The Socioeconomic Background of Kuwait Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Socioeconomic Background of Kuwait - Essay Example Kuwait's official language is Arabic, but English is widely spoken. The Kuwaiti Dinnar (KD) is the official currency, and it is further divided into 1,000 Fils. The average exchange rate is 0.3KD:$1.00US. Kuwait is an Islamic country. Most of her citizens worship in mosques around the country and follow the principles of Islam which also provides a legal foundation for the country. Kuwait adopted a democratic constitution in 1962 that guarantees freedom of liberty, speech, press, and worship. Kuwait is governed by an emir of the al-Sabah dynasty and a fifty-member National Assembly. The National Assembly holds much of the power and has played a critical role in the political, economic and social development of Kuwait. Much of Kuwait's importance derives from its geographical location as the gateway to the Arabian peninsula. Linking the desert and the ocean, its strategic position has led to Kuwait's development as a significant trading center. At the beginning of the 1700s, immigrants from Saudi Arabia came to the area that is now Kuwait. They settled in small villages and at that time only a few thousand people lived there. They took advantage of Kuwait's strategic location and began trading goods. In 1756, the leader of the al-Sabah family became the first Emir of Kuwait, and his ancestors have ruled continuously to the present day; the current Emir is sheik Sabah al-Sabah, the thirteenth in the line. Kuwait continued to grow as a commercial center in part because of political turmoil and war between Persia and the Ottoman Empire. This caused a number of trading families to relocate, and these families played anbig role in the commercial development of Kuwait (Alsabah 1980). England's East India Company also fled the instability in Basra, Iraq and set up a new headquarters in Kuwait to act as a terminal and staging area for goods from east India to England. In 1875, the Suez Canal opened, and the East India Company left Kuwait, but by then, the country had grown and developed. The economy had also diversified somewhat. Pearl diving, fishing, and sea transportation became the foundation of the Kuwait economy. Small family-run businesses carried out these activities without large amounts of working capital; income on a per capital basis was low. The most important industry was pearling which was the economic base of Kuwait and the entire Arabian Gulf. Pearls were exchanged for primary products and consumer goods from India and Bahrain. Pearling employed the most people and also contributed the most to the economy. For example in 1920, 25% of the population was employed in pearling (Al-Fraih, 1993). The industry declined in the 1930s when Japanese pearls overtook the world market. Kuwait's strategic location was also conducive to seafaring and trade. Kuwaiti vessels plied the entire Indian Ocean carrying passengers and cargo among Iraq, India, and the east coast of India. One of the principle commodities was date; they were loaded in Basra Iraq and traded throughout the Arabian Gulf and India. Of course to carry out this trade and collect pearls, the Kuwaitis became excellent boat builders. Indeed, Kuwait became the boat-building hub for the entire Gulf. Woods for construction was imported from the coast of Africa and south Asia. Fishing -- another related activity -

Applications of 3g Technology in the Education Essay Example for Free

Applications of 3g Technology in the Education Essay Applications of 3G technology in the Education sector: Perspective Bangladesh ABSTRACT: Bangladesh recently touched a new milestone in Information and Communication Technology with the inauguration of commercial testing of Third Generation (3G) services through the state-run mobile service provider Teletalk. Teletalk will distribute 400,000 (4lacs) 3G-enabled SIMs’ for the capital Dhaka primarily. 3G is supposed to open new windows for mobile phone users. It’s a giant leap for Bangladesh. The advantages of 3G services include faster data connectivity which means one can download faster and web surfing will be a lot more fun. It will give uninterrupted video streaming on phones, enable video calls and big MMSs, hence facilitating optimum usage of data intensive applications which will create a mutual bridge between the education system of international ground and Bangladesh. This paper evaluates how 3G can be effectively used in education in Bangladesh. Understanding the impact of 3G, especially in education, could be seen as strategically crucial for Bangladesh moving forward as the country can enter a new epoch through wider use of 3G.Pedagogues will have central roles to play in taking education forward through the use of 3G and the way ICT is integrated in education. Two key areas will be addressed in this paper: 1. An analysis of 3G and its impact on teachers; and 2. An evaluation of the students’ abilities to think critically, especially when 3G is concerned. The hypothesis of this research work will find the maximum applications of 3G in the education sector of Bangladesh as the key tools for being the Digital Bangladesh. It will represent our modern education system which will be recognized international arena. To establish the hypothesis I facilitate qualitative and survey method. This paper is set in the context of Bangladeshi colleges and universities especially in Dhaka. The colleges and universities will be identified through Purposive sampling. The key focus and emphasis of this paper is on the changes of teaching and learning that will result from the applications of 3G. The findings may be used to enhance the applications of 3G in other sectors in Bangladesh. Keywords Applications, 3rd generation technology, education sector, e-learning Introduction: Third generation (3G) has dominated this modern world in just a decade. But in Bangladesh it is the inception of 3G. The state-run mobile service Teletalk is providing this facility. Teletalk is distributing 400,000 (4-lacs) 3G-enabled SIMs’ for the capital Dhaka primarily (www.bdnews24.com, 2012). 3G is supposed to open new windows for multimedia phone users. Using the 3G functions there are already so many devices taking advantages. People can perform all the functions in a 3G phone. However, the speed, efficiency and connectivity will be better than before. 3G technology offers us faster connectivity, music entertainment with the best quality and faster internet access. We can easily get other benefits like quick and easy video calling, clearer communication experiences and faster speeds when the two parties are using 3G technology. Generally the First Generation (1G) of wireless technologies is used for the needs of voice services. The Second Generation (2 G) started with digital content transportation but at low speeds. General Packet Radio Switching (G.P.R.S) and Enhanced Data Rates Evolution (E.D.G.E) made it possible to run any educational application at speeds of 128 Kbps (Kilo Bits Per Second) and 384 Kbps. It is the third generation (3 G) that made it possible to run the applications at incredible high bit rates at an affordable cost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones). According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the total number of cell phone users has reached 97.475 million at the end of November 2012. And the total number of internet subscribers has reached 29415.693 thousand at the end of July 2012 (http://www.btrc.gov.bd). Now-a-days students all over the world are â€Å"digital natives†. They are growing up in a decidedly digital world. Digital learning educates students using the same technology they use for communication and entertainment outside of school. Also the teachers are very much engage with technology. They provide their class materials through internet. Many studies (Attewell, 2005; Murat et al, 2008) have already shown that mobile technologies have considerable potential to enhance teaching and learning across all education sectors. Their impact on student behavior, enthusiasm, motivation and progress is well documented, especially in some conventional schools in the UK (Cook et al. 2007). The National Training and Simulation Association and the U.S. Department of Education studied that, technology based instruction can reduce the time and students take to reach a learning objective by 30 to 80 percent. According to a meta- analysis and review of online learning studies by the U.S. Department of Education, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. (Means et al., 2009) The new technology 3G can bring a profound impact on economic landscape of Bangladesh. It can create scopes for e-learning and telemedicine i n rural areas. Though the high speed 3G network students at rural schools and colleges can gather knowledge on different topics which in practice will sharpen their knowledge and will also increase interest on regular education. (Singha, 2012) In this paper I examine how 3G can be effectively used in education in Bangladesh. Also understanding the impact of 3G, especially in education, could be seen as strategically crucial for Bangladesh moving forward as the country can enter a new epoch through wider use of 3G. Teachers will have central roles to play in taking education forward through the use of 3G and the way ICT is integrated in education. Two key areas address in this paper: 1. An analysis of 3G and its impact on teachers; and 2. An evaluation of the students’ abilities to think critically, especially when 3G is concerned. The results will be presented within a comparative framework and an analysis of the applications of 3G among public and private colleges and universities teachers, students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The hypothesis of this research work will find the maximum applications of 3G in the education sector of Bangladesh as the key tools for being the Digital Bangladesh. Literature Review: The growth of 3G technology adoption in worldwide is steady now. A wide range of 3G diffusion levels across the world. But in Bangladesh it is a new dimension. In this regard, I couldn’t find any research in this particular field in Bangladesh. But I found some 3G related researches in the outside world. The region of Asia trumped all others in 3G adoption with close to 52 percent of the world 3G market share as early as in 2006 (ITU, 2006). More recently, Asia-Pacific was home to an estimated 158 million 3G subscribers in 2008 and is expected to reach 564 million subscribers by 2013 (Suppiah, 2009). Historically, Korea, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Hong Kong were the top five 3G mobile economies in terms of 3G mobile penetration rate (ITU, 2006). According to the official ITU report, while the number one 3G nation, Korea, had a penetration rate as high as 25.95 percent, the number five country, Hong Kong, reached only about one third of Korea’s rate (8.19 percent). It is evident that there are significant regional differences in the number of 3G subscribers. While close to half of the 3G subscribers are located in the region of Asia, less than thirteen percent of them are in Europe. Pew Research Center’s Internet American Life Project finds that almost a third of American adults have used mobile devices to access the internet, and 19% of survey respondents had used a smartphone or other cell phone to access the internet the day before the survey (Horrigan, 2009). Pew Research found that for people ages 18-29, access to information on-the-go is a more important aspect of mobile technology (60%) than staying in touch with others (57%). Teenagers are slightly less likely to go online than using mobile devices than adults or undergraduate students, with only 27% reporting that they access the internet from their phones. Older teens, who have more disposable income to pay for mobile internet connectivity, are more likely to access the internet from mobile devices than younger teens (Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, Purcell, Kristen, 2010). Sakulsri Srisaracam, a lecturer at the Faculty of Communication Arts, Dhurakij Pundit University, said that with the 3G network, we will see an education everywhere at any time scenario. Lecturers and students will be always connected. They can download content, textbooks, and learning applications easily onto their mobile devices. They also can interact and keep in touch with the teachers. (The Nation, 2012) He also added if lecturers can develop innovative learning, which encourages and engages students to stay connected with learning via mobile devices, the 3G network will prove very beneficial. Mana Treelayapewat, deputy dean of Mass Communication Faculty at University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that 3G network availability will be good for education as it would help improve online learning with greater speed, especially if 3G network can reach the whole country. It will help bridge the gap in education of urban and rural students. (The Nation, 2012) EDUCAUSE surveyed undergraduate students regarding their use of internet using mobile devices. They found that half of the student respondents own a mobile device that can access the internet, but only a third of the students actually access the internet from this device (Smith et al., 2009) Cellular connections use the user’s cellular network to access the internet. Cellular connections can be used wherever the user has a phone signal, though often at slower speeds than WiFi networks. Most cellular connections currently use 3G technology, though carriers (and devices) are beginning to transition to 4G networks. Sprint’s HTC Evo released in March 2010 is the first 4G capable phone in the United States, though a good percentage of the country does not have 4G network access yet (Barrett, 2010). 4G networks are expected to be twice as fast as 3G (German, 2010), which opens up possibilities for faster mobile internet use and more reliable video streaming without relying on WiFi connections. People spend time on the mobile internet accessing web portals and social n etworks or blogs. Using portals has decreased by double digits, but social networking has increased significantly (Nielsen Wire, 2010). Naveed Siraj Country Manager Intel Pakistan said education needs could be facilitated to masses through 3G-technology as if its expected benefits to different sectors in the future. The education transformation is inevitable with the availability of relevant content for studies and on the other hand smartphones and tablets are in the reach of masses to connect with the world of information. (The Lahore Times, 2012) The attitudes, skills, and behaviors of the faculty members related to their IT use at a large Canadian research university. (Anderson et al., 1998) Based on Roger’s two major adopter categories, they defined the faculty members as â€Å"earlier adopters† and â€Å"mainstream faculty† and provided strategies for reducing the gap between these two groups. (Roger, 1995) Rogers also added that mainstream faculty used information technologies for research and professional communication applications. But their adoption of these applications in teaching was very low. For this reason, Rogers recommended that to increase mainstream faculty’s adoption of computer technologies for instructional purposes, the incentives, training programs, and barriers should be taken into account in comprehensive adoption strategies. Carter conducted a computer survey and in-depth interviews to determine computer-based technologies that were being used by the faculty members and the factors that affect their use of these technologies. Faculty attitudes toward using computer-based technology, support, resources, and training were the selected factors needed to use these technologies effectively. (Carter, 1998) The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been considered the most useful for predicting the acceptance of information technology in consumer context. The theoretical constructs of TAM consist of two basic determinants for attitudes to use a specific system: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. (Davis et al., 1989) Susan et al. examined students perceptions and their acceptance of implementing a laptop program by adopting Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical framework. (Susan et al., 2006) Cheong and Park adopted an extend TAM model to explore consumer’s determinant of acceptance behaviors in using the mobile internet. (Cheong and Park, 2005) The factors affecting students’ behavioral intention to use mobile learning based mainly on the TAM. (Park et al., 2011 and Fadare et al., 2011) Different types of studies were conducted to understand the factors affecting 3G adoption so far. In the study of Phuangthong and Malisawan, primarily aims to examine the factors affecting the user adoption in mobile learning of 3G mobile Internet technology in Thailand by using TAM. (Phuangthong and Malisawan, 2005) According to this study, user acceptance is examined by attitude towards use and intention to use, rather than actual use due to the fact that 3G technology. Research Methods: To find the applications of 3G technology in education sector, I conduct systematic comparative analysis through survey and qualitative method. Basically survey method focuses to improve quality and reducing cost. It seeks to ensure principles about the design, collection, processing and analysis of survey in connection to the cost and quality of survey estimates. As Groves and others said that, â€Å"survey methodology is both a scientific field and a profession. Part of the task of a survey methodologist is making a large set of decisions about thousands of individual features of a survey in order to improve it.† (Groves et al., 2009) The researchers frequently use qualitative method as their research purpose. Through the method data come in a variety of forms, such as notes made while observing in the field, interview transcripts, documents, diaries, and journals. According to Wimmer and Dominick, â€Å"qualitative researchers use an inductive method: Data are collected relevant to some topic and are grouped into appropriate and meaningful categories; explanations emerge from the data.† (Wimmer Dominick, 2011) To conduct this study I took 100 respondents. At first I selected the sample through stratified sampling on the basis of teachers and students, colleges and universities. In this regard I picked two colleges and two uni versities in Dhaka. Two colleges are Birsrestho Nur Muhammad Public College and Dhaka City College. And two universities are Dhaka University and Daffodil International University. In every institution I took five respondents from teachers and 20 from students. So the numbers of the teachers are 20 and the numbers of students are 80. â€Å"A stratified sample is the approach used to get adequate representation of a subsample. The characteristics of the subsample (strata or segment) may include almost any variable: age, gender, religion, income level, or even individuals who listen to specific radio stations or read certain magazines. †¦ Stratified sampling ensures that a sample is drawn from a homogeneous subset of the population—that is, from a population that has similar characteristics.† (Wimmer Dominick, 2011, p-98) When I collect my data I took my respondents through random sampling. Randomly I picked 10 teachers from two colleges and 10 from the universities. And I took 80 students, 40 students from two colleges and another 40 from two universities. â€Å"The most basic type of probability sampling is the simple random sample, where each subject, element, event, or unit in the population has an equal chance of being selected.† (Wimmer Dominick, 2011) He added that the most widely used random sampling method is a subject or unit is drawn from the population and removed from subsequent selections without replacement. In this study when I gathered data from 100 respondents of those colleges and universities, each teacher and student in the population has an equal chance of being selected. Critical Framework: In this study I followed the â€Å"Diffusion of Innovation Model† provided by communication scholar and sociologist Everett M. Rogers. Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system (Rogers, 2003). He added that, the study of the diffusion of innovations began during World War II, prior to the establishment of communication study in university schools and departments. To an individual or other unit of adoption an innovation is an idea, practice, or object perceived as new. The diffusion process typically involves both mass media and interpersonal communication channels. And, in today’s world, information technologies such as the Internet and cell phones – which combine aspects of mass media and interpersonal channels, represent formidable tools of diffusion (Morris Ogan, 1996). Most of the observers agree that the diffusion of innovations is fundamentally a communication process; communication scholars constitute only one of the dozen research traditions presently advancing the diffusion field (along with geography, education, marketing, public health, rural sociology, agricultural economics, general economics, political science, and others). Other communication research areas such as persuasion and attitude change and mass communication effects also began prior to the institutionalization of communication study in university units (Rogers, 1962, 1983, 1995; 2003; Singhal Dearing, 2006). For convenience in understanding diffusion research results, the continuous variable of innovativeness is often divided into adopter categories, such as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards (Rogers, 1983). Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory is the most appropriate for investigating the adoption of technology in higher educatio n and educational environments (Medlin, 2001; Parisot, 1995). In fact, much diffusion research involves technological innovations so Rogers usually used the word â€Å"technology† and â€Å"innovation† as synonyms. For Rogers, â€Å"a technology is a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome† (Rogers, 2003, p-13). In this study purpose I took the first one ‘innovators’. According to Rogers, innovators were willing to experience new ideas. Thus, they should be prepared to cope with unprofitable and unsuccessful innovations, and a certain level of uncertainty about the innovation. (Rogers, 2003) Also, Rogers added that innovators are the gatekeepers bringing the innovation in from outside of the system. Technology adoption process inaugurates with a tiny number of visionary, imaginative innovators. They often lavish great time, energy and creativity on developing new ideas and gadgets. And they love to talk about them. Diffusion of innovations research promises to enhance our understanding of how social change occurs, a fundamental issue for all scholars of society. What is the role of technology in bringing about social change? One way to find out is through diffusion research, a micro level type of study of the macro level issue of social change. Scholarly interest in new communication technologies by communication students has given a special boost to interest in diffusion research in recent years. There is no reason to expect that the scholarly popularity of diffusion research by communication (and other) scholars will decrease in the foreseeable future. Innovations continue to be generated and studied. Meyer, G. (2004).Mobile phone

