The Evolutionary Drive Is Sexual Selection - 887 Words

Biological Perspective Certain factors which may contribute to honor killings stem from biology, specifically from evolutionary drives. One such drive is sexual selection. According to Charles Darwin, animals—including humans— might choose their mates based on specific traits which they find attractive. In human males, appealing physical traits involve height and masculinity. Psychological characteristics would include sexual aggressiveness. Aggression is therefore more liable to be passed down to the next generation and to modern males, making them exceedingly likely to assert their control over women (Goldstein, 2002). Another related drive is that of paternal certainty. Males of any species generally want to ensure that the offspring of females with which they have reproduced are, in fact, theirs. The concept of paternal certainty guarantees that males assure their genetics are passed down. The fact that female fidelity within sexual relationships would sanction for greater paternal certainty, whereas male fidelity would not do the same has led to social norms of harsher punishments for female adultery as well as norms of patriarchal control. Likewise, it elucidates the behavior which is used to control women (Goldstein, 2002). Psychological Factors In addition to biological contributors, it remains likely for psychological factors to influence the likelihood of committing honor-based violence. For instance, those who commit honor crimes tend to show a specific type ofShow MoreRelatedRape, Sexual, And Sexual Behavior1069 Words   |  5 Pagesof violence in the United States. The statistics behind sexual assault are staggering, affecting approximately 1 in 3 women (George Mason University, 2005). Sexual violence extends across various human cultures and overwhelmingly occurs in countless animal species. 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Although these theories play a key role in understanding patterns in human mating preferences, evolutionary psychology and sexual selection theory provide more concrete frameworks for explaining human mating. Evolutionary framework for human mating is based on three elements. First, strategies for mating developed to solve specific problems in human evolutionary history. Second, people behave differently depending on the type of mating involved. There are two types of matingRead MoreGenetics and Human Sexuality1320 Words   |  6 Pagesmost important drives we have to deal with as humans. That is, it takes up so much of our time in thought and behavior that it sometimes seems that every facet of our life revolves around this to a certain extent. Human sexual behavior is different from the sexual behavior of other animals, in that, it seems to be governed by a variety and interplay of different factors. That is, while lower animals or species are driven by a force to reproduce and therefore partake in sexual behavior. CharlesRead MoreEvolution Of A Evolutionary Theory1500 Words   |  6 Pagesthat classification should be based on evolutionary relationships Darwin used fossils, the remains or traces of organisms from the past, to study and observe change over time. Paleontology is the study of these fossils Darwin said that if geologic change results from slow, continuous actions rather than from sudden events, then the Earth must be much older than what was previously thought. Lamarck used two main principles already accepted to prove his evolutionary theory. The first was use and disuseRead MoreThe Manual Of Mental Disorders1489 Words   |  6 PagesManual of all Mental Disorders AN is characterized by â€Å"distorted body image and excessive dieting that leads to severe weight loss with a pathological fear of becoming fat† (DSM-5, 2013) and I shall outline Evolutionary reasoning and Biological reasoning behind this statement. The evolutionary approach states current human behaviour can be understood in terms of how it may have been adaptive in our ancestral past. It would have been necessary to frequently move habitual areas when food resources wereRead MoreNatural Selection And Its Effect On A Population Essay1356 Words   |  6 PagesNatural selection is the process whereby species that are better equipped for survival in their environment are able to prolong their bloodline by reproducing. Advancements in these species, evolution, can be seen as a result of natural selections force. Natural selection can be broken down into three concepts that require it to operate. The first is the constant struggle a species face for survival, which results in the continuation of the successful branches of the species, as the others becomeRead MoreThe Phenomenon Of Reproductive Parasitism And Its Evolutionary Implications1210 Words   |  5 Pages The Phenomenon of Reproductive Parasitism and its Evolutionary Implications. Marcelo Vieira da Silva Genetics and Evolution – BIO372 Professors Kate Bryant and Jennie Chaplin October 16, 2014â€Æ' Evolutionary biology is a branch of biology that investigates the evolution of organism, especially in the areas of molecular and microbial evolution, behavior, genetics, ecology, life histories, development, paleontology, systematics, and morphology. In this essay I am going to discuss aboutRead MoreAesthetic Judgement And Aesthetic Judgment1448 Words   |  6 Pagesunderstanding of the world around them. Ultimately, while their perspectives may vary, these philosophers fundamentally acknowledge that this evolutionary change is ever-present and influentially active in individuals’ lives and understanding of human nature. To begin, this â€Å"aesthetic judgment† or psychological perspective originates from an evolved mental drive, in which adaptive behavior and assimilation is triggered in response to making choices that arise in a person’s life. 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Implications of Learning Theories in Modern World Free Essays

