AP by John Updike

Introduction The world of literature is the source of new ideas, thoughts and inspirations. The authors make us think over our life. Undoubtedly, everyone has the right to have their own opinion and the literature encourages us being open-minded and independent in our judgments. The novel AP by John Updike is one of the works, which has a rather simple plot but involves the important message to the public.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on AP by John Updike specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The aim of this essay is to summarize the plot of AP by John Updike and to discuss the main idea of the novel. The Summary of the Plot The plot of the novel unfolds at the grocery shop AP, where a young man Sammy works. He is the main character and the narrator of the story, which happened to him in the work place. Sammy is only 19 years old and, in contrast to the most of population, he has rather rebellious views on th e American consumerism. At the same time, people, whom he observes every day at the shop, are, obviously, the bright examples of the consumer society influence. Besides, Lengel, a manager of the store, plays an important role in the plot of the novel. He is the conservative and strict man, who considers any person’s behavior, which is different from the behavior of the majority, as an inadmissible. One day, three girls in bathing suits enter the shop. Sammy becomes charmed by them. While watching they are shopping at the store, he is examining their bodies. His sexual dreams do not leave his mind. However, we get to know that he is rather cynical about the two of the girls. It seems like they have failed his evaluation and cannot compete with the third one, whose appearance he considers as perfect. In his thoughts, he calls her Queenie. It seems like she is a leader among the three friends. The confrontation occurs when the manager of the store criticizes the girls for their look and indicates to their bathing suits with reproof. The girls have to leave the store. Sammy feels himself hurt and disgusted. In a fit of temper, he leaves the job. The Discussion The consumer society is, undoubtedly, the main theme of the novel by John Updike. The author shows how much people are concerned about the satisfaction of their desires. He emphasizes that the customers at the shop are willing to buy the snacks rather than the food staff necessary for living.Advertising Looking for research paper on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They, essentially, spend their money on nothing. The character of Sammy is far more complicated as it seems at the first glance. Although, ironically, he is driven by his physical desires as the customers do, he feels an inner rejection of the commonly accepted way of life as well as of the hypocrisy and conservatism of the manager. Sammy rebels against the consume r society when he leaves his job. The controversy is obvious in the plot of the novel. On the one hand, the main character feels rejection of the consumerism, and, on the other hand, he scrutinizes the figures of the girls from the consumer standpoint. I guess the main idea of the novel is not only the shame on the primitive values of the consumer society but also, and maybe even more importantly, the shame on the conventionalism and non-acceptance of the views different from the ones, which are spread in the society. The author blames the society for the hypocrisy and the duplicity. The ambiguity can be noticed in the attitude and behavior of the manager of the store. He upbraids the girls for their immodest look but is eager to facilitate the sales at his store at the same time. It becomes clear that he is a part of the consumer society as well but, in contrast to Sammy, his strict and conventional views do not allow him being open-minded and flexible. The theme of human body also takes the central place in the novel. I think the author tries to show that people like a manager Lengel are cared about the look, which the others have, much more than about their inner nature. They forget about the spiritual side of the world. The themes of the consumer society and the human body are closely interconnected. The sexy figures of the girls and the attitude of Sammy to them symbolically represent the temptations of the modern world. The question is how much the figures of these girls are different from the plenty of the snacks and other trifles offered at the store in the opinion of Sammy. Conclusion In order to sum up all above mentioned, it should be said that the novel AP by John Updike depicts the reality of the modern society. The theme of consumerism takes the central place in the plot of the novel. The main character rebels against the hypocrisy and duplicity of the modern society. At the same time, he is tempted by it as well.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on AP by John Updike specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The author emphasizes the ambiguity of the attitude of many people nowadays. On the one hand, they stand up for the modesty as well as for the certain model of behavior and are eager to enjoy the pleasures of the consumer society, on the other hand. This research paper on AP by John Updike was written and submitted by user Madeline Robbins to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Ganglion Cells essays

Ganglion Cells essays Light is changed into sight by converting light into electrical stimuli. These electrical impulses are sent from the retina to the brain and are interpreted as images. The retina is membrane lines the inside wall of the eye which consists of 5 main cells: photoreceptors (rods The ganglion cell collects the electrical messages concerning the visual signal from the two layers of nerve cells preceding it in the retinal wiring scheme. The ganglion cell represents the ultimate signaller to the brain for retinal information. Ganglion cells transmit signals (via electrical pathways) to the brain, with a small amount of calcium flow into the cell. Ganglion cells are larger on average than most preceding retinal interneurons and have large diameter axons capable of passing the electrical signal to the retinal recipient areas of the brain many millimeters or centimeters distant from the retina. The optic nerve collects all the axons of the ganglion cells and this bundle of more than a million fibers (in humans) then passes information to the next relay station in the brain for sorting and integrating into further information processing channels. There are many different varieties of ganglion cells which can be classified based on form, number of sublayers in the stratification levels in the inner plexiform layer, cell body and dendritic tree size. For example the large ganglion cells, with open radiate branching patterns, process fast, transient impulse trains and in all vertebrate retinas are concerned with motion detection and alerting the animal to threatening, moving visual imagery. While small bushy ganglion cell types are concerned with processing small stationa ...