Troubled Youth :: Essays Papers

Troubled Youth I started the first day very fearless, yet reserved. I knew had to face this challenge head on. At the time I was working a regular job during the night for about eight hours a day. The accomplishment was different though; it happened shortly after receiving the job. I was just beginning community service at the same time at a local elementary school as a helper to the janitors. The crime was petty but it inhibited fifty hours of free service to the local education center. I chose this place because of its relative ease, and it was also an area I could easily get to and from. Upon first arrival I met the principal of the school. He would be my superior, but my first impression explained to me what he was all about. He was a fairly easy going man, and was straightforward when he needed to be. I found this to be true with many people that I have met who are of his same stature. He was about the size of the students attending. The irony of this anomaly was the vehicle he drove, a station wagon raised with massive tires and even more exemplified by the large lights strewn above the windshield of the car. I would see this machine on a regular basis and always think, â€Å"How in the hell does he get in?† The head janitor was very tall, and not very muscular. He was an amazingly friendly man, and I could tell he was passionate about his job, but was very restrained socially because of the people he was forced to communicate with on a daily basis. There were two other janitors, underlings of the head janitor. One was a short black man, he had been originally from Kenya, his English was horrible but he was a very life loving man. When he would sporadically speak, it was mainly just to mock his associate janitor. The associate of the Kenyan man was a very enthralling person. Everybody around me scoffed at him, to his face and behind his back. This really didn’t matter to him due to the fact that he was mentally unstable. He dragged his feet while walking and could barely hold his up in any given situation. His speech was often times so slurred that he would say something everyone in the room would look at him, and then ignore what had just happened and go back to their business.