string(265) " delight in collecting and organizing almost everything they can get their hands on and why adolescents who have begun to attain formal operational thinking will argue incessantly about all the unfairness in the world and how it can be eliminated \(Stipek, 1993\)\." Motivation Excerpted from Chapter 11 of Biehler/Snowman, PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO TEACHING, 8/e, Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Definition of Motivation (p. 399) Behavioral Views of Motivation (pp. We will write a custom essay sample on Implications of Learning Theories in Modern World or any similar topic only for you Order Now 399-402) Cognitive Views of Motivation (pp. 402-406) The Humanistic View of Motivation (pp. 406-409) The Impact of Cooperative Learning on Motivation (pp. 416-417) Suggestions for Teaching in Your Classroom: Motivating Students to Learn (p. 422) Resources for Further Investigation (pp. 433-434) Definition of Motivation Motivation is typically defined as the forces that account for the arousal, selection, direction, and continuation of behavior. Nevertheless, many teachers have at least two major misconceptions about motivation that prevent them from using this concept with maximum effectiveness. One misconception is that some students are unmotivated. Strictly speaking, that is not an accurate statement. As long as a student chooses goals and expends a certain amount of effort to achieve them, he is, by definition, motivated. What teachers really mean is that students are not motivated to behave in the way teachers would like them to behave. The second misconception is that ne person can directly motivate another. This view is inaccurate because motivation comes from within a person. What you can do, with the help of the various motivation theories discussed in this chapter, is create the circumstances that influence students to do what you want them to do. Many factors determine whether the students in your classes will be motivated or not motivated to learn. You should not be surprised to discover that no single theoretic al interpretation of motivation explains all aspects of student interest or lack of it. Different theoretical interpretations do, however, shed light on why some students in a given learning situation are more likely to want to learn than others. Furthermore, each theoretical interpretation can serve as the basis for the development of techniques for motivating students in the classroom. Several theoretical interpretations of motivation — some of which are derived from discussions of learning presented earlier — will now be summarized. Top Behavioral Views of Motivation Operant Conditioning and Social Learning Theory The Effect of Reinforcement In Chapter 8 we discussed Skinner’s emphasis of the role of reinforcement in learning. After demonstrating that organisms tend to repeat actions that are reinforced and that behavior can be shaped by reinforcement, Skinner developed the technique of programmed instruction to make it possible for students to be reinforced for every correct response. According to Skinner, supplying the correct answer–and being informed by the program that it is the correct answer–motivates the student to go on to the next frame; and as the student works through the program, the desired terminal behavior is progressively shaped. Following Skinner’s lead, many behavioral learning theorists devised techniques of behavior modification on the assumption that students are motivated to complete a task by being promised a reward of some kind. Many times the reward takes the form of praise or a grade. Sometimes it is a token that can be traded in for some desired object; and at other times the reward may be the privilege of engaging in a self-selected activity. Operant conditioning interpretations of learning may help reveal why some students react avorably to particular subjects and dislike others. For instance, some students may enter a required math class with a feeling of delight, while others may feel that they have been sentenced to prison. Skinner suggests that such differences can be traced to past experiences. He would argue that the student who loves math has been shaped to respond that way by a series of positive experiences with math. The math hater, in contrast, may have suffered a series of nega tive experiences. The Power of Persuasive Models Social learning theorists, such as Albert Bandura, call attention to the importance of observation, imitation, and vicarious reinforcement (expecting to receive the same reinforcer that we see someone else get for exhibiting a particular behavior). A student who identifies with and admires a teacher of a particular subject may work hard partly to please the admired individual and partly to try becoming like that individual. A student who observes an older brother or sister reaping benefits from earning high grades may strive to do the same with the expectation of experiencing the same or similar benefits. A student who notices that a classmate receives praise from the teacher after acting in a certain way may decide to imitate such behavior to win similar rewards. As we pointed out in Chapter 8, both vicarious reinforcement and direct reinforcement can raise an individual’s sense of self-efficacy for a particular task, which, in turn, leads to higher levels of motivation. Top Cognitive Views of Motivation Cognitive views stress that human behavior is influenced by the way people think about themselves and their environment. The direction that behavior takes can be explained by four influences: the inherent need to construct an organized and logically consistent knowledge base, one’s expectations for successfully completing a task, the factors that one believes account for success and failure, and one’s beliefs about the nature of cognitive ability. The Impact of Cognitive Development This view is based on Jean Piaget’s principles of equilibration, assimilation, accommodation, and schema formation. Piaget proposes that children possess an inherent desire to maintain a sense of organization and balance in their conception of the world (equilibration). A sense of equilibration may be experienced if a child assimilates a new experience by relating it to an existing scheme, or the child may accommodate by modifying an existing scheme if the new experience is too different. In addition, individuals will repeatedly use new schemes because of an inherent desire to master their environment. This explains why young children can, with no loss of enthusiasm, sing the same song, tell the same story, and play the same game over and over and why they repeatedly open and shut doors to rooms and cupboards with no seeming purpose. It also explains why older children take great delight in collecting and organizing almost everything they can get their hands on and why adolescents who have begun to attain formal operational thinking will argue incessantly about all the unfairness in the world and how it can be eliminated (Stipek, 1993). You read "Implications of Learning Theories in Modern World" in category "Learning" Top The Need for Achievement Have you ever decided to take on a moderately difficult task (like take a course on astronomy even though you are a history major and have only a limited background in science) and then found that you had somewhat conflicting feelings about it? On the one hand, you felt eager to start the course, confident that you would be pleased with your performance. But on the other hand, you also felt a bit of anxiety because of the small possibility of failure. Now try to imagine the opposite situation. In reaction to a suggestion to take a course outside your major, you flat out refuse because the probability of failure seems great, while the probability of success seems quite small. In the early 1960s John Atkinson (1964) proposed that such differences in achievement behavior are due to differences in something called the need for achievement. Atkinson described this need as a global, generalized desire to attain goals that require some degree of competence. He saw this need as being partly innate and partly the result of experience. Individuals with a high need for achievement have a stronger expectation of success than they do a fear of failure for most tasks and therefore anticipate a feeling of pride in accomplishment. When given a choice, high-need achievers seek out moderately challenging tasks because they offer an optimal balance between challenge and expected success. By contrast, individuals with a low need for achievement avoid such tasks because their fear of failure greatly outweighs their expectation of success, and they therefore anticipate feelings of shame. When faced with a choice, they typically opt either for relatively easy tasks because the probability of success is high or rather difficult tasks because there is no shame in failing to achieve a lofty goal. Atkinson’s point about taking fear of failure into account in arranging learning experiences has been made more recently by William Glasser in Control Theory in the Classroom (1986) and The Quality School (1990). Glasser argues that for people to succeed at life in general, they must first experience success in one important aspect of their lives. For most children, that one important part should be school. But the traditional approach to evaluating learning, which emphasizes comparative grading (commonly called â€Å"grading on the curve†), allows only a minority of students to achieve A’s and B’s and feel successful. The self-worth of the remaining students (who may be quite capable) suffers, which depresses their motivation to achieve on subsequent classroom tasks (Covington, 1985). Top The Humanistic View of Motivation Abraham Maslow earned his Ph. D. in a psychology department that supported the behaviorist position. After he graduated, however, he came into contact with Gestalt psychologists (a group of German psychologists whose work during the 1920s and 1930s laid the foundation for the cognitive theories of the 1960s and 1970s), prepared for a career as a psychoanalyst, and became interested in anthropology. As a result of these various influences, he came to the conclusion that American psychologists who endorsed the behaviorist position had become so preoccupied with overt behavior and objectivity that they were ignoring other important aspects of human existence (hence the term humanistic to describe his views). When Maslow observed the behavior of especially well-adjusted persons–or self-actualizers, as he called them–he concluded that healthy individuals are motivated to seek fulfilling experiences. Maslow’s Theory of Growth Motivation Maslow describes seventeen propositions, discussed in Chapter 1 of Motivation and Personality (3d ed. , 1987), that he believes would have to be incorporated into any sound theory of growth motivation (or need gratification) to meet them. Referring to need gratification as the most important single principle underlying all development, he adds that â€Å"the single, holistic principle that binds together the multiplicity of human motives is the tendency for a new and higher need to emerge as the lower need fulfills itself by being sufficiently gratified† (1968, p. 55). He elaborates on this basic principle by proposing a five-level hierarchy of needs. Physiological needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy, followed in ascending order by safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and self-actualization needs. This order reflects differences in the relative strength of each need. The lower a need is in the hierarchy, the greater is its strength because when a lower-level need is activated (as in the case of extreme hunger or fear for one’s physical safety), people will stop trying to satisfy a higher-level need (such as esteem or self-actualization) and focus on satisfying the currently active lower-level need (Maslow, 1987). The first four needs (physiological, safety, belongingness and love, and esteem) are often referred to as deficiency needs because they motivate people to act only when they are unmet to some degree. Self-actualization, by contrast, is often called a growth need because people constantly strive to satisfy it. Basically, self-actualization refers to the need for self-fulfillment — the need to develop all of one’s potential talents and capabilities. For example, an individual who felt she had the capability to write novels, teach, practice medicine, and raise children would not feel self-actualized until all of these goals had been accomplished to some minimal degree. Because it is at the top of the hierarchy and addresses the potential of the whole person, self-actualization is discussed more frequently than the other needs. Maslow originally felt that self-actualization needs would automatically be activated as soon as esteem needs were met, but he changed his mind when he encountered individuals whose behavior did not fit this pattern. He concluded that individuals whose self-actualization needs became activated held in high regard such values as truth, goodness, beauty, justice, autonomy, and humor (Feist, 1990). In addition to the five basic needs that compose the hierarchy, Maslow describes cognitive needs (such as the needs to know and to understand) and aesthetic needs (such as the needs for order, symmetry, or harmony). While not part of the basic hierarchy, these two classes of needs play a critical role in the satisfaction of basic needs. Maslow maintains that such conditions as the freedom to investigate and learn, fairness, honesty, and orderliness in interpersonal relationships are critical because their absence makes satisfaction of the five basic needs impossible. (Imagine, for example, trying to satisfy your belongingness and love needs or your esteem needs in an atmosphere characterized by dishonesty, unfair punishment, and restrictions on freedom of speech. ) Top