Monday, September 30, 2019

Chapter 1- Introduction to Electronic Commerce

1. Describe three factors that would cause a company to continue doing business in traditional ways and avoid electronic commerce. * Traditional commerce is a better way to sell items or services when personal selling skills are a factor, as in commercial real estate sales; or when the condition of the products is difficult to determine without making a personal inspection, as in the purchases of high-fashion clothing, antiques or perishable food items. 2. Figure 1-5 lists roommate-matching services as a type of business that is well-suited to a combination of electronic and traditional commerce. In one paragraph, describe the elements of this service that would be best handled using traditional commerce and explain why. * Customers are generally concerned about lifestyle and personality factors. As a result, they would want to meet any potential roommate. 3. Choose one major difference between the first wave and the second wave of electronic commerce. Write a paragraph that describes this difference to a person who is not familiar with either business or Internet technologies. * A major difference is the increase in broadband connections and improved hardware developments. This allows more businesses around the world to communicate with each other. 4. What are transaction costs and why are they important? * Transaction costs are the total of all costs that a buyer and seller incur as they gather information and negotiate a purchase-and-sale transaction. Reasons for being important can vary. 5. Provide one example of how electronic commerce could help change an industry’s economic structure from a hierarchy to a network. * When transaction costs were high, businesspeople would form organizations to replace market-negotiated transactions. In a network economic structure, companies coordinate their strategies, resources and skill sets by forming long-term relationships with other companies and individuals based on shared purposes, called strategic alliances or strategic partnerships. 6. How might managers use SWOT analysis to identify new applications for electronic commerce in their strategic business units? * SWOT is the acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. By using this, the analyst first looks into the business unit to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Then the analyst reviews the environment in which the business unit operates and identifies opportunities presented by that environment and the threats posed by that environment. 7. In about 200 words, explain the difference between language translation and language localization. Language translation is the process of restating some text written in one language in a different language. In other words, to translate is examine some original text, written in what is called the source language, and to write a corresponding text in different language, called the target language, with the goal of preserving the tone and meaning of the original text. * Language localization is a translation that considers multiple elements of the local environment, such as business and cultural practices, in addition to local dialect variations in the language. The cultural element is very important since it can affect—and sometimes completely change—the user’s interpretation of text 8. In a paragraph, describe the advantages of a flat-rate telecommunications access system for countries that want to encourage electronic commerce. * In the United States, telecommunications companies have long sold local telephone service as a flat-rate access system, in which the consumer or business pays one monthly fee for unlimited telephone line usage. Activists in European countries argued that flat-rate access was a key to the success of electronic commerce in the United States. Although many factors contributed to the rapid rise of U. S. electronic commerce, many industry analysts agree that flat-rate access was one of the most important. As more European telecommunications providers began to offer flat-rate access, electronic commerce in those countries increased dramatically.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Cultural Metaphor Essay

Cultural metaphors is a cultural system wherein people with the same beliefs, traditions, ideologies, morals or values associate with each other. People belonging to the same culture, share or participate in a particular interest activity, event, or organization, and any other means, that represents their culture is an example of a cultural metaphor. (Gannon, 2008) Moreover, these interest activities, events, organizations, etc. are specifically identified to one particular culture, influencing the way of life of its people. Cultural metaphors create a more discernible way of exhibiting a unique feature of a particular culture to other people. Since these unique features of a particular culture differ from other cultures, most people would probably have different opinions about them. Examples of cultural metaphors that most people know of include the Italian Opera or the American Football. These cultural metaphors associate certain activities or events, in this case the opera and football as distinct to a particular culture. Furthermore, basing it on the examples given, cultural metaphors, although distinctive to a particular culture, is also well known or popular to other cultures. (Gannon, 2002) Rules, ideologies, knowledge and rituals are several cultural concepts that make up the cultural metaphor. The rules that make up the cultural metaphor are either written or unwritten rules that people of a particular culture follow. For instance, rules that govern American football may differ from its European counterpart. Ideologies are certain beliefs or values that are accepted and practiced by a particular culture. For example, the Chinese believes in placing their idols in an altar for health and good luck. The concept of knowledge in cultural metaphors involves information that only a specific culture knows, as Americans are knowledgeable about football, while Europeans are more adept in soccer. Rituals are rites or customs practiced by a particular culture. For example, Muslims all over the world pray at the same times of the day for five times. References Gannon, M.  J. (2008). Cultural Metaphors: Applications and Exercises. Retrieved April 2, 2008, from Sage Publications. Website: www. csusm. edu/mgannon/Documents/CULTURAL METAPHORS. doc Gannon, M. J. (2002). Cultural metaphors: Their use in management practice and as a method for understanding cultures. In W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, & D. N. Sattler (Eds. ), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 16, Chapter 4), (http://www. wwu. edu/~culture), Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington USA.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Little Red Riding Hood Essay

One of the funniest of all games played by Freudian literary critics is that of finding sex symbols in old fairy tales. It is a very easy game to play. Freud is said to have once remarked that a cigar sometimes is just a cigar, but psychoanalysts who write about fairy tales seem incapable of seeing them as just fantasies intended to entertain, instruct, and at times frighten young children. Bruno Bettelheim’s analysis of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH), in his book The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976) is a prime example of Freudian symbol searching. But first, a brief history of this famous fable. The story began as a folk tale that European mothers and nurses told to young children. The fable, in its many variants, came to the attention of Charles Perrault (1628-1703), a French attorney turned poet, writer, and anthologist. He published one version in a 1697 collection of fairy tales-a book that became a French juvenile classic. Perrault opens his story â€Å"Le Petit Chaperon Rouge† (Little Red Cape) by telling about a pretty village girl who is called Little Red Riding Hood because she loves to wear a red cape and hood given to her by her grandmother. Her mother hands her some biscuits and butter to take to the sick grandmother in a nearby village. Walking through a wood, LRRH encounters a friendly wolf who asks where she is going. After she tells him, the wolf says he’ll go there too, but by a different route and they’ll see who gets there first. The wolf arrives ahead of the girl, devours the grandmother, then crawls into bed. When LRRH shows up he simulates the grandmother’s voice, telling her to put the biscuits and butter aside and climb in bed. LRRJ undresses and does as she is told. A famous dialog follows: â€Å"What great arms you have, grandma! The better to embrace you, my child. ‘What great legs you have! The better to run with, my child. What great ears! The better to hear with. What great eyes! The better to see with. What great teeth! The better to eat you with. † The wolf then gobbles up LRRH and the story ends! I have been told, though I strongly doubt it, that French children find this ending amusing, and are not in the least disturbed by it. Andrew Lang, who reprinted Perrault’s version in his Blue Fairy Book, severely criticizes Perrault for choosing a version with such a gruesome ending. When the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm later published in 1812 their collection of more than 200 traditional fairy tales, many taken from Perrault, they gave the story a less grim ending. In their version (you’ll find it in the Modern Library’s Tales of Grimm and Andersen), LRRH’s mother gives her cake and a bottle of wine to take to the ailing grandmother. LRRH is not afraid of the wolf when she meets him in the forest. He persuades her to pick some flowers to rake to her grandmother. While she is doing this (disobeying her mother who told her not to dawdle) the wolf hastens to the grandmother’s house, finds the door unlocked, enters, and promptly eats the grandmother. When LRRH arrives she is surprised to find the door open. She thinks it is her grandmother in bed because the wolf has pulled a nightcap over his face, and sheets over his body. LRRH stands beside the bed while the familiar dialog occurs about the wolf’s body parts. The wolf then springs out of bed and eats LRRH. He now goes back to bed and falls asleep. A passing hunter hears the wolf’s loud snores. He goes inside to investigate and is about to shoot the wolf until he realizes it may have eaten the grandmother. So he pulls out a knife and cuts open the wolf’s belly. Both LRRH and the grandmother emerge as unharmed as Jonah when he was vomited out of the whale’s belly. LRRH brings some big stones into the house to put inside the wolf, who is still asleep. When he awakes and tries to get away, the heavy stones drag him down and he drops dead. The hunter skins the wolf and takes the skin home. The grandmother can hardly breathe, but she feels much better after eating the cake and drinking some wine. LRRH says to herself, â€Å"I will never again wander off into the forest as long as I live, when my mother forbids it. † The tale is short and simple. Its obvious moral is that children should obey their mothers when they walk through dangerous areas, and to beware of seemingly friendly strangers. I suppose it is the linking of LRRH’s beauty and innocence with her grisly experience that has led to her capturing the hearts of so many adults everywhere, especially in Germany, France, Sweden, and England. â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood was my first love,† declared Charles Dickens. I felt that if I could have married Little Red Riding Hood, I should have known perfect bliss. † Bruno Bettelheim devotes eighteen pages of his book on fairy tales to LRRH. [1] In his eyes the girl is not as innocent as she seems. She is at the nymphet stage when her premature â€Å"budding sexuality† is creating deep unconscious conflicts between her id (animal nature) and her superego (conscience), as well as between her allegiance to what Freud called the â€Å"pleasure principle† and the â€Å"reality principle. † Unconsciously, she wants to be seduced by her father. The wolf’s eating her represents that seduction. The red color of LRRH’s hood, according to Bettelheim, symbolizes her unconscious sexual desires. He sees the gift of the hood by the grandmother as representing a transfer of sexual attractiveness from an old sick woman to a young healthy girl. The grandmother is a symbol of the little girl’s mother. When the wolf ears the grandmother it represents the little girl’s wish to get rid of her mother so she can have her father all to herself. In Grimm’s version, Bettelheim sees the hunter as another father symbol. When he cuts open the wolf’s belly it indicates â€Å"the idea of pregnancy and birth,† thus coming â€Å"too close for comfort in suggesting a father in a sexual activity connected with his daughter. † Bettelheim, of course, is not the only Freudian to read dark sexual meanings into the story. Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, in The Forgotten Language: An Introduction to the Understanding of Dreams, Fairy Tales, and Myths (1951) is also convinced that LRRH is experiencing unconscious sexual impulses and really wants to be seduced by the wolf. The red cape symbolizes her menstrual blood as she enters womanhood. When the mother warns her not to leave the path or she might fall and break the wine bottle, it represents the mother’s fear that her daughter might lose her virginity by breaking her maidenhead. â€Å"The male is portrayed as a ruthless and cunning animal,† Fromm writes. The sexual act becomes a â€Å"cannibalistic act in which the male devours the female. † Fromm sees this as an expression of a deep antagonism toward men by frigid females who do not enjoy sex. The male wolf is â€Å"made ridiculous† by showing â€Å"that he attempted to play the role of a pregnant woman, having living beings in his belly. The stones that LRRH puts in the wolf’s stomach are â€Å"symbols of sterility† that cause him to collapse and die. The stones â€Å"mock his usurpation of the pregnant woman’s role. â€Å" â€Å"The story,† Fromm concludes, â€Å"speaks of the male-female conflict; it is a story of triumph by man-hating women, ending with their victory, exactly the opposite of the Oedipus myth, which lets the male emerge victorious from this battle. † Jack Zipes, who teaches German at the University of Minnesota, is the author of The Brothers Grimm (1986), a two-volume edition of Grimm’s stories, a collection of French folk tales, and other books on folklore. One of his books is titled The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood (1983, updated in 1993). The book is a marvelous scholarly history of the LRRH fable and its many versions and interpretations. Zipes covers all the oral variations that preceded Perrault, as well as the many retellings by writers from the Grimm brothers to 1993. Some of the oral tales are even more morbid than Perrault’s version. In several versions the Wolf slices up the grandmother and pours her blood into a bottle. LRRH then eats and drinks what she thinks is meat and wine before the wolf eats her. In other versions LRRH escapes by telling the wolf she has to go outside to relieve herself. Thirty-eight variations of the tale are reprinted in Zipes’s anthology, along with a raft of illustrations from books and advertisements. At the back of the book he lists 147 published versions of the story, including retellings by Walter de la Mare and James Thurber, as well as comic parodies, poems, plays, recordings, musicals, and films. His bibliography of critical references runs to 153 items!

