Ray Bradbury Essays - Fahrenheit 451, Waukegan, Illinois

Ray Bradbury "It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning." The above quote is from Fahrenheit 451, my favorite science fiction novel of all time, by Ray Bradbury. The quote describes the main concept of the book and is very appealing because it gives so much visual detail to the scene. This story is set in a future where all books and other written materials are forbidden. The main character's (Guy Montag's) job is to burn books and the houses which the books are hidden in. He never questions his actions until he meets someone who tells him how it was in the past when people didn't live in fear and could read whatever they wished. Then he does everything he can to prevent books from being burned and starts wanting to learn more and more. I thought that this novel exercised great social commentary on society as a whole. It shows how important books are to us all. It also shows that some people feel that knowledge is a threat to power and rule. Reading is a freedom everyone should be able to enjoy. Ray Bradbury is an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and poet. He was born in Waukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920. His work has been included in the Best American Short Story collections (1946,1948, and 1952). He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award in 1954, the Aviation-Space Writer's Association Award for best space article in an American Magazine in 1967, the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, and the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. His animated film about the history of flight, Icarus Montgolfier Wright, was nominated for an academy award, and his teleplay of The Halloween Tree won an Emmy. Some of Bradbury's most famous books over the years are The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, No Man is an Island, The Golden Apples of the Sun, Dandelion Wine and of course Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury's writing has been honored in many ways, but probably the most unusual was when an Apollo astronaut named the Dandelion Crater on the Moon after Bradbury's novel, Dandelion Wine. Besides his literary achievements, Ray Bradbury was the idea consultant and wrote the basic scenario for the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. He thought up the metaphors for Spaceship Earth, EPCOT, Disney World, and he contributed to the birth of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney in France. He was creative consultant for the Jon Jerde Partnership, the architectural firm that blueprinted the Glendale Galleria, The Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles, and Horton Plaza in San Diego. Ray Bradbury is now living in California and is still writing and lecturing.

Study of Leadership in Professional Practice Health and Social care The WritePass Journal

