Father and children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Father and children - Essay Example n fathers and children depicted in the novel goes far beyond family ties - it is a social dispute of the old nobility and aristocracy, and the young revolutionary-democratic intellectuals. In particular, the question of fathers and children’s comprehension is revealed in the novel through the relationship of a young nihilist Bazarov with a representative of the nobility Pavel Kirsanov, as well as with his parents, and within the family of Kirsanov. As we can see the central point of contradictory and colliding views of the characters becomes Bazarov’s denial of everything that seems to be essential for the â€Å"fathers†. He does not just refuse to accept the knowledge of another generation but insists that there is a need to clear some beliefs for flourishing of his contemporaries. This is the moment which does not allow the representatives of so-called old school to compose, for it gainsays all the postulates they have believed all their lives. So Turgenev shows efforts to defend a particular opinion of both sides of the conflict. The problem of fathers and children stimulates the constant thinking over the mentioned issue of non-compliance betw een generations. The writer persistently rises the burning for his time issue, and the whole story begins from the speaking title of the novel. So what is presented in the novel’s title in verbal terms? The expression â€Å"Fathers and Sons† in the context of the work is ambiguous. Bazarov and Arkady’s fathers participate in the plot. Direct family ties of other characters are also mentioned. However, the heading of the work is metaphoric, for the older generation can be understood under the â€Å"fathers† that is followed by the young one, that is, â€Å"sons†. The title has an important organizing feature. The theme of â€Å"fathers† and â€Å"children† literally permeates the entire narrative. At the very beginning Nikolai Kirsanov is presented to readers as a father waiting for his son Arkady. It is mentioned in

Sherlock Homes Essay Example for Free

Sherlock Homes Essay Sweeney Todd is the story of a barber and his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett. Sweeney is a fictional villain/hero. The story is considered to be fiction but there are rumors that it is based off of a historical event, though there has been no convincing evidence (Haining 1979, BBC 2005, and Duff 2006) . The story dates from around the mid 1800s and is an early example of a serial killer. The tale was found to originate in a penny serial entitled, The String of Pearls; a Romance from Edward Lloyds The Peoples Periodical and Family Library. The String of Pearls was eventually published as a complete book and gained the title The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance (PBS 2006). The very first stage performance of This tale was done as a melodrama in 1847. George Dibben Pitt adapted the serial as a melodrama and the story tool the stage at Hoxtons Britannia Theatre. In 1963 a film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was produced. Sweeney Todd has also made an appearance in an episode of The New Adventures of Sherlock Homes; The Strange Case of the Demon Barber. The motive behind Sweeney Todd’s acts is not revealed until a stage adaption in 1973 when a playwritgh Christopher Bind Gave Sweeney a back story (PBS 2006). He was a wronged baber returned to England after 15 years of exile. He discovers his wife is dead and his enemy, the judge, has adopted his daughter with plans to marry her. Sweeney eventually teams up with Mrs. Lovett, his neighbor from downstairs and they begin a successful business. He as a barbar, killing some of his customers, and she makes pies using his dead customers as filling. All of his actions are focused on killing the judge. It wasn’t until 1979 that Sweeney Todd was adapted into full musical theater regalia. Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler adapted Bond’s stage version in to a successful Broadway musical starring Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime (Sondheim 1979). Over the years more adaptations have been produced for stage and television. Sweeney Todd arrived in movie theaters for a second time in 2007. Tim Burton adapted Stephen Sondheim’s musical for the big screen with Johnny Depp starring as Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham-Carter as Mrs. Lovett (Burton 2007). A current trend in the entertainment sector is to adapt musical theater into movies. Sweeney Todd follows in the footsteps of Chicago and Dreamgirls. All three award winning musical shows have been adapted into popular movies. Sweeney Todd has much more history than these other shows and it is unknown if this fictional barber is based on real life events or just a fantastic and thrilling story. While the movie does a credible job of adapting the plot of Sweeney Todd one of the large differences between the film and musical is secondary character development. The musical’s plot focuses around Sweeney Todd and his partner in crime Mrs. Lovett but you are also presented with the stories of Pirelli, the beadle, Joanna and Anthony, the judge and Sweeney Todd’s wife or as we find out at the end, the beggar woman. The movie incorporates these characters and bits of their stories. However their full story is not disclosed in the movie resulting in some stilted characters and underdeveloped plot lines, at least compared to the musical.

Sychoanalytic Theory And Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho Film Studies Essay