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 21

Business Ethics - Essay Example Therefore, the Civil False Claims Act of 1986 strengthened the government’s course of pursuing the legal claims against its fraudulent contractors. The study highlights a review of the act and the argumentative approach that would solve the litigants’ quest to drop the law’s stringent measures. The clauses of the Civil False Claims Act commonly called the Whistle-blowers act establishes that the federal government has the mandate to pursue a lawsuit against any of its contractors whenever there is a suspicious case concerning fraud. Secondly, the act’s clauses indicate that employees or any other interested parties have the legal mandate to implicate any fraudulent firm working for the government at an individual capacity. Since the government contracts different firms for the delivery of different products and services that eventually affect the majority population, it is apparent that the act is a controllable to curb any fraudulent acts from the contracted parties. According to research, the government has been involved in 20% of the lawsuits filed against its fraudulent contractors. It is known that 80% of the cases are pursued by the whistleblowers until the court’s final jurisdiction. It is critical for the government to understand that cases of fraud w ould not cease with the firms remaining contented of the lack of probability that the federal government would intervene and pursue any cases presented by a relator. The fact that the qui tam lawsuits are expensive to pursue as an individual, the government should change the act’s clauses and include a government unit that would act as a recipient to all whistleblowers with the aim of identifying the evidence of cases. Secondly, the changes should develop a fund for the individual whistle-blowers to use in their pursuit in the fraud cases holding to the knowledge that the intentions are meant to yield revenue after the recovery of the damages.

Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Logistics - Essay Example Defined as "the management of product and information flows from original source to final customer in a manner which adds value to the external customer," (Baudin 2005, p. 5) logistics represents a key bundle of resources that can be applied successfully to the task of providing best net value for the customer (see Appendix table 1). Following Naylor (2002), the first is that of the logistics concept itself, and the proposition that it represents a comprehensive process that is of strategic importance as well as boundary-spanning in terms of significance. Second, global logistics systems provide unique and meaningful opportunities to create customer value. Third, a number of contemporary tools and approaches validate and facilitate the effectiveness of logistics to the task of value creation. Fourth, logistics is well positioned to take advantage of the new strategic management process. In fact, there is considerable justification to think of logistics as one of the key strategic sys tems responsible for providing certain customer-valued products and services. Intermediaries are often defined as a third party logistics which means â€Å"the use of an outside company to perform all or part pf a firm’s materials management and product destinations function† (Simchi-Levi et al 2008, p. 249). The main benefits of the intermediaries are (1) lower total cost (through logistics improvements), (2) faster response to changing volume needs (through the closer location), and (3) faster provision of technical consulting help (Stroh, 2006). They have also implemented the process changes enhancing value to be delivered to the customer and reducing sacrifice. Similarly, manufacturing decisions that appear to reduce cost may in fact be unwise from a global system perspective. Product in long runs or delaying a switchover may reduce efficiencies and unit costs. As a result, revenue can be lost owing to the

The Theory of Music Universality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Theory of Music Universality - Essay Example Its ability to communicate has been as revered as it has been suspect, and its rich social and ritualistic associations have added layers of meanings that can only be expressed in musical terms, and not in terms of words or images. Aaron Copland in his "How We Listen" says that music can be listened to and enjoyed in three different planes: the sensual, the expressive and the solely musical. The listening experience for a particular piece of music is evaluated on all these planes simultaneously, but to understand the effects of music it is necessary that we at least outline these levels separately. The sensual plane is the absorption of the sheer pleasure that music affords, the elevated mood it evokes, and the escape from the mundanities of life it makes possible. The expressive plane, on the other hand, talks to the listener, but does not have a concrete message to convey, it conveys broad senses of emotion: "..... serenity or exuberance, regret or triumph, fury or delight. It expresses each of these moods, and many others, in a numberless variety of subtle shadings and differences. It may even express a state of meaning for which there exists no adequate word in any language".The third plane is where the listener is aware of the musical form, where the harmony, the melody, the rhythm, and the tonal color are consciously appreciated: the listener knows about the notes and the structure of the written music, the composer's style and thought process and can evaluate the rendition of all this by the performers. All theories of music through time have talked about the sensual, expressive or the solely musical planes in one way or the other. To understand how the perceptions on music have changed down the years, we need to examine the various thought processes of philosophers, and the conclusions they arrived at, tracing a historical outline from the Greek times, to the Baroque era and down to the present. Not much factual evidence of Greek music has survived, but an understanding of the ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and his student Aristotle, Pythagoras and Plotinus go a long way in answering a lot of queries on the views held about music in those times. Of note is the fact that music then was more of a part of people's lives than it is today, and hence the comments made by the thinkers of those times have to be understood in the appropriate context. For all our musical and philosophical sophistication, it seems that the Greeks 'lived' their music far more deeply than we do ours. Difficult though it may be for us to think of music as the kind of thing capable of revealing important fundamental truths about the world, for the ancient Greeks there seems to have been little doubt. And for good reason: their world was, after all, a fundamentally musical one. (Bowman, 1998)

