Vatican council 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vatican council 2 - Essay Example O’Malley himself supports the third interpretation and holds that Vatican II marks a great change in the history of the Church. In O’Malley’s opinion, the Council has ushered in decrees â€Å"that marked a real departure from previous Catholic practice.† These include the license to engage in joint prayer with Protestants and attend services in Protestant churches. The Decree on Religious Liberty also put an end to the earlier  Ã¢â‚¬Å"ideal that Catholicism should be established as the official religion of every nation, even the United States.† O’Malley contends that the radical aspect of Vatican Council II is its changing emphasis on the style of the Church. This emphasis is seen in the â€Å"striking shift in language† in the documents of the Council. Departing from the abrupt, authoritarian tone of earlier Councils, Vatican Council II adopts an â€Å"invitational style† which attempts to foster dialogue, respect for conscience, freedom of speech and a spirit of participation. The new â€Å"invitational† style of Vatican II is seen in: the emphasis on partnership and collaboration in relations among church hierarchy and with the laity; the emphasis on the main pastoral ministry being service; openness to change and development; a conciliatory attitude towards all faiths; and the active participation of the entire congregation in the liturgy. O’Malley’s article attempts to support the author’s contention that the Vatican Council II ushers in transformation in the style of the Church. The five points O’Malley cites in order to support his stand are very credible as they mark a change of direction in the Church. However, O’Malley argues that even this change is grounded in the past tradition of the Church. The â€Å"partnership and collaboration† (O’Malley, 2003) which the Council recommends in the relationship of the Church hierarchy is in line with the traditional understanding of the ‘Mystery of the

Improving the quality of life for mutiple sclerosis patients using the Essay

Improving the quality of life for mutiple sclerosis patients using the nursing-based home visting model - Essay Example The paper has identified the population under study as the people who live in Arulcara, have been treated with multiple sclerosis, are between zero and eighteen years, and have been registered with the multiple sclerosis association (Akkus, & Akdemir, 2012). This is an efficient description although it has not identified the total number of people who are in the population. The study has not also identified the sampling design that it used to determine the members of the association who were to be included in the sample (Polit, & Beck, 2013). The research only identifies the number of participants who were included in the sample to be fifty eight. The research used a power analysis to determine the sample size, and this analysis indicated that forty five patients under study were supposed to provide a power of 90% (Akkus, & Akdemir, 2012). Since the study did not identify the total number of participants in the population, it is impossible to conclude whether the sample size was repr esentative of the whole population. However, since the study indicates that all the patients were literate, it means that the illiterate victims of the disease were not represented. According to Akkus and Akdemir (2012), the study used two methods of data collection that include a general questionnaire and a symptom evaluation form. The investigator issued the questionnaire and the symptom form to the patients who then filled them by answering the questions. The research indicates that the questions that patients did not understand were either corrected or excluded from the questionnaire (Akkus, & Akdemir, 2012). The exclusion of misunderstood questions may mean that the information given was insufficient and unreliable. The investigators also observed the patients during all the visits, but the study does not indicate whether they recorded their

Woody Allen On Life And Death English Literature Essay

Woody Allen On Life And Death English Literature Essay Woody Allen was born on December 1, 1935. He is an actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, author, and comedian. He focuses most of his work on middleclass life in New York City. He wrote a number of works that deal with life and death, specifically in the two I will focus on: Death Knocks and Whatever Works. Woody Allen depicts certain themes constantly throughout his works. Many of his characters change their values dramatically, which they held dearly before to adapt to their current situation. This was apparent in his movie, Whatever Works. He also shows the degradation of human society in his film through the perspective of the main character, Boris. Woody Allen s view on life and death is shown in his movies and books as changing, but also depressing and sometimes scary because of the way he writes. Woody Allen was born to a middleclass Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. He always wanted to be a playwright and started stand-up comedy while in school. He was a writer for television shows, which helped him gain access to the entertainment industry. Eventually, he began writing, directing and acting in his plays and films. He has won Oscars for his films and has become a successful comedian. He has put a lot of himself in his films. Many of his characters have been older men with younger woman, such as the relationship between Boris and Melody in Whatever Works. Woody Allen had a relationship with his ex-wife s adopted daughter, who he later married. Woody Allen is the writer and director of Whatever Works, a film in which he depicts his views on life through the main character, Boris. For Allen, filmmaking is an art that, he says, distracts me from the uncertainty of life, the inevitability of aging and death and death of loved ones; mass killings and starvation, from holocausts not just man-made carnage, but the existential position youre in. Allen has portrayed his characters as a self-projection that began in his earlier movies. In Stardust Memories (1980), Allen presented a portrait of a man who is intended to appear just as depraved as Allen s critics have accused him of being (Lee 115-116). Thus, in Whatever Works, Allen again projects himself on to Boris. Boris believes that life is a horror show and that is completely overwhelming. He believes that life s aspirations eventually conform with age to whatever works. Whatever Works opening scene depicts the main character, Boris , outlook on life. The movie s first scene tal ks about the failures of ideologies because they all rely on the fact that people are fundamentally decent, which he believes is untrue. Boris claims life is a nightmare without people in it and that people should take whatever pleasure they can get in this house of nightmares. He has a completely cynical and negative view of life. In an interview, Woody Allen expressed his views of life and his life as a filmmaker. After Whatever Works, the broadcaster asked Woody about his reoccurring theme life being hard and painful. Allen responded, All the important writers and all the important philosophers have, in one form or another, come to the conclusion, the obvious conclusion, that you know, life is a terrible trial and very harsh and very full of suffering, and so whatever you can do with the stipulation that you dont hurt anybody without, you know, ruining a life here or there or causing any damage, theres nothing wrong with it (Will the Real Woody Allen). This provides insight into his philosophy of life and how it impacts his work. Like Boris, Woody says that real problems distract him from his work, like facing the harsh realities of life and facing death. He says that what distracts him is: the uncertainty of life and inevitability of aging and death, and death of loved ones, and mass killings and starvations and holocausts, and not just the manmade carnage but the existential position that youre in, you know, being in a world where you have no idea whats going on, why youre here or what possible meaning your life can have and the conclusion that you come to after a while, that there is really no meaning to it, and its just a random, meaningless event, and these are pretty depressing thoughts. And if you spend much time thinking about them, not only cant you resolve them, but you sit frozen in your seat (Will the Real Woody Allen). This shows how much Woody puts his thoughts into those of his characters. Woody Allen was influenced by many American and European influences, such as Ingmar Bergman, Dostoevsky, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles and more. Allen distrusts and satirizes formal education which he explicitly voices through Melody, when she tells Boris that he told her the American education system has failed (Woody Allen). In Whatever Works, Woody Allen tells the story of Boris. He is an old man and a genius. He divorces his first wife after a failed suicide attempt when he realizes they are perfect on paper but incompatible in real life. Then one day, after hanging out with his friends, he meets Melody, a young woman from Mississippi. She convinces him to let her stay with him temporarily. She is na ve and appreciates his outlook on life and eventually, falls in love with his genius mind. She believes she is lucky because a girl of her intelligence found a man with his genius, a physicist who claims he almost won the Nobel Peace Prize. Boris imposes his ideologies upon Melody. Woody Allen s views on beliefs are strongly shown as adapting to current situations. This can be seen in the movie Whatever Works through Woody Allen s depiction of Melody s parents. They are both blue-collar stereotypical religious Midwestern Americans. When Melody s mother first arrives, she faints after seeing that Melody is married to a man like Boris, believing that he is either holding or hostage or has brainwashed her. Prior to arriving in New York City, Melody s mother was a housewife who had only been with one man, her husband. After he cheated on her, they got a divorce and she came to her daughter. Eventually, she settles into a life in New York City. After a few weeks, she becomes an artist and takes in a lover and then another lover. She lives with two men and creates nude collages. Her husband is similar in his change. He is also a blue blooded American. When he comes to New York to get his wife back, he has a self-realization that he is a homosexual and lives with a ma le lover. Woody Allen shows how one s aspirations in life change to whatever works . In the movie, Woody Allen s view of life is cynical and his view of death is comical. Each time the character Boris s marriage fails; he attempts suicide by jumping out the window. After the first time, Boris land on a canopy develops a limp and divorces his wife. He believes they were the perfect couple on paper but that it no longer worked . He realized this after an anxiety attack in the middle of the night when he realized he was dying. He was referring to dying slowly each day and that one day, he will die. The second time Boris attempted suicide after his wife, Melody, tells him she is in love with another man and wants to love life and interact with others, and not be cynical anymore. He tells her he expected this day to come but when he goes home, he jumps out the window again. This time, he lands on a woman and breaks her leg. They eventually become a couple. Death is seen as way out of the hardship of life, however, for Boris, when one chapter closed, another opened. Life f or him was always worth living, even if he did not believe so at the time. He also tried to commit suicide on a rash whim. It was never planned but an immediate action without thinking. Woody Allen has parodied suicide in many of his films prior to Whatever Works, including What s New, Pussycat? (1965). Throughout his works, Allen asks fundamental questions about human life that includes, Is it possible to create a deeply satisfying romantic relationship with just one person? Is there one set of absolutely true moral principles, or is ethics simply a matter of opinion? Is there God? And what will happen after death? (Lee 46). In Whatever Works (2009), Woody Allen has finally come to a conclusion for many of his philosophical questions that he asked in his earlier films. Woody Allen is definitive in claiming there is no God as Boris and Melody mock Melody s father for praying. Melody outright tells her father that he is praying to nothing just air. Thus, faced with a meaningless universe and no way to prove the existence of God, his character contemplates suicide is something many of Allen s characters face (Blake 61). It was also apparent that romantic relationships are not with just one person because each of the characters had numerous relationships. Melody s mom had two lovers at the same time. None of the characters abided by a deep-rooted moral code either. Boris repeatedly claimed morals changed to whatever works . Death Knocks is a play about fooling death and putting it off. In the play, there are only two characters Nat Ackerman and Death. Death comes to Nat because it is his time to go. Nat refuses to believe him and plays Death in a game of Gin Rummy for an extra twenty-four hours to live and for some money. Death loses. In the play, Death claims there is a specific Death for each person and that it resembles them. Nat refuses to believe Death and eventually kicks him out of his house. This short play symbolizes Woody Allen s refusal to come to terms with death, shrugging it off and not coming to terms with it. The play shows Allen trying to come to terms with understanding what death is. However, in the play, Nat does not die. Many of his characters are obsessed with death. From Alvy in Annie Hall (1977) to Boris in Whatever Works (2009), the characters are obsessed with abstract considerations about the anguish of living and the terrors of death (Lee 61). Especially since, death is rarely far from Allen s thoughts or images (Blake 69). Woody Allen believes that life is synonymous with suffering. Thus, he takes a position of showing a thin line between choosing life and death for his characters, who are afraid to live and afraid to die. Thus, a repeated theme Woody Allen depicts is when a person comes to realize emotionally as well as intellectually that he will eventually die, he becomes filled with dread, which can be seen in works like Annie Hall and Manhattan (Lee 123). Boris had this epiphany that Nat Ackerson did not. Thus, the reactions of both characters for death were completely different. Woody Allen has led a successful career. He has made many films and written many plays. He is a man who thinks he is an existentialist, trying to see the big picture. He is scared of death and attempts to not think about death by working hard in his films and plays. In Whatever Works and Death Knocks, you get a sense of Woody Allen and how he puts himself into his characters, especially seeing what he says about life and death. Work Cited Allen, Woody. Britannica Biographies. Middle Search Plus. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. Blake, Richard A. Woody Allen: Profane and Sacred. Lanham, MD (u.a.): Scarecrow, 1995. Print. Estrin, Mark W. Allen, Woody. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 2: Directors. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 8-14. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. Lee, Sander H. Eighteen Woody Allen Films Analyzed: Anguish, God and Existentialism. Jefferson, NC: McFarland , 1998. Print. Lee, Sander H. Woody Allens Angst: Philosophical Commentaries on His Serious Films. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1997. Print. McCaffrey, Donald W. Allen, Woody. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 3: Actors and Actresses. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 11-14. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. Will The Real Woody Allen Please Stand Up? [REBROADCAST]. Fresh Air 29 Dec. 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. Woody Allen. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Vol. 2. Gale, 2000.Gale Biography In Context. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. Woody Allen On Life, Films And Whatever Works : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News Analysis, World, US, Music Arts : NPR. 15 June 2009. Web. 13 Jan. 2011. .

