Is music an entertainment or art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is music an entertainment or art - Essay Example   Ã¢â‚¬ËœIs music an art form or entertainment?’ is a difficult question for one to answer. Art is related with self-expression which reveals the creativity of a person while entertainment is based on public enjoyment. In a case of music, it needs artistic qualities as well the elements of entertainment. Considering the popular music culture during the 1960s and 1970s in English speaking world, one can find a brilliant amalgamation of art and entertainment. Historians have documented that the event of Civil Right Movement and the associated civil disturbance and the Vietnam War greatly influenced the youth culture. Formation of life style, values, and economic growth of youth marked the influence of these two happenings. Newly originated popular culture in which rock/soul music was the dominant one which changed lives. People from the English speaking world receive this cultural division of sex, race and began to see each one having different perceptive. Here, one can see th at popular acceptance of rock/soul music underlines the presence of both artistic features and some characteristics of entertainment. The new popular culture during the 1960s and 1970s marked the emergence of rock/soul music which provides some features of entertainment as well the characteristics of art. As a medium of entertainment, music requires a perfect content which describes the social and cultural heritage of the nation, brilliant instrumentation, and effective visual presentation. The song entitled, â€Å"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell gives a particular beat style which promote a faster track than rock. Motown uses little bits of melody in its songs. Similarly, the frequent use of electric keyboards in Soul music gives a different experience for the listener. Social and cultural backgrounds The content of Motown music is matured and diversified which performed great artistic value. Research professionals mention that Motown became the centre of popular music in sixties and one can easily find its strong influence of African American or gospel backgrounds. Here, the lyrics of the songs need both artistic quality and some features of entertainment. The song â€Å"I heard it through Grapevine† by Marvin Gaye gives higher level of artistic performance as well entertainment quality. Michael Campbell and James Brody observe; â€Å"It is beautifully integrated: every elements blends shamelessly to convey the sense of the text which gradually unfolds the story of love gone wrong† (Campbell & Brody 185). In case of popular music in the English world, one cannot find the crisis between the features of art and entertainment in music. Music of Motown and Soul underscore the contribution of Black people or African Americans. Various use of instrumentation affects public acceptance and popularity. It is significant for a reader to notice that the songs of Bob Dylan and Motown give considerable status in lyrics. Considering the song entitled "The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964) by Bob Dylan, one can find that the Dylan gives more emphasis on its lyrics than music. The song is based on political movements of that period. The sufferings of and protest of working class people is revealed through his words. Even without a band and or any other instrument listener/viewer can get the feel of an anthem. Therefore, popular music culture in 1960s and 70s concentrated artistic features than entertainment. In case of music, songs of Motown and Soul acquired great popularity among the public because of its music and instrumentation. Artists have controlled the use of the elements of entertainment in their songs. Visual presentation and class identification are is not a significant matter among the public in

Aggressive in behaviour Essay Example for Free

Aggressive in behaviour Essay I will use this as my title for the purposes of planning. In 1998, 47% of female prisoners had dependent children (Flynn, 1998:75). In 1999 this was estimated to be more like 55% based on those with children sixteen or under. With the female prison population numbering around 3,250, the number of women estimated to have young children is 1788 (Harris, 2000:iv). So I feel it would be useful to try and locate around 10% of this number and ask for permission to interview and study their children. This figure would still mean a lot of work for the researchers and there would need to be several as not all of those approached would give permission for the research to involve their children. As a result, I have determined that the best methods of research will be interviews and observations. The reason I have chosen these methodologies is because they are more informal, and when working with children, it is more likely to yield results than questionnaires. Questionnaires are problematical for younger children, who may be unable to write and face to face techniques are more likely to obtain information questionnaires are not always filled in or returned to the researchers (Bell, 1999:130). The benefits of interviewing and observation preclude the use of questionnaires, in part because they allow a certain flexibility for the researcher to further investigate any new ideas which may become apparent (Browne, 1997:406, 414). Observation is beneficial to the researcher because it can allow for additional details to be noted which the child might be unable or unwilling to express. Interviews permit a degree of familiarity between the researcher and the subject, and in turn may present opportunity to further discuss any points which the researcher feel are relevant. In questioning children, the ethics are complex. Permission to interview the child has to be obtained, and it might be unclear from whom it should be procured. The British Psychological Society in 1996 set down a code of ethics and conduct in which it was stipulated that if the research affects someone not able to give valid consent, i.e. a child under the age of eighteen, then it needs to be obtained from whomever has legal authority to give it (Lindsay, 2000:14-15). The first people deemed to be those with parental responsibility are the natural parents. Exceptions to this include a carer who has a resident order under the 1989 Children Act, anyone holding a temporary emergency protection order or the local authority if the child is in care (Masson, 2000:37). If the mother is in prison, as is necessary for his research, obtaining information regarding their children might be a contentious point. It will involve the co-operation of the prison management in addition to the parents, children, and the childs place of education. There being only sixteen prisons in England and Wales which house female prisoners (Flynn, 1998:57), I feel it would be easier to gain the information from a women-only establishment as the administration may be more familiar with the inmates and perhaps will be in a position to assist the research. This would require asking the prison to identify those prisoners with children, which I believe is a detail which would perhaps already be on a database. If this is not the case, it would then involve asking the women in the prison to come forward. This would undoubtedly cause difficulties, as they may not wish to do so, perhaps through disinterest in the research or an unwillingness to be set part from the others as a result of it. Women who have been separated from their children, for whatever reason, may be emotional as a result, and therefore sensitivity is an absolute necessity. The disruption to the prison is also something which needs to be taken into consideration, but:  most prisoners find it a welcome change to talk to outsiders  (King, 2000:303). Once women with children between the ages of two and seventeen years have been identified and approached, their permission to interview their children must be obtained. Authorisation should also be secured from the person caring for the child away from the prison, as it is actually ethically wrong to ask permission for such things from the parent not currently the full-time carer (Masson, 2000:38). I do not know the ethics on continuing on the sole permission of the carer rather than the mother. This is the only clear means of getting access to the information required, as it would be too difficult to poll schools for the information. They would not be able to divulge the data on the children without parental permission anyway. If permission is not given by the mother or the carer, the child will not be contacted in any way. It might be interesting, however, to ask why the parents did not want to take part. Once permission has been gained, the next step is to decide where would be best for the child to hold the interviews. The parents may have suggestions themselves, as they may prefer to have the interview conducted in their presence. This is something which will have to be taken into consideration in the conduct of the project, as it may have a bearing on the behaviour of the child. The presence of a parent, teacher or carer may influence the way the child acts, albeit perhaps indirectly, so affecting their responses to the questions. It would undoubtedly be better to interview all the children under the same conditions, but this might not be possible so it would be advisable to be prepared to be flexible. The best place would be somewhere neutral to the child perhaps a local community centre, preferably interviewing the child twice once with a parent, carer or teacher in the room, then once without them there. I believe this might show a variance in the childs attitude and behaviour towards the researcher and their questions, as they will have an audience to play to when someone they know well is in the room. It is essential, however, to interview the child in a setting in which they are comfortable. If the parents feel it would be best to interview at their home, then places such as the garden or even the stairs may provide a sense of security for the child (Masson, 2000:43). Otherwise another place to carry out an interview might be the childs school. If the child is hostile to their school-life however, this may introduce elements of bias into their interview compared to other children who may have been interviewed at home or at a community centre. The practicality of eliciting reliable information from a child (under eighteen years of age), is a point which quickly becomes clouded with other issues. The words of an adult may be too complex or the sentence structure poorly formed, so that a child become confused. This has been proven to be the case by several authors (Walker, 1994, Dockrell, Lewis Lindsay, 2000), and includes children up to the age of eighteen. Minors, even those nearly eighteen, are not always proficient in language skills, and may have difficulty understanding the wording of questions or in formulating their own answers (Walker, 1994:4). There is a need to be sure of how a child is answering a question put to them, as they could be responding to a part of a question rather than the whole question.

Quality Healthcare Includes Empathy Essay examples -- Healthcare

Quality Healthcare Includes Empathy A man walks into an emergency room with an intense pain in his abdomen. He is hoping to find a doctor who knows how to treat him. The doctor enters his room and begins robotically palpating his abdomen, showing no hint of recognition for the pain he is in. The man begins to ask himself, â€Å"Does this doctor care that I am in extreme pain?† He then wonders, â€Å"If he doesn’t care that I am in pain, how motivated can he be to ease my pain?† This might seem like a silly question. If the physician didn’t care about healing people, why would he become a doctor? Modern technology has caused doctors to become complacent and emotionally detached from their patients. Doctors must be empathetic towards their patients in order to deliver quality healthcare despite the lack of time they have for their patients. The patient’s perception of the doctor in this situation is that he lacks empathy. Empathy can be described as the ability for one person to understand another’s feelings and thoughts. The role of empathy in healthcare is very important; more specifically, it is crucial for doctors to be able to effectively express empathy without compromising their primary objective, which is to diagnose and treat patients. While the science of medicine is primarily based on the function of the human body, it cannot be ignored that emotional health plays a vital role in a patient’s quality of life. Improving physical health will inevitably improve emotional health. The appropriate way to approach healing is with an understanding of this concept. In the article â€Å"Empathy in Medicine—A Neurobiological Perspective,† Dr. Helen Rice states: Empathetic physicians can obtain critical information and ins... ...tag=contentMain;contentBody Rice, H. (2010). Empathy in medicine--a neurobiological perspective. JAMA, 304(14), 1605. Retrieved from http://drscottwright.wikispaces.com/file/view/Empathy and Medicine - A Neurobiological Perspective.pdf Switankowsky, I. (2005). From detached concern to empathy: Humanizing medical practice. Humane Medicine Health Care, 5(2), Retrieved from http://www.humanehealthcare.com/Article.asp?art_id=834 Hardee, J. (2010, February 16). The role of empathy in healthcare. Retrieved from http://realbalance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=143&Itemid=999 Torrey, T. (2011, September 13). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://patients.about.com/od/therightdoctorforyou/a/docpatientcomm.htm Wolfe, S., Carome, M., Barbehenn, E., & Sasich, L. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.worstpills.org/public/page.cfm?op_id=3