Sychoanalytic Theory And Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho Film Studies Essay The main concept of this essay is to point out how psychoanalytic theory could be used as a method of understanding and analyzing cultural products. The most valid approach for this is to observe how the cinema integrates psychoanalytical theories into specific film concepts. For this reason a Hitchcock film is used as an example, for it a common fact that there are many Freudian aspects in his movies. Specifically, Psycho is regarded by many film theorists and historians as the first psychoanalytic thriller (Kaganski as cited in Boulton, 2010). As implied by the title of the film, it is a movie whose plot is based on the Freudian Oedipus complex theory. First of all, it is noteworthy how the cinema developed a strong connection to psychoanalytic theories over the years. What is also interesting is the way in which a movie could be interpreted as a desire or a dreaming process. Moreover, in the second part of the essay, the correlation which Psycho has with psychoanalytical procedure is explored, in an effort to discover its kind and if it is actually the first psychoanalytic movie. Following a short presentation of the main plot, it is necessary to examine the nature of the Oedipus complex and how it is applied to the movie. Despite the fact that it remains the central psychoanalytic idea in the film, is not the only Freudian reference; the movie could also be interpreted through ego, superego and id psychoanalytic aspect. Finally, it is imperative to dissect the two protagonist characters and the famous murder scenes under the psychoanalytic perspective. CINEMA AND PSYCHOANALYSIS Cinema is considered to be among the most important institutions of the post modern society, one which serves numerous sociological purposes, through the use of art. The sociological perspective of cinema is but one side of the coin; the other side represents a more personal, more intimate psychoanalytical procedure. It is true that Freudian psychoanalysis is not a process concerned only with psychological models and consciousness. In modern society, psychoanalysis also constitutes a means of understanding works of great artistic and cultural values, such as cinematic films (Mertz, 1976). A movie could be experienced through the psychoanalytical lens in variety of diverse ways, such as the Freudian dream interpretation or as an object of our fantasy-desire (Lacan) or even as our identification through voyeurism (ibid). Freud characterizes the dream as the expression of a wish fulfilled; a movie could, conceivably, be seen as a dream, because on the screen we witness some of our desires being visualized. Spellbound and Marnie are two of Hitchcocks films that could be approached through the method of dream interpretation (Sandis, 2009). The history of the relation between psychoanalysis and cinema is divided into three periods. During the 30s, psychoanalysis became a familiar point of interest for the movie industry, although it was still somewhat superficial and had little to do with actual human behavior. After the Second World War, the references to psychoanalysis became even more apparent, because of the appearance of psychological problems. The Wars cinematic demonstration followed this optimistic evolution (Gale Dictionary of Psychoanalysis). Hitchcocks movies had a great impact in this certain period, mainly due to their deep connection with psychoanalytic concepts. Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959) or The birds (1963) are cultural works with oedipal themes in them. More recently psychoanalysis has been integrated in certain cinematic aspects as an objective cognitive method or even ridiculed method (for example in Woody Allens movie characters) (Gale Dictionary of Psychoanalysis). PSYCHO AND PSYCHOANALYSIS The movie is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and scripted by Joseph Stefano, who adapted the screenplay from the homonymous novel written by Robert Bloch. Blochs 1959 novel was based on the true story of a notorious psychotic serial killer, named Edward Gein. His murderous character has inspired many other serial killers such as Jame Gumb (Buffalo Bill) in the Silence of the Lambs (1991) (Dirks). The movie had a great impact in the 60s and since then Hitchcock is considered as the original creator of suspense. Psycho is so multilayered and complex a movie, that it reveals more and more of its essence with each viewing. This explains why there is such a controversy about what genre of movie it is. The main theme is mystery and Hitchcock promotes it with his unique direction technique. When the film was aired in theaters, he insisted that no one would have a seat after the film had started. Thus, the audiences speculated that something terrible was happening in the first few minutes (Dirks). Psycho is considered a film noir because it shares some common characteristics with those films but, at the same time, remains very peculiar. Through the perspective that a film noir conjures a universe where human desire fails to be fulfilled, Psycho could be regarded as one of those films (Palmer, 1986). Lacans object petite a theory is referred to an unattainable desire, such as Normans desire for Marion (Laplanche, Pontalis, 1986). There is also another theory which makes Psycho the first psychoanalytical movie (Kaganski as cited in Boulton). Specifically, it starts as a whodunit, then it is transformed into a horror film and then into a suspense film with elements of very dark, black comedy. However, if one digs deeper, it inevitably becomes apparent that the film is undoubtedly psychological with specific Freudian interpretations. Francois Truffaut has said: If Psycho had been intended as a serious picture, it would have been shown as a clinical case with no mystery or suspense. The material would have been used as a documentation of a case history (Truffaut as cited in Sandis, 2009:69). In addition to this aspect, Hitchcock has mentioned Probably the real Psycho story wouldnt have been emotional at all; it wouldve been terribly clinical (Hitchcock as cited in Sandis, 2009:70). He was referring to the real incident of mother obsessed Ed Gein, who used to dress up like his dead mother and had murdered about a dozen women (Sandis, 2009). The psychoanalytical view of the movie is illustrated as a parallel between Lila Cranes exploration of the gothic mothers house and the exploration of Bates divided mind. The Freudian element, which explains the construction of Normans personality, defines the concept of the story. First of all, there is a traumatic incident (matricide) causing a transfer of guilt (translated on this occasion into the Oedipus complex). This, in turn, causes a partial loss of the self and a deep identification with the victim (ibid). The story unfolds from this Freudian perspective. Thus, it is evident that Psycho is structured according to the psychoanalytic procedure. THE STORY Marion Crane is a Phoenix office worker, whose life falls short of her expectations. She cant get married with her boyfriend, Sam because he has to provide most of his money in alimony. One Friday her employer confided to her to deposit $40,000. Thinking that this is a good opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town, headed towards Sams store in California. A heavy rainstorm forces her to spend the night at Bates motel. The motel is managed by Norman Bates, a young man who has a very domineering mother. During the night Marion decides to return the money the next morning. Unfortunately, while she is taking a shower, an anonymous figure enters and stabs her to death. After extensive research, it is revealed that Norman has kept his mother to life through his split personality. Dominated by his mothers personality, Norman kills anyone he feels attracted to. In the final scene, we find Norman in prison, haunted by his mothers persona, thinking of how to prove her/his innocence. OEDIPUS COMPLEX Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta, who was exiled from his homeland by his father because of a prophecy. The prophecy foretold that Oedipus would murder his own father. After many years Oedipus decided to discover his origins and returned to Thebes, where he met his father and, unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy, killed him. Then he was made king of the Thebans and was rewarded with the hand of Jocasta, who was his mother. When Oedipus realized that he had fulfilled the prophecy by killing his own father and having children with his mother, he blinded himself (Willner, 1982). Oedipus Rex is a famous Sophocles ancient Greek tragedy, which has been interpreted by Freud as nothing more or less than a wish fulfillment- the fulfillment of the wish of our childhood (Freud as cited in Willner, 1982). Specifically, Freud believes that boys are all destined to direct their first sexual impulse toward their mothers and their violent impulses toward their father. Under the, so called, positive form the complex is appeared as Oedipus story: death wish for the opponent who is the person of the same sex, the father and sexual desire for the person of the opposite sex, the mother. The Oedipus complex is experienced from 3 to 5 years old and is revived during the adolescent period. The liberation from this complex has to do with the healthy structuring of the personality (Laplanche, Pontalis, 1986). If the boy does not repress his sexual desire toward the Mother and does not identify himself with the Father, he cannot develop a normal personality. It is considered that the Oedipus complex is the main psychoanalytic idea of the movie and Norman Bates is its modern atypical version (Boulton, 2010). According to the films ending psychiatric speech: Now he was already dangerously disturbed, had been ever since his father died. His mother was a clinging, demanding woman, and for years the two of them lived as if there was no one else in the world. Then she met a manà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and it seemed to Norman that she threw him over. Now that pushed him over the line and he killed them both (Boulton, 2010). Norman Bates did not manage to overcome his unconscious sexual desire toward his mother and acted out his also unconscious drive of killing the Father. That explains why the mother half of Normans mind has won (Boulton, 2010: 2). Psychiatrist Dr. Richmond illustrates that Norman has sexual desires for an attractive woman as normal men have, but his split personality does not allow him to develop a normal sexual intercourse. He explains to Lila (Marions sister) that When he (Norman) met your sister, he was touched by herà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦aroused by her. He wanted her. That set off the jealous mother and mother killed the girl! Now after the murder, Norman returned as if from a deep sleep. And like a dutiful son, covered up all traces of the crime he was convinced his mother had committed! (ibid: 2) Norman, driven by envy, killed his mother and her lover. In other words, he committed the crime of matricide, which is considered the most heinous and unpardonable crime and is especially unbearable for the son who commits it (Dirks). Trying to erase the crime in his own mind, he developed a split personality. As a result, he created an illusion that his mother was still alive. To make this illusion a physical reality, he stole her dead body and preserved it, using his taxidermist skills. In his delusional mind he played-acted and imagined that he was his mother and that she was as pathologically jealous of him as he was of her (ibid). In this way, he was acting as his mother and committed murders due to her jealousy. It is evident that he chose this horrific way to redeem himself from the matricide. EGO, SUPEREGO, ID Freud divided the human mind into three conflicting parts: the ego, the superego and the id. The ego rests between the id and the superego and provides us with a sense of self. It has to build a balanced relationship of dependency between the demands of the id and the imperatives of the superego (Laplanche, Pontalis, 1986). The id is comprised of innate biological drives, emotional impulses, instincts and dispositions. On the contrary, the ego is made up of those mental phenomena related to whatever environmental considerations constrain the id (Freud calls these the reality principle). For example, the basic id drive is hunger and it is constrained by ego beliefs about what food is available where (Sandis, 2009). Finally, the superego plays a role similar to that of a judge. Freud considers the moral consciousness, self-observation and the development of moral values and ideals as expressions of the superego. The superego is defined as the heir of the Oedipus complex in terms of par ental demands and prohibitions (Laplanche, Pontalis, 1986). Observing Norman Bates character through this theory, it is evident that he does not develop a strong enough ego in order to keep under control the powerful urges of both the id and the superego. Subsequently, the id and the superego manifest themselves as completely different personalities (Boulton, 2010). His sexual desire for Marion represents his id and her murder (murder of the sexual desire for Marion) represents an extreme expression of his superego. Norman Bates never detached himself from his mother and identified himself with the Father. Therefore he did not assimilate into what Lacan terms the symbolic order, the interconnected system of signs that every society constructs meaning and order around (Zizek as cited in Boulton 2010:2). Normans symbolic level is psychotic, so the superego acts in different ways. As Zizek (cited in Boulton, 2010:2) emphasized, it is the maternal superego that acts and dominates his mind. At times he can become both personalities. But most of the times the mother half put his mind under control. Freud compared the human mind to an iceberg. The tiny part of the iceberg, which appears above the water surface possibly, represents human perception. Below the surface lies a much darker, larger part of the iceberg representing the unconscious. There is no evidence if Hitchcock has ever come across the iceberg metaphor but he would have found it inspiring. Like Freud Hitchcock present us a certain familiar and ordinary picture that we are prepared to see (like the pick of the iceberg- conscious) but whose precise shape is always novel (the other part of the iceberg-unconscious). He also chose for his movies, ladies that appear cold as ice in order to reveal their oppressed thoughts and desires (Sandis, 2009). It is charming in terms of cinema suspense, for secret or repressed thoughts to rise to the surface. (Sandis, 2009) Furthermore, Slavoj Zizek (2005) compares the old, gothic house to the segmented personality of Norman Bates. The ground floor represents the ego and there he behaves as a normal son. The first flour represents the superego, where Norman is governed by the moral constrains of his mother. Finally the basement represents the id, the reservoir of the illicit drives of the psyche thats why his mothers skeleton is transferred there. The transfer of his mothers dead body from the first flour to the basement illustrates the deep connection of the id and the superego in Normans split personality. The exploration of the house is like a psychoanalytic process. Lila entered Normans bedroom and observed his personal items, which were a combination of childrens (boys and girls items) and adults things (signifying his disturbed personality) (Dirks). CHARACTERS Marion symbolizes the repressed woman of the modern America of the 60s, who tries to be emancipated. Judging from her sexual intercourses with her lover during lunch times in secret hotel rooms, one could say that she appears as an independent woman. On the other hand, she gets the money and leaves town, which means that she wants a different life, maybe more conventional, having a successful marriage. Normans character is the mirror-negative of Marion. She operates in the Name of the Father; Norman on the other hand, has not submitted to this paternal law and is entrapped in the desire of the mother' (Zizek as cited in Boulton, 2010). This theory is supported in terms of direction. As they stand together on the porch, the camera photographs the scene as if they were the two sides of the same coin, but Norman is also reflected in the glass window behind him (symbolizes his split personality) (Dirks). Norman Bates could be considered as a good looking, boyishly version of Sam (Marions boyfriend). As their encounter develops, however, this possibility is eradicated because it becomes obvious that he is not capable of adult sexuality, being held in sexual bondage with his mother (Palmer, 1986). As he mentions: -Norman: Do you know what I think? I think that were all in our private traps. Clamped in them. And none of us can ever get out. We scratch and claw, but only at the air, only at each other. And for all of it we never budge an inch. -Marion: Sometimes we deliberately step into those traps. (Psycho, 1960) Each of them gives different meaning to the word trap. Trap for Marion is the theft of the money or maybe her relationship with Sam. For a moment Norman seems that he speaks frankly, being conscious of his fragmented psyche. Unfortunately, after the discourse only Marion is capable of being subject to moral self-examination, deciding to return the money next morning. MURDER SCENES The shower murder scene is among the most famous in the history of cinema. The major film star-Marion- is stabbed to death after the first 47 minutes of the movies start. Even if someone has not seen the movie, he has undoubtedly seen this specific scene. It took a fully week to complete, using 70 cameras, fast cut editing of 78 film pieces and a naked stand in model (Marli Renfo) (Dirks). Despite the fact that it is one of the most jargonistic and violent scenes there is only implied violence because at no time does the knife penetrate into her body. In only instant one the knife touches her belly (ibid). However, it is the scene that made females, including Janet Leigh (Marion) not being able to take a shower for a very long time (Sullivan, 2006). Murdering Marion while she was taking a shower with a knife is not a coincidental choice. On the contrary it has a deeper meaning in terms of direction and psychoanalysis. Until that moment, Marion was the main protagonist of the film and the epicenter of the plot was her feeling guilty for thieving the money. Taking a shower, the water washes away her guilt and rejuvenates her (Dirks). There is an irony here, at the moment she was relieved someone entered and took her life violently. Moreover, the knife in Freudian terms is a phallic symbol. In this weird and abnormal way, Norman satisfied both his desires: the jealousy of his mother and his own desire, penetrating into the female body, using his knife. Marions dead body is standing on the cold floor, mixed with ejaculatory spurts of blood dripping down her legs from various gashes, which symbolizes a violent and deadly rape (ibid). Zizek with his documentary The Perverts Guide to Cinema (2005) underlines that after Marions murder the spectator identifies with Norman Bates persona. Suddenly the spectator is anxious of cleaning up Marions blood from the bathroom and of getting rid of her car in the swamp, relating to our satisfaction with a job well done. Suspense is generated when, whilst Norman Bates is disposing of Marions car (containing her body) in a nearby swamp, the car momentarily stops sinking, an anxiety arises in the viewer (Zizek as cited in Boulton, 2010). The suspense here deals with the spectators unconscious identification with Bates. This identification has to do with Hitchcocks use of gaze, the Hippolytuss gaze. This gaze is not a seen gaze, but a gaze visualized by the Self in the field of the Others idiosyncrasy. Everything is not observed just through the others eyes but through the others personal feelings. The gaze is not the Others glance as such, but the way this glance concerns me, the way the subject sees him/herself affected by it as to his/her desire (Zizek,1992:214). The second murder scene, the murder of detective Arbogast is more predictable. The fascination of the first murder diverts our attention from the second murder. Everything that happens before the murder act seems to announce it. When Arbogast enters the mothers house and stands at the staircase, the audience immediately feel that something terrible is going to happen. However, the suspense here has to do again with this weird immoral identification of the audience with Norman. The spectator desires Arbogast to be killed (Zizek as cited in Boulton, 2010). There is a noticeable aesthetic differentiation between the two murders, which is related to the symbolic split of the movies narrative (ibid). Marions murder still being in the Name-of-the father symbolic realm, it takes place in a motel room, which highlights the aesthetic of an anonymous modern America. On the other hand, Arbogasts death takes place in mothers house which represents American tradition, in the desire of the mother symbolic space (ibid). CONCLUSIONS It is evident that psychoanalytic theory is strongly related to the cinema. Specifically, in Hitchcocks films the Freudian theoretical models are considered as a main pattern of his movies structure. Hitchcock himself has admitted when he was interviewed by Francois Truffaut: -F.T.: I saw Spellbound again recently and I must admit that I didnt care very much for the scenario. -A.H.: Well, its just another manhunt story wrapped up in pseudo-psychoanalysisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Sandis, 2009:65) He might not have taken the subconscious too seriously and in his personal life he avoided doctors of the mind, as he had admitted, however, it is known that the famous director was not unfamiliar with psychoanalytic Freudian theories (Sandis, 2009). Nowadays the use of psychoanalytic theoretical models in cinema is the norm. It is not just a specialized knowledge that concerns a particular audience anymore; it is also used as a method of creating artistic, cultural products. On the other hand, not only cinema uses psychoanalytical procedure as a tool of creativity, but also cinema could be used through psychoanalytical process as a method of manipulation and control (Tania, 1968). There is a strong interaction between cinema and psychoanalysis. Members of the Frankfurt School believe that cinema is used through psychoanalysis in order to create various forms of easy, false pleasure as a way to keep the audience unaware of the real major social existing problems (ibid). This argument has some truth to a limited extent but there are also many examples which underline that cinema, using the psychoanalytical process, emphasizes serious sociological problems. However, whatever the purpose of using the psychoanalysis, the point is tha t psychoanalytical theories have a strong connection with the creation of literary or cinematic products.

