Monday, September 30, 2019

My worse day ever

My worst day ever was the day my brother fell out the window, and almost died. My brothers name is All. He was born on January 9, 2004 and Is the fourth child in our family. He was eight and a half years of old. It all happened on Tuesday September 11, 2012. My day began Like any other day not knowing what was hidden for me, I thought that this was going to be a great day. I had no Idea that my brother was going to fall from the second floor window and almost die. In this essay I will be informing you about how my day began, to how he fell and what happened at the end. I went to school like always and came home.When I arrived home we were told that guests might come over, so I cleaned the house and got dressed. After we completed cleaning we had our dinner. During the meal the children had made quite a mess under the table so I went upstairs to grab the vacuum. My room was next to the room where all the boys slept. There were five boys that slept in that room since we lived with our cousins. It was impossible to have beds so they had five mattresses on the floor but because we had to vacuum we put three against one wall and parallel to that wall and put the other two under the window.As passed through the rooms I noticed my brother All and cousin Mustang were throwing themselves and Jumping on the mattress from one wall to the other. As I grabbed the vacuum and left my room in the corner of my eye I saw my cousin Mustangs face. His face was red and he look like he was scared. I've never in my life seen a young child scared in that way. I sensed something wrong so, I began to look for All but, there was no sight of him. All I saw was the open window and oddly, the screen was half ripped off. I let go of the vacuum and ran to the window.I barely saw anything, al I saw was his arm, I felt my heart drop. If someone to hit me at that moment there would not have been even a single drop of blood that's how ice cold and shocked I was. As I ran down the stairs I was at a loss for words. Without thinking I swallowed and yelled†All Fell Out The Window Yummy!! â€Å". My sister summer and I said It at the same time because she was down stairs and saw him from the downstairs window. My mother was In the kitchen doing the dishes, when she heard her face changed In color and she fell to the ground In tears not knowing what to do.My Aunt quickly ran stairs to tell my uncle who has just entered the shower after a long hot day at work. Everyone in the house was crying as if he had died. All was in the backyard laying face down on the concrete floor. No one wanted to go outside and see him for the fear of him being dead. I couldn't Just leave him out there so I ran out. I opened the backyard door and went next to him. I began to cry as looked at him laying there. I felt as if the world had ended. I remember telling my self Hess alive. I felt him breathing but he was unconscious.Suddenly he woke up and began to try to get p so I picked him up in my ar ms and opened the door. SSL entered the house his forehead and his nose began to bleed. I went towards the living room and sat on the table with All In my lap and soon he began to cry because he saw everyone crying. My mother was hysterical so I yelled at her, and told her to get a towel and wipe the blood of his face. She did that while my uncle called the ambulance and my father. Hurt? â€Å". All replied in tears and a weak voice â€Å"l don't want shots! I don't want shots! â€Å".Through all that pain his only fear was to get shot. The police arrived and, a few seconds later the ambulance did too. They came in and wrapped All in a bed and took him. My mother went with, I wanted to go with her but the police kept asking me questions. They assumed that this had been purposely done and they wanted to keep us under surveillance. I had to tell the police everything and show them everything till they understood what happened and left. I was alone at home with all the kids, who wer e up stairs hiding in my room and crying from fear that All could have been dead.I went upstairs to comfort them and to tell them that All was â€Å"Okay' ND to Just make dud for him to come home soon. After a long time of waiting impatiently my mom finally called my aunt and told her everything. My aunt looked different and her face became pale but she tried to act normal. When she ended the call I asked her what happened. She told me that All broke his back, neck and, cheek bone and that he might not be ever able to walk again. I began to cry then she asked me not to tell the kids or anyone. She also said that the doctors will be taking one final x-ray to decide the outcome.That night I spent it entirely making dud and exiting everyone I know to make dud and ask others to make dud. That night was extremely long, I couldn't wait till morning to hear what happened. Morning came and no one called. I sat on the couch looking out the window and Just imaging All coming home all better then suddenly the phone rang. My uncle this time answered and he looked amazed for some reason. I waited till he hung up and then looked at him waiting for him to say something. Then he said â€Å"All is fine and is coming home tonight†. I looked at him and said â€Å"How? What do you mean by finer. He replied † Its a miracle ! Interrupting him I said â€Å"what is? â€Å"After the second x ray the doctors found nothing broken but his wrist. No one believed it, they had five doctors come in and check. â€Å". I was amazed † Allah had accepted our duds! † I replied. I felt that the time was going by slowly. They said they'll be here before seven but it was now seven thirty. We waited till eight and then they finally came. When I saw my brother I began to cry my aunt asked me to stop so I went to wash my face and came back down stairs and, spent time with my family. That was my worst day ever. I guess it ended up alright since my brother didn't die.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Compare Tom Regan, Carl Cohen and Peter Singer in Terms of Animal Rights

Animal rights are one of the most controversial issues today. There has been endless debate about whether or not animals have rights. Philosophers attempt to come up with the moral conclusions by taking in account the many different standpoints and presenting their related arguments. In his essay â€Å"The case of animal rights†, Tom Regan, a professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University, defends his view that the center of our moral concern should not bring the suffering on animal as well as treating animals in a certain way. In other words, we should treat animals as if they are our property. We should only use them to benefit us and hurting them is an action that is not morally justifiable. In addition, in his article â€Å"All Animal Are Equal†, Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher, has many points which show us that we have responsibilities to protect animal rights. Singer’s argument in his essay gives us a great support to the argument that Reagan trying to discuss in terms of morally equal. In contrast, â€Å"The case of the use of animals in biomedical research† by Carl Cohen, a philosophy professor at University of Michigan Medical School, although he agrees with Regan’s idea in terms of moral rights as well as practices that essentially involve harming animals are morally unjustified, he strongly supports for the use of animal in medical research, and scientific experiments to avoid risking human lives. â€Å"The case of animal rights†, â€Å"all animal are equal† and â€Å"The case of the use of animals in biomedical research† introduce to us a new thinking about treating animals. In his essay, Tom Regan points out theories are deficient in animals. The author discusses â€Å"Indirect duty view† which humans should recognize that animals should have the same rights as humans and they have the duty to uphold these rights. Besides that, Regan states in the â€Å"Contractarianism† that humans have rights and can protect their rights under the terms of the contract they signed. However, he indicated that animals have no rights because they cannot sign the contract. We humans should have direct duties to all animals. Even the views including â€Å"Indirect duty view,† â€Å"Cruelty-kindness view,† and â€Å"Utilitarian view† fail to protect animal rights, he promotes the right view, which is the inherent value view. The author states that all individuals, including human and nonhuman animals, who are experienced the subject of life, should have equal inherent values and equal rights while being treated with respect. In addition, Peter Singer agrees with Regan that all animals are morally equal, at least with regard to their suffering. Peter Singer argues the point that animals and humans should be granted â€Å"equal consideration. Granting equal consideration means that humans and animals do not need to be treated exactly the same way, but that they need to be treated in an appropriate manner. Singer believes that suffering is â€Å"the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration†. If all beings are able to suffer, animals should be treat ed with consideration equal to humans in most circumstances. Moreover, in his essay â€Å"All animals are equal,† Peter Singer points out the case for women's rights and refers to similar arguments of animal’s rights. Since animal’s rights were absurd, the argument for women's rights must be mistaken. In contrast with both Regan and Singer’s views, Carl Cohen gives us strong evidences to demonstrate his standpoints why animals have no rights. He claims rights only exists within a community of moral agents who can make moral claims against each other and just human can exercise moral judgment. He thinks we must at least treat animals humanely, but this does not mean we need to treat them as if they have rights. He also compared the differences between animals with brain damaged persons, senile or young in terms of the ability to make claim which is essential to being a person. That’s why these people are still part of our moral community, but animals are not. Moreover, he strongly supports to the increasing in the use of animals for medical experiments. He agrees that we actually need to increase the number experiments to avoid risking human lives because the increase in longevity , decrease in pain , the significant numbers of lives saved , the quality of human life all depends on such those research or experiments.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The Need for Academic Integrated Conflict Resolution in Education