Team Decision Making Essay -- Organizational Development, Teams

The given case asks for one team decision-making structure that is most effective for the following creative project: Eight administrators are given one afternoon to generate as many creative ideas as possible and to decide which one of these is the best. To solve this question we first need to determine which kind of team is involved. McShane and Von Glinow state that â€Å"Teams are groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within the organization† (234). Furthermore we can say that this group can be called a â€Å"Task force (project) team† because these eight administrators are a temporary team â€Å"whose assignment is to realize an opportunity† (McShane and Von Glinow 235). Now, that we know these people can be called a team, the next step is to look at the constraints on team decision-makin g because this will enable us to choose the most suitable decision-making structure. Therefore, I will first give a brief overview of the existing structures and then decide for one method which I will explain in depth. Finally I will provide a brief conclusion and recommendation. Constraints on Team Decision Making There are plenty problems within team decision-making. According to McShane and Von Glinow the four most common problems in team decision-making are: time constraints, evaluation apprehension, pressure to conform, and groupthink (256). Time Constraints refers to the fact that a team requires more time to come to a conclusion than an individual. That is because team members have to communicate with each other about their ideas, and also have to debate about these i... ... (Time Constraints). Second, NGT reduces conflicts in the team. The case already predicted that some administrators in the group often disagree with each other and might criticize each other's ideas. Because NGT does not allow debating and criticism, conflicts won’t be a problem. Third, NGT includes silent and independent development of the individual ideas which minimizes the other decision making constraints like evaluation apprehension, pressure to conform, and groupthink. My statement is also supported by Mitchell and Danielson who carried out a study that also indicates that the Nominal Group Technique is most effective for creative projects (19). Therefore, I recommend choosing the Nominal Group Technique for the eight administrators to identify new revenue-generating uses of classrooms and related facilities between teaching semesters in one afternoon.

The Online Therapy Sites Health And Social Care Essay

This paper discusses about on-line therapy sites and the types of three on-line therapy sites. It besides inside informations the content of each online sites and the engagement of professionals. This paper examines the interaction of existent online sites and besides addresses how the professional associations and province regulative boards positions online therapy. It explains the relevant security issues and ethical issues such as consent and confidentiality that are included in on-line therapy sites. This paper besides evaluates the advantages and the disadvantages of on-line therapy sites. It besides concludes with this paper by supplying indispensable construct that is supported to the on-line therapy sites. Online Therapy Sites The on-line therapy was besides known as E-therapy, E-counseling and cyber-therapy and this on-line therapy provided the psychological advice and support over the cyberspace. The psychological advice and other elements could be occurred through E-mail, online confab, cyberspace phone every bit good as picture conferencing. The on-line therapy occurred in existent clip including time-delayed format and E-mail messages etc. The on-line therapy can non be assumed psychotherapeutics and it will be ne'er replaced traditional therapy. The on-line therapy had the restrictions and but it was going a important resource to turn figure of consumers. The on-line therapy included the E-mail, existent clip confab, picture conferencing, instant messaging every bit good as cyberspace phone.Three online sitesThe online sites utilized the convenience of cyberspace that provided communicating among an person and a professional. The on-line therapy helped the person with the job declaration, to better t he temper and increased the self-pride and the dawn guidance site provided the on-line guidance for persons that were fighting with relationships, anxiousness, depression every bit good as loss of way. The dawn guidance site was contributed more to the professional and personal life of human being. The dawn therapy was non appropriate for everyone and but it had shown effectiveness in several state of affairss. The professional associations and regulative boards viewed this on-line therapy efficaciously for the life of human being. In professional life, people could acquire more benefits from this dawn online site. This on-line therapy site contributed into the educational services besides ( Kate Anthony, 2010 ) . The 2nd online therapy was the unrecorded counsellor site that offered the chart room apparatus for users. This on-line therapy was the celebrated the therapy site that was holding 200 healers, counsellors every bit good as societal workers presented for the better part for personal every bit good as professional life of human being. This counsellor allowed the clients to seek for a healer by any influence in order to making the inventions. This on-line site offered aid with crisis or physical conditions, parenting, personal development, relationships every bit good as emotional upsets. The unrecorded counsellor therapy site did n't necessitate any assignment and besides the clients may subscribe in anytime by the aid of their on-line service suppliers. This on-line site was besides allowed the people in order to posting their profile into therapy sites. Hence the professional associations and province regulative services viewed this online therapy better. The 3rd on-line site was serenity on-line therapy that offered therapy via e-mail apparatus to users. This was besides the popular site in supplying the better inventions to human being and the part of this site to people was effectual. This on-line therapy web site contributed to the mental wellness attention services. This site besides faced many issues including dependence, heartache and loss, childhood injury every bit good as affaire d'honneur diagnosing. In this instance, the province counsellor board application procedure and process had been established by Torahs. This on-line therapy site proposed the engineering and scientific discipline security in order to better the ethical issues. This therapy site besides empowered and enabled the clients to do an informed determination for engaging the peculiar professional. These three therapy sites were besides used to happen the troubles in society factors and used to decide the job of society ( Foojan Zeine, 2005 ) .Security and e thical issues. The on-line therapy was non involved real-world interactions with clients and some ethical concerns were more complicated. The on-line therapy obtained the informed consent from all E-clients and the informed consent was the legal process in order to guarantee the hazards and costs in a intervention. The informed consent besides included the nature of intervention, alternate interventions, and benefits of interventions every bit good as possible hazards. The informed consent was considered for doing the better result to the clients and the informed consent must be given voluntarily to the clients. The confidentiality was the ethical every bit good as the security issue and the concern of confidentiality in on-line therapy was the protection of client information. The use of electronic communicating was used in order to protect the information of clients. The medical records of patients were stored in on-line therapy sites that were protected by therapy sites. The premise of privateness of personal information based upon the on-line therapy in protecting the information of patients. The possible online therapy utilized to procure the privateness of medical records. The effectual protection could be made by doing the better E-books for patients. The legal responsibility to warm was besides the legal issues for protecting the information. The legal responsibility to warm was besides established in order to extenuate the jobs of clients. The responsibility to warm was the better protection tool but it was hard to implementing and this responsibility to warm included the reappraisal of old records that might see a history of violent behaviour. This legal issue was given the rights to the counsellor and healer in order to transgress confidentiality when clients pose a hazard to other individual.Advantages of on-line therapy sitesThe on-line therapy was holding many advantages and disadvantages to the patients including the protection of personal every bit good as patients ‘ information. The on-line therapy offered the better accessing methods top mental wellness information to the people in rural every bit good as distant entree. The online therapy besides provided the handiness to the persons who were housebound. The on-line therapy was more contributed to the patients in the instance of their personal every bit good as professional life and this therapy sites were usually low-cost every bit good as convenient. The online sites made mental wellness information more accessible to clients and the people could experience more comfy in discoursing about mental wellness concerns. The on-line therapy site was an of import tool for assisting people to larn approximately psychological wellness ( Kimberly S.Young, 2010 ) .Disadvantages of online therapyThe on-line therapy was used in many ways to people and but at the average clip it was holding some disadvantages. The on-line therapy could n't be covered the insurance policies that ‘s why this was the drawback to patients. The on-line therapy sites concerned about undependable engineering and the healer could n't react to crisis state of affairss. These sites were non appropriate with the serious psychiatric unwellness. The E-therapy was non appropriate for people with elaborate jobs and the range of on-line therapy ‘s aid was limited. In many instances, the on-line healer could non see facial looks every bit good as organic structure linguistic communications. The ethical and legal guidelines could be hard in order to implementing into the on-line therapy due to the planetary and anon. nature of the cyberspace and the ethical codifications were besides hard for implementing.DecisionThe on-line therapy sites and the constructs of on-line therapy sites were discussed. The content of each site and the engagement of professionals of each online therapy sites were besides included. The interaction of three online sites was explained. The engagement of professional associations every bit good as regulative boards on the E-therapy sites was detailed. The ethical and legal issues of on-line therapy sites were examined and the advantages every bit good as disadvantages of on-line therapy sites were co ncluded.