The Life Of Albert Einstein :: Biography Biographies

The Life Of Albert Einstein Albert Einstein was one of the greatest geniuses of all time. In 1886 he began his school career in Munich. He studied mathematics, in particular calculus, beginning around 1891. In 1894 Einstein’s family moved to Milan but Albert stayed behind in Munich. In 1895 Albert failed an examination that would have allowed him to study for a diploma as an electrical engineer at the Eidgenossiche Technische Hochschule in Zurich. After some time he graduated in 1900 as a teacher, teaching mathematics at the Technical High School in Winterthur. Einstein finally landed another temporary job at the patent office in Bern. His title was technical expert third class. He worked in this patent office from 1902 to 1909 holding a temporary post when he was first appointed. By 1904 the position was made permanent and in 1906 he was promoted to technical expert second class. Einstein earned a doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905 for a thesis on a new determination of molecular dimensions. Einstein wrote three papers in 1905. In the first one he examined the phenomenon discovered by Max Planck, which was, according to which electromagnetic energy seemed to be emitted from radiating object in discrete quantities. The energy of these quanta was directly proportional to the frequency of the radiation. This contradicted the normal electromagnetic theory based on Maxwell’s equations and the laws of thermodynamics, which assured that electromagnetic energy was made up of waves that could contain any small amount of energy. Einstein used Planck’s quantum hypothesis to describe the electromagnetic radiation of light. Einstein’s second paper proposed what is now called the special theory of relativity. He based his new theory on a reinterpretation of the classical principle of relativity, specifically the laws of physics had to have the same form in any frame of reference. Later in 1905 Einstein showed how mass and energy were equal. The third paper in 1905 concerned statistical mechanics. After 1905 Einstein made important contributions to quantum theory, but he wanted to extend the special theory of relativity to phenomena involving acceleration. The key appeared in 1907 with the principle of equivalence, in which gravitational acceleration was held to be indistinguishable from acceleration caused by mechanical forces. From then on, gravitational mass was identical with inertial mass. 1909 recognized Einstein as a leading scientific thinker and in the same year he resigned from the patent office. He was appointed a full professor at the Karl Ferdinand University in Prague in 1911.