Study of Leadership in Professional Practice Health and Social care Introduction Study of Leadership in Professional Practice Health and Social care IntroductionREFERENCES Related Introduction This essay will discuss leadership, the various definitions and theoretical concepts in context to leadership. The different qualities and characteristics of an exemplary leader and identify leadership styles in congruence to health care and self. It will also discuss the importance of reflective learning and various models which aid in reflection are also discussed and using a reflective approach identify strengths and weakness of own leadership and learning styles, and develop a personal development plan to review the strengths and strategize an action plan to overcome the weaknesses. Leaders are ordinary people who do extraordinary things as asserted by Kouzes and Posner (1995).Leadership definitions are more often confusing and ambiguous because of the use of indefinite terms to describe phenomena such as authority, power, management, administration, and supervision Yulk (1989). Leadership is defined under multiple dimensions. Weihrich and Koontz (2005) defines leadership as influence, they compare it to an art or process of influencing people so that they strive readily and enthusiastically towards the attainment of group goals. Another definition on leadership views it as the use of interpersonal skills in achieving specific goals Sullivan and Garland (2010). Yet another leadership definition asserted by Bitpipe’s (2006) is that leadership is a management skill that focuses on the development and employment of vision, mission and strategy as well as the creation of a motivated workforce. Hughes et al (2006) suggest that the wide range of definitions can contribute to a better and greater understanding of the various factors that influence leadership, as well as present different perspectives on the concept. Leadership is a term hard to contain within a certain number of theories. However various theorists describe the various paradigms of leadership. Leadership theories are dynamic and change over time. The earliest theories on leadership were during the 1900-1940 which were the basis of most leadership research. The two theories widely discussed were the Great Man theory and Trait theories. The Great Man theory from is developed from the Aristotelian philosophy which asserts that certain people are born to lead whereas others are born to be led. The theory further suggests that great leaders arise when situations demand it. Trait theory asserts that some people have certain characteristics or a personality trait that makes them better leaders than others. Gofee and Jones (2000) cited in their work that early theories of leadership focused on personality traits of leaders, as though leadership was a characteristic that resided in some people not others. The various traits associated with the theory are intelligence, knowledge, judgment, decisiveness, oral fluency, interpersonal relationship and creativity to mention a few. Behavioral theories were developed during the human relation era between1940-1980. The theory strongly emphasized on the leaders’ style of leadership. Lewin and White (1951) and Lippit (1960) isolated three main leadership styles associated with the theory namely authoritarian, democratic and Laissez- Faire. The authoritarian style of leadership is in which the group are motivated by coercion, strong control is exercised at all times by the leader over the group. The flow of communication is always downwards. The decision making is vested in the leader and criticism is always punitive. Authoritarian leadership is helpful in well defined group actions. This style provides group members a feeling of security. The productivity of the group is high; however creativity and autonomy are compromised. It is most useful in crisis situations. In the democratic style the leader less control is maintained on the group, members are directed through suggestions and guidance, communication i s didactic, decision making is shared. Emphasis on â€Å"we feeling† and equality, criticism is constructive. Democratic style of leadership is appropriate for groups who work together for extended periods, promotes autonomy and growth in individual work. The style is effective when cooperation and coordination between groups are required. The Laissez-Faire style of leadership is one where the leader is very permissive and has less or no control over the group. The leader motivates by support and only upon request from the members. No criticism is performed. It can be used when all group members highly motivated and self directed. This type of leadership style is used to bring about creativity. It is most appropriate in poorly defined problems and to create solutions with great extent of brainstorming. Situational and contingency leadership theories concepts emerged during the 1950-1980 period. The theory of contingency approach outlined by Fidler (1967) suggested that no one leadership style is ideal for every situation. He argued that task to be accomplished and the power associated with the leaders’ position are key variables. Benis and Nanus (1985) further strengthen the theory by stating leaders cannot lead without power, and also referring power as the currency of leadership. Situational approach to leadership was developed by Hersey and Blanchard (1977). Their model of leadership effectiveness predicts leadership style is appropriate in each situation based on the level of the followers’ maturity. The next theory to evolve in the argument of theorists which added complexity to leadership was the interactional theory. The basic concepts of these theories were that the leadership behavior is usually determined by the relationship between leaders’ personality and specific situation. Brandt’s (1994) interactive leadership model suggests that leaders develop a work environment that fosters autonomy and creativity through valuing and empowering followers. Brandt states that this type of leadership gives the leader greater freedom while simultaneously increasing the leader’s responsibility. However as an advantage there is lesser need in resolving conflicts between followers. The modern theories of leadership led way to the development of transactional and transformational leadership. Burn’s (2003) came out with a novel addition to the interactional theory suggesting that both leaders and followers have the ability to raise each other to higher levels of motivation and morality. This concept was identified as transformational leadership. Mc Guire and Kennerly (2006) identifies transactional leaders as leaders who sets goals, gives directions and uses rewards to reinforce employee behaviors related with accomplishing established goals. Longnecker (2006) states that the transformational leader inspires and motivates   followers not only as a role model but also by recognizing the uniqueness of the follower and being creative. Martins and Henderson (2001) argues that by developing shared values and sense of purpose, transformational leaders can alter how staff sees themselves and their organization. Servant leadership developed by Greenleaf (1977) greatly influenced leadership thinking of the 21st century. The leader puts service of his/her employers, customers and community as the number one priority. Greenleaf argued that to be a great leader, one must be a servant first. Howatson and Jones (2004) assert that leadership is about ‘leaders serving the needs of followers and empowering them rather than the organization’. Other modern theories of leadership styles include principle agent theory, emotional intelligence, authentic leadership, thought leadership and quantum leadership. Shirley (2006) outlines the five distinguishing characteristics as purpose, values, heart, relationship and self discipline. The Kouzes and Posner (1995) model on the characteristics of exemplary leadership stated that leaders should have five main qualities. ‘Inspiring a shared vision’,’ modeling the way’, ‘challenging the process’, ‘encouraging the heart’ and enabling others to act. In a study of the role of leadership in modernizing and improving public services, Hartley and Allison (2002) describe three different aspects of leadership which they describe as the ‘three Ps’: ‘the person’, ‘the position’ and ‘the process’. Leadership roles adapted from Kotter (1990) and Northouse (1997) asserts that leadership produces change and movement, vision building and strategizing, aligning people and communicating and motivating and inspiring. The study conducted by the Hay group in 2007 to ascertain whether leadership styles of various ward managers can affect levels of staff satisfaction and in turn patient care using a 3600   leadership and work climate assessment identified six different leadership styles namely ‘directive’ , ‘visionary’ , ‘affiliative’ , ‘participative’ , ‘pace-setting’ and coaching. Reflection gives us a thorough record and it is a well established tool for learning as asserted by Benner (2001). The theories of reflection are approached through various aspects included the works of four writers namely John Dewey, Jurgen Habermas, Donald Schon and David Kolb. Dewey (1933, p.9) defines reflection as an ‘active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it ends.’ Another definition consistent with the definition of Dewey †Reflection in context of learning is a generic term for those intellectual and affective activities in which individuals engage to explore their experiences in order to lead to new understandings and appreciation.†Boud et al (1985, p.9). Dewey has two aspects of reflective thinking, the state of doubt and an act of searching. The Boud et al process suggests that the reflective process is initiated when the individual returns to the experience, recollecting what has taken place and replaying the experience. Finally revaluation takes place. There are different categories of models of reflection which are structured, hierarchical, iterative, synthetic and holistic. Structured models include two works on reflection by Johns (1993, 1994a, 1994b) describes reflection as a simple task to do without expert guidance and good support. The reflective model put forth by John’s is in context to health services and is termed as guided framework of reflection. Smyth (1991) developed another structured model. He stages the model into four stages. The first stage involves describing the moment; second stage encompasses informing what the moment describes itself as. The next stage is to confront the moment and knowing how the moment was like. The final stage called the construct describes how the person would do things differently. Of the best known hierarchical models; Mezirow (1983) developed a model where reflection is described in seven levels. ‘Reflectivity’ which forms the base of the level is described as the act of becoming aware of a specific incident or inferring meaning acting. The second level is ‘affective’ it is described as the way one feels about the way one perceives, thinks or acts. Thereafter in the third level called the ‘descriminant’ the person asses the efficacy of his/her perception and try to realize the reality of the context in which he/she works that is identify the relationship to a situation. The fourth stage or level is ‘judgmental‘ , making and becoming aware of your value about perception , as whether they are positive or negative. The sixth level is called the ‘psychic’ level where one recognizes about one’s self about the habit of making precipitant judgment about the people based on limited information. Th e ‘theoretical’ level forms the top of the model which is becoming aware of the underlying assumptions. Iterative models are the models that are based upon the idea that the reflective process is described as a cycle and that in depth awareness and increase of knowledge and skillfulness arise from repeated ‘clockwise’ movements. Gibbs reflective cycle (1988) is a six point cycle which starts from description of an event asking a question like what happened, secondly describing the feeling at point of event, thereafter evaluating about the experience whether it was good or bad. Then making an analysis of the situation and making sense out of it. The fifth point of the cycle is about concluding the incident in terms of what could have been done. Finally drawing out an action plan what would you do if the experience arises again. Atkins and Murphy (1994) developed a cyclical model by drawing in consideration and works of others. They state that it is possible to begin the reflective process by reflecting on achievements. The first point of the cycle begins with the awareness of uncomfortable feeling or thought, then describe the situation where the feeling and thoughts occurs, thereafter analyze feelings and challenge the knowledge and in the next point in the cycle which is the ‘action’ where a new experience is generated. The strengths of these two models are that it encompasses knowledge, feelings and action in one learning cycle. Another variant in the iterative model is the Bouden et al (1985). The second variant is that of Ghaye et al (1996b) which is based on action research literature put forth by Donald Schon. I undertook the assessment of my own leadership skill using 3600 leadership questionnaire based on the work of Kouzes and Posner (2003). The leadership questionnaire helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses. My strengths outlined according to the 3600 questionnaire were determination, competent and strong communicator and networker. I could identify my strengths as a leader with the above theories of leadership. The weakness of my leadership skills outlined from the questionnaire was that I lacked the quality of inspiring and empowering others. Personal development plan (PDP), is a tool that can identify areas for further development and encourage lifelong learning. It acts as a process of planning, monitoring, assessment, and support to help staff develop their capabilities and potential to fulfill their job role and purpose. To identify my preferred learning style I undertook the Honey and Momford (1986) learning styles questionnaire and identified my preferred learning style as a strong reflector and a pragmatist and a moderate preference as that of a theorist. The best way that a reflector would learn is by observing individuals or group at work. They usually review what has happened and think about what they have learned, prefer doing tasks with tight deadlines. However a reflector learns less when acting as a leader or role playing. Doing things with no time to prepare and while being thrown at deep ends. Using the Gibbs model of reflection (1988) I was able to describe an incident which helped me learn about a new experience. The incident took place at the lecture hall 7020 in my university. I had an opportunity to learn about communication and personality. I learned about the Myer’s-Brigg’s inventory on the types of personalities and the dichotomies which elicited the personality traits. I thought about the dichotomy and was able to relate and identify my personality trait. Before learning about the inventory on personality I was not aware of my traits. The experience has helped me to understand and make me aware of myself and also to regard different personalities other than mine. Thus helping me to understand people with different personality traits and build up a harmonious interaction. The learning has helped me formulate an action in my personal development plan to enable me to inspire others as a leader and empower them. The Gibb’s cycle (1988) is a cyclic al process; it’s easy to understand and is very malleable and flexible. All the most Gibb’s cycle has helped me develop a personal development plan action. The Myers-Briggs type indicator is based on the Carl Jung’s theory of personality. The model identifies human behavior and personality styles in four dimensions. Bar and Bar (1989) who did study and administered Myers-Briggs type indicators in various managers and executives suggested that leaders must develop excellence in all eight areas to maintain consistent leadership. The dimensions are life attitude under which categories are extroversion or introversion. The second dimension is perception under which the category is sensing or intuiting. The third dimension is judgment under which categories of thinking or feeling are described. The fourth dimension is outer world orientation which holds categories of judging or perceiving. The core issue of leadership throughout the essay exemplifies the dynamic nature of leadership. The reflective learning process is a very important aspect of leadership within health care Transformational and transactional leadership qualities are regarded to the lie within leadership ability which demands high quality care Avolio and Bass (1998). The learning style helps a leader to understand the specific learning needs by developing a personal development plan involving reflective thinking.   Great leader are not made and not born. REFERENCES Atkins, S. and Murphy, K. (1994)’ Reflective Practice ‘, nursing standard, 8(39), pp: 49-50. Bass, B.M. , Avolio, B.J. , and Goodheim , L. (1987) Biography and the assessment of transformational leadership at the world – class level , journal of management, 13(1), pp: 17-19. Bennis, W. (1989) Why leaders can’t lead. San Francisco: Jossey-Boss. Bernis, W. and Nannes, B. (1985) Leaders: the strategies for taking charge. London: Harper and Row. Bitpipe.com (2006), Leadership (IT management leadership) definition from bitpipe.com/list/leadership.html(accessed on May 5th 2011). Bond, D., Keogh, C. and Walter, D. (Eds) (1985) Reflection: Turning experience into learning, Kogan Page, London. Burns, J.M. (2003) Transforming Leadership. Newyork NY: Groove/ Atlantic Inc. Cook, C. (2003) The many faces of diversity: Overview and summary, online journal of issues in nursing, 8(1) accessed on 7th May 2011, nursingworld.org/ojin/topic20/tpc20ntr.htm. Dewey, J (1933) how we think. Boston MA: Dc Health and co. Feidler, F. (1967) A theory of leadership effectiveness. Newyork: Mc Graw- Hill. Ghaye, T. and Lillyman, S. (1997) Learning Journal of critical incidents: Reflective practice for health care professionals, Sallisburry: Mark Ellen Publications. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to learning and teaching methods. Birmingham: Sced. Gofee, R. and Jones, G. (2000) Why should anyone be led by you?, Harvard business review, 78(5), pp: 63- 70. Greenleaf, R.K. (1977), Servant leadership: A journey in the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Newyork: Panlist. Hay group (2007) Nurse Leadership: being nice is not enough. London: Hay group. Hersey, D. and Blanchard, K.H (1988) Management of organizational behavior: utilizing human resources, 5th edn. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. Hughes, R.L., Ginnet, R.C. and Curphy, G.J. (2006) Leadership enhancing the lessons of experience, 5th edn. Boston: Mcgraw Hill. Hurley, J. and Linsley, P. (2007) ‘Leadership challenges to move nurses towards collaborative individualism within a neocorporate beauraucratic environment’, Journal of Nursing Management, 15, pp: 749-755. Johns, C. (1994) ‘Nuances of reflection’, journal of clinical nursing, 3, pp: 71-75. Kembler, D. (2006) Reflective teaching and learning in health profession. Oxford: Blackwell science ltd. Kenmore, P. (2008) ‘Applied leadership’, nursing management, 15(1), pp: 24-26. Kotter, J.P. (1990) A force for change: How leadership differs from management? Freepress: Newyork. Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z. (1987) The Leadership Challenge: How to get extraordinary things done in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass publishers. Longnecker, P.D. (2006), Evaluating transformational leadership skills in hospice executives, American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 23(3), pp: 205-211 Louden, w. (1991) Understanding Teaching. London: Cassell. Marquis, L.B. and Huston, J.C. (2009) Leadership roles and management functions in nursing. China: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Mc Guire, E. and Kennerly, S.M. (2006) Nurse Managers are transformational and transactional leaders, Nursing Economics, 24(9), pp: 179-186. Mezirow, J. (1983) ‘Critical theory of adult learning and education’ in education for adults, vol (1), Ed MTight, Croomhelen, London. Moon, A.J. (2002) reflections in learning and professional development. London: Kogan page. Northhouse, P.G. (1997) Leadership: Theory and practice. San Francisco CA: Sage. Smyth, J. (1989) ‘Developing and sustaining critical reflection in teacher’s education’, journal of teacher education, 40(2), pp: 2-9. Sullivan, E.J. and Garland, G. (2010) Practical Leadership and Management in Nursing, 7th edn, London: Prentice Hall. Taylor, V. (2007) ‘Leadership for service improvement’, Nursing Management, 13(9), pp: 30-34. Tomney, M.A. (1993) Transformational leadership in nursing. Missouri: Mosby. Weihrich, H., Koontz, H. (2005) Management: A global perspective, 11th edn. Singapore: Mc Graw Hill. Wilding, M.P. (2008) Reflective practice: A learning tool for student nurse, British Journal of Nursing, 17(11), pp: 721-724.