The Impact of Cooperative Learning on Motivation Classroom tasks can be structured so that students are forced to compete with one another, work individually, or cooperate with one another to obtain the rewards that teachers make available for successfully completing these tasks. Traditionally, competitive arrangements have been assumed to be superior to the other two in increasing motivation and learning. But reviews of the research literature by David Johnson and Roger Johnson (Johnson ; Johnson, 1995; Johnson, Johnson, ; Smith, 1995) found cooperative arrangements to be far superior in producing these benefits. In this section we will describe cooperative-, competitive, and individual learning arrangements (sometimes called goal structures or reward structures), identify the elements that make up the major approaches to cooperative learning, and examine the effect of cooperative learning on motivation, achievement, and interpersonal relationships. Types of Classroom Reward Structures Competitive goal structures are typically norm referenced. (If you can’t recall our discussion of the normal curve in Chapter 5, now might be a good time for a quick review. This traditional practice of grading on the curve predetermines the percentage of A, B, C, D, and F grades regardless of the actual distribution of test scores. Because only a small percentage of students in any group can achieve the highest rewards and because this accomplishment must come at some other students’ expense, competitive goal structures are characterized by negative interdependence. Students try to outdo one anot her, view classmates’ failures as an advantage, and come to believe that the winners deserve their rewards because they are inherently better (Johnson, Johnson, Holubec, 1994; Johnson et al. 1995). Some researchers have argued that competitive reward structures lead students to focus on ability as the primary basis for motivation. This orientation is reflected in the question â€Å"Am I smart enough to accomplish this task? † When ability is the basis for motivation, competing successfully in the classroom may be seen as relevant to self-esteem (since nobody loves a loser), difficult to accomplish (since only a few can succeed), and uncertain (success depends on how everyone else does). These perceptions may cause some students to avoid challenging subjects or tasks, to give up in the face of difficulty, to reward themselves only if they win a competition, and to believe that their own successes are due to ability, whereas the successes of others are due to luck (Ames Ames, 1984; Dweck, 1986). Individualistic goal structures are characterized by students working alone and earning rewards solely on the quality of their own efforts. The success or failure of other students is irrelevant. All that matters is whether the student meets the standards for a particular task (Johnson et al. , 1994; Johnson et al. , 1995). Thirty students working by themselves at computer terminals are functioning in an individual reward structure. According to Carole Ames and Russell Ames (1984), individual structures lead students to focus on task effort as the primary basis for motivation (as in â€Å"I can do this if I try†). Whether a student perceives a task as difficult depends on how successful she has been with that type of task in the past. Cooperative goal structures are characterized by students working together to accomplish shared goals. What is beneficial for the other students in the group is beneficial for the individual and vice versa. Because students in cooperative groups can obtain a desired reward (such as a high grade or a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done) only if the other students in the group also obtain the same reward, cooperative goal structures are characterized by positive interdependence. Also, all groups may receive the same rewards, provided they meet the teacher’s criteria for mastery. For example, a teacher might present a lesson on map reading, then give each group its own map and a question-answering exercise. Students then work with each other to ensure that all know how to interpret maps. Each student then takes a quiz on map reading. All teams whose average quiz scores meet a preset standard receive special recognition (Johnson et al. , 1994; Johnson et al. , 1995; Slavin, 1995). Cooperative structures lead students to focus on effort and cooperation as the primary basis of motivation. This orientation is reflected in the statement â€Å"We can do this if we try hard and work together. † In a cooperative atmosphere, students are motivated out of a sense of obligation: one ought to try, contribute, and help satisfy group norms (Ames ; Ames, 1984). William Glasser, whose ideas we mentioned earlier, is a fan of cooperative learning. He points out that student motivation and performance tend to be highest for such activities as band, drama club, athletics, the school newspaper, and the yearbook, all of which require a team effort (Gough, 1987). We would also like to point out that cooperative-learning and reward structures are consistent with the constructivist approach discussed in Chapters 1, 2, and 10 since they encourage inquiry, perspective sharing, and conflict resolution. Top Suggestions for Teaching in Your Classroom: Motivating Students to Learn 1. Use behavioral techniques to help students exert themselves and work toward remote goals. 2. Make sure that students know what they are to do, how to proceed, and how to determine when they have achieved goals. 3. Do everything possible to satisfy deficiency needs — physiological, safety, belongingness, and esteem. . Accommodate the instructional program to the physiological needs of your students. b. Make your room physically and psychologically safe. c. Show your students that you take an interest in them and that they belong in your classroom. d. Arrange learning experiences so that all students can gain at least a degree of esteem. 4. Enhance the attractions a nd minimize the dangers of growth choices. 5. Direct learning experiences toward feelings of success in an effort to encourage an orientation toward achievement, a positive self-concept, and a strong sense of self-efficacy. . Make use of objectives that are challenging but attainable and, when appropriate, that involve student input. b. Provide knowledge of results by emphasizing the positive. 6. Try to encourage the development of need achievement, self-confidence, and self-direction in students who need these qualities. a. Use achievement-motivation training techniques. b. Use cooperative-learning methods. 7. Try to make learning interesting by emphasizing activity, investigation, adventure, social interaction, and usefulness. Top Resources for Further Investigation Surveys of Motivational Theories In a basic survey text, Motivation to Learn: From Theory to Practice (2d ed. , 1993), Deborah Stipek discusses reinforcement theory, social cognitive theory, intrinsic motivation, need for achievement theory, attribution theory, and perceptions of ability. In Appendix 2-A, she presents a rating form and scoring procedure with which teachers can identify students who may have motivation problems. Appendix 3-A is a self-rating form that teachers can use to keep track of how often they provide rewards and punishments. A useful summary of motivation theories and techniques can be found in the Worcester Polytechnic University’s WWW site for teacher development, at http://www. wpi. edu/~isg_501/motivation. html. Top Motivational Techniques for the Classroom Motivation and Teaching: A Practical Guide (1978), by Raymond Wlodkowski, and Eager to Learn (1990), by Raymond Wlodkowski and Judith Jaynes, are a good source of classroom application ideas. Motivating Students to Learn: Overcoming Barriers to High Achievement (1993), edited by Tommy Tomlinson, devotes four chapters to elementary school and four chapters to high school motivation issues. Two sources of information on motivation techniques and suggestions for teaching are found at Columbia University’s Institute for Learning Technologies, which contains documents, papers, and unusual projects and activities that could be used to increase student motivation; and at Northwestern University’s Institute for Learning Sciences Engines for Education on-line program, which allows educators to pursue a number of questions about students, learning environments, and successful teaching through a hyperlinked database. The Institute for Learning Technologies is found at http://www. ilt. columbia. edu/ilt/. The Institute for Learning Sciences is found at http://www. ils. nwu. edu/. This was excerpted from Chapter 11 of Biehler/Snowman, PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO TEACHING, 8/e, Houghton Mifflin, 1997. For more information on â€Å"Motivation† in Gage/Berliner, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 6/e, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1998, see Chapter 8, â€Å"Motivation and Learning† For more information on â€Å"Motivation† in the Grabes’ INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING, 2/e, Houghton Mifflin Co. , 1998 see page 97 for â€Å"the role of motivation in drill and practice,† pages 51-55 for â€Å"the role of motivation in meaningful learning†, page 163 for â€Å"the role of motivativation in writing,† and pages 398-99 for â€Å"learning styles and social and motivational preferences. † Teaching Implications of Learning Theories The best college teachers] have ge nerally cobbled together from their own experiences working with students conceptions of human learning that are remarkably similar to some ideas that have emerged in the research and theoretical literature on cognition, motivation, and human development (from Ken Bain’s book, What the Best College Teachers Do). Theories of learning, whether explicit or tacit, informed by study or intuition, well-considered or not, play a role in the choices instructors make concerning their teaching. The major trend   in understanding how students learn has been a movement away from the behaviorist model to a cognitive view of learning (see Svinicki (below) for an overview of learning theories). Implications for teaching practice of some key ideas from   learning theories 1. Learning is a process of active construction. Learning is the interaction between what students know, the new information they encounter, and the activities they engage in as they learn. Students construct their own understanding through experience, interactions with content and others, and reflection. Teaching Implication Provide opportunities for students to connect with your content in a variety of meaningful ways by using cooperative learning, interactive lectures, engaging assignments, hands-on lab/field experiences, and other active learning strategies. 2. Students’ prior knowledge is an important determinant of what they will learn. Students do not come to your class as a blank slate. They use what they already know about a topic to interpret new information. When students cannot relate new material to what they already know, they tend to memorize—learning for the test—rather than developing any real understanding of the content. Teaching Implication Learn about your students’ experiences, preconceptions, or misconceptions by using pre-tests, background knowledge probes, and written or oral activities designed to reveal students’ thinking about the topic. 3. Organizing information into a conceptual framework helps students remember and use knowledge. Students must learn factual information, understand these facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application in order to develop competence in a new topic. Teaching Implication Support students by using concept maps, flowcharts, outlines, comparison tables, etc. , to make the structure of the knowledge clear. 4. Learning is a social phenomenon. Students learn with greater understanding when they share ideas through conversation, debate, and negotiation. Explaining a concept to one’s peers puts knowledge to a public test where it can be examined, reshaped, and clarified. Teaching Implication Use Cooperative learning strategies, long-term group projects, class discussions, and group activities to support the social side of learning. . Learning is context-specific. It is often difficult for students to use what they learn in class in new contexts (i. e. , other classes, the workplace, or their personal lives). Teaching Implication Use problem-based learning, simulations or cases, and service learning to create learning environments similar to the real world. 6. Students’ metacognitive skills (thinking about thinking) are important to their learni ng. Many students utilize few learning strategies and have a limited awareness of their thinking processes. Teaching Implication Help students become more metacognitively aware by modeling your thinking as you solve a problem, develop an argument, or analyze written work in front of the class. Teach metacognitive strategies, such as setting goals, making predictions, and checking for consistency. Focus attention on metacognition by having students write in a learning journal or develop explanations of their problem-solving processes. Resources on Learning Theories Bransford, J. D. , Brown, A. L. , ; Cocking, R. R. (Eds. ) (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington DC: National Academy Press. Donovan, M. S. , Bransford, J. D. , ; Pelegrino, J. W. (Eds. ) (1999). How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. Washington DC: National Academy Press. Learning Theories Knowledgebase. (2008, May). Index of Learning Theories and Models at Learning-Theories. com. Svinicki, M. D. (1999). New directions in learning and motivations. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 80 (Winter), 5-27. http://cte. illinois. edu/resources/topics/theories. html How to cite Implications of Learning Theories in Modern World, Essays