International Political Economy

Part Perspectives on International Political Economy The first chapter of the text deals with the fundamental nature of International political economy (PIP) and some analytical Issues related to Its multidimensional character. Chapters 2 through 4 are the core chapters of the text that explore the history and policies associated with the three dominant PIP perspectives, namely economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism. These theoretical tools are useful In understanding many political, economic, and social Issues In the global economy of the past as well as the present.Chapter 5 develops two alternative PIP respective?constructivism and feminism?that derive, In part, from the three mall outlooks under study. Chapter What Is International Political Economy? We Are the 99%: A Haitian hillside. Georgian Allen When a philosopher has once laid hold of a favorite principle, which perhaps accounts for many natural effects, he extends the same principle over the whole creation, a nd reduces to it every phenomenon, though by the most violent and absurd reasoning. Our own mind being narrow and contracted, we cannot extend our conception to the variety and extent of nature †¦David Hump, â€Å"The Septic† 2 The Darkness on the Edge of Town he Darkness on the edge of town What are the chances you will find a good paying Job?or any Job for that matter? when you graduate from college In the next few years? Have your parent's or people you know lost their Jobs, the family home, or a big chunk of their retirement savings? How are you adjusting to the financial crisis? Maybe things haven't been that bad for you, yet! Reading the headlines of any major newspaper, you might sometimes worry that the world is on the brink of a global economic catastrophe, if not a second Great Depression.The effects of the global economic crisis have made many people feel ensue, tearful, and depressed. The collapse to the US housing market in 2 morphed into a credit crisis tha t threatened some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the United States and Europe. Government leaders responded with a variety of bank rescue measures and so-called stimulus packages to restart their economies. These interventions angered many ordinary folks who felt that the bailouts rewarded bankers and Coos who had caused the crisis in the first place.Meanwhile, many people around the world were forced out of their homes and became unemployed. They suffered cuts in social services, health care benefits, and education spending when governments were forced to trim budgets. As we write in late 2012, the hoped-for recovery has proved elusive. Unemployment in the United States is stuck at 7. 9 percent; in the European Union (ELI), it has risen to 1 1. 6 percent (23. 4 percent for young people). Home foreclosures and stagnant incomes continue to place enormous strain on many families' finances.The EX. has fallen into another recession, with countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal so deep in debt that they might slide into national bankruptcy, causing the Else's monetary system to collapse. People seem to have lost confidence in national and international political institutions that underpin capitalism and democracy. Is this what the Great Transformation from industrial to post-industrial society was supposed to look like? Are globalization and the so-called â€Å"creative destruction† of new technologies shrinking the middle classes in Western countries and permanently shifting economic dynamism to Asia and Latin America?Adding to the sense of gloom are events around the world in the last few years. High oil prices have benefited giant oil companies while hurting consumers. The giant British Petroleum (BP) oil spill reciprocated an environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Japan's Fuchsia earthquake and tsunami damaged several nuclear power plants, causing release of dangerous radioactive material across a large swath of te rritory. High agriculture commodity prices have raised the cost of food and increased levels of world hunger.Because there has been little progress in reducing reliance on fossil fuels, capping carbon emissions, or investing in alternative energy resources, the threat of catastrophic climate change looms larger. And wars in Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Congo are destroying the livelihoods of millions of people. Hope on the Horizon? Is there only gloom and doom around the globe? Surely, no! As we discuss in Chapter 13, emerging powers such as China, India, Brazil, and Russia have dramatically reduced poverty in the last fifteen years and made it possible for hundreds 4 Chapter 1 of millions of people to Join the middle class.Fortunately, they continued to grow at a fairly robust pace after 2007; more Jobs, investment, and consumption in these countries helped keep the rest to the world trot tailing into a deeper recession. Of most of the last decade, sub-Sahara Africa has als o grown surprisingly fast, thanks n part to high prices for oil and commodities exports. And the European Union won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, a reminder that?despite its serious economic and social problems today?the community has advanced the causes of â€Å"peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights† for more than sixty years.Along with these rays of hope are three interrelated global developments that merit discussion at the beginning of this textbook because they are profoundly shaping the international political economy: the Arab Spring, the European sovereign debt crisis, and the Occupy Wall Street (SOWS) movement. Taking place on three different continents since 2011, they have shaken political institutions and spurred waves of political protests in response to a variety of social and economic ills. None of us knows how these momentous developments will play out, but we can be sure that they will affect our daily lives and pocketbooks for many years.Each i s a double- edged sword: a potential harbinger of positive change and a potential foreshadowing of worse yet to come. In other words, each development can either help lead to a more stable, prosperous world in which human security is better guaranteed or ender divisions within and between societies wider than before so that cooperative relations and a fairer distribution of resources remain ever more elusive goals. The Arab Spring took the world by surprise?a reminder that social scientists still do not have good tools to predict when and why large-scale changes will occur in complex socio-political systems.On December 17, 2010, a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouzouki set himself on fire in reaction to harassment by police officers. His death sparked street demonstrations that brought down the Tunisian government one month later. Protests spread like wildfires to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. After eighteen days of mass demonstrations, Egypt authoritar ian president Hosting Embark resigned on February 11, 2011, replaced by a military council. On February 15, residents of Bengali, Libya, rose up against the regime of Miramar Qaeda.Following months of NATO bombing and rebel fighting, Qaeda was killed on October 20, 2011, and a National Transitional Council took power. The dramatic political protests?which captivated television viewers and Twitter-feed followers around the world?created an opportunity for a number of Arab countries o Join the community of democratic nations. Yet the crackdown in Syria showed the world how determined some authoritarian leaders in the Middle East are to remain in power?even at the expense of killing tens of thousands of their own citizens.With the genie of Arab political opposition out of the bottle, countries in the Middle East and North Africa are rapidly changing. Fortunately, high oil prices and a return to relative stability in many places could improve conditions in 2013. Along with the Arab Spri ng came President Barack Beam's withdrawal of all U. S. Troops from Iraq at the end of 2011. An ignominious end to an imperial endeavor, the withdrawal seemed to signal that the U. S. Public was no longer willing to pay for wars that drain the public treasury.President Obama refocused U. S. Policy on fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan and ratcheting up pressure on Iran to abandon its effort to develop nuclear weapons. Many analysts believe that Beam's decisions reveal a significant weakening of U. S. Influence in the Middle East. Perhaps to counteract this decline, Obama decided to bolster the American military presence in the Pacific by cultivating ties with countries afraid of China's rise and attaching 2,500 troops permanently in northern Australia beginning in November 2011.A second development?the European sovereign debt crisis?relentlessly gathered steam after 2010 in the face of a prolonged recession that made it hard for some countries to pay back huge loans to dome stic and foreign banks. European Union leaders had hoped to contain the debt problems in Greece and Ireland, but governments in Spain and Portugal also began to have trouble raising new money by issuing new government bonds. All four countries in 2012 had to get financial bailouts in exchange for adopting painful government spending cuts that contributed o high unemployment.Even with help from the European Central Bank, these countries have dire conditions that threaten the stability of the European financial system. Rupee's responses to its debt crisis have stimulated widespread social unrest. Severe austerity measures have spawned street protests throughout the continent and brought changes of government in Greece, Italy, and Spain. Some EX. leaders and analysts believe that the crisis will spur European countries to form closer ties, while others foresee the death of the Euro and the prospect of national bankruptcies as some countries refuse to pay back onerous loans.If problems worsen in France and Italy, the EX. could unravel economically, causing another deep global recession. The crisis is forcing Germany to decide if it is willing to share the costs of making the EX. stronger, or if it will pursue its purely national interests. The outcomes will likely cause changes in Rupee's traditionally generous social programs and in Rupee's influence in the world. A third development started as an anti-wall Street protest in New York City's Cutting Park on September 17, 2011. Two weeks later, the Occupy Wall Street movement had quickly spread to many major U. S. Ties, tit encampments and â€Å"general assemblies† in public spaces. Similar â€Å"occupations† occurred in Europe, Israel, Chile, and Australia. Although the majority of participants in the SOWS social movement have been students, union workers, progressive activists, and the unemployed, their ideas seemed to resonate with a significant number of the middle class. Calling themselves the â €Å"99%† (in contrast to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans), SOWS protestors criticized financial institutions, condemned Wall Street greed, and called for a reduction of corporate control over the democratic process.Although SOWS encampments disappeared, the movement kook up new campaigns in 2012, including efforts to stop home foreclosures and reduce student debt. What do these three developments have in common? While each has its own causes, the protestors collectively represent a reaction to corrupt government and growing inequality. In three large regions?the Middle East, Europe, and North America?movements sought protection from financial and cultural globalization that left people feeling at the mercy of market forces.In many cases, protestors felt that they were unfairly forced to bail out the wealthy but denied a chance to snare many o governments 6 s to previous growth. Austerity policies that many had adopted since 2008?and even earlier in the Arab countries?cu t into a host of public social programs such as education and relief for the poor. Many disgruntled citizens disagreed with their leaders, who argued that such reductions were necessary to reduce the size of government, balance national budgets, and stimulate economic recovery.While Arabs claimed a political voice that had been squashed by decades of dictatorial rule, Americans and Europeans seemed to demand a new kind of politics freed from the grip of special interests and big money. In all three cases, elites who were supposed to be the experts on political and financial affairs suddenly were at a loss to explain why things had gotten so bad under their watch. With a loss of faith in Arab regimes, EX. leaders, and U. S. Bankers came a certain â€Å"denationalization† of ruling ideologies such as economic liberalism.A new emphasis was placed on democratic participation and economic fairness. Despite a new zeitgeist in the air in three continents, old political and economic institutions were still resilient. Many regimes held firm in the Middle East. American banks grew even egger after government bailouts, and more money than ever poured into the campaign war chests of Democratic and Republican political candidates. EX. political elites continued to make deals that seemed designed to save big investors and banks rather than ordinary citizens.The alternatives to the old did not always promise a better future, either. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Psalmists like Egypt new president Mohamed Moors' made their own undemocratic power grabs, seeking to impose religiously conservative policies and weaken women's rights. Reactions against austerity in Europe strengthened extreme right-wing parties in Greece and France while fueling anti-E or secessionist sentiments in the United Kingdom and Catalonia.And by refusing to organize and engage in â€Å"normal† politics, the SOWS forces dissipated?leaving normal two-party gridlock in Washington after t he November 2012 elections. The Road Ahead By discussing above the three big developments, as well as the problems and promises in the global economy, we have hopefully given you a sense of some of the important phenomena we seek to understand in international political economy. Not unsurprisingly, there are fierce debates about the causes of current crises and the best solutions to them.One of the arguments we make in this text is that to adequately describe and explain the current global financial crisis?or any of the other issues covered in the different chapters?we must use an analytical approach that synthesizes methods and insights derived from economics, political science, and sociology as conditioned by an understanding to history and philosophy. As you delve deeper into the material, you will learn a variety of theories and analytical tools that help us interpret the interrelationships of the state, market, and society in different nations.The PIP method bridges different a cademic disciplines to better explain employ, real-world problems that span physical and intellectual boundaries. While this statement might sound a bit formal and confusing at this point, keep in mind that we do not think you need to be an economics major, a specialist in finance, The What, Why, and How of International Political Economy or a Middle East expert to understand the basic parameters of the global financial crisis or the Arab Spring.This book is written for students who have limited background in political science, economics, or sociology, as well as for those who want to review an assortment of topics in preparation for graduate school. In the next section, we look at how to study PIP?its three distinct analytical perspectives and a number of methodological issues with which PIP students should become acquainted. All the chapters in the book cover important theoretical and Policy issues that have connections to the three developments we have mentioned?and to many more. In this way, we hope students might better understand different dimensions of the problems and then make some reasoned Judgments about how to solve them. Later in this chapter, we discuss the popular phenomenon of globalization as a way o introduce students to many of the political-economic conditions that led up to the global financial crisis. Many PIP experts have asserted that the economic liberal ideas behind globalization may have contributed to the crisis. Opinions differ, however, on whether or not the crisis signals the end of laissez-fairer economic policies, or even the end of capitalism itself. He what, why, and how of International Political economy Our discussion of the financial crisis and its consequences makes clear that today's complex issues can no longer be easily analyzed and understood by using any single et of disciplinary methods and concepts. Those who study PIP are, in essence, breaking down the analytical and conceptual boundaries between politics, economic s, and sociology to produce a unique explanatory framework. Following are several examples of questions that traditional academic disciplines might ask as they seek to explain the global financial crisis.Each discipline focuses on different actors and interests: International Relations: How much has the financial crisis detracted from the ability of states to pay for military defense? How has the crisis affected the conditions of war or terrorism in poor states? As Europe, Japan, and the United States struggle, will emerging countries like China, India, and Brazil gain more political influence in international institutions? International Economics: How has the crisis impacted foreign investment, international trade, and the values of different currencies?Comparative Politics: What is the capability of political institutions within different nations to respond to the needs of the unemployed? What new political forces are emerging and with what effects on political coalitions? Sociolo gy: How has the crisis affected consumption trends for different groups such as the upper, middle, and rower classes? How do the effects of inequality vary on the basis of ethnicity and gender? Anthropology: How have different societies in history dealt with crises related to how they allocate scarce resources?And how have these crises impacted their cultures, values, and societal norms? 8 Focusing on a narrow range of methods and issues enhances intellectual specialization and analytical efficiency. But any single discipline offers an incomplete explanation of global events. Specialization promotes a sort of scholarly blindness or distorted view that comes from using only one set of analytical methods and incepts to explain what most decidedly is a complex problem that could benefit from a multidisciplinary perspective.When defining PIP, we make a distinction between the term â€Å"international political economy' and the acronym PIP. The former refers to what we study?commonly re ferred to as a subject area or field of inquiry that involves tensions among states, markets, and societal actors. In this text, we tend to focus on a variety of actors and issues that are either â€Å"international† (between nation-states) or â€Å"transnational† (across the national borders of two or more states).Increasingly today, any analysts use the term â€Å"global political economy' instead of â€Å"international political economy' to explain problems such as climate change, hunger, and illicit markets that have spread over the entire world, and not Just a few nations. In this book, we often use these two terms interchangeably. The acronym PIP also connotes a method of inquiry that is multidisciplinary. PIP fashions the tools of analysis of its antecedent disciplines so as to more accurately describe and explain the ever- changing relationships between governments, businesses, and social forces across history and in different geographical areas.What are some of the central elements of the antecedent melds to study that contribute to IP 7 First, PIP includes a political dimension that accounts for the use of power by a variety of actors, including individuals, domestic groups, states (acting as single units), international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (Nags), and transnational corporations (Tens). All these actors make decisions about the distribution of tangible things such as money and products or intangible things such as security and innovation.In almost all cases, politics involves the making of rules pertaining to owe states and societies achieve their goals. Another aspect of politics is the kind of public and private institutions that have the authority to pursue different goals. Second, PIP involves an economic dimension that deals with how scarce resources are distributed among individuals, groups, and nation-states. A variety of public and private institutions allocate resources on a day-to-day basis in local markets where we shop. Today, a market is not Just a place where people go to buy or exchange something face to face with the product's maker.The market can also be thought of as a driving force that shapes human behavior. When consumers buy things, when investors purchase stocks, and when banks lend money, their dependability transactions constitute a vast, sophisticated web of relationships that coordinate economic activities all over the world. Political scientist Charles Limbo makes an interesting case that the economy is actually nothing more than a system for coordinating social behavior! What people eat, their occupation, and even what they do when not working are all organized around different agricultural, labor, and relaxation markets.In effect, markets often perform a social function of â€Å"coordination without a coordinator. L Third, the works of such notables as Charles Limbo and economists Robert Hellbender and Lester Throw help us realize that PIP does not reflect enough the societal dimension of different international problems. 2 A growing number of PIP scholars argue that states and markets do not exist in a social vacuum. There are usually many different social groups within a state that share identities, norms, and associations based on tribal ties, ethnicity, religion, or gender.Likewise, a variety of transnational groups (referred to as global civil society) have interests that cut across national boundaries. A host of Nags have attempted to pressure national and international organizations on issues such as climate change, refugees, migrant workers, and gender-based exploitation. All of these groups are purveyors of ideas that potentially generate tensions between them and other groups but play a major role in shaping global behavior. How to Study PIP: Contrasting Perspectives and Methodologies The three dominant perspectives of PIP are economic liberalism, mercantilism, and structuralism.Each focuses on the relationships between a va riety of actors and institutions. A strict extinction between these perspectives is quite arbitrary and has been imposed by disciplinary tradition, at times making it difficult to appreciate their connections to one another. Each perspective emphasizes different values, actors, and solutions to Policy problems but also overlooks some important elements highlighted by the other two perspectives. Economic liberalism (particularly unilateralism?see Chapter 2) is most closely associated with the study of markets.Later we will explain why there is an increasing gap between orthodox economic liberals (Eels), who champion free arrests and free trade, and heterodox interventionist liberals (Hills), who support more state regulation and trade protection to sustain markets. Increasingly, Hills have stressed that markets work best when they are embedded in (connected to) society and when the state intervenes to resolve problems that markets alone cannot handle. In fact, many Hills acknowledge that markets are the source of many of these problems.Many liberal values and ideas are the ideological foundation of the globalization campaign. They are derived from notable thinkers such as Adam Smith, David Richard, John Maynard Keynes, Frederica Hayes, and Milton Friedman. The laissez-fairer principle, that the state should leave the economy alone, is attributed to Adam Smith. 3 More recently, economic liberal ideas have been associated with former president Ronald Reagan and his acolytes, who contended that economic growth is best achieved when the government severely limits its involvement (interference) in the economy.Under pure market conditions (I. E. , the absence of state intervention or social influences), people are assumed to behave â€Å"rationally' (see Chapter 2). 10 That is, they will naturally seek to maximize their gains and limit their losses when reducing and selling things. They have strong desires to exchange and to generate wealth by competing with others for sales in local and international markets. According to Eels, people should strongly value economic efficiency? the ability to use and distribute resources effectively and with little waste.Why is efficiency so important? When an economy is inefficient, scarce resources go unused or could be used in other ways that would be more beneficial to society. This idea has been applied to the new global economy and is one of the basic principles behind globalization. Mercantilism (also called economic nationalism) is most closely associated with the political philosophy of realism, which focuses on state efforts to accumulate wealth and power to protect society from physical harm or the influence of other states (see Chapters 3 and 9).In theory, the state is a legal entity and an autonomous system of institutions that governs a specific geographic territory and a â€Å"nation. † Since the mid-seventeenth century, the state has been the dominant actor in the international community based on the principle that it has the authority to exercise sovereignty (final authority) over its own affairs. States use two types of power to protect themselves. Hard power refers to tangible military and economic assets employed to compel, coerce, intelligence, tend tot, or death enemies and competitors.Soft power comprises selective tools that reflect and project a country cultural values, beliefs, and ideals. Through the use of movies, cultural exports and exchanges, information, and diplomacy, a state can convince others that the ideas it sponsors are legitimate and should be adopted. Soft power can in many ways be more effective than hard power because it rests on persuasion and mutual exchange. For example, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama partly regained some of the world's support for the United States through a discourse emphasizing multilateral cooperation.Structuralism is rooted in Marxist analysis but not limited to it (see Chapter 4). It looks at PIP issues mainly in terms of how different social classes are shaped by the dominant economic structure. It is most closely associated with the methods of analysis many sociologists employ. Structuralisms emphasize that markets have never existed in a social vacuum. Some combination of social, economic, and political forces establishes, regulates, and preserves them.As we will see in the case of the financial crisis, even the standards used to Judge the effectiveness of market systems reflect the dominant values and beliefs of those forces. The Benefits of PIP Each perspective in PIP sheds light on some aspects of a problem particularly well, but casts a shadow on other important aspects. By using a combination of the three dominant PIP methods and concepts (outlined in Table 1-1), we can move to the big picture?the most comprehensive and compelling explanation of global processes.Not surprisingly, mixing together the disciplines of economics, political science, and sociology gives rise to a n analytical problem: It is difficult to establish a single explanation to any PIP issue because each discipline has its own set of analytical concepts, core beliefs, and methodologies. Does this weaken the utility of PIP? Not at all. We must recognize that PIP is not a â€Å"hard science†; it may never table 1-1 Conflicting Political economic Perspectives about state-market relations in Capitalist societies Monetarism (Orthodox Economic Liberals) Main Ideas aboutCapitalism â€Å"Laissez-fairer†; minimal state intervention and regulation of the economy Keynesian (Heterodox Interventionist Economic Liberals) The state primes (injects money? liquidity) into the economy to restore confidence in it and to stabilize it Efficiency mixed with a variety of state political and social objectives Developmental State Model (Mercantilism) Socialism (Structuralism) Social Democracy (Structuralism) The state plays a proactive role in the economy to guide and protect its major industr ies The state controls the economy. Prices set by state officials. Emphasis on state