The conflict between individuals aged 13 to 19 is so high that the need for academically integrated conflict resolution programs is quickly becoming a focal point of those involved in the educational world. Parents, teachers, and psychologists alike have all expressed horror that the rising number of youth offenders, violence in the schools, racial intolerance and the like has rapidly risen among their teenaged children, students, and clients. It has become second nature for students to solve their conflict with verbal confrontations and physical altercations. Tragically, the use of guns either aimed at the person that they believe to be the cause of their angst or at themselves in suicidal attempts is sometimes the heartbreaking epilogue of an inability to properly deal with conflict. It seems as though students don't know how to peacefully resolve the conflicts that they find themselves in on a day-to-day basis. A conflict resolution-training program that is integrated into a student's academic program will encourage students to learn the methods of peaceful mediation. It will induce students to apply the methods of conflict resolution into their day-to-day disputes not to mention the positive impact that it will have on their academic achievement. â€Å"A conflict exists when actions come into opposition. Conflict can occur within an individual, group, organization, institution, or nation. Conflicts can cross boundaries. They can occur between individuals and institutions, and across cultures. How we manage or resolve conflicts is the central issue. Today, underlying the violence that surrounds our schools, neighborhoods, and communities are conflicts which have never been addressed or have been improperly resolved. Indeed in a diverse and complex society, Conflict Resolution Programs are much needed and an important component of all schools. In the 60's and 70's this need was understood by the Quakers and peace activists. In the early 1980's, Educators for Social Responsibility examined alternative strategies of dealing with violence. The Children's Creative Response to Conflict, the Community Board's Program, and the Peace Education Foundation were in the forefront of the movement. In 1984 the National Association of Mediation (NAME) was formed which served as a clearinghouse for information and training for school- based conflict resolution programs. In 1983 the National Institute of Dispute Resolution (NIDR) was formed to promote the development of conflict resolution tools and processes. Several types of programs have now emerged in schools of a collaborative and cooperative problem-solving approach involving processes such as negotiation, conciliation, mediation, fact finding, and arbitration. The Gandhian method of conflict resolution, called â€Å"satyagraha†, or truth force, is concerned with human needs and recognizes the importance of resolving the â€Å"conflict triangle†: the attitude, the behavior, and the goal incompatibility itself. For Gandhi the desired outcome of a conflict is in the creation of a better social structure, and a greater degree of human unity. † (C. W. Post Library on Nonviolence). Conflict resolution in the inner city schools is quickly becoming an epidemic. Many schools have implemented preventative programs which include both uniformed and undercover armed guards to metal detectors to metal detectors in the school hallways. â€Å"†¦ Though one New York City study suggests the effectiveness of metal detectors, many experts fear that detectors do little more than create a false sense of security in schools† (Witkin, 1998). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects that a conflict resolution program that is integrated into an English literature class has on students in an urban high school in New York. According to Johnson and Johnson (1996), conflict resolution programs can be divided into three ways. There is the cadre or total student body approach, which trains certain students to become peer mediators or training every student in the school in constructive conflict management, respectively. Levy (1989) and Maxwell (1989) divide conflict resolution programs into two categories: curriculum-based programs and peer mediation programs. Curriculum based programs are preventative in nature and focus on teaching students to about conflicts and the alternatives to violence as a method of resolution. They emphasize social skills, empathy training, stress and anger management, attitudes about conflicts, and bias awareness. The third division is a division of skills-oriented approaches and academically oriented approaches. Opotow (1991) has found skills-oriented approaches to be those in which students are taught the interpersonal and small-group skills which are needed to resolve conflicts constructively (D. W. Johnson, 1997; D. W. Johnson & F. Johnson, 1997); in the academic approach students are taught the intellectual procedures and cognitive skills for managing conflicts such as academic controversy (D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 1979, 1995a), violence prevention (Prothrow-Stith, Spivak, & Hausman, 1987), and critical thinking (Paul, 1984; Seigel, 1988); and the last approach is the structural-change approach which emphasize changing the school structure from a mass-manufacturing approach to a team based, high-performance organizational structure (D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 199 4) and providing a cooperative context for a management of conflict (Deutsch, 1973; D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 1994). The Need for Academic Integrated Conflict Resolution in Education The conflict between individuals aged 13 to 19 is so high that the need for academically integrated conflict resolution programs is quickly becoming a focal point of those involved in the educational world. Parents, teachers, and psychologists alike have all expressed horror that the rising number of youth offenders, violence in the schools, racial intolerance and the like has rapidly risen among their teenaged children, students, and clients. It has become second nature for students to solve their conflict with verbal confrontations and physical altercations. Tragically, the use of guns either aimed at the person that they believe to be the cause of their angst or at themselves in suicidal attempts is sometimes the heartbreaking epilogue of an inability to properly deal with conflict. It seems as though students don't know how to peacefully resolve the conflicts that they find themselves in on a day-to-day basis. A conflict resolution-training program that is integrated into a student's academic program will encourage students to learn the methods of peaceful mediation. It will induce students to apply the methods of conflict resolution into their day-to-day disputes not to mention the positive impact that it will have on their academic achievement. â€Å"A conflict exists when actions come into opposition. Conflict can occur within an individual, group, organization, institution, or nation. Conflicts can cross boundaries. They can occur between individuals and institutions, and across cultures. How we manage or resolve conflicts is the central issue. Today, underlying the violence that surrounds our schools, neighborhoods, and communities are conflicts which have never been addressed or have been improperly resolved. Indeed in a diverse and complex society, Conflict Resolution Programs are much needed and an important component of all schools. In the 60's and 70's this need was understood by the Quakers and peace activists. In the early 1980's, Educators for Social Responsibility examined alternative strategies of dealing with violence. The Children's Creative Response to Conflict, the Community Board's Program, and the Peace Education Foundation were in the forefront of the movement. In 1984 the National Association of Mediation (NAME) was formed which served as a clearinghouse for information and training for school- based conflict resolution programs. In 1983 the National Institute of Dispute Resolution (NIDR) was formed to promote the development of conflict resolution tools and processes. Several types of programs have now emerged in schools of a collaborative and cooperative problem-solving approach involving processes such as negotiation, conciliation, mediation, fact finding, and arbitration. The Gandhian method of conflict resolution, called â€Å"satyagraha†, or truth force, is concerned with human needs and recognizes the importance of resolving the â€Å"conflict triangle†: the attitude, the behavior, and the goal incompatibility itself. For Gandhi the desired outcome of a conflict is in the creation of a better social structure, and a greater degree of human unity. † (C. W. Post Library on Nonviolence). Conflict resolution in the inner city schools is quickly becoming an epidemic. Many schools have implemented preventative programs which include both uniformed and undercover armed guards to metal detectors to metal detectors in the school hallways. â€Å"†¦ Though one New York City study suggests the effectiveness of metal detectors, many experts fear that detectors do little more than create a false sense of security in schools† (Witkin, 1998). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects that a conflict resolution program that is integrated into an English literature class has on students in an urban high school in New York. According to Johnson and Johnson (1996), conflict resolution programs can be divided into three ways. There is the cadre or total student body approach, which trains certain students to become peer mediators or training every student in the school in constructive conflict management, respectively. Levy (1989) and Maxwell (1989) divide conflict resolution programs into two categories: curriculum-based programs and peer mediation programs. Curriculum based programs are preventative in nature and focus on teaching students to about conflicts and the alternatives to violence as a method of resolution. They emphasize social skills, empathy training, stress and anger management, attitudes about conflicts, and bias awareness. The third division is a division of skills-oriented approaches and academically oriented approaches. Opotow (1991) has found skills-oriented approaches to be those in which students are taught the interpersonal and small-group skills which are needed to resolve conflicts constructively (D. W. Johnson, 1997; D. W. Johnson & F. Johnson, 1997); in the academic approach students are taught the intellectual procedures and cognitive skills for managing conflicts such as academic controversy (D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 1979, 1995a), violence prevention (Prothrow-Stith, Spivak, & Hausman, 1987), and critical thinking (Paul, 1984; Seigel, 1988); and the last approach is the structural-change approach which emphasize changing the school structure from a mass-manufacturing approach to a team based, high-performance organizational structure (D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 199 4) and providing a cooperative context for a management of conflict (Deutsch, 1973; D. W. Johnson & R. Johnson, 1994).

Friday, September 27, 2019

Anythin to do with Microeconomics Research Proposal

Anythin to do with Microeconomics - Research Proposal Example Retail shopping can be defined as the process of evaluation of goods or services from retail outlets by consumers aiming to buy those goods or services. Retail shopping takes place in different venues ranging from hypermarkets, shopping malls and departmental stores to bazaars, second-hand stores, dollar stores and flea markets. Today, retail shopping is not only a necessity that enables retail consumers to acquire goods or services for use in everyday life, but it is also a leisure activity that combines delight, relaxation, amusement and the chance to spend ‘quality time’ with friends and relatives. In a few cases, retail shopping is an arduous, time-consuming and unpleasant activity where consumers are obliged to line up in long queues for long hours to purchase popular items {for example, during holiday shopping}. The retail consumer’s decision to buy is a successful culmination of eight consecutive stages: ‘need’ which convinces the retail consumer to buy certain goods or services, ‘awareness’ involving advertisers of goods and services reaching out to prospective buyers using persuasive brand communication, ‘preference’ when retail consumers decide that they prefer certain brands, ‘search’ involving consumers initiating searches for retail outlets where their preferred brand is being sold, ‘selection’ involving choosing their preferred item, ‘purchase’ involving the consumer conveying final confirmation by paying for the item, ‘use’ involves the consumer making practical use of the item, and ‘satisfaction’ involving the consumer’s firm conviction that the item purchased has fully lived up to expectations (Sharma). Phil Kotler defines Atmospherics as â€Å"the effort to design buying environments to produce specific emotional effects in the buyer that enhance his or her purchase probability.† In â€Å"Marketing of the Mind†, the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Is the banking industry about to explode Coursework - 1

Is the banking industry about to explode - Coursework Example This research will begin with the statement that the international financial crisis initiated in the United States’ mortgage market and causes a liquidity deficit within the United States’ banking system, the full blow of which began to be felt during the mid of 2007. It resulted in the collapse of various financial institutions and in huge government involvement to stay away from a contagion effect within their economies. The United States credit market default that started the global recession all over the world has changed the financial setting significantly. Since that time, concerned officials have been attempting to come up with solutions to the difficulties that the banking industry, as well as the global financial system, is facing. The banking industry has also been going through a process of reformation lasting over two decades. Market liberalization, as well as the induction of latest information technologies, led to a strong trade growth resulting in several mergers and acquisitions in addition to off shoring potential. The recession started several mutual projects of social associates. During the year 2009, 93 percent of the companies within the banking industry initiated joint bargaining against an average of 84 percent within other industries. Another consideration within the banking industry is that a works council covers 97 percent of companies that have more than 50 workers.