Battle of the Atlantic in World War II

Battle of the Atlantic in World War II The Battle of the Atlantic was fought between September 1939 and May 1945 throughout the entirety of  World War II. Commanding Officers Allies Admiral Sir Percy Noble, RNAdmiral Sir Max Horton, RNAdmiral Royal E. Ingersoll, USN Germany Grand Admiral Erich RaederGrand Admiral Karl Doenitz Background With the British and French entrance into World War II on September 3, 1939, the German Kriegsmarine moved to implement strategies similar to those used in World War I. Unable to challenge the Royal Navy in regard to capital ships, the Kriegsmarine began a campaign against Allied shipping with the goal of cutting off Britain from the supplies needed to wage war. Overseen by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, German naval forces sought to employ a mix of surface raiders and U-boats. Though he favored the surface fleet, which would come to include the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, Raeder was challenged by his U-boat chief, then-Commodore Karl Doenitz, regarding the use of submarines. Initially ordered to seek out British warships, Doenitzs U-boats had early success sinking the old battleship HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow and the carrier HMS Courageous off Ireland. Despite these victories, he vigorously advocated for using groups of U-boats, known as wolf packs, to attack the Atlantic convoys that were resupplying Britain. Though the German surface raiders scored some early successes, they drew the attention of the Royal Navy who sought to destroy them or keep them in port. Engagements such as the Battle of the River Plate (1939) and the Battle of the Denmark Strait (1941) saw the British respond to this threat. The Happy Time With the fall of France in June 1940, Doenitz gained new bases on the Bay of Biscay from which his U-boats could operate. Spreading into the Atlantic, the U-boats began attacking British convoys in packs. These multi-ship groups were further directed by intelligence gleaned from the breaking of the  British Naval Cypher No.  3. Armed with the approximate location of an approaching convoy, the wolf pack would deploy in a long line across its anticipated path. When a U-boat sighted the convoy, it would radio its location and coordination of the attack would commence. Once all of the U-boats were in position, the wolf pack would strike. Typically conducted at night, these assaults could involve up to six U-boats and forced the convoy escorts to deal with multiple threats from several directions.    Through the remainder of 1940 and into 1941, the U-boats enjoyed tremendous success and inflicted heavy losses on Allied shipping. As a result, it became known as the Happy Time (Die Glà ¼ckliche Zeit) among the U-boat crews. Claiming over 270 Allied vessels during this period, U-boat commanders such as  Otto Kretschmer, Gà ¼nther Prien, and Joachim Schepke became celebrities in Germany. Key battles in the second half of 1940 included convoys HX 72, SC 7, HX 79, and HX 90. In the course of the fighting, these convoys lost 11 of 43, 20 of 35, 12 of 49, and 11 of 41 ships respectively. These efforts were supported by Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft which aided in finding Allied ships as well as attacking them. Converted from long-range Lufthansa airliners, these aircraft flew from bases in Bordeaux, France and Stavanger, Norway and penetrated deep into the North Sea and Atlantic. Capable of carrying a 2,000-pound bomb load, Condors typically would strike at low altitude in an attempt to bracket the target vessel with three bombs.  Focke-Wulf Fw 200 crews claimed to have sunk 331,122 tons of Allied shipping between June 1940 to February 1941. Though effective, the Condor was seldom available in more than limited numbers and the threat later posed by Allied escort carriers and other aircraft ultimately forced its withdrawal. Guarding the Convoys Though British destroyers and corvettes were equipped with ASDIC (sonar), the system was still unproven and was unable to maintain contact with a target during an attack. The Royal Navy was also hampered by a lack of suitable escort vessels. This was eased in September 1940, when fifty obsolete destroyers were obtained from the United States via the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. In the spring of 1941, as British anti-submarine training improved and additional escort vessels reached the fleet, losses began to lessen and the Royal Navy began sinking U-boats at an increasing rate. To counter improvements in British operations, Doenitz pushed his wolf packs further west forcing the Allies to provide escorts for the entire Atlantic crossing. While the Royal Canadian Navy covered convoys in the eastern Atlantic, it was aided by President Franklin Roosevelt who extended the Pan-American Security Zone nearly to Iceland. Though neutral, the United States provided escorts within this region. Despite these improvements, U-boats continued to operate at will in the central Atlantic outside the range of Allied aircraft. This air gap posed issues until more advanced maritime patrol aircraft arrived. Operation Drumbeat Other elements that aided in stemming Allied losses were the capture of a German Enigma code machine and the installation of new high-frequency direction-finding equipment for tracking U-boats. With the US entry into the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Doenitz dispatched U-boats to the American coast and Caribbean under the name Operation Drumbeat. Commencing operations in January 1942, the U-boats began enjoying a second happy time as they took advantage of unescorted American merchant ships as well as the US failure to implement a coastal black-out. As losses mounted, the U.S. implemented a convoy system in May 1942. With convoys operating on the American coast, Doenitz withdrew his U-boats back to the mid-Atlantic that summer. Through the fall, losses continued to mount on both sides as the escorts and U-boats clashed. In November 1942, Admiral Sir Max Horton became commander-in-chief of the Western Approaches Command. As additional escort vessels became available, he formed separate forces which were tasked with supporting the convoy escorts. As they were not tied to defending a convoy, these groups were able to specifically hunt U-boats. The Tide Turns In the winter and early spring of 1943, the convoy battles continued with increasing ferocity. As Allied shipping losses mounted, the supply situation in Britain began to reach critical levels. Though losing U-boats in March, the Germany strategy of sinking ships faster than the Allies could build them appeared to be succeeding. This ultimately proved to be a false dawn as the tide rapidly turned in April and May. Though Allied losses dropped in April, the campaign pivoted on the defense of convoy ONS 5. Attacked by 30 U-boats it lost thirteen ships in exchange for six of Doenitzs boats. Two weeks later, convoy SC 130 repelled German attacks and sunk five U-boats while taking no losses. The rapid turn in Allied fortunes was the result of the integration of several technologies which had become available in the preceding months. These included the Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, continued advances in reading German radio traffic, enhanced radar, and the Leigh Light. The latter device allowed Allied aircraft to successfully attack surfaced U-boats at night. Other advances included the introduction of merchant aircraft carriers and long-range maritime variants of the B-24 Liberator. Combined with new escort carriers, these eliminated the air gap. Combined with wartime ship construction programs, such as Liberty ships, these rapidly gave the Allies the upper hand. Dubbed Black May by the Germans, May 1943 saw Doenitz lose 34 U-boats in the Atlantic in exchange for 34 Allied ships. Latter Stages of Battle Pulling back his forces during the summer, Doenitz worked to develop new tactics and equipment. These included the creation of U-flak boats with enhanced anti-aircraft defenses as well as a variety of countermeasures and new torpedoes. Returning to the offensive in September, the U-boats enjoyed a brief period of success before Allied forces again began causing heavy losses. As Allied air power grew in strength, U-boats came under attack in the Bay of Biscay as they left and returned to port. With his fleet being reduced, Doenitz turned to new U-boat designs including the revolutionary Type XXI. Designed to operate entirely submerged, the Type XXI was faster than any of its predecessors. Only four were completed by the end of the war. Aftermath The final actions of the Battle of the Atlantic took place on May 7-8, 1945, just before the German surrender.  In the course of the fighting, Allied losses totaled around 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships, as well as around 72,000 sailors killed. German casualties numbered 783 U-boats and around 30,000 sailors (75% of the U-boat force). One of the most important fronts of the war, success in the Atlantic was critical for the Allied cause. Citing its importance, Prime Minister Winston Churchill later stated: The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome...

The Notorious Irishman essays

The Notorious Irishman essays Oscar Wilde made his reputation off of mocking the Victorian Era. In fact, he lived his life the same way, blatantly ignoring the common rules of society. He loathed the pretentiousness of the wealthy that dominated nearly every aspect of life in England. This was particularly ironic considering his father was a surgeon for Queen Victoria. Even more ironic is the fact that the victims of WiIdes sharp wit and satirical comedy, the well-to-do socialites, were his biggest fans. In The Importance of Being Ernest, Wilde creates a trivial farce of the aristocracy through the actions and behaviors of both Algernon and Lady Bracknell, with the former as a metaphoric dignitary and the latter as an economic aristocrat. Algernon represents the hypocrisy of the era. It is he who establishes the term Bunburying as a means of displaying the contradiction. By creating this act, Wilde shows the duel life that is often lived by the upper crust. It allows for the bachelor to leave his normal life in pursuit of social engagements else where in the country, by relying on the illness of an imaginary brother. This misnomer, to which both Jack and Algernon admit to, shows that their entire friendship is established under false pretences. According to David Parker, Wilde s ...suggestion was that aristocratic young men need to abandon conventional morality and get back to basic impulse. (174). The Importance... makes the point that, in Victorian society, only through Bunburying does one have the freedom to come and go freely. Wildes views on aristocratic matrimony are partly personified through Algernons reaction of Jacks plans with Gwendolen. On one hand, he views Jacks claim of asking Gwedolen to marry him as business (Wilde 291) claiming Divorces are made in Heaven (292) yet falls in love immediately with Cecily. Similarly, she has already ...

The eNotes Blog The Not Buried Imagination A New Poem by E. E. CummingsDiscovered

The Not Buried Imagination A New Poem by E. E. CummingsDiscovered It is the kind of thing scholars live for, the type of adventure A. S. Byatt wrote so eloquently about in her novel Possession. A few weeks ago, biographer James Dempsey, while working on a biography of Scofield Thayer (publisher of The Dial Magazine), made a remarkable discovery. Going through a file folder containing correspondence between Thayer and Cummings, Dempsey came across a poem he had never seen before. In fact, as he soon confirmed, the poem had heretofore been unpublished. Dempsey dates the poem to about 1916, the naissance of the poets career. E.E Cummings via  The New Yorker Thayer and Cummings had been friends for several years before Cummingss work appeared in The Dial. They maintained a strong friendship for ten years, until Thayer, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, became incapacitated. However, until that point, the two collaborated and enjoyed their mutual passion for the arts. That being said, the relationship between publisher and poet was odd, to say the least. According to Dempsey, Thayer gave Cummings a great deal of money to pursue his craft; publishing his work in The Dial gained the poet wide recognition and acclaim. Cummings, for his part, took the money and fame, and also Thayers wife to his bed, and got her pregnant. Thayer, Dempsey says, did not seem to have much of a problem with this turn of events. Scofield Thayer via Literary Manhattan For a full analysis of the relationship between Cummings and Thayer, you can read Dempseys article here as well as the text of the poem (Warning: the poem contains language that may be objectionable to some readers). This is the poem that he found in that yellowing folder. Perhaps there are more to come. Whatever his personal demons, Cummings remains one of the luminaries of modern American poetry and a previously unknown poem is indeed a great discovery. Cummings lost poem via The Awl   To read more about E.E Cummings and his work, check out his biography on .   (Feature image via Komseq)