Ministry of Fear- Seamus Heaney Analysis Essay

Using Ministry of fear and another appropriately selected poem explore the sense of place Heaney conveys with reference to the troubles in N.I, with particular reference to the effects of any political and social context and Heaney’s own views. Ministry of Fear is from Heaney’s ‘North’ collection, written in 1975 while Heaney was staying in Wicklow, Casualty was written shortly after in ‘Field work’ in 1979. Through these two poems Heaney conveys a strong sense of place, namely Northern Ireland, through ‘Ministry of fear’ Heaney describes four events throughout his life in N.I that had a strong influence on him, ‘Casualty’ is similar but more focused on the Troubles in N.I and some of Heaney’s feelings towards those events. ‘Ministry of fear’ touches on four key moments in Heaney’s life, the first of which is his boarding at St Columbs, then a catholic boarding school in Derry. An experience he found to be very unfair and almost treacherous. â€Å"Sweeten my exile† Heaney describing it himself as exile, clearly he thought he was pressured into going perhaps when he didn’t want to. Secondly he describes his first flirtation with poetry and higher education at Queens University. This section is written in a very self deprecating tone and almost a hint of jealousy, He describes his Friend, Seamus Deane’s skill with the pen â€Å"vowels and ideas bandied free† and then mocks his own attempts, â€Å"hobnailed boots†¦ Fine lawns of elocution† These statements are slightly bathetic and quite ironic, Heaney writing what was to be a highly acclaimed poem about his own poetic inabilities. He goes on to describe his first sexual encounters when he â€Å"came to life† in â€Å"the kissing seat of an Austin 16† this whole phrase resonates innocence and although this particular experience is important in any young mans life I think it is a deliberate ploy to stress the innocence he felt he had before the fourth memory. Which is Heaney’s experience with a crass RUC patrol, which seems to represent a bovine threat â€Å"crowding round†¦like black cattle.† Each of these memories helps convey a real sense of place, making it easy for us to identify with Northern Ireland in each instance, through Heaney’s vivid recollections. ‘Casualty’ explores one main theme; the affinities between himself as a poet and a fisherman killed â€Å"accidentally† for defying a curfew imposed by the IRA in Derry after Bloody Sunday. Heaney through this poem tells the story of Louis O’Neill, a provincial man who drank at his father in laws bar. Much like Ministry of fear he is looking back on the events, with a different perspective, almost analytically. It begins with a celebration of the man, Heaney affords him much respect and clearly remembers him fondly in the opening stanza, he goes on to express the difficulties Poetry made for him, and how he felt it isolated him from ordinary people especially in Northern Ireland. Similarly to Ministry of fear, when Heaney talks of his own poetic prowess he is self deprecating, ironic and bathetic again. The man, whom he would not talk to poetry about, became a muse or inspiration for one of his own poems. He goes on to recall Louis O’Neill’s d eath and the political situation in Northern Ireland. â€Å"PARAS 13 BOGSIDE NIL† this phrase alone places us perfectly in the context of the troubles. Aside from the similar contexts of both poems Heaney conveys the sense of place in other ways, In Casualty Heaney takes influence from Writers of his own Country, The fisherman theme is carried throughout the poem, initially just as Louis O’Neills vocation but particularly later in the poem as a way of life, the poem and this particular theme has an affinity in form and content with Yeats’s ‘the fisherman’ Both are written in trimesters, employ iambic rhythms and rhyme on alternate lines. For each poet the fisherman is â€Å" the most unlike, a kind of anti self, who embodies independence, wisdom, integrity – a refusal to submit to the will of the crowd.† By hinting at Yeats- an Irish poet- Heaney further emphasises the sense of place conveyed in this poem, this time through a more social context as opposed to a political one. He also references a famous Christmas carol â€Å"while shepherds watched their flocks† which because of the very religious nature of the Irish Catholics and indeed the protestants is as much an indication of Northern Ireland then as it is now. In ‘Ministry of fear’ Heaney alludes to many other poems and poets, the most obvious of which was Patrick Kavanagh, An Irish Poet who’s work Heaney discovered in the early 1960’s and for which he developed an increasing  respect throughout the decade, Kavanagh seemed to Heaney to illustrate the split he himself was experiencing between â€Å"the illiterate self that was tied to the little hills and earthed in the stony grey soil, and the literate self that pined for the city of kings, where art, music and letters were the real things† He also alludes to Yeats as in â€Å"Casualty.† Yeats’s ‘ Ancestral Houses’ which speaks of a ‘rich mans flowering lawns’ and of his ‘planted hills’ much in the same way as Haney describes the â€Å"fine lawns of elocution. By referencing all these other poets, especially the two Irish ones Heaney makes sure we are concentrating on N.I.