Two news Reading response about supply chain management strategy Assignment

Two news Reading response about supply chain management strategy - Assignment Example This company focuses on the preferences of their customers and tries to make a product by adopting these preferences. This process is known as Quality Function Deployment. The Fashion world is quite uncertain and keeps on changing day to day due to the changing trends across the globe. Zara is one of the most renowned companies in the fashion industry and the reason behind its success is its exceptional supply management strategies. The supply chain strategies of this company make it successful in the stock market. One of the reasons behind its efficient supply chain management is that it uses information technology to achieve its supply chain. Zara uses its own railway track that helps in the speedy distribution of goods to other developing countries. Also, Zara create its products in small qualities and in this way they figure out which product is successful and which won’t work in the market (Loeb). Loeb, W. (2013, October 14). Zaras Secret To Success: The New Science Of Retailing. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from Forbes :

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Reflective Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflective Analysis - Essay Example I succeeded in hanging the infusion and had it working properly with no hitches or messes. When I was preparing to leave the patient’s bedside, my instructor asked if I had forgotten something. I panicked silently in my head and mentally reenacted all the steps 4 more times. I paused before answering in the negative. The instructor asked me for a second time, and again I replied in the negative. The dialogue was repeated 2 more times before the patient finally turned to me and politely (and jokingly) quipped , â€Å"She’s obviously trying to tell you something†. I still couldn’t put my finger on it. My instructor said, â€Å"Well, great work on the IV, but if Mr. Green wants to get out of bed to use the restroom or anything else she will have to jump (and maybe fall).† I stared at the bed, and it was still at waist-height! I had become so engrossed in my task that I forgot that the instructor had raised his bed for the IV troubleshoot. I knew that something was amiss somewhere, but the dots wouldn’t connect. My instructor was not the type that corrected students just for the sake, so I immediately felt that I had made a mistake somewhere. The issue at hand was ethical because it was covered in the nursing handbook/code of ethics. As such, I had broken an ethical rule which required that a patient’s bed be lowered to its lowest or most appropriate setting. My values and beliefs in relation to this event are all related to my practice as a nurse. I believe that a nurse must observe the nursing code of ethics at all times. It is the guiding principle of the practice. The issue was a very serious one because it is clearly stipulated in the nursing code of ethics that the nurse must always make the patient feel safe and ensure the patient’s safety by doing things like lowering and raising the bed height as is required. In my case, the bed height had been temporarily raised by the instructor and I

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 14

Ethics - Essay Example These ethical concerns can guide the actions of DWI in their official and unofficial position on any step taken by the FCC to allow the same company to control more media sources in a geographical location. The first ethical concern for DWI is to be utilitarian in its ethics to provide the best possible service to society. However, since society also includes the competitors of the company it would be difficult to apply utilitarian ethics to the company and ethical egoism appears to be a more realistic approach. In this approach the company has to do what it thinks will be the most beneficial course of action for the stakeholders of the company which includes the investors, the shareholders, the employees as well as the consumer. One method of doing that would be for the company to maximize its profits which can be done if it controls more of the media in a given location. Companies such as Viacom and Disney are doing exactly the same since it would be profitable for them to control a large share of a given market (Turner, 2004). If DWI is similar in size and market positioning to these companies it should take the same approach as taken by the other large firms and support the plans for allowing one company to control a greater share of the media business in a geographical area. However, since ethical egoism demands that DWI look out for its own best interest, if DWI does not have a media business as large as Disney or Viacom, it should seek to protect its business interests through going against the plans of the larger companies. In fact, the company should be quite vocal about smaller companies being pushed out of business with giants strong arming them and also talk to anyone who is willing to listen about the media situation. Further, to prevent the situation from developing, DWI could also bring the attention of the people to the fact that control

Monday, September 23, 2019

Ethics and Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics and Professional Practice - Essay Example Among these responsibilities are the wise use of land, energy conservation, aesthetic delight and the safety and security of buildings. In 2004 and 2005, the American Institute of Architects recognized these responsibilities as it rewrote the AIA public policies and position statements. There exist only 10 public policies which emphasize the power the architect has to affect people and communities, the built environment, and the natural environment. The National Architectural Accrediting Board made it mandatory for all students interested in pursuing architecture as a profession to develop an understanding of the professionalism and ethics involved in the field of architecture at the beginning of their studies and not at the end. This allows for the establishment of a foundation for an individual’s approach to the profession and students formulate the principles for their future professional practice. The Board’s aim was to provide people with knowledge of the diverse n eeds, values, and behaviors that characterize different cultures and the implications of this diversity on the societal roles and responsibilities. The Board provided guidelines on integration of ethical perspectives on safety and codes. It also explained the role of professional judgment concerning social, cultural and political issues. It outlined the registration laws that should be followed when a contract is being undertaken. The guidelines provided by the Board expect the academic institutions to be more accountable in their objectivity in assessing progress against defined objectives as well as the program’s strengths and weaknesses and then use the results of this assessment to design and implement changes that lead to provide adequate public information regarding accreditation, candidacy, and problems a program may be facing. The ‘Standard of Reasonable Care’ is also a key concern in professionalism especially in architecture. The architect should provid e the client with adequate professional advice when sought. They are also expected to ensure that the safety of the public is put into consideration as they design buildings. Reasonable care involves the professional knowing societal and professional responsibilities and integrating community service into the practice of architecture. The historical perspective of ethics in architecture enlightens us by providing a historical overview of the evolution of architectural ethics. The AIA's Code of Ethics describes the principles upon which the Code of Ethics is based upon. It ensures that members of the American Institute of Architects are dedicated to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and competence. The Code is arranged in three tiers of statements: Canons, these are broad principles of conduct; Ethical Standards, which are more specific goals that members should aspire to when it comes to performance and behavior; Rules of Conduct, the guidelines which if not follo wed to the latter leads to a member facing disciplinary action. A commentary is provided to further explain each of the ethical standards and the National Ethics Council enforces the Code of Ethics. Architecture has not always been covered by copyright law unlike books, maps and charts which were included in the first copyright law passed in 1970. In 1909,

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Early Childhood Education Past and Present Essay Example for Free

Early Childhood Education Past and Present Essay In order to decide how past philosophies, theories and educational models have influenced present ideas and practices related to early childhood education, we must first decide where we would like to begin. I will start with the ideas of Aristotle, because I believe his ideas on â€Å"mimesis† or imitations are evident in the evolution of early education, and will always be an integral part of effective learning. Once we understand that children learn and practice what they see in others, we begin to realize the need for dedication and devotion from parents and teachers. Aristotle was a student of Plato who argued for the early removal of children from their parents so that they could be cared for in a school like setting. (Schwartz 1997) As we look back at history itself, we can see that the role of childhood education has been dependent upon the immediate needs and beliefs of a particular society. There have also been many individuals in the past 200 years who are responsible for creating theories and philosophies based on their observations of children and what is vital to them as they develop into adults. However, it is important that we recognize how new ideas are not formed independently, but built upon old ones. As educators, we must utilize what we notice to be effective, as well as the things that impacted us most as children in an educational setting. The strategies and philosophies that I’ve implemented in particular are borrowed from several individuals including Erikson, Vygotsky and Gardiner. Erikson’s psychosocial theory covers eight stages, each one built upon, and reliant on its predecessor. The first four are of greatest relevance, but the remaining four are worthy of a close look because it is important to know where you’re going when deciding upon the best way to get there. These stages also remind me of the importance of satisfying basic need, and of considering children as little people who need to believe in success before they can achieve it. It’s one of the reasons why I would occasionally go to recess with my students. I was able to observe how they treated and responded to others in a seemingly more relaxed, social setting. For some children, recess is by far the most stressful twenty minutes of the day. The incredibly minimal amount of time given to my students was another reason I felt it was necessary to attend. I could get a kick ball game set up so they could make the best of what little time they had. However, I must be honest, I still love to play, and demonstrating good sportsmanship and a competitive spirit to my kids was as important as the preparation for any test we had to look forward to. Lastly, I had a sixth grade teacher who used to do the same thing and I remember it vividly and extremely fondly. I find Gardiners’ theory of multiple intelligence extremely helpful while building confidence in kids whose gifts were not overly apparent on the field at recess. I have and will always encourage students to recognize and display these gifts while still maintaining a certain degree of humility. (Hyson 2004) I’ve always kept examples of completed activities inside and outside my classroom and anywhere else I could find space in order to, among other things, initiate discussions about pride as well as humility. Our classroom clearly demonstrated the fact that comfort and familiarity were held in high regard. An equal emphasis was placed on respect, and this is the word that was constantly spelled out on the board. As my class or one of my students showed an obvious lack of respect, one of the letters would be erased. They would be put back as we were respectful of one another, and if the word was entirely spelled out on Friday afternoon, we would have a â€Å"social gathering† for the last half hour of the day. If we were to walk into most, if not all early childhood educational settings, we would find many things that were initiated or influenced by past theorists or philosophers. We would notice blocks or other creative building materials. There would be areas to encourage cooperative learning, and most would reflect what is thought to be developmentally appropriate for the range of members in the class. When determining what types of play are developmentally appropriate, we need to consider all individuals, and the fact that differences will exist. Members of a class who are either gifted or struggling should not have to suffer because of what is thought to be developmentally appropriate. These differences should be expected, utilized and appreciated. Computers, for example, will run programs with varying degrees of difficulty depending upon what is developmentally appropriate for an individual. As concerns continue to grow over bridging the gap between early education students, government intervention has and will continue to grow. An increase in assessments is inevitable, and even smaller amounts of time will be devoted to active learning, exploration and play. The changes that in fact need to be made are those that reflect the ideas of the great minds of theorists who dedicated their lives in order to determine the most effective methods of early childhood education.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Porters 5 forces analysis

