Monday, September 30, 2019

Community Psychology Essay

1. UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUALS 1.1 Ecological principles There are four key ecological principles proposed by James Kelly et al in understanding human environments and they are interdependence, cycling of resources, adaptation, and succession. Interdependence- As with biological ecosystems, any social system has multiple related parts and multiple relationships with other systems. Changes in one of these parts can affect the others; they are interdependent. A corollary of the principle of interdependence is that any change in a system will have multiple consequences—some of them unanticipated and perhaps unwanted. An example of interdependence could be, when the primary caregiver gets the flu, meal preparation, washing, transportation, and a host of other daily operations for every other member of the family are affected. Cycling of Resources- It specifies that any system can be understood by examining how resources are used, distributed, conserved, and transformed. Personal resources include individual talents, knowledge, experiences, strengths, or other qualities that can address challenges in a setting. Social resources occur in relationships among members of the setting, including shared beliefs, values, formal rules, informal norms, group events, and shared sense of community. Even physical aspects of a setting are resources: a library with rooms for group study, quiet nooks for individual study, and a place to take a break. Adaptation- this principle concerns the transactions between person and environment. This is a two-way process; individuals cope with the constraints or demands of an environment and environments adapt to their members. While starting a new job in order to adapt, you probably learned new skills without losing your unique identity. Some jobs require changes in appearance, changes in relating to people, or changes in schedules. Environments also adapt to their members. Think about the changes in a family triggered by such events as the birth of a child, a parent starting a new job, or children moving away from home. Succession- Settings and social systems change over time. Interdependence, resource cycling, and adaptation must be understood in that perspective. An implication of understanding succession in settings is that psychologists need to understand a system’s history before they plan an intervention in that system. In trying to make a neighbourhood a safer place, what have people tried to do in the past? What worked? How did the problems develop? Psychologists should also carefully consider the likely consequences of the intervention, including possible unintended consequences. How can the community continue the intervention after the formal involvement of the psychologist ends? Social Climate Dimensions The social climate approach to understanding environments is based on three primary dimensions that can characterize any setting: how they organize social relationships, how they encourage personal development and their focus on maintenance or change in the setting. Relationships -This dimension of settings concerns mutual supportiveness, involvement, and cohesion of its members. The social climate approach looks for evidence of relationship qualities in each setting. Personal Development -This dimension of settings concerns whether individual autonomy, growth, and skill development are fostered in the settings. System Maintenance and Change- This dimension of settings concerns settings’ emphasis on order, clarity of rules and expectations, and control of behaviour. Social Regularities Social regularities, defined as the routine patterns of social relations among the elements (e.g., persons) within a setting. The patterns of social relationships in communities can affect distribution of resources, access to opportunities, and authority to address social issues. To discover social regularities, search for patterns of behaviour that reveal roles and power relationships among setting members (e.g., teacher-student, therapist-client, employer-employee, parent-child). Roles are enacted in a specific setting in ways that affect power, decision making, resources, and inequalities. A historical social regularity is that U.S. schools have been a sorting mechanism for separating students by achievement or test scores and then preparing them for different roles in society. Segregated schools once also sorted students by race. When the courts mandated an end to segregation, communities brought Black and White students into the same schools. Ecological psychology Behaviour Settings- this concept is the primary unit of analysis for ecological psychology. A behaviour setting is defined by having a place, time, and a standing pattern of behaviour. It is important to note that a behaviour setting is not simply a physical place. The sanctuary of the Methodist church in Midwest was a physical setting but not a behaviour setting. Instead, several behaviour settings occurred within it, each with a time and standing behaviour pattern (e.g., worship services, choir practices, and weddings). Activity Settings While similar to ecological psychology in focusing on settings, activity setting theory takes subjective experiences and cultural social meanings into account. An activity setting is not simply a physical setting and not just the behaviour of persons who meet there but also the subjective meanings that develop there among setting participants, especially intersubjectivities: beliefs, assumptions, values, and emotional experiences that are shared by setting participants. Key elements of an activity setting include the physical setting, positions (roles), people and the interpersonal relationships they form, time, and symbols that setting members create and use. Environmental Psychology Environmental psychology examines the influence of physical characteristics of a setting (especially built environments) on behaviour. A major focus of environmental psychology is the study of the psychological effects of environmental stressors, such as noise, air pollution, hazardous waste, and crowded housing. Environmental Design- Environmental psychologists also study the psychological effects of architectural and neighbourhood design features. Examples include studies of enclosed workspaces, windows, and aspects of housing design. 1.3 The importance of understanding individuals within a context From a community psychology perspective, a better understanding of what contributes to problems forms the basis of choosing where to intervene. Community psychologists do not believe that interventions that change environmental conditions of settings are necessarily sufficient to address social issues. Rather, they place an emphasis on understanding environmental factors of social problems because they are so often overlooked. If the ecological context of social issues is left unaddressed, the interventions chosen will likely be limited in their effectiveness. 2. UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY 2.1 Community refers to relationships that are multidimensional and are valued in their own right, not just as a means to an end. But society refers to relationships that are based on a specific transaction. The relationship is instrumental in the sense that the participants view the relationship fundamentally as a means to an end, not as something that has value in its own right. This is a relationship you engage in solely because you expect to benefit in some way from the interaction, and the same is true for the other person. 2.2 Types of community Locality-Based Community- This is the traditional conception of community. It includes city blocks, neighbourhoods, small towns, cities, and rural regions. Interpersonal ties exist among community members (residents); they are based on geographic proximity, not necessarily choice. Relational Community -These communities are defined by interpersonal relationships and a sense of community but are not limited by geography. Internet discussion groups are communities completely without geographic limits. Mutual help groups, student clubs, and religious congregations are defined by relational bonds. Levels of community ââ€" ª Microsystems (e.g., classrooms, mutual help groups) ââ€" ª Organizations (e.g., workplaces, religious congregations, civic groups) ââ€" ª Localities (e.g., city blocks, neighbourhoods, cities, towns, rural areas) ââ€" ª Macro systems (e.g., the Filipino community, political parties, nations) 2.3 Sense of community According to Sarason (1974) he defined it as the perception of similarity to others, an acknowledged interdependence with others, a willingness to maintain this interdependence by giving to or doing for others what one expects from them, the feeling that one is part of a larger dependable and stable structure. There are four elements identified in sense of community: Membership: it refers to the sense among community members of personal investment in the community and of belonging to such as Boundaries, Common symbols, Emotional safety, Personal investment, Sense of belonging, Identification with community. Mutual influence between individual and community: It refers both to the power that members exercise over the group and to the reciprocal power that group dynamics exert on members. Integration and fulfilment of needs among members: Integration is concerned with horizontal relations among members such as Shared values, Satisfying needs and Exchanging resources. Shared emotional connection: it refers to the shared dramatic moments, celebrations and rituals among members of the community. 2.3.1 Social Capital Social capital refers to connections among citizens and reciprocity and trust based on them. It may be formal or informal and involve bonding or bridging. 2.3.2 Social Support Social Support refers to the help provided by others to promote coping with stress. 2.4 How communities are built In order to build a strong community, members should develop a set of common symbols, celebrations, and narratives that describe and reflect the meaning they assign the community and also set norms that support a sense of personal safety that ensures all members have a level of influence over the community. 3. UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY 3.1 Key dimensions of human diversity CULTURE The term culture has been stretched to refer not only to ethnic and cultural groups but also to nation-states, religious groups, racial groupings, and corporations (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993). Cultural influences can be seen in the functioning of individuals and families, organizational practices, and norms of local communities and societies. Community psychologists have sought to understand how settings have layers of cultural influences that impact the composition, functioning, and interactions of its members. A contextual, ecological understanding of cultural influences on communities seeks to understand how cultural influences structure community norms and processes for how decisions are made, how conflict is addressed, and how resources are distributed. RACE Race does have psychological and social meaning in many societies: as a socially constructed set of categories related to inequalities of status and power. Even as racial categories shift over time and across locations, race remains important because racism makes it so. No terminology is entirely satisfactory to describe the racial diversity. Use of almost any terminology and definition of race reflects and perpetuates racial oppression in some way. Yet community psychology cannot ignore race, despite the drawbacks of vocabulary for discussing it. ETHNICITY Ethnicity can be defined as a social identity, based on one’s ancestry or culture of origin, as modified by the culture in which one currently resides and it could also be defined by language, customs, values, social ties, and other aspects of subjective culture GENDER Gender refers to our understanding of what it means to be female or male and how these categories are interpreted and reflected in attitudes, social roles, and the organization of social institutions. SOCIAL CLASS Social class comprises a key dimension for community psychology. While often studied only as a demographic descriptor, social class actually marks differences in power, especially economic resources and opportunities. It influences identity and self-image, interpersonal relationships, socialization, well-being, living environment, educational opportunities, and many other psychological issues. ABILITY/DISABILITY It refers to the tendency of members in a society to discriminate based on ableism which leads disabled individuals to many barriers for participation in community life as a valued and contributing member. SEXUAL ORIENTATION This is best understood as a spectrum from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual, with intermediate points. It refers to an underlying orientation, involving sexual attraction, romantic affection, and related emotions. AGE Children, adolescents, and younger and older adults differ in psychological and health-related concerns, developmental transitions, and community involvement. Similarly, aging also brings changes in relationships and power dynamics for families, communities, workplaces, and societies. SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION Spirituality and religion often interrelate with culture and ethnicity. Moreover, many religions and spiritual traditions are multicultural, and many cultures contain multiple religious and spiritual communities. Therefore it is impossible to understand many cultures without understanding their religious institutions and spiritual practices. SOCIAL INEQUITIES Social inequities occur when the lack of social and economic resources available to particular groups lead to reduced opportunities for education, health care, or work. In more extreme cases, a group’s reduced social status can lead to group members having their property rights, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and citizenship challenged.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Germaine Greer Essay