Final exam study guide Essays

Final exam study guide Essays Final exam study guide Essay Final exam study guide Essay Be able to discuss and give examples of the three dimensions of inequality (economics, power, and prestige) Lecture 5 American ideology and education Lecture 7 Native American history and demographics Chapter 8 Key facts about sexual orientation Chapter 15 9. Issues that were discussed in the threads will be prime targets. 10. Reviewing the Tacos will also be a great preparation for the Final Exam which I have listed below for your convenience. 1 Given an example of the need to increase productivity in a cultural diversity on team building in the workplace, and formulate strategies for facilitating cooperation among members of a culturally diverse work group. 2 Given a simulated situation where a qualified minority candidate is denied employment based on the hiring managers cultural prejudice and practice of discrimination, erectly assess the situation and recommend intervention strategies to correct the situation. Given a situation in a culturally diverse workplace where tension among employees is rising and Job satisfaction is low, formulate a plan to evaluate organizational culture and strategies to increase organizational cultural competence. 4 Given a case study or simulated situation in which an individual must give directives or recommendations, such as work directives or healthcare recommendations, to an individual from a different culture, assess the potential ultra barriers to communication and compliance with the directives or recommendations and suggest methods for improving communication and ensuring compliance. :

Huckleberry Finn Essays (811 words) - Fiction, Literature

Huckleberry Finn Essays (811 words) - Fiction, Literature Huckleberry Finn The idea Miss Watson has of Huck Finn being a dirty, nasty, vulgar little boy who smokes, swears, and stays away from Sunday school is not a justifiable description of him. Hucks character goes much deeper. Huck is a literal-minded, imaginative, trustworthy boy who is greatly impacted by the inhuman ways of society. His society driven conscience is in constant conflict with his free, loyal heart. A mind of the greatest literalness is represented by Huck and what he calls his conscience. Hucks conscience is the belief in the inhuman rights of slave owners not to be deprived of their property. Hucks conscience is a portrayal of the moral values of society. The idea of slavery is drilled by society into every one of its members, including the otherwise free tramp like Huck- and the natural, human rights of Jim. Hucks heart follows the opposite views of his conscience. Huck has been listening to Jims excited talk about what he will do when he is free and it has disturbed what Huck calls his conscience. Conscience says to me, What had poor Miss Watson dont to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? What did that poor women do to you that you could treat her so mean? (92) Jim, as a man, has the right to be free. Huck does not realize this because of the views society has instilled in him. Jim has the right to love his wife and yearn for his children. Jim has the determination to work and save up his money and never spend a scent in order to buy his children out of slavery. The final plan he considers, getting an Ablitionist to go and steal (93) his children if their owner refuses to sell them. The consideration of this plan is a shock to Hucks conscience that awakens him to the wickedness of consorting with Jim and helping him run away from the society-conforming Miss Watson. Miss Watson holds Jim in chattel slavery and Huck in the more subtle slavery of civilized conduct. Hucks conscience is thus badly shaken by Jims wicked talk of stealing his children from an innocent owner. He decides that it is his moral duty to betray Jim. This decision is a great relief to him, and the minute they sight a town he sets off in the canoe to find somebody to capture Jim. Unluckily, as he is leaving Jim says to him, Ise a free man, en I couldnt ever been free ef it hadnt been for Huckyous de bes fren Jims ever had; en yous de only fren ole Jims got now (93). This innocent expression of human affection and gratitude is very ill-timed for Huck; as he says, I was paddling off, all in a sweat to tell on him; but when he says this it seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me (93). As a result, when on some men in a canoe who are actually looking for runaway slaves Huck finds he is not man enough to betray Jim. This explains Hucks loyalty and dedication to keeping his promise to Jim- his promise not to turn Jim in for escaping slavery. Instead he finds himself inventin g and performing with great skill a complicated lie that persuades the men in the canoe not to go near the raft where Jim is hiding: he makes them believe- he never says so himself- that there are three people with small pox on the raft. Not only does this illustrate that Huck has a great level of imagination it shows the he has a profound knowledge of human nature. This knowledge allows him to create stories, which play upon the selfishness and pettiness of society. He is deeply discouraged to find himself acting this way, as if he hadnt the spunk of a rabbit (94). I knowed very well, he says, that I had done wrong, and I see it warnt no use for me to try to learn to do right; a body that dont get started right when hes little aint got no show- when the pinch comes

A League of Their Own

The film begins with the commencement of the second world war and female baseball players are drafted into the All American Girls Baseball League, in the attempt to save the sport. With the induction of this league, the girls obtained the chance to show how women deserve an equal chance in sports, an opportunity to show their hard work and perseverance, and free themselves from the clutches of lower class life through success in the sport. The value of family was portrayed throughout the film and became a top priority for some of the players. In achieving a spot on a team the girls also had to conform to the rules and requirements that the owners of the league were demanding. To give this league the popularity it needed, the girls needed to work hard to be the leagues top players in every team. They all acquired the chance to go to training camps and try out for teams that would be placed into the league. The amount of work they displayed to get placed on the team showed that they wanted to earn the respect of the country and show that women could do more than just care for kids or be in charge of the kitchen. They worked extremely hard to show that women could play the sport as easily as men could. For example, this hardworking value was best portrayed by Kit, one of the individuals who played for the league. She got her sister to play because that was the only way they would take her and she did not want to stay on a farm for the rest of her life. Her persistent attitude helped her reach her goal and she became one of the top players of her time just like her sister. The family values are expressed greatly throughout the film by all the characters, but particularly by Dotti. Many of the women on the team had spouses in the army or back home. Dotti was the protagonist who was a girl with beauty and love of the sport like no other girl. What was different about her, besides being extremely skillful in the sport and never having a bad game, was that in her mind she was only playing while her husband was in the war. She loved the game, but her husband and family were always more important for her. The conflict between winning and her sister’s loyalty ended with her realizing that being friends with her sister was far more important than winning or playing in a baseball league. The women dealt with external conformity within the league because of the rules and regulations that the owners had placed on apparel and style of play. The women were required to wear a skirt outfit and makeup while they were playing. They were all forced to take etiquette classes and learn how to act like â€Å"ladies†. The women were upset with this because they had joined the league to play the sport they loved not to go out on the field and model for the fans. This movie was used to display that women were not inferior to men and to show how the game of baseball was used as more than publicity. The hard work and perseverance gave women in the united states a sense of hope and desire to succeed in a male dominated world.

