 2004 . Davis, Robert, â€Å"Teens' cosmetic dreams don't always come true.† USA Today (2004). 2 Oct. 2004 . Dolan, Deidre, â€Å"The Kindest Cut: Teens and Plastic Surgery.† The New York Observer (2004). 4 Oct. 2004 .

Psychodynamic Theories

ANTHONY BILLSON 5. 2 PAGE 2 Psychodynamic Theory As a group over the last few weeks we have been dicussing has a group the 3 main theories of counselling and after careful deliberation ive chosen to do my presentation on the psychodynamic theory. Psychodynamics is the theory and systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behaviour. It is especially interested in the dynamic relations between conscious and unconscious motivation . Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a theory of inner conflict, wherein repressed behaviours and emotions surface into the patient’s consciousness; generally, one conflict is subconscious .Psychodynamics was initially developed by Sigmund Freud ,Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. By the mid 1940s and into the 1950s, the general application of the â€Å"psychodynamic theory† had been well established. When talking about Psychodynamic theory the first name that pops into most peoples heads is Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud was Born i n Austria on May 6, 1856, Sigmund Freud theorized and practiced neuropsychology, studying first hysteria and then sexuality. A highly controversial intellectual figure of the 20th century, he studied dreams, defined what he called the Oedipus complex and laid out three stages of infantile sexual development .He remains one of the most influential figures in today's world. His name alone symbolizes the importance of his theories, and the name that comes to most people's heads when saying the word psychology is Sigmund Freud. Freud was a psychodynamic psychologist and that came from Freud's view on the mind is in the shape of an iceberg. He believes that mankind's mind works in the unconscious. Every choice that mankind makes he is aware of, but maybe the consequences of our action might be unknown.The Structure of Personality which is another interesting part of Freud's theory basically states that we have an ID, a Superego and an Ego. The ID is a biological reservoir of urges and im pulses that need to be gratified. He says the ID does not have a conscious , it acts on instinct and it seeks out gratification and pleasure. It is the pleasure principle. The Superego is the Morality Principle, and the Superego knows the difference between right and wrong. The Superego is a bunch of learned internalized morals and values of society. This is asically the thing that keeps the ID in check. Freud said that Superego is our conscious, and that the Superego is the most powerful tool (guilt and pride). Last but not least is the Ego, which is the reality principle. The Ego finds socially acceptable ways to satisfy the ID. It finds the balance between the ID and reality. The functions of the Ego is to find a compromise between the ID and the Superego. The Ego must also learn to deal with anxiety, and it also helps to boost the self-esteem. Without the Ego there would be no mental health.After researching Freud's theory of the Structure of Personality I feel we have different parts of our behavior that we can control and that we are conscious about and there are other behaviors that come directly from our unconscious . Our ego lies to us, denies, falsifies, and distorts reality which in turn causes us to create what Freud likes to call the seven defense mechanisms. The first of the seven defense mechanisms is Repression. Repression pushes the problem to the subconscious. It is the exclusion of impulses and thoughts from the conscious mind.Next comes Denial, and denial is the cutting of the conscious mind from external threats. ANTHONY BILLSON 5. 2 PAGE 3 An example of this would be when you are walking in the mall with your girlfriend and a beautiful woman walks by and you look but when your girlfriend asks you say, â€Å"I wasn't looking at her. † Next there is a defense mechanism called Sublimation which is the changing of bad behavior and impulses into socially acceptable behavior and impulses. One example of this could be playing football for a scholarship in order to go to college.Another defense mechanism is Reaction Formation which is a development of behavior opposite of that which brings you anxiety . The next mechanism is called Projection whichis when the unconscious attribution of your thoughts and feelings is brought onto others. Finding flaws in others is a good example of Projection. Displacement is the next defense mechanism, and this is when an urge is placed onto another object. Taking out anger onto others when you really should be mad at yourself. Last but not least is the defense mechanism of Rationalization which is giving a good reason in place of the true reason.Another well known psychologist which is actually a student of Freuds' is Carl Jung who is also a psychodynamic psychologist, Carl Jung was born July 26, 1875 in Kesswil, Switzerland and he went a little deeper than Freud did in his theories and he challenges some of his ideas. One is that Jung's iceberg is right side up and at the top of the iceberg is the ego, and the level underneath that is the personal unconscious, and the final level of the iceberg is finally the collective unconscious which is almost the exact opposites of Freud's.What I mean by deeper is that he feels that man is not just sexual but spiritual as well. He says that the major difference in man is based on the Libido which is your sex drive. As you can see Jung has a much broader level of human interest. Jung theories are strongly based on Darwin's theory of Evolution. Jung thinks we evolved behaviorally which has allowed us to prosper and move forward in order to keep up with society. The next part of Carl Jung's theory is the Archetypal Complex, which are common ways of dealing with the world.In other words it's a genetically transmitted response strategy. It ensures survival. There are two examples of Archetypal Complexes and they are the enemy archetype and the social archetype. . There are examples in everyday life when a person does not know what something is they immediately show some sort of aggression or frustration which proves they are afraid of what is different or what they do not really know or understand. The social archetype basically means strength in numbers. Also the social archetype is what we look to for support and look to interact and socialize with.The response strategy is to develop a need to conform. With the whole idea of Archetypal Complexes different people use different ways to deal with the world's problems, and enemy archetype could not be more precise about mankind being threatened by something that is different. The next part of Jung's theory is the idea of Individuation which is the integration of our conscious perceptions of the outside world with our unconscious archetypal experiences. Polarities, which are opposite extremes, which ties in the Principle of entropy which, is a state of disorder and a randomness of energy.The last thing Jung states in his theory is the idea of wholeness whic h is having both polarities of our life met. Carl Jung's theory challenges much of Freud's, but in some ways is similar. Jung gets more into man being more spiritual than sexual which is almost the opposite of Freud. The next psychologist that I will mention will be a social psychodynamic psychologist by the name of Alfred Adler. Adler was born on February 7, 1870 and Adler’s theory states that all of us are born with a sense of inferiority as evidenced by how weak and helpless a newborn is.ANTHONY BILLSON 5. 