GERMAIN GREER HAD NO FEAR In the early 1970s, a woman’s role in society was still set by male expectations. While women were expected to work and be educated, it was considered more important that they marry and become housewives. Women were also paid less than men for the same work, and denied many opportunities because they were women. In 1970, Australian-born author Germaine Greer wrote The Female Eunuch, a book that challenged a woman’s traditional role in society, and provided an important framework for the feminist movement of the 1970s. The Female Eunuch called on women to reject their traditional roles in the home, and explore ways to break out of the mould that society had imposed on them. It also encouraged women to question the power of traditional authority figures – such as doctors, psychiatrists, priests and the police – who at the time were not used to being questioned, and to explore their own sexuality: Women have somehow been [†¦] cut off from their capacity for action. It’s a process that sacrifices vigour for delicacy and succulence, and one that’s got to be changed. – Germaine Greer, New York Times, 22 March 1971 Source There had been other books published on Women’s Liberation – most famously Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique – but Greer’s book was written with a naughty sense of humour and a directness that the others lacked. This witty honesty made the book accessible to a very wide readership, and was perhaps the reason for the book’s enormous success. Greer hoped that her book would inspire women to see themselves as powerful when it came to their own roles and sexuality. In many ways she was successful. The Female Eunuchcertainly did push the Women’s Liberation Movement forward, and it became one of the world’s most influential books on the subject. QUOTES BY GERMAINE HERSELF * ‘’The house wife is an unpaid employee in her husband’s house in return for the security of being a permanent employee’’. * ‘’Yet if a woman never lets herself go, how will she ever know how far she might have got? If she never takes off her high-heeled shoes, how will she ever know how far she could walk or how fast she could run?’’ * ‘’ If a person loves only one other person, and is indifferent to his fellow men, his love is not love but a symbiotic attachment, or an enlarged egotism.’’ * ‘’ All societies on the verge of death are masculine. A society can survive with only one man; no society will survive a shortage of women.’’ By SHANNON JONES

Saturday, September 28, 2019

A directors duty to a corporation’s creditors

A directors duty to a corporations creditors Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . A directors duty to a corporation’s creditors Introduction In this chapter we will look at two related issues; how the somewhat nebulous duties discussed in the previous chapter operate to protect creditors interests and drawing on theoretical writing on corporate governance analyse the extent to which there is potential for conceptual and actual conflicts of interest. The issues that this dissertation attempts to answer are pertinent to the core of corporate governance and therefore I will initially attempt to outline a conceptual background to the debate within this chapter. Theories of Corporate Governance The legal framework within which the Corporation as a social entity operates is informed by a vast and at sometimes incomprehensible corpus of economic theory. An understanding of the role of the corporation will give us an understanding of the objective norm by which we are assessing our current legal rules that regulate the relationships of three of the major corpo rate constituents: Creditors, Shareholders and Directors. Boatright outlines in his introduction the importance of the modern conception of the corporation to corporate law: ‘ The modern theory of the firm, which is central to finance and corporate law, views the corporation as a nexus of contracts between the various corporate constituencies. Upon this foundation finance theory and corporate law postulate shareholder wealth as the objective of the firm ’ [1] A problematic issue for Corporate Law is that situations of Insolvency challenge the primacy of shareholder wealth maximisation in favour of creditor protection. It causes many scholars in the legal profession to go back to the roots of why ought corporations be shareholder wealth maximising? And furthermore why does it hold such ideological weight? Undoubtedly shareholders are one of the most important parties in the contractual nexus of a corporation; they provide ready capital, hold a claim on resi dual assets and bear the residual risk of corporate failure. However their integral role per se doesn’t justify their primacy in corporate law and theory. Boatright summarises the main argument for shareholder primacy: Only those who bear the residual risk are appropriate for making discretionary decisions as to wealth-maximisation. If employees, bondholders and perhaps creditors had control they would tend to favour decisions that maximise their fixed-claim, this could mean that less-profitable decisions would be taken. Even managers and directors will have separate agendas and avoid profitable ventures if it was likely to increase risk to them or reduce their power. Only shareholders that bear flexible and varying costs and benefits are in the position to make purely profit-maximising decisions. In a legal sense this special interest of the shareholders is protected through the operation of fiduciary duties to shareholders, such theories argue that no other part y in the corporate contractual nexus would benefit from the arrangement as much and therefore shareholders are more willing to pay for the privilege of having their interests protected whereas creditors and other parties would rather not have their interests tied as closely to the corporations performance as closely. A good example of the distinctive nature of shareholder and director relations can be viewed when we consider the contract of employment. An employee of a firm does not benefit from a fiduciary duty to maximise profits in various ways as such a duty could prejudice them in many ways such as reducing their pay and lengthening their hours. They would prefer a more fixed contractual relationship. The welfare of society is maximised through this corporate arrangement because it is viewed as the most efficient arrangement but by no means the only arrangement other examples can be employee-owned corporations and most pertinent to this dissertation the role of creditors intere sts. This work is looking at one aspect of the contractual nexus and whether the balance between shareholder and creditor interests is both ethical and practical. Interrelated into this task are other conceptual questions that we are forced to confront.

Friday, September 27, 2019

INCLUSION AND MEETING SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS Essay

INCLUSION AND MEETING SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS - Essay Example The main intention of social inclusion is to eradicate favoritism and support social unity meant to boost peaceful coexistence within a community. One main area of social inclusion is to develop a framework that focuses on improving educational attainment among all children within the community regardless of their individual difference and families (Frederick and Cline, 2009, p.34). Yee and Dumbrill (2003, p. 23) noted that, by teachers removing barriers to educational engagement and educational achievement, children would be able to take part in educational activities, and succeed in all aspects of education within the school community. Social inclusion within the school setting in closely linked to school leadership style that develops a justice system within the school context (Keith and Maloney, 2005, p.98). School social inclusion can be seen as an attempt to integrate all aspect of the schools through various social groups established by the school administration. It may be described as how different individuals within the school context are recognized and treated with respect irrespective their backgrounds (Power and Wilson, 2000, p.66). Social inclusion in education is a course of action that aims at removing barriers to acquiring educational needs, and develops their aptitudes. These aptitudes could be theoretic, realistic, social in nature, and cultural (Power and Wilson, 2000, p.66). Social inclusion in education presents a well-planned education system that caters for different individuals in different backgrounds. These expanded requirements should be prepared and directed locally (Power and Wilson, 2000, p.66). A study conducted by Power and Wilson (2000, p. 89) indicated that implementing the concept of social inclusion within a school can be channeling in two aspects. These are economic aspect and the cultural aspect. Looking

Thursday, September 26, 2019

A recent major decision that was made in the United States Assignment

A recent major decision that was made in the United States - Assignment Example One of the assumptions was by the management of financial, mortgage and insurance institutions that the real estate prices would continue rising. According to Bianco (2008), after a decade long of continuous rise in property prices, lending institutions assumed that this would go on and disregarded the long known real estate price cycles. As a result, they continued lending to willing consumers majority of who are oblivious of such real estate price patterns. It is difficult to conceive how real estate and financial experts failed to project the burst in real estate prices, instead relaxing their lending requirements to take advantage of the price boom. Insurance institutions also bought into this assumption and thus insured such unsustainable investments. The second assumption is on the part of the government; driven by free market assumptions that competition and market forces would result in self-regulation, the government watched along as standards were relaxed in fierce competition to sell mortgages (Akif, 2011). The government failed in providing oversight and regulation which would have resulted in the lending institutions acting ethically and following sound financial projections. A number of explanations have been provided as to why the much experienced financial experts, who had witnessed real estate price cycles before, would assume the prices would not fall on this occasion. Bianco (2008) argues that unscrupulous and unethical behavior from financial institutions was behind the assumption. This is supported by the view that financial institutions loosened their standards, offering high risk and fraudulent mortgages. The author provides evidence of this by citing the statistics that fraud in mortgages had increased by 1411% between 1997 and 2005. On the part of the government, Akif (2011) ponders whether the assumptions were a result of naà ¯ve optimism that social utility would accompany self

Priori Theory Criminal Justice Research Design Coursework

Priori Theory Criminal Justice Research Design - Coursework Example The most used method of data collection is the research interview, but can also include observation or group discussions, as well as use of pictures and texts (Cresswell, 2009).. This type of research categorizes various data into different patterns for reporting results. The researcher typically relies on various information gathering methods such as: Participant and non-participant observations, field notes, unstructured interview, documents analysis as well as structured and semi-structured interview. The data obtained is then streamlined to definite patterns or themes. Thereafter what follows is the formulation of the alternative hypothesis which forms the research statement basis (Cresswell, 2009).. In data analysis, observer impression is commonly used. In observer impression, an expert examines and interprets the data by forming an impression then reports it in a quantitative and structured form. Coding organizes data and introduces some interpretations into quantitative methods. Some data that are highly structured like close-end response and interview questions that are tightly defined are coded without any additional segments of contents. In this case, the codes are applied on top of these data as layers (Cresswell, 2009).. Recursive abstraction is often employed whenever analysis is done without coding. Here, summary after summary of the datasets is done, producing a summary that is more compact which can not be easily arrived at without the previous steps. The weakness of recursive abstraction is that; should the initial summaries be poor or inadequate, then the final report yielded may be inaccurate (Cresswell, 2009). In summary, qualitative method of research investigates why and how a decision is made. In conventional view, a qualitative method produces information on the particular cases that are studied only, and any additional conclusion is only an informed assertion. Quantitative methods are then used to seek support for these research

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Baseball Management Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Baseball Management Project - Essay Example Based on the result, recommendations are drawn that will help the committee to make baseball better while meeting the aspirations of the involved stakeholders. It has been argued that the money one earns has a bearing to both the players of baseball as well as business owners. The Analysis of Variance (Appendix A) clearly depicts that when the attendance is equal to greater than three million, players enjoy higher salaries when compared to a situation where the fans are less than two million. However, it is worth noting that there was no significant differences in salaries when the attendance was from two million to three million and three million and above. For the 2002 season, a player would be likely to enjoy higher pay when there are over two million fans. As players enjoy higher salaries, business owners will realize increased profits. This attributed to the fact that when there are more fans, business thrive for instance more tickets are sold, there is increase in merchandise being sold as well as food stuff. In any game usually characterized with competition, there are two main aspects; winning and losing. Ideally, winning competition is very significant in survival of any business entity. In this case, a baseball team that wins will eventually meet the aspirations of players, coaches, support staff to mention but a few. ANOVA results in appendix B indicates that teams are more likely to win if there is a big number of fans attending. This can be attributed to the moral support they receive from their fans. The findings depicts that at 0.05 level of significance, higher fans attendance of three million and above largely influences team wins. For this reason, it would be rational for business owners to encourage more fans to attend in order for them to enjoy the related profits which will be associated with wins. In baseball, it is always important to ensure that there are