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change How are Changes in Knowledge Connected to Social Change? Introduction Knowledge and society have a reciprocal relationship. Religious and scientific ideas bring changes to the social order, likewise changes in society help to shape knowledge. This has been most evident since the time of the Enlightenment. From earliest times philosophers had concerned themselves with questions about God and about the human condition, what are sometimes called timeless truths. Sociology, on the other hand was more contextual and historical in that theorists were concerned with the historical emergence of all aspects of human social life. Sociology emerged through the conditions of modernity, which began in Europe in the 17th Century but later spread to become worldwide. The new scientific view questioned previously held ways of knowing and thinking about the world. Religious doctrine and teachings that had been seen as authoritative and objective truths which dictated the way most people lived their lives were called into question by advances in science. At the same time modernity engendered huge technological and social change that led to a break with what had gone before. The French revolution, and in England, the Industrial revolution, which dramatically changed the face of the social world, were decisive elements in the emergence of a theory of society that was distinct from other branches of philosophy (Giddens, 2001). The revolution was based on notions of individual freedom and human rights; it shook the social and political foundations of France and had repercussions across Europe. It also contained within it economic consequences that destroyed the foundations of feudal society. It questioned the idealized and inward looking existence of philosophy (see Morrison, 1995). Historical development’s impact on philosophy was most evident in Hegel’s work which had profound implications for the development of social theory. Hegel took the view that the revolution had not just influenced the way philosophy saw itself; it fundamentally changed the way philosophers dealt with reality and history. History and the social order had been seen as fixed, the revolution changed that and Hegel observed that as one form of social and political existence ended so another took its place.. Hegel viewed the individual as a subject within history and history as developmental and thus liberative. This was the first time that history and humanity’s role within it had been recognised as an ongoing and changing process. Other 19th century thinkers sought to understand the changing world in which they lived. Knowledge and Social Science Auguste Comte is sometimes called the founder of sociology as he coined the term. Comte was influenced by the way scientists investigated the physical world and he sought to create a science of society which would explain the social world in a similar manner. He believed that the scientific method allowed us to uncover universal laws. Comte’s thinking developed into what is known as positivism. This holds that science should be concerned with observable facts thus knowledge about society had to be based on empirical evidence i.e. observation and experiment (Callincos). Comte was followed by Durkheim who also took the view that social life should be studied in the same way that scientists studied the physical world. He and other positivists believed that social facts about the world could be established through the collection of statistical data. In this way sociologists could study cause and effect in society. For Durkheim sociology was about the discovery of social facts, sociologists should study aspects of life that shape individuals such as religion and economics. Because social change is so rapid the modern world presents us with difficulties that affect our lifestyles and cause human beings to feel unsettled. Durkheim described this process as anomie, a feeling of despair that was a result of modern life. The ideas of Karl Marx contrast with those of Comte and Durkheim who were interested in the structure of society.He also sought to explain the changes that were taking place in society. Marx said that the philosophers had only interpreted the world when it needed to be changed. Drawing on Hegel’s idea of the development of history Marx developed what he called a materialist conception of history (Morris, 1995). Social change, he argued is not the result of ideas, but of economic processes. Historical development is the result of class conflict. Religion was a false ideology that upheld the interests of the ruling class and kept the working classes in submission. Max Weber also wanted to understand social change but was critical of some of Marx’s views. Weber believed that ideas and values were just as important as economic processes and he felt that sociology should focus on action not structure (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000). Weber maintained that capitalism was not si mply the result of class conflict, what he termed the ‘spirit;’ of capitalism was the result of a particular view of the world. He maintained that capitalism was the direct result of a particular religious view of the world, that of Calvinism. They worked hard[1]because that was what God wanted and this resulted in the accumulation of capital. Their success was, for them, a sign of God’s grace. Thus, for Weber, rather than study society as a set of social facts, we need to try to understand the meanings that human beings give to their actions. This brought about a continuing divide in sociology between positivism and interpretavism, social structure versus human action. Those who follow an interpretative view of studying society argue that no causal explanation of human behaviour is possible without some understanding of the meanings that individuals give to their actions (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000).[2] Weber believed that human action was creative whereas Dur kheim believed that our actions were limited by social structures. Later Developments Marx, Durkheim and Weber, are known as the founding fathers of sociology who although divided in their accounts of society all sought to make sense of the changing societies that they lived in (Morrison, 1995). Their thought influenced later sociologists. Functionalism developed out of Durkheim’s thinking. Its most prominent thinkers are the American sociologists Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons. Functionalism holds that society is a system whose various parts work together and this produces social solidarity and cohesion (Giddens, 2001).[3] Thus functionalists examined the institutions of society, the family and education to show how they worked in the development of society and promoted social cohesion. Marx’s thinking developed largely through conflict theories. Inherent in Marx’s thought was the idea that one set of people in society were in conflict with another (the class divide) this has been most obvious in the development of feminist theories. Feminists such as Walby (1990) have used Marx’s analysis of class in the analysis of the rise of patriarchy and the struggle between the sexes. These relationships are characterised by the fact that one group has power and authority while another does not. Weber’s thought has been seen as important to the development of symbolic interactionism as found in the work of George Herbert Mead an American anthropologist. This view holds that individuals have an image of themselves that is reinforced by their interactions with others. Phenomenology is a further development of interactionism but it goes further than interactionists in that they focus solely on the subjective aspects of social life. The ideas of the founding fathers have been termed ‘grand theories’ but with the demise of modernity the idea that history is progressive has been called into question. Society is not a seamless whole but plural and diverse, it has thus been described as post-modern (Lyotard, 1989). Postmodernists argue that objective knowledge of the world is not possible because knowledge reflects the interests of its producers. Michel Foucault (1975) was a French sociologist who argued that knowledge was a result of the power relations that exist in society. Power works through discourse[4] and shapes our attitudes towards sexuality, crime and criminals and madness. Foucault, through his ‘archeology’ of knowledge[5] Foucault argued that what we understand of say mental illness or sexuality is a result of social development. Conclusion Clearly knowledge and social change are very closely linked. The immense changes in society over the past three hundred years have resulted in philosophers and social scientists attempting to understand the world, why things happen the way they do, why we do what we do. They also look at the development of social institutions, and in Foucault’s case[6] the development of knowledge itself through discourse. The emergence of sociology is directly related to social change and sociologists attempts to understand such changes have resulted in the production of knowledge. At the same time new knowledge about the world we live in helps to facilitate social change, e.g. feminist perspectives have resulted in huge changes in women’s status in today’s society. Bibliography Callinicos, A 1999 Social Theory New York, New York University Press Foucault, M 1991 (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Harmondsworth, Penguin Giddens, 2001 4th ed. Sociology Cambridge, Polity Haralambos and Holborn 2000 Sociology: Themes and Perspectives Collins, London Morrison, K 1995 Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought 1 Footnotes [1] What Weber termed the Protestant work ethic [2] See page 972 [3] See page 17 [4] The way we talk and think about a subject An approach which tries to make sense of what we know and how we know it by digging into the past [5] [6] And also Khun’s with his ideas about paradigms or models of acceptable knowledge which change over time. Thus changing views about mental health, childbirth and parenting.

Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Falling Water’s plans all came about when the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright was born, Jun 8, 1867. Frank was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935. At his death in 1959, he had built more than 400 buildings. Wright’s most famous house was designed and built for the Pittsburgh Kaufman family, for a weekend retreat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The natural wonder Fallingwater is recognized as architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s most acclaimed and famous works. In 1991, a poll of members of the American Institute of Architects voted Wright’s Fallinwater the best all-time work of American Architecture. Fallingwater opened a new chapter in American architecture and Wright became the first and foremost architect of houses. Fallingwater is known for its simplicity. This is not a skyscraper, it is a home situated in a remote section of Western Pennsylvania, in Ohiopyle, (or called Bear Run). In a talk to the Tallies Fellowship Frank Lloyd Wright said of the house; â€Å"Fallingwater is a great blessing - one of the great blessings to be experienced here on earth. I think nothing yet ever equaled the coordination, sympathetic expression of the great principle of repose where forest and stream and rock and all the elements of structure are combined so quietly that really you listen not to any noise wha tsoever although the music of the stream is there. But you listen to Fallingwater the way you listen to the quiet country.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935. The design of the house promotes a harmony between man and nature, so that the buildings, walls and structures within the house are extensions of the exterior world. Fallingwater was designed for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh; the founders of a prominent department store in the city called Kaufmann’s. Construction on the project began in 1936 and was completed in 1939. Wright concentrated in on the Bear Run location because he knew of a waterfall in the area that the family loved to go visit all the time. In designing the house, Wright mimicked the natural pattern of rock ledges over the waterfall and cantilevered the house over the falls in a series of concrete ledges, anchored to masonry walls made of the same sandstone as the rock ledges. This view just described, is perhaps the most famous of all. The house hovers right over the rushing mountain stream in perfect harmony. The house extends 30 feet in he ight above the ledges, although strong horizontal lines and low ceilings help maintain an overall sheltering feeling.