Porters 5 forces analysis The porters 5 forces is a simple tool to understanding where the company power lies in a business situation. The porters forces also helping company understand the strength of a current competitive position. The porter 5 forces includes bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of supplier, threat of new entry, threat of substitute and rivalry among competitors. The bargaining power of buyer is described as the market of outputs. The bargaining power of buyers ability of the customers exert pressure on businesses by demanding reduce price and increasing the product quality. Company must recognize consumer want and need. In order to boost sales volume, manufactures follow changing consumer trends. The bargaining power of buyer will be high when the large volume buyer are concentrated buying the product or services. There is a concentration of buyers. Other factor will be increasing bargaining power of buyers is the products available replaces by substitutes in the market. In automotive industry the buyers have the greatest power because they can the low switching costs associated with selecting from competing brands. If buyers become disenchanted with some automaker, they can look for alternatives especially foreign cars. Automotive industries have many automakers can substitutes replace General Motors Corporate such as Toyota, Honda, Ford, a nd so on. General Motors Corporate in order to avoid replaces by other automakers, General Motors Corporate always carve out unique line of cars and trucks like fuel cell electric and hybrid vehicles. The bargaining power of supplier is described as the market of inputs. Supplier is provided the raw materials and machinery to company than the company can carry out its business operations. When the bargaining power of supplier will be high is an industry relies on just few suppliers or there are not substitutes available for suppliers product. If bargaining power of supplier higher, the company will be often faces to high pressure on margins from supplier. For example, if General Motors Corporate have one supplier to supply raw material, then the supplier increase their price this will lead General Motors cars and truck also will increase the price because General Motors dont have other supplier to supply raw material. In order to reducing the bargaining power of supplier, the company will be increasing dependency means partnering with many suppliers. Some biggest company maybe will take over a supplier. The threat of substitutes is described as an industrys profitability depends on the relative price to performance of the different types services or product to which customer can turn to buy other product that almost has the same functions. The threats of substitutes exist when a products demand is affected by switching costs. This means the costs of switching to substitutes. In the automotive industry the threat of substitutes product is very huge because automotive industry has many automakers. In order to avoid substitute product replace the General Motors cars and trucks, General Motors Corporate has carve out its own unique product. For example, General Motors carve out alternative fuel vehicles like fuel cell electric and hybrid vehicles. Product differentiation can reduce the threat of substitute so each company also attempts to carve out unique products. Some company will be buy patent developed by potential substitute because avoid the substitute entry markets. The rivalry among competitor is described the intensity of competitive rivalry. The rivalry among competitor means have the major determinant of the competitiveness of industry. The rivalry among competitor is most obvious of any industry. The competitor normally will offer the same product or services as your company. Competitive battles include price wars, new product introduction or advertising campaigns. In order to gain more market share and increase sales, every company often use comparative advertising to emphasize areas where it outperformance its competitor. Rivalry among competitor can reduce the profitability of company but these maybe good things of publics. The rivalry among competitor exist when the industry growth. In order to reduce the rivalry among competitor, General Motors Corporate avoid price competition with other automakers and focus on different segments. Company communicates with competitor also can reduce the rivalry among competitor. This also can build wi n-win relationship with competitors. The threat of new entry is described the new competitor or firms entering into industry. In order to reduce the threat of new entry, the company needs to create a good brand image. If the company have a good brand image, then customer would like to stay with the brand products. The customer loyalty is a barrier entry into market. The threat of new entry depends on economics of scale. For example, company minimum size requirement for profitable operations. Automotive industry is a high threat of new entry but some industry low threat of new entry like shipbuilding because shipbuilding industry has high entry barriers. The government restriction also can reduce threat of new entry. For example, Malaysia government restricts new entry into automotive industry because government wants to protect of local cars (PROTON). Limitation of Porter Analysis The porters 5 forces is a useful framework for competitive analysis within industry. Competitive analysis is lead into strategic planning and the development of a tailored competitive strategy that expects to exploit the situation. The porters 5 forces model has some limitation and weaknesses. In general, porters analysis focuses on company external competitive environment. In order to complete a full competitive analysis, the porters 5 forces need to be compensated. The porters 5 forces has further limitation in today market environment because porters analysis is assumes relativity static market structures. This means porters 5 forces are applicable for simple market structures not best applicable for today dynamic markets. Today dynamic markets are highly influenced by technological innovation such as information technology, so porters analysis cannot analyze today dynamic changes. The second limitation of porters analysis is generally based on the idea of competition. In porters analysis just described how to company or business to achieve competitive advantages. Porters analysis just focuses on competitive advantages and then ignores other important consideration strategy. For example, company not really into consideration strategy such as electronic linking of information system of all company along a value chain, virtual network or enterprise and strategies alliances. The third limitation of porters analysis is porters 5 forces are designed for analyzing individual business strategy. Porters analysis cannot cope with interdependencies and synergies within the portfolio a large company. The fourth limitation of porters analysis is the sources of value are structural advantages. Sometimes may be possible to create barriers to entry. This mean porters analysis possible will create completely new market rather than selecting existing ones. Although porters analysis are not best applicable for today dynamic markets but porters analysis still can compensated with other analysis such as SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Value Chain analysis and etc. Porters analysis in conjunction with other tools such as PEST and SWOT can define effective competitive strategy. General Motors Corporate also uses SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, and Value Chain analysis to compensated limitation of porters analysis. PEST analysis also can uses to compensated limitation of porters analysis. PEST analysis is described macro environment such as political, economic, social and technological. PEST analysis is strategy tool for understanding markets growth or decline and potential and direction for operations. For example, General Motors must be doing market research before carve out new cars or new markets. The markets research includes economic condition, political and government policy. Government decision can affect organization directly like employments law, tax policy, trade restrictions and tariffs and environmental regulation. The economic condition also can affect company profitability like oil price, interest rates, and economic growth and financial crisis. Especially financial crisis because many people lose job, then almost people temporary dont want buy a new cars. This is can influence company make lose. We can refer to appendix 2; we can understand how PEST analysis is function. SWOT analysis is a strategic planning used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for company or business. SWOT analysis applicable to measures a business units, and a proposition. SWOT analysis also can understand where the company strengths and weaknesses and then minimize the affect of weaknesses on company and maximizing or maintain company strengths. When company have know weaknesses and strengths itself then can making good decision for strategy of business proposition. For example, General Motors strengths are have large market shares, global experience, and variety of brand names and current development of alternative vehicles. So General Motors always maintain them strengths. The weaknesses of General Motors are poor customers perception, stagnant profitability, higher labor costs and overly dependent on U.S market. So General Motors try to gain more market share and increase sale volume at other countries such as China, Japan, and Malaysia and so o n. General Motors also need to increase customers perception. We can refer to appendix 3; we can see how company uses SWOT analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses themselves. Value Chain analysis can overcome the limitation of porter 5 forces. Value Chain analysis described the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strengths of the business. Value Chain analysis will help the company pursue a competitive advantages. Porters described value chain have two different categories of activities that is a primary activities and support activities. The primary activities of company include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and services. The support activities include procurement, human resources management, technology development and firm infrastructure. Value Chain analysis will help the company pursue a competitive advantages. We can refer to appendix 4. In appendix 4, we can see how to value chain contribution from different functions of an organization in the value adding process. Balanced scorecard is a good way to overcome the limitation of porters 5 forces. Balanced scorecard is defined are strategic planning or management system that is used extensively in industry and business to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization and monitor organization performance against strategic goals. Balanced scorecard can help company known how well business is running. Balanced scorecard also allows company measures economic value added and operating income. For example, General Motors use balanced scorecard to measures customer satisfaction and market share in target segments. . We can refer to appendix 5; we can see how 2 balanced scorecard running. Product life cycle can overcome the limitation of porters 5 forces. Product life cycle is defined a new product progress through a sequence of stages from introduction to growth, maturity and decline. When companies produce some product like cars or trucks they must take cars market life and services life into account. Recently more and more company is attempting to optimize profit and revenue over entire life cycle. Company does this need to consideration product warranties, the ability to upgrade existing product and space part. For example, General Motors cars have 3 years warranty. . We can refer to appendix 6; we can see the new product progress thought life cycle.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Conflict and Natural Resources Relationship to Growth