Windmill Energy is not an Acceptable Energy Source Replacement for Cali

Windmill Energy is not an Acceptable Energy Source Replacement for California Abstract Windmill energy is an old form of energy that is now being modernized to generate electricity in our society today. The big question is whether or not it is a feasible replacement of energy for California. Through research it has been concluded that energy for California cannot be produced only by windmill energy. It can produce about 50% of California’s energy. All aspects including, location, cost, and environment are important to how much energy is produced. Introduction From past to current situations, the United States has had to rely more and more on foreign countries to retrieve an efficient amount of fossil fuel. During these times, the production of nuclear energy had come to a halt and foreign energy was used. In 2000- 2001, California went into an energy crisis where there was an increase in the cost of gas and numerous blackouts. There were no longer any low-priced energy sources. Currently, gas prices have been soaring and it is not expected that they will reduce. Due to these circumstances, California has been in need of a more efficient energy source, outside of oil. For current times, an efficient energy source for California can be windmill energy because of its low-cost, California’s enormous coastal areas and locations, and environmental issues. Wind power has been a part of our lives longer than we have thought. â€Å"The Egyptians are believed to be the first to make practical use of wind power. Around 2800 Wind Energy 3 BC†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Park, 1981, p.13). Today, wind power can be used to heat up homes, produce electricity, and pump water. Windmills can be made by putting together old car generators. In the past, farmers would use ... ...m/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/27/MN200385.DTL Wolff, W. & Brabant, E.J. (1984). Your Wind Driven Generator. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program. U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved August 3, 2006 Wind Energy 8 http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/astate_template.asp?stateab=ca (1996-2005) Part 5- The Future of Wind Power. Illustrated History of Wind Power Development. Retrieved August 3, 2006 from http://www.telosnet.com/wind/future.html Saum, S.B. (2005, November) Power Hunting. California Alumni. Retreived August 3, 2006 http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/Alumni/Cal_Monthly/November_2005/Power_hunting.asp (2006, July). Watts Up? Schwarzenegger Weathers Perfect Energy Storm, Barely. Politics Central http://politicscentral.com/2006/07/29/watts_up_schwarzenegger_weathe.php

The Death Penalty Shall Stay

The United States is known for its big capital punishment or death penalty mentality. However, passions in the U.S. are sharply divided, and equally strong among both supporters and protesters of the death penalty. The death penalty in this country should not be eliminated though. First, death is the only just punishment for murderers. Second, life without parole is far more expensive than a death sentence. Lastly, capital punishment serves as a deterrent for future potential criminals. All in all, it is important that the death penalty remains in the United States. When a murderer is executed, the message to the criminal and society is that the crime he committed is so heinous; he forfeits his own right to live. Justice for All states that juries do not impose the death penalty loosely. They continue to explain that the death penalty is imposed with a sense of protection and justice, not revenge (Social Issues: Justice for All). The death penalty punishment is earned as a result of the pain and suffering the criminal has caused on the victim and the victim’s loved ones. â€Å"For some crimes, it represents the only just punishment available on earth† (Sharp). Also, our society has nonetheless steadily moved to more humane methods of carrying out capital punishment. Many opponents of the death penalty argue that the cost of capital punishment is about twice as expensive as life without parole punishments. Although the upfront costs for the death penalty are in fact higher than the costs for life without parole cases, this concept flips as the years pass. Justice for All states that life without parole cases will cost $1.2 million-$3.6 million more over time than equivalent death penalty cases (Sharp). Another factor that opponents of the death penalty fail to recognize is the cost that branches out of life imprisonment. Keeping these criminals alive in prison costs money whether it’s for the food, space, water for the showers, etc. So, why spend the money for murderers who don’t deserve it? Lastly, common sense later followed by piles and piles of statistics has proven that criminals often plead for a life in prison rather than death. In the past it was believed that the death of murderers 1) prevents future crime or misbehavior from the murderer and 2) discourages other future and/or potential murderers from committing crimes. In the present, Paul Rubin, a professor of economics and law at Emory University uses detailed statistical analysis of the available data on the deterrent effects of capital punishment. He and his colleagues concluded that each execution led to an average of eighteen fewer murders (Rubin). Not only has the death penalty rid us of criminals but it has the future effect of reducing the crime rate.

Accountants are kings among graduates

Accountants are kings among graduates In this paper, I will focus on the business-world king. King? Let me expplain. While it is not quite the days of the dot-com boom, when companies lured graduates with promises of six-figure salaries and ping-pong tables in the workplace, corporate recruiters are once again combing campuses for the best of the Class of 2005."People ask me all the time 'So you graduated, are you looking for a job?' And I'm like: 'I already have one,'" said Pauline Livaditis, a 22-year-old accounting graduate who was hired by Ernst Young before she finished school in May."The friends I had classes with all have jobs they were recruited on campus," said Livaditis, who graduated with a combined Masters of Business Administration and accounting degree from St. John's University in New York.Oberst Glover og oberst Holtermann mà ¸ter kaptein ...Hot degrees in 2005 included business administration, management and electrical or mechanical engineering, according to a survey by the National Association of Col leges and Employers. But no degree is more in demand than accounting, where the starting salary averages $44,564."The market is very, very robust, and so we need many, many accountants," said Karen Glover, director of recruiting at Ernst Young. "A great person will have many offers."Demand for accountants and auditors soared after Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley reporting rules in 2002 in response to high-profile scandals that brought companies like Enron and WorldCom to their knees.Glover said Ernst Young is looking to hire 4,500 accounting graduates this year, up 30 percent from last year. To lure new hires, it has boosted benefits including a concierge service for employees too busy to run errands."(Graduates) are in a very competitive space right now where you have lots of opportunities and choices of where you go to start your career," Glover...