The development of self-awareness and shifts of Locus of self Knowledge

This study examines the theoretical framework of developmental sequences and self descriptions and its proposed idea that children’s sense of self change as they become older and more able to take into account the information about themselves available from other sources such as their social environment. A small-scale investigation into the ways children give self-descriptions and how the characteristics of these change with age was conducted by comparison of short interviews with two participants aged 8 and 16 years following a similar methodology to Rosenberg’s (1979) study of self description. Analysis of the material show that indeed there is evidence that older children tend to give accounts of themselves by using more inner characteristics and emotional traits then younger children providing support to existing research in the subject. Introduction The subject of development of identity has been a topic of intense debate amongst scholars in the field of child development. The multidimensionality of identity imposes that many external aspects are involved in its development like religious, cultural, social ethnic, therefore in order to develop and identity children must be able to take into account such aspects. Maccoby (as cited in Miel and Ding 2005 p. 131) proposes that for that reason, as sense of self happens by degrees. William James (1892 as cited in Miel and Ding 2005 pp 131) introduced the idea that a sense of self is divided in two stages: the self as a subject of experience and the self as an object of knowledge (Miel and Ding, 2005 pg. 131). This means that as children get older, they become more competent at self-awareness and more realistically involved in perception and responses of others in their lives. According to James, this development occurs during childhood by means of interactions between cognitive aspects and Social experiences where children actively use their incoming knowledge about themselves to make a difference in their environment. Subsequently, as children gain increasing levels of self awareness, a second stage emerges defined as the self as an object or categorical self (James 1961 as cited in Miel and Ding 2005 pg. 133) where children begin to be categorized by others and themselves in defining roles in society. Cooley and Mead (1935) further underpinned the importance of social influences upon the development of an identity by coining the term â€Å"looking glass self† and the development of the theory of â€Å"symbolic interactionism† where they stress that a sense of identity emerges from reactions of others in the environment to us and the impressions we make internalize of these judgments (Mead 1934, as cited in: Miell and Ding, 2005, pp. 134-136. More recently, developmental Psychologists such as Harter (1983) and Rosenberg (1979) have used methods of semi-structured interviews and self report measures to investigate children’s developmental sequences in the formation of the self. In Her analysis of interviews with children of various ages, Harter (1983, as cited in Miell and Ding, 2005, pp.128-129) framed a developmental sequence where younger children show tendency to describe behavior and objective facts gradually shifting from traits of physical aspects and ultimately to interpersonal traits. Rosenberg’s findings suggest that younger children tend to rely on physical aspects and character traits observable by others to describe their sense of self whereas older children make more use of inner qualities and emotions only known to them. Rosenberg was interested beyond simple aspects of self description and added to his questions, topics that explored the children’s categorical self and what he defines as Locus of self knowledge. This study aims to investigate children’s accounts in their self concept by using pre recorded semi-structured interviews with two participants aged 8 and 16 years and applying Rosenberg’s categories of self description, self evaluation, self and others, Ideal self and Locus of self knowledge in slightly altered forms. With view on the relevant theories to the context of this study, the research question in focus is â€Å"Do children acquire a progressive sense of self as they grow older and interact with their social environment?† Method Design The design of this study consists in a comparison of the self-descriptions given by two young people, during semi-structured interviews. Participants The participants that took place in this study were selected from two schools (one primary and one secondary) in the surrounding areas of Milton Keynes. Anne aged 8 yeas and Adam ages 16 years were randomly selected and given informed consent as well as their parents to participate in this research. Materias and procedure The material for this study was collected by the course team of ED209 Child Development at Open University and every step has been taken to ensure its compliance with the British Psychological Society’s ethical guidelines for research with human participants. In order to record the interviews, a microphone was strategically placed in a non intrusive location near the participant. An A4 sheet of paper was used for the participants to complete their self description (â€Å"I statements†) and a recorder was used to record the interviews. The interviews took place during the day in May 2005. The locations of the interviews were in places familiar to the children. The younger participant (Annie) was interviewed by a member of the module team Kieron Sheehy and Peter Barnes conducted the interview with the older participant (Adam). Both children were informed prior to the start of their right to withdraw from the interview at any time as well as to have any data deleted should they feel something was said that they do not want in recording. None of them did so. Care was taken to ensure the best possible quality to the recordings which required such to be stopped at times when background noise was too inconvenient. Near the beginning of the interview the participants were asked to write down a description of themselves on a sheet of A4 paper. At the top were the words ‘Who am I’ and below that were ten numbered lines, each beginning ‘I†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ The recording was paused while the children completed these descriptions. Subsequently, the participants were asked questions based on Rosenberg’s questions of self evaluation, self and others and ideal self as well as on the concept of Locus of self knowledge. Results Self descriptions The research question proposed by this study is that younger children rely on physical and character traits when giving accounts of themselves and this should progressively shift with age as they make more use of inner traits for self description. The categories proposed by Rosenberg and used in this study and the results in percentage of the accounts of the two participants are as seen in table 1 bellow. Percentages were rounded to the nearest null The results above clearly show that the younger participant (Annie) relies solely on physical and character traits to describe herself whereas the older participant (Adam) makes much more use of inner characteristics and relationship connections supporting the hypothesis proposed by this study. Locus of Self Knowledge Annie shows internal and external locus when she suggests that both her and her mother would know better about her Maths, acknowledging that her mother might not know that she is â€Å"getting better every day†. Nevertheless in the question of behavior she placed the locus externally saying that her mom would be correct. Adam, the older participant was clear saying that his mother would be correct if asked what subjects he is better at school and about his behavior at home. Self evaluation When describing her weak and strong points Annie pointed out solely to physical traits of herself â€Å"my ears and legs (11:06)† and observable characteristics â€Å"I’ve got lots of friends (9:13)†. Adam equally relied heavily on character traits to describe his strong and weak points, however with a difference that his accounts were mostly related to internal (not necessarily observable) traits â€Å"I think im approachable b anyone†¦I suppose that my personality like just being a relaxed person (20:02)† Ideal self The older participant (Annie) relied on external factors to describe her ideal self like jobs â€Å"for my job I would like to be an actress (13:42)† making no account of any inner characteristic. Adam (16 years) on the other hand showed a capability to project his future in terms of interpersonal traits â€Å"I’d be like a leader, like a leader or something with power, because I like to think that I’d been really strong as a leader† Self and others Annie made comparisons of herself to others in terms of similar or different she is regarding her physical characteristics â€Å"I’m the same as Naomi as we both like Maths†¦(11:24)†. Nevertheless, she shows an ability to reflect on internal aspects of herself and the importance of her uniqueness as a person â€Å"Because if all the people are the same as me then I wouldn’t feel special (13:23).† Most of Adam’s comparisons to others were described in terms of the quality of inner similarities that enables relationships to form and be maintained â€Å"we’ve more or less got the same viewpoints (23:21)† and his inner drives that differentiates him from others â€Å"I like to think that I’m not going to spend the rest of my life working in a shop like some of my friends (25:00)† Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate by means of comparison of interviews with two young participants (Annie aged 8 and Adam aged 16), the idea outlined in current research that development of identity occurs progressively from an existential self to a categorical self and children’s self descriptions shift gradually from predominantly physical traits in younger children to more interpersonal characteristics in older ones. Equally it aimed to analyze Rosenberg’s suggestion that a transfer in the locus of self knowledge from external to internal occurs as age progresses. In the self description task, Annie made use exclusively of physical and character traits to provide a description of herself where Adam showed a fluent ability to understand himself as an abstract being and use interpersonal and emotional traits when talking about himself. This is consistent with the idea of James (1892 as cited in Miel and Ding 2005 pp 131) that a sense of self emerges gradually. In detailed analysis of the questions related to the locus of self knowledge, Both Annie and Adam place emphasis on the other rather than the self contradicting Rosenberg’s findings that a shift occurs to the self as children grow older (Rosenberg 1979 as cited in the Open University 2012 assessment guide). However this could be so for reasons related to the methodology of research itself. For instance both participants did not seem to grasp the meaning of the questions initially, or perhaps confounding variables like power imbalance between researcher and participant could have played a role. On this topic it is therefore impossible to draw a positive or negative conclusion based only on this sample size. Cooley (1902 as cited in Miel and Ding 2005 pg 134) suggests the idea of the self as a looking glass where the person develops a sense of self by gradually undertaking other’s views and reactions of them. This theory can be supported by the findings of this study regarding the locus of self-knowledge where both children seem to see their own selves through the â€Å"looking glass† of others. The responses given in the other themes (ideal self, self and others and self evaluation) provide a strong support to Harter (1983 as cited in Open University 2012 assessment guide) and Rosenberg’s theory of a reliance on physical activities and aspects by younger children and a shift to more inner traits and relation to others in older participants. It is important to note that this study relies on a sample size too small to allow its results to be universalized. Also the context of the interviews and the participants were selected in a Western society where emphasis is strong on individuality and independence (Tobin et al 1989 as cited in Miell and Ding 2005 pp130). Therefore this study should only be interpreted within the limits of its settings; however it gives interest to the possibility of further research with a broader cross-cultural selection of participants. Briefly, some methodological issues came up in the formulation of questions that could perhaps have had an impact however small on the results of this study; At times, both participants showed confusion regarding the questions asked. Perhaps a different wording would have been more appropriate. Conclusion This study supports ongoing theories of a gradual development of self awareness proving the initial research question suggested and the idea that identity is shaped by an interaction of cognitive factors with various external aspects like social, peer, religion etc†¦ Due to methodological issues and small sample size it is impossible to offer conclusive support to the theory of Locus-of-self –knowledge. In future, the field of developmental psychology could benefit from further research involving larger sample sizes of varied cultures as this study can only account for children based in the scope of western society