Conflict and Natural Resources Relationship to Growth Is the incidence of Conflict and an abundance of Natural Resources in African States  correlated with Economic Growth? Table of Contents (Jump to) Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Aims and Objectives 1.2 Overview Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 The â€Å"Resource Curse† economic theory 2.1.1 The African Link 2.2 The causes of the â€Å"Resource Curse† 2.2.1. The â€Å"crowding out† cause 2.2.2. Quality of institutions 2.2.3. The â€Å"Dutch Disease† model 2.2.4 Other theoretical economic arguments 2.3 Civil war and economic growth 2.4 Natural resources role in Civil war Chapter 3: Influence of natural resources on economic growth 3.1 The cause of â€Å"the resource curse† 3.2 Is â€Å"the recourse curse† relevant to Africa? 3.3 Other influential factors Chapter 4: The role of conflict Chapter 5: Empirical evidence Chapter 6: Conclusion References During the course of the past two or three decades many economists and academics have been endeavouring to discover why a proliferation of natural resources, which is normally considered to be a wealth generating sources often have an adverse effect upon emerging economies, slowing rather than increasing the pace of development (Rodriguez and Sachs 1999, p.277 and Isham et al 2005, p.1). Other studies, concentrating particularly upon emerging nations is areas such as the African continent, have also claimed that there is a link between the proliferation of natural resources and political unrest and conflicts, which manifest themselves in â€Å"civil wars† (DiJohn 2002, p.1). A number of theories have been advanced in an effort to offer an explanation for this phenomenon. These include the â€Å"resource curse† theoretic model promoted by Gelb (1988) and Sachs and Warner (1997); the â€Å"rent-seeking† and â€Å"Dutch Disease† models referred to in research carried out by Torvik (2001 and 2002) and DiJohn (2002), whilst others link the causes more directly to the institutions and political conditions pertaining to the individual nation (Mehlum et al 2005 and Isham et al 2005). However, other researches have suggested that such models should be treated with caution. For example, Stijins (2005, p.3), suggest that earlier â€Å"resource curse† models have limitations, and this view is echoed in the works of Rosser (2007, p.39) and others. There have been similar divisions across the academic divide regarding the link between the level and treatment of natural resources and the propensity for civil unrest and violence, which culminates in most cases in civil wars. Whilst many observers view the cause of this unrest as being linked to natural resources and the political environment (Keen 2005, p.12) and the â€Å"difference in quality of institutions† (Mehlum et al 2005, p.3), others, including Rosser (2007, p.40), suggest that the level of strategic importance of the location of the individual nation may also be a determining factor, if not in the causality of civil war then in its potential longevity and likelihood of its reoccurrence. In addition, as Collier (2003, p.6), the globally perception held in many areas, that â€Å"nothing can be done† to end such disputes, add to the problem. The divergence of views and research results indicated previously does raise questions regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of any action that may be taken to resolve the issues outlined, either within an individual nation or when addressing a specific geographical area. For example, whilst addressing the â€Å"resource curse† or â€Å"Dutch disease† may have some positive impact on the economic growth and development in emerging economies, it could follow that without a simultaneous response to address the issue of political structure, institutions and civil war, such benefits would be negated by other influences. 1.1 Aims and Objectives The intention of this paper is to evaluate whether there is a common denominator that can be found to link the entire multitude of research together into one cohesive argument. Using the African states as a basis for this research it is felt that the conclusion of the paper could add to the continuing research into finding a unique theoretical model that will provide a format for improving the economic growth and development of poorer nations, particularly those that have not been seen to have gained economic growth and development benefits from their natural resource levels and capabilities. Thus, to identify a fundamental aim for this paper, it is considered that the conclusion of the study will be intended to seek an answer to the following question: â€Å"Is the incidence of Conflict and an abundance of Natural Resources in African States correlated with Economic Growth?† Furthermore, in order to provide a structure that will assist with the achievement of a conclusion to this conundrum, the author has set four main objectives for the research, which in concise terms can be identified as: Providing an assessment the relationship between a country’s economic growth and its dependence upon the export of natural resource products. Evaluating the claim that there is a link between civil war and economic growth and seek to distinguish the key elements that pertain to that link, which might include institutional and political performance. Assessing the level of probability of civil war resulting from a nations dependence upon natural resources. Reviewing the impact of strategic location, or lack of, and the potential influence this has upon internal conflict that might exist within the development process of an individual national or regional economy. 1.2 Overview For ease of reference the paper has been organised in the following manner. Following on from this introduction, in chapter two a critical review of recent theoretical literature relating to the subject being studied will be conducted. This will include an overview of the theories relating to natural resource impact and dependency, the relationship between civil war, natural resources and economic growth and other arguments that have been expounded upon in recent literature. Chapter three includes a discussion on the influence that natural resources has economic growth and political unrest and this is followed in chapter four by a more detailed analysis of the role of that conflict plays economic performance of nations who have these resources. In chapter six we provide and analyse the empirical evidence as it relates to the nations of Africa. This structure will enable us to reach a conclusion in chapter sever regarding the question set for the study (see page 5). A bibliography of sources and appropriate appendicles follow the conclusion of the research. As stated in introduction to this research, there has been a considerable amount of research carried out in regards to the influence that a wealth of natural resources has upon the economic growth of the poorer and emerging countries, as well as the relationship this has upon civil war and political unrest or imbalance. Within this review it is intended to focus upon the main economic and conflict theories that have been developed and discussed in recent decades. 2.1 The â€Å"Resource Curse† economic theory It is the negative or reduced economic growth patterns that have been experienced by nations that have significant natural resources, which has given rise to the term â€Å"resource curse,† and which has given rise to a considerable amount of literature and research since the late 1980’s, amongst the foremost of which is that conducted by Gelb (1988), Sachs and Warner (1997), Rodriguez and Sachs (1999) and Sala-i-Martin, and Subramanian, (2003, p.833), although there has been a proliferation of other works. The starting point and motivation for much, if not all of the research and literature relating to the â€Å"resource curse†, resulted from the significant difference that had been found to exist between the real economic growth performance of manufacturing and natural resource exporting countries over the years, as measured by the movement of GDP[1]. One of the latest examples of an analysis of this differential can be found in the review carried out for the World Bank by Isham et al (2005), which compared growth rates over a 40-year period (see figure 1). When converted into graphical format (see figure 2), the extent of the deceleration of national resource exporters and the differential between these and manufacture becomes more obviously apparent. As can be seen from the analysis (figure 1) in the first half of the period, when natural resources were being discovered and exploited, the GDP gap between these exporting nations and the manufactures exporters was more than halved, in fact in some periods the growth rate for natural resource rich countries was outperforming other areas (Le Billon 2005, p.13). But this improvement saw a dramatic reversal between 1975 and 1997. This performance has been directly linked to the movement of the natural resource revenue in other research, for example that conducted by Rodriguez and Sach (1999), where a similar pattern is revealed to be linked to the production of petroleum (see figure 3). However, taking the period in its entirety, as the figures and graph show, whilst the GDP for those countries that did not have a significant level of natural resources (the manufacturing exporters) grew by 1.02 %, even the best performing growth rates for natural resources elements, being diffuse at -0.43%, reveals a growth rate gap of 1.45%. At the extreme end of the scale according the Isham et al (2005, p.12) that gap exceeds 3.5%, which explains why when taken as a whole the differential between the two types of exporters increases to 3% by the end of the period being studied. 2.1.1 The African Link The majority of the research that has explored the â€Å"resource curse† has determined that this phenomenon has been particularly noticeable in the case of poorer and developing nations where, despite their high levels of natural resource and reserves, growth levels have been low or even regressed, in stark contrast to the performance of other nations that do not have the luxury of natural resources (Rodriguez and Sachs 1999, p.277 and Sach and Warner 2001, p.828). For example, Mehlum et al’s (2005) research concludes that many African countries with such resource levels have been afflicted by the curse, particularly those in the Sub-Saharan regions, which include Nigeria, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Angola. In support of the link between the â€Å"resource curse† and the African nations, researchers have used data from a variety of sources as evidence to support their hypotheses, most of which is based upon the analysis of GDP. For example, using a similar period to Isham et al (2005) (see figure 1 on page 8), the World Bank â€Å"World Development Indicators† show that, although rich in resources to a similar if not better level than other developing countries, the Sub-Saharan regions of Africa have fared much worse than others (see figure 4), Similarly, long-term patterns, dating back nearly two centuries (see figure 5), are used to support the fact that the curse is caused by factors outside of the possession of the resource itself. 2.2 The causes of the â€Å"Resource Curse† In investigating the cause of the â€Å"resource curse,† current literature has a divergence of views relating to the economic, political and other elements that conspire to create this environment. Various researchers have identified a number of different factors as being the root causes of, or significant contributory reasons for the â€Å"resource curse.† 2.2.1. The â€Å"crowding out† cause Of the most widely cited research, which includes the studies of being Sachs and Warner (2001) and Gelb (1998), describe the main issue as a effectively being a â€Å"crowding out† situation, whereby the concentration upon the natural resource has led to a situation where other exportable resources, such as manufacturing and production exports, which are considered to be important elements in a nations economic growth process, are at worst effectively neglected, or at best considered to be of reduced importance. This theory is supported by other research. Torvik (2002, p.455-456) acknowledges that this â€Å"crowding out† theory works on the premise that â€Å"an increased amount of natural resources then lowers productivity in all [other] sectors† of the economy. One popular variation of this model that has been developed is known as the â€Å"Rentier† state model (Torvik 2002, p.455). Torvik (2002, p.456) explains that in this case the negative impact on growth is generated by the fact that as powerful groups are attracted to the natural resource, they create an overcrowding within the natural resource sector, which again has the effect of contributing to the lowering growth rates. Sachs and Warner (2001, p.833) suggest that the major elements of â€Å"crowding out† are the fact that perceived and actual increase in wealth generated from the resource increases demand and leads to higher prices throughout the economy, thus making manufacturing less competitive, particular in respect of international trade. In addition (Ibid, p.835) the research also suggests that another contributory factor is the loss of â€Å"knowledge† available to manufacturing and other sectors caused by the profit attraction of the natural resource sector, which adds to the diminishing of the competitiveness of these sectors. Innovative entrepreneurs will be attracted to take their resources away from production and into the natural resource sectors, which offers them a higher level of profit and return at a relatively lower costs. In comparison therefore, the manufacturing areas are seen to be unproductive (Mehlum 2005, p.5), which is bad for economic growth. This explanatio n concurs with the results of Sala-i-Martin and Subramanian (2003, p.15 and Le Billon, 2005, p.5), which indicates that the movement of labour away from agriculture to natural resources has contributed to a near halving of this sectors share of GDP in many countries, as evidence in Nigeria. 2.2.2. Quality of institutions Other research, in dissimilarity to the popularity of the popular Sach and Warner view (Mehlum et al 2005, p.5), promotes the theory that the causes of â€Å"natural resource curse† are more closely related to the political and institutional failure to deal with the revenue, or â€Å"Windfall Gains† as Dalgaard and Olsson (2006, p.1) and others describe them. Sala-i-Martin and Subramanian (2003, p.8) findings in a study of the economic growth situation in Nigeria suggest that natural resources are â€Å"detrimental to institutional quality.† However, their research does find that this adverse effect of institutions appears to be more significant with oils and minerals than other natural resources and that once there is control within these institutions, the negativity impact ceases (Sala-i-Martin and Subramanian 2003, p.12), a view that Isham et al (2005, p.21) takes further by suggesting that the type of resource will â€Å"play a large role in shaping what kin ds of institutional forms exist and persist.