Friday, September 27, 2019

General Marx's Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

General Marx's Theories - Essay Example Marx gives reasons as for the need for such assessment. Value is social because it is determined by the total result of the fluctuating efforts of each individual producer; objective because it is given, upon the completion of the production of a given commodity, and becomes independent from personal or collective valuations of customers on the marketplace; it is historically relative because it is linked to each important change, progress or otherwise, of the average productivity of labor in a given segment of output, including transportation and agriculture.   This does not, however, mean that Marx’s concept of value is detached from consumption. He only distinguishes between the living labor and dead labor, like tools and raw materials. But he says values determine prices only basically and in the medium-term sense of the word. Marx respects the operation of market laws, also of a law of supply and demand, in determining the short-term fluctuations. The Communist Manifesto declares, â€Å"The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations and has left no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Communist Manifesto) Marx does treat labor as a commodity but one can not say that his value theory is unscientific and wrong. His observation should not be read in isolation. Karl Korsch points out, â€Å"It was never the intention of Marx to descend from the general idea of value as expounded in the first volume of Capital, by means of ever closer determinants to a direct determination of the price of commodities.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

No topic needed Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

No topic needed - Coursework Example Doctrine of flux, however, asserts that opposite things are similar while unity of opposites confirms the being of all things. Therefore, Heraclitus should support ‘everything changes’ because society is dynamic. The light of the sun describes good in Plato’s allegory of the cave because it demonstrates man’s enlightenment and knowledge. Getting from imagination to intelligence encompasses four crucial steps that include acknowledgment of ignorance, accumulating knowledge, seeking wisdom, and testing the truth of what is learnt. Socrates raised pertinent matters during his Apology speech where he defended himself against charges of corrupting of youth by question the idea that defines corruption. On the other hand, in making them not believe God, he argued that his philosophy was more fundamental than any divine being (Lampert 121). Pattern of reason in deduction involves the arrival of conclusion based on the premise while induction is a generalization from a few observations. However, in abduction, premises do not necessarily lead to a conclusion. Consequently, deductive conclusions can only be true if premises are made valid. Other reasoning patterns cannot be necessarily true because they do not depend on the

Investment Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Investment Plan - Assignment Example From this discussion it is clear that  as a young person and as a risk taker by nature, the reporter plan on pursuing an aggressive investment plan. He does not come from a rich background but he believes that the only way to get rich is to risk everything that one has and they are bound to get high rewards as a result. The author believes that he is a fairly patient person with the right mind set to wait for as long as it takes before he receives the rewards. In addition, since the reporter is soon going to be newly employed, he wants to start living on a budget that is entirely dependent on his gross pay rather than dipping into his savings. This means that he will not be relying on the investment money for his survival. The reporter will also supplement his retirement fund with monthly contributions from his salary.As the paper stresses as indicated before, as a young investor, his strategy is based on being aggressive, high risk and high rewards. Furthermore, due to his young a ge, negative market fluctuations in the next 40 years or so are bound to be cancelled out by the positive market fluctuations, leading to high rewards. The reporter's first investment strategy will be based on the conventional formula for finding the optimum target asset allocation meant for investing the $ 2,500 savings for his retirement fund. He might invest part (75%) of the money to purchase stock in Amazon Inc while the rest of the money will be invested in HICOX.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Analysis of Ethnic Conflict in KOSOVO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Analysis of Ethnic Conflict in KOSOVO - Essay Example Furthermore, the area needs proper management of these diverse societies so that such conflicts can be avoided since these altercations might escalate into a bloody civil war2. Such is the case of Kosovo, formerly a province of Serbia which have erupted into a bloody war towards the latter part of the 90’s. The carnage in the area was only halted by the intervention of NATO. Although this temporarily stopped the fighting and an independent state seems to be forming, the area remains in a precarious ceasefire as relative tensions remain between the Albanians and the Serbians wherein the secession resulted in the breakaway of an Albanian dominated Kosovo. This left the remaining Serbians in a quandary since they may be subjected to discrimination. The fear of possible persecution threatens to drive the Serbs away from Kosovo in effect dislocating them from their homes and towards a life of uncertainty3. Part 1 Kosovo Ethnic Conflict History has been teeming with ethnic conflicts and there have been numerous cases of violence that bordered on genocide. Through each of these conflicts, the diversity of culture as well as past excessiveness and offenses of one culture to another serve as fertile grounds for multi-ethnic conflicts to escalate into bloody wars. In Kosovo, the people of the neophyte state have been trying to lead a life of normalcy but as mentioned, considerable tension remains. After the breakaway, Kosovo was held by the majority Albanians that through the years have accumulated in the area. However, these people have experienced severe persecution when the autonomy of the then Serbian province has been revoked. There had been an apparent attempt to cleanse the area of Albanians when the ruling Serbs massacred numerous Albanians. This did not spare women, children and the elderly. Likewise, summary executions, kidnappings and arrests were rampant.4 The memories of these horrible events have been seared deep within the Albanians that now control Kosovo. As mentioned, there is a lingering anxiety within the remaining Serbs that have been relegated into the minority in the area. In a statement by Dr. Covic in front of the UN Security Council in New York over half a decade after NATO intervened and an uneasy ceasefire ensued, he advanced the concerns that the agreements have yet to be met by the Albanian authority. Dr. Covic lamented on the over 200,000 internally displaced Serbs and called on the council to act on these problems along with the need to implement court decisions in order to return properties to heir rightful Serbian owners. He likewise mentioned the seemingly disturbing solid line up of Albanians in the governing body of the area which may be detrimental to non-Albanians5. Hence, this essay will look into the situation of the now minority Serbs in Kosovo and the persisting multi-ethnic tensions between the two groups. Divisiveness and Scars of the Past The Albanians have constituted the majority of the populat ion in Kosovo long before the province split from Serbia in a bid to become independent. Previously, despite the lack of economic prosperity which was instrumental in driving most of the Serbs out of the area, the Albanians enjoyed a respectable degree of autonomy. This was shattered by the revocation of this autonomy paving the way for conflicts to arise. The human rights violations intensified and the massacres heightened to almost genocide