The Merger and Acquisition in UK

Question: How toanalyze the current market trend regarding the merger and acquisition in UK and the present situation of British Home Stores (BHS) Ltd? Explain. Answer: Introduction: The purpose of this report is to analyze the current market trend regarding the merger and acquisition in UK and the present situation of British Home Stores (BHS) Ltd. It is a very popular departmental store founded in the year of 1928 (bhs.co.uk, 2016). At the beginning of the report, the business description of the company BHS is given. In the first section of this report, the current policies regarding the mergers and acquisitions in the UK market has been analyzed and then the scope of the company regarding this has been analyzed. In the later section of the report, the internal environment, competitors and external environment of BHS have been analyzed with the help of McKinsey 7s framework, Porters five forces framework and PESTEL framework. Company description: British Home Stores (BHS) is a popular departmental store in UK. The branches of the departmental chain are located in mostly in the street side or shopping malls. Main business of the organization is about the household items and clothing. Some U.S. entrepreneurs established the company in the year of 1928. Currently the business of the company is not limited in the clothing and household items (bhs.co.uk, 2016). They are expanding their business in electronic goods, furniture, entertainment items, beauty products and some other groceries. At present, the parent company of the business organization is the Retail Acquisitions Ltd (BBC News, 2016). At present, the company has near about 163 stores across the United Kingdom and other 18 different stores in some other countries. The company became one of the members of the Greens Arcadia Group in the year of 2009. Currently almost 8000 employees are working with the organization in the different sectors of the business. The company has the slogan of Modern Living, Made Easy (ITV News, 2016). In this year, the company entered administrations putting almost 11000 jobs in high risk. In this risky situation the company has high amount of debts which requires mergers and acquisition to be sustain in the future and give security to the jobs of the employees working with the company (the Guardian, 2016). Current mergers and acquisitions policies in UK: At present, mergers and acquisitions are gaining high popularity for the aspiring foreign companies who are interesting to invest to the companies in UK. Foreign companies are showing high interests in the mergers and acquisitions for different types of reasons like gaining the intellectual properties, captured market and market knowledge of the existing companies in the UK market (Lee, 2015). In order to choose a company for the mergers and acquisitions, the foreign investor companies should be concerned about the following areas: Strategy and financial analysis: In this context, the company needs to review the market capitalization, total asset value and revenues of the target company. The net margin of the profitability and free cash flow of the target company also needs to be considered by the company wants to invest in the target company. The shareholders over the operations of the company should be analyzed in the primary level, i.e., whether the shareholders control will be minor or major (Kioko, 2013). The acquisition of the shares against the sales of the company is also important in this case. In the management area, the leadership style, expertise, compatibility of the organization towards new changes, organizations cultures need to be assessed in the primary level of investigation for taking the decisions regarding mergers and acquisitions (Ghosh and Dutta, 2014). Operational analysis: The product lines of the company and available distribution channels of the company should be analyzed in this section. After analyzing these basic facts, the RD activities of the company and current portfolio of the buyers and sellers should be assessed for understanding the competitive position of the company and the future status of the company in the target market (Di Maria, 2015). Synergy expectations: The ability of market expansion and scope of asset utilization are the important factors of this case. The return of the investments and cost saving synergy are analyzed in this section. Other important synergy expectations are avoidance of duplicity, expenditure avoidance, practices adaptation, streamlining the processes, realignment of the performance and economics of sale (Chang, 2016). In case of the mergers and acquisitions in the overseas companies,, the organizational culture is one of the most important facts needed to be considered. In most of the cases, it has been found that the overseas companies are found difficulties in handling the organizational process due to the different culture. In UK, the Labour Law UK, 1981 have to be followed by the company (Verbeke, 2013). In this area, the Competition Law and European Union Merger Law are also need to be considered by the companies. Acquisitions of BHS: BHS is an established company in the current UK market which is conducting their business successfully throughout a long time period. At present the company is facing some serious financial problems. According to the report of ITV News (2016), the company needs an investment of 60 million in the business for handling the critical situation. The product line of the company is vast and it has already captured a wider area in the target market. Therefore, it can be said that the company has a good future if it is able to handle this critical situation. At present, many of the companies are showing interests in the mergers and acquisition with the company, but there is a big question about the profitability of the company (the Guardian, 2016). In order to understand the sustainability issues and current status of the company, the internal and external environment analysis of the company is required. These analyses are given in the following sections of this report. Internal environment analysis: In order to understand the internal environment of the company, McKinsey 7s framework has been used in this report. The 7 Ss are connected to each other and represents how an organization is performing the different types of business activities. The 7s need to be analyzed for understanding the internal environment of the business organization and what are required changes for improving the status of the organization (Johnston and Bate, 2013). The 7 Ss of BHS have been analyzed in the section below: McKinseys 7 Ss (Source: Gawankar, Kamble and Raut, 2015) Strategy: This refers to the way of getting competitive success by the company. The company is expanding the product lines for capturing a wider market throughout the whole world. They are also trying to introduce new technical tools in the business of the company. Structure: The business of the company is distributed among many sections such as clothing, electronic items, groceries and beauty products. Depending on these different product lines, the production units of the company are different. There are four types of management in the organization. They are operation, human resource, production and sale. Systems: The HR management of the company controls the employee management system. The employees are rewarded on the basis of their performances. The HR management of the company used to measure the performances of the employees depending on some performance indicators. Skills: The best skill of the company is to understand the market demand and develop best product line for the target customers. The company is expanding their business by introducing new updated technical products for the customers. However, the company failed to use the latest technology for understanding the customers perception and offering them the most superior product and services to them. This is one of the major reasons of facing this critical situation in their business. Style: The management style of the company is distributed leadership style. The overall management activities are divided into the different management levels. The sectional managers are the responsible persons for taking the decisions regarding the business activities in their sections. Staff: Huge amounts of staff are currently working within the company in different sectors. They are well trained about their job responsibilities in the workplaces of the organization. Shared value: The organization used to share the values with the internal stakeholders. At the time of higher profits, the company gives extra rewards to the employees. The shareholders of the company also get the fair part of the profit earned by the company. Industry competition analysis: The industry competition faced by the company can be understood by the use of the Porters five forces model. The five forces affecting the competitive situation of the company are given in this section. Threat of new entrants: Threat of the new entrants is high for the business operations of the company as it is operating on many products. The product of the company are very general, which can be easily replaced by other companies products. New companies can come up with new products, which can negatively affect the business of the company (ITV News, 2016). Threat of substitutes: There is no such big uniqueness of the products of the company, which cannot be replaced by other products. New types of products can easily substitute clothes, electronic goods and general groceries. Therefore, the threat of substitutes are also very high for the company. Bargaining power of the buyers: As there are many options available in the current UK market. The buyers have the high power of bargaining while purchasing the products of the company (the Guardian, 2016). This is not good for the health of the company. This may affect the sustainability of the company in the future. Bargaining power of the suppliers: The bargaining power of the suppliers is dependent on the availability of the suppliers. If the number of the suppliers is less, then the bargaining power of them are high and if the number of the suppliers high then the power is low (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, 2013.). In this case, there are many suppliers available for the production of the different product lines of the company. It is good for the sustainability of the company. Industry Rivalry: The industry rivalry is high for the company as there are many competitors available in the current market. Tesco, Zara, Sainsburys are the potential competitors of the company. Therefore, the company is in intense market competition with these companies. Macro environment analysis: The macro environment of the company has been analyzed with the help of the PESTEL framework (Werbach, 2013). The different external factors affecting the business of the company are analyzed in the section below: Political and Legal: In the area of the political influences, the tax law of the country is the most important factor. People of the age group 40-65 years have a propensity to be oversized, which is a potential influence for boosting the oversized clothes. These clothes are of high price, which is the reason of paying more costs as tax to the government (McGrath, 2013). The cost of handling with the consequences has become a popular topic in the political environment. This is also affecting the business operations of the company. Another big issue is the wage law of the country. As an example, a minimum wage law may affect the company directly if the employees are getting payment at the minimum rate. Economic: Government plays a vital role at both the local and international level of the business operations of the company. The economic condition of the country has direct effect on the profitability and sale of the company. Mostly the section of the clothing items are affected by the economic factors of the country. The tax rate of the business operations are influenced by overall economic condition of the countries in which the company is currently operating. Social: The social and cultural factors of the target market have a major effect on the business of the company. Especially the choices of the clothing products are highly dependent on the local culture of the area where the business is currently operating (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, 2013). Technological: Technical factors are also very important in the business activities of the company as it has started the business of many technical instruments such as mobile phones and some household electronic goods (BBC News, 2016). The technology is also using for handling the business activities of the company. Environmental: The increased cost of the raw materials for the clothing products is the most important environmental factor of the business of the company. The cotton price are rising and the global environmental changes are the cause of changing in the operational strategy of the company (bhs.co.uk, 2016). The company needs to conduct the business operation by utilizing the energy and water at the minimum level without any wastage. External environment analysis (Source: Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, 2013) Conclusion and recommendations: After conducting the market research on the internal and external environment of the business organization, it can be concluded that the current situation of the company is not so good. It has been also found that the company has high amount of debt. In the present situation, the company needs some investor who can take the imitative of handling the critical situation of the business. In order to take initiative of investment or merger and acquisitions, the current situation of the company need to be understood by the investors. This report may be helpful for this purpose. The investment in the technical sections will be very helpful for the profit through the business operations. The mergers and acquisitions with this company will be profitable as the company has a good reputation in the market. The foreign companies, which want to conduct business in the UK market, can invest in this company. It will be easier for them to conduct business in already developed market rather than capturing new target market. References: BBC News. (2016).BHS files for administration - BBC News. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-35834473 [Accessed 13 Jul. (2016)]. bhs.co.uk. (2016).Home, Lighting Furniture. [online] Available at: https://www.bhs.co.uk/en/bhuk/category/home-lighting-furniture-2565866/home [Accessed 13 Jul. (2016)]. Chang, J.F., (2016). Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press. Di Maria, E., (2015), July. Management Studies and the Global Value Chain Framework: Future Perspectives. In 27th Annual Meeting. Sase. Gawankar, S., Kamble, S.S. and Raut, R., (2015). Performance Measurement Using Balance Score Card and its Applications: A Review. Journal of Supply Chain Management Systems, 4(3). Ghosh, M.S. and Dutta, S., (2014). Mergers and Acquisitions: A Strategic Tool for Restructuring in the Indian Telecom Sector. Procedia Economics and Finance, 11, pp.396-409. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A., (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press. ITV News. (2016).Timeline: The rise and demise of British Home Stores. [online] Available at: https://www.itv.com/news/(2016)-06-02/timeline-the-rise-and-demise-of-british-home-stores/ [Accessed 13 Jul. (2016)]. Johnston, M.W. and Marshall, G.W., (2016). Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge. Johnston, R.E. and Bate, J.D., (2013). The power of strategy innovation: a new way of linking creativity and strategic planning to discover great business opportunities. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Kioko, S.M., (2013). Mergers and acquistions as an entry strategy by Cfc Stanbic Bank in the Kenyan market. University of Nairobi Press. Lee, D., (2015), July. Cross-Border Mergers and Acquistions, Crisis and Reversal of Fortune: Rise and Falls of GM Daewoo and Renault Samsung in South Korea. In 27th Annual Meeting. Sase. McGrath, R.G., (2013). The end of competitive advantage: How to keep your strategy moving as fast as your business. Harvard Business Review Press. Siguaw, J.A. and Simpson, P.M., (2015). A marketing plan for marketing instruction: A satirical look at student comments. In Creating and Delivering Value in Marketing (pp. 129-133). Springer International Publishing. the Guardian. (2016).BHS | Business | The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/bhs [Accessed 13 Jul. (2016)]. Verbeke, A., (2013). International business strategy. Cambridge University Press. Werbach, A., (2013). Strategy for sustainability: A business manifesto. Harvard Business Press.