American firm opening branch in Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American firm opening branch in Japan - Essay Example During the Nara and Heian periods (710-1185) the emperors began to practice Buddhism, believing its teachings would protect the state. The Muromachi era (1333 to 1568) brought disintegration of the central government, firearms were introduced by the shipwrecked Portuguese soldiers, and Christianity was introduced by Francis Xavier. (Background, 2005, p. 3). Finally in the Edo period (1600-1868) Japan enters into an age of â€Å"peace and national isolation.† (Background, 2005, p.4). The United States wants to use the Japanese ports as supply bases for its commercial fleet, and, in a surprise move, Japan accepts the US demands and opens its doors for the first time in two centuries. In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the emperor was restored, and Japan made its transition to nation-state. The Showa period (1926-1989) brought many more changes for Japan, including World War II and its aftermath, including the necessary economic recovery. In 1941 Pearl Harbor brought the US into war in the Pacific and in August of 1945 â€Å"the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the second on Nagasaki; the emperor airs by radio a statement of unconditional surrender.† (Background, 2005, p. 5). The years of 1945-1952 brought allied occupation of Japan, with women gaining legal equality as well as the right to vote. Japan’s poli tical life was changed to a parliamentary state, and with the peace treaty signed in 1951, Japan regained independence. The â€Å"High Growth Age† in Japan occurred from the late 1950’s to the early 1970’s and Japan was rewarded with a booming economy. (Background, 2005, p. 5). Japan is made up of five islands; however there are some thirty-six hundred islands in the entire group, and dozens that are actually inhabited. Japan has twenty-nine thousand kilometers of coastline, and the total land area is 142,000 square miles which makes Japan one-twenty-fifth the size of the United States, or roughly the size of

Women and Publishing in Early America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Women and Publishing in Early America - Essay Example It is therefore pleasantly surprised to discover that as far back as 1476, women have made lifelong occupations in journalism and printing, and in various capacities including that of the owner. Mayo (2009) names at least 21 women who ran their husbands’ or fathers’ printing businesses after they died. Among them was Clementina Rind, who took over as publisher of the Virginia Gazette after she was widowed. Women of different races and classes contributed to the printing trade. For instance, Phillis Wheatley was a black poet and slave who wrote Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in the year 1773 (Duboi & Dumenil, 2005, in Mayo, 2009). Born in Africa (most likely Senegal), she was kidnapped at the age of eight years and brought to Boston. The white family which brought her gave her their family name as was the custom then, and she was taught English and Christianity, and later on ancient history, mythology and classical literature. She was intelligent, and her masters were a family of culture, so she was allowed to study and write. Her first poem was published in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. A collection of her poems was published in 1773 in London, and what was unusual was the â€Å"attestation† by seventeen men in the volume’s preface that, indeed, the poems were written â€Å"by Phillis, a young Negro Girl†¦a Barbarian from Africa†¦a Slave in a Fam ily† who was â€Å"examined by the best Judges, and is thought qualified to write them† (Lewis, 2007). Phillis Wheatley is acknowledged to be the first black woman poet in American history. The â€Å"attestation† is a clear bias against women, people of color, and of the lower classes (i.e., slaves). The need for such attestation by sixteen men, and the requisite to be examined by â€Å"the best Judges† provides a picture of how women who were in the literary and printing trades were regarded; the obvious presumption about women in their day-to-day life is that they are normally not capable of producing literary and journalistic pieces, and such works by women should be properly certified by white men.

Discussion questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discussion questions - Assignment Example he fact that during the advanced stage AD patients may develop physiological complications as body systems begin to fail thereby paving the way for health deterioration. Thus, it is always expedient that other tests are carried out as a way of ruling out other health complications that co-occur with AD. Some of these conditions include brain tumor, anxiety, infections, depression, vitamin deficiency and thyroid complications. To this effect, blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests and computer tomography scan (CT) may be used to ascertain the patient’s internal anatomy (Gillick, 2012). If a kidney failure has been fully established to be real, it will be necessary to put the patient on the dialysis machine. This will help the patient get rid of wastes in her system. Recommending renal failure diet will also go a long way in regulating the amount of phosphorus, sodium and proteins in the diet. The patient will also be put on drips to help hydrate her body. It would be most important for the drip to include dextrose and saline, since these elements will help raise the fluid level. After the tests have revealed the cause of the bruises in the body, appropriate medical intervention may be administered. In this wavelength, the patient’s meal will have to include calcium and vitamin K to help foster coagulation in the patient’s ruptured blood vessels. There are several ethical issues that emanate from this development. Occupational safety of the nurse attending to the patient is a serious ethical issue because, since the patient is at an advanced stage of AD, nurses will have to deal with incontinence. The issue of the quality of life will also pose another ethical challenge, especially if other factors such as the patient being terminally ill, her old age, her relative insignificance to the economy and scarcity of healthcare resources are factored in. Even when requested, euthanasia cannot be executed since it is proscribed in the US. Conversely,

War and Peace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

War and Peace - Essay Example This paper studies the official catholic teachings on peace and war in the broader perspective of the globalised world. It gives special attention to the prevailing societal set up and emerging trends in the governments. The paper reviews the present teaching of the Roman Catholic Church then follows statements of the church bishop, Pope John Paul II. The Australian Catholic Church social justice council has two documents (already in the market) that outline the statements of the pope John Paul II that contains the teachings of catechism of the Catholic Church on the issue of war and peace. He published these documentaries when the Republic of Iraq was facing the threat of military intervention by a contingent of allied forces. This was because Iraq had failed to meet the inspection resolutions of the UN concerning weapons production and mass destruction of persons through wars (Marc, 2002:46-49). The document by the pope provides a basic source for the local communities on the justi ce groups and individuals seeking information on the stand of the church towards war and peace. It reviews the teachings of the church on the issue of war and peace as contained in the catechism with excerpts from the Holy Father and church leaders from across the world. The responses of the Catholic Church in regard to use of force are in two strands that answers the issues of pacifist and just war. Basing on the gospel values and the experience of the national and global violence, pacifism regards war as being unthinkable and unjustified. The just war tradition opposes the use of force in the engagements of war. The moral conditions resort to protect the innocent and restore justice (Shannon and Thomas, 2003:245-269). The teachings of the church on war and peace have changed over time and continue to do so in response to the emerging trends across the globe. For example the just war theory has formalized by the St Augustine continues to evolve considering the moral framework of th e changing nature and circumstances of war as a form of response to aggression. In the current society, terrorist acts of terror are common as the immediate mode of conflict resolution. In spite of these, the strict church moral requirements demand that war should be the resort and that peaceful diplomatic means should are necessary to curb the issue of war. The Catholic Church has called for peaceful resolutions of differences in order to prevent wars and not constitute the legitimate use of force (Rock, 2011:189-191). The Christian views in the issue of war and peace have diverged widely in the recent past due to the current world events. In the modern society, people hold many different opinions due to the crisis surrounding countries like Iraq. However, the roman church calls for the convergence of the Christian views on the judgments of the secular events formed in the teachings of the church leaders. The catechism has teachings of the Catholic Church on the avoidance of the wa r. The teachings offer total respect to the human life as God given and thus subject to total respect by all humans. This clearly reflects in the commandments documented in the catechism, which calls that You Shall Not Kill (n 2302). The respect for human life paves the need for peace and it only comes in the absence of war. Peace is a tranquility of order, which comes from the respect to human dignity and the respect for the individuals and the entire community (Marc, 2002:77-79). Peace comes out of Justice and love. The

Impact of Generation Y on Management Effectiveness in Organizations Thesis - 2

Impact of Generation Y on Management Effectiveness in Organizations - Thesis Example s huge dependence on technological factors that distinguish them from Generation X that is more inclined towards conservative forms of workplace ethics (Martin, 2001). In this regard, business experts are endeavoring nowadays to identify factors that are causing problems in the workplace and are putting efforts to propose solutions and alternatives that may reduce the gap between the two generations, and allow the management to achieve their organizational objectives. Due to such reasons, some of the major problems in this respect of attracting and recruiting Generation Y talent that is fast-paced and technologically efficient. In addition, due to conflicting workplace practices (Tulgan, 2009), a number of organizations are confronting problems in retaining and engaging Generation Y successfully due to lack of communication between the two generations. In the result, recruitment, engagement, and retaining of Generation Y have now become some of the major issues of the current decade that are revolving around the factors, such as generational boundaries, technology, cultural shifts, etc. In specific, the major purpose of the proposed research is to identify and analyze issues that employers confront while managing Generation Y in their workforce along with proposition of different strategies that will enable management in ensuring improvement in workforce’ performance. Besides the abovementioned main purpose, the researcher will be putting efforts to fulfill other objectives as follows: To achieve the objectives of the research study, a qualitative research analysis will be employed. A qualitative method is the best option because it entails in depth analysis of a social phenomenon. Literature review will be used in analyzing existing information on the topic of study .After reviewing the information, vital points will be collected, evaluated and analyzed to come up with the required information. The material to be reviewed will include the Internet from

Discussion questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discussion questions - Assignment Example he fact that during the advanced stage AD patients may develop physiological complications as body systems begin to fail thereby paving the way for health deterioration. Thus, it is always expedient that other tests are carried out as a way of ruling out other health complications that co-occur with AD. Some of these conditions include brain tumor, anxiety, infections, depression, vitamin deficiency and thyroid complications. To this effect, blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests and computer tomography scan (CT) may be used to ascertain the patient’s internal anatomy (Gillick, 2012). If a kidney failure has been fully established to be real, it will be necessary to put the patient on the dialysis machine. This will help the patient get rid of wastes in her system. Recommending renal failure diet will also go a long way in regulating the amount of phosphorus, sodium and proteins in the diet. The patient will also be put on drips to help hydrate her body. It would be most important for the drip to include dextrose and saline, since these elements will help raise the fluid level. After the tests have revealed the cause of the bruises in the body, appropriate medical intervention may be administered. In this wavelength, the patient’s meal will have to include calcium and vitamin K to help foster coagulation in the patient’s ruptured blood vessels. There are several ethical issues that emanate from this development. Occupational safety of the nurse attending to the patient is a serious ethical issue because, since the patient is at an advanced stage of AD, nurses will have to deal with incontinence. The issue of the quality of life will also pose another ethical challenge, especially if other factors such as the patient being terminally ill, her old age, her relative insignificance to the economy and scarcity of healthcare resources are factored in. Even when requested, euthanasia cannot be executed since it is proscribed in the US. Conversely,