2 PAGE 4 By this, Adler was able to explain that this inferiority is a crucial part of our personality, in the sense that it is the driving force that pushes us to strive in order to become superior. In addition to the Inferiority Theory of Personality, Adler also considers birth order as a major factor in the development of our personality. He believed that first born children may feel inferior and may even develop inferiority complex once their younger sibling arrives. The middle born children, on the other hand, are not as pampered as their older or younger sibling, but they have a sense of superiority to dethrone their older sibling in a healthy competition. Thus they have the greatest potential to be successful in life. The youngest children may feel like they have the least power to influence other members of the family. Because they are often the most pampered, they may develop personality problems of inferiority just like the first born. He was much less of a pessimist than Freud was; Almost a complete opposite from Freud.Adler believed that society impedes humans. His view of the mind is much like Carl Jung's, but instead of having the ego at the top he has the conscious at the top with the unconscious on the bottom. He felt that social interests drive motivation, which is an innate drive to be social and to belong. He also stated in his theory that mankind is dependent on others and their reactions and their acceptance which in turn leaves mankind very vulnerable. The main idea of this theory is that he feels that mankind is more social than biological.A great example ofthis would definitely be that in today's schools there are cliques and clans of different people that feel that they are cooler or better and than the people who are not as popular do whatever they can to fit in with a certain group. Teenagers nowadays are probably the best example there is of Adler's theory of social interest. Another part of Adler's theory that he brings up is the idea of the creative self which he says drives us toward human nature. There are two parts to this theory and they are the superiority complex and the inferiority complex.First of all the superiority complex states mankind tries to better itself in order to overcome our weaknesses. The second part of this theory is the inferiority complex which is when society measures us up to their standards. This is when we begin to avoid our weaknesses instead of trying to overcome the m. The next theorist is Erich Fromm who was born in Frankfurt on March 23, 1900 and he was a liberal social psychodynamic psychologist who was also a student of Freuds. He believes that man is innately good and society is the thing that corrupts him.He also feels that the conscious mind dominates over the unconscious. Fromm says man is a social creature and he believes that mankind has social needs. He says life is a struggle and society makes our lives difficult. Fromm feels that the four needs of mans' social life are relatedness, frame of reference , identity, and transcendence. Relatedness is a basic need and it states that man needs to feel connected to humanity whether it be friends, family, or activities. It also states that man has to beinteracted with other in order to belong.The problems start when a person feels that they are not a part of something. Relatedness is probably the most powerful need. Frame of Reference are common ideas and beliefs of looking at the world. Th is is when we seek out a belief system or a value system. We receive our frame of reference from where we find our relatedness. Without frame of reference there is no meaning to life. Identity is the next out of the four needs of mans social life which is when you know who you are and what you stand for.With identity you have to establish your own uniqueness or identity. Recognizing differences in others help you to find your own identity. ANTHONY BILLSON 5. 2 PAGE 5 Next comes transcendence which is rarely achieved and this means to rise above societies conformities in order to be an individual. With transcendence there is a risk of losing your relatedness, and for this not to happen relatedness must allow you rise above society. A conflict of freedom and loneliness means that the more that we become transcendent the more we lose the relatedness.My last theorist to talk about is Erik Erikson, he was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902 . Erikson impacted psychological theories by exp anding upon Freud’s original five stages of development. He believed that each person progressed through eight, and ultimately nine (added by his widow), stages of development throughout their lives. Erikson’s theories were founded on the premise that environment played a major role in self-awareness, adjustment, human development, and identity . His belief in the Life Cycle later won him a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award.He was selected for the Jefferson Lecture and recognized for his achievement in the area of humanities. Erikson was best known for his impact on psychology through his theory on social development and his lengthy teaching career at prestigious institutions. Now after all my researching which has took me quite a while to get through cause there are so many sources to choose from ive realised that has psychodynamic theories have developed over the years our understanding of the human psyche has evolved and so as the effectiveness of the methods used by counsellors today.There is a negative side to this theory though cause some critics argue that psychodynamic theories are not falsifiable and therefore unscientific. In response to this criticism, proponents of psychodynamic theories point out that evidence does support some psychodynamic concepts. For example, research shows that there are unconscious mental processes, that people have mental representations of other people, and that people use unconscious defense mechanisms to protect themselves from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety.Other critics argue that psychodynamic theories are made by generalizing from a small number of patients to the whole human population. Relying only on case studies can lead to faulty conclusions. Still others argue that most psychodynamic theories are not based on studies that follow people from childhood to adulthood. Instead, psychodynamic theorists listen to descriptions of an adult patient’s past and draw conclusions about the r elevance of childhood experiences however memories are not always reliable.