† An efficient, effective or strong institution or government can be modeled largely on the western demographic models, where this is a large degree of interaction and connection between the political forces and the citizens, with transparency and accountability being an integral part of the institutions structure (Moore 2004, p.313). Similarly, in cases where strong institutions exist, he likelihood is that the natural resource will be owned by the people, (albeit it through shares in corporations), rather than the state itself. The only connection between state and resource will be through the taxes that it levies on the commercial profits made from that resource. Weak institutions tend to be less democratic, in some cases being controlled by dictators and military juntas that pay little heed to the needs of the citizen, preferring simply to concerns themselves with the needs of their power and personal wealth. Mehlum (2006, p.5) studies also confirm the institutional quality as being an important influence, in this respect leading to their conclusions that the â€Å"resource curse† is more prevalent in countries that have weak or poor quality of institutions, being those that are undermined by ethnic or non-democratic processes (Le Billon 2005, p.24). They describe these weak institutions as being â€Å"grabber friendly† A survey carried out during the course of their research found that out of 87 countries examined, only 15 were considered to have level and quality of institutions necessary to be effective in avoiding the affects or the curse. As with the earlier discussion on GDP, Isham et al (2005, p.13), again provides us with data support of the institutional influence (see figure 3). If we look at the top half of this list, which represents the elements of weak institutions, we see that whilst manufacture exporters still achieve a growth pattern, albeit small, resource exporters are afflicted with negative growth. Conversely, with the stronger elements of institutions in place, the natural â€Å"resource curse† is not apparent, with the resource exporters showing all the signs of reasonable levels of economic growth. Whilst agreeing with the principle that, particularly in Africa, institutions and the political structures are weak and therefore at risk from the â€Å"resource curse,† Dalgaard and Olsson (2006, p.4) add another element to the discussion, claiming the â€Å"windfall† element of the resource rent, added together with the level of Aid the country receives, exacerbate the problem of â€Å"resource curse.† Likening the resource windfalls to a lottery win Dalgaard and Olsson suggest that, faced with this relatively sudden new found source of wealth, the institutions are not sufficiently experienced in being able to administer it effectively and this produced a negative effect in institutional areas such as the rule of law and levels of corruption (Dalgaard and Olsson 2006, p.25). This is evidenced by the fact that â€Å"An IMF report on Angola, for example, suggests that close to $1 billion disappeared from the state coffers in 2001 alone, due to corruption, while fiscal discrepancies over the previous several years represented between 2 and 23% of the country’s GDP† Ross, 2003, p.9). 2.2.3. The â€Å"Dutch Disease† model To the extent that the â€Å"Dutch Disease† model relates to the potential for a reversal of industrialisation Sach and Warner (2001) favour the â€Å"Dutch Disease† model, although they do not support the element of this argument that suggest an increase in workers wages in all areas of the economy (Sach and Warner 2001, p.836). As the term indicates, the â€Å"Dutch Disease† theory was based upon the events experienced by the Netherlands following the discovery of natural â€Å"gas† resources within the country’s national waters in the mid 1950’s (Gylfason 2001, p.2). The elements of this theory rest upon three main areas. Firstly, the fact that the upward movement of the currency for a particular country following the discovery of resources exacerbates the manufacturing and servicing sectors, in that it reduces their price competitiveness (Gylfason 2001, p.2 and Sach and Warner 2001, p..834). As Torvik (2002, p.2) indicates, because it is because â€Å"changes in the composition of production that determines the level or the growth rate of productivity,† that the upward movement of currency prices has such a negative impact on internal production and welfare. Secondly, historically is has been noted that the global prices of resource materials is subject to a high level of fluctuation, which is caused by changes in the stocks, both in the resource rich country and other areas of the world (Gyflason 2001, p.3) For example, in the case of Norway, if other gas resource rich nations run out of supplies, the Norwegian resource will increase in value. Finally, the combination of the two previous elements causes financial exchange rate instability (Sach and Warner 1997 p.358 and Gyflason 2001, p.4). Gfylason suggests that this has an adverse effect on other areas such as foreign investment. Nevertheless, irrespective of these factors, in the case of Norway, their effect was limited and this is an element that Gylfason concentrated his efforts on discovering why this country’s economic performance did not perform in the same adverse way that other â€Å"OPEC† countries experienced as a result of the discovery of natural resources, which included nations located in Africa, nor did it have the same longer term effect. The discovered differential relied upon two main elements. Firstly, that Norway had been a developed nation for some years prior to the discovery and, secondly, as a result of the development position financial, social and political institutions in Norway were more â€Å"mature† (Gylfason 2001, p.10), therefore more likely to be able to avoid the adverse effects of the â€Å"resource curse,† which was not the case with other OPEC countries. These results reinforced the conclusion of other researchers in regards to two areas, these being that there is a relationship between â€Å"weak institutions† and the curse of natural resources and that the negative elements of the â€Å"Dutch disease† is essentially only a major issue for such institutions. 2.2.4  Other theoretical economic arguments Recently, economists and observers have sought to further clarify the theoretical argument relating to the â€Å"curse† of national resources by looking at other potential theoretical arguments, which would both support and potentially extend the existing literature on the subject of the â€Å"resource curse.† For example, Dalgaard and Olsson’s (2006, p.25) research indicated that there might be a connection between foreign aid and the resource curse, particularly in African nations that are the recipients of such aid. Whilst stopping short of agreeing with Burnside and Dollar’s (Quoted in Dalgaard and Olsson 2006, p.13) conclusion on this subject, this being the â€Å"aid only stimulated growth if accompanied by sufficiently sound macro-economic policies: e.g. low inflation and budget balance,† it was felt that further research into the systems and processes used for the distribution of aid was needed, as the likelihood of a connection with the eco nomic performance of a recipient nation could not be discounted. Another argument that has been put forward as elements of cause for the â€Å"resource† curse is the impact of an individual nation’s culture and geographic position. Dalgaard and Olsson (2006, p.19 and 20) believe that these issues should not be discounted. They point out that culture has been found to have a direct link to the level of corruption that exists within a nations political institution. In terms of geographical position, Dalgaard and Olsson’s study promote two arguments to support this being a classed as a source. The first of these is related to size, where it is argued that the greater the size of the country, the more extensive will be its institutions and, therefore, if the culture has a high corruption level, this will be increased (Dalgaard and Olson, 2006, p.19). Secondly, there is a potential for a historical link between geographical and institutions (Dalgaard and Ollsson 2006, p.14). In this case, the study sets the case for arguing that, because of the problems associated with areas such as the tropics, which includes high mortality rates and tropical climates, the early influence of Western institutional structure did not expand into these areas of the world as they had in others. As an example, they cite the colonial spread, which was not as widespread in the African continent as it was in places like India. Thus, this element of the theory is based upon the fact that those countries who had a foundation of good western institutions being better able to escape the â€Å"resource curse.† Phenomenon. However, other researchers do not agree with this scenario. Sach and Warner (2001, p.2 and 3) argue that using these determinates within the resource curse studies would lead to anomalies id data, with some countries appearing to be â €Å"high-natural resource† economies simply as a result of the inadequate or negative performance of other area of their economies, and visa-versa. In this regard they hold that â€Å"geography and climate variables do not eliminate the natural resource variable.† Sach and Warner 1999, p.5). Finally, but not totally unconnected with other arguments, is the argument relating to the problem of managing sudden excess. Referred to within Dalgaard and Olsson (2006, p.1) as the ineptitude of institutions at managing â€Å"windfall gains,† other reason it is the false perception of security that accompanies natural resources, which effectively provide â€Å"people with a false sense of security and lead governments to lose sight of the need for good and growth-friendly economic management, including free trade, bureaucratic efficiency, and institutional quality† (Gylfason 2001, p.7). Taking a slightly different tangent, although with a similar vein, Rodriguez and Sach (1999, p. 278), define that these countries are effectively â€Å"living beyond their means.† The view here is that resource rich countries are consuming the revenue from this resource without taking into account the fact that, unlike other areas of production, the stock of these resources can not be produced or expanded as quickly, therefore creating an increasing gap between revenue and expenditure, which eventually lead to a situation where the nation will reach a point where future revenue may have to be mortgaged to meet current expenditure. In summary, perhaps Gyflason (2001, p.8) puts it succinctly when he states that, irrespective of which argument one supports or how the individual may qualify it in academic terms, the core agreement is that â€Å"an abundance of natural capital may erode or reduce the quality of social, human, and physical capital, and thus stand in the way of rapid economic growth.† 2.3 Civil war and economic growth Irrespective of the divergence of views expressed within the literature outline in the previous sections of this chapter, one area that almost all are agreed upon is that in addition to the lack of economic growth resulting from the â€Å"resource curse,† this growth can also be adversely affected by the political stability of the nation, particularly where conflict and civil war is involved. The common definition of civil war is that conflict which leads to one thousand deaths or more. Similarly, the popular western perception is that the causes of such conflicts are caused by racial or religious tensions (Collier 2000, p.95-96). Whilst this may be true in terms of the sides taken in internal power struggles (Keen 2000, p.24), in most cases these are fuelled by a struggle to control resources. To this extent there is an economic element (Keen 2000, p.22 and Berdel and Malone 2000, p.28). Mehlum (2003, p.275) and Keen (2000, p.29) reinforce this viewpoint with the findings that those involved with these conflicts include elements from all aspects of society, such as rebels, military, political and commercial factions. In other words, particularly in countries with weak political controls â€Å"a war may be seen as continuation of economics by other means† (Keen 2000, p.22) rather than a simple clash of ideologies. Methlum et al (2005, p.6) confirm this argument, showing that in a country that have institutions and governments deemed to be weak, which is the case in many African states, this results in a situation where â€Å"the government is unable to provide basic security.† They conclude that such a situation creates an environment that fuels an increase in violence and civil wars, with control of natural resources being the main success target of the conflict and, ironically, used to finance many of these activities. Providing evidence of this in his study relating to the phenomenon of conflict diamonds, Olsson (2004, p.3) states that in countries with rich resources and weak institutions, natural resources can often lead to a triangular conflict environment of â€Å"a ruler (the prey) in control of a flow of natural resource rents, and a rebel (the predator) who might choose to prey on the ruler’s natural resource,† with the ordinary person in between these, that can create an adverse economic effect. Because the rebel wants to appropriate the natural resources, this forces the ruler to invest resources in defence, thus lessening the resources available for production and reducing the potential for economic growth. As is indicated later in this same research (Olsson 004, p.14), this situation of fuelling conflict and lining the pockets of dictators is not just limited to diamonds, but extends to a number of other natural resources. Other literature has confirmed the connection between the potential for conflict and economic growth. Rodrigueaz and Sach (1999, p.19) commenting upon the aspect of nations living beyond their means, found that, in the case of Venezuela, this leads to unrest and conflict. Dalgaard and Olsoson (2006, p.8) also identified that the high level of natural resources, when combined with weak government and low productivity in areas of production not related to natural resources, produced a â€Å"higher risk of potential conflict.† Both of these studies concluded that these conflicts served to deepen the adverse effects on economic growth. As Rodrik (1998, p.3) showed in his research, the biggest falls in GDP rates post 1975 occurred in countries that were socially divided and unable to manage conflict and these countries, more often than not, were those with high levels of natural resources (Wagner 2007). Thus it is concluded that civil war can serve to significantly damage economic growth (Rodrik 1998, p.3). 2.4 Natural resources role in Civil war One of the recurrent themes in the literature relating to natural resources, as has been identified within the previous sections, is the impact that natural resources and economics has upon social unrest and conflict. For example, Le Roux’s (2004, p.3) research suggests that as