Impact of Generation Y on Management Effectiveness in Organizations Thesis - 2

Impact of Generation Y on Management Effectiveness in Organizations - Thesis Example s huge dependence on technological factors that distinguish them from Generation X that is more inclined towards conservative forms of workplace ethics (Martin, 2001). In this regard, business experts are endeavoring nowadays to identify factors that are causing problems in the workplace and are putting efforts to propose solutions and alternatives that may reduce the gap between the two generations, and allow the management to achieve their organizational objectives. Due to such reasons, some of the major problems in this respect of attracting and recruiting Generation Y talent that is fast-paced and technologically efficient. In addition, due to conflicting workplace practices (Tulgan, 2009), a number of organizations are confronting problems in retaining and engaging Generation Y successfully due to lack of communication between the two generations. In the result, recruitment, engagement, and retaining of Generation Y have now become some of the major issues of the current decade that are revolving around the factors, such as generational boundaries, technology, cultural shifts, etc. In specific, the major purpose of the proposed research is to identify and analyze issues that employers confront while managing Generation Y in their workforce along with proposition of different strategies that will enable management in ensuring improvement in workforce’ performance. Besides the abovementioned main purpose, the researcher will be putting efforts to fulfill other objectives as follows: To achieve the objectives of the research study, a qualitative research analysis will be employed. A qualitative method is the best option because it entails in depth analysis of a social phenomenon. Literature review will be used in analyzing existing information on the topic of study .After reviewing the information, vital points will be collected, evaluated and analyzed to come up with the required information. The material to be reviewed will include the Internet from

Art and Society Essay Example for Free

Art and Society Essay All art whether it be visual, music, literature, film, etc. is affected by the specific cultural climate in which it is produced (time, place, social conventions, etc.) and is often created in reaction to movements or styles that came before it. How important is it to know these sorts of historical details to appreciate a work of art?  To know the historical details of a work of art is essential because without it you would never be able to aprreciate the work the same way. To be able to understand it better one has to know at what point in time was it made so when you see a painting of a steamboat knowing that the painting was made just after it was invented would give you a much different understanding than if it was made yestaerday. To whole different emotional responsed would be made. This is the same for the place (culture) social conventions, etc. What is Good Art?  8. As you wander through the contemporary galleries on the first or second floor, select a work of art that leaves you puzzled at best. Write down the title and the artist. Research the piece at the library or on the internet, or speak to an art expert to understand the artist and the intended message.  (a) Does this new information change your appreciation for the piece? Explain by referring specifically to the artists intention and the specific work. I chose The Bremen town musicians by Gim Hong-Sok South Korea. After searching in the internet I found out that the sculpture of the Donkey, Dog, Cat and a Rooster, is actually based on a story by the Brothers Grimm with the same title, I had no idea what the sculpture meant at that time because there is no description except a fictional one which states that the furry animal costumes are a family of Mexican illegal aliens and that they are paid 8 dolars a day for posing as said sculpture. I think that Gim just wanted to add some humor to art and to the viewer, as many works of art are deeply sentimental and emotional, which I found very satisfiying. In your contemporary gallery wanderings, choose two pieces of work you consider to be good and two you consider bad art.  (b) Identify the pieces and state the criteria you consider to be important in making good contemporary art[PH1].  Ã‚  Good Art  Why?  Impenetrable-Mona  I think its very good art because its a very innovative piece of work, it is just long lines of steel tubes in the form of a cube but the spaces are so tightly together and with small spikes which make the piece impenetrable just like its named. It also looks modern and neat as it appears to be floating in the air and can be appreciated in 360. Bad Art  Why?  Jean Paul Riopelle-Untitled  I think this is bad art because, there is no pattern at all its just random splashing of colours, and the piece of work doesnt even have a title, which makes me think as a receiver that Riopelle was just too lazy to come up with a decent name because there was no feeling input into it.  (c) If the artworks you were looking at werent part of a national collection and within a purpose-built gallery designed by an internationally recognized architect would you still view them the same way? Who do you think makes the decisions of what appears in National Gallery exhibits? Does their expertise and background matter in your experience of the works? If the pieces I saw were not a part of the national collection, I wouldnt view the same way because they wouldnt have the same artisitic value. If a piece of art is recognized by the world and known artists and collections, it gives the works of art much more significance. This doesnt mean everything that they consider art is something I will also consider art just because its in the gallery.  (d) Do you have the same reactions to the works online as you did viewing them in person? Whats missing? Is this important in viewing art? Can we have the same understanding of something filtered through a virtual experience as exposed to actually experience it in person? Interestingly, one exhibit in the galleries is two computers linking to the website atworkandplay.ca  No I dont have the same reaction because the quality and the size you can appreciate the works of art is totally different in real life, art is not just viewing but also EXPERIENCING and if you just view it online you are missing the experience of actually being there.

The Benefits of Java

The Benefits of Java JAVA INCLUDES A LIBRARY OF CLASSES AND INTERFACES: The Java platform includes an extensive class library so that programmers can use already existing classes, as it is, create subclasses to modify existing classes, or implement interfaces to augment the capabilities of classes. Both classes and interfaces contain data members (fields) and functions (methods), but there are major differences. In a class, fields may be either variable or constant, and methods are fully implemented. To use an interface, a programmer defines a class, declares that it implements the Interface, and then implements all the methods in that interface as part of the class. These methods are implemented in a way that is appropriate for the class in which the methods are being used. Interfaces let one add functionality to a class and give a great deal of flexibility in doing it. A package is a collection of related Java classes and interfaces. The following list, however not complete, gives example of some Java packages and what they cover. Java.lang: The basic classes. This package is so basic that it automatically is included in any Java program. It includes classes that intercepts with numeric, strings, objects, runtime, security, and threads. Java.io: Package that includes classes managing reading data in input streams and writing data into output streams. Java.util: Miscellaneous utility classes, including generic data structures, bit sets, time, date, the string manipulation, random number generation, system properties, notification and enumeration of data structures. Java.net: Classes for network support. Java.awt: Classes that manage user interface components such as windows, dialog boxes, buttons, checkboxes, lists, menus, scrollbars, and text fields, the â€Å"AWT† stands for Abstract Window Toolkit. Java.awt.image: Classes for managing image data, including color models, dropping color flittering, setting pixel values, and grabbing snapshots. Java.applet: The Applet class, which provides the ability to write applets, this package also includes several interfaces that connect an applet to its documents and to its document. Java.sql: The JDBC API, classes and interfaces that access databases and send SQL Statements. The first three packages listed, java.lang, java.io and java.util form the basis, they are basic classes and interfaces for general-purpose programming. Java development kit version1.1 added some new packages, with JDBC being one of them. Other new packages include such thing as Remote Method Invocation, Security and Java Beans, the new API for creating reusable components. In Java, packages serve as the foundation for building other packages, as discussed in the following section. JAVA IS EXTENSIBLE: A big plus for Java is the fact it can be extended. It was purposely written to be lean with the emphasis on doing what it does very well, instead of trying to do everything from the beginning, it was return so that extending it is very simple. The JDBC API, the java.sql package, is one example upon which extensions are being built. In addition to extensions there are also main tools being developed to make existing capabilities easier to use. For example, there is already a tool that greatly Simplifies creating and laying out Graphical User Interfaces such as menus, Dialog boxes and buttons. SECURITY: It is important that a programmer not be able to write subversive code for Applications or applets. This is especially true with the Internet being used more and more extensively for services such as electronic commerce and electronic delivery of software and multimedia content. The Java platform builds in security in four ways. The way memory is Allocated and laid out: In Java an object’s location in memory is not determined until The runtime, as opposed to C and C++, where the compiler makes memory layout Decisions. As the result, a programmer cannot look at a class definition and figure out how it might be laid out in memory. Also since, Java has no pointers, a programmer cannot forge pointers to memory. The way incoming code is checked: The Java virtual machine doesn’t trust any incoming code and subjects it to what is called throughte code verification. The throughte code Verifier, part of the virtual machine, checks that the format of incoming code is correct incoming code doesn’t forge pointers, it doesn’t violate access restrictions, it accesses objects what they are. The way classes are loaded: The Java throughte code loader, another part of the virtual machine, whether classes loaded during program execution are local or from across a network. Imported classes cannot be substituted for built in classes, and built in classes cannot accidentally reference classes brought in over a network. The way access is restricted for untested code: The Java security manager allows user to restrict untested Java applets so that they cannot access the local network, files and other resources. JAVA PERFORMS WELL: Java performance is better than one might expect. Java has many advantages, such as having built in security and being interpreted as well as compiled, do have a cost attached to them. As a result, Java has done quite respectably in performance tests. Its performance numbers for interpreting throughte codes are usually more than adequate to run interactive graphical end user applications. For situations that require unusually high performance, throughte codes can be translated on the fly, generating the final machine code for the particular CPU on which the application is running at run time. High level interpreted scripting language generally offer great portability and fast prototyping but poor performance. Low level compiled language like C and C++ offer great performance but require large amounts of time for writing and debugging code because of problems with areas such as memory management, pointers and multiple inheritance. Java offers good performance with the advantages of high level languages but without the disadvantages of C and C++. JAVA IS ROBUST: The multi platformed environment of the WEB places extraordinary demands on a program, because it must execute reliably in a variety of systems. Thus the ability to create robust programs was given a high priority in the design of Java. To gain reliability, Java restricts you in a few key areas to force you to find your mistakes early in program developments. At the same time, Java frees you from having to worry about many of the most common cause of programming errors. Because Java is strictly typed language, it checks your code at compile time. However, it also checks your code at run time. In fact, many hard to track down bugs that often turn up in hard to reproduce runtime situations are simply impossible to create in Java. Knowing that what you have written will behave in a predictable way under diverse conditions is a key feature of Java to understand how Java robust. For example in C/C++ the programmer must manually allocate and free all dynamic memory. This sometimes leads to problems. For example some programmers some times forget the free memory that has been previously allocated. JAVA SCALES WELL: Java platform is designed to scale well, from portable consumer electronic devices to powerful desktop and server machines. As a result, Java accommodates the need for low storage and for low bandwidth transmission over the Internet. In addition the Java operating system offers a standalone Java platform that eliminates host operating system overhead while still supporting the full Java platform. API makes Java ideal for low cost network computers whose sole purpose is to access the Internet. JAVA IS MULTITHREADED: Multithreading is simply the ability of a program to do more than one thing at a time. For example an application could be faxing a document at the same time it is printing another document. Or a program could process new inventory figures while it sustains a feed for current prices. JAVA IS IMPORTANT TO THE INTERNET: The Internet helped catapult Java to the forefront of programming and Java in turn has a profound effect on the Internet. The reason is simple. Java expands the universe of objects that can move about freely in cyberspace. In a network, there are two broad categories of objects transmitted between the server, your personal computer, passive info and dynamic, active programs. For example, when you read your e-mail, you are viewing passive data. Even when you download a program, the program’s code is still only passive data until you execute it. However, there is a second type of object that can be transmitted to your computer, a dynamic, self executing program. Such a program would be an active agent on the client computer, yet it would be initiated through the server. As desirable as dynamic, networked programs are, they also current serious problems in the areas of security and portability. Prior to Java cyberspace was effectively closed to half the entities that now live the re. Java addresses these concerns and doing so, has opened the door to an exiting a new form of program.