Paranormal: Personality Psychology and Carl Jung Essay

Topic Area: This study looks at the relation between the belief in the paranormal and different personality traits. There are two ways of looking at belief in the paranormal this study will look at the people who believe and those who somewhat believe and analyze their personalities traits. Hypothesis: This study examined two contrasting views of paranormal belief which suggest, in one camp, that belief in the paranormal is indicative of psychopathology. On the other hand, a number of researcher have disagreed with this viewpoint, suggesting that such a belief is not an indicator of psychopathology, but the fulfillment of some other underlying need. This study was designed to assess the personality traits of those we would we would consider to be high and low believers in parapsychology. Method: The participants in this study were undergraduate college students mostly freshmen and sophomores who were enrolled in introductory level psychology classes. There were 105 students involved in the study with an age range from 18 to 44 the gender breakdown of participants consisted of 46 men and 59 women whose average age was 20. 19 years old. The participants were administered the Paranormal Belief Scale (Tobacyk & Milford, 1983), The Anomalous Experience Inventory (Kumar, Pekala, & Gallagher, 1994), the Personality Research Form (Jackson, 1984), and a general questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of basic questions about demographics and any experience or preconceptions about the paranormal. The coefficient alphas for the Paranormal Belief Scale were . 93 and . 91. Alphas for the subscales range from . 69-. 85 and . 49-. 74. Using the Paranormal Belief Scale participants were broken into groups of high and low believer’s base on a scale of 25-125 with high believers obtaining a score of 80 and low believers obtaining a score of 63. Each scale was administered in a class room setting and was untimed although the study took approximately 60 minutes to complete. Upon completion each participant was released and received a debriefing letter after the study. Results and Discussion: The results of this study showed that the high believers of the paranormal were more than likely to have friends with similar beliefs; they also are more likely to watch shows and read books based on paranormal subjects. The study also showed that more of the high believers had imaginary friends as they were growing up. Also high believers attended church less than those in the low believer’s category and didn’t look at themselves as very religious in comparison to low believers. The test also shows a distinct difference in gender with females scoring significantly higher than males on the (PBS) scale. There was also a series of ANOVAs (analysis of variance) that revealed a significant difference on four of the PRF scales Abasement, Aggression, Defendence, and Sentience these finding represent that there was not a strong enough relationship between these scales and the PBS to suggest a significant difference when examining high vs. low believers. However women scored higher than the men on Aggression and Defendence while men scored higher on Abasement. Critique: When initially reviewing this study to make a determination on which research example that I was going to focus on for my paper. I found that I was really interested in what the outcome of this research would be based on the amount of research that I am aware of that has been done on the study of the paranormal. This particular research was really interesting to me as it attempted to assess the personality traits of those who could be considered either high and/or low believers in parapsychology. According to other studies a person who believes in the paranormal is considered psychologically dysfunctional. This study used what I feel was a small segment of the population for such a broad subject that seems to have so many followers. The fact that they used 105 undergraduates from the age of 18 – 44 makes me think that they may have limited themselves when it comes to the broad perspective of people that they could have used. If I were conducting the study I would have opened it up to males and females with age not being a factor in the study. I also would have went outside of the classroom to get my participants by looking for people who were of all different walks of life and backgrounds, from those with a high school education only to those in under graduate and graduate programs. I would have also attempted to recruit people from different professions from warehouse worker to executive. Another thing that I would have looked into would be the ability to get people to participate with whom I knew where members of the Wiccan community and also some people who believe in Psi, Esp. , and others who believe in poltergeist. I feel this would have produced some validity to base the answers of the non-believers against the answers of the known (or high) believers to form some sort of median to the answers instead of just basing the answers off of people with whom are just here for their extra credit in their Psychology class. Another factor of the test that could have affected the outcome was the fact that it was administered in a class like setting. I feel that while the test should be structured maybe they should have administered it in a less formal manner. When looking at the different tests that were administered to the participants there seemed to be one consistent outcome on all of them. This outcome was that there was very little or no difference in the personality traits of believers compared to those of non-believers. The only measurable differences between the groups were the fact that females scored significantly higher than males when it came to the PBS Psi scale and on aggression and defendence. Males scored higher than females on abasement. Once again I believe other than the gender based scores