Busn311 Unit 2 Ip

Unit 2 – Probability and Distributions Leah Lopez American InterContinental University Abstract Within this email, I will cover different probabilities within your company. This information can help you to understand whether or not your employees are satisfied with their jobs or not. Also within the results of this survey, you will find that your employees are not distributed equally in terms of gender. Memo To: AIU From: Leah Lopez Date: November 13, 2012 Subject: Survey of employees at American Intellectual Union Dear AIU: Within this email, I will be providing some information from a survey that was given to your employees.This information can help you to understand how satisfied your workers are with their jobs. This will also help you to understand whether or not you should hire more women and men to even out the gender amongst certain departments. Overview of the Data Set The current data set is comprised of 64 individuals who were surveyed, and this is a part of the sam ple of the population at American Intellectual Union, and these individuals were identified by 5 characteristics: gender, age, position (hourly or salaried), tenure, and how they felt about job satisfaction on a scale of one to seven.The qualitative variables include: gender, department, and position. The quantitative variables include: age, tenure, and job satisfaction. Use of Statistics and Probability in the Real World There are several different ways that statistics and probability could be used in the real world. You could see this used in the horse races, the lottery, certain things in the stock market, also in marketing in a corporation. The Value of Statistics Every corporation that is successful exhausts statistics.It does not matter if they are operating a small fish store or they are a member of a board for a huge business, almost every decision made by a corporation is based on statistics. Averages, means and medians are a part of a business’s everyday life. Wheth er it is a chart, a data set, a correlation, or a bias, there is some sort of tool that will make sure your company is successful (Ayres, 2009). Data sets are one of the easiest statistical devices for businesses and one that you will probably exhaust daily without realizing it.When a person is reading over his/her bank statements, and taking care of daily business, they are more than likely going over a data set. When you pick up the morning paper and look at how your company's stock is performing, you are looking at figures gleaned from a data set. When using the words average, mean or deviation, you’re describing statistical tools that are currently being exhausted in your business (Ayres, 2009). Charts aren't just a pretty picture of an aspect of your business they are a visual representation of a data set.Whether you are looking at a bar chart of sales or a pie chart of company profits, these snapshots can tell you where your business is performing well and where it is p erforming poorly. From bank balances to employee compensation, charts and graphs can give you a visual picture of any part of your company which deals with data (Ayres, 2009). Correlations are where one event causes another. For example, you may notice that customers who buy a certain type of product are more likely to purchase another type of product.However, just because you think one event is causing another doesn't necessarily make it true; it could be a coincidence. Correlation analysis allows you to figure out whether one event is causative or not. A knowledge of correlations can be invaluable in planning sales and marketing campaigns (Ayres, 2009). Every business uses or produces some kind of statement or resolution; however, these may not always come out to be reliable. Errors may be present in the data collection, different sources do not always have the same information and there also could be mistakes in he calculations. Bias is when statistical results are different from the real — or true — value. A knowledge of bias will help you to understand which results are worth using for your business (Ayres, 2009). Distributions A distribution table can keep all of this information (numbers, row data) handy. A person can look, and say, oh, the participants in this survey were 75% male, or 25 % female. The managers can â€Å"see† the information and not just the raw data.Then complete the following distribution tables. Please pay attention to whether you should present the results in terms of percentages or simple counts. Distribution of Individuals by Gender |Gender |Percentage | |Females |50% | |Males |50% | Tenure with Company Distribution by Gender Please note that you do NOT have to convert these into percentages. You may leave them in a count format. |Under 2 years |2-5 Years |Over 5 years | |Male | |8 |11 | | |13 | | | |Female | |10 |3 | | |19 | | | Percentage of the Survey Participants in Each Department |Department |Percentage | Information Technology |34% | |Human Resources |25% | |Administration |41% | Sample Mean for Extrinsic Value by Gender |Gender |Mean Extrinsic Value | |Male |5. 32 | |Female |5. 36 | Probabilities The probabilities that will be calculated here are that an individual will be between the ages of 16-21; that an individual’s overall job satisfaction will be 5. 2 or higher; females working in human resources; and an individual’s intrinsic satisfaction is 5 or more.This information will be useful to AIU because they can look at these probabilities and find out what they need to change to increase job satisfaction, and they can also see whether or not they have an equal amount of females and males working in each department. |Classification |Count |Probability | |Probability that an individual will be between |18 |28% | |16–21 years of age | | | |Probability that an individual’s overall job |35 |55% | |satisfaction is 5. or lower | | | |Probability that an ind ividual will be a female |5 |8% | |in the human resources department | | | |Probability that an individual will be a |12 |19% | |salaried employee whose intrinsic satisfaction | | | |value is 5 or more | | | Probabilities in the Business World The theory of probability is actually the study of non-planned happenings. This type of study, of course, is math-related, and started when people would try to win card and dice games for money. Each and every decision that is made in a business setting has some sort of risk involved with it. With this being said, it seems that in the business setting, probability would be used to handle a business’s financial risks.Even the choices that are made by management have a probability of succeeding or (S. , 2010). Conclusion I hope that you have found all of the information within this survey of use. Using the information within this email can help you to improve working conditions for your employees. Sincerely, Leah A. Lopez Senior Board Mem ber References Ayres, I. (2009, August 13). The Value of Statistics. Retrieved from Freakonomics: http://www. freakonomics. com/2009/08/13/the-value-of-statistics/ S. , E. (2010). How Probability is Used in Business. Retrieved from Reference. com: http://www. reference. com/motif/science/how-probability-is-used-in-business

Han China & Classical Athens DBQ Essay

Classical Athens and Han China were different due to their forms of government, the relationship between the individual and the state, their views on man and nature and their background information. Within the background information of both Athens and Han China there are very evident differences between the two. The first document shows the maps of both the empires side by side. The Han Empire is much bigger than the Athens city-state Attica which is a mere 50 miles long, while the Han Empire stretches over 2400 miles long. The size difference alone shows how the Empires would have developed differently. Since Attica is smaller, the people are closer together, therefore it would be easier to develop a democracy there. Han China, however, is very big and everyone is spread out so it would be very difficult to govern if every citizen had a say in the decisions. The second and third documents show the differences in size and distribution of the population in both empires. The differences here are clear. Han China is about 206 times greater in population than Athens. In Athens about 37% of their population are slaves while in China about 7% of their population are slaves or what they call, â€Å"mean people.† The majority, about 90%, of the population in the Han Empire consists of peasant farmers and some skilled urban workers. In Athens, farmers were very valued and the majority of the citizens there were landowning farmers. A map of population density would be very helpful in understanding the differences between the empires. This would show where most farming took place because the mass population is farmers and slaves. CONCLUSION************* Han China and Classical Athens governments are extremely different. Han China’s government was strictly centralized, with an emperor as their supreme and divine ruler; the Son of Heaven. People believed that Heaven chose the person who was ready to rule the Empire. Many people questioned how Heaven does this. In document 6, a dialogue between Mencius, a student of Confucius, and Wan Chang, Mencius’s student, Chang asks Mencius a few questions of Heaven choosing it’s next son. Mencius’s answer was that Heaven  does not speak but reveals itself by acts and deeds; Heaven sees with the eyes of its people and hears with the ears of his people. Document 7 talks about how Han China’s government system runs. Heaven selects the emperor, the sole ruler, but he needed people to help him rule. Therefore he appointed governors to each part of the Empire and then, in turn, they placed officials at smaller areas. During the Han Dynasty, the government decided to build and expand bureaucracy. The bureaucrats would have to go through an early form of a civil service exam in order to earn a law-making position at stages of government such as local, regional and federal. However, Stearn describes the Han Empire as the largest political system in the classical world, but Stearn’s bias can be seen here and must be considered. However, Classical Athens’ government is a democracy, not entirely a modern democracy like the United States, but a democracy nonetheless. Document 4 is a speech by Pericles, a Greek statesman, which talks about the empire’s qualities of their government. Any man, regardless of their social class can be elected to hold office. Pericles talks very highly about his government, â€Å"†¦ we are rather a role model to others.† His point of view on the government system may be affected by the fact that he is the General of that empire so he would be biased toward their government.

Learn About Causative Verbs

Learn About Causative Verbs In English grammar, a causative verb  is a verb  used to indicate that some person or thing makes s of causative verbs  include make, cause, allow, help, have, enable, keep, hold, let, force, and require, which can also be referred to as causal verbs or simply causatives. A causative verb, which can be in any tense, is generally followed by an object and another verb form- often an infinitive or a  participle  - and are used to describe something that happens because of a person, place, or thing whose actions bring about change in another entity. Interestingly enough, the word cause isnt the prototypical causative verb in English because cause has a much more specific and less frequently used definition than make, which is used most frequently to indicate someone making something happen. Allows vs. Lets English grammar is full of small rules that help speakers understand the vast  subtleties of correct usage and style. Such is the case with the rules pertaining to the causative verbs allows and lets, wherein both convey the same meaning - a person permits another to do something - but require different noun-verb form pairings to follow them. The word allows is almost always followed by an object, which in turn is followed by the infinitive form of the verb allows is modifying. Such is the case in the sentence Corey allows his friends to chat with him, wherein allows is the causative verb, his friends the object of the phrase, and to chat the infinitive form of what Corey is allowing his friends to do. On the other hand, the causative verbs lets is almost always followed by an object then the base form of the verb thats being modified. Such is the case in the sentence Corey lets his friends chat with him, wherein lets is the causative verb, his friends the object of the phrase, and chat the base form of the verb Corey lets his friends do. The Most Popular Causative Verb One would think that cause would be the most frequently used and typical example of causative verbs, but thats simply not the case. Francis Katamba explains in Morphology that the word cause is a causative verb but it has a more specialized meaning (implying direct causation) than make and it is much less common.   Instead, make is the most common causative verb, which also differs from other causative verbs in that it omits the word to from complementary verb clauses that follow while in the active form (make), but do require the word to while in the passive form of made. For example, Jill makes me run daily and I was made to run daily by Jill. In both senses, the causative verb make still implies that someone causes the subject to run, but English grammar dictates that the accompanying verb phrase for make differs for that of made. Rules like these abound in usage and style, and its important for English as an Alternative Language (EAL) students to commit these types of guidelines to memory - as they dont often appear in other forms.

Four Types of Tissue Essay Example

Four Types of Tissue Essay Example Four Types of Tissue Essay Four Types of Tissue Essay In this lab you will review the four types of animal tissues. After watching the presentation and taking notes, you will create a presentation on tissues to show your mastery of the topic. Animal tissues may be considered the second level of organization within the body. Specialized cells come together to make specialized tissues which allow the organism to function. You will have the opportunity to be creative as you demonstrate mastery of the four types of animal tissues.Materials Needed You will need a computer, an internet connection, your lab notebook, and a pen or pencil. You will also need materials to create a presentation of your choice. You may choose a poster, a 3 dimensional model, a recording, an investigative lab, or a power point presentation. Procedures 1. View the PhET presentation about animal tissues. This can be found in the presentations section. Non-majors Biology – lesson one Animal Tissues. (please inset link here). 2. Take notes to review the informati on about the 4 tissue types.These notes should be organized in your lab investigation report. 3. You will then prepare a presentation to teach others about tissues. You are encouraged to focus on one tissue type, but you may also compare and contrast the 4 types of tissues. 4. You can make a three dimensional poster, a power point, an investigative lab, or even a video recording. 5. This presentation should show what you have learned about tissues from the lesson, this presentation, and other additional sources you choose. Remember to cite additional sources) 6. Complete the Analysis Questions and Conclusion. Analysis and Conclusion Questions: : This conclusion should be answered in paragraph form, with at least 5 complete sentences. 1. Please conclude your lab with a summary paragraph of at least 5 sentences about the design of the presentation you created to show mastery of animal tissues. You should begin with a sentence that explains how you investigated tissues. You should then address the reason you chose your method of presentation.You should then use 2-3 sentences to explain how you developed your presentation. I decided to do a PowerPoint presentation and used the tissues as the background picture. So for the slide for epithelial tissues I used a picture of epithelial cells as the background and so on. I found the pictures in a Google search. I then researched information on the tissues and added a text box that explained what they do. I decided to use PowerPoint because I like how it makes things look because I have lots of things to choose from for designs.