Video gam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Video gam - Essay Example This essay will explore these parameters and make a conclusion as to the effect that violent video games has on society. Markey and Markey (82) studied how aggressive tendencies might be mediated by personality. In other words, there are certain personality types which are more affected by video games than other types. For instance, individuals who score high on tests that measure psychotic or antisocial tendencies – lack of sympathy, aggressiveness, unfriendliness, untrustworthiness, lack of emotion, paranoia – are more likely to experience higher levels of hostility and aggressiveness after exposure to violent video games (VVG) than those who do not have these tendencies. This holds true with other forms of media as well, such as violent movies – the psychotic men, after seeing a violent film, is much more likely to state that violence is an acceptable way of resolving conflicts than men who do not score high on tests measuring psychotic or antisocial tendencie s. When these same men are exposed to pornography, they are much more likely than men who do not score high on psychotic or antisocial tendencies to report that they are more likely to rape a woman. ... ily upset, angry, emotional), not agreeable (indifferent and cold) and had low conscientiousness (not keeping promises, acting without thinking, etc.). The researchers concluded that, despite the fact that there is a prevalence of VVG, incidents of violence are relatively rare, therefore there has to be something more that compels these people to violence – much like the fact that, for the majority of the population, peanuts will not cause a reaction, but, for some, they are deadly, VVG are â€Å"deadly† for some, but, for most, have no effect (Markey and Markey, 86). Anderson & Bushman (353) conducted secondary research through PsycINFO, looking at the following terms – video and game and fight, aggression, violence, hostility, anger, arousal, and prosocial. They looked at different studies that looked at the above tendencies, and tied these tendencies to violent video games. They found that the results of these multiple studies showed that exposure to violent v ideo games posed a public health threat to children and youths, which includes college-aged individuals in this analysis. They found that exposure to violent video games decreased pro social behaviors and increased aggression in the participants. That said, they admitted that they needed to review more longitudinal studies, and that violent video games might actually be useful, if these games can teach the game players about nonviolent solutions to social conflicts. Another study conducted by Sacks et al. (1) also suggests that video games might do harm to children. They looked at the amicus curiae briefs that were filed in Brown v. Entertainment Merchant Association, 130 S.Ct. 2398 (2010). They looked at which of the briefs were more persuasive, looking at the quality of the experts who wrote the briefs –

Enterprise Architecture Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Enterprise Architecture Principles - Essay Example EA principles can be employed to precisely meet the needs of propagating enterprise transformation because they decrease the risk of being trapped in over-specification. Since EA principles offer guidance relating to efforts in architecture, their application ought to reflect a degree of consensus across the enterprise while at the same time embodying EA thinking. Therefore, application of EA principles needs to focus on not only the architecture-level issues but also restate and embody a set of business principles. Hence, application of these EA principles supports business principles, goals and strategic drivers since architects have to ensure the current definition of business principles and clarify areas of ambiguity.General principles like business continuity together with information principles such as treating information as asset seem to be essential principles in any company. Moreover, application principles like easy-to-use applications as well as technological principles t hat ensure changes are made based on requirements are critical to my company. All these principles embody every aspect of enterprise architecture since they consider crucial aspects in EA like business, application and technological principles. To a colleague, EA principles form the basic reference for all IT projects and initiatives since they propel governance of EA. Illustration of the usefulness of the EA principles relies on fact that principles form the foundation of EA because they embody rules and guidelines for the EA.

Bmw Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Bmw - Essay Example According to the sustainable leadership model, the long term growth could only be attained by the BMW through acquiring a wider perspective beyond the profit making interest of the organization and establishing a strong network between the management and the stakeholders. The constant focus of BMW in supporting the growth of network of its communities has enabled the organization to encourage communication and interchange between the stakeholders of the organization. The sustainable leadership model of BMW could be illustrated with the help of Sustainable leadership pyramid as depicted in Figure 1 as given below (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011). There are three level of this sustainable leadership model incorporated at BMW. The leadership model includes high quality practices at BMW which are supported by key performance drivers in the organization in order to achieve the ultimate business performance outcome. The management of BMW aims to retain their employees by constantly developing the quality of manpower. The labour relations are also given due importance in the leadership style. This has helped the organization to connect their employees with the goals of the management. The leadership model has emphasized in attaining independence from the financial markets and economic fluctuations. This has helped BMW to withstand economic crisis like the global financial crisis. The company has ensured ethical business performance and has valued the activities of corporate social responsibility. All these activities are undertaken in the leadership style at BMW in order to achieve independence from the financial up and downs in the economy and at the same time integrate the business with the stakeholders and communities in different markets. The key factors in the sustainable leadership style that has driven the business performance at BMW are the initiative of team work, establishing healthy culture in the workplace, retention and

I plan to determine what influences achievement on students in special Research Proposal

I plan to determine what influences achievement on students in special education, between those who have used technology and those who have not used technology - Research Proposal Example Lahm (2003) supports this concern by pointing out that professional concern for special needs classes has not been packed by equal political or administrative effort. A situation that she believes is leaving little facility to implement or measure the impact of the adoption of technology in special education curriculums. Determining what influences achievement of students in special education who have used technology over those who have not requires first the identification of technology use, methodology and evaluation measures used. At the same time, there is an equal need to develop performance standards that will be able to attribute variance in performance directly with the use of the technology. It should be noted that the correlation between students’ technological competency is not to be equated with student proficiency or achievement. Therefore, determining variance in proficiency or achievement among students due to the utilization of technology should entail control over the type of curriculum, students or instructors (Gardner et al, 2003). Concentrating on special education students, studies will also need to account for the client conditions and health. Subsequently, there is also a need to identify what factors may limit the impact of technology use from socio-cultural, political, economic or medical perspectives. Moreover, there is also a need to account for the nature of technology adaptation itself such as productivity paradoxes, rates of adaptation and competency requirements among others (â€Å"Technology and Education†, 2006). The technology-focused educational reform emerged as major agenda in the 1990’s. Initial programs were designed as support social services but eventually, efforts became the prerogative of educational institutions. Programs transitioned from general programs to enhance the well-being of vulnerable groups identified through schools then became more specific

The Crowd at Mansion Night Club Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

The Crowd at Mansion Night Club - Essay Example Most of the people outside the club are young people albeit above 18 years of age. Most of the young people are idling around and conversing in small tones in groups. Others stand near their parked cars in the crowded car park. Although the loud music from the club can be heard from the car park, some of the small groups standing on their cars have turned on loud music from their sporty and flashy cars. This causes a mixture of noise from the disco hall and music emanating from different cars in the car park. The evening sunset and cool temperature seem to complement the noisy music mixture. Heavily built guards heavily guard the entrance to the disco hall. The guards are armed with weapon detectors, which they use to inspect every person before entering the hall. The guards are so heavily built that they seem to occupy the whole entrance and it is not possible to simply push through the entrance. They also inspect the tickets before allowing people to get into the hall. The queue to the entrance is long and winds up at the far end. People on the queue have one thing in common. All people are wearing their best entertainment outfits most of which are brightly colored. Most of the women are dressed in the currently fashionable spaghetti tops and low-heeled shoes. Men, on the other hand, are dressed in straight jeans and sporty shoes. The disco arena is fully packed with people. Although most of the crowd is on the dancing arena, others have preferred relaxing on the well-arranged seats around the dancing area. The whole place is filled with disco lighting and the music is very loud. The crowd on the dancing arena sings along to their favorite tunes and they shout loudly whenever the emcee prompts them to do so. Most of the people in the crowd are dancing vigorously with the latest dancing style.

I plan to determine what influences achievement on students in special Research Proposal

I plan to determine what influences achievement on students in special education, between those who have used technology and those who have not used technology - Research Proposal Example Lahm (2003) supports this concern by pointing out that professional concern for special needs classes has not been packed by equal political or administrative effort. A situation that she believes is leaving little facility to implement or measure the impact of the adoption of technology in special education curriculums. Determining what influences achievement of students in special education who have used technology over those who have not requires first the identification of technology use, methodology and evaluation measures used. At the same time, there is an equal need to develop performance standards that will be able to attribute variance in performance directly with the use of the technology. It should be noted that the correlation between students’ technological competency is not to be equated with student proficiency or achievement. Therefore, determining variance in proficiency or achievement among students due to the utilization of technology should entail control over the type of curriculum, students or instructors (Gardner et al, 2003). Concentrating on special education students, studies will also need to account for the client conditions and health. Subsequently, there is also a need to identify what factors may limit the impact of technology use from socio-cultural, political, economic or medical perspectives. Moreover, there is also a need to account for the nature of technology adaptation itself such as productivity paradoxes, rates of adaptation and competency requirements among others (â€Å"Technology and Education†, 2006). The technology-focused educational reform emerged as major agenda in the 1990’s. Initial programs were designed as support social services but eventually, efforts became the prerogative of educational institutions. Programs transitioned from general programs to enhance the well-being of vulnerable groups identified through schools then became more specific

Strategic Position of McDonalds in the Fast Food Industry Essay

Strategic Position of McDonalds in the Fast Food Industry - Essay Example According to Derdak and Pederson, McDonald’s Corporation is the leading hamburger fast-food restaurant chain in the world. Maurice McDonald and Richard McDonald initially started the company in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant but Ray Kroc later brought it in 1995; Kroc was initially a franchise agent of the restaurant and he is the one who initiated the global expansion of the restaurant chain.According to Derdak and Pederson, McDonald’s Corporation is the leading hamburger fast food restaurant chain in the world. Maurice McDonald and Richard McDonald initially started the company in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant but Ray Kroc later brought it in 1995; Kroc was initially a franchise agent of the restaurant and he is the one who initiated the global expansion of the restaurant chain. Presently the McDonald’s Corporations has its own restaurants that it manages and there are licensed franchisees and affiliates that operate under the corporation’s portfolio. The refore, the net income of the company is attributed to sales from its own restaurants, licensing fees from franchisees, and royalties. The present headquarters of the corporation are in Oak Brook, Illinois in the United States, and it has presence in over thirty four thousand locations across the world. Among the popular dishes served at the McDonald’s restaurants include French fries, hamburger, Chicken, coffee, milk shakes, soft drinks, salads and desserts.