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Corporate Group Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Corporate Group Structure - Essay Example The existence of the limited liability principle further serves as a means whereby such parent companies may be able to legally escape the consequences of their risk taking and where there is additional scope provided for financial manipulation of accounts. The doctrine of limited liability allows a parent company's responsibility to be limited to its own liabilities and thereby increases the scope for risk taking and profit enhancing behavior, which are generally beneficial for the economy. In the wake of the corporate scandals, reforms have been introduced in most countries, with increased focus on corporate governance and accountability. There have also been further proposals to introduce a more comprehensive regime dealing with corporate liability, wherein parent corporations would also be held responsible for tortuous claims arising out of the actions of their subsidiaries. But such reforms have been opposed on the grounds that they would limit corporate flexibility and function as a deterrent to economic growth because they would hinder risk taking behavior. The analysis below examines the pros and cons of reducing the scope of limited liability and corporate flexibility. The limited liability basis of C... In this case, the Court held that a corporation has a separate and distinct legal personality apart from its owners and/or shareholders. Irrespective of the extent to which a shareholder has an interest in the Company, even if such an individual is the director in complete control of the Company's affairs, the acts and liabilities of the Company are held to be separate and not his/her acts or liabilities. The corporate body as an entity is impersonal and individuals may function in different capacities within an organization3, with their financial activities being shielded from the public eye, by virtue of the corporate veil. The corporation as a legal entity propagates itself and individuals associated with it are able to be exempted from liability for the debts of the Company. The limited liability aspect has been deemed beneficial for the improved efficiency of the securities markets.4 . Limited liability has been deemed to promote "innovation, investment and risk taking by the corporation."5 Limited liability is deemed to have a positive effect in terms of providing incentives for investment, diversification of portfolios and for the efficient operation of security markets. Corporate structure and limited liability: The significance of the Salomon case is that it established (a) a corporation as a separate legal entity and (b) the principle that the debts of a corporation are not the debts of its members, officers or directors. This decision establishing the independent legal personality of the corporation in relation to a single company that was rendered in the Salomon v Salomon6 case was extended to groups of companies by the decision rendered in the case of Adams v Cape Industries Plc7. Extension of

Monday, September 23, 2019

Tariffs and Non-Tariffs Barriers Research Paper

Tariffs and Non-Tariffs Barriers - Research Paper Example Control of imports is done through tariffs and non-tariffs barriers, which are part of global financing and exchange rates. A tariff is a form of trade barrier imposed on goods imported in that particular country by the government of the same nation in from of a tax (Saranovic, 2006). The tariff imposed, adds to the cost of the imported goods and can be adjusted at any given time. Such adjustments are meant to protect locally manufactured products from unhealthy competition from cheap imports. Tariffs come in two types; ad valorem and specific (Hill, 2004). For the case of specific tax, it is meant to enforce a set barrier in form of tax to a specific imported product without considering the variation in the value. For instance, if a specific tax of 75 cents was imposed on mobile phones in the United Kingdom, then it means that the government will be gaining 75 cents on every mobile phone disregarding the price of the phone. For the case of ad valorem tax, it is imposed inform of fix ed percentage on the value of the imported goods. ... The first form is quotas. Quotas refer to the limitations imposed on the quantity of imports by the government. This means that the government puts a limit to the quantity of particular goods that can enter a country in a given time; they are normally enforced together with the import tax where by if the limit is exceed, then the government will impose higher tax on the same. The second type on non-tariff barrier is voluntary export restriction; this refers to a situation where by the government restrict the quantity of goods being exported to another country. Thirdly, there is anti-dumping barrier. This type is imposed on the commodities that have a harmful effect on the environment and might incur some dumping cost on the consumer. In this case, the goods are sold at slightly higher prices than they would have been sold in the home market (WTO, 2006). Lastly, there is subsidy. It refers to financial aid by the government to the local industries to make it possible for them to compe te favorably with the international companies. In this case, the domestic companies are in a better position to manufacturer their products cheaply with aid of latest technology such that the imported products are out-competed. Due to the analysis of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, it is evident that they have a great bearing in relation to the global financing operations. For instance, in the case of manufacturing operations, the company involved may chose to manufacture from the home country and then export the manufactured goods or manufacture its commodities from the country endowed with raw materials duce to high tax of importation of raw materials. In addition, the company may opt to manufacture the products from the country with the ready market then sell within