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Theory of Sign Essay -- Communication, Signs

To understand how sign functions, semiosis, Morris proposes four elements: Sign vehicle (S), Designatum (D), and Interpretant and interpreter (I). "The mediators are sign vehicles; the taking-account-of are interpretants; the agents of the process are interpreters; what is taken account of are designata" (Morris, 19). Those elements of semiosis become the foundation of branches of linguistics and basic elements of language. The branches of linguistics are semantics is the study of sign in its relation to designatum, pragmatics the study of sign in relation to interpreter, and syntactics the study of sign in relation to other signs. Since language, according to Morris, is â€Å"a system of interconnected signs,† a language must consist of the four elements as he implies in his formula: L= Lsyn + Lsem + Lp (see Morris, 25). However, we might observe that Morris’s definition of language apparently falls into the category of syntactical element. Another objection might be is that by extending the four semiosis elements into linguistics and language, Morris’s definition of sign will be problematic since all objects that are symbolically and linguistically associated with other objects are defined as signs. Therefore one might observe the discrepancy of his definition of sign with examples that he proposes as Lesse demonstrates (see article). Since this paper is aimed at demonstrating my understanding on Morris’ theory of sign, I will describe the problematic aspects of Morris’s arguments if they becomes obstacles for me understand his theory. Morris argues that the object of semiotic does not deal with particular object, but association of four of them, therefore sign is characterized as: â€Å"S is a sign of D for I to the degree that I take... ...tures of particular objects that universal signs refer to -- as a formalist-behaviorist, Morris is unconcerned with mental images since they do not emerge in the relational properties of sign. Describing signs functions in semantic context and universal sign in syntactical context. In contrast, indexical signs are located in syntax; unless we understand that to be meaningful the act of directionality must contain an object, then they are in the realm of semantics. All syntactical relations of signs are subjected to rules. Morris proposes two rules: formation and transformation. Formation rules govern formation of kernel sentences, and transformation rules derivative sentences (Morris, 29). Based on the syntactical rules, Morris suggests the object of syntax is syntactical relations between signs: â€Å"[the relations] determined by syntactical rules† (Morris, 29).

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Ticket to Listen :: Music Rolling Stones Personal Narratives Essays

Ticket to Listen One little remnant of my past that I hold dear to me is a tiny scrap of paper. Though it is somewhat creased because of wear and tear, it still is able to tell a tale. The background is a pale white; the back is filled with tiny font disclaimers throughout it which leave no unusual scenario unexplained. The front has a broad blue stripe and a thinner orange strip underneath. Some of the black lettering is faded but the most important words still stand out, they are â€Å"The Rolling Stones†, â€Å"Landover, MD† and â€Å"Fed ex Field†. Those few words are all that need to be legible on my ticket for me to remember and still be able to tell the tale no matter how many years pass this stub by. The story on how I got this ticket is a little unusual. It all started when I found out the Stones were playing in Landover, MD which is far when you compare it to their next stop which was California. Both my boyfriend and I are huge Rolling Stones fans and all he ever wanted was to go see them live in concert. So of course after finding out they were playing in MD only five days before the show I had my work cut out for me. The next few days consisted of me calling every ticket distributor known to mankind to no avail, there was always some problem no seats available or seats available but none together†¦ The list went on and on, but I have this thick-skinned thing about me that once I want something I’m just going to have to find some way to get it and I was determined to pull this one off. Despite all my efforts the day of the concert came and I still had no tickets, yet I knew it didn’t matter I was still going to get us there somehow. I spent the whole day on and off the phone with my boyfriend’s older sister Candi scheming up some brilliant plan to get in. It ended up being our plan to just wing it. We were going to surprise my boyfriend and hop in the car and head down to Maryland right after school.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Evaluation of Social Identity Theory Essay

Social categorization is the filing of the certain type of people, which is usually expressed to individuals that are the similar to you as ‘us’ or to individuals who you see are different from what you think of yourself as ‘them’. When you observe at other people, you see the differences of how other people look and behave compared to how you usually behave and act during your daily life. Furthermore, you will categorize them as being ‘them’ as a word to describe either the significant or insignificant differences between people that are similar to you and people who are not similar to how you look or behave. For e.g. some people often think that they are ‘cool’ based on their own opinion, but when someone else is different they might be considered as being ‘uncool’. Social identity looks mainly at the individual characteristics that determine who you actually are. It is solely based on what you do that defines you socially or in public, which makes people believe that this is your identity. Social Identity is not personal identity as there is no correspondence. Personal identity basically looks at what you do personally compared to social identity, which is solely about the individual characteristics that you represent in the eye of the public. You can be socially identified to be e.g. ‘a nerd’, because of your individual characteristics that seem to define you in resemblance to a nerd, for example, being knowledgeable or smart in terms of IQ or the way you dress or look. Or that someone is gay or a lesbian, because they act unusually strange resembling of how the opposite gender usually acts. Additionally, the way they dress that is unusual in the public’s eye, so they will be easily identified as being gay or a lesbian, e.g. a man wearing tight-fit shorty shorts and long boots with a handbag or a woman with short hair  wearing a hoodie with baggie trousers and casual Nike shoes. Social comparison is the comparison between individuals due to the differences from the determination of the characteristics of one person. Our conscience is socially aware to help us be able to understand these differences so that we are able to distinguish people that are alike and people that are different. Furthermore, we tend to help people due to their individual characteristics that are similar to ours and instead we are hesitant or not willing to help someone else that are considered to be different from ‘us’. In Tajfel’s theory, it is an experiment conducted with students that are sorted into small groups. Each group produced an artwork and they were then told to rate the painting work of other groups, including their own. At the end result, one group that is pre-dominantly male-based has given their own artwork very high ratings, while the ratings of others were low. This shows the differences between self-admiration and egotistical thinking, as they are putting themselves in best priority. Positive Distinctiveness are †¦. That is recognized as being special and different to what is already common†¦

Monday, September 16, 2019

Admission Essay for Medical School

Since my childhood, I have been dreaming to be a doctor. I believe that a doctor has a noble job because it extends a helping hand to those people who are in need; especially the sick one. Doctors are believed as the living heroes because they are always on duty to lend services for the ill people.Every time I can see people who are seriously ill, suffering from pain and look hopeless my heart really goes out with them. I constantly remind myself that serving them is such a noble profession. The cries and pains of the patients’ eyes that I see every time I visit a hospital really register on my mind and when I remember them, it pushes me to pursue my dream and that is to be a doctor.Moreover, whenever my mom and grandparents are sick, I am really the one, who attends to them and if there are chances to render services in the civic works, I also volunteer.The three people who brought impact to my life are my grandmother, my bestfriend and my mom. Among these three, it is my mom who really brought change and has really affected my life. Well, my grandmother encourages me to have difference in this world by serving people who are in need. I have witnessed how my grandma cares my grandfather when he is seriously ill.I can really see the love and concern; thus, she is constantly reminding me that if I serve people, it should be done in love. That line really inculcates in my mind.   On the other hand, my bestfriend really motivates me to believe that I can do the things which I thought I can’t do; like having a thought that going to a medical school is impossible because I know the qualifications are really high but she let me believe and realize that I have a heart in serving people.Moreover, it is really my mom who has a great impact and influence to me why I want to pursue this career. As I look back my childhood days, I can’t help myself to laugh with those nonsense choices that I have made. Those memories are still fresh in my mind and I can’t remember any incident which I don’t pout every time the day of Monday is coming up, the first day of school.   Monday up to Friday is my â€Å"terrible† days of my life when I am still a child.I need to wake up early so that I will not be late for school and be able to catch the school bus. I need to make many assignments, unending assignments for every subject and I really find them a waste of time. I can still remember how my mom wakes me up by saying â€Å"honey, you have to wake up now†¦You will be late for school.† It is my mom who really pushes me to go to school.I try to ask my mom why I need to go to school when I can learn many things by playing with my friends and watching television. But my mom would answer me that it is different if I am in school because I can learn how to read and write.She also adds that good education is the only wealth that they can leave, with my dad, to me that can’t be stolen by anybody and if I rea lly dream to be a doctor, I should also do my part. I attempt to reason out but then, I am just a loser because my mom would not listen to my sentiments and she just continually sends me to school.She tries to encourage me a lot in order to make me enthusiastic with my studies but then, in my own thinking, going to school is just irrelevant and boring, totally boring! But in a long run, I discover that going to school is a lot of fun especially when my Science teacher starts to discuss about the parts of human beings, its systems and functions.It makes me wonder how these parts function. From that moment, I start liking going to school. In addition, there is one incident that my mom gets sick. I am so worried but when I remember what my Science teacher teaches us on how to take care the sick people, I am relieved.The edge that sets me apart from others who apply to Xavier University school of Medicine, Bonaire is that I am a very patient individual and have the passion to serve othe rs; thus, doing extra mile for the benefits of the many.I am very dedicated and serious to my studies and always ready to learn new things. I am a type of student who does not easily give up when the going gets tough but continues to pursue until I will know it. Furthermore, I am also a graduate of Dentistry which is a good ground for my medical studies.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Hamlet Siloquies