Discuss the role of demand Essay Example for Free

Discuss the role of demand Essay In this paper we discuss the role of demand and supply in determining equilibrium price and quantity in the market, in a free market the demand and supply determine the equilibrium price and demand, in this case we consider 2,500 apartments which are to be leased out at a rate of 1,100 per month. If we assume that this is the equilibrium price and quantity in the market we can derive our demand and supply curve to determine the various factors that will affect the equilibrium price and quantity. From the above diagram the intersection of the demand curve and supply curve give us the equilibrium quantity and the equilibrium price, if the price was to rise then the demand for the apartments would decline, if the price was to decline then demand would be high for these apartments. The adjustment of the free market is automatic because when the supply rises then prices decrease, when prices decrease then the demand increases forcing the prices to rise, therefore in the long run the free market is at equilibrium, the factors that affect this equilibrium therefore include demand, supply, prices and charges by other competitors. Change in demand: When demand increases there will be an increase in the level of prices, this is caused by the fact that as the demand increase then the demand curve shifts to the right as shown below, when the demand increases then the prices increase, when prices increase then more apartment builders will be encouraged to increase supply of apartments resulting into increased supply, increased supply will shift the supply curve to the left leading to a decline in prices, therefore in the long run the curves will adjust into a new equilibrium, this is shown in the diagram below: When the demand for houses increase then the demand curve shifts from demand curve 1 to demand curve 2, this increases the prices, as the price increase investors are encouraged to invest more and provide more apartments, this results into increasing supply, when supply increases due to the increased prices the supply curve shifts downwards from supply curve 1 to supply curve 2, the new equilibrium now is where demand curve 2 intersects with supply curve two. Our new equilibrium is at a lower price yet a higher quantity. This clearly shows how the market shifts as a result of change in the demand for apartments. Changes in supply and demand: Changes in the supply is caused by the price, when the price rise then the supply level increases, when the price declines then the supply level declines. On the other hand the demand is also affected by prices, when prices decline then the higher the demand and when the price rise then the lower is the demand. Shifts in the demand and supply curve will affect decision making, this is because as economists we will aim at producing at the most optimal position, the optimal point will be determined by the maount of revenue derived from the apartments, the higher the price the higher the revenue per aprtmetn yet the lower the revenue the lower the revenue per apartment, however total revene will be calculated by multiplying the demand with price. Four points emphasized: When demand increases prices will rise, When the prices rise then the higher the supply, The higher the supply the lower the price and The lower the price the higher the demand Application: This concept of demand and supply can be used to determine the result of an increase in the price of product or even a reduction in the price, however our above analysis is that of a normal good, therefore in the workplace we can determine what wll happen to the demand and revenue after an increase or decline in prices. Elasticity of demand: Price elasticity of demand is the responsiveness of demand to a change in prices, the hgher the price elasticity then the hgiehr the demand wil respoind to a change in prices, however the lower the price elasticity then the lower is the responsiveness to a change in price. Results: From the above discussion we have summarized the law odf demand and supply for a normal good, it is evident that for a normal good when demand increases prices will rise, when the prices rise then the higher the supply, the higher the supply the lower the price and finally the lower the price the higher the demand. References: Brian Snow (1997) Macroeconomics: Introduction to Macroeconomics, Rout ledge publishers, London Philip Hardwick (2004) Introduction to Modern Economics, Pearson Press, New York Stratton (1999) Economics: A New Introduction, McGraw Hill Publishers, New York