Violence in The Kite Runner Essay Example

Violence in The Kite Runner Paper In The Kite Runner, violence plays a large role to develop both the characters and the story. Scenes such as rape, murder and extremely violent corporal punishments are cheerfully depicted and you can clearly see how those scenes come to affect the character development. The novel describes the life of Amir and his involvement with the violent scenes in the book. The novel also describes how much significance a single event in somebody’s life can have on their future self, especially rape. The first time rape is portrayed in the book is the scene where Hassan, Amir’s childhood friend, are raped by a known bully known as Assef. Amir and Hassan had just participated in a kite fighting tournament and they luckily won. Hassan runs away to find the kite for Amir and finds him being held down by Assef and his friends. Here, Amir can either interfere in the rape, or run and hide, and he chooses the latter one. This choice will come to affect and shape the rest of his life. The memory of witnessing Hassan being raped, and him not helping his friend will build up guilt inside of him. The guilt will continue growing until he cannot handle it anymore and feels like he has to redeem himself. This particular rape is not the first instance where rape occurs, and Amir is later reminded of his choice whilst escaping to Palestine with his father Baba when a woman is nearly raped. His father prevents this and Amir is reminded about his foul decision and also about how different Amir is from his father. About the same time, Amir is told about the rape of Kamal, a boy Amir used to know. These two events enriches the guilt he already felt and it grows even more. Later in life, Amir will look back at the scenes of rape in his life and will compare it to a coin only showing the upside when thrown; â€Å"What was the old saying about the bad penny? My past was like that, always turning up† (Hosseini 2003, p.281). Later in the story, Amir and his father arr We will write a custom essay sample on Violence in The Kite Runner specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Violence in The Kite Runner specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Violence in The Kite Runner specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

I Am Sam Essay Example

I Am Sam Essay Example I Am Sam Paper I Am Sam Paper A developing child should be cared for and nurtured well in the early stages of life. The movie I Am Sam depicts a typical case of whether a mentally disabled parent should have custody of a child. Like any other child, Lucy needs to be in a loving environment that tends to her every need, and it is up to her guardians to understand what those needs are. Sams mental capacity does not exceed that of an eight year old, where once Lucy surpasses that age, she will essentially take on the role of the parent. Although Sam may have won custody of Lucy in the movie, one cannot say the movie accurately portrays the constant parental actions Sam performed by himself or during emergencies. Lucys future can be jeopardized if her development is held back by her father. In a reality setting, Sam should not have custody of Lucy, because he is too dependant on outside sources; not capable of providing the proper care a non-disabled parent would; and will be putting her future at risk of its full potential. Sam is too dependant outside sources. When parents need help, they often turn to people who are wiser and understand the situation. Sams circle of friends is mostly mentally disabled as well, and cannot provide efficient care for Lucy. They make things worse rather than better, because they too do not understand the proper needs of Lucy. Not only is Sam reliant on outside sources, he may not always choose the best source for advice. However, better sources for advice may not always be there to help. Lucys godmother will not be around to constantly help Sam whenever he needs it. He is very dependant on her for information about parenthood, although, if something were to happen to her, Sam would be alone with many questions but very little answers. Although a child needs the care of more than one person, Sam relies too heavily on his neighbors, friends and social workers. With the mental abilities of a seven year old, Sam needs the help of social workers to dictate what Lucy should do. This shows how he lacks in parental instincts, which is one of the most important aspects of being a parent. As a single parent, Lucy is dependant on Sam for everything from food to exercise; however he must learn and remember how to provide proper amounts of for his daughter. Sam must learn how to provide for Lucy on his own, and not rely on others to determine how Lucy lives. In this case, being a good parent does not rely on the amount of love for the child, but rather the needs a parent can properly tend to. Sam has an unlimited amount of love for Lucy; however he cannot provide an adequate environment for her beyond the age of eight. Lucy would most likely not have the proper stimulation for her age once she grows older. She will need to read more difficult books, and challenge herself to grow mentally. As times change Sam will not be able to provide the proper books, because he may chose a book that is appealing to him, which is also appealing to a seven year old. Also, he may not be aware of the other forms of mental stimulation besides books. Foster-care parents will be able to understand and properly tend to the needs of Lucy according to her age. Not only is Lucy in need of mental stimulation in accordance to her age, Sam needs to understand what to do in case of emergencies. If Lucy collapses, Sam must learn how to dial 911 and provide the appropriate information requested by the operator. He cannot rely on calling the neighbors, because a minute can determine whether Lucy lives or dies. One of the ways to prevent Lucy from being involved in emergencies is to avoid the dangerous situations all together. As a parent, Sam must recognize the rules and restrictions Lucy has to live by, and make sure she is always in control. In the movie, Lucy was able to deceive Sam into believing the social worker let him take her to the park. This shows he often cannot question his daughter, letting Lucy the opportunity to run rampant without proper adult supervision. Sam will not be able to comprehend the needs of a child, and thus unable to tend to them like how a non-mentally disabled parent should. Lucy needs to understand she has a right to have an equal future as any other child in the world. Sam in unacceptable of change, and Lucy needs to experience life beyond the weekly events Sam has organized. When they decided to dine at a new restaurant instead of I-Hop, Sam experiences a fit. His unwillingness to change will prevent Lucy from experiencing new situations. As Lucy grows older, she will want to enjoy new events, but Sam is reluctant to provide her these opportunities. While these opportunities are lost, Lucy must also cope with an emotional weight brought upon her in a world of discrimination. Most of the human population will not understand a mentally disabled person, and thus are prone to prejudice. Lucy did not want people to judge her the same way they judged her father, forcing her to tell her friends she was adopted. Lucy will most likely hear harsh words against the mentally disabled throughout her life, and the emotional burden will make it harder for her to live life normally. Also, the burden of having to raise her father once she surpasses his mental abilities, will further force her to live in very different situations than other children. Lucy will have too much responsibility for her age, which can make her feel as if shes losing the supposedly care-free days of her childhood. Lucys future relies heavily on how she develops and Sam may be holding her back with his condition. She has a right to grow as a child, and become her own person regardless of what her fathers circumstances. Lucy is at a very vulnerable age in life, and the actions that involve her can affect her for the rest of her life. Sam is struggling to sustain himself, and for him to take care of another life with his budget as a Starbucks waiter is unfair for the child. He cannot provide everything that Lucy needs and in order to let Lucy have a normal childhood, she needs to live in an environment where all her needs are tended to. Foster care parents are far better than Sam in terms of giving Lucy a home where her requirements are fulfilled, because they have the common sense to figure out what she needs and how to provide them. Love is intangible and cannot provide basic necessities such as shelter or food. The movie may have manipulated its audience into believing that all you need is love, but in reality, love is never really enough.