Advantages and disadvantages of the different economic types

Advantages and disadvantages of the different economic types What is economics? Economics is the study of the forces of supply and the demands allocate deficient resources. Economics is divided into microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is something doing with the behavior of firms, consumers, and also about the role played by the government. Macroeconomics is more to inflation, industrial production, unemployment and the role played by the government. Microeconomics is the study about the behavior of small economics unit, for an example, individual consumers or households. Microeconomics is behavior of individual units. Microeconomics main concern is about the factors that affects an individual economics choice. Other than that, economics also can be said as branch of social science that can read the production distribution and the consumption of goods and service. Economics also include scarcity, choice, households, goods and productions as a definition. Economics system are studies of the method and institution where societies determine about the ownership, direction and allocation of economics. There are three types of economics system; Socialist system is a system that can be defined as a centrally planned or can be said as command economics. This system is fully controlled by the government. All the choice about resources are all made by the government. Capitalist system means free market economics. This system is like a freedom economy. This is because of the decisions made by the people. This system is mainly about the people in the country. Mixed economy Mixed economy is an economy based on the free enterprise principle. There is still some form of direct intervention and it is controlled by the government. Mixed economy can be said as a form of organization where both capitalist economy and socialist economy are found. In mixed economy there is the presence of private economic freedom with centralized planning and the common goal of avoiding the problems which comes because of capitalism and social ism. In the mixed economy system the main authorization of the economic activities are mainly by the governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s regulation and the licensing policies. For an example, if someone wants to open a business, they must register and take license from the government for that particular business. So in this way, the government becomes a big power in the country. Mixed economy is also known as dual economy. In a mixed economy, the government runs things as post office, libraries, hospital and many more. Even when there is an industry which is not run by the business, still government get taxes and regulation like wage controls. Most of the people all over our country have no problem with the government take control of things like highway construction, birth certificate, national service economy may seem to be very easy as it is but there are some disadvantages in mixed economy also. The biggest disadvantage is between the public and private sector because they easily get b lurred or sometimes shift one way or another from time to time mixed economy usually increase more government control and less individual freedom. This is why mixed economy is always in an evolutionary process.