that the other scores could have been affected by the fact that all the participants in this study were college students in the same program at the same school. Even though there was an age difference and there were students of opposite genders the scores seem to close to me to rule out any relevance to this argument. Relationship of the study to personality theory: The central relationship which was studied came in chapter 4 of our textbook, titled Jung: Analytical Psychology. Carl Jung, in my opinion, seemed to be open to many things that could be considered paranormal. Jung related dreams and past experiences to paranormal thoughts as well as ESP and he also associated levels of a person’s personality traits to different levels of the paranormal. Carl Jung was a strong believer in paranormal activity like spirits, e. s. p. , and the occult. Jung was raised around religion and the  occult from an early age, many members of his family were pastors and his mother’s family practiced spiritualism and mysticism. Jung’s grandfather was a believer of the occult, so much so that he kept a chair for the ghost of his dead wife and would often have intimate talks with her. One might conclude that these childhoods encounters shaped Jung’s beliefs lead him to associate personality traits and paranormal beliefs with one other. Jung’s theories were largely based around his study of the interpretations of dreams, both regular and paranormal. â€Å"Jung was puzzled by paranormal dreams. He could not classify them the way normal dreams could be, but the mystery did lead him to expound on his principle of synchronicity. This concept is that events occur together in time but are not linked through cause and effect connections. For instance, a clock might stop at the moment of its owner’s death, but these are purely synchronistic and unrelated events. Jung concluded that perhaps there is some sort of order in the universe, where a manifestation appears psychically while the related manifestation in physical reality happens at the same time. † (Carl Jung) Jung theorized that there were people, based on personality traits that were more likely to be influenced by paranormal thought and ideologies and came to the conclusion that introverts tend to have the best link to the paranormal. â€Å"Besides the levels of the psyche and the dynamics of personality, Jung recognized various psychological types that grow out of a union of two basic attitudes-intro-versions and extraversion-and four separate functions-thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting. † (Feist, 2009) Intuiting, in general, is often most associated with the paranormal, as illustrated in our textbook on page 120Ã'Ž Table 4.1, introverted intuition is associated with prophets, mystics and religious fanatics. Hurst states that â€Å"Introverted intuitive people are guided by unconscious perception of facts that are basically subjective and have little or no resemblance to external reality. Their subjective intuitive perceptions are remarkably strong and capable of motivating decisions of monumental magnitude. Introverted intuitive people such as mystics, prophets, surrealistic artist, or religious fanatics, often appear peculiar to people of other types who have little comprehension of their motives. Actually, Jung believed that introverted intuitive people may not clearly understand their own motivations, yet they are deeply motivated by them. †(Feist, 2009) It is my opinion that these personality theories prove that paranormal belief is not something that is only suffered by psychopaths. The study states, â€Å"Paranormal belief is indicative of psychopathology, as suggested by the current study. † (Auton, Pope, Seeger) I think that Jung’s theories illustrate that though a person may experience a paranormal instance it does not necessarily mean that there is a mental disorder present. Paranormal experiences may rather be a result of one’s social environment, as often people who believe in the paranormal have acquaintances that share in that belief. It was also referenced that people with such beliefs tend to watch more television and read more books that are based on the paranormal and occult. Relationship of the study to your own life and personality: Paranormal belief is something that has intrigued me ever since I was a young child. You might say that I am a skeptical believer, as I like to think that everything that happens has a reason for taking place and there is usually a way to explain any situation that people might consider paranormal. I have had many strange experiences throughout my life that one might call paranormal and some I have had explanations for and others I have not. When I began reviewing the article, Paranormal Belief and Personality Traits, for this assignment I was in complete disagreement with the portion that stated that paranormal belief was synonymous with† psychological dysfunction ( i.e. psychotic, neurotic, and depressive. ) (Auton, Pope, Seeger) I found myself identifying with Carl Jung’s theories regarding the paranormal which are a sharp contrast to those presented in this article. I feel and have been categorized by the Big 5 assessment as an extrovert and I feel that this may be the reason why I am so skeptical about paranormal experiences. I tend to look for the rhyme and reason of things that I have experienced in my life and am very skeptical about everything including ghosts, ESP and religion. Whether my paranormal experiences have affected my life or personality has yet to be said, though, I feel that these experiences were most certainly not a symptom of psychopathology. References: Feist, J. & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th Edition). McGraw Hill. Carl jung; his theories on archetypes, dreams, and the collective unconscious. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. ucmeta. org/Pages/Articles/Dreaming/Carl-Jung-His-Theories-Archetypes-Dreams-Collective-Unconscious. phpÃ'Ž