Back in Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Back in Shakespeare Essay Romeo and Juliet (446) , Capulet (321) , Montague (266) , Tybalt (192) , Benvolio (113) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints Back in Shakespeare’s days courtly love was a fashionable tradition. What happened was the men saw the women as Goddesses but their love was more often unrequited. But the men would send them love letters in the form of sonnets in order to win the woman’s love, however it usually failed leaving the man feeling melancholic. This is the position Romeo found himself in as he was in love with a girl called Rosaline. Montague and Benvolio notice a change in Romeo’s behaviour due to this and Montague explains how he â€Å"shuts up his windows† and â€Å"locks fair daylight out† this shows that Romeo attempts to isolate himself from the outside world and really is depressed. As Romeo enters the scene the audience can see for themselves his state of mind during his conversation with Benvolio. His replies to Benvolio’s comments are short and subdued and he explains, â€Å"sad hours seem long†. We can work out from this that Romeo is not having a good time so our sympathy wins him over and we hope for his luck to change. As we move onto scene 2, we meet Paris, who is a man hoping to marry Juliet and is trying to convince Capulet to allow him to, however Capulet seems to think Juliet is too young for marriage as â€Å"She hath not seen the change of fourteen years†. The possible marriage between Paris and Juliet is exciting for the audience yet it is an obstacle between the forthcoming relationship between Romeo and Juliet. The scene then cuts back to Romeo and his problems with courtly love. Benvolio who is aware of Romeo’s problem tries to be a useful friend by giving him advice. His advice is â€Å"one fire burns out another’s burning†, this is a metaphorical way of putting; you should find someone else and forget about Rosaline. Then as ‘Clown’ from the Capulet family is struggling to read a party invitation he asks Romeo and Benvolio to read the list out for him. Romeo notices that Rosalie’s name is on this list and the pair therefore decide to find a way of going to the ‘masqued ball’ to give Romeo a chance of fore filling his dream of meeting Rosaline. The fact it’s a masqued ball means they can get in whilst in disguise and probably get away with it and this thought enters Benvolio’s head. In scene 3 we meet the Nurse. A nurse is the Elizabethan equivalent to a child minder, however in these days they were hired out commonly by wealthy upper class families and were pretty much part of the family, they would raise the children and even breast feed them when they are babies. This particular Nurse raised Juliet and the two of them are very close. She is a bubbly character who often tells sexual jokes or sexual innuendo’s and tells Juliet stories about when she was younger usually embarrassing her. From seeing the play myself I remember the nurse being an entertaining character and was an audience favourite which was most noticeable by the applause she got at the end. Her sexual humour is shown where she says, â€Å"dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit, wilt thou not, Jule?† This is a crude joke of falling onto her back for sex and most fourteen year olds would find an adult talking to them like this terribly embarrassing yet the audience find it comical and entertaining. Soon after; Juliet discovers Paris’s desire to marry her and to the nurses delight Juliet replies â€Å"It is an honour that I dream not of†. Again the audience are excited by what is now a probable marriage yet it also questions the possibility of Romeo and Juliet getting together. Whilst on their way to the Capulet masqued ball Romeo predicts the future when saying â€Å"for my mind misgreaves some consequence, yet hanging in the stars†, similarly to what it says in the prologue; Romeo is saying he fears an unfortunate accident. The audience therefore semi-expect this to ironically happen. This is meant to create tension especially when he says about an â€Å"untimely death†, which along with the prologue suggests young death. Scene 5 is set in the Capulet household as it is the location of their ‘masqued ball’. A ‘masqued ball’ was a fashionable party to have in Elizabethan times where everyone went disguised in a mask. It was the equivalent to what a fancy dress party is today and this is why the Montague’s were able to get in with little suspicion from the Capulet’s. Party’s are always a popularity and so Shakespeare made this scene a key one in the play for the entertainment of the audience. From what the audience have seen so far, Romeo is a melodramatic isolated character. He has won over our sympathy and as he is one of the main characters we all want to see things turn around for him. The reason Shakespeare presents him as a melancholic lover is to emphasise the artificial nature of his love for Rosaline in comparison to the genuine emotion he feels for Juliet. We witness the two types of love juxtaposed and recognise that his love for Juliet is positive, energising and less of a ‘pose’. But by presenting him in love with someone else initially, it creates romantic suspense for the audience. When Romeo first sees Juliet, it is described as ‘love at first sight’, this really helps to emphasise how he feels about her. From the audiences point of view, Romeo appears to be shocked by how much Juliet stands out by the way he says â€Å"O she doth teach torches to burn bright†, the reason he says ‘O’ at the start of his speech is purely to emphasise his emotion. The speech as a whole is a type of light imagery and explains how her beauty stands out so much to Romeo. He then goes on to say â€Å"†¦she hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear†, this is a metaphorical way of saying that she is beautiful, precious and rare to him as is â€Å"Beauty too rich for use†. These are both examples of wealth imagery. The majority of his speech in this part of the scene is imagery and metaphorical to help stress his feelings for Juliet, he also claims she â€Å"Shows a snowy dove trooping with crows†. This is in the category of bird and colour imagery and helps to stand out the point that she really does stand out from the crowd. As explained by courtly love, it was a common thing for men to respect women like they are goddesses, and Romeo uses this kind of ‘holy imagery’ when he says â€Å"†¦touching hers, make blessed my rude hand†. Overall the speech shows strong romantic inte rest due to how Romeo is so intense, passionate and genuine. This is one of the most loving parts of the story; however it is interrupted as the fiery character of Tybalt notices that a Montague is present. He clearly shows his anger by referring Romeo as a â€Å"slave†, which is saying that Romeo is like his inferior. As Capulet enters the scene; Tybalt threatens to â€Å"strike him dead†, however, Capulet bears in mind what the Prince said, in that any more fighting would mean their â€Å"lives would pay the forfeit† and as he wants no violence at the party, he aggressively prevents Tybalt from making any wrong moves. The hatred is then interrupted by the love of Romeo and Juliet as they meet and talk for the first time. Their conversation is set out in the style of a sonnet as of course; these were popular in the Elizabethan and Medieval times. It is very poetic, passionate and filled with religious imagery. The language is intense, memorable and uses rhyming couplets at the end of every other line to help it to sound better and stand out. Juliet is very responsive to Romeo’s requests and appears to want Romeo to kiss her, which was a rarity in the courtly love tradition. Romeo flirtatiously refers to Juliet as a ‘Pilgrim’; this shows how he respects her like a Goddess and this is the start of a large amount of religious imagery. In addition to that, Juliet answers back with her own religious metaphors like â€Å"And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss† this also contains some alliteration due to the repetitive use of words containing ‘palm’. The speech overall is a pattern of Romeo flirting to Juliet and Juliet flirting back, this keeps the flow of the conversation going and on a couple of occasions we witness a kiss. All this comes to a sudden end as the Nurse enters the scene and they discover each others identity. The nurse calls Juliet to go to her mother and when she is gone explains to Romeo â€Å"Her mother is the lady of the house† and of course Romeo realises this is the Capulet house. Benvolio calls Romeo away from the scene explaining â€Å"The sport is at the best† which informs that he knows the best part of the night is over and their identity has been discovered. This means that the Montague’s have to make a swift exit effectively making Romeo and Juliet’s ‘moment’ short with a sudden end. This leaves the nurse and Juliet alone together. Juliet finds out from the Nurse that Romeo is in fact a Montague and is clearly devastated by this when she says â€Å"My grave is like to be my wedding bed† and â€Å"My only love sprung from my only hate. All the way throughout this scene; Shakespeare juxtaposes love and hate. The first sight of love is at Romeo’s first glimpse of Juliet and the whole ‘love at first sight’ event, this is interrupted by Tybalt noticing Romeo and wanting to cause a violent act but he is stopped by Capulet. This allows Romeo and Juliet to have their first speech in the form of the love sonnet although when the two realise each other’s identity, the hate between the two families takes over leaving the audience wondering if the power of their love is strong enough to overcome the hate. In conclusion to the opening act of the play; Shakespeare creates many ‘untied’ ends to the story. This makes the audience want to carry on watching to get an answer to their questions; questions such as will Tybalt fore fill his threat towards Romeo? Are Romeo and Juliet going to die and if so how? Will Paris marry Juliet? And will there be any more fighting? The only possible way for the audience to find an answer to these questions is to carry on watching the play. This was Shakespeare’s objective for the opening act and he has therefore successfully completed it. Back in Shakespeare. (2017, Aug 22). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Chicano studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Chicano studies - Essay Example It is because political power is gained by having good number of followers. In addition, the voting pattern in the USA was more along the tribal lines thus making the Chicano people unlucky when it comes to national resource allocation. Having a political representative would have helped the Chicanos to develop within their area. Illiteracy was also another factor that significantly contributed to the underdevelopment of the Chicano people in Mexico. It is because they did not have the skills and experience on how to foster their individual development ideas that would help them to prosper to be in par with other communities. Moreover, they suffered because of discrimination from other communities who did not give them room to share or exchange ideas. Lack of adequate resources to the Chicano people made them remain behind in development sector. Lack of technological empowerment is also another area that contributed to the underdevelopment of the Chicanos. At the heart issues, dealing with presentation is the human urge to put things into category things, even other humans. One needed to be black or white, male or female, being an American or a citizen from whichever the country, to able to receive fair treatment in the society. The US racial groups were made up of black, white, indigenous, Asian and other. This meant that there was nowhere the Chicanos could fit in these races. The Us government termed them as Hispanics but was not well received by Latinos since it was not inclusive of everybody and they felt it was just top down ethnic identity. The Chicanos did not want to be identified by these dualisms, which was their biggest problem. In turn, the way that Chicanos represent themselves in a daily life did not correspond to the experience of other groups. Thus, it often results to portrayals that are inaccurate when that particular group does not have control of the way that exhibit those