International Trade Law Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Trade Law Assignment - Essay Example At the apex is the Ministerial Conference, with many types of councils, committees and specialized working groups working toward the goal of helping producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. The WTO manages its primary objective of helping trade between nations by: administering trade agreements, acting as a forum for trade negotiations, settling trade disputes, reviewing national trade policies, and by assisting developing countries in trade policy issues through technical assistance and training programs and cooperating with other international organizations. With over 150 members, each representing diverse economic and cultural background, the desire is not to create a trading system. The WTO manages to do this through consensus. Trade agreements are a result of negotiations between member nations must be ratified by members parliaments. These agreements clearly outline the rights and obligations and ensure a smooth and fair trading system. Through these agreements, the WTO helps decrease trade barriers. The general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT) was formed after the secound world war in 1947. It was singed by 23 countries. This purpose of GATT was to dismantle the high protectionist barriers that were then in existence and had incresed since the war (Gillingham 2002). The main objectives of GATT included the elimination of quotas, the gradual reduction of tariffs, the elimination of non-tariff trade barriers and equality between member countries. GATT was mostly numerous series of negotiations rounds. These mainly focused on the reduction of tariffs. Here the GATT was very successful, in only eight negotiation rounds it was able to reduce tariffs from 40% to below 4%. The later negotiations focused also on anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The negotiations round in Punta del Este in Uruguay 1986 was to become the starting block for The World Trade Organisation (WTO), it later became known

Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Term Paper

Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Term Paper Example Adapting a classic piece of literature into film is a sophisticated task.The adapter has duel responsibility. On one side,he or she has to preserve the originality of the classic and on the other,he/she must be able to communicate the real meaning of the piece of literature. Utilizing a verity of techniques Daniel Petrie, the director of the film , A Raisin in the Sun(1961) did not only preserved the originality of the play, but also successfully transferred this classic of Afro American literature into a highly commendable film. Let me first discuss those adaptation techniques briefly. There are seven ways in which an adapter can transpose a play into movie (Desmond and Hawkes, 2006). These are visualizing the set, lighting, casting, musical tones, symbols and motifs, camera angles, and shot length. However, a creative filmmaker would not rely upon just one technique and would employ a variety of tools to make a movie engaging. Daniel Petrie used creative frame composition and shot variation to communicate the strong and shared emotions within the Younger family. Further, he brings the climax of the movie by capturing facial expressions of the characters in a close up. Moreover, he added or omitted various scenes and dialogues during the process of adaptation in order to make the flow of the film . Similarly, he creatively used music to communicate the real feeling of the characters and to move his audience In A Raisin in the Sun, the strong shared emotions and relationship of the black family play an important role to the overall development of the plot. The director communicated this emotional empathy with a creative series of shots and compositions that visually represented the shared emotions. Through the employment of this technical cinematic method, Petrise actually emphasized many important scenes of the play in his film. For instance, in Act Two, Scene One of the written play, for the first time in film, he uses frame composition to share the collectiv e family emotions. In fact this scene communicates a wide range of feelings. When Mama shares her purchase of the house in a better neighborhood, she herself and Ruth seems relieved and satisfied. Contrary to both the women, Walter not only seems angry and despairs but his dream of opening liquor shop seemed sunken. However, on the other hand Mama herself shows fear of the Walter’s possible reaction towards her decision. Screenplay script runs with an array of emotions and the filmmaker successfully expresses those emotions visually. The director utilized camera perfectly to capture those changing emotions on the actors' faces. For example, Walter mood changed from disbelief to dissatisfaction on hearing that the money has been used to buy a house instead of its investment in business. On the contrary, Ruth was extremely happy. But when Mama told them the location of the house, Walter became angry while Ruth’s frame of mind changed from joy to worry. Thus apart from di alogues, film depicts a vast spectrum of emotions through visuals. Petrise choice of using face-close-up is really effective. Petrise uses camera angle to create emotional effects. In Scene Three of Act two, he uses mirror to reflect Walter’s inner conflict . The camera cuts back and forth between Walter and Mr. Lindner. Through this technique, the director not only intensified the emotional meanings of the scene but also reflects Walter’s changing understanding of Mr. Linder offers. Film is a visual media therefore it is always preferable to rely upon emotions for the climax instead of dialogue (Duncan, 2006). Petrie's another smart choice is his exposition of climax through emotions rather than dialogues. These are the emotional moments when Bobo reveals about Willy’s run away along with their investment. This is disturbing news not only for Walter and Bobo, but for all the Youngers. During these critical moments Petrie’s framing Ruth into the scene is an ingenious choice as her reaction on such news is what viewers want to note. Moreover,

The Escape Essay Example for Free

The Escape Essay The text under consideration is the short story â€Å"The Escape† written by a famous English writer Somerset Maugham. The story deals with the author’s speculation of the question of marriages, especially the possibility of men to escape it. There is no exposition, therefore we can only guess by the contents where and when the settings set on. At the beginning of the text the author expresses his conviction that only an instant flight can save a man from a woman, if she made up her mind to marry him. Further on the author recollects a case when even such flight couldn’t save the poor man. The author passes on to another story of a man, whose name was Roger Charing, who managed to extricate himself in such circumstances. The author introduces to us a girl – Ruth Barlow –whom he fell in love with, draws special attention to her eyes and the impression they made on men. He also depicts the misery of the girl’s life, as everyone treated her very badly and nothing ever went right with her. Further on the author disclosed some information concerning Ruth’s character, mainly from the point of view of the narrator. The author touches upon Roger’s attitude to her, saying that he was very happy, for he committed a good action and at the same time did something he had very much a mind to. In the next passage the author suddenly changes the mood of the narration saying that Roger fell out of love. He points out Roger’s intentions not to let Ruth marry him by any means. But then the author dwells upon the difficulty of the situation he was in, because now he realized what sort of woman he had to deal with. After that the author describes the method that Roger used to get rid of Ruth: he said that until they found a perfect house they wouldn’t get married. The author points out that it took years for them to search for the suitable house, they visited thousands of them, but still couldn’t find anything. The author shows the change in Ruth’s mood as the years go by: she becomes more and more irritated, disappointed and even angry. The author describes the outcome of this story in two letters: one from Ruth, in which she tells that she found some other man who is willing to marry her. The other letter is the Roger’s reply, in which he pretends to be shocked and depressed by this news, and sends to her another list of houses that will suit her perfectly. Precis The short story â€Å"The Escape† by Somerset Maugham is a humorous and witty narration about Roger Charing who managed to escape from Ruth Barrow that had made up her mind to marry him. Being old enough and having much experience, Roger decided to use the search of a perfect house as an excuse not to marry her, until she understood that he didn’t love her and found another man to marry. Gist Roger Charing, a character of the story â€Å"The Escape† by Somerset Maugham, once fell in love with Ruth Barrow, but later his love disappeared and in order not to let her marry him, he made searches of a perfect house last endlessly, until she decided to leave him.