Intensive Pronoun Definition and Examples

Intensive Pronoun Definition and Examples In  English grammar, an  intensive pronoun  is a  pronoun ending in -self or -selves that serve to emphasize its antecedent. They are also known as  intensive reflexive pronouns. Intensive pronouns often appear as appositives after nouns or other pronouns. Intensive pronouns have the same forms as reflexive pronouns: myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, and themselves. Unlike reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns are not essential to the basic meaning of a sentence. Examples and Observations I have never yet failed to meet a deadline I myself have set up.(Pat Schneider, Writing Alone and With Others. Oxford University Press, 2003)He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether he himself was a lunatic.(George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1948)Janis Joplin was a name now associated with an image, one that had grown bigger than the woman​ herself.(Buzzy Jackson, A Bad Woman Feeling Good. Norton, 2005)Watching children make real progress in their language and literacy development is a reward with few rivals, especially because the children themselves greet their own accomplishments with such joy.(Katherine A. Beauchat et al, The Building Blocks of Preschool Success. Guilford Press, 2010)We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.(Mother Teresa)It seems to me, that if you tried hard, you would in time find it possible to become what you yourself would approve.(Charlotte Bro ntà «, Jane Eyre, 1847) When you, our white countrymen, have attempted to do anything for us, it has generally been to deprive us of some right, power, or privilege, which you yourselves would die before you would submit to have taken from you.(Frederick Douglass)Not until the problem itself is clearly diagnosed can a solution be found.(Toby Dodge, Trying to Reconstitute the Iraqi State. Crescent of Crisis, ed. by Ivo Daalder et al. Brookings Institution Press, 2006)I found myself hoping that by the simple fact of extending some humanity towards poor old Ned, offering the unfortunate wretch some small degree of genuine understanding, that I myself had played some worthwhile role in this new and most welcome world of equanimity.(Patrick McCabe, Winterwood. Bloomsbury, 2006) The Difference Between Intensive and Reflexive Pronouns The contrast between reflexive and intensive pronouns is well illustrated with sit down, an intransitive verb that can also be used causatively, e.g. She sat the child down. It can be seen that John sat himself down is a reflexivised causative, whereas John himself sat down  and John sat down himself are intransitive, with an intensive pronoun that relates to the subject NP. Intensive pronouns are generally not placed in structural positions that could be filled by a reflexive pronoun. Watch is a transitive verb which can omit its subjectJohn watched Mary, John watched himself (on the video), John watched. In this case, an intensive pronoun from the subject NP (John himself watched) would not be likely to be moved to a position after the verb, since it could then be mistaken for a reflexive substitute for the object NP. However, an intensive pronoun could be moved after an explicit object NP (especially if there was a gender difference), e.g. John watched Mary himself. (Robert M. W. Dixon, A Semantic Approach to English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 2005)

The Four Different ResearchTheories & Differences and Similarities Assignment

The Four Different ResearchTheories & Differences and Similarities between theory and hypothesis - Assignment Example In the process of criminal research there are many things to consider in teaching people on criminal justice research. However, to be able to understand the plan in construction new crime prevention strategy city wide there are major points that require to be discussed. The main points that will be tackled for educational information will include definition of theories of inductive, deductive, axiomatic as well as grounded research theories (Ireland, Berg & Mutchnick, 2010). In addition, looking at all these theories, one can be considered to be more valid than the rest. There are a number of theories introduced in the criminal justice system and they all have differences and similarities that that make them separate entities in the field of criminal justice. Knowing the theories is one main point but being able to define the variables and their importance as theoretical schemes components is crucial to providing learning information to police captains. Key Differences between the Research Theories In this section, a generalization of the four theories will be given to gain a basic understanding of each one. Deductive reasoning takes general information and gives it a particular instance. An example of this kind of reasoning can be dogs sleep twelve hours a day. Understanding that this may be true for one dog, it can be concluded that that is also true for all dogs based on the fact that they have the same biology. Inductive reasoning involves taking well detailed facts and applying them to general principles. An example could be that all cows are spotted. Another example could be that every day the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. It can be said to be a simplified version of facts such as location, speed and viewpoints (Ireland, Berg & Mutchnick, 2010).... Deductive reasoning takes general information and gives it a particular instance. An example of this kind of reasoning can be dogs sleep twelve hours a day. Understanding that this may be true for one dog, it can be concluded that that is also true for all dogs based on the fact that they have the same biology. Inductive reasoning involves taking well detailed facts and applying them to general principles. An example could be that all cows are spotted. Another example could be that every day the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. It can be said to be a simplified version of facts such as location, speed and viewpoints (Ireland, Berg & Mutchnick, 2010). Grounded theory is a methodology that is systematic involving coming up with a theory from data that is gathered and available. It is mainly used when doing qualitative research, even though it can be applicable for quantitative data. In other words it is the scientific method that has been reversed. One starts by collec ting data in a variety of ways first then from the data gathered a hypothesis is proposed. Using the axiomatic research theory, the system is made up of any set of axioms or postulate in coming up with a proposition that has not been demonstrated or proven but is considered to be self evident or is known to be true without any proof. From this all or some of the axioms can be used together to come up with logically derived theorems. In other words the data is taken to be factual without having to necessarily prove it (Hagan, 2009). Which theory is more valid? Looking at the four theories the grounded theory can be considered to be more valid based on the methodology it uses. Its apparent ability to come up with theories by use of an inductive approach has put it forward as very relevant

Religious and Ethnic Identities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religious and Ethnic Identities - Essay Example So, religious and ethnic identities can have positive or negative effect upon individual and societies. Thesis statement: Within a closed group, religious and ethnic identities have a positive effect upon individuals and societies but within an open (say, multiracial and multicultural) context, the same leads to negative effect upon individuals and societies. Religious and ethnic identities: positive or negative effect? As pointed out, religious and ethnic identities have a positive or negative effect on individual and societies in varied situations. To be specific, within one’s religion/community, religious and ethnic identities have a positive effect because it leads to cohesion and co-operation among the members. On the other side, within a multiracial context, religious and ethnic identities have a negative effect upon individuals and societies because there is high possibility for discrimination and marginalization based upon identity. A. Effect of religious and ethnic id entities on individuals One can see that religious identity of an individual can undergo change. For instance, conversion from a particular religion can change one’s religious identity. At the same time, religious identity is a part of one’s ethnic identity. ... ?One major reason why ethnic identities remain important for many ethnic minority people is that, in many situations, they are still subject to forms of racism and reminded of their difference† (141). One can easily identify that religious and ethnic identities of an individual can promote one’s acceptability within his or her personal/ public domain. For instance, one’s involvement in religious rituals and social gatherings ensure acceptance from other members of the same religion/ community. On the other side, an immigrant’s religious and ethnic identities, within a less flexible context lead to a number of problems like alienation, discrimination and marginalization. For instance, a nation with rigid religious belief may not show acceptance towards an immigrant’s religious and ethnic identities. Within this context, the immigrant will be forced to undergo a number of problems related to his or her religious and ethnic identities. From a different angle of view, the foretold problem is faced by individual who are newly converted to a religion. When one’s religious identity undergo change, there exists high possibility for the problem of non-acceptance in one’s private and public domains. To be specific, religious identity exerts less pressure upon an individual in a liberal social setting. There are many nations where a number of religions flourish without any problem related to one’s religious identity. But an individual’s ethnic identity is much more complex than one’s religious identity because the same is interconnected with one’s real identity in the society. Kostov states that â€Å"Democratic societies facilitate the emergence of multiple identities and modern technologies allow both large and small ethnic diasporas to survive and keep in

Quantitative Finance Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Quantitative Finance Analysis - Term Paper Example It is important to note that the influence of using highly specialized quantitative techniques is on an increasing trend mainly due to its ability to provide inferential statistics. The results are inferred in a highly prà ©cised and accurate manner, which lead the quantitative analysts to sort out the different aspects attached with the behavior of a financial decision. This report highlights various kinds of scenarios in which the specialized quantitative techniques are applied in order to sort out the behavior of the financial decision taken under that scenario. Specialized techniques such as regression, correlation, NPV, IRR, yield to maturity, annuity, etc are utilized to analyze the different scenarios. Net Present Value Background Information This question inquires about the viability of an investment opportunity such that the opportunity requires $10,000 to be invested today. The cash inflows from this opportunity will be derived in such a way that $500 will be received after one year, $1,500 after two years and $10,000 after ten years. With reference to the particular technique of Net Present Value (NPV), the viability of this opportunity is asked whether the opportunity is attractive if interest rates are 6% and 2% respectively. Theoretical Background Net Present Value (NPV) is the technique, which mainly works on the concepts of time value of money. According to time value of money, the money received in future time does not have the same worth, had that money received today (Brigham et al, 2010 pp. 380-81). If that future money is brought back today, it would have lesser worth. NPV is the technique that works on the basis of cash flows such that the initial investment is deducted from the discounted cash flows. The resulting answer provides the estimated amount of benefit earned or loss incurred in case of opting the investment opportunity. In case if the NPV is found to be positive, it means, that the investment opportunity is financially viable and hence should be accepted. In case of negative NPV, the investment opportunity is not up-to-the-mark and it should be rejected. Computation Years 0 1 2 10 Investment (10,000)    Cash Inflows 500 1,500 10,000 Discount Factor (6%) 1.0000 0.9434 0.8900 0.5584 D iscounted Cash Flows (10,000) 471.70 1,334.99 5,583.95 NPV (2,609.36)          Years 0 1 2 10 Investment (10,000)    Cash Inflows 500 1,500 10,000 Discount Factor (2%) 1.0000 0.9804 0.9612 0.8203 Discounted Cash Flows (10,000) 490.20 1,441.75 8,203.48 NPV 135.43          Interpretation From the above stated results, it can be observed that if the interest rate is set to be 6% to discount the later coming cash inflows, it would result in negative NPV of $2,609.36. Since the negative NPV states that the investment opportunity is not attractive enough to be accepted, therefore it should be rejected. On the other hand, if the interest rate is trimmed to only 2%, it will generate positive NPV of $135 from the same cash flows. This positive NPV reflect that the investment opportunity is financially viable and it should be accepted. Question 2 Present Value Annuity Background Information This question pertains to annuity such that a house is to be purchased on mortgage basis. The actual cost of house is $350,000. However, the buyer is willing to pay $50,000 as down payment. For the rest of $300,000 the buyer wants to pay the amount along with the interest payments in next 30 years at 7% interest per annum. The buyer wishes to pay loan in 30 equal installments, which should include principal amount