Profiling 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Profiling 4 - Essay Example Technology which causes victimization includes cyber net, cell phones, ATM machines, electronic data transfer etc. However, in the contemporary world the most intense victimization is seen over the internet. Within the last few years internet identity crime has gained enough recognition throughout the world (Gray, 2010). This is based upon an individual’s personal identity numbers, bank accounts, school information or any other security code which is unique to every person around the globe. Online criminals hack or steal this information and then they use it for causing financial, physical or moral damage to the victim. Victimization is now increasing with a stimulating rate as compared to the past. Moreover, the lack of awareness regarding internet identity crime has also facilitated it to a greater extent (Gray, 2010). People suffering from victimization are usually reluctant to contact law enforcement agencies because of embarrassment or due to the chances of further victimization by the offender. It is significantly easier for any cybercriminal to harass an individual by staying at a distance. This increases the complexity of the situation for law enforcing agencies since they fail to trace the offenders. Online criminals do not only harm individuals rather they possess the ability of destroying large corporations, for instance, by simply causing them financial loss or interrupting the bank transactions (Gray, 2010). Victims of online crime belong to a relatively narrowed group of people who are largely neglected by the judiciary system. Victimology was only recognized in the middle 20th century, before that, criminals were the major focus of the law enforcement agencies. There are primarily three factors which initiates victimization in this era of technological advancement. These include the environmental affects, characteristics of the offender and most importantly the precipitation of the victim. Environment

How did the Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appeal to the collective consciousness of Victorian Society Essay Example for Free

How did the Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appeal to the collective consciousness of Victorian Society Essay In the Victorian Era many people were indeed superstitious of various issues that were classified by class, for example, becoming drunk would not be considered as normal, or as proper, with people from the upper classes; whereas with people from lower or working class this would have been deemed a standard activity and most likely occurred on a daily basis. In Robert Louis- Stevensons novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde just about every aspect to do with the fear of a typical upper class Victorian is explored by the life of the unfortunate Doctor. The face of Hyde is described as a criminal from everyones view and one of the memorable first sightings of Hyde, met by a distant cousin of Mr. Utterson, namely Mr. Enfield, claimed he gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running. Its a human reaction on first sightings of someone never before seen to be very stereotypical, as was the case with many upper class Victorians. If someone from a lower class did not look ordinary than they would most likely be considered a criminal. As such, the reaction from the majority of accusers was as follows: I had a loathing to my gentlemen at first sight. So had the childs family, which was only natural. If this was the case, than there was little the accused could do for himself, because the lower classes were never given the benefit of the doubt when there was an important or rich family involved. I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him. Even the doctor had been so taken aback by the ferocity and ugliness of this so-called human, despite doctors professionalism not to be judgemental in times when their attention is needed. This only shows the type of opinions that Victorians held from a range of a backgrounds. This appealed to the Victorians in a sense that, by introducing the new police force, they had succeeded with trying to bring in a law abiding country and ridding it of these criminal faces. In the early Victorian years, Charles Darwin produced a theory that claimed we had not been created by God and had instead evolved from nature. He omitted to mention which animal we had evolved from, but many ideas were developed. One such idea was the primitive ancestor reflected the troglodytic actions performed by Mr. Hyde at certain occasions. On one of these occasions Hyde murders Sir Danvers Carew. In killing Carew, Hyde clubbed him to the earth, similar to a caveman, along with ape-like fury, and eventually trampling his victim underfoot. This idea of Darwins had induced a new fear in the hearts of Victorian people, that they and others around them could, perhaps, at any time, lose control of themselves or something akin to the actions of Hyde. A brief point could be made about alcohol. In the tale there are many references to the upper class doctors and lawyers; for example Mr. Utterson, who drank alone and only in small amounts for fear of the alcohol giving him cause to lose himself. He could not be seen to embarrass himself, by drinking too much and losing his social standing. This would have rendered him unacceptable to his fellow gentry. This is very similar to the life of Dr. Jekyll as drinking too much would have lead to the exposure of Hyde and his evil deeds. The way in which Victorian London has been described could have intimidated many into behaviour which avoided prejudice, at all costs, from across the classes. The two characters in the novel divided by good and evil both live in completely different conditions in London. As Hyde is a criminal and as he lives in the dismal quarter of Soho, with its muddy ways and slatternly passengers then it must have caused some relief to the upper classes when they were living in clean conditions and considered to be acceptable places to reside, in turn taking the criminal far away from them. This though, brought around the new danger of these criminals escaping from their filthy conditions and creeping around the streets and labyrinths of those thought to be safe; therefore having access to their private lives and secrets. Also, Hydes flat is illustrated as untidy and disorganized, very similar to the life of a criminal, where they would have only a single night perhaps to lay at rest before they had to be on the move. Secrecy played an important part in Victorian lives and Stephensons novel explores this. within there was another enclosure, like wise sealed and marked upon the cover as Not to be opened until the death or disappearance of Dr. Henry Jekyll and All my drugs were in the cabinet a long journey down the two pairs of stairs, through the back passage, across the open courtyard and through the anatomical theatre. In the case of the letter, Jekyll would rather have his secrets unveiled after he has died. This is due to the good doctor trying to save himself from the embarrassment and mockery he would receive had someone discovered what he got up to when he was alone. This was also a problem with many among the upper classes, as their many distractions in life, like alcohol, were not considered acceptable, so they would have had to be done in secret. In the second quote, it is a surprise to find a doctor with drugs and medicines hidden away in the most secluded part of this house. This links back to the same point of revealing his habits and what could happen to him, living in shame for the rest of his life. Intolerable to Victorians was shame. This relates back to many Victorians regarding their class as imperatively important, not something to lose in the agony of public humiliation, should their private activities be revealed in the public domain.

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II. DIELECTRIC LOADED EXPONENTIALLY TAPERED SLOT ANTENNA DESIGN The ETS antenna is also known as flared notch antenna, is among one of the most promising antenna satisfying all requirements described in the technical challenges [11]. It is fundamentally a planar traveling wave antenna with end fire radiation. This antenna is the preferred candidate for Mm Wave applications due to its wide bandwidth, low cross polarization and highly directive patterns. A major advantage of this antenna type is that the wide bandwidth and maximum gain can be achieved using exponentially tapered profiles with dielectric loading [12]. The proposed dielectric scheme provides an interesting alternative. This antenna is integrated by using a single substrate. It is easy to fabricate and the structure is compact [13]. To eliminate the higher order modes in the waveguide, the thickness of the substrate is restricted. The loaded dielectric slab in front of the antenna can be considered as a dielectric guiding structure excited by the exponential flare resulting in a wider beamwidth and maximum gain. The compa...

Can Machines Think?