4 Ways to Spot a Cheater

4 Ways to Spot a Cheater Free Online Research Papers Even as an undergrad I was constantly amazed at the lack of consideration that my class mates would put into their course work. Cheating was obviously their first problem, but this article is less about the questionable ethics of someone that cheats. What always stood out for me was the beautiful combination of bad judgment and terrible Microsoft Word skills. Even more amazing is that I was a computer science student and surrounded by individuals with an amazing aptitude for technology that would often far exceed my own, so what was missing? Group assignments, from my perspective this type of assignment brings out the absolute worst in most people. I am not sure if it is just because when confronted the opportunity to be lazy most people opt in or it is the rare occasion to see how most people go about writing a paper. As a result of this trend I would go as far as to break a 4 person group into 3 authors and 1 editor because inevitably the paper would not have consistent flow without it. The following will outline the 3 most common things that people would do that made it blatantly obvious that they didn’t write their own part. I. Don’t use Wikipedia as a place to copy your entire paper. For one second just accept the fact that you are not the only person on the planet with access to the internet and furthermore you don’t have secret access to Google. I laugh at how lame mot people are when it comes to their ability to search, thinking that results they pulled back are only disclosed to them. II. Answer the question that you are supposed to. A good sign that someone is cheating is that they get the topic right but they don’t really answer the question that being posed to them. If the question is to describe the impact of technology on modern library systems do not hand in 3 pages on the Dewey Decimal System. III. The third and easiest way to point out a cheater is when the â€Å"author† doesn’t even bother changing the font from a web font to the default MS Word font. I mean come on people, how lame do you have to be to think that no one is going to wonder why you used 4 different fonts, and a web font?!? Again, let me point this out again, I was a computer science major so the people I was in classes with were arguably better than average computer users. And still they would turn in papers with web fonts? IV. Avoid turning in papers where the British style of spelling is utilized. Does it not look suspicious when you suddenly begin spelling: Color as Colour Analyze as Analyse Skillful as Skilful Theater as Theatre So at the end of the day avoid being lazy and if you are going to be lazy about writing, do not be lazy about your research. Avoid Wikipedia, answer the question asked of you, consider fonts, and avoid the Kings English. Do these few things and your papers will be better than your classmates. Research Papers on 4 Ways to Spot a CheaterMind TravelStandardized TestingHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionResearch Process Part OneThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalWhere Wild and West MeetThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsEffects of Television Violence on Children

Understanding Stratified Samples and How to Make Them

Understanding Stratified Samples and How to Make Them A stratified sample is one that ensures that subgroups (strata) of a given population are each adequately represented within the whole sample population of a research study. For example, one might divide a sample of adults into subgroups by age, like 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60 and above. To stratify this sample, the researcher would then randomly select proportional amounts of people from each age group. This is an effective sampling technique for studying how a trend or issue might differ across subgroups. Importantly, strata used in this technique must not overlap, because if they did, some individuals would have a higher chance of being selected than others. This would create a skewed sample that would bias the research and render the results invalid. Some of the most common strata used in stratified random sampling include age, gender, religion, race, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, and nationality. When to Use Stratified Sampling There are many situations in which researchers would choose stratified random sampling over other types of sampling. First, it is used when the researcher wants to examine subgroups within a population.  Researchers also use this technique when they want to observe relationships between two or more subgroups, or when they want to examine the rare extremes of a population. With this type of sampling, the researcher is guaranteed that subjects from each subgroup are included in the final sample, whereas simple random sampling does not ensure that subgroups are represented equally or proportionately within the sample. Proportionate Stratified Random Sample In proportional stratified random sampling, the size of each stratum is proportionate to the population size of the strata when examined across the entire population. This means that each stratum has the same sampling fraction. For example, let’s say you have four strata with population sizes of 200, 400, 600, and 800. If you choose a sampling fraction of  ½, this means you must randomly sample 100, 200, 300, and 400 subjects from each stratum respectively. The same sampling fraction is used for each stratum regardless of the differences in population size of the strata. Disproportionate Stratified Random Sample In disproportionate stratified random sampling, the different strata do not have the same sampling fractions as each other. For instance, if your four strata contain 200, 400, 600, and 800 people, you may choose to have different sampling fractions for each stratum. Perhaps the first stratum with 200 people has a sampling fraction of  ½, resulting in 100 people selected for the sample, while the last stratum  with 800 people has a sampling fraction of  ¼, resulting in 200 people selected for the sample. The precision of using disproportionate stratified random sampling is highly dependent on the sampling fractions chosen and used by the researcher. Here, the researcher must be very careful and know exactly what he or she is doing. Mistakes made in choosing and using sampling fractions could result in a stratum that is overrepresented or underrepresented, resulting in skewed results. Advantages of Stratified Sampling Using a stratified sample will always achieve greater precision than a simple random sample, provided that the strata have been chosen so that members of the same stratum are as similar as possible in terms of the characteristic of interest. The greater the differences between the strata, the greater the gain in precision. Administratively, it is often more convenient to stratify a sample than to select a simple random sample. For instance, interviewers can be trained on how to best deal with one particular age or ethnic group, while others are trained on the best way to deal with a different age or ethnic group. This way the interviewers can concentrate on and refine a small set of skills and it is less timely and costly for the researcher. A stratified sample can also be smaller in size than simple random samples, which can save a lot of time, money, and effort for the researchers. This is because this type of sampling technique has a high statistical precision compared to simple random sampling. A final advantage is that a stratified sample guarantees better coverage of the population. The researcher has control over the subgroups that are included in the sample, whereas simple random sampling does not guarantee that any one type of person will be included in the final sample. Disadvantages of Stratified Sampling One main disadvantage of stratified sampling is that it can be difficult to identify appropriate strata for a study. A second disadvantage is that it is more complex to organize and analyze the results compared to simple random sampling. Updated by  Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Develop a list of sources of financing for a small business Essay

Develop a list of sources of financing for a small business - Essay Example In this source, a proprietor uses own savings or borrows or sells a personal item such as bonds, mutual funds, stocks, or real estate to fund his/her business. In addition, one may use home-equity line of credit to finance own business. Furthermore, one could give loans or merely contribute money to own business. The other sources of contribution include family and friends with access to more cash than the proprietor does. The second sources of finance for small businesses are banks. In fact, in current times, banks have become quite instrumental not only in supporting already established small businesses but also in giving start-up loans for new small businesses (Burk & Lehmann, 2006). Unfortunately, banks have quite cumbersome conditions to be met before small business loans are approved. For instance, banks have to establish the credit worthiness of the borrowing business of person, more so with regards to a business’ money-making history. That is, commercial banks would wa nt to be assured that the loaned will be able to repay the lent sum plus the interests therein. It is thus imperative that the person seeking a loan from a bank draws up a good business plan in addition to the collateral against which the loan is to be given. If not, the borrower must have a guarantor or a cosigner who must satisfy the bank that he/she will repay the loan if the borrower fails to pay. Venture Capital Firms is the other common source of financing for small business. These firms give funds to small businesses considered and believed to have outstanding growth potential. On a rather negative note, quite a few small businesses are financed by venture capital firms. Being financed by venture capital firms is significantly unlike getting financed by bank loans. In fact, venture capital lenders have a right not only to the repayment of the capital but also on the interest earned by the loan, notwithstanding the profits or losses/failure

Ethnocentrism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethnocentrism - Article Example The only reason behind such a behavior was ethnocentrism. Of importance is the fact that ethnicity is not related to the biology of a person, therefore being alterable and flexible. This is not true for race, which is considered to be the innate qualities of a person, which therefore is unalterable and fixed. Therefore, we can infer that race is a profound reality based on biological origins while ethnicity is relatively superficial. Ethnocentrism therefore does not gives importance to the physical characteristics of a person as long as that person remains a member of that culture. Contrary to this, racism does not give importance to cultural attachment. Rather it favors those who are biologically similar. Racism therefore fails to accommodate those who have similar ideas and interests but are biologically different. The delivery of health care to growing populations of multiple ethnicities in modern day world is a challenge for modern day health care providers. Lapses in cross-cultural communication and mutual understanding which mainly stems from the ethnocentric behavior of health care professionals result in non-compliance of the patients (Thiederman, 1986). Differences in religions and practices may in turn become the cause of disliking a patient by the health care providers. Superstitious behaviors may lead a health care provider to think that patient has some mental abnormality, while the patient is merely practicing what he believes in. Such matters require careful consideration by the health care providers to avoid causing loss to patients. Similarly, patients may suffer from poor standard of care due to the fact that a particular health care provider dislikes a particular ethnicity. Vienna Declaraction states that â€Å"the universal nature† of all human rights and fundamental freedom is â€Å"beyond question† (Ayton-Shenker,

Apology letter for an assault happened two years ago Essay

Apology letter for an assault happened two years ago - Essay Example I have been nurturing these feelings of grief, guilt and repentance ever since I threw coffee on you and hurt you badly. Please, believe me that I am not a habitual binge drinker. I drink occasionally but that night at the club, my friends indulged me in heavy drinking which made me lose my nerves in the morning. I could vividly see a group of girls videotaping me, and that infuriated me. Please, trust me that basically I am a very good natured and calm person. I don’t know why I became so angry that day that I lost my temper and threw a hot mug of coffee on you. I wish I was in my senses. But time has passed, leaving only the repentance and remorse in my heart for my whole life. I cannot undo what I have done. I cannot bring back those moments. I wish I could undo the harm that I have done to you. I know that the physical injury will soon vanish, but the emotional and mental pain that I have caused you will hardly ever go away. All of that is just because of my stupidity and carelessness, of which I am really apologetic. Oh! How I wish I could rewind the time and undo the harm that I have done to you. I am so regretful. I also know that I do not deserve you excusing me, nor do I deserve a mini-second of your time. But please, consider my feelings. I have tried my best to remove from my nature what caused me to bring pain to a human being. I have attended almost over twenty therapy sessions with a psychologist. I have also attended a positive change inner mindset class with a social worker to remove all negativity from my behavior. I have completed almost 500 hours of community service at Salvation Army, breakfast club- a place where poor and homeless people are fed. I have done all this to bring empathy and kindness into my nature. I have also contacted a psychologist for counseling regarding quitting drinking. I really want to change myself. I want to become a person that is compassionate toward others. My assault toward you