Free Essays on Sililoquy

I went to work as any other day, walking around the mall with my best friend, staring, gazing into every transparent glass containing items for my wish list, leaving me with â€Å"wants†, yet will never become possessions. My phone rang, as my mother, carefully, yet failing to hide her tears, told me my cousin (Joshua), two years of age, had drowned. I felt your struggle I thought you had encountered. The splash of water, as it skillfully entered your windpipes, devouring your lungs until your eyes became bloodshot red, as you gasped for that last breath of air, only to swallow more water. And then, slowly your heart stops beating as your body swam along, allowing the current to be your guide. Your body drifted down the canal, but your soul drifted towards heaven. I held my uncle close, my shoulder accepting his tears and cries unheard for his beloved son. Nothing, no pain can ever compare to the injection of a lost loved one I was given when I hugged him, as I felt every breath of sorrow moisten my chest. His firm grip on my shirt held me without a thought of letting go, as he shed his tears on me, seeping through me shirt, my pores, through my soul and directly to my heart. The sharp pain causing your breaths to shorten and uncontrollable tears to fall with no bottom to reach. I heard his unheard cries for his son. That was a want that could never be fulfilled. That was a missing piece that could never be found. A child, every child, is certainly a gift from God. The creation of every human being, the growth, the heart, the mind; never knowing the capabilities it will endow. Never knowing the fullest extent of it’s imagination, enabling them to do anything, and everything it desires; and to take effect into my life is truly one of the many mysterious ways God has worked, in my life, and everyone’s life. Joshua, two years into this earth and yet I feel he has accomplished more than a man, yet no less than an ange... Free Essays on Sililoquy Free Essays on Sililoquy I went to work as any other day, walking around the mall with my best friend, staring, gazing into every transparent glass containing items for my wish list, leaving me with â€Å"wants†, yet will never become possessions. My phone rang, as my mother, carefully, yet failing to hide her tears, told me my cousin (Joshua), two years of age, had drowned. I felt your struggle I thought you had encountered. The splash of water, as it skillfully entered your windpipes, devouring your lungs until your eyes became bloodshot red, as you gasped for that last breath of air, only to swallow more water. And then, slowly your heart stops beating as your body swam along, allowing the current to be your guide. Your body drifted down the canal, but your soul drifted towards heaven. I held my uncle close, my shoulder accepting his tears and cries unheard for his beloved son. Nothing, no pain can ever compare to the injection of a lost loved one I was given when I hugged him, as I felt every breath of sorrow moisten my chest. His firm grip on my shirt held me without a thought of letting go, as he shed his tears on me, seeping through me shirt, my pores, through my soul and directly to my heart. The sharp pain causing your breaths to shorten and uncontrollable tears to fall with no bottom to reach. I heard his unheard cries for his son. That was a want that could never be fulfilled. That was a missing piece that could never be found. A child, every child, is certainly a gift from God. The creation of every human being, the growth, the heart, the mind; never knowing the capabilities it will endow. Never knowing the fullest extent of it’s imagination, enabling them to do anything, and everything it desires; and to take effect into my life is truly one of the many mysterious ways God has worked, in my life, and everyone’s life. Joshua, two years into this earth and yet I feel he has accomplished more than a man, yet no less than an ange...