Sunday, September 22, 2019

England In the years 1067-1075 Essay Example for Free

England In the years 1067-1075 Essay a) How far do these sources support the view expressed in source one that, in the years 1067-1075, William had favoured conciliation in his attempts to establish peace in England? The view of William I favoring conciliation in his attempts to establish peace, to a certain extent, do agree with a number of the sources. This is only to a degree due to events that occurred between the years 1067 and 1075 that pushed William into more brutal and violent methods of subduing the English and securing his authority over England. Sources that do agree with William I using peaceful procedures to establish peace are sources three and four. Both sources to a great extent agree with the first source. Source three depicts how appeasement established authority. The source describes the naval and land levies, proving that William favoured conciliation. William had enough trust with the English to take them to war with him, and that they would not mutiny. This trust can be linked with source four; William felt strong enough to leave England in the hands of William fitz Osbern and go to Normandy. However, did the English really have a choice? With the erection of castles, the use of cavalry, and Norman landholders, the English may have been forced to fight for him; there is little detail of the events or others before or after. Source four also agrees, for throughout the duration of the documents Lanfranc negotiates peacefully with Roger warning him of the seriousness but giving him a second chance. Lanfranc assures him, of safe conduct, and to give the earl what help he can, saving his allegiance. The source is limited due it being correspondence over just the year 1075. Before and after this date other issues may have aroused, and the letters are not written by William I but by Lanfranc1 who was a very trusted friend to William. However, though acting on the Kings behalf, of appeasement, Lanfranc would have used his own ideas and thoughts on the case. Finally, as Hereford was the son of William fitz Osbern, he could have been treated differently for his links with William I; they were friends from their childhood2. Source two and five disagree with the statement in source one. Source two is from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle3; as a consequence of the invasion, William is described to have devastated Yorkshire (Harrying of the North) 4 ravaged and laid waste to the shire. There is no implication of conciliation from William. Source two is inadequate due to it only covering one year, it does not take into account events outside of 1069. The Anglo authors of the chronicle could be biased towards the Normans, exaggerating the truth, leaving out appeasement by William I. Source five also disagrees with the statement recounting how William ruined Norwich, and blinded some of the traitors. The source is partial due to it covering only one date and the account of the situation is brief, and may exaggerate the Norman methods. The primary sources (source two, four, and five), overall, have an unbalanced view of William I and his tactics for establishing peace in England. The main drawback to most of the sources is the lack of facts during the years 1065 and 1075. This means that the revolts that occurred before 1069 are not mentioned. A final limitation, which I believe is the most key, is a list of rules that William I laid down when he first conquered England. The first rule was that above all things he (William) wishes one God to be revered throughout his whole realm, one faith in Christ to be kept ever inviolate, and peace and security to be preserved between English and Normans. Williams want, and favor towards peace is fully recognised in this statement. Foot Notes; 1. Lanfranc was, at the time, head of the new foreign bishops and abbots and also Archbishop of Canterbury. Lanfranc was unimpressed with the quality of the English clergy and during Williams reign supported his policy of promoting foreigners to high office in the Church. 2. William fitz Osbern, as a boy William I loved him above other members of his household. William I and William fitz Osbern were related, as fitz Osberns father was the grandson of Duke Richard of Normandys half-brother, Rodulf. Later on Roger Earl of Hereford had to forfeit his land and loose his title as Earl of Hereford. This though not brutal is not favoring conciliation by William I or Lanfranc (on Williams behalf). 3. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was for the years before and during the conquest of England the main source of evidence and information. There exist three versions: C, D and E, derived from a common source but with some differences. The chronicle supplies a uniquely English account of political events and allows us to make comparisons with the rather obvious Norman propaganda. 4. The Harrying of the North was in response, by William I, to the revolts occurring in the North (Yorkshire) during the years 1069-70. William had marched north with seasoned troops, devastating the countryside as they went, and slaughtering all the adult males. What his troops conflicted on the people was so terrible that chroniclers remembered it over fifty years later. In the Domesday book, made in 1086, it simply records Yorkshire as waste due to the brutality of William the land was depopulated, villages left deserted, farms empty, and this was fifteen years later. b) To what extent did the Revolts in the years 1069-75 aid William I to assist his Royal Authority in England? The revolts between the years 1069-75, to a great extent, aided William I to assert his royal authority across England. They provided William with the chance and excuse to use and show his military power. William was able to remove key Anglo-Saxon lords who posed a threat to him; build castles to maintain his control of the country; and it allowed him to firmly set, in the minds of the Saxons, that the Normans werent just invaders, like the Vikings, but conquerors of England. However, the revolts were not the only reason for Williams successful affirmation of royal authority on the country. William adopted methods of conciliation. He kept the Anglo-Saxon traditions such as sheriffs, shires, coronation rights and writs and added Norman culture and society on top to create an Anglo-Norman England. Before the revolts William was in a very exposed position. He had five thousand men to the two million Saxons, and he had no control of the North, West or East of England. Due to this vulnerability William was systematically peaceful in dealing with the Anglo-Saxons; using conciliation rather than consolidation. The revolts were essential to the change in Williams attitude towards the situation. He began to use brutal, ruthless methods to obtain his authority. The importance of the revolts depended on who was involved and the consequences of the revolt. Though there were minor revolts, when comparing them to revolts such as the Northern revolt (1069-70), they are taken into account to supply us, the historian, with a realistic overview of how dire Williams need was to obtain and retain royal authority. Rebellions began to inflame the country, in 1067 the Welsh border, lead by Eric the Wild, revolted in Herefordshire. Subsequently the south-west revolted in 1068, with the city of Exeter refusing to accept William as their King, and Harold Godwinsons sons attempted a counter invasion in the summer of 1068. Between the years 1069 and 1070 the North revolted. Rebels in the North burned to death a Norman Earl, Robert of Commines, in Durham. A Viking army of 240 ships, led by the sons of Swegn Estrithsson, landed at Humber and marched on York. They gained support from the local Saxons, and they seized York. Their success produced a domino affect sparking revolts in Dorset, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Somerset. William faced the possibility of a Scandinavian Kingdom in the north of England, or a separate Kingdom for Edgar, the last prince of the Royal House of Wessex. William reacted to these revolts with characteristic vigour, skill and utter brutality. He became the barbarous murderer of many thousands, both young and old, of that fine race of people1. The Welsh failed to take control of the border, and retired to Wales with much booty. Exeter, in the south-west revolt of 1068, was laid under siege for 18 days, by Williams troops, by which time they accepted William as their King. Harolds sons were repelled by Williams forces in the summer of 1068. William to counter-act this made a series of lighting raids through Warwick, Nottingham, York, Lincoln, Huntingdon and Cambridge to show his presence as the new King. In reaction to the revolts in the North, William marched North with troops from York and Nottingham, devastating the countryside, slaughtering all adult males and pillaging as he went, killing animals and burning crops. This was called the Harrying of the North and the destruction of the land was so terrible that when mentioned in the Domesday Book, 20 years later, it was classed as a waste land. From Yorkshire William pushed his men across the Tees in the winter and took Chester, and Stafford, and was back in Winchester before Easter 1070. Due to the revolts and the resulting victories for William, who had either killed or utterly suppressed the resistance, he had to enforce his power, and show that the Normans were the new rulers and would not leave. William accomplished this by first building motte-and-bailey castles across England. William began to erect them right at the start of his campaign, even before the battle of Hastings, and they were virtually unheard of in England. William built hundreds across England, to show the Normans strength and power over the population. This geopolitical process meant that they exerted control over the surrounding countryside. The Normans would demolish houses in the centre of towns to erect a castle. This happened in towns such as Cambridge, Lincoln and Dorchester2. These castles were, and still are, looming features over the landscape3. They were built in the centre of towns for economic reasons; the material or foundations of earlier fortifications (Roman/Saxon) were there already, and also it was cheaper to build on existing forts rather than building on top of a hill, having to transport supplies and food up it. Another affect of castles was their psychological affect on the Saxon population. Castles were a conspicuous emblem of Royal authority4, and were clearly statements of power to the indigenous people5. By the end of the revolts, 1075, William felt secure enough with his authority over England that he went back to Normandy and left his trusted advisor and Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc in charge of the kingdom. Another factor which was opened up due to the revolts, and the success for William I, was the replacement of all the Anglo-Saxon earls. The earls were either dead from the revolts or just forced off their land. William strategically placed relatives or close friends to tenet the earldoms. For example Odo of Bayeaux, was earl of Kent and half-brother to William I. Also the new earl of Hereford, William fitz Osbern, was Williams cousin. This formed a tight, trustful network of family and friends which William could rely on. Another advantage to William of the revolts was it allowed him to fully assert royal authority on Anglo-Saxon church. William had to as, 30% of land in England was permanently owned by the church, bishops and abbots were literate, powerful men who advised the old Kings of Saxon England. If William could control the church he would be successful in his total control of England. William achieved this by removing 99% of all Saxon bishops, abbots and clergy, with Norman-French ones by 1087. William built new stone cathedrals, as a sign of domination, on top of old wooden Saxon churches. This had the same affect as the castles, showing the Norman supremacy over the Saxons. In 1070 the most powerful churchman in England, Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury, was deposed and replaced by Lanfranc, an Italian monk who was Williams greatest advisor. Three other important Saxon bishops were also removed, and also many abbots. Finally in 1072 Lanfranc gained superiority over the Archbishop of York, thus making Canterbury the chief church post in England. As Lanfranc had control over the North, this aided William with his control. In the 11th century, people were very suspicious and believed solely in the existence of God. These men of God, the bishops and abbots were trusted by the Saxon people no matter what race they were, even Norman, because of the risk it could cause them in the afterlife if they offended them. The extent of royal authority being asserted on England does not solely come from the revolts but also from Williams conciliation of the country, mainly before the revolts. Although the landscape of England had changed with the formation of castles, looming over the country and the mounted cavalry, trotting through the towns and villages, William I always governed through legal and rightful inheritance from Edward the Confessor with the use of Anglo-Saxon tools of government and traditions of kingship. When William came to the throne, December 25th 1066, he was crowned in the traditional Anglo-Saxon manner, like Edward the Confessor before. This showed his belief in tradition and proved his rightful claim to the throne. By using the ancient traditions of Anglo-Saxon kingship ceremonies alongside the unique circumstances that brought him the crown, William and his successors were able to appeal both to English customs and to the Norman sense of righteous conquest. William in the lead up to the revolts kept the country as it was, making no major changes and if any were made they would consist of a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Norman customs. The main household after 1066 was not fundamentally changed. The only big difference in the household was that after 1066, and especially around 1087 (William Is death) the nobles were increasingly Norman. At first William kept some Anglo-Saxons in his household, one example was Regenbald, and he was the chancellor and was in command of the Royal seal under Edward the Confessor and William I. This shows Williams desire for continuity within the government, and only adding extras on top mixing the two cultures of the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons. The earldoms at the beginning of Williams reign did not change. They remained as the four large Earldoms of East Anglia, Mercia, Wessex and Northumbria. However, around the time of the rebellions against William I (1070s), William I granted the land to new nobles and tenants. As a result he and his two half-brothers owned 50% of England, the Church remained with around 30%, and roughly 12 barons (great lords) shared the remaining 20%. These 12 barons, basically like his half-brothers, were often related through hereditary or marriage to William. Kingship was very much affected by the character of the King on the throne at the time. So this was destined to change with the accession of William I. William I had to be physically strong, spending most of his time on the move (itinerant kingship). Also mentally strong to dominate the churchmen and the barons who all had their own ambitions and interests. With this change in kingship, William introduced a fairly new system of crown-wearing sessions. William I wore his crown and regalia where the people could see him. Three major times for this crown-wearing was Easter at Winchester, Christmas at Gloucester, and on Whitsun in Westminster. This new method and change in kingship could have been a sign of William Is security as King. However, William I could of used crown-wearing sessions for another reason, to state his claim and right to the throne, indefinitely, upon landholders, and the barons. This would agree with his use of the coinage system set up in England before 1066. William on his coins and seals had a picture of him sitting on the throne with all his regalia, on one side, and on the other him on a horse with a sword; William is declaring his claim to the throne, by right, and if that is not enough by force and bloodshed. William changed the iconography of kingship to add strength to his kingship. The chancery of pre-1066 was only slightly revolutionised. After 1066 the clerks, who wrote up the laws and grants began to progressively, under William, write the laws in Latin. Latin was the language of authority, the Norman nobles and the officials wrote in Latin. This language of power was fully founded around 1070. The use of clerks was not new to England. William I only adapted them to his cultural needs and desires. Also Latin was not known throughout the greater population. This causes supremacy over the plebs on the land, and dominates their lives. Sheriffs were the Kings official in a shire. These officials had been around before William. William I did not have sheriffs back in Normandy, and found them to be very useful. After the rebellions around the 1070s, sheriffs were increasingly Norman (as were the earls and bishops). The powers of the sheriffs increased hugely, and they were often in charge of royal castles (castellans) as well. Most Norman sheriffs were aristocrats who had much more wealth and power than the previous Anglo-Saxon sheriffs. A final instrument used by William I to completely assert his authority on the country was the production of the Domesday Book6. This book allowed the King to find out who had what and who owed what, twenty years after his seizure of the kingdom. The Domesday Book also shows us how sophisticated the Anglo-Saxon government was before the Normans. Without the shires, hundreds and sheriffs this type of census would have been near impossible to make. The Domesday Book is a record of a conquered kingdom, but it is a testament to the survival of the Anglo-Saxon government in many aspects. William I was aided by the revolts (1069-75) to a great extent. The revolts changed the King from conciliation to consolidation. However, the revolts, the castle building, the revolutionary change of the earldoms and the church, came, all, after the revolts. A new set of values had been introduced into England; these were based upon loyalty and military service. The government of the new king was based upon the traditional procedures and customs of Edward the Confessor but was enforced with a savage energy inspired by, mainly, the revolts between the years 1069-75. Foot Notes; 1. William the Conquerors deathbed confession, from Orderic Vitalis The Ecclesiastical History written 1123-41. 2. Cambridge (27 houses were demolished), Gloucester (16 houses demolished), Lincoln (166 houses demolished), and in Dorchester (an area of 150,000 square metres was taken up). 3. Article in History Today, Volume 53, Issue 4. 4. Article in History Today, Volume 53, Issue 4. 5. Article in History Today, Volume 53, Issue 4. 6. The Domesday Book was written in 1086, and was so-called due to its verdicts being just as unanswerable as the Book of the Day of Judgment. It was written in Latin, on parchment and includes 13,400 place names on 888 pages. No other country in the world produced such a detailed historical record at such an early date.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