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Cruise ship business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cruise ship business - Essay Example A population size of 1.7million people with only 0.5% unemployed reveals that the service sectors are well versified with manpower. A look at business venture in this area shows that 10% corporation tax is charged for foreign companies and nil for local companies. The Qatar tourism authority has opened avenues for making visitors experiences pleasant and efficient as they cruise in the country. The government involvement ensures great security around its ports and has been boosting the much welcomed economic growth area. Qatar has a full capacity of ships and other vessels at the targeted port of Doha, with the 12 berths present. The year 2014 will attest the opening of the new Doha port that will allow for the growing demand of vessels around this area (Jeff, 2007). Due to the high number of visitors in the country every year, the cruise business has been expanding with many investors targeting long distance voyage e.g. seven seas voyager. The short distance cruise of up to a week h as not been exploited around this port. The eye capturing view of the capital city is one of the sites that make a cruise business worthwhile along Doha port. Along its 7.5km stretch, Doha has very many tourist sites worth seeing e.g. historical museums, escapades, water sports et cetera. The market area for the capital city is ever increasing with the projected new port construction to accommodate more room for tourists (Qatar economy, 2011). The cruise industry is soon becoming flooded as more people can afford the prices from the previous high prices decreases. The cruise ship prices have also excruciated from 10 to 40% the initial price of a ship with capacity of 5300 people. The targeted for the cruise industry would entail a smaller vessel to maintain the high class clientele as well as privacy of the business around Doha. Precisely the cruise industry faces challenges of seasonality and

Monday, September 23, 2019

The role of nursing in a mas casualty event Research Paper

The role of nursing in a mas casualty event - Research Paper Example Acts of terrorism, disease outbreaks and natural and man-made disasters can occur anywhere at any time. Some of the disasters for which for which we must be prepared are avian influenza outbreaks, violent storms, bombing, floods, fires and transport accidents. Whatever may be the form of such casualties, in case there is always a need for nurses various services to comply with the crucial needs of such an event. In Zwirn et. al., The International Nursing Coalition for Mass Casualty Education has expressed that every nurse, on graduation from an entry levels, must have knowledge and abilities to respond to emergencies of various forms, and also that if you or your staff are unaware of any such knowledge, then you must work to acquire any such, before you are asked to respond to any emergencies. (Zwirn, et. al., 2006) In short, it is intended that nurses, without the aid to usual medical support, must be able to react in a mass casualty or emergency, affecting a larger group in unusual circumstances. At Columbia University, excellent instructive programs have been developed including the Mailman School of Public Health National Center for Disaster Preparedness and also at the Saint Louis University School of Public Health the Institute for Biosecurity and in last but not the least the certification at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing called the Mass Casualty Education (Nursing Emergency Preparedness Education Coalition, 2007). Disaster Education All sorts of medical and ethical and social trainings must include the preparedness activities. As stated by Veenema (2003) a number of useful materials can be found at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's website (FEMA), information provided at this website includes disaster fact sheets and special material is available for parents, health professionals and teachers also to guide them as to how to speak to minors about terrorism and casualties. This material is also useful in preparing you and your family to prepare for such incidents. These materials particularly discuss the measures necessary after the very crucial seventy two hours of the emergency, particularly when the possibility of state aid and local help is low. (Veenema, 2003) As volunteers and nurses it is essential that we must know that how available resources at the event of a calamity can be made use of efficiently. To counter such emergencies, it necessary that we must be aware of our society's susceptibilities and also realize the calamity plans and other practical societal activities for instance mock drills. Such experiences are highly useful if we are the first responders in any event, and what if the available persons are the only trained disaster-trained personnel, and how ones behavior would vary if we are to permanently offer our services as caregivers. (Congressional Testimony, 2006) Recognizing Potential Threats Usually nurses are the first trained professionals, to which people approach in the event of some form of casualty. Although most of us haven't experienced disorders that may be regarded as bioterror weapons, it is essential t

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Serpent Gods in Aztec Mythology Essay Example for Free

Serpent Gods in Aztec Mythology Essay Aztecs had a pantheon of Serpent Gods to which they attributed the creation and workings of the natural world. One of their principle gods, Quetzalcoatl, translated as feathered serpent, had many manifestations, each holding an important role part of the Aztec myths of creation and the workings of the natural world. As Braden points out the main of the many roles designated to Quetzalcoatl is that he along with his brother Huitzilopochtli took the task of creation of humanity besides the creation of life, including gods, environments and all living substances (1930, p. 120). He accomplished this task by splashing his blood on the bones and ashes of previous human beings that had existed in a previous age. Out of this auto-sacrifice of blood sprang a male and then a female child, the forbearers of all modern people. Brundage goes on to say that thus Quetzalcoatl is not only a god to be worshiped out of reverence for his powers over nature but as a father figure as well. The Aztecs saw him as a god who was benevolent and the reason for their existence (1979, p.106). Another manifestation of Quetzalcoatl is that of the wind. The Aztec name for a tornado or thunderstorm wind was ehecacoatl or roughly translated wind snake . The wind that blows before the storm is traditionally associated with complex deity. The wind is a powerful force of nature and it is easy to see how a society could attribute the characteristics of a snake to the wind. The wind swirls and moves with effortless grace, just as a snake glides along the ground. Brundage goes on to say that this shows the ease with which the Aztec mind accepted the reptilian nature of the wind (1979, p.106-107). However the most common account presents Quetzalcoatl in human form and as a holy priest who comes down from his heavenly abode to give the Aztec people a new religion. Brundage points out that he tries to make the Aztecs rituals more of a personal spiritual event. Before his arrival the legend says that the Aztecs sacrificed hundreds of humans to the various gods. In the form of the high priest Quetzalcoatl’s goal is to make Aztec ritual more simplistic and auto-sacrificial. He stresses auto-sacrifice and the sacrifice of snakes, butterflies, birds, etc. (1979, p.116). He is more concerned with the sanctity of human life. It is his opinion that if human blood is to be sacrificed it should be give directly by the person making the sacrifice. This legend ties in nicely with the creator myth. In his role as creator of the human race he sacrificed his own blood, now he is telling the people that by sacrificing their own blood it is a more precious offering that killing another person. He is seen as a divinity that is concerned for the lives of his people. Outline: 1) The main of the many roles designated to Quetzalcoatl, the principle serpent god in Aztec mythology. (Braden, 1930, p.120) A- Quetzalcoatl along with his brother Huitzilopochtli took the task of creation of humanity. 2) Another manifestation of Quetzalcoatl, which is the wind symbol connected to the characteristics of snake in nature. (Brundage, 1979, p.106- 107) A- How a society could attribute the characteristics of a snake to the wind. 3) Most common account that presents Quetzalcoatl in human form and as a holy priest. (Brundage, 1979, p.116) A- He tries to make the Aztecs rituals more of a personal spiritual event. B- He is more concerned with the sanctity of human life. References: Braden, Charles S. Religious Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico. Duke University Press. Duhram, NC: 1930. Brundage, Burr Cartwright. The Fifth Sun. University of Texas Press. Austin TX: 1979.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Effects of Globalization on Accounting Concepts