Studies on Photosynthesis Using the Hill Reaction Report Lab

Studies on Photosynthesis Using the Hill Reaction - Lab Report Example The primary ‘light reaction’ stage requires light and involves the excitation of electrons of the chlorophyll. These electrons then proceed along a series of electron carriers embedded in the thylakoid of the chloroplast resulting in synthesis of ATP in the stroma and the reduction of NADP. The dark reactions of photosynthesis do not directly require light involve the use of ATP and NADPH formed during the light reaction (figure 1) (Berg et al., 553). Hill reaction named after its discoverer Robert Hill (1937) involves the photoreduction of an electron acceptor by the hydrogen atoms of water, along with evolution of oxygen. In laboratory, Hill reaction is demonstrated when isolated and illuminated ‘chloroplasts’ reduce an electron acceptor present with it, and release molecular oxygen: The electron acceptors used in laboratory conditions are not the natural electron acceptors or NADP but instead are artificial electron acceptors (Walker, 109). These artificial electron acceptors intercept the electrons before they reach PS1700. Further they are generally dyes that change color when reduced e.g. DCIP (2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol). Thus Hill reaction can be written as: Thus using the above equation, rate of Hill reaction in isolated protoplasts can be experimentally estimated. The change in absorbance of the dye at 600nm measured under varied conditions of experiment gives the rate of Hill reaction occurring under the preselected set of conditions. Several of the detergents are also known to be inhibitors of photosynthesis such as DCMU [3-(3, 4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea], DNP [dinitrophenol] and triton-X etc. Chloroplast was extracted from deveined, washed and blot dried fresh baby spinach leaves. The standard fractionation protocol for extraction of chloroplasts was followed. 50g spinach leaves were homogenized in a pre-chilled blender jar along with buffered isotonic salt solution and antioxidant solution. The homogenate was

International Investment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Investment Law - Essay Example Relevant facts of the dispute This case arises from the privatization program implemented by the Argentine Republic in the early 1990s, including the guarantees they offered to investors buying assets in the electricity sector and the decisions by the respondent in reducing the impact of the Argentine economic crisis in 2001-20021. Prior to the privatization, the electricity assets of the respondent were operated by three companies which were later restructured for privatization based on Decree 634/91 and Law 26,065. Based on these laws, the electricity generation and related matters belonging to the three companies were to be divided into individual units2. The Claimant in this case argued that the impact of the Reform Law destroyed the investments in Transener and declared that the company has already incurred losses due to this law. National Grid later agreed to sell its shares to Dolphin Management in order to mitigate its losses3. Claimant National Grid notified respondent in 20 02 of the investment dispute and sought for the application of Article 3 of the Treaty; they also claimed the benefit of the application of Article 7(2) of the Treaty between the US and Argentina for the protection of their investment and for international arbitration without referral to the Argentina courts. Respondent proposed the suspension of negotiations as their public service contracts were being processed. The claimant declined the proposal to suspend negotiations; the claimant however agreed to meet with authorities for negotiations4. The claimant again expressed its willingness to explore a settlement of the issue; without any response from the respondent, the claimant submitted the case for arbitration. The parties consented. The respondent agreed to the arbitration and claimed its case under the terms of the Treaty which allows the option to settle disputes which may arise with investors who may be nationals of the other State party5. The Claimant submitted to arbitratio n through its notice of arbitration. Based on Article 3.2 of the UNCITRAL Rules, the arbitration started on the date when the Notice of Arbitration was received by the respondent. Findings The tribunal decided that there was no direct or indirect expropriation as National Grid has not been deprived of title to its property and the methods of Argentina in handling the crisis were not equivalent to expropriation6. However, the tribunal ruled that the practice of fair and equitable treatment was violated by Argentina when it did the following: it changed the legal framework which was used as basis by National Grid in its investment; it did not negotiate with National Grid in the implementation of its measures and disposal of its investments; and when it requested for National Grid to abandon its legal remedies in relation to the renegotiation of its investment7. The tribunal also decided that economic difficulties which Argentina found itself in had to be considered. The tribunal then decided that the violation of the fair and equitable standard only happened from the time National Grid asked to renounce its rights, and not from the time the emergency measures were implemented by Argentina8. This made Argentina accountable for the losses of National Grid during the first six months of the crisis. Analysis of the Arbitral Award First of all, the jurisdiction of the Tribunal is based on the instruments of the parties submitting to

REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Essay - 1

REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY - Essay Example This implies that most people in the corporate cultures tend to thrive long within the industry by becoming emotionless. For instance, most corporates have manifested this personality when those individuals managing the corporates have failed to maintain the ethical standards. This has often benefited a few individuals who become rich while those at the bottom end up being thrown on the streets when the corporates begin a downward spiral. The corporate governance is in dire need of regulation if the rights of the citizenry, as well as the integrity of the state are to be maintained. This is particularly important due to the fact that psychopaths have a tendency to taint nearly all the circles that they come into when establishing a contact. This implies that psychopaths can taint the state too, which is charged with the responsibility of establishing the extent of ethical and legal limits of the corporate behavior. This contamination of the state may occur in myriad ways. For instance, the intense corporate lobbying, in addition to the financial donations that corporates tend to extend to the state among other spheres of social influence, they may sometimes influence those in charge of making and overseeing the implementation of the law. To fully understand the link that likens corporate governance to a psychopath, Ullman (2004) provides diagnostic criteria for the same. To begin with, he points out that just like a psychopath; corporates tend to fail to conform to the set social norms and regulations that pertain to the practicing lawful behavior. This is commonly indicated by their repeated acts that pose clear grounds of arrest. This is mainly manifested through the ability of corrupt corporations to find their ways into powerful and key areas of the state using ways that go beyond the social norms. Some of these ways include seeking loopholes in the law to establish their claims, stock shares manipulation

Studies on Photosynthesis Using the Hill Reaction Report Lab

Studies on Photosynthesis Using the Hill Reaction - Lab Report Example The primary ‘light reaction’ stage requires light and involves the excitation of electrons of the chlorophyll. These electrons then proceed along a series of electron carriers embedded in the thylakoid of the chloroplast resulting in synthesis of ATP in the stroma and the reduction of NADP. The dark reactions of photosynthesis do not directly require light involve the use of ATP and NADPH formed during the light reaction (figure 1) (Berg et al., 553). Hill reaction named after its discoverer Robert Hill (1937) involves the photoreduction of an electron acceptor by the hydrogen atoms of water, along with evolution of oxygen. In laboratory, Hill reaction is demonstrated when isolated and illuminated ‘chloroplasts’ reduce an electron acceptor present with it, and release molecular oxygen: The electron acceptors used in laboratory conditions are not the natural electron acceptors or NADP but instead are artificial electron acceptors (Walker, 109). These artificial electron acceptors intercept the electrons before they reach PS1700. Further they are generally dyes that change color when reduced e.g. DCIP (2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol). Thus Hill reaction can be written as: Thus using the above equation, rate of Hill reaction in isolated protoplasts can be experimentally estimated. The change in absorbance of the dye at 600nm measured under varied conditions of experiment gives the rate of Hill reaction occurring under the preselected set of conditions. Several of the detergents are also known to be inhibitors of photosynthesis such as DCMU [3-(3, 4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea], DNP [dinitrophenol] and triton-X etc. Chloroplast was extracted from deveined, washed and blot dried fresh baby spinach leaves. The standard fractionation protocol for extraction of chloroplasts was followed. 50g spinach leaves were homogenized in a pre-chilled blender jar along with buffered isotonic salt solution and antioxidant solution. The homogenate was

REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Essay - 1

REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY - Essay Example This implies that most people in the corporate cultures tend to thrive long within the industry by becoming emotionless. For instance, most corporates have manifested this personality when those individuals managing the corporates have failed to maintain the ethical standards. This has often benefited a few individuals who become rich while those at the bottom end up being thrown on the streets when the corporates begin a downward spiral. The corporate governance is in dire need of regulation if the rights of the citizenry, as well as the integrity of the state are to be maintained. This is particularly important due to the fact that psychopaths have a tendency to taint nearly all the circles that they come into when establishing a contact. This implies that psychopaths can taint the state too, which is charged with the responsibility of establishing the extent of ethical and legal limits of the corporate behavior. This contamination of the state may occur in myriad ways. For instance, the intense corporate lobbying, in addition to the financial donations that corporates tend to extend to the state among other spheres of social influence, they may sometimes influence those in charge of making and overseeing the implementation of the law. To fully understand the link that likens corporate governance to a psychopath, Ullman (2004) provides diagnostic criteria for the same. To begin with, he points out that just like a psychopath; corporates tend to fail to conform to the set social norms and regulations that pertain to the practicing lawful behavior. This is commonly indicated by their repeated acts that pose clear grounds of arrest. This is mainly manifested through the ability of corrupt corporations to find their ways into powerful and key areas of the state using ways that go beyond the social norms. Some of these ways include seeking loopholes in the law to establish their claims, stock shares manipulation