Circular Theory †Philosophy Essay

Circular Theory – Philosophy Essay Free Online Research Papers Life follows a circular path. That is why history repeats itself. Let’s say just for arguments sake that the big bang theory is correct. Since the big bang theory the Earth has changed its face numerous times starting at the solidification of the earth’s surface. After the earth solidified organisms grew, and evolved into what we have today. Now before we can even touch on animal life we must look at the planet first. Earth solidified through upwelling and cooling of hot magma to form the crust after this formation took place everything was fine until the Ice Age came around. After the Ice age there was a mass warming on the earth, creating our present status, and earth will probably go out the way it came in Bang. Now there have been other anomalies to affect the earth such as volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, the rise and fall of temperatures, and asteroids, but these are all a part of this continuous circle. Now like us, the earth is a living breathing organism, one that regenerates itself and heals itself, thus creating a circular pattern for its existence. This is a pattern that man has tried to figure out for centuries so that the fountain of youth would be possib le. BANG >>>> SOLIDIFICATION/COOLING OF LIQUID HOT MAGMA >>>> CRUST >>>> ICE AGE >>>> CURRENT STATUS >>>> PROBABLY ANOTHER BANG = CIRCLE I enjoy doing this, back to the circle theory again. Now, I know this is all inductive reasoning but I don’t really have any deductive formulas to test the conjectures of this theory. I leave that up to the mathematicians. Let’s see what else represents a circle in life I know how about the weather. The weather can be a continuous cycle such as you have dirt/dust on the ground that is picked up by the wind and that dust collects water molecules. Once the dust and water molecules become too heavy for the wind they drop in the form of rain/hale/sleet/snow, returning the dust to its previous state, dirt. DIRT >>>> WIND >>>> WATER >>>> RAIN/HALE/SLEET/SNOW >>>> DIRT = CIRCLE It is not impossible to find the fountain of youth, but there are too many factors in the world/universe to even be able to create a place of immortality. Let’s go back to the circle theory. Everything happens in a series but the series ultimately takes us back to where we started. Before life we do not know where we are, but after we are conceived all of the sudden we have spawned life. We live our life to the best we can following guidelines, rules, suggestions and our parents. Ultimately taking on our parent’s belief system and coincidentally passing it down to our kids as well. After we have lived our life we die and are once again back where we started from, not sure where that is, but none the less creating a circular pattern. NO LIFE >>>> LIFE >>>> NO LIFE = CIRCLE Life itself is formed through a circle. One cell in a human body, any cell take your pick, is in the shape of a circle. The sun, the moon stars, even the start of a new love is formed through a circle. In order to find love you must talk to someone and when you talk to that person you tend to have direct eye contact, also a circle. You have premarital sex and then you get married or you get married because you had premarital sex and now have a little mini you and her/him on the way. This, takes us back to the no life, life circle. Now let us take a look at the conception†¦ Do you understand where I am going with this? Rhetorical, don’t answer that. Empty uterus until one of the fallopian tubes sends out an egg. Egg is in the uterus and coitus uninterrupted is performed spawning the millions of sperm to the egg. The sperm swim around, some not even coming close to the egg, but one lucky bastard, who is quite possible, made it to a circular dwelling. Now, once inside of this perfectly shaped circle it forms a single cell and that circular cell multiplies until you have a heart, also the shape of a circle, maybe a little deformed, but pretty much there. So, then you have this baby just chilling inside of another circle called the uterus, and the baby is born thus finishing the process of the circle that is precious to our species. Read, Rinse, and Repeat if desired. EMPTY UTERUS >>>> EGG >>>> SPERM >>>> ONE CELL >>>> MULTIPLE CELLS >>>> BABY >>>> NO EGG/EMPTY UTERUS (AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE) = CIRCLE Much like life, people tend to form circles in their every day life once we have found â€Å"direction†. Turning what was an exciting life into a very cumbersome and redundant existence. I have to laugh at this, because before we had a direction we had 3 things that were our drive as a species. These things were the most basic needs in order for us, the animal kingdom, to continue, Food/Water, Shelter, and Sex. Now we would have to eat, live somewhere, and have sex in order to continue this grand circle so we can find out why we are all here. Then the rules came and things changed and life has become a job. No longer something we can enjoy, but rather a chore for us to eat/drink, live in, and fuck. Now in order to eat/drink you need to have a job because you need money to buy the food and drinks you need to survive. Then comes the place to live, and this is a must because land is property of some one that in fact doesn’t actually own anything other than their bo dy, but if you want to live you must find a domicile and pay this person. Now in order to have sex today you have to have a job so you can spend money on the girl that you want to have sex with. Not to mention you don’t want to be living out of a cardboard box and you would prefer to have food in the house because hunting after work is out of the question. So let me put this in a simpler fashion†¦. JOB >>>>> FOOD/DRINK >>>>>> DWELLING >>>>> SEX >>>>> JOB = CIRCLE Now of course that is not always how it happens but for the most part it is true. Now the everyday life consists of waking up showering/not showering; you dirty bastard, getting dressed, eating breakfast/not, going to school/work/not doing anything; no sex for you, Eating Lunch/not, going home, watching TV/Playing Video Games; get a life, Eating dinner, taking a shower/not, having sex/flogging the dolphin/catching the vibe, then finally back to sleep, and waking up the next morning to start the same day. Hmmmmm, Sounds like fun to me. Where do I sign up to shoot myself? For those of you who prefer that I did it the other way: WAKING UP >>>> SHOWERING/NOT >>>> GETTING DRESSED >>>> EATING BREAKFAST/NOT >>>> GOING TO SCHOOL/WORK/BUM >>>> EATING LUNCH/NOT >>>> GOING HOME >>>> BEING A LOSER/TOOL >>>> EATING DINNER >>>> TAKING A SHOWER/NOT >>>> HAVING SEX/CHOKING THE CHICKEN/PICKING YOUR PEDALS >>>> SLEEPING >>>> WAKING UP = CIRCLE Now the direction we head is pretty much one that makes us look completely insane. Like the ones we commit for walking in circles and banging their heads against a wall, at least they said screw it and did what we are all unconsciously doing. Crazy, I think not. I believe they are probably more intelligent than we are. Now the one thing that is not a continuous loop is time. The time we have is short in comparison to the rest of the universe. So, what we do with our time is important to us. Who knows maybe time is a big loop and this whole universe is a clock waiting to reset itself. Wait a minute a clock. A clock goes from 12am to 12 pm then back to 12 am or 00:00:01 to 2400 thus completing yet again another circle. This could go on forever, the months, the days, even yes years. We won’t be here forever ladies and gentlemen and time will reset itself and another civilization will form, and they too will walk in circles. I am not saying that everyday is the same, but what I am saying is that your overall life will be one continuous vicious circle. All I ask is that you be happy with what you have or could have. There is no need to end your life sooner than needed and there is no reason to turn down things that make you happy. Happiness is the key to making that circle actually mean something in this rotating sphere that we live in. The fountain of youth is the children of tomorrow and the way we raise those children will greatly affect their happiness. The men and women who are or get married are subjected to happiness by the two of them completing two circles to create one, two, three, four†¦.. As many offspring they should wish to have. To create life you are creating your very own circle and thus being as close to becoming an ultimate being as you could ever get. Playing god doesn’t mean you take some ones life, but rather that you can give life, and bring happiness to others. Your life and many otherss lives are revolved around the happiness of everyone. Research Papers on Circular Theory - Philosophy EssayThe Spring and AutumnThe Hockey GameHip-Hop is ArtThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenCapital PunishmentRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionThree Concepts of PsychodynamicMind Travel