Discussing the Situations in Criminal Law Assignment

Discussing the Situations in Criminal Law - Assignment Example Intention leads the guilty party to have prior foresight of consequences that will take place should the act be carried out. It is different from recklessness since on a subjective basis, there remains foresight without the hope of actually bringing about results. The problem in the courts of law is that the borderline between intention and recklessness is too vague. The court has to decide the extent of the desire to carry out the act and convert recklessness into intention. In DPP v Smith (1961) AC 290, the test was that the individual was taken to foresee and intend to bring about the likeliest actions if he carried out his intentions. One, 'subjective' recklessness; In this case, the defendant understands that a risk may occur if a certain action is carried out, still despite knowing this he still chooses to take that action ignoring the results of his actions. This is often seen when the guilty party decides to drive under the influence knowing full well that his actions could cause an accident. Two, 'objective' recklessness arises when it is apparent to everyone apart from the defendant that there was a risk. Therefore the risk is so apparent that despite the defendant claims not to have considered the risk this is irrelevant. The intention has many different levels at the most serious intention can lead to murder. The degrees of intention range from pure intention to recklessness dependant on the nature and seriousness of the crime. When the most serious degree of culpability, justifies the most serious degree of punishment both elements are found in the defendant's mind. (a subjective test) An individual who plots and carries out an act of crime is thought of like a more serious threat than the one who behaves recklessly. An opportunist might find a sudden opportunity to steal something or become so angry that they harm another. Intention can also arise from the common law principle as well. One of the most critical sources in the early development of the law on recklessness was an academic piece of work. In his book Outlines of Criminal Law' (published in 1902), Professor Kenny discussed the definition of "maliciously", with specific reference to arson. A large amount of the information in the book was founded on the judgment in the case of R v Harris. At the beginning of the century, the fundamental state of the law concerning recklessness was that it was a subjective test that determined the men's rea in criminal acts where the necessary men's rea for the defendant was to carry out an act. Â  

Reflective account Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Reflective account - Essay Example In this paper, I have discussed some of the most important findings of my visit to these companies. Also, I have discussed which of the two companies, I would like to join in the future, and in what ways, customers are entertained by either of the two companies. A & P takes great care of its workforce. That is why, there can be seen some extremely aged workers in A & P. Many employees have worked in A & P for the whole of their professional life which essentially tells that they have been taken care of and their needs have always been addressed. Employee turnover rate in A & P is near to negligible. Workers work with mutual collaboration and harmony, and team work. This makes me feel attracted towards A & P for job. I would always like to work in an environment where workers have good relations with one another. One key factor that makes the customer service of A & P special and unique is that A & P offers service to the customers unobstructed by regional boundaries. The system in A & P is so well established that customers get their repairs made and their comments addressed from far away countries. What makes it even more surprising is that in a vast majority of cases, customers get their concerns addressed much earlier than what they expect. It is interesting to note that many of the permanent customers of A & P place their orders from overseas. They are delivered the product at their respective addresses in their hometown, so they have to face little to no inconvenience at all. Staff of the A & P travels to the dockyards all over the world and transfers the repaired products to the customers. In addition to that, A & P offers yachts at considerably lower prices than most of the yacht making companies do. This is one key reason behind the voluminous body of customers that the company has. Pendennis is largely known for its human resource development strategies. Pendennis first decided to train 10 apprentices in 1998. The practice did make the owners incur som e money, yet it was all paid off later as the workforce became more talented and increased productivity. Because of their immense efforts in the way of development of human resource, Pendennis has in 2008 been granted the title of Best Large Company Apprenticeship. Their growing popularity has increased their business manifolds. I would like to work in Pendennis because professional development opportunities for staff members in Pendennis are numerous. Pendennis takes very good care of its customers. Like A & P, Pendennis also has customers world wide. Customer service system is very efficient, and customers’ complaints and suggestions are given due consideration. Pendennis is known for its creativity, and customers have conventionally been good source of innovative ideas. Both A & P and Pendennis are extremely good in the business practices and the organizational culture prevalent in both of the companies is sufficiently strong and stable. Both are equally popular. It is ver y difficult for me to choose one of them and say that I would like to work in that company, and not in the other. In fact, I consider both of them very nice places to be in, yet if I were to choose one of them, I would go for Pendennis because employees’ on job training is something that is not conventionally provided by many employers while Pendennis does provide it. I believe that the

Discussing the Situations in Criminal Law Assignment

Discussing the Situations in Criminal Law - Assignment Example Intention leads the guilty party to have prior foresight of consequences that will take place should the act be carried out. It is different from recklessness since on a subjective basis, there remains foresight without the hope of actually bringing about results. The problem in the courts of law is that the borderline between intention and recklessness is too vague. The court has to decide the extent of the desire to carry out the act and convert recklessness into intention. In DPP v Smith (1961) AC 290, the test was that the individual was taken to foresee and intend to bring about the likeliest actions if he carried out his intentions. One, 'subjective' recklessness; In this case, the defendant understands that a risk may occur if a certain action is carried out, still despite knowing this he still chooses to take that action ignoring the results of his actions. This is often seen when the guilty party decides to drive under the influence knowing full well that his actions could cause an accident. Two, 'objective' recklessness arises when it is apparent to everyone apart from the defendant that there was a risk. Therefore the risk is so apparent that despite the defendant claims not to have considered the risk this is irrelevant. The intention has many different levels at the most serious intention can lead to murder. The degrees of intention range from pure intention to recklessness dependant on the nature and seriousness of the crime. When the most serious degree of culpability, justifies the most serious degree of punishment both elements are found in the defendant's mind. (a subjective test) An individual who plots and carries out an act of crime is thought of like a more serious threat than the one who behaves recklessly. An opportunist might find a sudden opportunity to steal something or become so angry that they harm another. Intention can also arise from the common law principle as well. One of the most critical sources in the early development of the law on recklessness was an academic piece of work. In his book Outlines of Criminal Law' (published in 1902), Professor Kenny discussed the definition of "maliciously", with specific reference to arson. A large amount of the information in the book was founded on the judgment in the case of R v Harris. At the beginning of the century, the fundamental state of the law concerning recklessness was that it was a subjective test that determined the men's rea in criminal acts where the necessary men's rea for the defendant was to carry out an act. Â  

Birth to death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Birth to death - Essay Example This notion might result to drying of wells, reduction of stream water, deterioration of the quality of water in Tucson as well as land subsidence. The water table in Tucson has drastically lowered over the past 70years (City of Tucson, 2014). This is as a result of an increase in population over the years which have lead to excessive pumping of underground water. This is portrayed by the decline in the amount of water yield by most of the well in southern Tucson region (City of Tucson, 2014). The Central Arizona Project is a water supply and treatment project owned by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. It comprises of 336 miles length system of tunnels, aqueducts, pipelines and pumping ducts. The system is designed to carry water across the state of Arizona. Apart from drinking and agriculture, water from the CAP is used for outdoor recreation, wildlife conservation and fishing. Wildlife conservation practices and fishing are essential in the economy of