Democracy According To Karl Popper

Democracy According To Karl Popper Karl Popper (1902-1994) was one of the most provocative philosophers and thinkers of the twentieth century. Born in Vienna, he grew up in a city witnessing great intellectual ferment and cultural excitement. One of his most celebrated and well-known books, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, appeared in Germany in 1934; it marked Poppers decisive break with the philosophers who formed the prestigious Vienna Circle and exposed many of his most influential arguments and ideas, above all we should remember his theory on the growth of scientific knowledge. On the eve of World War Two, Poppers life took a dramatic turn: because of the threat of German invasion, in 1937 he was urged to leave his own country and he emigrated to New Zealand where, reflecting on the tyranny that was sweeping around Europe, he wrote The Open Society and Its Enemies, published in 1945. This work is undeniably a classic, Karl Popper decided to write it in March 1938, when the Nazis invaded Austria. This personal background says a lot about Poppers motivation for writing The Open Society, and about its main theme as well. In this book as well as in The Poverty of Historicism, he attacks totalitarianism and its intellectual supports: the attempt to impose a large-scale planning on the lives of human beings in the light of holistic and historicist considerations. In order to analyze Poppers idea of democracy we shall sets out key tenets of his social and political thought, as well as a few of problems with them. The paper will try to underline Poppers conception of human nature and show how this provides a framework for his theory of history, his critique of historicism and his conception of the open society and democracy. After considering Poppers central political values of freedom and reason, well go through the political programmes of democracy and piecemeal social engineering; after these considerations it will be possible to conclude that Popper can not sustain an exhaustive anti-dogmatism and, contrary to the philosphers own declaration, his political ideas can not be classified as liberal in any honest way. Historical and Intellectual Background Even if Popper rejected Marxism in 1919, he claimed to be a socialist till 1932; it was the socialistic ethic and its idea of justice to which he retained adherence, not its political strategies. Awareness of the growth of authoritarianism in the Soviet Union and what he saw as deficiencies in the Marxist theory and practice of Austrian social democracy pressed him to revise further his political views. Both the idea and the experience of violence were catalytic. Social democracy, by holding to their threat of achieving their objectives by violent means, were implicitly provoking state authorities to a ruthless response, Popper then adopted a more traditional, liberal political stance: deciding that freedom was more important than equality he reaffirmed his rejection of violence. The central core of Poppers social and political theory resides in The Poverty of Historicism and The Open Society and Its Enemies, regarded by the author as his war effort: they were intended as a defense of freedom against the obvious impulse towards totalitarianism and authoritarianism. Poppers further espousal of the values of reason, toleration, peaceful discussion and respect for the individual all find their predecessors in Kants moral and political philosophy. The Austrian thinker extends Kants ethical precept of criticism and self-criticism providing a foundation for his philosophy of critical rationalism and joins Kants optimistic idea and hope in the possibility of obtaining social reform and peaceful relations within and between nations. Human Nature To explain human behaviour and history Popper refuses the utility of a general theory of human nature; his conception of human nature may be found in his knowledge of biology and psychology since he considers human beings similar to any organism, in that they have inborn needs or expectations. According to the author, people tend to hold on to the uniformities they discover, become afraid of change and even wish to dominate others; so if this occurs, the failure of a regularity provokes social disorder and also encourages people to create traditions and taboos. Even though the attachment to regularities is a source of dogmatism and intolerance (attitudes which are anathema to him), Popper advocates social regularities, like social traditions, more favourably than would many other liberals. He suggests that the maintenance of traditions (by which he seems to mean culture or settled ways of thinking and acting) brings order and predictability into our lives and even provides the founda tion of social structures: the important political task is to discriminate between valuable and harmful traditions. This conception of human nature has direct implications for the sort of society he wants to promote and the principles by which it is to be guided. He suggests a slow, gradual reform because this kind of change will not suddenly remove the traditions to which people have become accustomed and thereby create anxiety, terror and violence. There are many contradictions between Poppers advocacy of boldness, novelty and revolution in intellectual but not in social life: I think they might be explained more with reference to his theory of human nature than to his epistemology, even if he justifies the distinction in epistemological terms, it becomes clear that objective knowledge is preferable because of the constraints it exercises over subjective fears and impulses. This account of Poppers conception of human nature demonstrates his concern for the practical impact of ideas upon the social life of human beings, here we may notice a conservative tone in his political thought. Epistemology and History Poppers social and political thought includes a more general, speculative philosophy of history which indicates the character of historical progress. For the author, ideas are the main influences upon whether or not human progress is maintained: all social changes and conflicts, wars and revolutions can be seen as the result of conflict between opposing ideas and ideologies. Even with these conclusions, he shares with the historicists, whom he so vehemently attacks, a belief that there exists a direction to human history given by the growth of knowledge. He claims that the growth of knowledge, and thus the history of science, is the heart of all history. The social dilemmas produced by the most crucial episodes in the evolutionary history still remain; for the author these are best exemplified in the evolution of the different social arrangements that have arisen from the exercise of different human facilities. So the open and the close societies represent ideal types of two differen t stages of social and cultural evolution. According to the author where the lower biological needs are dominant, the social structure has the character of a closed society in which all social life is guided by myths and rigid taboos. A kind of magical attitude prevails, in the closed society there is no scope for self doubt and personal moral responsibility; changes in these kind of societies come about more by the introduction of new magical taboos than by ration attempts to improve social conditions. Popper affirms that the breakdown of the closed society began in Greece around 600 B.C., when new intellectual values, methods and ideas of acquiring knowledge arose together with an original style of politics. The Ionian School inaugurated a new tradition of critical thought: its innovation was to question and discuss dogmas and traditions instead of merely accepting them. Within this historical and philosophical transition, according to Popper, we can trace the emergence of a scien tific method. The ideas of criticism and democratic practice allowed human beings to commence their entrance into the open society where they could become aware of the importance of personal decisions and individual moral responsibility. Where biological and physical bonds became weaker more abstract relations, like exchange and cooperation, linked together people and groups. Democracy and the Open Society One of Poppers most striking contributions to contemporary political thought maybe found in his conception of democracy and of what he defines as open society. The idea of the open society operates both as a minimalist ideal to be sought after and as a celebration of the achievement of modern rationality and liberal democracy. Much of its appeals lies in its apparent capacity to limit the impact of our inevitable errors and to contain potentially harmful social tendencies. The open society, which is basically identified by the author as his idea of democracy, aims to promote criticism and diversity without succumbing either to violence or irreconcilable social division. This adventure in a creative and critical thougth produces conflict, but such problems are resolved by peaceful means; the values of freedom of thought and speech, toleration and individualism operate as both a motivation for, and a constraint upon, individual behavior. Those more substantial differences are to be channelled into the democratic process whereby governments can be replaced by free and regular elections. Popper recognizes the presence of certain dangers in the historical evolution of the open society: he suggests that it could become an abstract society in which social relations might become too rational but, although Popper acknowledges that modern industrial societies exhibit many such features, he denies that the process of abstraction or rationalization will actually complete itself. According to the philosopher there will always be emotional needs which human beings can not satisfy in an abstract society; in this view we see the distinction made between the private and the public sphere. The familiar function of the private sphere provides emotional and biological regeneration for authentic life in the public sphere; though Poppers neglect of the problems of unequal power and authority within family and personal life places him clearly in the mainstream of patriarchal political thought. Even though he knows, and admits, that such democracies fall short of his ideal, he is quite optimistic about their potential. Anyway we must recognize that the transition to the open society remains incomplete and its achievements are always and constantly under threat. On the one hand, biological needs, old traditions but especially the difficulties of living with rationality and personal responsibility all combine to challenge the new society; the passions of our lower nature are always liable to rise up and overthrow the controls instituted by self critical scientific rationality. On the other hand the open society may be inherently self-destructive because critical thought continually erodes those older closed traditions that sustain social institutions. Democracy performs a vital function for both politics and epistemology. I tprovides a peaceful means for reform and change pf government, while ensuring the freedom of thought and speech necessary for intellectual progress. This process encourages a pluralism of ideas and groups, it is the necessary precondition for the working out of political meaningn and aims, and is vital for the processes of critical through and the goal of emancipation through knowledge. Poppers theory of democracy typically grows out of his criticism of other approaches to government, initially Platos than Marxs. Our philosopher denies that the guiding principles of politics should be determined by answers given to the question Who should rule?, instead we should ask How can we so organize political institutions that bad and incompetent rulers can be prevents from doing too much damage? which is followed by an other essential question How can we get rid of those rulers without bloodshed and violence?. In responses, Popper argues that democracy should be founded upon a theory of check and balances: basically we are assuming that even the best rulers might fail, so this theory relies on institutional means for curbing their power. The major check is provided by periodic elections that enable people to oust their government without using violent means: this shows the difference between democracy and its opposite, tyranny which consists if governments which the ruled can not get rid of except by way of a successful revolution. He denies any true meaning or essence of democracy, but he asserts it doesnt mean the rule of people or even that the majority should rule, if only because this is impossible in any practical way. Democracy relies upon the political methods of general elections and representative government and Popper considers that these are always open to improvement; so in such a system individuals are allowed both to criticize the majoritys decisions and, within the law, to revise them. Actually Popper provides little details on the practical aspects, like the methods of representation, size and nature of electorates, and length of terms of office. He does reject proportional representation because of its origins in dubious theories of sovereignty and also because of its propensity to produce unstable coalition governments; in Poppers view, two party government is preferable if only because it allows for more serious internal self-criticism after elections defeats: his view of democracy is, in this sense, a relatively conventional elaboration of liberal pluralist principles. But on their own these principles may not guarantee the survival of liberal democracy: issues of representation, size, nature of electorates and so on all have a bearing upon weather citizens would consider themselves to be member of a legitimate democracy. A pluralist system of checks and balances may be so restrictive as to prevent a duly elected government and business to manipulate public opinion there may be little pressure at all upon those in office in order to change their policies. Assuming that the mass of people can not govern,Poppers theory of democracy may be reduced to a theory of competing elites; for this reason his procedural arguments lie within the tradition of realist and revisionist democratic theory that gives priority to competitive elites and argues for democracy as a method for choosing governments. But Popper departs from realist democratic theory because he recognizes that control over government is not all there is to creating a democratic state and society; his solution, however, is not to encourage widespread political participation but to require that the state protect democracy in two ways. First, since democracies must always be open to new ideas, protection must be given and assured to minorities, except to those who violate law and especially those who incite others to the violent overthrow of the democracy, so we must exclude just those violent changes that could put the democracy in dangerous. Second, because Popper is concerned to avoid the misuse of political power and economic power, he exhortes democratic states to engage in social and economic reforms; he strongly affirms the need of institutions to be constructed in order to protect the economically weak against the economically strong. So he sees the necessity of some sort of economic interventionism as well as some social reforms, the necessity of reforms are essential ingredients for a democratic order: the democratic system should work step by step in order to safeguard freedom form exploitation. Although such strategies create greater possibilities for increased state power and bureaucracy, these may be diminished by strengthening democratic institutions and by following the principles of piecemeal social engineering. This kind of policy is not as restrictive as it is commonly thought, but it odes rule out the nationalization and socialization of the entire private industry of a country. A separate point in favo r of piecemeal social engineering is thought to be its scientific character. Popper considers it methodologically superior to holisitc and revolutionary programmes, in part because social engineers accept the limitations of their knowledge. By reformulating key questions about democracy, Popper sidesteps some of the more usual difficulties of universalist democratic theory. By requiring state action to remedy certain kinds of social and economic problems, he offers more of a policy substance that the usual realist and proceduralist forms of democratic theory. His goal is to avoid or at least minimize the violent conflict that he sees inevitably arising from arguments over the good society. Whereas we may not be able to agree on abstract universal values, the shape of an ideal society or the ultimate good of people, we can generally reach agreement on concrete social and economic evils such as poverty and disease; Popper doesnt develop any universal values but he doesnt abandoned the m. I think a major advantage of Popper commitment to non-violence, public-criticism and freedom of speech is that allows us to retain a critical perspective upon all kinds of governments. His idea of minimal proceduralism and gradualism, for example, may accommodate democratic aspirations less developed or developing countries without subscribing to wholesale westernization and modernization. Poppers substantive policy proposals reject the radicalism of laissez-faire economics and offer the social benefits of gradualism, stability and security. Their negative utilitarianism encourages governments to ameliorate the worst aspects of individualism and capitalism, and allows a legitimate role for state intervention in society and economy. Popper combines ethical proceduralism with a requirement for state-initiated reform, his theory advances somewhat beyond the usual forms of democratic elitism and revisionism. Poppers social and political thought comprises elements which may be designed as liberal, social democratic and conservative. He deeply respects individual freedom and emphasizes the power of ideas in promoting progress while critical rationalism lies primarily within the mainstream of the liberal tradition. Nevertheless his conception of human nature is a combination of liberal and conservative assumptions, which sets out both an optimistic view of human potential and a largely pessimistic account of human needs. Poppers social vision, however, is a liberal rationalist one: an open society in which the values of freedom, reason, toleration and non-violence prevail; he suggests institutional guidelines for building and maintaining democracy, advocating policies such as piecemeal social engineering, oriented towards protecting individuals form the ravages of the market. But for a liberal philosopher, however, the guiding values of liberty, rationality, toleration and non-violence of t he open society are relatively undeveloped. Poppers conservativism is most evident in his political realism and his uncritical attitude towards contemporary liberal democracies. Underlying his stress upon the need for creative and revolutionary thought there is the fear that this will bring social disorder. Hence, such intellectual processes need to be contained within firm traditions whose overthrow cannot be countenanced except to establish a democracy. I believe we might see his political project as an attempt to provide more suitable tradtions or controls upon human thought and action; but I still find an unavoidable conflict between his liberal rationalist values and his perception of the perverse and intractable nature of individuals even if his ethical individualism and cosmopolitism differentiate him form most conservatives. Popper sees totalitarianism of all stripes as essentially tribal, as a closed society, a rebellion against the strain of civilization. He assaults it by using his philosophy of science (which greatly emphasizes falsification, i.e. the refutation of statements and theories) to criticize the doctrines of those whom Popper takes to be behind modern totalitarianism, namely Plato, Aristotle, Hegel and Marx. Brian Magee ably summarizes Poppers reasons for defending the Open Society: Because he regards living as first and foremost a process of problem-solving he wants societies which are conducive to problem-solving. And because problem-solving calls for the bold propounding of trial solutions which are then subjected to criticism and error elimination, he wants forms of society which permit of the untramelled assertion of different proposals, followed by criticism, followed by the genuine possibility of change in the light of criticism. Regardless of any moral considerations he believes that a society organized on such lines will be more effective at solving its problems, and therefore more successful in achieving the aims of its members, than if it were organized on other lines. Such a society is what Popper takes to be social democracy, entailing the prob lem-solving of piecemeal social engineering. This social democracy may indeed have once inspired the intellectual elite of the West, seeking (as many were) alternatives to fascism and communism, but today it inspires hardly anyone. And for good reason, for what else is democratic social reconstruction but that postwar system of fine-tuning the economy, the reign of countless redistributive social programs designed by politicians and social scientists to meet those alleged social needs that a host of interest groups are pressing upon the political systems of the West as non-negotiable demands? Since the Second World War, most of the Western democracies have followed Poppers advice about piecemeal social engineering and democratic social reform, and it has gotten them into a grand mess. Intervention has been piled upon intervention; regulations have been continually modified in unpredictable ways (Popper advocates such revisions in the light of experience); taxation has increased dras tically to finance social welfare programs (as has inflation, with its resulting economic fluctuations); and the unhampered market economy, so forcefully defended by Poppers close friend F. A. Hayek, has been reformed out of existence. Interventionism, piecemeal or not, has worked its inevitable way, and has led to precisely those consequences that Mises, Hayek, Rothbard and others had predicted: economic stagnation and political conflict. Democratic institutions themselves are threatened by those whose vested interests are entwined with the State apparatus. Dime store tinkering, even with freedom of criticism and revision, is leading to the closed society that Popper so fears. There is indeed nothing new in this warning; it is the theme of both Ludwig von Mises Socialism and F. A. Hayeks The Road to Serfdom. In short, the Open Society is not enough. If the Open Society is equivalent to a society in which everything and anything is open to democratic revision except the basic institutions that make democratic revision possible then Popper is only focusing on one need of human beings (that a dubious collective need), not the broader need for liberty that is implied in the outline of his argument as stated by Magee. Popper makes a great deal of noise about individualism, but nevertheless only applies the structure of that argument to collective processes of hypothesis, testing (action) and revision in the light of experience; the argument would apply to individuals as well, since they are the sole constituents of society. By focusing on this collective democratic character of the Open Society, Popper ignores the more basic need for individual liberty in art, business, science, and all other areas as well.The arguments for democracy that Popper presents, then, are in principle identical to arguments for individual liberty. It is the principle of non-aggression, the first principle of liberty, that properly limits the domain of democracy. If Poppers arguments for democracy (as opposed to his advocacy of democracy itself) are valid, then it is not the rigidity of a technology of social engineering that we should seek, but an unhampered market economy, where people can constantly act on their own judgment and can continually revise their plans in accordance with the new information brought by change. This brings us not to social democracy, but to the doctrine of libertarianism. Far more important than the principle of democracy, then, even by Poppers own arguments, is the principle of individual liberty. Liberty is paramount, democracy at best secondary: democracy is important only insofar as it is the servant of and means to the end of liberty. Thus, in following the logical implications of Poppers views (which are not, after all, that original), we move from the open society to the Free Society, and find ourselves agreeing with Michael Polanyis claim, contra Popper, that the Free Society is not an Open Society, but a society committed to a very definite set of rules. In Poppers Open Society, the principle of democracy is regarded as fixed, as not being open to revision. In the Free Society, it is the far more fundamental principle of individual liberty and non-aggression that is not open to revision (though its implications may be refined with growing knowledge). Poppers reasoning is, by and large, correct, but it is individuals who must solve problems to survive, not societies, and therefore individuals who must be free to think and act to achieve values and to revise mistaken plans and impressions in the light of experience or more critical thought. Why is it important to consider The Open Society and Its Enemies after all these years? Very simply, because these are the times when totalitarianism is on the rise, and Western democracies are in the midst of crises that are threatening the stability of their basic institutions, and perhaps even their very survival. In this battle against totalitarianism todays right-wing social democrats the neo-conservatives such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Irving Kristol and Daniel Bell are once again raising the banner of social democracy against tyranny. But this is pointless, for such democracy combined with social engineering and statist reforms is inherently unstable and is unjust as well. No mere democratic machinery, no mere procedure, is enough to oppose fascism or communism, not in a world of those real social dynamics that are set in motion by interventionism. Only liberty can fully oppose closed societies, and only if liberty is seen as something that is not to be bargained away or a bandoned through as series of insignificant piecemeal reforms. Liberty must be regarded as the ultimate political end, foremost among those political values held dear by reasonable men and women, the highest and most noble political form possible to human beings. I do not wish to leave the impression that The Open Society is worthless. It is indeed a heuristic work, tossing off suggestive arguments and insights on nearly every page, and the criticisms of Plato, Hegel and Marx are always pregnant ones. Popper is a great and forceful advocate of reason, science and progess, and his passionate idealism shines forth continually from the pages of this work. But so too does nearly every moth-eaten philosophical cliche around, e.g., the attack on certainty, the fact/value dichotomy, and the Humean assault on induction. Moreover, Popper is unnerving in his treatment of capitalism. Opponents of the Open Society who see it as being too coercive are slighted by Poppers astonishing smears of laissez faire, his continual granting of Marxist historical points against capitalism, and his cheerful parading before us of those democratic reforms that have all but obliterated the unhampered free market economy. Social democracy, the Open Society, has been tried and found wanting. The question that faces us now is simply whether those lovers of experiment and flexibility are experimental and flexible enough to advocate that liberty be given a chance. If it is not given that chance, there may be no tu rning back, and we may yet arrive in an era when we shall look back at the totalitarianism of the 1930s as a veritable golden age. But in one sense, at least, Popper is right: the future is ours to shape. Liberty has never been fully tried. It is the task of readers of this journal to remedy that unfortunate situation; if we do not, no one else will.