Effects of Globalization on Accounting Concepts Haiyan Lin Increasing global business competitiveness. Globalization results in more opportunity and threats, as well as more competition and customers for many countries and organisations. Business need to improve their competitiveness. To realize product differentiation and cost controlling or provide better products or services to customers, deliver responsiveness are most of firms goal. To realize business competitiveness goal led organisation to take new management accounting systems and techniques such as Activity-based cost systems and Activity-based budgeting systems. Activity-based cost system is more accurate to calculate the cost of goods, services, customers and other activity within organisation and also shareholder values, as well as business budgeting. Activity-based budgeting is also more accurate technique to forecast firms future costs and better benchmark to compare actual costs. (Langfiled-Smith, 2012) Raising global mobility of labour Globalization is also raising mobility of labour all over the world. Organisations especially as IT companies have more shortage in IT talent. So they are more possible to recruit employee from other countries. The famous case in New Zealand is Wellingtons BRING IT A WOLRD OF TECH TALENT TO WELLINGTON plan. Government support Wellingtons organisation to recruit world high tech talents which pay 100 candidates flight tickets and accommodation when candidates come to interview with their potential employers in Wellington. Increasing pressures for accountability, involving ethical and governance issues. Management accounting use techniques such as inventory management and time management to realize accountability. The inventory management is effective method to reduce supplier costs, manufacturing costs and production costs. Just-in-time philosophy is important inventory methods using in manufacturing, Toyota is famous example. Profession ethical codes need to be applied to accountant. As management accountants, they have obligation to themselves, their colleagues and their organisation to follow high standards of ethical codes. Increasing awareness of sustainability issues, especially climate change. Environment became worse when economic is developing fast. The most serious environment issue is global warming. So for sustainable global developing, many businesses try to use environment friendly materials or reducing CO2 emission and use of some other scarce resource such as water. Example: both Australia and New Zealand reduce or reduce greenhouse gas emission no more than 1990 levels. (Langfiled-Smith, 2012) Conclusion: Business environment will change continuality in the future, management accounting should be adjust, improve and develop new techniques, structure and systems all the time. Uses of information Management accounting: the users are internal users such as managers and employees at all levels. Managers need management accounting information to make strategies and decisions. Financial accounting: the users are external such as shareholders, creditors, bank, stock exchange, and government agencies. Banks use financial statements to decide whether to lend loan to the business; potential shareholders use financial statements to consider whether to invest in the business. Regulations Management accounting: there are no external rules or accounting standard. Managers generate information for the purpose of their management. Financial accounting: there are accounting standards and corporation laws to regulate the content of external financial reports such IFRS. Source of data Management accounting: the sources are come from both external and internal, as well as financial and non-financial data. The internal data is from physical and operational data from production systems. External data is from market, customer and economic database. Financial accounting: data almost from internal- organisations core transaction-based accounting system. Nature of the information Management accounting: subjective; relevant; timely; past, current and future-oriented; supplied for all level to satisfy managers needs. Financial accounting: not timely; not always relevant; past; reliable; highly aggregated. (Langfiled-Smith, 2012) Issues of privacy and ownership in the personal information industry. How to protect employees or customers privacy is important issue for the business. Business need to consider whether or not to reveal employees or customers information to the unrelated parties. For example: bank send their customers information to policies as policies requested but there was no permitted from their customer. The result was bank was sued by their customer. Issues of computer security refer to accuracy and confidentiality. Computer security systems are aim to prevent fraud and other unauthorised users to access the protected confidential database. However, the higher security system still can lead to other problems such as used to spy on legitimate users. For example: the secure computer system for Unitec, all students and staffs have their own account name and password to access to online Portal. It is more convenient for their work and study. Online Portal has their personal information such phone number, home address and passport copy. That is why portal need to separate student and staff login to protect student personal information from unauthorised person. The ownership of property. What can organization or individual own? Laws are designed to protect rights of ownership for properties, such as software. The question is whether individual and organisation should be restricted for using or access to this Intellectual property. For example: copyright laws protect those people who developed software from being copied. However, there is question whether copyright right or wrong, because many people believe there is more harm than good to have copyright laws. The problem is whether need to pay if to see or touch softcopy. The purpose of copyright laws is to encourage developing new software or arts, but in fact copyright may have opposite impact. Issues of equity access involving culture, economic status and safety. Example: if documents are prepared in one language and poor translated. Individual and organisation need to acquire technology equipment based on their economic ability. And the access of equity also need to consider safety of pregnant women or the minors. Environmental issues. It is easy to print because of computer and printer, however, print large amount of paper will result in disappear of tre Strategies: Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and Section 406 require company to have ethical code applied to CEO, CFO and controller. Section 406 require ethical codes: The process to deal with conflict of interests. To provide full, fair, accurate, understandable and timely disclosure in documents and financial reports. Legal compliance: require employees to follow governments laws, rules and regulations. Organisations mechanism to report permit prompt ethical violations. Accountability: the ethic procedure should effectively take action when ethic violation appear. 1) Strategic planning Strategic planning is long term planning usually for three to five years, wide range and made by senior manager. Strategic planning is including corporate and business strategy decisions corporate strategy decisions are about the types of businesses or markets. Business strategy decisions are about how the businesses to realize their particular market. (Langfiled-Smith, 2012) 2) Operational planning Operational planning is short term planning, more details and narrow range than strategic planning and made by under senior managers. The main purpose for operational planning is to set detail process to complete their vision. 3) Linkage between strategic and operational planning Operational planning is process to make strategic planning come true. Every goal on operational planning should link one or more strategic planning, otherwise, there is no meaning of operational planning, and company will waste their time and resources. For example, if a manufacturing want to set second factory, their employees will spend more time in what it is not priority for their second factory if there is no strategic planning. References A. Hall, J. (2016). Accounting Information Systems. Bostan, MA, USA: Cengage Learning. Langfiled-Smith, K. (2012). Management Accounting: information for creating and managing value. Sydney, NSW 2113, Australia: Rosemary Noble. McDonnell, S. (n.d.). links between strategic and operational plans. Retrieved from Azcentral: http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/links-between-strategic-operational-plans-25572.html

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Chemistry Essay -- essays research papers

Robert Boyle is considered both the founder of modern chemistry and the greatest English scientist to live during the first thirty years of the existence of the Royal Society. He was not only a chemist and a physicist as we know him to be, but also an avid theologian, a philanthropist, an essayist, and a beginner in medicine. Born in Lismore, Ireland to Richard Boyle, first earl of Cork, and Katherine Fenton, his second wife, Boyle was the youngest son in a family of fourteen. However he was not shortchanged of anything. After private tutoring at home for eight years, Robert Boyle was sent to Eton College where he studied for four years. At the age of twelve, Boyle traveled to the Continent, as it was referred to at the time. There he found a private tutor by the name of Marcombes in Geneva. While traveling between Italy, France, and England, Boyle was being tutored in the polite arts, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the years went by, Boyle became more and more interested in medicine. His curiosity in this field led him to chemistry. At first Boyle was mainly interested in the facet of chemistry that dealt with the preparation of drugs, but soon he became genuinely interested in the subject and started to study it in great detail. His studies led him to Oxford where he joined such scientists as John Wilkins and John Wallis. Together in 1660, they founded the Royal Society of London for the Ad...

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Effective Use of Humor in Hamlet Essay -- GCSE English Literature Cour

Effective Use of Humor in Hamlet    The use of humor in a tragic story helps to give the reader a break from the monotony of a depressing story line. â€Å"If a story were completely filled with depressing and tragic events, the readers' interest would most definitely be lost†( Bloom 91). William Shakespeare's, Hamlet is based on the tragedy of a murder of the king of Denmark, whose son must revenge his murderer. Therefore it is classified as a tragedy and if humor weren't present in the play it would be very depressing. Shakespeare ironically uses Hamlet; the main character to add the comedy bit of the play when he is the one the tragedy affects most. This humor is evident throughout the play by Hamlet. When Hamlet is upset at someone like Claudius or Polonius he will mock them in their presence without either one of them really catching on too quickly. The first one of Hamlet's stand up routines is with his uncle, Claudius in Act I, scene ii. Claudius comments on Hamlets mourning and Hamlet snaps back with a clever pun. Claudius. How is it that the clouds still hang on you? Hamlet. Not so, my lord. I am too much in the sun. (Shakespeare I.ii. ll. 66-67) When Hamlet refers to the sun he is actually saying that he feels that he is "too much of a son" to Caudius, when he is really supposed to be his nephew. The whole complication between Hamlet and Claudius is that, Hamlet's father died and then Hamlet's uncle, Claudius married his mother. This leaves Hamlet with a strange family tree because his uncle doubles as his stepfather. The line that proceeds the ones seen above also tells the reader of the awkwardness of the situation. Hamlet. A little more than kin, and less than kind! (Shakespeare I.ii. ll. 6... ...r the reader. The comedy helps break the story up a bit and gives the reader a mental breather from some of the complications in the play. While the reader is given a mental breather from the seriousness of the play they also are fed some of Hamlet's inner thought about the people he is interacting with. Hamlet is able to directly tell the other person exactly what he feels of them and by using humor, sneak it past them in most cases. Works Cited and Consulted: Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations Of Hamlet. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Brodwin, Leonora. Hamlet Character Analysis. Monarch Notes. Brodwin's Notes Scott-Hopkins, Benjamin. "Dark Humor of Hamlet" Shakespeare-Online Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Unabridged William Shakespeare. William George Clark and William Aldis Wright, ed. Running Press. 1989.

Benefits of Indian Gaming and its role in Global Development of Tribal

Benefits of Indian Gaming and its role in Global Development of Tribal Nations Indigenous peoples throughout the world have suffered and continue to suffer ever since white people stepped foot onto their lands. In the Americas, countless incidents of genocide and blatant violations of human rights have occurred time and time again. Those indigenous to North America, known commonly as Indians or Native Americans, have faced an immense amount of racism, hatred, and oppression on the very same land that was once their own, before it was stolen by the colonists. Native Americans have faced economic hardships that are unmatched by any other race in the United States; the statistics are absolutely staggering and horrifying to know that such impoverished communities and hardships still exist in America, the land of opportunity, a country that has surpassed all others in virtually all aspects. Fortunately, within the past decade there has been a significant rise in political participation and economic growth within Indian communities, which is largely contributed to by the rise of Indian Gaming, perhaps the most controversial subject affecting Indian country today. However, Indian Gaming, through economic development, proves to be a gateway to international and national recognition and affirmation of tribal sovereignty, encouraging self-determination among Native American tribes. The three objectives of this essay are to provide summaries of Federal Indian policy and the special federal-tribal relationship that allow Indian Gaming to take place, to describe the benefits of Indian Gaming on tribal economies and politics, and to discuss how this has contributed to participation of Native Americans on an international level and the fair... ...W. The Vanishing American. Wichita: University Press of Kansas, 1982. 5. Thornton, Russell. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1942. 6. Horsman, Reginald. Expansion and American Indian Policy: 1783-1812. Detroit: Michigan State University Press, 1967. 7. Orfield, Gary. A Study of the Termination Policy. Denver: National Congress of American Indians, 1964. 8. Wilkins, David E. American Indian Politics and the American Political System. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002. 9. Lobo, Susan, Talbot, Steve. Native American Voices, A reader. Upper Saddle river, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001. 10. Johnson, Troy R. Contemporary Native American Political Issues. Walnut Creek: Alta Mira Press, 1999.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Back in the Day