In Search of Shakespeare Summary

In Search of Shakespeare Summary This documents first episode begins while looking at the London Gate Bridge and London as a whole. The narrator begins by describing William Shakespeare as the greatest author of all time and how we know so little of his life. Michael Wood (the narrator) begins by walking up an ancient road towards where Shakespeare grew up. He heads into an archive of English history to learn more of Shakespeare from the policed state of England that he grew up in. He describes what he intends to describe, for instance where Shakespeares company did its original plays and his summons for grievance and bodily harm. Shakespeares life began in Stratford England, and the tale begins with William Shakespeares (son of John and Mary Shakespeare) baptism record in the parish register at Stratford-on-Avon. He had two deceased siblings, and was his parents first child to grow to adolescence. He was born in the mid 16th century during religious conflict, when the religion of the nation had changed numerous times by the Tudors whom ruled England. It changed by Henry to Protestant from Catholic, back to Catholic with his daughter Mary and then back to protestant by his next daughter Elizabeth, all in the matter of twelve years. Shakespeare was born at the beginning of Elizabeths reign. The Shakespeares were originally country farmers, some of the lingo that Shakespeare used in his plays originated from these beginnings. He was not a peasant, his mother had a long standing family history, and in fact his maternal grandfather was a rich farmer whom had passed away before Elizabeth came to the throne. His family had initially been loyal to the old faith (Catholicism). However, his father was ambitious and thus moved from the country. John Shakespeare was a glove maker with a modern middle class home with the latest in designs. William Shakespeare was raised in a fairly well to do home. John Shakespeare was elected a town counselor when William was one. John Shakespeare was required to maintain Elizabeths will and was forced to deface with whitewash the medieval Catholic paintings in their local perish. John was then elected mayor when William was four. William started school at the age of seven, when over one hundred and sixty new schools were opened. William was taught six days a week, by teachers chosen by the town council in the local school, primarily religion and Latin. He fell in love with the theatre here, and may have partaken in the play Ralph Roister Doister. John Shakespeare had clients all around England and made a lot of money, not all was legal. John was an illegal wool dealer (brogger); wool was monopolized by the government. He had also done illegal activities in the form of lending money for profit. William later fell in love with the mystery plays that told old stories from the bible. William used them as inspiration in his own plays. William went onto a further school at age nine where he was introduced to poetry. However, at the age of twelve Williams parents began losing their money and Johns business was faltering. First, the government was cracking down on illegal wool dealers and second, John stops going to council meetings possibly due to his religious reasons and withdraws William from school. William was forced to work for his fathers leather business. Around this time Catholics and Protestants are virtually forced into a figurative battle for the soul of England. Many people were hauled in by Elizabeth, including Williams father John, for natural security. He is eventually released. At this time, William was eighteen (in 1582) and he fell in love with an older woman named Ann Hathaway who was the daughter of his fathers business partner. He was married to Ann Wately under the name of William Shaxspeare on November 30th 1582 because Ann was pregnant. People often speculate that Ann Hathaway and Ann Wately were different people; however it is believed that it is actually a clerical error. He gained his marriage license on November 27th, 1582. William composed a sonnet for his wedding, a poem addressed to his new wife Ann Hathaway. Ann gave birth five months later to a daughter, Susanna and lived with Williams parents and younger siblings. Under legend, William apparently later poached a dear that belonged to a local lord. Apparently William was beaten and banned from town. The narrator then gives us another theory as to why William was banished from the town when he was nineteen. On the 26th of October that year, Shakespeares cousin Summerville announced that Queen Elizabeth was a heretic and that he planned on murdering her. Elizabeth turned to the local lord whom had Williams mothers family arrested. Williams cousin, his family, and his relative Edward Ardin (the head of Williams mothers family) and his family were sentenced to death. Episode two begins by analyzing Shakespeares lost ten years in which little information is known. The current theory is that William changed his name to William Shakeshaft and found a job in Lancasier. It is theorized based on the word of one of the actors of Shakespeares playhouse whom said that Shakespeare once worked as a teacher in the country that William may have taught in Lancasier. It is known that William was in Stratford-upon-Avon on February 2nd, 1585 when his twins were baptized, Hamlet and Judith which were named after their catholic god parents. He was the main source of income for the family and he lived in a small house with his wife, children, siblings and parents. On September 6th 1586, John Shakespeare is removed as an alderman of the town for no longer attending the sessions. In the summer of 1587, good news came to William. The queens royal company came to Stratford-upon-Avon for political and propaganda purposes. Two of the actors, William Nell and John Town, got into an argument in which William Nell attempted to kill John Town. Instead Town stabbed him in apparent self defense and Nell passed away. So the company was one man short and missing a young male actor. It is believed that William Shakespeare joined the Queens men (company) at this point and left his family. After the war with the Spanish armada, William comes to London with the Queens men. At this point, he breaks off to become a writer. He lived in a middle class section of town. His company first performed at the first amphitheatre ever built. At this point, a theatre revolution was underway, lead by the University educated Christopher Marlowe who is believed to have been gay, hip, iconoclastic. Williams first play was the tragedy Titus Andronicus. Meanwhile, Marlowe had been hired as a spy. He was not secretive. Marlowe spoke of joining the Catholic side and counterfeited money. On March 3rd, 1592 Harry the sixth was Shakespeares first boxoffice number one. This is when he becomes bigger than Marlowe. Shakespeare however received a bad review for being an uneducated play write, rather than a university wit. However, in early 1593 many play writes and printers were executed or tortured for treason or heresy. Marlow himself was murdered, it was claimed to have been in self defense according to three witnesses. Shakespeare however did not believe it. It was shortly after this that Shakespeare added to his trilogy in the form of Richard III. The next episode entitled The Duty of Poets begins by claiming that the stage was dominated for the next twenty years by Shakespeare. The question for the narrator was what made him the most popular play write of the time, rather than the other young play writes of the time? In 1593 plague strikes the streets of London and the play houses are closed. At this time, Shakespeares distant cousin whom was loyal to Catholicism writes the new manifesto of English poetry which was a challenge to Shakespeare. This challenge states that poetry is not for the purpose of love or entertainment, but rather to glorify God. Shakespeare had no interest in this, however when the plague struck he was forced to seek other forms of income. He seeks employment as a published author of a poem Venos and Adonis which became a best seller. This poem did not focus on God, but rather on love. This poem was dedicated to Henry Earl of Southampton in order to gain money and prestige. In 1594, Shakespeare began a new acting company. His cousin whom had written for him the challenge of writing for God was killed shortly after for being a supporter of Catholicism. It is said that his friends visited Queen Elizabeth after his death and gave her a book as a gift, inside of it contained his letter to Shakespeare. It apparently moved the queen and struck her to grief. Shortly after this incident, Shakespeare wrote his first great Tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. Shortly thereafter, Hamlet, Shakespeares only son, died at the age of eleven. Shakespeare underwent a period of grief, but bought the second largest house in Stratford-upon-Avon, but it was in disarray. He also applied for a coat of arms for his father, in order to make his father a gentleman. It is believed these acts were a form of apology for not being there when his family needed him the most. His fathers coat of arms was approved and William became a gentleman. William is also known to have written numerous sonnets for a boy, it is widely debated but it is believed that they are autobiographical and about his own son. Sonnet 33 clearly emphasizes this. In 1597 the theaters, under the direction of the government for sedition, were closed. William was also under penalty of the government because of tax evasion. Later in that year he is in trouble for threatening mutilation and murder because he got into the middle of battles between landlords. In this time of darkness for William, he fell in love with a dark skinned musical married woman while he was still married to Ann. She became his mistress and she wrote of her in sonnets, such as sonnet 128. She is believed to have been a dark skinned Venetian Jew by the name of Amelia. He writes in his sonnets that he was struck with grief and desire; however despite this painful time in his life he wrote three new plays and numerous poems. In 1598, Shakespeare moved his theatre and company to the Southbank. It was called The Globe and opened in 1599. In 1600, the Earl of Essex was aware of the power of the theatre. He wished to overtake the queen, and requested Shakespeare to perform Richard II with a very dangerous scene on the overthrowing of the King. Unfortunately for Essex he spent too much time picking a clean shirt and thus was late for his own event. His revolt failed, and he and his men were arrested. Shakespeares company was interrogated at this time. None were punished; however they were commanded to perform Richard II before her as they had on their own stage. To add to all of this, the war of the poets was to begin. Shakespeare was now at war with a new style of theatre, a theatre performed strictly by boys. Shakespeares response to these plays was Twelfth Night. In Hamlet, Shakespeare makes a snide comment about the boys theatre. Hamlet became the next big thing, and won the War of the Poets. To add to the controversy, Shakespeare wrote Othello, which is believed to been about race. Shakespeare was well aware that both black and white people intermarrying, and wrote of one of these relationships in Othello. He makes his black male Othello into his tragic hero. In the final episode, entitled For All Time, the tale of Shakespeare continues in 1603. In March 1603 Elizabeth dies. She was childless and without an heir, so the throne went to her half sisters son whom united Great Britain, King James. King James appreciated poets and play writes, and thus Shakespeare was placed on the royal payroll. Shakespeare found himself in a public role during the coronation of King James. William was one of the ushers of the canopy; however he wrote in his sonnets that this was merely a gesture and not meaning anything. To add, Shakespeare and his band of Kings men were required to entertain the King for two weeks straight during every Christmas. In response for a plot to kill the royal family, Shakespeare wrote a play called Macbeth. Theatres were further censored and plays rewritten to have no further obscenities. A year after the terrorist plot, the government required all catholics to undergo protistent communion or else face heavy fines, for which Shakespeares twenty-three-year-old daught Susanna faced. Shakespeare at this time wrote the play King Lear in response to a king that destroys his own kingdom through unethical and vein actions to strike cord with King Richard. The next year Shakespeares daughter Susanna married a protestant doctor after falling in love with him. Shakespeare then became a grandfather. His son-in-law was a fairly open minded man whom treated anyone who needed treating, and was a modest protestant. The day after Susannas wedding, an uprising of the Diggers occurred to argue with their land being taken by rich land owners. They were struck down; however, Shakespeare used their movement as an underlying theme in his next play. To add, Shakespeares company opened a second theatre in London. Shakespeare began to consistently communicate with scientists and philosophers. It is believed that he was told a story of a shipwreck and he turned this story into his final solo play, The Tempest. This play is believed to contain autobiographical elements, and is about a man with supernatural powers that strikes at his enemies, but later forgives them and his daughter marries the son of his enemy. This could suggest that Shakespeare returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. The next spring it is known that he returned to his wife Ann back in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1613, Shakespeare buys a large house in London which was once a safe haven for the Catholic underground. He continues to write with a coauthor, and wrote Henry VIII (All is True). The Globe theatre was burnt down accidently during a performance of Henry VIII (All is True) in 1614, it is believed that Shakespeare then left the theatre business and sold his share in the company to return to his wife in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 51 in 1616 Shakespeare became ill and passed away. The legend goes that he died of a fever after a drunken fit with friends. He died on April 23rd, 1616. It is speculated from his will that he didnt love his wife as he gave her nothing but a bed, however, it is speculated that this was not a sign of a lack of love. Most was left to his eldest daughter Susanna. Response to In Search of Shakespeare This documentary was a touching and informing tribute to Shakespeare. I felt this documentary focused on what we know about Shakespeare, and while there was a fair amount of speculation, the speculations were not extreme nor were they far stretched such as to suggest that Shakespeare did not write his own plays. I learnt much of Shakespeares life. I did not know that Shakespeare had been a poor young man, uneducated beyond the age of twelve, and married as a teenager. I had always thought Shakespeare to be an eternal romantic, giving wondrous gifts and love to the woman that he fancied. However, despite being a fantastic author of romance, he seemed to lack romance in his life beyond his twenties and the elicit affair he had with a married woman. While we do not know how much time he spent with his wife Ann Hathaway, I was shocked to learn that he had lived apart from her for so many years. I found the history of Shakespeares plays, including those that we studied in this course, interesting. I had not fully realized that plays such as Twelfth Night, Hamlet, King Lear, and Henry VIII were written with motives. I have a new respect for the craftiness of Shakespeare, managing political satire as well as forthright claims against and warnings for the different monarchs of his time. He managed to escape religious persecution, which seemed again to result from his cunning mind. What I found most interesting about this documentary is that is interwove Shakespeare into the fabric of the Elizabethan times. Rather than just focus on Shakespeares biography, it gave foundation information about the times that goes beyond Shakespeare. I learnt much of Elizabeths times and religious insecurities, and King James turn from the liberal new age king to another king of religious persecution. I believe that Shakespeares death was premature. After finding much about his life, it saddens me that he died so soon after retiring and returning to his wife and family. While maybe his love for his wife was not strong, which is purely speculation, I am a true romantic in that I had hoped he would return and live out a fulfilling long life with his wife. However, I do not believe he lived long enough to truly see the impact of his words and in this I believe the world lost its greatest author of all history.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Behaviour Management Techniques in Pediatric Dentistry