Hawthorne Writing Style :: essays papers

Hawthorne Writing Style Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prominent early American Author who contributed greatly to the evolution of modern American literature. A New England native, Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 and died on May 19, 1864 in New Hampshire. An avid seaman, Hawthorne^s father died in 1808 when Nathaniel Hawthorne was only a young child. After his father^s death, Hawthorne showed a keen interest in his father^s worldwide nautical adventures and often read the logbooks his father had compiled from sailing abroad. Hawthorne was a descendant of a long line of New England Puritans, which sparked his interest in the Puritan way of life. After he graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, Hawthorne returned to his home in Salem were he began to write in semi-seclusion. Hawthorne published his first novel, Fanshawe in 1828. In 1839, Hawthorne was appointed weigher and gauger at the Boston Custom House. He later married Sophia Amelia Peabody in 1842. In the following years, Hawthorne wrote his more famous novels which shaped his own literary style, as well as the genres of the romance novel and short story. Eventually, Hawthorne developed a style of romance fiction representative of his own beliefs. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne^s writing style was often viewed as outdated when compared to modern literature, Hawthorne conveyed modern themes of psychology and human nature through his crafty use of allegory and symbolism. To begin with, Hawthorne^s style was commonplace for a writer of the nineteenth century. During the time period in which Hawthorne wrote, printing technology was not yet advanced enough to easily reproduce photographs in books. Therefore, Hawthorne frequently wrote lengthy visual descriptions since his audience had no other means to see the setting of the novel. (Magill:1 840). One example of such descriptions was in The Scarlet Letter when Hawthorne intricately describes the prison door and its surroundings. Another aspect of Hawthorne^s writing which was exclusive to his time period was the use of formal dialogue which remained fairly consistent from character to character (Magill:2 140). Such overblown dialogue was evident in The Scarlet Letter when the dialogue of Pearl, a young child, exhibited no difference from the dialogue of the other characters in the novel. Hawthorne adopted the use of overly formal dialogue partly from a British writer, Sir Walter Scott, whose works were popular in the United States and Great Britain (Magill:1 841). Although Hawthorne^s dialogue was overly formal, it was an accurate tool in describing human emotion (Gale). Absence of character confrontation was another component of Hawthorne^s literary style.

Creative Story: The Dark House :: essays research papers

Creative Story: The Dark House by Tom-Inge Earlier today, John and I were taking a walk in the outskirts of the town, when we saw an old house on top of a hill. I wanted to take a closer look at it, but John looked a little spooked, and mumbled something about not wanting to go there. I convinced him that there was nothing to be afraid of, it's just an old house which haven't been occupied for a while, though I wasn't sure whether someone really was living there. We walked up the driveway, up to the house. It was huge. The place looked deserted, the grass wasn't mowed for ages, and everything was a mess. John chew nails like crazy, but I still wanted to check this place out. The door was made of wood, and looked like it could fall apart any minute. I tried to turn the door knob, but it fell off as soon as I touched it. The knob rolled down the steps and kept on rolling down the driveway, and stopped by the fence. That didn't make John feel any better at all. He looked like he had seen a ghost. I took a deep breath, and pushed the door. It wouldn't budge an inch.  « Help me out », I said, but John kept chewing his nails. God knows why, there was nothing to be scared of. Or was it? I took a step backwards, and then kicked the door. It slowly slid open, and I went inside.  «Wow! What a huge mansion we've got here! » John took a peek into the house, but didn't dare go inside. There was a huge hall in the middle of the house, with staircases to my left and right. I went right ahead, towards a glass door in front of me. It wasn't locked, so I carefully turned the knob, and the door opened. Suddenly I felt someone touch my shoulder. I turned around immediately to see, but there was nobody there.  «Probably just my imagination », I said to myself, and went on into the room. It was a lounge, with some impressive furniture, antiques and other objects. It was a lot to look at, and I yelled for John. He didn't reply, so I went to check on him. All I found outside the house was a shoe, and his necklace. I couldn't quite understand what was going on. If he'd run away, at least he'd taken his belongings with him. The door slammed shut behind me, and my heart stopped for a second or two. Creative Story: The Dark House :: essays research papers Creative Story: The Dark House by Tom-Inge Earlier today, John and I were taking a walk in the outskirts of the town, when we saw an old house on top of a hill. I wanted to take a closer look at it, but John looked a little spooked, and mumbled something about not wanting to go there. I convinced him that there was nothing to be afraid of, it's just an old house which haven't been occupied for a while, though I wasn't sure whether someone really was living there. We walked up the driveway, up to the house. It was huge. The place looked deserted, the grass wasn't mowed for ages, and everything was a mess. John chew nails like crazy, but I still wanted to check this place out. The door was made of wood, and looked like it could fall apart any minute. I tried to turn the door knob, but it fell off as soon as I touched it. The knob rolled down the steps and kept on rolling down the driveway, and stopped by the fence. That didn't make John feel any better at all. He looked like he had seen a ghost. I took a deep breath, and pushed the door. It wouldn't budge an inch.  « Help me out », I said, but John kept chewing his nails. God knows why, there was nothing to be scared of. Or was it? I took a step backwards, and then kicked the door. It slowly slid open, and I went inside.  «Wow! What a huge mansion we've got here! » John took a peek into the house, but didn't dare go inside. There was a huge hall in the middle of the house, with staircases to my left and right. I went right ahead, towards a glass door in front of me. It wasn't locked, so I carefully turned the knob, and the door opened. Suddenly I felt someone touch my shoulder. I turned around immediately to see, but there was nobody there.  «Probably just my imagination », I said to myself, and went on into the room. It was a lounge, with some impressive furniture, antiques and other objects. It was a lot to look at, and I yelled for John. He didn't reply, so I went to check on him. All I found outside the house was a shoe, and his necklace. I couldn't quite understand what was going on. If he'd run away, at least he'd taken his belongings with him. The door slammed shut behind me, and my heart stopped for a second or two.