Medicalization Essay

Medicalization describes a process by which a non-medical problem becomes defined and treated as a medical problem, usually in terms of illness and disorders. Medicalization used to be focused on deviance, now it focuses on a range of human problems. Medicalization is increasing as technology advances. There are many things that have become medicalized such as Alcoholism, mental disorders, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, etc. There are three degrees of medicalization. 1. Fully medicalized, example would be severe mental illness. 2.  Partly medicalized, example would be menopause. 3. Minimally medicalized, example would be sexual addiction. The factors that affect the degrees are the support of medical profession, available treatment, and medical insurance. In the end medicalization has increased the profitability and markets of pharmaceutical and biotechnological firms. Many factors have contributed to the rise of medicalization. For instance the loss in religious, the increase of faith in science, rationality, progress, increased prestige and the power of the medical profession. The medical profession and the expansion of medical jurisdiction were prime movers for medicalization. Medicalization has also occurred through social movements. Doctors are not the only ones involved in medicalization now, patients are active collaborators in the medicalization of their problem. The Vietnam veteran movement medicalized PTSD; AIDS treatment was done by the gay and lesbian movement, and PSM with the woman’s movement. There are both positive and negative consequences to medicalization. With everything being medicalized, some people have a better chance functioning well in society. If they are really shy, they will be diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder, and will be medicated to interact efficiently in society. People are no longer depressed, disoriented because of medical intervention, for example, menopause and anorexia. It can really improve the self-esteem of some individuals. Those were some of the positive consequences of medicalization. There are a few negative consequences as well. For instance, medicalization transforms human differences into pathologies. Example, a child with a different learning size will be accused of having a learning disability or having ADHD. By transforming all of these differences into pathologies, it will diminish our tolerance for and appreciation of the diversity of human life. Eventually every person will be labeled as sick. In the Dr. Jarvik article, the speaker demonstrates how old age is being medicalized. It isn’t acceptable to age, because one should stay young. Medicalization has brainwashed people into thinking that somethings aren’t normal when really they are. As people age they are pushed to take all of these medications to stay young and feel good, when it should be socially acceptable to age. A good example of a way medicalization has been resisted would be demedicalization. Gays have changed the definition of homosexuality from illness to lifestyle. Same thing with masturbation, it used to be considered an illness, now its something natural that most people do. These examples contradict medicalization since they have been demedicalized. Disabilities went from medical problem to societal problem. Childbirth used to have been done in a hospital under drugs. Now woman have many options on how they would like to give birth. Parents have refused to give children medication for their ADHD because they belive it wont benefit them. One example from the article would be the â€Å"ana is my friend† website that they mentioned. It is a website that helps anorexic people learn to live an anorexic lifestyle. They don’t promote it they just help anorexics adjust. In the end, Medicalization plays a huge role in todays society. It will keep on expanding from here, and along will come its consequences.