Themes in Hamlet Essay Example for Free

Themes in Hamlet Essay To what extent does Shakespeare deal with these themes in Hamlet? As consistent with all Shakespearean tragedies, Shakespeare uses the fatal flaws of the central characters to bring about their downfall which ultimately leads to their death. In Hamlet, deceit and betrayal initiates the failures of the main characters, particularly Prince Hamlet, King Claudius and Ophelia. These themes are pivotal to their actions and are used to expose the flaws of the characters that lead to their downfall and eventually, death. Shakespeare begins the play with the depressed, yet innocent Hamlet, who is in mourning for the recently dead king, his father. He is angry at his mother, for quickly marrying the new King, also his uncle. He feels betrayed by his mother because she was able to forget her previous husband so quickly and easily. He is melancholic because of his father’s death but more because of his mother’s â€Å"speedy marriage†. In his fury, he stereotypes all women as weak, â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman. † He is uncomfortable with what he feels is an unacceptable situation and he senses, â€Å"It is not, nor can it come to, good. † Despite his negative feelings, his emotions are controlled and he does not even consider the possibility that his father was murdered and he is portrayed as blameless and wide open to deceit. Shakespeare creates the first twist of the play when Hamlet meets the ghost, his â€Å"father’s spirit†. The ghost divulges to a shocked Hamlet that his father was victim of â€Å"murder most foul† and urges the prince to â€Å"revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown,† thus revealing to Hamlet the betrayal and deceit of Claudius. Hamlet is outraged and disgusted by what he learns and promises the ghost, â€Å"Thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain. † He will seek nothing but revenge and he entrusts only the loyal Horatio and Marcellus with his sinister findings. Claudius murders his own brother and king to introduce the complex web of deceit and betrayal that make up the play. After Hamlet’s meeting with the ghost, Hamlet is convinced that he has been victim of betrayal and deceit as he refers to the spirit as â€Å"an honest ghost†. His previously controlled emotions reach boiling point and he is furious enough to call his mother a â€Å"most pernicious woman†. He is traumatised by the news and his emotions start to become uncontrolled causing Horatio to say, â€Å"These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. † Slowly, the idea of revenge overcomes all his thoughts and Shakespeare feeds idea of deceit and betrayal into his mind. Hamlet decides that the only way he can see through the deceit and confirm the murder claim is by deception himself. He decides to â€Å"put on an antic disposition† to enable him to spy on his uncle without arousing any suspicion. Ophelia, although innocent, is a character who is in the way of Hamlet without meaning to do any harm. Her father is the Lord Chamberlain who is capable of extracting all scraps of information from her, against her will. He is very loyal to the king and will pass on anything he knows to him. As a consequence, Ophelia cannot be trusted with the truth and is subjected to deceit and betrayal. Hamlet deceives her by deliberately acting mad to confuse her and telling her that he â€Å"loved her not†. This is a downright lie as is obvious towards the end of the play when he is distraught to discover her death and tells an equally distressed Laertes that â€Å"forty thousand brothers with all their quantity of love could not love her more than [he] did†. Hamlet betrays her by being cruel and sarcastic to her and making comments such as, â€Å"Get thee to a nunnery† to keep her away from him. Hamlet is forced to take this path because he knows she must not find out what he knows regarding his father’s death; otherwise he risks endangering his life from Claudius. Shakespeare uses all the deceit and betrayal to create a conflict of loyalty inside Ophelia and she is unsure whether she should stay true to her love Hamlet or obey her father. She betrays Hamlet by choosing to obey her father rather that staying loyal to Hamlet. Despite her feeble attempts to try to defend Hamlet by saying, â€Å"He hath importuned me with love in honourable fashion,† she cannot disobey her father. She is torn between a strong father and a strong lover but being the dutiful daughter she promises her father, â€Å"I shall obey, my lord,† when ordered to stay away from Hamlet and not to â€Å"give words or talk† to him. She deceives Hamlet when she allows Claudius and her father to spy on him by trying to engage him in conversation in the presence of the two men. Her decision to obey her father means she is completely reliant on him. Being a lady of her time, she does not have any independence and needs the support of a man which makes her vulnerable and ultimately a failure. Hamlet’s rudeness towards her and her betrayal of Hamlet makes her believe that he will not care for her again. When her father dies she feels as if she has lost everything and this drives her towards insanity and eventually, death. As is obvious from the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s main failure is that he is very indecisive and thinks about issues too much which lead to his downfall and ultimately, death. He is also quite lonely and throughout the course of the play, only Horatio remains loyal to the prince and Hamlet can talk to and trust only him. All others, including his girlfriend, Ophelia, betray him and he cannot speak freely with them. The lack of people to talk to means that thoughts build up in his mind and he is constantly thinking about issues, such as revenge and suicide, too much without being able to reach an appropriate decision. His main failure and fatal flaw is this inability to make quick decisions and take action before it is too late. Typically, Shakespeare shows Claudius’ main flaw and failure to be his ambition which is what possesses him to perform the evil deed of murdering the king. He confesses, â€Å"I am still possess’d of those effects for which I did the murder, my crown, mine own ambition and my queen. † He tries to convince himself that he cannot turn around and make up for what he has done because he has waded too far into the pool of evil. He offers what is really an empty prayer because his â€Å"words fly up† but â€Å"thoughts remain below† and he says, â€Å"Words without thoughts never to heaven go. † His failure is that he is too ambitious and greedy and he cannot bear to think about life without his throne and queen. He does not make any attempt to make up for what he has done because he does not want to which creates problems because eventually the truth is discovered and this brings about his downfall and death. All the actions of the main characters are shaped by Shakespeare through the themes of deceit, betrayal and failure. He uses the deceit and betrayal of Claudius and Ophelia to cause Hamlet himself to deceive and betray which enables him to discover the truth. Shakespeare uses the deceit and betrayal to bring out the failures of the characters that lead to their downfall and death.

Monitoring The Technological Economic And Social Environments Marketing Essay

Monitoring The Technological Economic And Social Environments Marketing Essay Introduction In this day and age, the technological, economic and social environments are developing at a rapid pace, also it plays a crucial role in deciding consumption. The technological, economic and social environments belong to the marketing environment. According to Kotler (2004, p. 87) marketing environment can be defined as consisting of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect markers ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers. The marketing environment offers both opportunities and threats. Some assert that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. However, others consider that it is not the significant element for anticipating although it sometimes proves successful. This essay will attempt to demonstrate that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities and ward off threats. To demonstrate this, this essay will show in three aspects, the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments and how far they can anticipate customer requirements respectively. At the same time, the problems of the monitoring will be discussed. The monitoring of the technological environment The technological environment is perhaps one of the fastest changing factors in the marketing environment. Kotler (2004, p. 107) told about technology, as follow: Technology has released such wonders as penicillin, organ transplants, notebook computer and the Internet. It has also released such horrors as nuclear missiles, chemical weapons and assault rifles, and such mixed blessings as cars, televisions and credit cards. Some concede the significance of the technological environment but also propose that keeping pace with technological changes is becoming more challenging for companies today. For one thing, the technological life cycle is getting shorter. Take mobile phones as an example: 10 years ago, mobile phones were basically used to communicate, nowadays the functions of mobiles include Multimedia playback device, high-speed web browser, camera, Bluetooth and so on. The update pace of the technological environment is too fast to always track. For another thing, technology and innovations require heavy investment in research and development. For instance, the development of a drug is an enormously expensive process. According to the published average cost of drug development is approximately $800million (John and Ezekiel, 2005). The increasing cost of research and development makes it more difficult to master a wide range of technologies, even for big companies. However, it is a trend that technology develops faster and faster which means the development of society. Obviously, new technology would replace old technology which means that when old industries overlooked new technologies, their business declined. Hence, the companies must track technological trends and aware whether or not these changes will affect their products continued ability to satisfy customer needs. Also, there are some solutions for the high research and development budgets including collaborating with other companies to develop new products and technologies, acquiring smaller, innovative companies which cannot afford to develop and commercialise new products and technologies (Kotler, 2004, p. 108). Furthermore, the corporations may recover their expenses through charging a high price for the new products and innovation after monopolizing the market (John and Ezekiel, 2005). Consequently, it is essential for a company to stay ahead of others and update their own technology before it becomes outdated. Marketers need to understand the changing technological environment and how new technologies can satisfy customer needs. Example can be found in the case of Toyota Prius which are introduced in 2000 as their first hybrid car. As for the technologies used in Prius, Kotler wrote: The electric motor starts the car and operates at low speeds, using a nickel metal-hydride battery. At higher speeds, the Prius automatically switches to the internal combustion engine. Under normal motorway driving conditions, it should get 28 km per litre. (2004, p. 121) The Prius would get twice as many kilometres per litre of petrol, it costs about  £4,000 more than the Toyota Echo, although they are almost the same car. In spite of its high price, it has achieved great success after it was introduced. Kotler clearly highlighted the success: Between July and October 2000, Toyota sold 2,610 Priuses and had difficulty keeping up with demand. By the end of October 2000, the cars were waitlisted until January. (2004, p. 121) Toyota spend  £200 million on the whole marketing budget of the Prius in 2002, the reason why Toyota spend so much on it is competition and the new opportunities of new technology. Kotler (2004, p. 122) also pointed out that all car manufacturers have plans to move to hybrids to raise petrol mileage and lower emissions, including Ford, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. It is clear that there are many reasons why people may want a revolutionary car. Some enthusiasts are crazy about scientific and technological advances and want the newest products. Others rebel against fuel price increase and prefer less-fuel consuming cars with hi-tech. Toyota acquired what their customers want and how new technologies can serve customer needs, as a result, it obtained significant success in the campaign of hybrid cars. To summarize, the technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic element to decide our consumption which creates both threats and new opportunities, therefore, to anticipate the customer requirements, marketers should watch the following trends in technology and try to adapt to these changes. They must stay ahead of trends so that they can make new marketing strategies, rather than becoming outdated and suffering the business decline. The monitoring of the economic environment The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. It is manifest that consumer purchasing power is a vital factor in economic environment. Nowadays, the financial crisis still has detrimental impacts upon varies domains. Some studies have indicated that around 50% of businesses failed in the first three years of economic crisis, and a number of business closures have been the byproduct of an uncertain economy. However, several companies have withstood the test of time, such as Banco Popular, Ford Motor Co., Coca-Cola, Johnson Johnson and Sears (Caribbean Business, 2008). In this situation, how far the monitoring of economic environment can help to anticipate the customer requirements has become a heated topic. Examples would be mentioned as follow: One example is that according to Howard and Begun (2001), the economy crisis has made bargain-hunting rage, even high-end brands are trying to lower their prices, such as The May Conde Nast Traveler featured an unprecedented list of Cheap Chic hotels. Zagat also published its first Americas Best Meal Deals. And after dying out in the rich early 90s, the Blue Light Special is booming again at Kmart with a different image. It is as thrifty as before, but now it is also prevalent among the youth. Another example is that the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, which represent more than 1,000 thrift, resale and consignment shop members nationwide, conducted a survey which showed that fourth-quarter 2008 sales were up an average of 30 percent in more than 71 percent of the stores (Consumers Making the Shift to Thrift, 2009). All these successful cases demonstrate that the marketers should always monitor the major trends and shift their marketing strategies to satisfy their cus tomer needs. As we can see, when countries experience an economic collapse or an economic recession, consumer purchasing power would reduce which lead to consumers spending more carefully and seeking greater value in the products and services they buy. The successful companies notice this information and take swift steps to satisfy the customer needs which make they survive the economic recession, even create new opportunities for them. Moreover, customer spending pattern is also significant in the economic environment. Hence, marketers should also watch the changes of customer spending pattern. For example, to curb its greatly increasing population, the Chinese governments make laws to limit families to one child only. As a result, Chinese children tend to be over-spoiled and fussed as never before. Several studies show that parents in the average Beijing household spend about 40 percent of their income on their cherished only child. This trend has encouraged toy companies including Denmarks Lego Group, Japans Bandai Company (known for its Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and Americas Mattel to enter the Chinese market (Marketing: Chinas (only) children get the royal treatment, 1995). The example shows the significance of monitoring of the customer spending pattern and reveals that marketers should determine how economic trends affect spending pattern and how they translate into marketing threats and opportunities for the companies. Nevertheless, some argue that the monitoring of economic environment cannot be always valid to anticipate the customer requirements. For instance, the luxury market is insulated from the economic decline, PwC partner Guy Gillon asserted that within the wider luxury sector, only 16% of consumers said that the economic crisis had resulted in a significant decline in their expense. PwC was commissioned by Abta to carry out exclusive researches to coincide with the inaugural Luxury Travel Forum, which attracts almost 100 delegates (Buyers rich and willing but getting more savvy, 2009). Consumers who have greatest purchasing power are likely to belong to the higher-income groups, whose higher-incomes mean that their spending patterns are less susceptible to economic changes than those of lower-income groups. Therefore, it seems that the monitoring of economic environment does not have great help in this situation. It is conceded that the monitoring of economic environment is not always effective, but it is still extremely important to anticipate customer requirements. Changes in major economic variables such as income, cost of living, spending pattern have a large impact on the market. Companies watch these variables by using economic forecasting. Companies do not have to be closed down in an economic downturn or in a boom. With proper warnings, they can take advantages of changes in the economic environment. The monitoring of the social environment Social environment in this essay refers to a host of domains including demographic, political and cultural environment. Kotler (2004, p. 91) clearly defined the demographic environment: Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation and other statistics. The demographic environment is of considerable interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets. Demographic changing greatly influences the market requirements, such as a growing population means growing customer needs to satisfy, and then marketers are able to anticipate customer needs for some products and services. Also, marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political environment. The political environment includes laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals, such as legislation regulating business, growth of public interest groups and increased emphasis on ethics and socially responsible actions (Kotler, 2004, p. 109). In addition, the cultural environment which is made up of institutions and other forces affects societys basic values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors. Individuals shape their basic beliefs and values when growing up in a certain society. The cultural environment plays a vital role in marketing decisions making, marketers must be aware of these cultural influenc es and how these influences might vary across societies (Kotler, 2004, p. 111). All of these elements have some impact on consumption, when marketers attempt to anticipate the customer needs, they should aware of all of these elements and how they influence the customer requirements, thereby making their marketing strategies appropriately. To demonstrate the importance of monitoring the social environment to anticipate customer needs, we take the monitoring of demographic environment as an example: According to Kotler (2004, p. 91), demographic environment refers to population size and growth trends, changing age structure of a population, the changing family, rising number of educated people and so on. Demographic shifts have important implications for marketing managers. For example, the rising ageing population will make a growing demand for healthcare products, pensions and services to cater to older consumer needs. According to Bentley and Ross (2006), the over-50s are becoming more comfortable with technology. An independent report conducted by Saga Holidays found that rather than keeping away from new media, over a quarter (27%) of the 1,000 people aged 50 and over questioned purchase goods online. The same analysis discovered that a third (37%) regularly send text messages. Meanwhile, a recent survey by Continental Research of the growth of the so-called silver surfer market revealed that in the last year, home Internet use among the over-55s has increased by more than 50%, growing from 2.9 million in 2004, to 4.4 million in 2005. The findings will remind travel companies to capture this fast-growing and affluent section of the holidaying public. Sagas website provides a good example of how travel retailers can target older travelers. At web design consultancy Foviance, director Catriona Campbell considered companies that want to capture older web users need to make their websites accessible and simple to use. To build on its brand as an over-50s specialist, Saga launched an online travel shop, SAGAtravelshop.com last month. The website makes consumers able to buy dynamically package trips as well as buy package holidays. The charity Help the Aged (Ageing Europe faces up to need for pension reform, 2003, p. 18) pointed out that now over-60s are more affluent and active, with lifestyles that are more similar to those of people in their 40s and 50s. Indeed, some companies, like Saga Holiday, are already aware of this demographic shift and adapting p roduct marketing and design to cater to older consumer demands. The changing family also plays a vital role in the demographic environment. The changing family which means the notion of the ideal family -mum, dad and two kids- has lately been changed. People are marrying later and having fewer children. Also, the number of working women is increasing including working mothers. This trend has boomed the child day-care business, cleaning and catering services, increased consumption of convenience foods, career-oriented womens clothing and many other business opportunities. For instance, Britain and America are around the top of both the convenience-food league and the working-woman league. The increasing of working women is pushing the time-saving trend and the consumption of time-saving products like convenience foods. Mark Price, who is the marketing director of Waitrose, Britains top-of-the-range supermarket, pointed out that the companys biggest item in meals at its Canary Wharf (London) branch is the ready-mixed Caesar salad in a box. It costs  £1 ($1.70) less if you buy all the ingredients and mix them yourself, however, people prefer the convenient but expensive one. Ready meals from supermarkets become increasingly popular in Britain. Ten years ago, the sector barely existed while now it is worth  £1.5 billion and is growing at 6% a year. These days, Tesco launches 1,200 new convenience products a year and the variety boosts consumption at the same time (Make it convenient, 2003). Also, it is difficult to monitoring the demographic, political and cultural environments at the same time, and it is complicated to analyze all elements to anticipate the customer requirements. Furthermore, similar to the economic environment, some cases prove that the monitoring of the social environment to anticipating customer requirements cannot be always valid, especially when some unpredictable affairs happens, Yang and Li (2008) showed that in the April of 2008, Carrefour which is a French retail firm encounter a sudden crisis in China. The crisis stems from the widely spreading posts on the BBS, with some political reasons the posts call on all Chinese people not to go shopping in Carrefour on 1st May. And this appeal achieved a huge number of netizens supports. The survey of whether or not boycott Carrefour conducted by Sina Finance showed that over 560,000 users asserted that they would not go to Carrefour in the whole month. It is not difficult to image that what a large l oss for Carrefour, however, it is cannot be monitored because Carrefour is extremely popular in China which have 73 hypermarkets, 8 supermarkets and 8 champions around the China. To conclude, although it is difficult to monitor the social environment and the monitoring is not always valid to anticipate customer requirements, there is no doubt that the monitoring of social environment greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. Therefore, the smart marketers know how to track the demographic trends and indicate what their target customers want, and then take swift actions to cater this situation. Conclusion In summary, this essay has attempted to demonstrate that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities and ward off threats. However, it is difficult to imagine a time when all the problems can be resolved, the situation is certainly hopeful and suggests real developments may be made in the future.