Behaviour Management Techniques in Pediatric Dentistry Title of the article: Model of parental acceptance of various behavior management techniques used in pediatric dentistry Abstract: Purpose: to evaluate the parental acceptance of different behavior management techniques routinely used in pediatric dentistry. Methods: Forty parents were shown a video tape of different nine behavior management techniques. (1.) Tell Show Do, (2.) Modeling, (3.) Positive reinforcement, (4.) Distraction, (5.) Voice control, (6.) Hand over mouth exercise, (7.) physical restrain, (8.) conscious sedation and (9.) General Anesthesia. Parents were explained and asked to rate their acceptance on visual analogue scale provided in form Results: All the parents in the sample group completed the survey form and among them 37 parents accepted the positive reinforcement technique as the most acceptable. The least acceptable techniques were Hand over mouth exercise and physical restrain. The acceptance rate was in following order: Positive Reinforcement, Tell Show Do, Distraction, Modeling, Conscious Sedation, General Anesthesia, Voice Control, Hand over Mouth Exercise, Physical Restrain. Conclusion: Parents favor more affirmative approaches and management techniques that engross demonstrations geared for the child’s level of accepting. Aversive conditioning like Physical Restraint, Hand over mouth exercise and voice control is more strongly rejected than sedation and general anesthesia. Introduction: The most imperative facet in pediatric dental practice is behavior management of the child. It saves the time of not only dentists but also parents and child. The successful results can be obtained by the less anxious and well managed child. (Wright G Z. Behavior Management in Dentistry for Children. Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 1975) And for managing such child, the number of behavior management techniques has been explained in the literature. The intimate relationship among child, parent, dentist and society has been well explained by pedodontic triangle which provides proper child dental care. Not only this, but also it provides the information regarding the behavior management techniques to be used against the child. (Wright G Z. Behavior Management in Dentistry for Children. Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 1975. )(American academy of pediatric dentistry: Guideline on behavior guidance for the pediatric dental patient. Pediatr Dent 2007;29:115à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ24.) According to Kupietzky, for better understanding for their children`s treatment, parents can also participate actively in treatment decisions, and various behavior management techniques to modify their children`s behavior. This will ultimately diminish the parental anxiety. (Kupietzky A. Effects of video information on parental preoperative anxiety level and their perception of conscious sedation vs. general anesthesia for the dental treatment of their young ch ild. J Clin Pediatr Dent 2006;31:90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ2) with growing concern about children`s rights and considering ethical aspects, pedodontists can no longer take for granted that parents will endorse any form of behaviour management technique without issue. (Klein A. Physical restraint, informed consent and the child patient. J Dent Child; 55: 121-122. 1987, Lawrence S M, McTigue D J, Wilson S, Odom J G, Waggoner W F, Fields H W Jr. Parental attitudes toward behavior management techniques used in pediatric dentistry. Pediatr Dent; 13: 151-155. 1991.) Informed consent is having a growing blow on behavior management of children. The courts uphold that treatment by health care professionals without prior consent is array and the dentist who treats a patient devoid of consent may be liable (Brown 1976). It was stated in the conference sponsored by American academy of pediatric dentistry in 1988 that informed consent must be obtained prior to employ any behavior management technique in children. (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry: Behavior Management for the Pediatric Dental Patient Final Proceedings of a Workshop,September 30 October 2, 1988, Iowa City, IA.) There are few studies which demonstrate that behavior management techniques are not evenly acknowledged by parents or guardians and many techniques are found to be objectionable. (Murphy M G, Fields H W Jr, Machen J B. Parental acceptance of pediatric dentistry behavior management technique. Pediatr Dent; 6: 193-198. 1984. , Peretz B, Zadik D. Attitudes of parents toward their presence in the treat ­ment room during dental treatment to their children. J Clin Pediatr Dent; 23: 27-30. 1998.) Various studies have been done regarding acceptance of various behavior management techniques in children. It begins with the study done by Murphy et at who first encountered in differences in parental acceptance of behaviour-management techniques. In their study, they fulfilled that tell-show-do technique was customary by most parents and general anesthesia and aversive conditioning techniques like physical restrain were least accepted. (Murphy MG, Fields HW, Machen JB. Parental acceptance of paediatric dentistry behavior management techniques. Pediatr Dent 1984; 6: 193-8.) Seven years after this study another study done by the Laurence et al stated that the enough explanation is necessary for better understanding and acceptance each techniques by parents. (Lawrence SM, McTigue DJ, Wilson S, et al. Parental attitudes toward behavior management techniques used in paediatric dentistry. Pediatr Dent 1991; 13: 151-5.) Havelka in 1992 quoted in his study that the socioeconomic status als o influence the acceptance of certain behavioral modification technique by parents. (Havelka C, McTigue D, Wilson S, Odom J. The influence of social status and prior explanation on parental attitudes toward behavior management techniques. Pediatr Dent 1992; 14: 376-81). Also, the acceptance of each behavior management technique is influenced by culture and geographic region. (Long N. The changing nature of parenting in America. Pediatr Dent 2004; 26: 121-4.) Till now there is only one Indian study was there regarding acceptance behavioral management techniques by parents. (Elango I, Baweja DK, Shivaprakash PK. Parental acceptance of pediatric behavior management techniques: A comparative study. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent 2012;30:195-200) Thus, understanding parental acceptance regarding various behavior management techniques are very important which will ensure the proper child-dentist relationship as well as providing proper care. So the aim of this study was to assess the attitudes of parents towards different behavior management techniques used in pediatric dentistry. Materials and methods: 40 Parents were randomly selected from the department of pedodontics and preventive dentistry after the institutional committee ethical approval. (KA/PD- 06/2013) The inclusion criteria was decided which were, Parents of children with age 4-15 years with no previous dental history, Parents who are willing to participate and able to view and understand the videotape and Parents of all socioeconomic status irrespective of their age, gender, income, educational status, and occupation. A master video tape of various 9 behavior management techniques was made using the software windows movie maker v3.6. the behavior management techniques used were: (1.) Tell Show Do, (2.) Modeling, (3.) Positive reinforcement, (4.) Distraction, (5.) Voice control, (6.) Hand over mouth exercise, (7.) physical restrain, (8.) conscious sedation and (9.) General Anesthesia. All the behavior management techniques which were shown in the master video tape were recorded in the department of pedodontics and preventive dentistry. Before each behavior management, it was explained. The master video tape was approved by four pedodontist having more than 10 years of experience. The techniques were presented in the same sequence to all parents as follows: The video tape was 8 minutes long duration with each technique describing 20-30 seconds. After watching each behavior management technique parents were asked to give the opinion. The assessment form was filled by the parents contained the names of the techniques with two parameters of the visual analogue scale: Acceptableà ¯Ã‚ Ã…  , Not acceptableà ¯Ã‚ Ã…’ Videotape was projected using a laptop/ projector in the parent counseling room.() The subjects were asked to mark their opinion by using a vertical mark onto à ¯Ã‚ Ã…   or à ¯Ã‚ Ã…’ Following each technique Results: According to data analysis, the positive reinforcement was the most acceptable technique that was accepted by 37 parents (92.5%). The least acceptable technique was hand over mouth exercise and physical restrain that was accepted by only 5 parents (12.5%). The acceptance of various other behavior management techniques was in following order.(table 1) The same result is shown in the following bar diagram. (figure 3) Discussion: In the past years, various studies were conducted regarding the parental acceptance of various behavior management techniques by Murphy et al, Lawrence et al, Frankel, ; Havelka et al.; Scott and Garcà ­a-Godoy; Eaton et al, Elango et al. According to this study, the most acceptable techniques are positive reinforcement (92.5%) and tell show do (87.5%). These findings are in correlation with previous study done by Murphy et al. The reason for the highest rating of positive reinforcement and tell show do technique may be the parent demanding for the more child friendly behavior that will inspire the child for future dental treatment. Also in Murphy`s study, it was showed that the sedation and general anesthesia was least acceptable by parents. (Murphy MG, Fields HW Jr, Machen JB. Parental acceptance of pediatric behavior management techniques. Pediatr Dent 1984;6:193à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ8.) But in our study, General anesthesia and conscious sedation both were selected by 25 % of parents. The reason may be, they don’t want their child cry in the dental clinic and want multiple dental treatment in single sitting. It was concluded in the study by Eaton et al that in recent years, the approval for permission of nitrous oxide sedation has increased. (Eaton JJ, McTigue DJ, Fields HW, Beck FM. Attitudes of contemporary parents toward behavior management techniques used in paediatric dentistry. Pediatr Dent 2005; 27: 107-13.) However in our study we found that a considerable number of parents (25%) approved this technique, which was more than the previous studies by Murphy. The least acceptable techniques are hand over mouth exercise (12.5%) and physical restrain (12.5%) These findings are in correlation with previous studies done by Murphy et al. [1984] Eaton et al [2005] and J. Luis de Leà ³n et al [2010]. The reason for the same may be parents consider these techniques as illegal, unprofessional and not child friendly. HOME technique is also facing some controversy over a long period of time. For this reason many pedodontists are not using this technique and believe that parents may react negatively if they use this technique. (Bowers LT. The legality of using hand-over-mouth exercise for management of child behavior. J Dent Child 1982; 49: 257-65.) According to the report by Ouesis (2010) although HOME technique is eliminated from the AAPD guidelines, many dentists still accept this technique. (Oueis HS, Ralstrom E, Miriyala V, Molinari GE, Cassamassinmo P. Alternatives for Hand Over Mouth Exercise after its elimination from the clinical guidelines of the American Academy of Paediatric Dentistry. Pediatr Dent 2010;32:223-8) Restrain the child by pediwrap was also the least accepted technique. However it was suggested by frankle that this technique can be the accepted techniques by the mother if the child ic un cooperative. (Frankel RI. The Papoose Board and mothers’ attitudes following its use. Pediatr Dent 1991; 13: 284-8) Limitations: As the coin has two sides, the limitation in this study should not be ruled out. The first is different parents might evaluate the video tape differently and second one is failure to analyze the stress level of parents during watching the video tape. Further studies can be donre to eliminate these limitations. Conclusion: The following two conclusions can be drawn from this study, Parents prefer more positive approaches and management techniques that involve demonstrations geared for the child’s level of understanding. Aversive conditioning like Physical Restraint, Hand over mouth exercise and voice control is more strongly rejected than sedation and general anesthesia.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Child Trafficking Essay -- Legal Issues, Sexual Exploitation, Forced L