A burglary

As I found him suspicious,l continued to monitor his movements. Seeing the man crouching close to the bushes and casting furtive glances every few seconds as he made his way to the black door. ‘ continued to watch him until he climbed over the fence and realized that he was a burglary. Racking my brains as fast as I could and I decided to call the police and my neighbor,whose name was Peter. After calling them,l told them what I witnessed in a muffled frenzy. After a short while,the police were arrived at Pewter's house. The sirens of the police car reverberated through the air. Ran down towards them and told them the burglary was inside. Just then,he was fleeing from the house. L shouted,†let is him! â€Å"the policemen hurriedly ran to catch him. The burglary ran helter-shelter as he headed to the nearest exit This proved to be a costly mistake for him as the police officers gave chase like a group of Olympic athletes. Len no time,they had caught up with him and immedi ately cornered him to one side. After seeing he was caught,I ran into the house to check. When I entered,my eyes dinned and my jaw dropped at the sight of the house.As Pewter's belongings were strewn away,the drawer and cupboard were opened and cleared of all the valuables. The robber had ransacked and rummaged his home. After he was back,l helped him to clean up all the messy and he appreciated to me for my help. Len addition,he told the security to improve the security system and he wanted to be sure that such an unfortunate accident would never happen again. In the end,when came back home and told my parents about how had handled the situation,they were full of praise for me.

9/11 Terrorism Attacks Essay Example for Free

9/11 Terrorism Attacks Essay ? After the September 11 World Trade Center Attacks, America had had second thoughts about their immigration law. On September 11, 2001, four commercial planes were hijacked in the US. Using the planes as bombs, the hijackers flew two into the World Trade Center in New York City; one was flown into the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. Over 6,000 people were killed, most when the World Trade Center collapsed. The FAA immediately grounded all US planes to prevent further attacks. The 19 men who hijacked the planes were foreigners who had been in the US from a week to several years. At least 16 entered at US ports of entry, with student or tourist visas; some of their visas appear to have expired before September 11, 2001. About 40 percent of the 8. 5 million unauthorized foreigners in the US similarly entered with seemingly valid visas, but did not abide by the terms of their visa by e. g. departing within 90 days. (Martin & Martin, October 2001) Our enemies have repeatedly exercised this option of inserting terrorists by exploiting weaknesses in our immigration system. A Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the immigration histories of the 48 foreign-born Al-Qaeda operatives who committed crimes in the United States from 1993 to 2001 (including the 9/11 hijackers) found that nearly every element of the immigration system has been penetrated by the enemy. (Camarota, 2002) Of the 48, one-third were here on various temporary visas, another third were legal residents or naturalized citizens, one-fourth were illegal aliens, and the remainder had pending asylum applications. Nearly half of the total had, at some point or another, violated existing immigration laws. 9/11 was not the only terrorist plot to benefit from lax enforcement of ordinary immigration controls—every major Al-Qaeda attack or conspiracy in the United States has involved at least one terrorist who violated immigration law. Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer, for example, who was part of the plot to bomb the Brooklyn subway, was actually caught three times by the Border Patrol trying to sneak in from Canada. The third time the Canadians would not take him back. What did we do? Because of a lack of detention space, he was simply released into the country and told to show up for his deportation hearing. After all, with so many millions of illegal aliens here already, how much harm could one more do? Another example is Mohammed Salameh, who rented the truck in the first World Trade Center bombing. He should never have been granted a visa in the first place. When he applied for a tourist visa he was young, single, and had no income and, in the event, did indeed end up remaining illegally. And when his application for a green card under the 1986 illegal-alien amnesty was rejected, there was (and remains today) no way to detain and remove rejected green-card applicants, so he simply remained living and working in the United States, none the worse for wear. (Krikorian, 2004) Immigration Changes According to Daniel T. Griswold (2002) â€Å"We should not allow the war on terrorism to be hijacked by those who would turn it into a war on immigration. Members of the Immigration Reform Caucus and writers in National Review have tried to hitch their anti-immigration agenda to legitimate concerns about border security in our post-9-11 world. But â€Å"border control† and immigration are two separate issues. The problem is not that we are letting too many people in but that the federal government has not been doing enough to keep the wrong people out† Philips and Susan Martin stressed that The federal government immediately made some immigration changes in response to the terrorist attack, such as holding foreigners who violate immigration laws 48 hours without charge, up from 24 hours. But the Bush administration is seeking more immigration changes, and the new Homeland Security Council, with 100 staff members comparable in size to the National Security Council staff, is likely to suggest even more as the 46 federal agencies whose work it coordinates to fight terrorism review the processes of issuing visas to foreigners, controlling their entry into the US, and ensuring that they abide by the terms of their visas inside the US. Immigration policy reforms can not prevent terrorism, but they are a key part of any effort to combat terrorism. Immigration policies aim to facilitate the entry of wanted foreigners, and to identify and deter the entry of terrorists and other unwanted foreigners. This paper outlines the immigration reforms that could help prevent the entry of future terrorists. It would be unfair and self-destructive to blame America’s immigration policy for what happened on September 11. Immigrants come to live and work and build a better life for themselves and their families. The terrorists did not come here as immigrants. They entered the country on temporary non-immigrant tourist and student visas. They didn’t apply to the INS for green cards or any other kind of permanent status. Immigrants are only a small subset of the much larger pool of 30 million foreign nationals who enter the United States in a typical year. More than 95 percent enter as tourists or business travelers. Only 3 percent, or about one million, enter to immigrate, that is, to settle here permanently. We could reduce immigration to zero and it would do nothing for our national security. (Griswold, 2002) 9/11 Terrorism Attacks. (2017, May 03).