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

You Can’t Pray A Lie is a pivotal excerpt taken from Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Like Twain’s other works, this example of moral truth and consequence undermines the basic sense of human values. Set in the 1880’s on a raft upon the Mississippi River, Huck is caught in a battle of personal conflicting views. It is through his interactions with Jim, a runaway black slave, that he faces the realization that being ultimately true to himself means that he cannot â€Å"pray a lie.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jim had run away from his abusive father and enabling small town to find himself traveling down the Mississippi on a raft. His traveling partner was a black slave, Jim. Wondering why Jim was there, Huck discovers that Jim had run away from his slave owner, Ms. Watson. Jim had spoken about his harsh life as a slave, and resented talk of being sold down to Orleans for a â€Å"big stack o’ money.† Huck felt that Jim’s escape was wrong, but kept his promise of secrecy, like any good friend would.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In lieu of his escape, Jim emphasized his feelings of becoming a free man. Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom (p. 238). Huck came to the realization that Jim was escaping for a far different reason than he, and began to see this â€Å"nigger’s† freedom as his own fault; he was an accomplice. Huck’s conscience became plagued by the fact that Jim was escaping the custody of his rightful owner, and he was doing nothing to stop this. In Huck’s eyes, Jim was essentially the property of poor old Ms. Watson, who didn’t do anything less than teach Jim his manners and his books. Altogether, Huck felt that he was doing wrong by concealing this, and felt miserable to say the least.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jim’s anticipation for freedom grew higher as he expressed his future dreams and aspirations. Jim began saying things that â€Å"niggers† wouldn’t normally dare say. Jim was speaking like a white man, not like someone’s property, a slave. This attitude began to lower Huck’s vision of Jim, and his conscience grew even hotter. Huck had never been exposed to a slave who spoke this way. It was his inadequate education that told him this was wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jim stopped the raft with intentions of surrendering Jim. At this point he heard Jim yell: â€Å"Pooty soon I’ll be a-shout’n for joy, en I’ll say, it’s on accounts o’Huck; I’s a free man, en I couldn’t ever ben free ef it hadn’ been for Huck; Huck done it.

Jollibee Foods Corporation Essay

What were the strategy and competitive advantages of Jollibee in the Philippines? JFC observed that the fast food market in Philippines had a high growth potential. They were the first movers in the market and therefore able to build up brand recognition. JFC’s success could be attributed to its differentiation strategy that created and sustained a competitive advantage especially against McDonalds. The McDonalds was a global giant strictly following the philosophy of standardization especially with its hamburger line. JFC realized that it could attract customers with superior tasting products for more affordable prices due to their tight control over operations management. JFC was also aware that the founders of Jollibee (Tan family) had a family tradition (a capability) of making delicious food tailored for the needs (local tastes) of Filipino customer. In conclusion, JFC offered a more tailored menu with a sweeter hamburger, an innovative chicken product, a kid-oriented chicken plate in line with the preferences of consumers whereas McDonalds did little or nothing to modify its products due to mainly its US based decision process. This might be, because the global operating competitor McDonalds would jeopardize its brand image and values, if they would adapt local needs – the contrary applies for JFC. The flatter organizational structure allowed JFC to respond to market changes more quickly. In addition being closer to the market as well as better connected (Many franchisees were friends of Tan family) helped JFC to establish themselves better. JFC’s managers knew that offering tasty hamburgers were not sufficient. They took the initiative to replicate and improve the McDonalds operating structure so that Jollibee became more competitive at store level. Lessons learned from the competitor at the early stages of the small food chain enabled it to reduce production time and ensure consistency and cleanliness of its products. The combination of being the first in the market, service with innovative products and opening new and efficient store at good locations allowed  Jollibee to expand the growing fast food market to new consumers. In addition, Jollibee’s organizational culture and philosophy summarized by ‘Five Fs’ (Friendliness, flavorful food, fun atmosphere, flexibility in catering customer needs and focus on families) sustained the competitive advantage against competitors by enhancing the customer experience and optimizing processes to keep costs low and quality high.