Abortion is Morally Wrong :: Argumentative Essays

In my argumentative coursework I am arguing that abortion is wrong and not to be mistaken with 'Abortion should be made illegal.' I will explain later why I have made this statement. Abortion is the termination of an unborn child in its mother's womb for up to twenty four weeks of the pregnancy or in special circumstances e.g. Disability diagnosis a termination right up until the mother goes in to labour. I think the above definition is an easier and less harsh way of saying that abortion is the murdering of a human being. There are several reasons why abortion is legal and several reasons why it shouldn?t be. I believe there are five3 main ways of preventing abortion and this is why it is wrong and should be illegal. My first point that concerns the prevention abortion is contraception could be made more easily available. I believe that this is the best and most effective way of reducing abortion because the fact is that it is not as accessible as it could be and that a large population does not know how to use contraceptives. My second point is that sex education should be taught properly by a teacher or that teenagers should be made to take a course which explains all the aspects of sex and pregnancy. Research tells that a large number of teenagers do not know how reproduction works or even know what is going on in their bodies. Although teachers are meant to teach this, a lot of teenagers will not understand or may just dismiss the matter and will learn from television or other teenagers and may be misled in to believing certain things about the matter e.g. The hit television soap ?Coronation Street? had a story line involving a teenage girl who got pregnant and her life turned out fine with no disadvantages. Although some girls may believe this can happen, it is very unlikely. I also feel that parents should not have to bear this burden as it may be embarrassing or uncomfortable explaining this to a

Assessment Tools for Visually Impaired

Assessment tools for Visually Impaired †¢ Using real objects rather than representative objects or pictures †¢ Addressing impact of child's experiences with the environment on performance Familiar vs. unfamiliar objects: If you use familiar objects, the child has had time to explore and develop concepts; unfamiliar objects may take the child more time to explore them. If a child only knows his objects, this may indicate lack of experience and under generalization of concepts. Familiar vs. nfamiliar people: A child who is blind may need time to warm up to an unfamiliar person. It is important to read the child and allow him to maintain contact with his parents and to allow him to initiate interactions. Familiar vs. unfamiliar location: A child who is visually impaired will need time to explore and familiarize himself to an unfamiliar area. He may act more reticent in an unfamiliar area. When assessing functional vision and mobility skills, it is important to assess in both a familiar and unfamiliar area if possible.Because a child does not have to rely on fine detail vision as much in a familiar area, you may get different visual responses in an unfamiliar area which could add to your understanding of the child's vision. †¢ Impact of expectations and opportunities child has had Familiar vs. new task: If you are testing a skill that is usually learned visually and the child has never been taught the skill, a test-teach-test model can help determine if child can learn task through manual demonstration. Analyzing the concept being tested and adapting to a child who is visually impaired or blind For example, the concept of object permanence looks at a child's visual attention, memory, persistence and organization of searching behaviors. For a totally blind child, this can be assessed by looking at how a child reacts to a dropped object, first allowing the object touch a part of his body and then taking the object further away from his body to assess s earching behaviors.Need to be aware of response behaviors that may be seen in young children who are blind. †¢ â€Å"Passive†, neutral facial expressions that may indicate that the child is listening attentively. †¢ Resistance to having hands directed to unknown objects; use of protective responses of pulling hands away, protective responses to unanticipated events. †¢ Visual responses: eccentric viewing, head tilt, holding objects close, closing eyes, etc. †¢ Gaze aversion to disengage or if objects are too close. Arousal issues: visually impaired may be in low arousal state due to lack of visual stimulus and low postural tone. †¢ Child may use â€Å"immature† patterns or repetitive patterns of object exploration such as repeated dropping for auditory feedback, tapping, mouthing. †¢ Child may be auditorily distracted by environmental noises. Need to assess â€Å"unique curricular areas† that are important to children who are visual ly impaired. †¢ Functional vision †¢ Sensory development †¢ Compensatory Skills (e. g. exploration and hand skills, Pre-braille; listening skills) †¢ Orientation ; Mobility Need to select assessment scales and strategies that allow for: †¢ Freedom of presentation and selection of materials †¢ Quality in additional to milestones †¢ Incidental and structured presentation Need to understand the implications of: †¢ Age at which visual loss occurred †¢ Level of functional vision †¢ Implications of the eye condition †¢ Presence of additional handicaps Need to be able to clearly describe the assessment process and implications to PARENTS.