Week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 7 - Essay Example The war adventure certainly does not live up to his expectations, as he is wounded on his leg and just when he recovers, he is attacked by a bout of jaundice, that spoils his vacation plans. Finally, he leaves the war behind and moves on to lead a new life. Evidently, fate had something else in store for him. In the earlier times, wars were glorious events, as they signified undying love for one’s motherland and the voluntary ability of sons of the land to surrender their precious lives for their nation. However, today, it has been reduced to mere numbers! Machines and war equipment operate instead of men, though the opponents are men. It is simply not a one-to-one equation and this reduces the sanctimonious characteristic that was once attributed to war heroes! 3. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway in reaction to WWI rhetoric, writes, â€Å"I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, sacrifice and the expression in vain. We had heard them, sometimes standing in the rain almost out of earshot, so that only the shouted words came through, and had read them, on proclamations that were slapped up by billposters over other proclamations, now for a long time, and I had seen nothing sacred and the things that were glorious had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if nothing was done to the meat except to bury it. There were many words that you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity. Certain numbers were the same way and certain dates and these with the names of places were all you could say and have them mean anything.† What do you think he means? Do you agree or disagree with his sentiments? The author attempts to convey the fact that for a soldier, after a point of time, the value for life and the very essence

Emotional health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Emotional health - Essay Example Erickson’s Eight Stages of Psycho-Social Development: States that the individual has to undergo eight stages of development, in order for them to become integrated into society (Erikson 359-396). Erickson focuses on eight stages in total; however the first five are aimed at childhood, whereas the last three are classifications of changes which take place throughout the rest of the individual’s lifetime. In summary, Erickson was concerned with the individual’s adaptation to society. Let’s now compare this to Sigmund Freud, and his approach, which is centered towards the individual’s adaptation to their own psychic sphere. According to Freud, the young child first develops an oral fixation, whereby as a baby and then toddler, everything goes into the mouth. They then move onto the anal stage, during toilet training, and finally at around five to seven years of age they undergo what is known as the Oedipus complex, whereby the boy fears castration, at the hands of their father, for lusting after the mother; and whereby the young girl accepts the reality that she has already been castrated. Either way, the phallic stage represents an acceptance of external authority, and a reordering of the individual’s psychic World, so that they become emotionally well regulated. Erickson versus Freud: Interestingly, when we compare, Freud to Erickson, we can clearly see that both theorists are attempting to explain the emotional developmental stages of the individual, and that for Erickson the focus is on adaptation to external challenges; whereas with Freud the focus is upon internal adaptation within the psychic reality of the individual, to the external reality which faces them. While the focus might be slightly different, the inference is the same, that a healthy individual has to come to terms with the society, in which