Without Efficient States, Productive Activity, and a High Level of Glo Literature review

Without Efficient States, Productive Activity, and a High Level of Globalization Would Be Impossible - Literature review Example Thus, the job of a coal miner in Britain might depend on events in South Africa or Poland as much as on local management or national government decisions. Although the notion does not just refer to global interconnectedness. Globalisation 'is best understood as expressing fundamental aspects of time-space distancing. Globalisation concerns the intersection of presence and absence, the interlacing of social events, and social relations "at a distance" with local contextualities' (Giddens 1991:21). David Harvey (1989:240), too, refers to the fact that globalisation describes our changing experience of time and space or 'time-space compression'. According to Jessop, phenomena firmly within an ontologically broader context of capitalist socio-economic and sociopolitical restructuring, in order to ascertain exactly how they intervene in power struggles over this restructuring. This would be in order to clarify whether or not these interventions are contingent or can be attributed to objective necessities. In this context, it makes no sense to postulate 'the market' and 'the state' axiomatically against one another, since the two really presuppose one another (Jessop 1997:50-52). Hence and indeed following Jessop, (Magnus Ryner; 2002: 101) suggest that we pose the question of globalisation with reference to the manner in which:(a) socio-economic orders become materially reproduced (or not) through the configuration of a regime of accumulation and mode of regulation;(b) Potential and tendential social conflicts are 'managed' (or not)-that is, how they are mediated, regulated, and neutralised-through socially embedded authority structures; (c) This order is (or is not) 'normalized' and stabilized through the articulation of the terms of legitimacy which engenders the social order with a stable 'consensual' 'mass base';(d) Questions (a), (b) and (c) interrelate to form (or not) a Gramscian historic bloc or sets of interacting historic blocs. The elating trade barriers, liberalization of capital markets, as well as speedy technical development, particularly in the fields of information technology, transport, and telecommunications, have infinitely improved and hasten the faction of people, information, possessions, and resources. In the same way, they have as well expanded the variety of issues which spread out the boundaries of nation-States necessitating international median setting and directive and, consequently, conference and formal discussions on a global or district scale. numerous of the tribulations distressing the world today such as poverty, ecological pollution, financial crises, organized crime and terror campaign - are ever more transnational in nature, and cannot be a pact with simply at the national level, nor by State to State negotiations.Immense economic, as well as social interdependence, seems to influence national decision-making processes in two essential ways. It calls for a transfer of decisions to the worldwide level and, due to an increase in the stipulate for participation it as well needs numerous decisions to be relocated to confined levels of government.Thereby, globalization requires multifaceted decision-making processes, which occurs at diverse levels, explicitly sub-national, national, and global, paving the way to an emergent multi-layered structure of power.

Research paper about lululemon Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

About lululemon - Research Paper Example His early promotional approach was to offer yoga instructors free yoga pants just to get their feedback on the flexibility of the pant. One of the main objectives in Lululemon is the creation of a fun atmosphere and a healthy living at the same time aiming at designing end products that offer high performance, comfort and fit. The company has a market-oriented focus that helps it to offer products that are of high performance, generates customers trust and commitment from the company in supporting the customer. Lululemon price of yoga pants averagely goes for ninety-two dollars. Lululemon is a company that runs with profits. The company worked hard to maintain its level in the market, and its prices earn many profits. According to its website, Lululemon is striving its best to serve its shareholders to the best. An average of seventy percent of the company’s total revenue in business is estimated to come from yoga were selling. What the company aims at is selling and pricing tits products in a way that it earns a profit in the end. In addition, the company makes use of a mixture of value and prestige in pricing strategies in determining the cost of its products. The strategy used for pricing on the company products includes the strategy of value added pricing and prestige pricing. In value added pricing, the company spends a lot in trying to create additional values in its products through promotion. Prestige pricing happens through adding extra features for its customers on their apparel instead of trying to reduce the total cost of by reducing the features used and the material quality used in producing the yoga pants products. The use of unique features in manufacturing the yoga wears made by Lululemon, such as the use of natural substance clothing in production of yoga pants, helps in justifying the high prices of the Lululemon’s pants in the market. On the other hand, the company also employs the use of prestige in pricing