An Effective Teacher Essay Example for Free

An Effective Teacher Essay The qualities that define an effective teacher are very complex in my opinion. Everyone seems to have different ideas as to what the key indicators are. They range from; professionalism, communication, professional development, managing, guiding and strategies. There are even those of the opinion that it doesn’t matter what you do, children will always learn. However I have chosen professionalism as I believe that it is an essential attribute to being an effective teacher. Professionalism is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as â€Å"Characterised by or conforming to the technical or ethical standard of one’s profession. (Belcher). In order to gain and preserve the respect and trust of students, parents and colleagues alike and to provide students with the best education possible it is important to demonstrate professional conduct and practice. The guidelines for professionalism in the teaching profession are provided by Code of Ethics, National Professional Standards for Teachers and Duty of Care. These define the â€Å"what†. The key however is being or acting professional, this is the â€Å"how†, the effectiveness of a teacher. This is the true measure of professionalism. Some of the primary demonstrable characteristics or attributes of a professional teacher are communication, morals and ethics and professional development. Communication is an essential aspect in education, the means to send and receive clear messages to and from students, teachers, parents and community members. It establishes positive and effective relationships and connections with the involved parties. Communication can be in many forms namely verbal, non-verbal or written and used by teachers to constantly impart new knowledge or important information. The ability for teachers to apply the characteristics of good and effective communication in all its forms, to a diverse audience with different backgrounds and interests and to minimise the barriers, for example noise, misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the messages are the makings of an effective teacher. In the article by Prozesky, he states that the most effectual way to overcome these barriers is to have two-way communication with regular feedback provided by the receivers. Professional ethics is not achieved by only purely applying the ethical codes of practice nor professional standards which embody the core principles but by also applying professional skills and personal skills (caring and nurturing) and ethical behaviour in the form of attitude, intention, words, acknowledgement, respect (inside and outside of the classroom), fairness and equity with regards to individual circumstances, colour, creed, age, social-economic status, to name a few. Brock (1998) says that when dealing with ethics and professional standards there are two questions to ask; what should one do and what one should not do, what is right and what is wrong and what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. These questions result in a number of ethical dilemmas that face the teacher such as truth versus loyalty, individual versus community and religion versus morals. Early Childhood Australia has published a guide to help teachers deal with every day ethical dilemmas. According to Marsh (2010) ethical decisions have been categorised into five different levels of decision making. Open decision making, limited decision making, decisions made by the teacher, security seeking (delegation) and avoidance. Several ethical relationships exist within the dynamics of a school environment; these include ethical relationship between the teacher and the education system for example, the education system restricts teachers on what they should teach. The teacher and the principal, an example being that the teacher and principal have different values and the principal’s values will over ride those of the teacher. The teacher and the students where the teacher develops emotional bonds with his or her students and there is a mutual respect between teacher and student. The third quality that defines an effective teacher is professional development. In order to be a good teacher you need to be a good learner too. The demands on teachers to find new ideas and forms of teaching are increasing. Teachers need to be innovative and therefore attend professional development days which will help them continuously enhance their competencies and provide their students with problem solving skills and advanced thinking thus elevating them to higher levels of achievement. The desire to expand their knowledge base, stay current and gain a broader exposure to information provides this opportunity. Through numerous examples it is clear how important communication, ethics and professional development are to professionalism. These attributes will help teachers to be more effective in imparting knowledge and wisdom to their students. All of these attributes will allow the students to really focus their energies on learning and engaging with their education. Even though all of the attributes are vital for effective teaching one must never forget that the purpose of effective teaching is â€Å"that teachers make a difference, (Boyd, 2009).