Ethics of the Sale of Body Parts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Ethics of the Sale of Body Parts - Essay Example So, what is the cross-section where these two areas meet? Is it ever ethical to, in effect, â€Å"sell† body parts? Blood and semen are bodily fluids that are donated for money—so what would make donating body parts that much more different? For one thing, the sale of body parts in the U.S.—or anywhere else, as a matter of fact—is ethically questionable, at best. According to Wilkinson (2003), â€Å"Many of the arguments [we will] address†¦apply equally to all body parts and, indeed, to all body products† (pp. 101). Legally speaking, the sale of body parts is strictly forbidden in the United States. According to Gunning and Holm (2007), â€Å"For example, property right in human body or body parts is forbidden in the United States† (pp. 169). This is for many reasons, one of them being that the idea of trading body parts for cash could lead to the poor and disadvantaged selling their body parts for money. Also, people might sell these bo dy parts wholesale, making the black market for body parts even greater. Section II. Five Ethical Issues Associated With the Sale of Body Parts Five ethical issues with regard to the sale of body parts—outside of the biomedical ethical standpoint—is that such a practice would be morally wrong, it would take away the human dignity of the sellers, it would take away the human dignity of the person whose body part would be taken, it would take away from the dignity of the doctors, and also create greed within the buyers. The mere practice of selling body parts would be wrong—not to mention the donation of an organ—in Judaism and Islam. The importance of the body being whole is emphasized due to the fact that going to the afterlife depends upon how one took care of one’s body. According to Holland and Johnson (1998), â€Å"For it may be thought that the human body has a significance that is incompatible with treating its parts as items for sale in a b ody shop or that such treatment is an affront to human dignity and respect for self† (pp. 192). Sellers’, doctors’, and recipients’ dignity would also be compromised. The dignity of the person whose body part would be taken would definitely be diminished by donating a body part for cash. According to Miller (2010), â€Å"It doesn't follow, though, that the sale of body parts is good for the parties or for the rest of us. Such sales—or gifts—might unduly alienate the seller from parts of his or her body that are and should remain so integral to [oneself]† (pp. 235). Section III. The Position of a Biomedical Products Engineer on the Sale of Body Parts, Using Two Ethical Theories (Utilitarianism and the Golden Rule) The two ethical theories that were selected were utilitarianism and the Golden Rule. Both of these ethical theories could both be applied to the pro as well as the con sides of the argument. With regard to utilitarianism, biom edical products can be used expediently for the greatest good of all. That may seem to endorse the sale of organs or body parts, but actually it doesn’t, therefore it shouldn’t be allowed. The sale of organs is actually prohibited for the good of everyone, because such sales would ultimately create a larger black market for body parts, and murders would skyrocket in number. Utilitarianism is generally regarded as â€Å"the greatest good for the greatest number.† Of course, utilitarianism does not always end up being the best deal out fo the bunch. According to Brandt (1992), â€Å"

OOS-Deviation assignment detecting the presence of diethylene glycol Essay

OOS-Deviation assignment detecting the presence of diethylene glycol in toothpaste by thin layer chromotography - Essay Example Additionally, for detection purposes, you will require 6.7 mg/mL of developing the solvent of Potassium Permanganate Staining Solution. Centrifuge tube of 50mL polypropylene to sample a preparation of toothpaste with a weight of around 1.0g. To disperse the toothpaste, add 5mL of water and vortex for around 1 minute. Next is the addition of 5mL of acetonitrile to the mixture followed by vortex about 1 minute. Prior to collecting around 1mL of the supernatant, centrifuge the mixture until you obtain a crystal-clear solution. Make use of the 1.5mL micro test tubes by transferring 500L of the supernatant to it then add 1.0mL of methanol. Dilute 0.2mL of DEG to 0.5mL using methanol in order to achieve the standard reference preparation (Ahuja & Scypinski, 2011). Spread the 5L diluted test solution and the reference standard solution on a sheet and leave it to dry. To get commendable results, use chromatographic procedure spot. The next step is to put the sheet in a developing tank that has been prepared by balancing 100mL of developing a solvent for about 30minutes. Remove the solvent and permit it to dry in the air immediately the developing solution reaches the stopping line. When you submerge the dried sheet in potassium permanganate solution and then remove the sheet after around 5 seconds, yellows spots will start to appear on the background as the sheet begins to dry. The last spot to appear is DEG. The reading of DEG varies from 0.40%, 0.41% and 0.44% for OOS results and between 0.005% and 0.015% for OOS deviation. According Ahuja and Scypinski (2011), after the examination of the OOS results, the procedures on the discovery and occurrences of the OOS are

The Servant as a Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Servant as a Leader - Essay Example According to the report there are various leadership types apart from the servant leadership approach. Firstly, there are transformational leaders. Blanken says the famous transformational leaders are Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who made a business framework that allowed members of their client community to become stockholders. Blanken says transformative leaders want the organization to change even when its members are not comfortable with the idea.From this essay it is clear that the recommended leadership style is servant leadership. Blanken names Herb Kelleher as the one person who embodied servant leadership. Kelleher instilled a culture in Southwest Airlines company that reflected the belief that the business of business is people. Servant leaders, as Blanken says, put service to others before themselves. They involve members of their organization in the decision-making process. Moreover, servant leaders have the will to let the credit for a job well-done be put to their te am members. Smith notes that servant leadership starts when a leader takes the place of a servant while engaging with their organization members. Leadership that is authentic and legitimate does not come from the exercise of power or self-serving deeds. However, true leadership emanates from the desire to assist others first. Smith mentions that the basic urge and purpose of a servant leader is first to motivate the greatness in others, with team success the outcome of it.