Hamlet gives us seven soliloquies, all centered on the most important existential themes: the emptiness of existence, suicide, death, suffering, action, a fear of death which puts off the most momentous decisions, the fear of the beyond, the degradation of the flesh, the triumph of vice over virtue, the pride and hypocrisy of human beings, and the difficulty of acting under the weight of a thought ‘which makes cowards of us all'.He offers us also, in the last act, some remarks made in conversation with Horatio in the cemetery which it is suitable to place in the same context as the soliloquies because the themes of life and death in general and his attitude when confronted by his own death have been with him constantly. Hamlet's soliloquy's reveal much about his character. However, they mainly seem to reveal that he is virtuous, though quite indecisive. These characteristics are explored through his various ways of insulting himself for not acting on his beliefs, and his consta nt need to reassure himself that his deeds are correct.Four of his seven soliloquies deserve our special attention: ‘O that this too sullied flesh would melt', ‘O what a rogue and peasant slave am I! ‘, ‘To be, or not to be, that is the question', and ‘How all occasions do inform against me'. In Act 1 Scene 2, Hamlet is suicidally depressed by his father’s death and mother’s remarriage. He is disillusioned with life, love and women. Whether ‘sullied’ or ‘solid’ flesh, the reference is to man’s fallen state.This is the fault of woman, because of Eve’s sin, and because the misogynistic medieval church had decreed that the father supplied the spirit and the mother the physical element of their offspring. Both words apply equally well, linking with the theme of corruption or the imagery of heaviness, but ‘solid’ is more subtle and fits better with the sustained metaphor of ‘meltingâ₠¬â„¢, ‘dew’ and ‘moist’, and the overarching framework of the four hierarchical elemental levels in the play: fire, air, water and earth. Melancholy was associated with a congealing of the blood, which also supports the ‘solid’ reading.In all likelihood it is a deliberate pun on both words by the dramatist and Hamlet. Other imagery concerns a barren earth, weed-infested and gone to seed, making the soliloquy an elegy for a world and father lost. Hamlet condemns his mother for lack of delay, and is concerned about her having fallen ‘to incestuous sheets’. His attitude to his dead father, his mother and his new father are all made clear to the audience here, but we may suspect that he has a habit of exaggeration and strong passion, confirmed by his use of three names of mythological characters.His reference to the sixth commandment — thou shalt not kill — and application of it to suicide as well as murder introduces the first of many Christian precepts in the play and shows Hamlet to be concerned about his spiritual state and the afterlife. Many of the play’s images and themes are introduced here, in some cases with their paired opposites: Hyperion versus satyr; heart versus tongue; heaven versus earth; ‘things rank and gross in nature’; memory; reason. In Act 1 Scene 5, having heard the Ghost’s testimony, Hamlet becomes distressed and impassioned.He is horrified by the behavior of Claudius and Gertrude and is convinced he must avenge his father’s murder. This speech is duplicative, contains much tautology, and is fragmented and confused. To reveal his state of shock he uses rhetorical questions, short phrases, dashes and exclamations, and jumps from subject to subject. God is invoked three times. The dichotomy between head and heart is mentioned again. In Act 2 Scene 2, Hamlet’s mood shifts from self-loathing to a determination to subdue passion and follow reason, applying this to the testing of the Ghost and his uncle with the play.The first part of the speech mirrors the style of the First Player describing Pyrrhus, with its short phrasing, incomplete lines, melodramatic diction and irregular metre. This is a highly rhetorical speech up to line 585, full of lists, insults and repetitions of vocabulary, especially the word ‘villain’; this suggests he is channelling his rage and unpacking his heart with words in this long soliloquy, railing impotently against himself as well as Claudius.He then settles into the gentler and more regular rhythm of thought rather than emotion. The irony being conveyed is that cues for passion do not necessarily produce it in reality in the same way that they do in fiction, and that paradoxically, deep and traumatic feeling can take the form of an apparent lack of, or even inappropriate, manifestation. Act 3 Scene 1 was originally the third soliloquy and came before the entry of the Players. Some directors therefore place this most famous of soliloquies at II. 2. 71, but this has the effect of making Hamlet appear to be meditating on what he has just been reading rather than on life in general whereas the Act III scene 1 placing puts the speech at the centre of the play, where Hamlet has suffered further betrayals and has more reason to entertain suicidal thoughts. The speech uses the general ‘we’ and ‘us’, and makes no reference to Hamlet’s personal situation or dilemma. Although traditionally played as a soliloquy, technically it is not, as Ophelia appears to be overtly present (and in some productions Hamlet addresses the speech directly to her) and Claudius and Polonius are within earshot.At the time this was a standard ‘question’ (this being a term used in academic disputation, the way the word ‘motion’ is now used in debating): whether it is better to liveunhappily or not at all. As always, Hamlet moves f rom the particular to the general, and he asks why humans put up with their burdens and pains when they have a means of escape with a ‘bare bodkin’. Hamlet also questions whether it is better to act or not to act, to be a passive stoic like Horatio or to meet events head on, even if by taking up arms this will lead to one’s own death, since they are not to be overcome.There is disagreement by critics (see Rossiter, p. 175) as to whether to ‘take up arms against a sea of troubles’ ends one’s opponent or oneself, but it would seem to mean the latter in the context. Although humans can choose whether to die or not, they have no control over ‘what dreams may come’, and this thought deters him from embracing death at this stage. Although death is ‘devoutly to be wished’ because of its promise of peace, it is to be feared because of its mystery, and reason will always counsel us to stick with what we know.Strangely, the Gho st does not seem to count in Hamlet’s mind as a ‘traveller’ who ‘returns’. Given that Hamlet has already concluded that he cannot commit suicide because ‘the Everlasting had†¦ fixed/His canon ’gainst self-slaughter’, there is no reason to think he has changed his mind about such a fundamental moral and philosophical imperative. C. S. Lewis claims that Hamlet does not suffer from a fear of dying, but from a fear of being dead, of the unknown and unknowable.However, Hamlet later comes to see that this is a false dichotomy, since one can collude with fate rather than try futilely to resist it, and then have nothing to fear. The ‘conscience’ which makes us all cowards probably means conscience in the modern sense, as it does in ‘catch the conscience of the King’. However, its other meaning of ‘thought’ is equally appropriate, and the double meaning encapsulates the human condition: to be cap able of reason means inevitably to recognize one’s guilt, and both thought and guilt make us fear punishment in the next life.With the exception of Claudius, intermittently and not overridingly, and Gertrude after being schooled by Hamlet, no other character in the play shows evidence of having a conscience in the sense of being able to judge oneself and be self-critical. This has a slower pace than the previous soliloquies, a higher frequency of adjectives, metaphors, rhythmical repetitions, and regular iambics. Hamlet’s melancholy and doubt show through in the use of hendiadys, the stress on disease, burdens, pain and weapons, and the generally jaundiced world view.The ‘rub’ referred to in line 65 is an allusion to an obstacle in a game of bowls which deflects the bowl from its intended path, and is yet another indirection metaphor. Act 3 Scene 2, Hamlet feels ready to proceed against the guilty Claudius. He is using the stereotypical avenger language an d tone in what the Arden edition calls ‘the traditional night-piece apt to prelude a deed of blood’. He is aping the previous speaker’s mode as so often, trying to motivate himself to become a stage villain, by identifying with Lucianus, the nephew to the king.This is the least convincing of his soliloquies because of the crudity of the cliched utterance, and one suspects it is a leftover from an earlier version of the revenge play. The emphasis at the end, however, is on avoiding violence and showing concern for his own and his mother’s souls; his great fear is of being ‘unnatural’, behaving as a monster like Claudius. He is, however, impressionable to theatrical performance, as we saw from his reaction to the Pyrrhus/Hecuba speeches earlier, and this carries him through to the slaying of Polonius before it wears off and, if we can believe it, ‘’A weeps for what is done’.This soliloquy creates tension for the audience, who are unsure of how his first private meeting with his mother will turn out and how they will speak to each other. He mentions his ‘heart’ and ‘soul’ again. Act 3 Scene 3, Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while he is praying, claiming that this would send him to heaven, which would not be a fitting punishment for a man who killed his father unprepared for death and sent him to purgatory. For Hamlet revenge must involve justice.It begins with a hypothetical ‘might’, as if he has already decided to take no action, confirmed by the single categorical word ‘No’ in line 87, the most decisive utterance in the play. The usual diction is present: ‘heaven’, ‘hell’, ‘black’, ‘villain’, ‘sickly’, ‘soul’, ‘heavy’, ‘thought’, ‘act’. Act 4 Scene 4, Hamlet questions why he has delayed, and the nature of man and honor. He resolves again to do the bloody deed. Once again, he is not really alone; he has told Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to move away but they are still on stage, following their orders to watch him.Despite exhortation and exclamation at the end, this speech excites Hamlet’s blood for no longer than the previous soliloquies. Though it seems to deprecate passive forbearance and endorse the nobility of action — by definition one cannot be great if one merely refrains — the negative diction of ‘puffed’, ‘eggshell’, ‘straw’, ‘fantasy’ and ‘trick’ work against the meaning so that it seems ridiculous of Fortinbras to be losing so much to gain so little, and neither Hamlet nor the audience can be persuaded of the alleged honour to be gained.Fortinbras — who is not really a ‘delicate and tender prince’ but a ruthless and militaristic one, leader of a ‘list of lawless resolutes‘ — s eems positively irresponsible in his willingness to sacrifice 20,000 men for a tiny patch of ground and a personal reputation. Critics dispute whether Hamlet is condemning himself and admiring Fortinbras, having accepted that the way to achieve greatness is to fight and win, like his father, or whether he has now realized how ridiculous the quest for honor is, and that one should wait for it to come rather than seek it out.As the Arden editors point out, there is double-think going on, whereby ‘Hamlet insists on admiring Fortinbras while at the same time acknowledging the absurdity of his actions’ (p. 371). As so often when Hamlet is debating with himself and playing his own devil’s advocate, the opposite meaning seems to defeat the conscious argument he is trying to present. Lines 53 to 56 are grammatically obscure and add to the confusion. What is clear is Hamlet’s frustration with himself at the beginning of the soliloquy, which the 26 monosyllables com prising lines 43–46 powerfully convey.