Compare and contrast arguments for and against belief in life after death Essay

) Compare and contrast arguments for and against belief in life after death (20 marks). 26/01/03 One initial problem with studying the belief in life after death is that there are a vast number of theories stating what they believe ‘life after death’ actually is. Therefore in order to effectively ascertain arguments for and against this idea, it is necessary to deal with each individual theory separately. Plato’s theory of dualism1 argues that it is the mind that determines our personality and that the body is an outer shelf for the real self. The body is contingent and therefore destined for decay but the mind is associated with the higher realities such as truth, goodness and justice and is immortal. Plato believed that the soul continues after death. Plato said that there was a perfect idea/form for everything in existence. The idea of the thing is prior to the individual instance of it and so it must be more real. Ideas are not physical things so they must belong to a spiritual realm of reality, which is more real than the material realm. According to Plato the telos2 of the body is to be in the physical world and receive sense-impressions whereas the telos of the soul is to travel into the realm of heavenly ideas and understand them. Before our immortal souls became imprisoned in our bodies they were acquainted with these heavenly ideas and so our soul wants to break free of our bodies and spend eternity in contemplation of the true, the beautiful and the good. In this realm the thinking being would survive without the physical body, the body would not survive death, but the soul – the real essence of the person would continue. Plato terms this ‘soul’ as our personality identity. According to Davies, although the arguments may seem ingenious, in actual fact they are severely misguided. Things may have opposites, but it does not follow that if something comes to be, there is something which is its opposite from which it comes. Nor does it follow that if something ceases to be, something comes to be which is opposite to something existing earlier. Davies adds that Plato’s second argument does not work because it mistakenly assumes that if all who have lived come to be dead, it follows that everyone has come to be dead. It is true that someone who has gone to sleep has not awoken but it is not true that nobody is awake.3 Aristotle developed a similar theory of dualism for life after death, he considered the ‘soul’ to be the part of the body that gives it life. It is what turns the physical form into a living organism of its particular type. Therefore a human will have a human soul. Aristotle defines the body and soul as being inseparable. The soul develops the person’s skills, character or temper, but it cannot survive death. When the body dies, the soul ceases to exist, as they are one. This would appear to be materialistic at first but Aristotle believed that the body and soul were different. Human beings have a soul or self that is capable of intellectual life. Only humans can reflect on feelings and sensations and grasp ‘universals’. In this way we come to understand eternal truths and in doing so we move on to achieve a higher level of existence. It seems evident here that Aristotle’s argument is guilty of confusing spiritual fulfilment that occurs on an entirely physical level, involving emotions and cognitions with life after death and so it seems we must reject his argument. Bernard Williams raised concerns that the separation of body and mind raises questions for discussion. Williams argues that memories are not a good guide to identity. Memories and personality can be fabricated and personal identity cannot be proved through mental activity alone. He believed that identity comes from physical characteristics as well. Personal identity depends on the way in which we recognise each other and without our bodies we cannot be fully identified. However, one could counter this by saying that the recognition of each other is irrelevant as it is more the manner within which we recognise ourselves that is important. Furthermore, Williams speaks of recognition on an entirely materialistic level as it is merely the physical person they are identifying. Given that one might say that we make judgements through the form of our physical selves and not our souls to recognise something non-physical by this means does not seem rational. Williams also highlights the causal affects between body and mind. For example the use of alcohol and drugs affects cognitions and changes personality.4 We can argue against this by distinguishing between the mind – a non-physical entity, and the brain – a physical entity by which the mind operates. Modern science has shown links between the mind and the brain. Surgeons are now capable of splitting the brain and effectively creating two minds. It is possible to argue that dualism was only invented as a philosophy as a means of explaining what, at that time science could not understand. Finally there is the argument that if the mind is a non-physical object how can it cause anything to happen in the purely materialist realm of the world. Arguments have been put forward to counter this – some philosophers for example have highlighted parts of the brain by which they believe the mind connects to the physical realm. However, modern science has once again defeated this argument and shown how they serve other purposes. It seems that the argument was little more than unfounded opinion and guesswork. Rene Descartes is also greatly associated with dualistic arguments for life after death. He states that if human beings are not to be identified with their bodies, then the view that they can survive death seems a plausible one. We normally think of death as the end of a persons bodily life. But if people are distinct from their bodies, then the fact that their bodies die does not entail that they die. Another modern advocate of a distinction between persons and their bodies is Richard Swinburne. According to him it is coherent that a person can exist without a body. Swinburne asserts that if X (the body) can be without Y (the mind), then X and Y are distinct. Since I can be without my body, it follows, says Swinburne, that I am not my body. Through Descartes’ and Swinburne’s arguments it becomes entirely possible to attack the premise of a dualistic interpretation of life after death by attacking the premise of dualism itself. On the other hand, although our language seems to involve subscribing to a distinction between body and mind this does not show that they are separate things. Furthermore we often talk about ourselves as being distinct from our minds also, so it seems this argument does not work. There are a number of arguments, however, which work in favour of this approach. For one thing, there is the fact that we often naturally talk about our real selves as though they were distinct from our bodies. Another factor is that we also have privileged access to many of our thoughts. We can think about something without displaying that fact by our bodily behaviour. However what does the fact that we have privileged access to many of our thoughts actually tell us. It certainly does not mean that only I can know what I am thinking as it is entirely possible for someone else to know what you are thinking by an observational analysis of your physical responses and even for them to be thinking the same thing at the same time. Unfortunately this counter-argument does not work either as although it is entirely possible for someone to work out roughly what you are thinking, they will never be 100% accurate, nor will they ever be able to think with the perceptions, cognitions and interpretations which you do. Another argument put forward by Descartes to uphold dualism is his statement: â€Å"I know I exist†. He also states that he can say that he is essentially a thinking thing. Therefore this perception of the physical seems to imply that there is something else apart from the body with regard to being a human.5 However in this case it is possible to argue that appearance may be deceptive, as sometimes our senses can be mistaken regarding the physical world. Why should we be an exception? For example a drunk man may perceive himself to be sober when actually this is not the case. However, we may point out that this analogy is at fault because if a man is drunk then his perception and mind have been distorted by alcohol and has little to do with appearance as the appearance which has been perceived is not a truthful one. Unfortunately this line of argument seems to fail when we ask why should drunkenness be any different to other distortions of perception which may occur naturally without our awareness. In fairness, it is not. Furthermore, Immanuel Kant would argue with Descartes over this issue stating that – the human mind imposes order on our experiences and in reality we do not know with certainty the source of the sensations that the mind organises. An alternative to dualism is materialism or behaviourism, which is the view that so called mental events are really physical events occurring to physical objects. Emotion for instance is just the interacting of chemicals in our physical body. Gilbert Ryle (1949) dismissed dualism as a theory about ‘a ghost in a machine’. That is the ghost of the mind inside the machine of the body. Ryle called the notion that the body and mind are separate entities calling it a category mistake. He uses the analogy of an overseas visitor who is shown around a collegiate university town and sees the college, libraries, and so forth, only at the end of it to ask â€Å"but where is the university†. Failing to appreciate that the university is not something separate from its constituent parts; failing to see the ‘wood for the trees’ as some may say†¦ Ryle advocated something known as philosophical behaviourism – all mental events are really physical events interpreted in a mental way. Thus our mind is not a separate entity but just a term meaning what we do with our physical bodies. Some critics have suggested that this does not explain all mental behaviour. If we are for example wishing for something, this does not mean we are behaving in a particular way. You could counter this by saying that the number of subconscious thoughts we have are numerous, and they often can manifest themselves through behaviour without our knowledge, who is to say that conscious thoughts are any different. In fact it seems highly likely that they are not. Ryle’s behaviourist theory can be assigned to a mode of thought known as materialism. There are two forms of this – hard materialism and soft materialism. Hard materialism refers to a mode of thought that does not accept that an individuals characteristics are anything more than physical ones. Any idea of consciousness is nothing more than brain activity. The mind cannot be separated from the body. When the body dies, then so does the brain. Soft materialists do not accept that all characteristics are physical ones. Consciousness is more than just a brain process. The mind and body are related to and do not act independently of each other, but the body often displays inner emotions. A physical symptom may be caused by something that is troubling the mind. There is nothing that we can do independent of our bodies and therefore our personal identity must involve our bodies. They believe that when the physical body dies, so does the mind. These views seem particularly strong as to oppose them would be to suggest that there are bodiless people capable of being defined as human beings, when surely having a body is part of the definition of being human. Not all materialists accept that death is the end, instead, some believe that there is life after death. As the physical body cannot be separated from the ‘soul’ (mind), there is only one way this could happen and