Can Machines Think ? This paper regards several points of view on the subject of, what is commonly referred to as Artificial Intelligence, or AI. AI is the attempt to make machines, specifically computers, perform intelligently through programming. Already, this definition has a problem in that the word intelligence can have many interpretations. This essay will attempt to put forward some ideas for how to approach this problem.It could be said that the human brain is nothing more than a machine, and as we know it to be capable of thought it would be fair to surmise that therefore machines can think and it is probably this, or a similar premise that inspired AI. However, within AI there are many schools of thought. Some believe that if a computer can be programmed correctly to emulate certain human processes, then it is to all intense and purposes thinking as we do.One of the early pioneers in the world of computers, Alan Turing, outlined a test in which participants are asked to int errogate a computer terminal in order to determine whether they are communicating with a human, or a computer program. Examples of programs which were put through the Turing test are ELIZA and SHRDLU both of which attempted to emulate one side of human conversation. But even if these programs did appear to be totally human, could they be said to actually be thinking ? John Searle(1984) puts forward a scenario in an attempt to devalue this idea.He refers to a program by Roger Schank at Yale university which, after being given a story will be able to answer questions regarding it. It would seem at the outset that this program would therefore be understanding the story. Searle then argues that despite not being able to understand Chinese, he would, under the correct circumstances, be able to answers Chinese questions in Chinese, relating to a story also written in Chinese. The scenario is summarised as follows; Sitting isolated in a room, Searle is given a wad of Chinese script, follow ed by another. In addition he is given a list of English rules, for correctly correlating the two.By simply following the English rules, he writes a third set of chinese words which he then returns to someone outside the room. If the first set of script was a story, the second a set of questions, he could be said to be answering the questions. In fact, from the point of view of someone standing outside the room, he would be correctly answering the questions, and thus would appear to be conversant in Chinese. This of course is not the case, as Searle would have no knowledge of what the story was about, and what the questions were asking – he would not be understanding the story.This argument is an attempt to demonstrate that although a computer program appears to be understanding a story, it is merely obeying simple instructions, and has no understanding at all. â€Å"In the linguistic jargon, they have only a syntax but no semantics† (Searle 1984) However, depending on hown one observes this problem, it can appear very differently. Regarding the entire room, the person in the room (to whom I shall refer for the sake of continuity of terms as a demon), the scripts and the person outside as a whole, we do have a system that is capable of reading and interpreting Chinese.Hofstadter extends this idea by modifying the scenario so as to shrink it to brain size, the scripts becoming neurons and so on. This effectively creates a system equivalent to the human brain. So what would be the difference between the two. Why would one be acceptable as a thinking system and one not ? Searle frequently refers to ‘causal properties' and ‘intentionality' stating that the artificial system proposed by Hofstadter would lack both of them, and that somehow the human brian has both.It is here where the subject of duality comes into the fore. Are the mind and the brain one and the same, or are they separate entities ? Many religions favour this dualist approa ch and refer to the mind, as it is in this instance, as a persons soul and regard it as being separate to the physical self. Whether the mind is separate or not, Searle's argument implies that the human brain has a mind, because of its natural causal properties, yet an artificial machine does not. But what are these natural causal properties, and from what do they derive ?Are they a result of the biological material from which the brain is made, are they a result of the brain's structure or are they a result of a breath of life from the lips of a god ? â€Å"Machines as simple as thermostats can be said to have beliefs, and having beliefs seems to be a characteristic of most machines capable of problem solving performance† (McCarthy 1979) At what point does a functioning machine gain intentionality ? Here Zenon Pylyshyn is cited from a reply made to Searle, to illustrate the complex connotations involved in the idea of the natural causal property of the brain. If more and mor e of the cells in your brain were to be replaced by integrated circuit chips, programmed in such a way as to keep the input-output function of each unit identical to that of the unit being replaced, you would in all likelihood just keep right on speaking exactly as you are doing now except that you would eventually stop meaning anything by it. What we outside observers might take to be words would become for you just certain noises that circuits caused you to make. Surely, the person in the above example would have conscious, intentional thought, despite being constructed from artificial parts. Or would this person simply be acting in the same role as the chinese room demon ? Another area rapidly developing in AI is Parallel Distributed Processing, or neural networks. These are complex structures that emulate the brains neural structure, and are usually modelled within a computer, although in theory there is nothing to stop them being constructed electronically, or even mechanically !The effect of a neural network is similar to that in Pylyshyn's example – an electronic replacement for a part of the brain. Functionally it operates almost identically to a brain and can be made to do tasks similar to those performed by Schank's story program. Could a neural network equivalent be said to have any more ‘causal properties' than just a computer program ? Searle acknowledges that since we are merely machines, it is possible that machines can think.However he finds the idea of a computer program thinking implausible. However, if we could model a brain, with atomic accuracy in a computers memory, for example in the form of a neural network, surely it would work in exactly the same way and would therefore be just as valid a thinker as a human. It seems that this whole debate rests its most basic principles on a belief; either one believes that our ‘intentionality' derives purely from our brain and its structure or one doesn't.Even if we ever do manage to construct an exact replica of a brain that appears to work identically to the real thing, how could we tell if it really is a conscious entity with true intentionality, or merely acting like the chinese room demon ? Indeed, how can we define conscious, and intentionality in that context. There must be a level of functioning or reasoning that we can use as a cut-off point for deciding whether or not something is alive and thinking. Descartes stated â€Å"I think. Therefore, I am†. But was he thinking, or merely following a mechanical pattern, with no real understanding of the words ? References Can Machines Think? Can Machines Think ? This paper regards several points of view on the subject of, what is commonly referred to as Artificial Intelligence, or AI. AI is the attempt to make machines, specifically computers, perform intelligently through programming. Already, this definition has a problem in that the word intelligence can have many interpretations. This essay will attempt to put forward some ideas for how to approach this problem.It could be said that the human brain is nothing more than a machine, and as we know it to be capable of thought it would be fair to surmise that therefore machines can think and it is probably this, or a similar premise that inspired AI. However, within AI there are many schools of thought. Some believe that if a computer can be programmed correctly to emulate certain human processes, then it is to all intense and purposes thinking as we do.One of the early pioneers in the world of computers, Alan Turing, outlined a test in which participants are asked to int errogate a computer terminal in order to determine whether they are communicating with a human, or a computer program. Examples of programs which were put through the Turing test are ELIZA and SHRDLU both of which attempted to emulate one side of human conversation. But even if these programs did appear to be totally human, could they be said to actually be thinking ? John Searle(1984) puts forward a scenario in an attempt to devalue this idea.He refers to a program by Roger Schank at Yale university which, after being given a story will be able to answer questions regarding it. It would seem at the outset that this program would therefore be understanding the story. Searle then argues that despite not being able to understand Chinese, he would, under the correct circumstances, be able to answers Chinese questions in Chinese, relating to a story also written in Chinese. The scenario is summarised as follows; Sitting isolated in a room, Searle is given a wad of Chinese script, follow ed by another. In addition he is given a list of English rules, for correctly correlating the two.By simply following the English rules, he writes a third set of chinese words which he then returns to someone outside the room. If the first set of script was a story, the second a set of questions, he could be said to be answering the questions. In fact, from the point of view of someone standing outside the room, he would be correctly answering the questions, and thus would appear to be conversant in Chinese. This of course is not the case, as Searle would have no knowledge of what the story was about, and what the questions were asking – he would not be understanding the story.This argument is an attempt to demonstrate that although a computer program appears to be understanding a story, it is merely obeying simple instructions, and has no understanding at all. â€Å"In the linguistic jargon, they have only a syntax but no semantics† (Searle 1984) However, depending on hown one observes this problem, it can appear very differently. Regarding the entire room, the person in the room (to whom I shall refer for the sake of continuity of terms as a demon), the scripts and the person outside as a whole, we do have a system that is capable of reading and interpreting Chinese.Hofstadter extends this idea by modifying the scenario so as to shrink it to brain size, the scripts becoming neurons and so on. This effectively creates a system equivalent to the human brain. So what would be the difference between the two. Why would one be acceptable as a thinking system and one not ? Searle frequently refers to ‘causal properties' and ‘intentionality' stating that the artificial system proposed by Hofstadter would lack both of them, and that somehow the human brian has both.It is here where the subject of duality comes into the fore. Are the mind and the brain one and the same, or are they separate entities ? Many religions favour this dualist approa ch and refer to the mind, as it is in this instance, as a persons soul and regard it as being separate to the physical self. Whether the mind is separate or not, Searle's argument implies that the human brain has a mind, because of its natural causal properties, yet an artificial machine does not. But what are these natural causal properties, and from what do they derive ?Are they a result of the biological material from which the brain is made, are they a result of the brain's structure or are they a result of a breath of life from the lips of a god ? â€Å"Machines as simple as thermostats can be said to have beliefs, and having beliefs seems to be a characteristic of most machines capable of problem solving performance† (McCarthy 1979) At what point does a functioning machine gain intentionality ? Here Zenon Pylyshyn is cited from a reply made to Searle, to illustrate the complex connotations involved in the idea of the natural causal property of the brain. If more and mor e of the cells in your brain were to be replaced by integrated circuit chips, programmed in such a way as to keep the input-output function of each unit identical to that of the unit being replaced, you would in all likelihood just keep right on speaking exactly as you are doing now except that you would eventually stop meaning anything by it. What we outside observers might take to be words would become for you just certain noises that circuits caused you to make. Surely, the person in the above example would have conscious, intentional thought, despite being constructed from artificial parts. Or would this person simply be acting in the same role as the chinese room demon ? Another area rapidly developing in AI is Parallel Distributed Processing, or neural networks. These are complex structures that emulate the brains neural structure, and are usually modelled within a computer, although in theory there is nothing to stop them being constructed electronically, or even mechanically !The effect of a neural network is similar to that in Pylyshyn's example – an electronic replacement for a part of the brain. Functionally it operates almost identically to a brain and can be made to do tasks similar to those performed by Schank's story program. Could a neural network equivalent be said to have any more ‘causal properties' than just a computer program ? Searle acknowledges that since we are merely machines, it is possible that machines can think.However he finds the idea of a computer program thinking implausible. However, if we could model a brain, with atomic accuracy in a computers memory, for example in the form of a neural network, surely it would work in exactly the same way and would therefore be just as valid a thinker as a human. It seems that this whole debate rests its most basic principles on a belief; either one believes that our ‘intentionality' derives purely from our brain and its structure or one doesn't.Even if we ever do manage to construct an exact replica of a brain that appears to work identically to the real thing, how could we tell if it really is a conscious entity with true intentionality, or merely acting like the chinese room demon ? Indeed, how can we define conscious, and intentionality in that context. There must be a level of functioning or reasoning that we can use as a cut-off point for deciding whether or not something is alive and thinking. Descartes stated â€Å"I think. Therefore, I am†. But was he thinking, or merely following a mechanical pattern, with no real understanding of the words ? References

Antivuris Programs Essay

Today, people rely on computers to create, store, and manage critical information, many times via a home computer network. Information transmitted over networks has a higher degree of security risk than information kept in a user’s home or company premises. Thus, it is crucial that they take measures to protect their computers and data from loss, damage, and misuse resulting from computer security risks. Antivirus programs are an effective way to protect a computer against viruses. An antivirus program protects a computer against viruses by identifying and removing any computer virus found in memory, on storage media, or on incoming files. When you purchase a new computer, it often includes antivirus software. Antivirus programs work by scanning for programs that attempt to modify the boot program, the operating system, and other programs that normally are read from but not modified. In addition, many antivirus programs automatically scan files downloaded from the Web, e-mail attachments, opened files, and all types of removable media inserted in the computer (Karanos 201-205). One Technique that antivirus programs use to identify a virus is to look for virus signatures, or virus definitions, which are known specific patterns of virus code. According to Shelly and Cashman (Antivirus Programs), many vendors of antivirus programs allow registered users to update virus signature files automatically from the Web at no cost for a specified time. Updating the Antivirus program’s signature files regularly is important, because it will download any new virus definitions that have been added since the last update. Methods that guarantee a computer or network is safe from computer viruses simply do not exist. Installing, updating, and using an antivirus program, though, is an effective technique to safeguard your computer from loss.