Back in The Day I remember being a kid, and it was so fun. Just being yourself as one person, compared to what the kids do now. Living the in now moment, instead of looking into the future. I will talk about the â€Å"pre-teenagers† now as to when I was a â€Å"pre-teenager†. I’m not saying the children now are bad; it is just that times have really changed. Back in my prime, as a child, I loved playing in the outdoors. Could not get enough of it; I could stay outside all day, but I obviously couldn’t.If all I had was a ball I could find a way to play any type of game. In today’s world kids have all different new technology and devices; most don’t go outside and play unless they are forced to. They stay indoors on the weekend, when it is eighty-six degrees outside, and play computer games until it is time for supper. There is one good thing that comes with the kid’s technology; they have â€Å"games† that help them learn, and a lot of them. As to the only game we had on computers was Kid Pix, which was just a drawing board you could do things on.I also remember when I was little the technology was nothing compared to today, or what kids have now. I had a â€Å"Woody† doll from Toy Story, and you pulled his string so he would talk. As to young kids have talking babies and action figures without pulling a string. When I was younger you did chores because you felt you had to help out the family out in some way, or you did them because you were forced into doing them. Actually I loved washing, cleaning, and also drying dishes with my parents. It was almost like bonding time.My brother or I didn’t even think about back talking to my parents, or else we would have to go kneel in the corner for a certain amount of time. Boys and girls today, I don’t think they do chores for any reason, or do them at all. You can somewhat blame the parents for not being more strict, but some kids still wouldnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t do it. Another thing I had when I was little was hand-me-down clothes from my brother. I thought it was so cool finally being able to wear his clothes. That meant I was growing or getting as big as him.Kids today get new clothes all the time, whether to buy them for fun, buying clothes to follow their idols, or other reasons. The children have more of a variety of clothes today compared to the early two thousands or late nineteen-nineties. I think personally children have it way easier than I had it as a child, but every kid lives life better than his or her parents, or someone older than them. Every little person just needs to thank their parents everyday for everything they have in their life.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Liberal Humanism:

Theory: The English word ‘theory’ is derived from a technical term of philosophy in ancient Greek. It comes from the word ‘theria’ which means ‘a looking art, viewing or beholding’. In more technical context, it comes to refer to speculative understandings of natural things. Pythagoras for the first time establishes the meaning of ‘theory’. To him the word means a passionate, sympathetic contemplation of mathematical and scientific knowledge. On the other hand Aristotle believes that ‘theory’ is contrasted with praxis or practice. For him both practice and theory involve thinking but the aims are different.Theoretical contemplation considers things which human beings cannot move or change and which has no human aim apart from itself. On the contrary, praxis involves thinking always with an aim to desired actions whereby humans cause change or movement themselves for their own ends. Theory is actually a complex paradigm because it incorporates different areas such as theory of the literature, science, technology, politics and so on. It is usually though that theory is the systematic account of the nature of any field and how this nature can be analyzed. CHRONOLOGICAL DEVLOPMENT OF â€Å"THEORY†:One theory gives birth to another theory. The growth of critical theory in the post-war period seems to comprise a series of ‘waves’ being associated with a specific decade and all aimed against the liberal humanist consensus. In 1960s, two new terms were appeared. â€Å"Marxist Criticism†, which had been pioneered in the 1930s, reborn in the 1960s and â€Å"psychoanalytic Criticism† came in the 1960s. In 1970s news spread in literary critical circles in Britain and U. S. A. about particular â€Å"structuralism† and â€Å"post-structuralism†, both of which originated In France.In the early 1980s two new forms political and historical criticism emerged â€Å"ne w historicism†. Finally, in the 1980s, a grand explanation seemed to be taking place there was a decisive drift towards dispersal, eclecticism and special-interest forms of criticism and theory. Thus, post-colonialism rejects the idea of universally applicable Marxist explanations. Likewise post-modernism stresses the fragmented nature of much contemporary experience. Feminism also shows signs of dissolving gender studies, with gay and lesbian texts emerging as distinct fields of literature, and hence implying and generating ppropriate and distinct critical approaches. LIBERAL HUMANISM: Liberal Humanism refers to the idea that we can understand or explain our world through rational enquiry. It rejects explanations based on the supernatural or divine forces. This idea became the basis for the development of science on the Western world. It’s a form of philosophy concentrated on the perfection of a worldly life, rather than on the preparation for an eternal and spiritual life. In philosophy and social science, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of a â€Å"human nature†.The word â€Å"humanist† derives from the 15th-century Italian term umanista. The term ‘liberal humanism' denotes the ruling assumptions, values and meanings of the modern epoch. It claims to be both natural and universal. The common feature of liberal humanism is ‘freedom’. It is not associated with supernatural things. Rather it believes that our observation can be explained by human investigation and thought. The doctrines of liberal humanism are: * To know unknown and to create uncreated * Having rational faculty * Being self dependent * Superiority of human beings Absolute freedom of human mind *Having the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to our lives. EMERGENCE OF LIBERAL HUMANISM: Liberal Humanism inaugurates rational enquiry and rejects the supernatural or the realm of emotions. It was a response to the Dark Ages when people believed in religion blindly. The hold of the Church was so strong that even the king had to bow down to its decisions. At that time, people were told that they must accept their place in the order of religion. Afterwards, humanism came with a belief in the freedom of human beings to control their own destinies.It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of mediaeval scholastic education emphasizing practical, pre-professional and scientific studies. Gradually, people started questioning the teachings of the church. Martin Luther King insisted on reading the Bible rather than following the interpretations of the priest. He argued that we must follow religion rationally. Many people started questioning the rigid ritualistic aspects of religion too. Even scientists like Galileo argue that one must read the book of nature.Such ideas promote the growth of science and reinforce the belief in ob servation and rational analysis. It is in such a context that humanism emerges. With this, we also see a revival in the study of Classical Greek and Roman texts. We see the emergence of faith in human rather than divine. In this way, liberal humanism has made human mind free from the existing bondage of religion in Middle age. PLATO (427-347): Plato is the founder of philosophy in ancient Greece KEY FACTS: *The material we perceive through our body and our senses is not the real world but an imperfect copy of an ideal world. Art works to reproduce or represent the perceivable material world. *Literature is important and needs to be regulated or supervised because it has a powerful effect on its readers. *The content of literature is more important than the form it comes in. According to Plato’s philosophy, reason was the highest form of thought and the preferable means for convincing cultural knowledge. For Plato, reason is a process of logical deduction. Stories, poetry and drama appeal to their audiences’ emotion more than to the rational minds.As art arouses emotions, it can never be true. He said that truth can only be apprehended through rational thought, as exemplified in Mathematics. Plato and his followers ignored the fact that we can perceive with our physical senses. In this realm, things remain in their most perfect form and never change. Their static condition makes them eternal and therefore the essence of all the things that exist in our material world are merely copies of the form that exist in the ideal world. As they are copies, they are necessarily less perfect than the original forms.According to Plato, we can understand the world of forms only through reason and the process of logical argument. Philosophers use logic and reason to discover truth. By contrast, artists evoke emotions by making representations of the world. Plato considered all arts as representational. Art creates picture of the material perceivable world which Plato called â€Å"nature†. But ‘nature’ is itself only a reproduction, a copy of what exist in the perfect form in the realm of the ideal. So, any art that reproduces nature is merely copying from a copy. An artist’s work is always removed from the world of truth and ideal perfection.As their creations are copies of copies and these copies excite feelings rather than reason, Plato worried that art and artist might threaten social order, and the eternal truths. In book X of The republic, Plato points specifically to poets and poetry in warning that all poetic imitations are ruinous to the understanding of the hearers, unless as an antidote they possess the knowledge of the true nature of the knowledge. Plato worried that art, including literary art like poetry and drama tell lies and influence their audience in irrational ways.This didactic criticism argues that literature is a powerful medium for arousing emotions, without necessarily presenting any ratio nal assessment that it can present a constant danger to its audience. Moral criticism focuses on the content of a work of literature, asking whether its effect is good or bad rather than paying emotions to its artistic or formal values. Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Aristotle, one of the ancient Greek philosophers, is the ‘founding father’ of western thought. KEY FACTS: *Aristotle’s main concern was in the form and unity of an artistic work. Art is not binary to the reason and threatening to logic and rationality. *Reality resides in the changeable world of sense perceptions or, the physical, material world. * ‘Form' of Ideal can only exist in tangible examples of that form. Aristotle was less interested in the content of literature than in its forms. According to Aristotle, art is not an imitation or a reproduction of nature of the world we perceive with our senses. So it is not an inferior reproduction or copy of nature rather it is a process of putting the eve nts of nature into words or paint which helps to improve or complete nature.For example, when an artist paints a picture of a cherry tree or writes a poem about it, he or she does not just copy the tree but creates a new version of the tree through the process. With the help of colors or words the artist re-creates it. Artists are important because art imposes order on a disordered and chaotic natural world. Literature particularly imposes a particular kind of narrative order on events. For that reason there is a beginning, middle and an end what is described in words. Aristotle believes that art and literature complete a process which the natural world leaves incomplete.Nature merely exhibits us with events and sensory experiences while art provides us with their meaning. Thus art and literature are a positive social force which is contrasting to Plato’s view. Aristotle’s arts, creating order and system help to find pleasure in the representation of an understandable and meaningful reality. The pleasure people take in representations conveys another type of ‘truth’. For Aristotle, ‘reality’ does not reside in a static eternal world of perfect ideal forms rather reality is the ever-changing world of appearances and perceptions.Plato’s concept was that any particular chair was only an inferior copy of the ideal form of ‘Chair’ that could not be perceived through our senses. By contrast Aristotle puts logic that the only way we can know the essence of ‘Chair’ the true meaning of chair is through individual instances of chairs. Form exists only in the concrete examples of that form Aristotle’s truth resides in discovering the rules and principles that govern how things work and take on meaning in our material world. Aristotle treats poetry and all arts forms, like biology.He is interested in discovering or creating ways to identify characteristics of various forms of poetry and develo ping systematic categories through which to classify these forms. Plato founds the tradition of moral criticism about what a work of poetry does to its audience, on the other hand, Aristotle founds the tradition of genre criticism by investigating what a particular work is, rather than what it does. HORACE (65 BCE- 8BCE): Quintus Horiatius Flaccus was a Roman poet, commonly known as Horace. He is best known for his satires and his lyric odes.KEY FACTS: *Horace focuses on the purpose of poetry, or literature in general. *The benefit of poetry is highlighted. *Two sources of poetry are –nature and other authors. In the traditions of literary theory, Horace has contributed through his articulation of the purpose of poetry. Following Plato, he said that literature serves didactic purpose and it provides pleasure. According to him poetry is a useful teaching tool as it is pleasurable. Its lessons can be learned because the pleasure of poetry makes it popular.Horace also views natu re as the primary source of poetry like Plato, but his concept is that poets should imitate other authors too. In this way, Horace establishes the necessity of a poet to know tradition, and respect inherited forms and conventions as well as creating new works. Sir Phillip Sidney (1554-86): One of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age, Sir Philip Sidney is most famous for his â€Å"The Defence of Poetry’. KEY FACTS: *Sidney strongly urges that poetry serves both instruction and pleasure. *Poetry gives a shape to nature so that we can get close to nature. poetry reveals the meaning lying beneath everything in this external world. Sidney directly attacked Plato for his thoughts on poetry. The essence of Sidney’s defence in favour of poetry by combining the liveliness of history with the ethical focus of Philosophy is more effective than either history or philosophy in rousing its readers to virtue. To him, poetry serves the dual purpose of instruction and ple asure. It provides a vehicle for instructing readers in the proper ways to be, think, act, believe and do just as sermon or histories. It provides enjoyment.Following Aristotle, he protected the puritan accusations ‘Poetry is the mother of lies’. He answered that if a mere imitation of nature is in poetry, it is an inferior copy or a form of falsehood but if poetry is an act of creation, it can help us to understand the inner of this external material world. These so-called inferior copy, or mimetic, in fact presents a higher level of reality. Sidney says that poetry is the source of all learning. The final purpose of poetry is to lead us to high perfection as we are capable of. Sidney also quotes that a poem is â€Å"a speaking picture with this end, to teach and delight†.It’s primary aim to give pleasure. Poets ate superior to philosophers. It deals with the experience of many ages. If the philosopher is the guide, the poet will be the light. SIR FRANCIS BACON: Sir Francis Bacon, a contemporary of Sidney and Shakespeare, he not only refers back to Elizabethan tradition, but defends it passionately. KEY FACT: *Poetry does not present an inferior representation of the world we live in. *Imagination can create realities. *poetry does not manipulate and lie to the reader. *poetry is greater than rationalityIn philosophy Bacon followed Aristotle's theory, which thought that poetry or in general, art is not merely a copy of real world, or called inferior. But rather that it presents a better world than the one we live in. In The Advancement of Learning, Bacon argues that history, fact, and reason can only present the world which describes with our sense, our own real experience. He disagrees with Plato on the fact that poetry manipulates and lies to the reader, but instead Sir Francis Bacon says that poetry presents a ‘feigned history’ which speaks directly to the human soul.Bacon wants to present that as human soul is great er than the sworld, so the imagined world is greater than perceptible material world. Even more importantly, poetry is greater than reason because reason can only present pre-existing material world, not alter it, but poetry is able to create a â€Å"new world†, and to rule over it. Joseph Addison 1672-1719): He followed Plato. So, like Plato he was concerned with how literary work affects ifs reader. *Addison explores the question how poetry creates pleasure. * Two kinds of pleasure in imagination- Primary and Secondary pleasure. The power of imagination and power of reason have been distinguished . * Reason investigates the cause of things and imagination experiencing them either directly or through representation. *Art is not just an imitation of nature. Addison was more interested in what a poem delights than in how, or what it instructs. Addison described two kinds of pleasure in imagination. One is primary pleasure and the other is secondary pleasure. Primary pleasure c omes from the immediate experience of objects through sensory perception and secondary pleasure comes from the experience of ideas from the representation of objects.For example we can take The Simpsons and Shakespeare’s classical drama Hamlet. Even though majority thought that The Simpsons can create more pleasure than Hamlet but if they have to choose one of them, most of people would rather choose Hamlet than The Simpsons. They supported that the pleasure of Hamlet come from representation of it. It is much better than The Simpsons because people get pleasure immediately but if they thought about it deeply, they would find that it is actually boring. Addison distinguishes the power of imagination from the power of reason.According to him, reason investigates the cause of things and imagination experiences them, either directly or through representations. The imagination is less refined than the faculty of reason. The pleasure of imagination is thus more easily acquired tha n those of reason and widely available to untrained mind. Addison says that art is not just an imitation of nature, but an improvement or completion of it. He points out that the secondary pleasure of imagination makes it possible for an experience which would be disagreeable in actually to be represented in pleasurable form.SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-84): One important aspect to keep in mind while examining the thoughts of Samuel Johnson is that of the birth of fiction around the 18th century, following the rise of the novel as an important element of literature. KEY FACTS: *Fiction depends on the idea of mimesis, presenting stories which imitate nature or real life, unlike poetry or drama. *Fiction deals with the stories to readers as though these individuals were real people. *Johnson is concerned with the morality of literature. Like other art works, fiction is also an imitation of nature or real life.Actually, art works are imitations of nature. However, they are not merely copies. I t is a important conception. Unlike drama or poetry, fiction depends on the principle of realism. When readers read fiction, they would consider that these story or history really happened around our life. The realism of fiction blurred the distinction between the imagined world of art and the real world of history and biography. As a result, the language which is used to write fiction is very different from drama or poetry.The language of fiction is usually common language, rather than the language of art, or artifice. Writers use common language to make the work more natural, more real. Johnson agreed with some parts of Plato's thought. He also paid attention to the moral effect of fiction. He insisted that the fiction, such as novel, or fairy tale, is more dangerous than poetry or drama because in contrast of other kinds of art works, fiction is more real. Good art is that art which has a positive moral message and bad art has a bad message that encourages readers to create negat ive or destructive behavior.Thus, people who read these works would believe it more easily because of realism. The realism of fiction, according to Johnson, also ties the genre more closely to the realities of human existence because fiction comes from authors who have the direct knowledge of human nature. Moreover, as the source of fiction is natural and events or characters are easily recognizable and the language of fiction is general, fiction is able to affect people widely. Johnson warns that if writer cannot use it wholly, fiction would bring up so many negative or destructive problems.Johnson suggests to present the proper outcome of fiction where wickedness is punished and virtue rewarded. In Johnson's opinion, ancient Greek and Roman writers presented the best models of literary arts. Those works have withstood test of time, have proved themselves useful. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH: From Sir Philip Sidney to Sir Joshua Reynolds, the theorists and critics broadly represent the think ing of Age of Enlightenment, and its debates about the relative importance of reason and imagination. But William Wordsworth , the first English Romantic poet wholly created a new world of art. KEY FACTS: Wordsworth broadly follows Aristotelian thought and also reflects the ideas of the school of romanticism, stating that anything closer to nature was superior to anything artificial. *Nature is needs importance. *He is very much careful of composing a poem with feelings. The Romantic conception of Wordsworth endangered on the beliefs about the superiority of all things natural over anything artificial. According to Wordsworth poet is a â€Å"man speaking to a man† and that is why poet must use common language, rather than the artificial convention of meter and rhyme which had been a standard since the ancient Greek.Wordsworth set up a system which believes that the rural is better than urban, the nature is better than the culture, the uneducated thoughts are closer to nature, and better than educated and complex. In stating that â€Å"the child is father of the man†, Wordsworth declares that children have the sensibility which adults have lost. Children are close to nature and we go away from nature becoming civilized adults. Wordsworth is more concerned with the relation between the poet and the poem than with the relation between the poem and its reader.His interest is not in the moral effect of poetry. He examined what the poem is, how it is made, and who makes it, rather than what it does. For Wordsworth, poem is not a product of reason, or of art and artifice, but is â€Å"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings† which â€Å"takes its origin form emotion recollected in tranquility†. Since then, ‘Feeling’ was established as the central element of a poem and became more important than the action, situation, character, or mimetic accuracy. A good poem must have authentic expression of feelings generated in natur al setting.JOHN KEATS (1795-1821): Keats followed the romantic path established by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. He is a great English poet and played an important role in Romanticism, in 19th century. KEY FACTS: *Rational though breaks the world into two- subject and object. *Keats argued that empathic and reason, poetry and science, are incompatible and oppositional which being combined can break the boundaries between subject and object. *For a good poet, Keats thought that it must possess have â€Å"negative capability†.According to Keats, Rational thoughts break the world into subject and object for the reasons of classification and analysis in the Aristotle’s â€Å"Science† Processes. Keats speaks about on interplay in the sense that sensations and empathetic experiences, including poetry, break down the barriers between subject and object and insist on this interaction between the two entities. However, Keats also feels that poetry and science, empath y and reason are two incompatible elements which are also oppositional.The most important key to understanding Keats in this context is negative capability, which in essence is the ability to stay comfortable with uncertainty and doubt without the need to find certainty. It became the central conflict in literary studies in the twentieth country. Formalist cristism argues that for a poem, they would focus on the resolution or an explanation for the unity of elements, while poststructuralism would recall Keat's â€Å"negative capability† instead of answers.MATHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888): The last one is Matthew Arnold. He is the critic most closely associated with humanist perspective, with the establishment of the humanities, and especially literary. KEY FACTS: *Preference on literary education *result of good poetry on human beings In his main critical work, The Function of Criticism at the Present Time, he argues about the heart of â€Å"New Criticism† and the goal of cri ticism is â€Å"to see the object as in itself it really is†, free of agendas, and preconceptions.According to Arnold, a literary education in â€Å"the best† texts will make us all better human beings, and make our world an easier and more humane place to live. He sought to defend art on the basis of what art can do to society and culture. He was the first cultural critic who claimed that to speak about literature, one has to speak about culture. He proposed that philosophy and religion could be replaced by poetry in modern society. He held that culture representing â€Å"the best that has been thought and said in the world† was available through literature.Mathew saw culture as the moral attributes to literature. To him, poetry has the unique power of making sense of life and culture allows us to be complete human beings. Literature has the power to create what he calls â€Å"sweetness and light†. These art the hallmarks of civilization and the citizens who have been educated to appreciate â€Å"the best† will develop taste, sensibility, a quality which Arnold calls â€Å"high seriousness†, and will be productive and peaceful members of their society.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Identity: Romeo and Juliet and External Forces Essay