Importance of Authenticity in Tourism

Importance of Authenticity in Tourism How important is authenticity in tourism? Introduction The purpose of this study record is to explore the theme of authenticity as expounded by different authors. The record will provide an overview of my reading during the course of the year, and will present an examination of the different approaches to the topic by the selected authors, and present these approaches in the wider context of writing on the importance of authenticity in tourism. Daniel Boorstin (1964, 1985) The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. 2nd ed. New York: Athenaeum Boorstin writes about the demise of the traveller who seeks authentic experiences and the rise of mass tourism. For Boorstin, real travel belonged to a golden age that was now lost where whatever the traveller saw â€Å"was apt to be what really went on there†. Whereas contemporary travel was a pseudo-event made up of â€Å"specimens collected and embalmed especially for him, or attractions specifically staged for him† (1961:102). Boorstin was adamant that the tourist no longer wanted authenticity, even going so far as to argue that a French singer singing in accented English was more appealing to the Anglophone tourist than the singer singing in her native language. Similarly, says Boorstin (1961: 106), the American visiting Japan is not looking for authentic Japanese culture but rather â€Å"what is Japenesey†. These contrived experiences had four characteristics, said Boorstin, they are not spontaneous or natural, they are designed to be reproduced, the relationship between the event and reality is ambiguous, and the contrived event becomes normal over time as it becomes perceived as being authentic. The theme in Boorstin’s book is that mass tourism is an impediment to experiencing other cultures and that the masses do not want to experience authentic culture anyway, preferring the contrived to the authentic. In reading Boorstin, his scepticism comes through very clearly but also you are left with a lingering sense of the author’s arrogance. True authentic experiences could only be encountered in the golden age when none but the truly wealthy could afford to travel. For Boorstin, the opening of the leisure market to a wider range of social classes ruined the authenticity of the experience for the privileged and the educated and gave access to travel to people who couldn’t possibly understand the experience except at the most base and contrived level. Boorstin’s approach was taken forward by MacCannell who disputed that tourists wanted pseudo-events and it is McCannell’s work we shall consider next. Dean MacCannell (1989) A new theory of the leisure class. 2nd ed. University of California Press. This book was first published in 1976 and appears to be cited widely in books and articles on authenticity in tourism. MacCannell writes from the perspective that progressiveness has failed people and people use tourism to give their lives greater sense and meaning, and in seeking sense and meaning in other cultures people are highlighting that they feel isolated and alienated in their own culture. Tourists’ disillusionment with the nature of work in industrial society drives them to travel and to travel further, as they try to penetrate the ‘back’ of life where truth and authenticity can be found. This notion of life having a ‘front’, ‘back’ and ‘outside’came out of the work of Goffman (1959) who used the metaphor of the stage to examine the perceptions of the individual to the performance. The front stage is the official perspective, while the backstage is presented as being more honest as the individual has an awareness of the disputes and difficulties that are occurring. The outside represents segregation where the individual is unable to gain access to what is going on on stage. Authenticity in tourism, says MacCannell, comes from an awareness of what is going on behind the scenes where all is not sanitised for public consumption. MacCannell highlights the falseness of the distinction between mass tourist, researcher, travel writer and authentic traveller and puts forward the view that the mass tourist is as much in search of authenticity as the researcher or travel writer. MacCannell notes â€Å"longstanding touristic attitude, a pronounced dislike, bordering on hatred, for other tourists, in a they are the tourists I am not equation† (1989: 602). MacCannell’s perspective particularly resonated with me as when travelling I have noticed people, including myself, wanting to distinguish themselves as separate from the masses, somehow being more distinguished or more credible as independent travellers rather than mass tourists. As well as noting the views of those who think that tourism will ultimately destroy itself[1], I’m also starting to recognise the irony of my travelling to seek an authentic travel experience while at the same time willingly participating in the growth of tourism. Howe ver, while MacCannell’s perspective does resonate, I would suggest that MacCannell’s position is on one sense just as polarised as Boorstin’s. From Boorstin (1985), we get the perspective that all that tourists want is a superficial and contrived experience, whilst MacCannell proposes that all tourists are in pursuit of the real ‘back’ and authentic experience but are denied this by being presented with inauthenticity. In reality, it seems likely that the truth would be some where in between. Erik Cohen (1995) Contemporary Tourism-Trends and Challenges: Sustainable Authenticity or Contrived Post-Modernity?, in Change in Tourism: People, Places, Processes, edited by Richard Butler and Douglas Pearce. London: Routledge. Cohen has written extensively on authenticity in tourism across several decades and as well as challenging existing ideas, it is clear that he has enjoyed conducting fieldwork and written a substantial amount on tourism development in developing countries. Cohen notes that while tourism has hugely benefited the country in terms of economic development there are significant downsides including the growth of Thailand’s sex trade and related criminal activities. Cohen breaks Thailand’s tourism development down into four areas of change. The first is what he terms the massification of the industry which denotes the huge rise in the numbers of tourists entering the country. The second is the dispersion of tourism, from Bangkok and its environs across the country from Phuket in the south to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Tourism is continuing to spread in Thailand, with tourists venturing into the Golden Triangle in the north and into areas such as Krabi in the south. The t hird change identified by Cohen in that of heterogenisation, which is the process in which the nationalities of the tourists and the variety of attractions and amenities become more similar. Finally, says Cohen, there is regionalization at work. This can be seen by Thailand’s positioning of itself at the heart of an emerging regional tourism industry in Southeast Asia which includes Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. As the tourism industry in Thailand develops, the Thai government is trying to encourage international tourism – due to its greater revenue generating potential – but is also trying to encourage domestic tourism. The reason for this is that domestic tourism minimizes foreign exchange leakage from the economy. The growth in tourism leads to continuing expansion into new areas and the further diversification of tourist activities, including the development of both natural and ‘contrived’ activities. How these activities will balance out depends on dependent the Thai tourist economy depends on Europe, as Cohen notes that European tourists generally prefer contrived attractions such as shopping, theme parks and entertainment facilities. There will also be an increasing discrepancy between the tourist image of an idyllic location and the increasing pollution and urban development of Thailand’s beach towns. The increasing development of Thailand has led so me to argue that there should be a greater focus on authentic tourism and ecotourism is particularly promoted by some writers (Bottrill and Pearce, 1995; Honey, 1998). Cohen, however, argues that ecotourism principles are applicable to any type of tourism and that stringent or exclusive definitions of ecotourism are unnecessarily restrictive. From Cohen’s perspective, most tourists engage in mass tourist activities as well as alternative activities. The desire for authenticity can be measured by the tourist’s willingness to forgo comforts such as comfort itself, familiarity and convenience in order to achieve what they perceive is a more authentic experience. Mass tourism and authentic tourism are not alternatives but a spectrum or continuum where the search for authenticity can be observed and measured. The importance of Cohen’s work is in how it has continued to challenge and develop our understanding of authenticity. As we saw earlier, McCannell’s (1976) scholarship focused on the concepts of alienation and authenticity but Cohen took this further. Cohen broadened McCannell’s conceptions and applied them to tourists’ perceptions of authenticity. Cohen has also developed the work of Boorstin[2]. As has been noted, Boorstin was very pessimistic about authenticity and his approach remained that of a sceptic. For Cohen, however, the idea of a universal authenticity was questioned and challenged. Cohen comes to the conclusion that authenticity means different things to different people and therefore what appears authentic to one tourist (or host) will not appear authentic to another. Building on this, we can see that the importance of authenticity can also be determined to be socially constructed, and its importance variable depending on the perceptions of the person considering the issue. This appears similar to the theoretical perspectives of the social constructivists where meaning is seen to emerge and is constantly changing. This view appears to have gained some following in tourism research with writers including Dearden and Mitchell (1997) and Sharpley and Sharpley (1997) sharing this perspective. Auliana Poon (1993) Tourism, Technology and Competitive Strategies. Oxford: CAB International. Poon writes about alternative tourism and puts forward the view that alternative tourism is more exclusive than mass tourism and is diametrically opposed to mass tourism in terms of consumers, production, technology and management. Poon argues that mass tourism comprises rigidly packaged and inflexible holidays when deviation from the package is rejected because of the cost implications that deviation would incur. There is also a mass replication of identical rooms or apartments to allow the operators to reap the benefits of economies of scale, and there is mass (undifferentiated) marketing again with hotel and holiday branding for reasons of economies of scale. Finally, according to Poon, mass tourism features mass consumption with little regard for the cultures of the tourist destinations. The alternative, according to Poon is a form of tourism that embraces flexibility and specialisation which provides a more personalised form of tourism. The alternative scenario also gives greater consideration to the tourist destination and actively considers culture and environment. The sustainability of alternative tourist destinations are therefore paramount under alternative tourism and attempts are made to pursue development in a culturally and environmentally sensitive and considered way. The motivation for tour companies to pursue alternative tourism can be seen in the potential it provides to differentiate itself in the marketplace. Mass tourism has saturated the market and to stand out to the consumer the travel companies must offer something different and authenticity is this difference. Having considered the work of Boorstin and MacCannell, and also Cohen, it becomes more difficult to accept a further attempt to present authenticity as a pure and exclusive form. It is easy to see that the concept of authenticity is useful in an academic sense, as a key component in a model, or a concept in which to frame a debate, but more difficult to see its existence in a pure form. In addition to considering authenticity as the polar opposite of mass tourism, there is another perspective: that mass tourism has merely reinvented itself into a more socially acceptable form. Fernandes (1994: 4) points out, â€Å"the mainstream tourism industry has merely tried to invent a new legitimation for itself, the ‘sustainable’ use of the environment including the preservation of nature as an amenity for the already advantaged†. John Urry (1990) The Tourist Gaze.London: Sage Urry notes the rapid development of tourism and uses a metaphor of an omnivorous creature to highlight what he sees as tourists devouring the planet in their ‘consuming’ of destinations. Urry (1990:1) states that when we travel â€Å"we gaze† and â€Å"the gaze is socially constructed†. The gaze is not a single gaze regardless of nationality or social class, but emerges from who we are and goes on to shape us and well as that gazed upon. Urry charts the development of the tourist industry in the UK and looks at the rise of mass tourism in Victorian Britain the development of the British coastal resorts, the mass tourism provided by holiday camps, and the introduction of a new flexibility from the 1960s onwards as people travelled to European destinations. Mass marketing provided representative images which gave tourists an understanding of the destinations available and these are duplicated in the destinations themselves and in place promotion. Urry urges the development of the post-mass marketing tourist or what he calls that post-tourist who seeks to find authenticity and shirk the artificial and staged events offered by the tourism operators. This builds on Cohen’s work which argued that the local culture becomes a contrived commodity and, without people’s consent, operators take local culture and renders it meaningless. Urry’s work has come under criticism with some arguing that he has over-stated the decline of mass tourism. Indeed, package holidays to Orlando and Phuket appear to have a great deal in common in terms of fun and pleasure seeking as the mass tourism in Blackpool of earlier generations. Urry’s ‘gaze’ has been criticised as being inadequate; Prentice (2001) puts forward the need to look at the subjective mental state felt by individuals while Ooi (2002) argues that the subjective nature of experience means that as well as being multi-faceted, â€Å"experiences are embodies in people† and can â€Å"only be expressed to and not felt by other people†. Ning Wang (2000) Tourism and Modernity: A Sociological Analysis. Tourism Social Science Series. Oxford: Pergamon. Having read perspectives from the objectivists Boorstin and MacCannell, and the social constructivist perspectives, it was interesting to see how Wang appeared to bring these perspectives together with a postmodernist perspective, based on the work of Baudrillard and others. Wang argues that authenticity should be broken down into authenticity of object and authenticity of experience. Authenticity of object refers to the authenticity of what is being observed, and this is further broken down into objective, constructive and post modern forms with the post modern form rejecting authenticity completely, while authenticity of experience refers to a person’s own personal experiences. Wang puts forward the view that authenticity is not inherent and identified characteristics that can be attributed to the constructivist conceptions of authenticity, namely that there is no fixed origin of authenticity, that what we consider original and authentic can be contested, notions of authenticity are pluralistic, and that authenticity is often declared when something conforms to tourist expectations. Wang also put forward the idea that inauthentic experiences can become authentic over time. This process, which Wang terms ‘emergent authenticity’ was also put forward by Cohen and promotes the primacy of the tourist perception of the experience and, as Picard and Robinson remind us, â€Å"all events were once created† and that ranking authenticity is â€Å"highly questionable† (2006: 134). Wang’s focus on a person’s own experiences is interesting as so much of the debate on the importance of authenticity has been about the authenticity of the objects being seen. Wang notes that tourists are â€Å"in search of their authentic selves with the aid of activities or toured objects† (2000:360). This search for our authentic selves can be liberating, a desire for experiences that are outside of our daily lives, but can also be restricted by itineraries and other constraints. The importance of authenticity in tourism is, for Wang, a feeling or perceiving of authenticity rather than its fixed existence in cultural objects. Conclusions From this study record we can see that many writers have highlighted the importance of authenticity but there is inconsistency about what authenticity entails. For Boorstin, mass tourism ruined any chance of experiencing authenticity and authenticity that not something that the masses sought even if it were attainable. MacCannell considered that authenticity could be equally sought by the mass tourist or researcher but held that the tourism industry was denying the people an authentic experience. Cohen offered a perspective on authenticity that incorporated both the tourist and the host but offered the possibility that one party might consider an experience authentic while the other did not; Poon considered authenticity and mass tourism to be diametrically opposed, while Urry built on Cohen’s work and presented the view that culture had become such a contrived commodity that it had been rendered meaningless. Finally, Wang presented what is almost a capstone perspective, bringi ng in the earlier objective and constructivist perspectives to present a broader representation of the importance of authenticity as an existential experience. References Boorstin, DJ (1985) The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. 2nd ed. New York: Atheneum Bottrill, C and D Pearce (1995) Ecotourism: towards a key elements approach to operationalising the concept. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 3, 1, 45-54. Cohen, E (1995) Contemporary Tourism-Trends and Challenges: Sustainable Authenticity or Contrived Post-Modernity?, in Change in Tourism: People, Places, Processes, ed. Richard Butler and Douglas Pearce. London: Routledge. Dearden, P and B Mitchell (1997) Environmental Change and Challenge. Oxford University Press. Fernandes, D (1994) The shaky ground of sustainable tourism. Quarterly Environmental Journal, 2, 4, October-December, 4-38. Goffman, E (1959) Presentation of self in everyday life. Penguin Books. Honey, M (1998) Where’s the eco in ecotourism? Connection to the Americas, 15, 2, March, 1-7. MacCannell, D. (1999) The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. University of California Press McKercher, B (1993) The unrecognized threat to tourism: can tourism survive sustainability. Tourism Management, 14, 4, 131-136. Ooi, C-S (2002) Cultural Tourism and Tourism Cultures: The Business of Mediating Experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press. Picard, D and M Robinson (2006) Festivals, Tourism and Social Change. Channel View Publications. Poon, A (1993) Tourism, technology and competitive strategies. Oxford: CAB International. Prentice, R (2001) Experiential Cultural Tourism. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Queen Margaret College Sharpley, R and J Sharpley (1997) Sustainability and Consumption of Tourism, in MJ Stabler (ed) Tourism and Sustainability. Oxford: CAB International, 231-244. Urry, J. (1990) The Tourist Gaze, London: Sage. Wang, N (1999) Rethinking Authenticity in Tourism Experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 26, 2, 349-70. Wang, N (2000) Tourism and Modernity: A Sociological Analysis. Tourism Social Science Series. Oxford: Pergamon. Footnotes [1] See McKercher (1993) [2] 1961 reprinted 1985