Child Trafficking â€Å"The global market of child trafficking is at over $12 billion a year with over 2 million child victims† (â€Å"Stop Child Trafficking Now† 1). This statement from the article â€Å"Stop Child Trafficking Now† describes how serious this crisis is nationwide. Child labor, illegal adoptions and child prostitution are the three forms child trafficking typically exists as (â€Å"Riverkids Project† 1). There has been a rising number of Cambodian children being trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor because of poverty, unemployment and lack of education; however organizations such as the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) are trying to raise awareness of this crisis. There is a rising number of Cambodian children being trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Human trafficking is a major crisis that is rapidly growing, affecting many young women of Cambodia. In just one year the number of young women involved in prostitution grew from 6,000 to 20,000 trafficking victims (â€Å"No Trafficking† 3). In 2006 it was estimated 30,000 Cambodian children had been exploited in the sex trade (â€Å"Global Crime Case: The Modern Slave Trade† 1). Studies have shown although not all sex workers are human trafficking victims 1 in 5 women and girls working in brothels have been trafficked (â€Å"SSF Cambodia† 1). It is estimated 50 percent of Cambodia’s population comprises children younger than 15 years of age (â€Å"No Trafficking† 4). End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) reports as many as one third of the trafficking victims in prostitution are children (â€Å"Human Trafficking† 2). There are around 158 million children aged 5-14 engaged i... ...n Trafficking Data Sheet† 2). There are many organizations within the nation that are gaining awareness for child trafficking. Child trafficking is a rapidly growing crisis forcing young women of Cambodia into sexual exploitation and child labor. This issue is cause by many factors including the lack of education and high levels of poverty; however, there are many organizations such as the Somaly Mam foundation trying to gain awareness of this crisis. Citizens of the United States can help bring awareness to child trafficking by teaching young women of this issue. As stated by the article â€Å"Child Labor-Killing the Age of Innocence,† â€Å"Thus, one should be careful when saying that the future of the country lies in the hands of children, for the very hands holding the key to growth are clamped down in the innocence phase† (â€Å"Child Labor-Killing the Age of Innocence† 2)