The Impact of External and Internal Forces on One’s Identity What is identity? If you look in the dictionary, it will tell you that identity is what defines someone or something. But there is more to the meaning behind identity than what is said in the dictionary. Identity is complex and changes over time in response to two main factors. One factor that can mold one’s identity is the forces inside of you, internal forces. An example of an internal force is love. Our love and affection for someone or something can lead us to do things differently than a person who doesn’t have the same degree of love towards that person or object. The other factors that can play a role in affecting our identity are external factors. External forces refer to the forces that are in our environment. An example of an external force that can affect one’s identity is a person. If a person matters to you a whole lot and you are trying to prevent something bad from happening to him or her, wouldn’t you stop at nothing to prevent it from happening? This urge to prevent something bad from happening to the person you care about would probably have an impression on your actions and overall identity. To synthesize, identity changes in response to both internal and external forces, meaning that one force does not outweigh the other. Both internal and external forces work together to form a person’s identity as they mature; therefore, identity is shaped by both external and internal forces. Research proves that identity can be affected by external forces. In C. Seefeldt’s article â€Å"Factors Affecting Social Development†, he confirms that identity is shaped by external forces, more specifically, where we are raised, family, and school affect our development. In the article, Seefeldt states that â€Å"those exposed to domestic abuse, gang violence†¦do not feel safe or secure.† And that â€Å"their insecurity will interfere with their total development,† meaning that children are more likely to feel less secure and unsafe if they grow up in or around unsafe communities and bad influences (Seefeldt). Imagine yourself as a small child. Wouldn’t it be scary to grow up around drug addicts, thugs, and gangs? Wouldn’t you be scared of the constant danger lurking around every corner? Just wearing the wrong colors can end your life. Or maybe even things that you can’t control like your ethnicity can end you up in a coffin. If you grew up around all these horrifying situations, wouldn’t these things make you feel unsafe and less secure? Overall, the writer telling us that growing up as a child in an unsafe community can mess with their total development shows that identity can be formed by external for ces. But not only does the writer show us that growing up around negative forces shape ones identity, he also tells us that parents play a role in a child’s overall development. As the article goes on, the writer states that â€Å"parents who are social themselves serve as models for their children. Children may be able to use the image of their parents interacting with others in their own attempts to make friends with other children,† showing that parents’ interactions with their own peers, can reflect on their child’s social skills too. Have you ever heard the saying â€Å"like father, like son† or â€Å"like mother like daughter†? People usually say this because they see something in the child that resembles the parent. This usually happens because the children follow patterns of behavior from their parents. The child can maybe copy how his parent talks or can even copy simple things like how his parent walks. But did you know the way a parent socializes can reflect on the child’s social development? The article tells us that children can use the image of their parents socializing in their own attempts in making friends and being social themselves, and that parents who are more secure and competent offer children a model of security to build their own social skills. Ultimately, Seefeldt stating that parents can affect a child’s development confirms that identity can be shaped by external forces once again. Around at the end of the article, Seefeldt also states that â€Å"In addition to a child’s family, the teacher becomes an agent of socialization† presenting the idea that teachers can also have an imprint on a child’s identity. Have you ever had a teacher that has affected your life? As the human beings, we all have teachers in our lives. Whether it be inside the classroom or out. They can teach us anything from math to valuable life lessons. And according to the article, they can also set new or different standards for social behaviors meaning that without our teachers, we probably wouldn’t know right from wrong. All in all, our environment, parents, and teachers, all external forces, can shape us in a negative or a positive way. In Aida Bortnik’s short story â€Å"Celeste’s Heart†, Celeste is shaped by external forces in a positive way, because her little brother causes her to go from a voiceless girl to a strong-willed lady. As Celeste was putting her little brother to sleep, after yet another punishment from her teacher at school, her brother, as usual, asks her when he was going to start to go to school, â€Å"But that evening she didn’t laugh and she didn’t think up an answer.† Celeste being speechless in this situation shows just how scared she is for her brother’s future (Bortnik 65). Celeste’s brother’s question makes her think of him suffering the same kind of punishment as she does. Even though Celeste’s brother isn’t going to go to her school for a long time, she worries for his future. Celeste is the only girl in her class that doesn’t complain when the teacher punishes the class, but as soon as she starts thinking about her brother enduring the same kind of mistreatment as she does, she realizes what she has to do. So the next time her teacher punished the class, she rebuked against the rough treatment for her brother’s sake. Imagine yourself in Celeste’s shoes. Imagine your little sibling having to put your hands up simultaneously for a long period of time. Wouldn’t you be worried and scared for your sibling’s future? Wouldn’t you do anything so that your sibling wouldn’t go through the same punishment as you? This is exactly what Celeste is doing. Ultimately, Celeste rebelling against her teacher and risking further punishment just so that her brother won’t endure the same punishment as her confirms that Celeste’s love, an external force, affects her in a positive way. In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is shaped in a positive way by external forces as well because the encounters that she and Romeo have because they cause her to go from a naà ¯ve, obedient girl to a mature, self-assured woman. In the opening act of the play, Lady Capulet asks Juliet if she can accept Paris’ love. Juliet responds that she’ll try to â€Å"like if looking liking move,† but she won’t fall for him more than her mother’s â€Å"consent gives strength to make it fly,† showing us that she is still too immature to make her own decisions and immature overall (1.3.99-101). She also shows us that she is childish in the way she thinks when she says that marriage â€Å"is an honor† that she doesn’t think about (1.3.66). But after encountering Romeo, we see her adopt a more adult persona. For example, during the balcony scene, Juliet says that the love they have for each other is â€Å"too like li ghtning† and that it is a â€Å"bud of love† still under â€Å"summer’s ripening breath† and the next time they meet, the flower will be beautiful, showing us that Juliet is mature enough to recognize that she is going too fast and recommends that the both of them take things slower. Not only that, but when Romeo asks Juliet to marry him, she asks â€Å"where and what time† they’ll get married and adds that she’ll follow him â€Å"throughout the world† wherever he goes. Juliet deciding to marry Romeo and going with him wherever he goes shows us that she is now mature enough to make her own decisions (2.2.146-148). And finally, we see Juliet’s encounters with Romeo change her even more towards the end of the play. She complains that she has â€Å"bought the mansion of love but not yet possessed it† and even though she is â€Å"sold,† she is not yet enjoyed, meaning that Juliet wants to move in with Romeo and have sex with him already (3.2.26-27). All these events happen right after Romeo and Juliet’s first encounter at the Capulet party. And after that, we see start seeing Juliet change, more and more after or during every meeting with Romeo. From something little like having the ability to make her own decisions, to something big like changing her mind about marriage. It is a well-known fact that the different people we encounter in our lives can change our identities drastically or subtlely. For Juliet, this person is Romeo. As the play progresses, we see how Romeo changes her identity both drastically and subtlely. The way she acts and the way she thinks change all because of the moments she has with Romeo. Overall, Juliet changing from an obedient and naà ¯ve girl to a capable, mature and self-assured woman because of the encounters she has with Romeo proves that she is shaped by external forces in a positive way. In K.L. Going’s novel Saint Iggy, we can see that Iggy is shaped by external factors in a neut ral way because the lack of presence and proper parenting of his parents causes him to look for other people’s help other than his parents during a hard time. When Iggy comes home from getting kicked out of school he wants â€Å"to tell [his] parents all about it,† but he can’t because his mom went visiting someone and â€Å"probably isn’t coming back,† and his dad is â€Å"stoned off his a**†. Here we see that Iggy wants to tell his parents about what happened at school, but he can’t because his mom isn’t home and his dad is busy doing drugs (Going 1). So instead of seeking help from his parents, he decides to â€Å"get away† from his dad and go to his friend Mo’s place because he wants to seek his help and also because that’s the only place he â€Å"can think of† (15-18). Iggy not wanting to be around his dad during this hard time shows us that the lack of proper parenting from his dad causes Iggy to not want anything to do with his dad and decides to face the situation without him. Iggy also shows just how much he doesn’t want any of his parents help by seeking help from his friend. As we grow up our parents are usually the ones that get us through hard times no matter what they’re going through in their own lives. And we usually accept their much needed help and attention because we probably can’t go through it on our own or with anyone else. But for Iggy, his parents haven’t been there for him during the hard times in his life since he was a little kid. Iggy probably lost trust in the fact that his parents are going to be there for him during this hardship. So instead of going to his parents like any other kid with good parents would do, he goes to his friend. Ultimately, Iggy going to his friend for help instead of his parents shows us that the lack of presence and proper guidance from his parents, an external force, causes him to seek other people’s help. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator’s identity is shaped by the eye because he is coaxed by the eye to kill the man, showing that external forces can affect one’s identity negatively as well. As the narrator was whining about the eye of the old man, he says â€Å"whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold†¦I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.