that is if the whole body continues after death. The survival would have to involve the resurrection of the body. This belief is known as re-creation theory and is held by Christians. One flaw with this theory is that if we survive as both body and mind, then what state is the body in – are we old/young, sick/healthy etc. The question ultimately refers to the identification of the ‘self’ and who we really are. If a person was born with a terminal illness it would not seem just for them to be resurrected as a person with such an astounding deficiency, yet would they not so, it would not be truly them. The only plausible way around this would be to resort to a dualist style of argument separating the body from the soul. Unfortunately however this is not cohesive with creation theory. The theory also does not take into account personal development, if we are resurrected as a younger person of ourselves then it ignores part of what it is to be human – the ability to develop and change in order to achieve self-actualisation. The development of the self is not compatible with the arguments stationary grounding. Therefore it would seem necessary that we be resurrected in the form that we were just before we died. Yet if the person had contracted a painful illness or indeed was in a coma then this would seem non-sensical. The reason for this being that if (as in this world) suffering and pain is random and universal then the whole point of an afterlife (to reward and punish) is negated. Furthermore if a person were to be ‘cured’ as it were, then they would have had a very real aspect of their character and development removed from them (as undoubtedly the ailment would have changed them as a person, however small the change) and so it would not be the actual person that was carried on. John Hick would counter-argue and state that it would be entirely plausible that the dead could exist after death as themselves, if an exact replica of them were to appear. This replica could be identified as being the same person who had died, and therefore, according to Hick, would be the same person. If this replica will be complete with all the characteristics and memories of the individual then it would be the same person re-created. It is possible to counter-argue this point and ask the question: Would this replica not merely be an exact copy of ourselves but not really us. The individual atoms of which we are composed would differ to those of our copy. We are contingent beings and given that there must be some gap in time in between us ceasing to be and our replica coming to be, then surely it cannot be the same person. Hindu and Buddhist traditions hold the view that we have lived many lives before and that on death we will be reborn again. The condition of our present lives are believed to be a direct consequence of our previous lives. According to Verdic tradition, there is an ultimate reality – Brahman. Everything else is maya – a temporary and finite illusion. Within maya there is a limitless number of souls who all seek union with Brahman. The theory of karma and rebirth is concerned with the soul’s journey from illusion to reality6. The soul continues from life to life, being reincarnated, until it finds the eternal truth; after this the soul is not reborn any more and is united with Brahman. Thus when an individual dies, their mental aspects live on and the next birth is determined by how good or bad their karma was in the last life. Evidence frequently cited for this is the fact that many people seem able to remember fragments of their previous lives, sometime under hypnotic regression. However, although evidence for recall can sometimes be damning, why would it seem to suggest evidence for reincarnation, it could be interpreted as a number of things. Possibly, you could argue that we are all merely cells in one great organism and that these people have just happened to find interconnections between cells. If we removed the cultural-related feasibility of reincarnation then this argument would appear no less likely. In addition, it is possible that there is a rational explanation for this apparent ‘recall’. Firstly, the individual might simply be recalling information gained in childhood and attributing it to a past life. Secondly there could be a ‘cultural’ gene that passes down information from our ancestors. Or thirdly, that some memories may result from psychological problems and be manifested as memories of earlier lives when in fact they are suppressed events from this life. These three explanations seem relatively weak and unable to explain the multitude of ‘regressions’ which have taken place. David Hume would call into validity the nature of the people who make and verify these claims, stating that either they are religious and seek to prove their beliefs to be true, or are mentally unbalanced and cannot be relied upon to make accurate claims. Furthermore, hypnosis is a very unreliable source of evidence. Numerous psychologists have conducted studies showing that not only are only 33% of the population susceptible to in-depth hypnosis, with 33% being not at all susceptible, but also that false memory syndrome can occur quite regularly under hypnosis, where the patient wrongly ‘remembers’ an event to have occurred even though it actually has not.7 Although this argument does successfully call into doubt the reliability of hypnosis, the majority of other physical explanations seem relatively weak and fail to affectively account for something – which in all fairness we cannot explain. Yet the fact that we cannot remember why we know something should not provide proof that we have had previous lives, moreover that there are things which we know that transcend our sensory experiences. Philosophically, however, there are problems with this style of argument. Human beings seem to require three things to make up their individuality – body, memory and psychological patterns (personal identity). If we apply these to reincarnation, when we are reborn, continuity is lost. If we cannot remember our previous lives then our memory is lost. With only psychological pattern remaining it would be impossible to determine if one person is the rebirth of another since, unless they displayed identical characteristics, all we could say is that reincarnated people are ‘similar’ to those who went before. Therefore given that reincarnation argues not for life after death, just for life per se, it seems irrelevant to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of its arguments. Another argument for life after death arises through ‘spiritualism’ and communications between the spirit world and the living is regarded as evidence of life after death. Many ‘mediums’ have passed on messages from departed spirits that contain accurate information which was previously unknown to the medium. However, investigations of a number of mediums have proved that they are frauds. Others appear to be genuine and are able to demonstrate that something extraordinary is happening when they pass on messages. This could be communication with departed spirits or some form of telepathic access to the minds of the living. Once again however, the question is introduced as to whether we can trust the testimony of another human being without actually witnessing the occurrence for ourselves. Given the frequency of unexplainable occurrences such as these they do seem be a reasonable argument for life after death. There have been a number of ‘sightings’ of dead people, which also constitute as arguments for life after death. Dr Deepak Chopra stated that bodies are comprised of energy. They may appear to be solid, but the truth is that they are in reality just an impulse of energy. When an individual dies, the energy field may retain his/her image and may be perceived as a ‘ghost’. He considered the ghost to be an individual’s consciousness manifesting itself through the remaining energy. However there are a number of explanations for the phenomenon including hoaxes or elaborate tricks, which could convince people they had seen a ghost whereas in actuality they had not. Secondly there is the ‘stone tape’ theory which suggests that just as a magnetic tape is able to record events and play them back, in certain conditions, stones will record events and ‘play them back’ when the same conditions are present. Finally there is the fact that ghosts could be the result of a case of mistaken identity, or the power of suggestion could lead to the mistaken belief that a ghost had been sighted. The ‘stone tape theory’ is quite ludicrous as it takes upon a scientific argument to prove a theory when the main differentiation between science and philosophy is empirical verification. In this case there is no evidence to support the theory. Aside from this theory, the other two seem quite believable in that they are quite feasible and explain the frequency and variety of times such an occurrence has taken place. Furthermore, the fact that a bundle of energy continues to exist, showing something that once did exist does not mean that life after death exists. Indeed if the energy is little more than a reflection of what once was, it fails as an argument intended to prove what know is. In addition can a bundle of energy really be constituted as ‘living’, if not then once again the argument is invalid. The argument of near-death experiences also puts forward an argument for life after death. Dr. Raymond Moody has studied many cases of people who had, to all intents and purposes died (during a surgical operation) and subsequently been resuscitated. Many claimed similar experiences – floating out of their bodies, travelling down a tunnel where they emerged into a world of light. However, these accounts have problems. Firstly, these accounts may be merely the result of people dreaming or experiencing some subconscious phenomena. Given the clarity of these dreams the first account seems unlikely, the second more plausible yet still is devoid of scientific evidence to support. Some have suggested that a lack of oxygen to the brain resulted in this hallucination. The main problem once again is verification in that it is impossible for us to experience the phenomena ourselves and judge its reliability accordingly. In addition, the types of experiences are often largely dependent on culture and society and so whether or not they are genuine or merely a manifestation of what the person may expect to see, or in the case of non-believers, expects not to see. One can counter-argue this however by saying that God may not actually be a fixed being but more of an interpersonal one varying from person to person and so the culture argument may not be relevant. The arguments discussed here are numerous, but generally do not hold a great deal of weight. The philosophical arguments are flawed and in places not logical, and the empirical arguments are generally unverifiable. However, given the sheer number of empirical arguments and the fact that some of them (near death experiences and regression to previous lives for example) are apparently otherwise unexplainable – we must realise that it is highly plausible if not possible that life after death does occur in some form or another. Bibliography: Religious studies, by Sarah K. Tyler and Gordon Reid. Philosophy of religion for A level by Neil Lockyer, Anne Jordan and Edwin Tate. An introduction to the philosophy of religion, by Brian Davies. The puzzle of God by Peter Vardy Religious Education notes from R.S. conference 1 â€Å"Any view that postulates two kinds of thing in some domain is dualist; contrasting views according to which there is only one kind of thing are monistic† – Simon Blackburn Oxford Dictionary of philosophy pg 248 2 Greek word meaning ‘purpose’ 3 The Puzzle of God – Peter Vardy 4 The puzzle of God – Peter Vardy 5 Religious Education notes from R.S. conference 6 Also known as a state of ‘Nirvana’. 7 The puzzle of God – Peter Vardy