Factors that influence an individual’s self-concept Essay

P3: State factors that influence an individual’s self-concept M2: Outline how factors can influence the development of an individual’s self-concept Sharon is a 17 year old girl at the stage of adolescence, to add on to that she’s also a single mother of two children. Throughout her life she has had to grow up more than others as she has a family of her own to look after as well as her educational life which will determine how her future will turn out later. In this assignment I will state as well as outline factors that can influence the development of Sharon’s self-concept. Before I continue I will be discussing self-concept, self-esteem and self-image in terms of Sharon. Self-concept is how Sharon views herself in terms of her strengths and weaknesses; self-concept is what she thinks of herself as†¦ While self-esteem is how much Sharon values herself, in other words if Sharon had a high self-esteem she would be more likely to believe herself as an extremely likeable person. Lastly, self-image is basically the overall image Sharon has of herself, what she believes her own image portrays. Read more:  Influences that affect children’s development essay Age: Especially at the stage of adolescence, girls like Sharon tend to be extremely self-aware of their own image and how they portray themselves towards the public. This is because as Sharon gets older, she’s more likely to care about how other people think of her. Age influences Sharon’s self-concept because as she gets older she’ll tend to behave in a certain way when she thinks she doesn’t belong anywhere, to be able to fit into everybody’s standards. As Sharon gets older, she’s more likely to develop her own self-image however peer pressure will prevent her from doing that as she will feel more pressured into fitting in and more fearful of being rejected by the majority. Appearance: Appearance is a big influence on Sharon’s self-concept, as appearance also affects your self-image as well as self-esteem. During the stage of adolescence, teenagers like Sharon tend to be more critical to themselves more therefore their way of judging tends to be more harsh; depending on  Sharon’s judgment of herself it’s more likely that she will either have higher self-esteem or lower self-esteem: this is because at this stage teenagers like Sharon tend to seek out their insecurities more and are less likely to point out their strengths since they are more focused on trying to fit in†¦And these days teenage girls care more about being physically perfect and trying climb up the social ladder that they sometimes forget about their own unique qualities and try to forge a completely whole image which fits completely into society’s standards. However looking back at Sharon’s past, it’s more likely that she’s to have a more negativ e self-concept, self-image as well as self-esteem as not only has she given birth once but twice and pregnancies can cause physical side effects such as stretch marks; now adding on to the stress Sharon has to face from trying to fit in she also has to face the physical side effects of giving birth which can cause her self-esteem to deflate which will overall affect her self-image. Gender: Gender influences Sharon’s self-concept because Sharon depending on how she’s been brought up may act upon society’s expectations towards male and female. When it comes to females, they are expected to be more of the submissive type that tend to do the domestic tasks around the house and do jobs related to health care more than physically strenuous jobs. Unlike males who are suspected to be more dominant, strong and more into jobs which doesn’t require emotional involvement but more of physical and intellectual involvement. When it comes to gender’s influences to Sharon’s self-concept, she will tend to stray away from doing physically strenuous activities as a girl she’s not expected to be strong and fit like boys but fragile and slender because it suits society’s overview on femininity. Overall adolescents like Sharon will feel more pressured in trying to fit into their gender roles. Culture: Culture affects our self-concept because it could change Sharon’s values and views of herself depending on what kind of culture she grew up into. Culture teaches Sharon a lot about how to do things such as what kind of clothes to  wear, how to react in different situations, and what food she should be eating; in other words it encourages Sharon to have different views and improves her self-concept depending on what kind of culture we grew up into. Culture mostly influences positive self-concept as culture is mostly not aimed to degrade our self-image but to improve our overall views on ourselves by gaining confidence and learning how to do and view things in a certain way. For Sharon since it seems that she hasn’t moved around much then it means that she’s been able to fit in to her culture quite well, and may not have much difficulty making herself accustom to other people’s culture; the way they were brought up. Culture affects self-concept because self-concept involves things such as how clever you are, and the approach to education is something that’s viewed differently from culture to culture. The Asian culture might be more uptight and committed to education, in contrast to the Western culture’s less uptight but nonetheless committed approach to education. The downside of culture is that if Sharon was to find her culture and another person’s culture clashing together then it could cause a negative influence towards her self-concept as this could mean that they won’t have the same views or attitudes to certain things, which could cause Sharon’s overall performance to a disadvantage as it’ll make her more self-conscious and less confident in the way she has been brought up as well as feel anxious as she might not be able to get her views across easily. Income: Income influences Sharon’s self-concept because depending on how much income Sharon or her mother’s income might be it might change her views towards money and expenditure as well as values towards other factors such as education because education usually is the key to a better occupation which could lead to higher income. Especially when Sharon’s a young single mother with most likely no high income at all, she’s forced to sacrifice some of her own self-indulgences to be able to provide for her children as well as aid in monthly bills with Janet as Janet can’t always provide financial security for her family. Due to Sharon’s current situation she’s more likely to have a negative self-concept, she will often find life more difficult and find less enjoyment out of trying to maintain enough income to fend for her  family as this will reduce Sharon’s time for herself as well as time to hang out with her friends and family. However since Sharon not only gave birth to Aimee but Fergal, this could indicate that there are positive influences to income when it comes to Sharon’s situation as this could mean Sharon’s willing to cope with the problems of being a single mother and try to be successful at it, meaning she must have a higher self-esteem to be able to have a high motivation. Media: Media plays an important role in influencing Sharon’s self-concept, media tends to encourage adolescents such as Sharon to come up with unrealistic ideals. This could cause Sharon to go through extreme measures such as dieting to get the perfect body, as well as completely change how she behaves because she might not be portraying the feminine image girls should have. The media tends to exaggerate flaws out of people that adolescents like Sharon feel the need to change due to the growing feeling of insecurity about their own qualities which causes low self-esteem and self-image; because of this Sharon may feel tempted to compare herself with friends and other people and be increasingly self-aware of other people’s opinions. Depending on how much self-esteem Sharon has towards her self-image she’s more likely to change her self-concept in order to meet the unrealistic norms the media has brought out from trying to maintain consistency with the idea of perfection. Education: Education affects Sharon’s self-concept because education is a gateway to Sharon’s overall financial outcome as well as lifestyle in the future; it also gives Sharon the ability to choose. However since Sharon’s a single mother education would have to be postponed as her life now revolves around her two children: Aimee and Fergal. Since Sharon’s at the age of 17 she’s still in progress of acquiring her qualifications, doing her A-levels then going to University. Unfortunately her current situation will prevent her from working to the best of her ability, this may affect her self-concept as  she’ll be less motivated to study and learn. She may also lack self-esteem because she might not be able to understand what’s going on in her lessons and what needs to be done. Her teachers might start to discourage her from continuing the courses she does due to bad grades and overall her self-concept will change negatively. Being a mother at the age of 17 is hard to hide, in such a big environment such as school and being pregnant at such a young age can be looked down upon which could cause Sharon to get bullied at school. Bullying is a dilemma that people have always tried to prevent but it still goes on today, it could cause a lot of damage to a person’s self-concept especially Sharon’s. Environment: Sharon’s financial status may prevent her and her family to live in a peaceful environment where pollution and violence is rarely an occurrence. This will affect her self-concept as Sharon will start to compare her situation with others that may have a better lifestyle bringing her self-esteem and self-image down. With her current situation she’s more likely to be living in a more polluted environment, meaning the environment she’s living in would be uncontained and unclean. This will be a potentially damaging environment for her children’s health thus affecting her self-concept negatively. Socialisation: When it comes to socialisation Sharon’s lifestyle will affect her greatly, as she’s a busy mother who would have to prioritise her children first before personal indulgences. This will affect her self-concept and self-image because she will have less time to hang out with her friends and socialise as well as even have enough time to take care of herself or go shopping. Sharon’s self-confidence will also decrease drastically as she compares her friends’ social life with hers, because Sharon already has a family while her friends are still at their adolescence stage having lots of freedom and less responsibilities to take.