† The narrator telling us his horrid thoughts conveys just how irritated and sick of the dreaded â€Å"vulture eye† (Poe 1). He feels so sick that he plots to kill the old man, not for who he is, but simply for his so called dreaded eye. You can also infer just by how the narrator talks about the eye that it drives him to the point where he cannot hold the hysteria inside. Like when the narrator finally saw the old man’s eye after many nights of spying on him just to see his terrible eye and to murder him, he describes the eye as a â€Å"dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in [his] bones†(4). It is a known fact that a person can dislike a person for an action or a trait; however, they keep their feelings inside and go on with their lives because they have control over themselves. But the narrator just can’t do the simple act of keeping his feelings inside and going on with life, instead, he murders the old man just to stop having to look at the dreaded eye. This shows that the old man’s eye, an external force, influences the narrator to feel sick to his stomach, and ultimately end the old man’s life forever. Not only can external forces have an impact on your identity, but internal forces can mold one’s identity as well. In the article â€Å"Adolescent Identity Development†, the author confirms that internal forces can shape our identity as well. As the writer talks about the different dimensions of identity, he tells us that â€Å"our self-identity shapes our perceptions of belonging,† meaning that the way we see ourselves usually determine how we respond to different factors in our environment and how we react to them. In our lives, there can be many factors inside of us that can shape our identity, whether it be love, the drive to see someone, jealousy, or a thirst for power (â€Å"Adolescent Identity Development†). What the article is saying is that these forces can shape how we see and respond to society. For example, if you are a weak little boy growing up around gangs, you might see the power of gangs engaging and choose to indulge in illegal activities purely for your thirst for power. Or if you’re head over heels in love with someone, your love may shape your actions and choices. Maybe even your willingness to see someone can cause you to do something you wouldn’t normally do. All in all, these forces can either lead you to do something good, bad, or both. In O. Henry’s short story â€Å"The Gift of the Magi†, the main character Della is shaped by internal forces and shows us that internal forces can affect a person positively because her passion for Jim causes her to sacrifice one of her most valuable possessions, her hair, just so she can get him a good Christmas present. But not only does she sacrifice her hair for him, but also the opportunity to use the money she got from selling her hair to pay off her expenses. We can tell that not a lot of money came to Della and that she had many expenses to pay off because as the narrator was describing her life, he says â€Å"twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater then she calculated†¦ they always are† (Henry 2). And we can also tell that Della’s hair was worth a lot to her because the narrator tells us that there were two possessions of Della’s family that were valuable, â€Å"one was Jim’s watch†¦the other was Della’s hair† (3). We can see that Della loves Jim very much because she would much rather buy Jim a present than pay off her expenses or keep her hair. As human beings, it is normal for us to feel affection or fall in love with something, whether that something is a person, TV show, or a hobby. And we all have made sacrifices for things we love (flirting, doing homework, free time). But the love we have for that person, object, or hobby determines how big of a sacrifice we would make. For Della, her love for Jim causes her to sacrifice one of the only valuable things she owns, her hair. Her love for Jim makes her feel morally obligated to give him a present, or otherwise feel guilty. We can infer that Della probably didn’t want to cut her hair, but then again, if she didn’t come up with enough money to get Jim a decent present, she would feel guilty. Della’s love for Jim also causes her to not use the money for her hair on something else, her expenses. Ultimately, Della choosing to cut her hair and spend the money for a present for her dear Jim shows that she is shaped by her incredible love for Jim in a positive way, an internal force. In Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher is shaped by internal forces in a positive way as well because his drive to see and live with his mother gets him to do things we wouldn’t expect from a person with autism. When his mother was explaining the time when Chris and her were a buying a Christmas gift, she says that Chris broke down because he was frightened â€Å"of all of the people in the shop.† Chris breaking down because of the amount of people in a certain place shows us that he did not like lots if strangers around him (Haddon 106). But later in his life, Chris goes on a train all by himself to London, just so he can finally see his mother. Chris also tells us that he doesn’t like â€Å"new places† because he â⠂¬Å"sees everything (140). Chris not liking new places shows us that he is scared of the outside world,† But once we start to doubt Chris’ ability to go out into the world, he surprises us and proves us wrong. He goes on a whole adventure to places he does not know, just in the name to see his mother. It is a known fact that sacrifices are a part of our lives. We make them for our own desires and our loved ones. Our sacrifices can be big or small depending on what we intend to accomplish. For Chris we see him make a big sacrifice by doing something he horribly hates, going to a new place with lots of people (subway). We see that Christopher’s drive to see his mom causes him to do things he would never do under normal circumstances. We can infer that Chris probably hated being on the train but his willingness to reunite with his mother caused him to tough it out and stay inside. We can only imagine how grueling this experience for Christopher was. Just imagine not liking the feeling of being surrounded by people you don’t know and being in the same situation as Chris. Would you have stayed in that area? Chances are, if you didn’t have a reason to be there and go through that agony like Chris, you wouldn’t stick around at all. Overall, Christopher is shaped by internal forces in a positive way because his drive to see his mother causes him to sacrifice staying home and being secluded from the world like how he usually likes and going out into the world.. In Frank Stockton’s short story The Lady or the Tiger, the princess shows us that internal forces can affect a person’s identity either positively or negatively, because the portion of barbarism inside of her and her love for the youth lead her to do things she doesn’t want to, see things that aren’t really happening, and can ultimately lead to the death or happiness of the youth. When the day of the youth’s trial arrived, the princess attended it. But â€Å"had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature it is probably that the lady would not have been there†¦Ã¢â‚¬ .The princess attending the trial even though she doesn’t want to shows that the princess herself does not want to attend the youth’s trial, but she goes to it anyway to satisfy her barbaric desires. Have you ever done something that one side of you disagrees about doing it, but the other side totally agrees with your decision? This is what exactly is happe ning to the princess. One half of her doesn’t want to attend the trial, but the barbaric side of her coaxes her to do it anyways, ultimately showing that the barbarism the princess inside of her controls her choices and well-being. But the princess’ identity is not only shaped by her barbarism, but also by the love and affection she has for the youth. As the narrator was talking about a lady that the princess despises, he says that the princess had often seen â€Å"or imagined that she had seen, this fair creature throwing glances of admiration upon the person of her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were perceived, and even returned,† showing that the princess’ love for the youth is clouding her mind from the truth and reality (8). The princess starts assuming that her love is being charmed by the lady and that she might lose the youth to her. These assumptions make the princess very jealous and envy of the lady. Not only do the princess’ barbaric desires and love for the youth trick her mind, but could very well end the youth’s life, or simply salvage it. All in all, the princess exhibiting that internal forces can shape one’s identity in either a positive or negative proves that internal forces can make an impression on a person’s identity positively or negatively. In his memoir Always Running, Luis Rodriguez shows us that internal forces can affect a person’s identity in a totally negative way because his thirst for power causes him to go from a helpless little boy to a power thirsty hooligan. When Luis was in school one day, â€Å"Thee Mystics†, a powerful and influential gang, raided his school. As the ruckus slowly came dangerously towards Luis’ way, he was riveted, riveted by the power Thee Mystics possessed. When â€Å"Thee Mystics† finished their raid, Luis says that he â€Å"wanted this power† and â€Å"wanted to be able to bring a whole school to its knees and even make the teachers squirm†. He also states that â€Å"They had left their mark on the school- and on me† (Rodriguez 42). After Luis sees how Thee Mystics easily took control of his school, he wanted one thing they had, power. He wanted to finally be able to overcome the weal and fearful reputation he was labeled as, and finally obtain what he wanted when he wanted it. Not only can you see the imprint this day made on Luis throughout the book (starts getting into trouble, begins to hang out with the wrong people, and eventually gets kicked out of school), but he confesses it as well. Power is what everyone secretly craves in their lives. Especially for an immigrant like Luis who was always pushed aside and left out simply he wasn’t an American citizen. So when Luis saw Thee Mystics’ power, he saw gangs as a quencher for his thirst of power. Luis just wanted a break from being taken advantage of by Rano, by teachers, by the cruel prejudiced society he lived in. Ultimately, Luis wanting power at an early age after he witnessed how easily Thee Mystics brought his school to its knees proves that he is influenced by his desire of power, an internal force, in a negative way. Both internal and exter nal forces can shape a person’s identity and how they turn out to be. I can use my own life as evidence for this because you can definitely see the imprint of both forces on my identity. My desire to be the best is one of the biggest internal forces that shape me because it causes me to go to try my hardest in everything I do. Myself in school would be a good example of me pushing myself to be the best. Whenever I get assigned to do something, I try my hardest to produce the best piece of work I can. Whether it is an essay or a simple worksheet, I will try my hardest to make it perfect. I also try to make my grades the highest they can. If I have an A I will try my hardest to make it a higher A. My desire for perfection can also be seen in everything I do outside of school. Like if my parents make me vacuum the house I will literally spend hours to make the house the cleanest it can possibly be. When I do something I try to do it at the best possible degree I can. This obsessiveness for perfection usually leads me to do things other people wouldnâ€⠄¢t do. Things like staying up until 1 am to write one paragraph and trying my hardest on improving an â€Å"A† grade. Overall, my desire for perfection and to be the best reflects on my identity, but not only do internal forces affect my identity, but external forces act on my identity as well, more specifically, my parents because they make me want to keep on striving for success when things get hard. This encouragement from my parents causes me to not only get through hard times, but it also causes me to get good grades. In fact, without them, I don’t believe I would be where I am in terms of school because they are my inspiration in doing well in school. Ultimately, both internal and external forces shape who I am because my desire to be the best in everything I do and my parents causes me to be the person I am today. In conclusion, identity changes overtime in response to both external and internal forces, meaning that people can choose what their identity is shaped by to a certain extent, but there are still things in our environment that can affect our identity too. Studies show that external forces can shape identity because people, objects, and other things in our environment all have the power to mold us either negatively or positively as we mature. Not only does research show us that one’s identity can be shaped by external forces, but characters from stories also prove the same. Characters like Celeste from â€Å"Celeste’s Heart†, Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Iggy from Saint Iggy, and the narrator from â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† show us that identity can be molded by external forces, but not only can identity be shaped by external forces, identity can also be shaped by internal forces. Research also shows us that Identity can be shaped by forces inside of us like our love, hatred, etc. Like external forces, internal forces can shape ones identity in a positive way, or negative way. Della from â€Å"The Gift of the Magi†, Chris from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the princess from â€Å"The Lady or the Tiger†, and Luis from Always Running are all excellent examples of internal forces affecting a person’s identity. My life can be used to exhibit the effect of both internal and external forces on a person’s life. To sum it up, external and internal forces can shape a person’s identity negatively or positively. Works Cited â€Å"Adolescent Identity Development.† ACTforyouth.net. ACT for Youth Center of Excellence, 2013. Web. 15 Jan. 2013. Poe, Edgar A. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart.† Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Bantum Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1984. 1-7. Print. Bortnik, Aida. â€Å"Celeste’s Heart.† Sudden Fiction Latino: Short-Stories from the United States and Latin America. Ed. Robert Shapard, James Thomas, and Ray Gonzalez. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. 64-66. Print. Going, K. L. Saint Iggy. Orlando: Harcourt, 2008. Print. Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. New York: Random House, 2004. Print. Henry, O. â€Å"The Gift of the Magi.† Gutenberg.com. Project Gutenberg, n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2012. Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. Print. Seefeldt, C. â€Å"Factors Affecting Social Development.† Education.com. Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall, 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York: Spark Publishing, 2003. Print. Stockton, Frank. â€Å"The Lady or the Tiger?† The Norton Anthology of Short Stories. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1998. 1-13. Print.