Biography of Anne Lamott

Biography of Anne Lamott Anne Lamott was born in 1954 in San Francisco, CA. Anne Lamott, the daughter of the writer Kenneth Lamott, grew up in Marin County, north of San Francisco. She attended Goycher College in Maryland on a tennis scholarship. There, she wrote for the school newspaper, but dropped out after two years and returned to San Francisco. After a brief stint writing for WomenSports magazine, she began working on short pieces. The diagnosis of her fathers brain cancer prompted her to write her first novel,​ Hard Laughter, published by Viking in 1980. She has since written several more novels and works of nonfiction. As Lamott told The Dallas Morning News: I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness- and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine. Lamotts Books While Ann Lamott is well known and loved for her novels, she also wrote  Hard Laughter, Rosie, Joe Jones, Blue Shoe, All New People, and Crooked Little Heart- a popular nonfiction piece. Operating Instructions  was  her raw and honest account of becoming a single mother and chronicle of her sons first year of life. In 2010, Lamott published Imperfect Birds. In it Lamott explores teenage drug abuse and its consequences with her trademark humor. This novel is about how incredibly hard it is to know and communicate the truth, Lamott told an interviewer. Then in 2012s Some Assembly Required, Lamott revisits the topic of child-rearing that she mined so well in Operating Instructions, except this time from a grandmothers point of view. In this memoir, Lamott takes her readers through the birth and first year of the life of her grandson, Jax, the son of her then nineteen-year-old son Sam. Taken from the notes of her journal during that year, Some Assembly Required also includes other happenings including a trip she takes to India in which she carries readers away with her visceral descriptions: We were on the Ganges at five in the morning, in a riverboat in the fog... All four mornings we were in Varanasi, our boat was socked in with fog. This mornings riverboat man said, Too much the foggy! which I think captures all of human life. It was a thick, white pea-soup fog- a vichyssoise fog- and apparently we were not going to see any of the sights Id assumed we would see, and in fact had come here to see. But we saw something else: We saw how much better mystery shows up in the fog, how much wilder and truer each holy moment is than any fantasy.

How race, gender and sexual orientation appeal to some underlying Essay

How race, gender and sexual orientation appeal to some underlying biological influences - Essay Example 2211). In other words, the assumption that race and ethnicity are merely biological traits is utterly mistaken. Human categories such as gender and sexual orientation are oftentimes subjected to intense debates, especially gender orientation, as to whether they are nature or nurtured; and if there is a correlation between genes and gender orientation; the environment and gender orientation. Later on, an elaborative analysis shall be taken in order to explain whether, if indeed, race, sex, and gender orientation appeal to some biological influences. Also, this paper shall attempt to provide consequential and pertinent corroborations that should clarify some mistaken understandings in so far as the issues on biological influences in race, sex, and gender orientation are concerned. [Student’s Last Name] 2 Race Race â€Å"was a presumably biological feature that an individual had, but was composed of disparate elements that might contradict one another within a single body† (Marks 108). ... Race has been conventionally considered to classify population according to communal biological traits like genes, hair, eyes, and other apparent physical features (Drewnowski et al. 2211). While race expresses a common characteristic among a number of people, it is used profoundly to emphasize cultural and social characteristics and not biological influences (Drewnowski et al. 2211). Therefore, the attempts to study the biological influences in race are something that is not feasible. In fact, â€Å"if races are discrete groups of populations, the continuous nature of human variation undermines the utility of race as a basic way to study the species† (Marks 108). This is particularly true in that while it is â€Å"something relatively stable† (108) as it is part of human physiological composition, the evolution of man through its years of existence must have transpired significant modifications on its genetic composition with every succeeding generation that passes. Th us, obviously, there is no avenue through which one can scrutinize biological influences to race as there is no consistent representation of the genetic detail that could be considered coherent or uniform regardless of human variations. â€Å"Race is [Student’s Last Name] 3 largely a social category† (Marks 109). It â€Å"correlates to some extent with genetics but is principally derived from a non-scientific or folk concept of heredity† (109). This is partly due to the fact that while genetics affect race to some degree, there is no guaranteed uniformity or coherence on this biological influences due to the genetic changes that take place with respect to every generation that passes; thus, there can be no effective approach to completely scrutinize the organic

Teams at Kluster Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teams at Kluster - Case Study Example Individual team members must develop long-term working relationships with other individuals within the group and form solid operational procedures in order to perform their tasks efficiently. Additionally, the company will provide all material external support in order for the team to accomplish their short and long term objectives effectively. In the case of Klusters â€Å"Illuminator Team† its basic format is of a team that runs things. It is also a type of virtual team since the many team members are all from different geographical locations and often meet using web based groupware instead of face to face. There are advantages and disadvantages to a team based work environment. Some advantages of a team based approach to problem solving is that unlike traditionally structured organizations all team members participate in the decision making process instead of top management making all the decisions. As a direct result all employees are empowered to participate creating a work environment that is more efficient and effective at dealing with complex organizational problems while giving a competitive edge over the competition. Some disadvantages of a team based approach is that in many teams individual achievement is not as easily determined as in a traditional hierarchical organization which is a factor in determining compensation. Team based companys tend to focus on team achievements rather than individual performance. The lack of centralized decision making of a team based organization can lead to some disorganization and as well as control and coordination issues for management (Sch ermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn). The Illuminator team has addressed some of these challenges by placing team member reward mechanisms in order to recognize top performing individuals and their contribution to the team effort. Their system is designed to provide them with financial as well as member