Free Essays - Searching for Truth in A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

Searching for Truth in A Farewell to Arms If The Sun Also Rises was one of the best books I have ever read, then A Farewell to Arms is Truth. I simply cannot believe that these books existed so long without my knowledge of how grand they are. I consider myself to read constantly, more than almost anyone I know, and here in less than a month I read two books that are undoubtedly among the best I have encountered.    When I finished A Farewell to Arms I was of course stunned by the death of Catherine and the baby and Henry's sudden solitude. "What happens now?" I felt, as I so often do when I finish a book that I want to go on forever. This is infinitely more difficult with a book that has no conclusion, and A Farewell to Arms leaves a reader not only emotionally exhausted but also just as alone as Henry and with nowhere to go. The entire work was aware of where it was going and what was going to happen next, and then to stop the way it did was unfair. Now, I've read enough essays while deciding which would be the topic for my class presentation that I know many people see that the unfairness of life and the insignificance of our free will are apparently the most important themes in the book, but I don't agree. I also don't agree that it is a war story or a love story. Exactly what it is, though, is not clear to me. Can't art exist without being anything? "There isn't always an explanation for ev erything."    War and love are obviously important themes in the book, and the relationship between the two is explored by Hemingway and, somewhat, by Henry. In the first two Books we are in the war and the war is overwhelming. In the last two Books we are in love. And, just as the first two Books are peppered with love in the time of war, the last two Books are tinged with war in the time of love. GIVE SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF THE â€Å"PEPPERING† AND THE â€Å"TINGING.† WHAT EFFECT DOES THE â€Å"PEPPERING† AND â€Å"TINGING† HAVE ON THE NOVEL? THE CHARACTERS?    The third Book is the bridge between the two 'stories' and it is not surprising that it centers on the escape.

Thomas Hardy’s poem “Hap Essay -- Thomas Hardy Hap Poetry Poem Analys

Thomas Hardy’s poem â€Å"Hap" Poetry is ultimately defined as a major literary genre. How boring that is for such a beautiful literary form. I believe that poetry is a genre devoted to art, complexity, and precision. All in which the poet does more than just writing; he or she takes that which is indescribable and finds words for it through poetry. Granted, this leaves poetry vastly open to interpretation. After all, each and every poet expresses him or herself in a different way; with different meter, rhyme, mood, and meaning. Leaving one poem practically unlike any other, like a snowflake. This is poetry, and this is also why poetry is so hard to analyze. Every person that has read and analyzed a poem has been left wondering what the author of the poem had intended by it. Often there is room for more than one interpretation, so many are often left wondering if they correctly interpreted a poem. Several arguments could be left unfinished with the phrase, â€Å"Well, how do you know? Did the author of the poem tell you? In which the answer is, with rare exceptions, no. Authors leave clues in, in between, and all throughout their poems. That’s part of the art. They don’t just tell the readers what the poem means. That would take away from it. Instead, the reader must keep in mind that everything is in a poem for a reason. The author may not come out and say what a poem is about, but he or she will leave enough information in the poem for someone dedicated enough to find. I intend to devote such a dedication to Thomas Hardy’s poem â€Å"Hap,† in order to analyze, and hopefully, understand this poem through a p rocess. Perhaps the first and most obvious step would be to read the poem. Just read it. As in: begin reading and don’t stop, fee... ...becomes a piece of literature that a reader can appreciate. These, also, are by no means the only steps a reader could take to understand a poem. There’s always more time that can be devoted to understanding a poem. There is also a multitude of research on poetry that a reader could use in order to better understand it, just as I would have been lost without a dictionary. Sometimes there is more inside knowledge that a reader would have never known unless they looked it up. Still, it depends on the reader, and the poem they are reading as to whether or not they’ll go beyond their own understanding in search of others’. Understanding poetry is a difficult task, but that does not mean it cannot be done. Depending on how much time and effort a reader is willing to devote to a poem will affect how well they will understand it, in addition to how much they will enjoy it.

College Essay: Loosing School Essay

â€Å"If you don’t want to take school seriously, then I guess I’ll look forward to seeing you working your shift at McDonald’s when I stop by for the fries†. This is what my mom told me when I was an eighth grader. My parents are very accomplished people; my mother is a registered nurse and my father is a lawyer. So her words cut deep and hit me where it hurt. Why was she telling me this? Because I deserved every bit of it. I was at a point in my life when I was very immature. I was a bad egg, a wannabe â€Å"cool kid†, and a class clown. I used to be a small kid, but I grew taller way before others in my own age group. So after a while, my self-esteem rose back to its normal height and I became used to being the biggest kid in my class. This followed me all through middle school. When I was an eighth grader, I took advantage of this and used the size of my body to inflict fear in other students. Not only did I utilize my height as a fear factor, but also I imposed dread with the people I hung around. I was what is described as a â€Å"tomboy†, and I was friends with guys that I would use as threats to get what I desired from others. I was a bully. My school was quite loose with the bullying policy, so every time I got in trouble, I would weasel myself out of the situation by getting my friends to bear false witness to my fabricated stories. By the middle of the school year, it seemed like I was more feared than adored by most of my fellow students. This should have sickened me, but instead it gave me a twisted sense of pride. The school district was ready to suspend me. Not only was I making my fellow classmates uncomfortable, but it was now affecting my academics. And ever since I first learned the meaning of the word â€Å"important†, my parents have hounded into my head that academics are crucial to my future; academics determine your future existence. What kind of reputation was I leaving for the Michaels family name? As soon as I would leave middle school and enter high school, my brother would be entering middle school. He didn’t deserve to cross the threshold of elementary to middle school with a bad reputation waiting for him. On the days I was in a better mood, I would let my poor friend choice control me and I would walk around with my â€Å"friends† and skip class. Even  when I did go to class, I would show up to class late. I lived fairly far from school, so I had to take the bus to school. Both of my parents worked early; by the time I had to wake up for school, they were on their way out and headed to work. This meant that if I chose not to go to school I could stay home. Even if I was late and missed the bus, I had no way to get to school. Now, not only did I have a chance of getting suspended or even expelled for bullying, but also because of my poor attendance. And because I was rarely in class, my grades were suffering, lowering my GPA and almost making it harder to graduate and move on into high school. And this was quite ironic, considering that I had always been known as a bright child before this charade began. With all the stress of strenuous work and a full schedule, my father now also had to worry about what was going on with me. And it was safe to say that I had always been what is known as a â€Å"daddy’s girl†, so this extremely discomforted him. He was constantly receiving phone calls from school teachers and counselors, constantly having to take days off of work to have parent/teacher meetings. All of this was driving my father insane, emotional-wise. He was at a breaking point. It was only after he told me that if I was going to waste his time and so much of his feelings going to school only to act insubordinate, then I should at least have the decency to tell him forthrightly. He went back to school as a middle-aged man to pursue his dream of being a lawyer because when he was younger he did not have the opportunity. My father is essentially a walking illustration of the American Dream, and I cannot believe that at that point in time I could not see that. It was these words that put me in a very doleful state of mind. After that talk from my father, I actually took the time to sit down and evaluate the things I was doing and how they were going to affect me and the family I love. It was the summer before my first year of high school that I broke down and did nothing but cried. Cried because of the position I put my parents in, the way I made them look, the way I made them feel. Cried because my parents abandoned the life they had in their native land to migrate to this beautiful country, to strive for the American dream. My dad left his family at the age of 22 and my mother at age 19 and they endured  the many turn-downs they got while trying to obtain a visa. They arrived in a place thousands of miles from home, where the language was foreign, the money was different and the people were prejudiced. He was often put down because of the color of his skin, but he was determined to start a life in the U.S. and determined to give his kids the life he never had. And here I was, throwing it all away because of my negligence and my immaturity. I could not live with myself knowing I was discounting my parents’ struggles, all of their hopes and dreams. From that point on, I made it my goal to never make my parents go through something like that ever again. To this day I can say that I have been true to my word. Everything about me has been a complete 180 degrees from the person I was in middle school. The people I call my friends, the way I think, and even the way I dress have changed. They now reflect the person I am today: all of my hopes and achievements.