Immanuel Kants Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals Essays

Immanuel Kant's Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals In his publication, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant supplies his readers with a thesis that claims morality can be derived from the principle of the categorical imperative. The strongest argument to support his thesis is the difference between actions in accordance with duty and actions in accordance from duty. To setup his thesis, Kant first draws a distinction between empirical and â€Å"a priori† concepts. Empirical concepts are ideas we reach from our experiences in the world. On the other hand and in contrast, â€Å"a priori† concepts are ideas we reach as an end point of reasoning prior to or apart from any experience of how things occur in the world. Kant then claims that moral actions are supposed done for the reason of morality alone. This train of thought leads to the conclusion that an understanding of morality must be based on â€Å"a priori† concepts of reason. Truly moral ideas are then universally valid if and only if they are based on â€Å"a priori† concepts. From this idea of â€Å"a priori† concepts, Kant begins his thesis with the notion that the only thing in the world that is a qualified good is the â€Å"good will†, even if its efforts bring about a not necessarily good result. A â€Å"good will† is good because of the willing that is involved. Two main implications arise with this idea of the â€Å"good will†. The first implication is moral actions cannot have impure motivations. There are many impure motivations but Kant tends to focus mainly on the motives of the pursuit of happiness and self-preservation. Second, moral actions cannot be based on the speculations of the probable results. This action is not good in itself but good because it brought about a more desirable outcome. Thus, Kant arrives at the conclusion that for an action to be considered to have genuine moral worth its motive must be that of dutifulness to moral law. In Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant lays out three propositions about duty. The first is the will is a morally good action if it is done in accordance from duty, as opposed to an action done in accordance with duty. The second proposition is that actions are judged by the "maxim" or principle that was the motivation behind the action. If someone undertakes an action with the only motivation being that of a sense of duty, they are followin... ...viously that you will be more probable to engage and look to engage in more actions that will give you this appeal and instant gratification. This is not an ideal situation because placing a slight neglect to a duty or obligation that you might not find appeal in defeats the purpose of completing all of the obligations set for us to go through with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kant’s thesis has strength in the fact that the universal law seems closely related to the golden rule, which is do on to others as you would have others do on to you. With a statement as such it is awfully arduous to not perform a moral action. The weakness still lies in the fact Kant takes little to no consideration to humans’ natural emotions and feelings. Leading a moral life does not have to be a melancholy life, one in which you are bound to an endless amount of duties that you can seek no joy in. Whether or not Kant intended to make morality seem like torture, it appears it comes off in this manner. Kant’s overall view of morality appears near flawless. If there was a manner in which he could have incorporated a leeway for some emotions, I feel his thesis is in actuality how each individual should lead his or her life.

Ligation of EGFP into pET41a(+) vector transformed into E. coli cells :: PCR amplification of extracted DNA plasmid

Ligation of EGFP into pET41a(+) vector transformed into E. coli cells followed by PCR amplification of extracted DNA plasmid for success evaluation along with gel electrophoresis at each step. Introduction Enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was originally isolated from a bioluminescent jellyfish called Aequorea victoria. As suggested by the name, this protein fluoresces green when exposed to light in the ultraviolet range. The ultimate goal of the following experiment was to successfully create a pET41a(+)/EGFP recombinant plasmid that was transformed into live E. coli cells. The success of this transformation could be evaluated based on whether EGFP’s fluorescence properties were displayed by the colony in question. The protein’s fluorescence properties â€Å"triggered the widespread and growing use of GFP as a reporter for gene expression and protein localization in a broad variety of organisms† (Ormo, et. al., 1996). Although EGFP and GFP differ for a few amino acids that make EGFP’s fluorescence mildly stronger, the basic principle that such a protein allows for the evaluation of transformation success remains intact. The first step of the experiment was ligation, and the objective was to insert EGFP cDNA into a restriction cut pET41a(+) vector to obtain a recombinant plasmid that would express green fluorescent gene. pET41a(+) was the choice of vector to ligate the EGFP into. Its structural design and genomic sequential properties render it especially well-suited for cloning and high-level expression of peptide sequences. This 5933 bp circular vector contains a built in sequence for Kanamayacin resistance gene. â€Å"Rooting of non-transgenic shoots was completely inhibited in all culture media containing kanamycin† (Montserrat, et. al., 2001). This allowed the growth of recombinant and non-recombinant colonies of E. coli, all of which contained the vector insert. Once the recombinant plasmid was obtained, it was then inserted into E. coli cells through transformation. From a successful transformation, we expected the bacterial cells to translate the inserted EGFP sequence into its protein form. The bacteria cultures were plated on petri dishes containing growth supplement, Luria Broth (LB), an antibiotic: Kanamycin, and IPTG which induced the fluorescence property within successfully transformed bacterial colonies. Different variants of the petri dishes were also included as control and unknown. The miniprep consisted of isolating the DNA plasmid from the bacterial cells. This was used to identify the success of EGFP ligation into pET41a(+) vector upon restriction digest and gel electrophoresis. Additionally, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was run on the isolated DNA plasmids with one of the primers specifically annealing to a part of pET41a(+) sequence and the other annealing to the EGFP gene.

Gillian Clarke Essay

Before even reading â€Å"Miracle on St David’s Day†, I knew that something very special was going to happen from the word in the title â€Å"Miracle†. Clarke’s use of this word suggests that an amazing event is going to occur and that the poem is therefore going to be emotional and poignant. Gillian Clarke uses the first verse of the poem to create a pastoral idyll due to the use of personification-â€Å"An afternoon yellow and open mouthed with daffodils†. This conjures a happy and warm image of daffodils with their trumpets open wide, laughing in the sunlight, and it successfully personifies the flowers. Clarke also places people in the description to make it seem even more vivid in our minds-â€Å"the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs†. The line, â€Å"country house, guests strolling† pulls together a vivid image of a beautiful, opening scene in the reader’s mind. Clarke also introduces the importance of nature right at the beginning of the poem in this first verse. lAt the start of the second verse, Clarke dramatically dispels the pastoral idyllic that she created in the first verse. â€Å"I am reading poetry to the insane† is a blunt line, completely in contrast to the last verse as it is so insensitive. As readers, we instantly realise the harsh reality of the situation that she is in fact in a mental institution. Clarke’s dispelling of the original image is effective because it catches the reader’s attention immediately as it is a completely unexpected twist. It also makes the poem poignant because it makes the reader’s realise that there is never a perfect place and that there is always suffering around. Clarke goes on in this verse to describe some of the patients around her and the length of their mental disorders-â€Å"An old woman interrupting offers as many buckets of coal as I need. Clarke describes the poignant image of a schizophrenic, beautiful boy absorbed in her poetry making us realise that her poetry may be powerful for these people. After verse two, Clarke introduces verse three by stating â€Å"on a good day, they tell me later† to show how the split between a verse is a like the dramatic split personality of a schizophrenic. In verse three, Clarke goes into more detail about her moving surroundings to build up a vivid idea of the situation in the reader’s mind. She describes ow the sun causes shadows of window bars into the room and how a woman is sitting in these shadows as if she is in a cage. â€Å"In a cage of first March sun a woman sits†. Clarke repeats the word not, â€Å"not listening, not seeing, not feeling† to result in the woman appearing to be trapped inside herself and entirely vacant. Finally in this verse, Clarke writes, â€Å"a big, big mild, man is tenderly led to his chair†. The use of the adverb â€Å"tenderly† makes us understand just how much care and attention these people need. Clarke continues with the poem’s tone of compassion in verse four, by the slow reading caused by several instances of pauses in the line due to commas such as â€Å"†¦ hands on his knees, he rocks†¦ â€Å". â€Å"I read to the big, dumb, labouring man as he rocks† also brings about the sad sense that although this man seems self-sufficient and big on the exterior he is mild and insecure on the inside and in the mind. Finally Clarke uses an oxymoron, â€Å"I read to their presences, absences† to show how although they are physically in the room, some of their minds aren’t really there at all. In verse five, Clarke’s writing makes everything suddenly change. The slow and thoughtful pace of the poem ends dramatically in a similar way that Clarke destroyed the pastoral idyllic after the first verse. Gillian Clarke’s use of alliteration also strongly suggests that something special is about to happen, â€Å"He is suddenly standing silently, huge and mild but I feel afraid. † Clarke then cleverly uses two similes to portray the moment before the man speaks, â€Å"Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness†. These similes are closely linked to new life spring which is convenient because the poem is set on the first day of spring. We also grasp from Clarke’s use of similes that the man is going to do something new. This is a significant and poignant moment in the poem because the man is so well-built and huge yet what he is about to do is something really big and special for everybody in the room and the reader, â€Å"the labourer’s voice recites ‘The Daffodils’† The reaction to this man’s speech is shock and no one is able to speak. The nurses are speechless and prepared for violence from the man but even they freeze. The patients, some of which are seriously mentally ill also suddenly listen, â€Å"the patients seem to listen†. It is effective and poignant, how Gillian Clarke then personifies the daffodils to match the characters and mood of the room. She expresses that even nature outside can react at this incredible moment. The hyperbole that she uses, â€Å"a thousand, ten thousand† is an excerpt from the Wordsworth poem that the man is reciting. Clarke successfully employs this hyperbole to exaggerate the number of daffodils who stop to observe to the man breaking free of speech and his life. I think that the seventh stanza is the most heart-breaking stanza, especially â€Å"Since the dumbness of misery fell†; because that implies that the man was once a happy child and only stopped talking and became miserable when something tore his life apart. This is poignant because it makes us imagine tragic events that could have stopped this man from speaking and that it really shows the power and impact that poetry can have. I think â€Å"the daffodils are flame† is a very effective and clever way of Clarke to finish the poem because it is ending with the daffodils where it first started. The way that nature outside corresponds to the event in the room is truly miraculous. In verse six Clarke personifies the daffodils as â€Å"still as wax† whilst the man is reciting and the daffodils are then â€Å"flame† in the last verse during the man’s applaud (we can see a fiery theme). The poem is so poignant because of the way Clarke creates successful images and personification so that we can feel we are in the room at the time of the miracle. The pathetic fallacy at the end leaves reader’s reflective and astounded by the description in poetry of such an amazing account.