Dreams

Dreams and the perspectives they have on individuals in society has led to debate, and even controversy, over that past few centuries. It’s the analysis and interpretation of dreams and how it relates to individual experience that is a central element surrounding this topic. The impact of a dream on an individual along with the influence of dream interpretation can be viewed as having a direct impact on the types of dreams people have. I will address the topic of dream anomalies and what impact dreams have on individuals as I cite literary scholars to affirm my position. There have been many great philosophers with differing opinions on the influence of dreams and whether or not there is a direct correlation between the dream process and the human’s individual thought processing and daily-life experiences. First, I considered the views of a great philosopher named William James as a foundation behind the study of dreams and its effects on individuals. William James has published numerous manuscripts backed by volumes of other philosophical material, research, and documentation. William James is considered one of the most influential people who studied the workings of the human mind, interrelationships among thought, and the consciousness of an individual. James was a naturalist, physician, professor, writer, and psychologist. His studies played a role in other philosophical studies of dream interpretation. One of his published pieces, The Principles of Psychology, had revolutionary impact on society. It was a breakthrough for the sciences of thought. Some of his well-known material was published in the latter part of the 19th century, which will be discussed in detail. The Principles of Psychology was an immense undertaking by James. My focus will look at The Stream of Thought and The Consciousness of Self segments of this work where I will state why I was convinced by his arguments surrounding consciousness and thought-processing. The reason for incorporating William James’s interpretations on streams of thought and consciousness of self is because there is a direct correlation between thought processing and the dream phase of an individual. He begins The Stream of Thought by keying into the essence of human thought. His provocative conclusions surrounding what makes us think is done in very concrete terms. He states that previous psychological texts attempting to dissect human thought are deeply flawed. Consciousness, from our natal day, is of a teeming multiplicity of objects and relations . He relates the thought processes and earlier fallacies surrounding its study with these analogies: We cannot, according to James, simply say, â€Å"it thinks† with the same conclusive logic as â€Å"it rains† or â€Å"it blows. † What we can say, however is that â€Å"thought goes on. † He goes on to discuss why every ‘thought’ or ‘state’ is part of our personal consciousness. This sets the scaffold for why and how William James came to such conclusions regarding consciousness. Prior to this, theories on consciousness lacked sufficient evidence; for previous scholars attempted to state theories without the empowering reality that James was able to express in this chapter. To add further credibility to his presumption, he states that every thought is a part of our personal consciousness and can be altered from individual to individual. Thought, he goes on to say, is in constant change. He provides examples along the way to create reasoning and proof that his methodology is credible. His description of Mr. Shadworth Hodgeson (p. 149) creates very clear evidence that individual consciousness has the ability to change and alter what it thinks and why, almost on a whim. From thought-processing, we segue into the dream experience and how they are directly related to one another in forming, sometimes jarring experiences. First, we must look at the characteristic differences between lucid and non-lucid dreams. A lucid dream, simply stated, is the state of REM sleep when a person is almost awake. The dream continues to evolve but the dreamer is aware—if only for a few seconds—that they are dreaming. Non-lucid dreaming, on the other hand, occurs when an individual is not aware of being in a dream state. The non-lucid dream is the most common form of dream. It is difficult to ascertain when and where the division between lucid dreaming and non-lucid dreaming occurs. In other words, when the dream consciousness ends and where a person is consciously aware of the dream cannot be defined. It’s purely subjective, or set aside for individual interpretation. However, the true experience of the dream can best be interpreted with the following model. The dream model links the waking-self and the dreamer. With this connection, the model also looks at what psychological levels alter self-awareness in the act of dreaming. Research, according to Laberge, has shown that over 80% of lucid dreams are transformations of a non-lucid dream. When we look at many lucid dreamers, the act of coherence or stirring from the dream is, many times, likely to occur during a nightmare or a dream that instills anxiety. The notion of anxiety can be viewed differently from one person to the next. What one person views as uncomfortable will not hold the same gravity on another person’s interpretation. It’s all a matter of personal experience. To state it simply, what brings about fear in one person may not instill that same fear in another person. This, in turn, can lead us back to individual experience. The experience and thought processing is the framework for determining lucid dreams and non-lucid dreams, which can be referenced back to our discussion on the philosopher William James. It’s important that I include a few dream examples to express the anxiety that can be instilled upon the dreamer. One dream environment occurred in a classroom. It was a riot, according to the dreamer. Again, the notion of what institutes a riot can vary from person to person. It’s also important to detail the dream, in order to give merit to the person’s anxiety. This riotous dream had a large barbarian with a heavily scarred face. He was the Goliath in the dream and locked up the dreamer in its steely grip. The dreamer could not free himself. It was at this point that the dreamer realized he was amid a dream; for he recalled other situations in his life. He gave up the struggle and instead offered feelings of love and consolation to this beastly barbarian. Yet, the beast was too ugly to love. He tried to look beyond the physical appearance and scarred features and soon beautiful words of loving acceptance flowed freely and the creature melted into him. The riot soon disappeared and the dreamer woke feeling relieved and calm. There are many other human emotions—embarrassment or delight for instance—that can institute a person into wakefulness. The number of methods used by individuals varies. What’s important to reinforce—although it may seem obvious—is the fact that individuals learn these methods in a conscious, wakeful state. Again, I go back to incorporating some of the philosopher William James’s theories to reinforce my interpretation. James gives us clear real-life scenarios to help define his theory on human conscious thought. For consideration, suppose three people instantaneously say to you: â€Å"Wait! † â€Å"Look! † â€Å"Over here! † Our consciousness is torn to decide which of the three will gain our attention first. He doesn’t deny our consciousness being able to juggle thoughts of the â€Å"wait† â€Å"look† and â€Å"over here. William James reinforces his theory by stating that there is a different ‘feel’ within our conscious thought when we experience something for the first time, versus recognizing something familiar. It could be a tune, an odor, or a familiar photogra ph that resonated memories. Again, James uses specific examples. The new experiences—or unfamiliar experience—can shake our emotions, which can strengthen recall. Also, objects in our field of vision have what James called a â€Å"fringe. † If we try to recall a forgotten name, there will be a gap in our consciousness as we search the recesses of our mind for this name. If someone tries to help us remember and gives us incorrect names, our consciousness will remain ‘at the fringe’ until we hear the name or something stirs us emotionally to recall the name. In effect, it is the overtone, or the fringe of the word or thought that generates energy within the human mind. It gives way to ideas which create the verbal kernel—as James puts it—that keeps the stream of consciousness on the move, always flowing, and always changing. James offers clear, consistent evidence to warrant credibility surrounding the intangible concepts of the stream of thought. In the following chapter, James segues into The Consciousness of Self, and brings the ego and its relationship to consciousness to the table. James builds momentum by stating humankinds’ innate desire for recognition from loved ones, and society in general, plays a part in how human consciousness develops. To bring this point home, James adds impact with this: a man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him and carry as image of him in their mind. James also references a man’s honor in society by stating it has a sole purpose: to best serve our social-selves. This social grace, then, is tied to what James refers to as the self-regard. We weigh our own ‘Me’ as we perceive praise and blame. James speaks of an individual self-regard as vital; for the individual knows him or herself better than anyone else—regardless of how positive or depressing a person views themselves. It’s the emotion of self that James, in turn, speaks of as he builds on his consciousness of self. It’s the sense of personal identity that fosters the ego-thought which remains part of the individual’s stream of consciousness. From here, we look at anomaly recognition. Here, the dreamer trains themselves to understand bizarre dream events as a red-flag to bring oneself back to wakefulness. The dream interpreter uses previous dreams and/or previous life-experiences that they view as bizarre to work as a point where the conscious-self takes over and stirs the dreamer into an alert state. For, when an individual can jar oneself from a potentially nightmarish dream, their emotional consciousness, in turn, will not be affected by the dramatic negative effects of the dream. They, in effect, turn off the dream before it can be viewed in its entirety. Here’s another example of a dream with anomaly recognition: A person is stepping through a field that is colored with fairy-tale animation. There is life everywhere in this wilderness. The overwhelming image, however, are magic mushrooms (psilocybin variation). These mushrooms shoot out from the soil all over the field. Some grow to immense height and girth. The person, then, realizes that this fantasy is too dream-like to be real. Their rationalization offers the anomaly recognition to stir them from their slumber. They are able to insert lucid thoughts that say, â€Å"I must be dreaming. † The dream begins to fade as their conscious-self regains control of the person’s mind set. One more dream example that uses anomaly as a cue to clear oneself from an anxiety- driven dream can be seen in the following situation: A person stands on top of a hill that seems unfamiliar. He looks across the wide-open meadow and envisions the horizon stretching out before him. For some odd reason, the dreamer has no idea of time, or what year it is. He sees the positioning of the sun, which appears to be straight overhead. The sun is intense and bright, which is unusual. The dreamer suddenly realizes that it is autumn and the sun was much lower in the recent past. The dreamer correlates the angle of the sun in relation to the equator. His shadow, due to the angle of the sun in this season should create a shadow that is equal in height to his own. The shadow does not equal his height. So he realizes that this must be a dream. The reason I included this dream was to point out that individual interpretations on dreams can be directly related to human experience and one’s knowledge-base and educational background. Although this was not a frightful dream or one that might instill anxiety, the dreamer—due to his knowledge—ascertained that the lack of proportion in his shadow was enough to constitute an anomaly and thus free him from his dream-consciousness. There is heavy criticism surrounding the topic of lucid dreaming, which I will address in detail here. For one, even though, according to research, there is overwhelming positive feedback regarding lucid dreams, I have a difficult time taking this data seriously. Laberge and many other researchers in this field state that lucidity during a nightmare can create a fear-factor within an individual that may have dramatic effects on one’s courage and even self-esteem. I do not see any parallel significance in a person losing self-esteem due to a lucid dream. Other studies went so far as to state that mood can be altered as well. If people are affected, or say they are affected by a dream, then these results are too biased and subjective to be generalized. The attempts at generalizing lucid dreaming can be seen in the following example: One study reviewed moods in college students and the relationship to lucid dreaming. College students, it was reported, stated that if they realized they were dreaming in a nightmare that this lucidity helped them deal with the consequences of the nightmare and feel better in 60% of the cases (Lucid Dreaming Frequency p. 1). I find this rationalization too trite to even be considered in a literary study. Furthermore, they went on to state that those who experienced dying in a dream stated that the experience was insightful, and not regressive. All in all, these elements alone are too biased and opinionated to create any sound reasoning behind the notion of lucid dreaming and its effects on a person’s well-being. In conclusion, I must reiterate that the reasons for dreaming have bewildered philosophers and science enthusiasts for many years. When we look at a normal life span, a person spends close to 25 years of their life asleep. Dreams are an integral component of this. It only makes sense that there is a purpose to our dreaming that is related to personal experience. It can also be seen that dream control, in the sense of ‘turning off’ a dream so-to-speak is available to us in the form of anomalous dream situations. However, when literary criticism attempts to generalize the lucid dream with an individual’s mood, there is great concern for its validity. Dreams are in a genre that is still very blurred in its scientific evidence, and thus flawed when we try to use the dream as a developmental factor in a person’s conscious state of mind. While the discussions surrounding the purpose of dreams are far from over, at least philosophers and scientists have a captivating means into discussing how the brain creates these nightly tales of adventure.