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Analysis of Bruce Springsteens Song Devils & Dust Essay -- Song Music

Analysis of Bruce Springsteen's Song "Devils & Dust" In times of war it is quite common for people to start questioning their values and their actions and be unsure of the path they are taking. This is common because to protect our values we often are told that we have to take actions that conflict with those values. One example would be how to protect our liberties we must sometimes restrain those liberties during treacherous times. However, the ultimate question is whether or not going against the very values we stand for is a hypocritical and wrongful action plan. Bruce Springsteen approaches this very issue in his song â€Å"Devils & Dust†, from the CD with the same title, and he subtly criticizes how the United States is betraying its values. Springsteen wrote â€Å"Devils & Dust† during the Iraq War. He has been openly against the war and has been quoted saying to Rolling Stone, â€Å"As the saying goes, "The first casualty of war is truth." I felt that the Bush doctrine of pre-emption was dangerous foreign policy. I don't think it has made America safer.† The song itself could be interpreted as a soldier’s point of view about the war but overall it stands as a critique on our society betraying its own principles. The first couple of verses in the song already evoke the image of a soldier stuck in a war. â€Å"I got my finger on the trigger / But I don’t know who to trust† could be understood as a soldier’s experience in war but it could also have a deeper meaning. It could also signify that our society has to make these important choices that will end up affecting people’s lives but it is all too ambiguous, there just isn’t any certainty. We are left w ith the desperate feeling of not knowing what to do, not knowing wh... ...ty and privacy are essential for it. Also, I am a dual citizen and in my other country, which is Brazil, we are still somewhat haunted by the shadow of a dictatorship that just ended in 1987. So I know people who have suffered the consequences of lack of liberty. Even so sometimes I am doubtful of my opinion, even though I try not to express it often and defend liberty as much as I can. Whenever I see some terrible act, whether terrorist or governments do it, I think if there would be a way to stop that with restrictions on certain liberties and more surveillance. However, if we do that, if we overreact, we destroy our values, destroy a part of ourselves and fill our soul with devils and dust. Works Cited Springsteen, Bruce. â€Å"Devils & Dust.† Devils & Dust. Columbia Records, 2005. Springsteen, Bruce. â€Å"We’ve Been Misled.† Rolling Stone 22 Sep. 2005

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Land Rover North America Case Analysis Essay

3. Product Differentiation: What is the typical SUV consumer? An SUV consumer is typically a male between the ages of 35-49. He is likely married but does not have children yet. His has probably completed part of college, or is a college graduate. He typically has an occupation other than being self-employed or a professional/managerial job. The household income of an SUV consumer is just below $50,000 a year up to $74,999 a year. Their most important reason for selecting an SUV is its four-wheel drive capability. They mostly use their SUV for running daily errands and transportation to/from work. They also use their SUV for pleasure driving. Research showed that SUV consumers in the 1990s wanted both real and fantastical experiences, instead of being concerned about status symbols or the collection of possessions that showed wealth and prestige. According to Yankelovich Monitor survey about retail shopping satisfaction, consumers dislike shopping for cars the most. Car shopping was ranked the most anxiety provoking and least satisfying of any of the retail experiences studied. 5. Brand Positioning: What are the three brand positioning alternatives from the case? What are the pros and cons associated with each alternative? The first brand position that was briefly considered for the Discovery was the position of being The More Affordable Range Rover. The benefits of this positioning were that they could use the established Range Rover brand that SUV consumers in America understood and trusted, but for a more affordable price. They decided against this brand positioning because of the experience they had with the Range Rover Hunter. In focus groups that they conducted, it seemed that there was a market for a less appointed vehicle so they created the Range Rover Hunter. But after the Hunter was introduced to the market in 1989, they realized that consumers viewed the Hunter as a â€Å"cheaper stripped down Range Rover† and it ended up being a failure. The second brand-positioning alternative that was considered was positioning the Discovery as The Definitive Family 4Ãâ€"4. Positioning the Discovery this way would stress the credentials it had and portray it as a versatile family vehicle with top of the line safety qualities and 1990s style. The benefits of positioning the Discovery this way was that it focused on the market segment that was looking for a vehicle for their family, which was different  from how they positioned the Range Rover, so they were reaching a total new audience. The negative aspects of this brand positioning was that they might be alienating the consumer base that they had already created with the Range Rover because that audience was looking for more of the rugged off-roading brand. The third brand-positioning alternative that was considered for the Discovery was the position as A Logical Evolution of the Legendary Land Rover. Positioning the Discovery this way would make it look like the latest generation of the authentic 4Ãâ€"4 brand, and stressed ruggedness, off-roading credentials, and brand heritage in the advertising. This positioning would make the Discovery the all-purpose centerpiece of the product line. The benefits of positioning the Discovery this way was that it still had the same feel as the rest of the Land Rover vehicles, but was more versatile in its uses. The negative aspects of this alternative was that it was a lot like the brand positioning of all Land Rovers other vehicles and different offer any new versatility to the brand and was marketing to the same audience that they had been with all the other vehicles. 6. Strategies for Growth of a Niche Brand: What strategic considerations are involved in moving this brand forward? HINT: Your recommendations for moving the brand forward (and allocating funds, retail strategy) must be consistent with your positioning strategy. Think about how you want your target market to perceive your product. After considering the different options of strategic plans discussed in the case, we have decided on several strategies that we would recommend as the best way to keep the brand moving forward. We believe that the best brand-positioning option is positioning the Discovery as A Logical Evolution of the Legendary Range Rover because advertising the Discovery this way would make it the latest generation of the 4Ãâ€"4 brand and would be targeted towards the market segment looking for ruggedness and off-road capability, while maintaining the familiar brand heritage and reputation (pg. 8). We have several recommendations for allocating funds across marketing mix  elements. We recommend that advertising for the Land Rover brand should be around 30% of the marketing budget and the advertisements themselves should be focused more on individual models in the Land Rover line, with an equally distributed level of support for each of the vehicles in the line. Advertising this way will support our brand position because it will show the evolution of the vehicles within the Land Rover brand. Our recommendations for corporate sponsorships and public relation programs is to continue the Camel Trophy Sponsorship and showcase the Range Rover at the event to showcase the most popular vehicle within the models available under the Land Rover brand. The â€Å"La Ruta Maya Expedition† is the only other major public relation campaign that we would recommend continuing with because it is different from the campaigns that have been used in the past, which will help support, the new evolved branding position. When it comes to experience marketing programs, we recommend that Land Rover decrease the amount of spending used on these programs because the programs barely break-even and often are operating below capacity (pg. 12). We would, however, recommend expanding these experiential marketing programs beyond the driving schools and focus more on newsletters and creating a site on the World Wide Web. We believe that the funding used on auto shows, dealer and employee training programs, and consumer research activities should be continued because these are fundamental parts of marketing and are still important moving forward with the new brand positioning (pg. 11). Although we do believe that the concept of the Land Rover Centre could be a great move for the Land Rover brand in the future, we wouldn’t recommend implementing this concept at this time for several reasons. First, creating a new brand imagine should be the main focus of every decision that we make, and even though the Land Rover Centre could support the new brand image there are less expensive and less risky ways of supporting the new evolved brand image. Second, many dealers feel that Land Rover’s sale levels are not high enough to justify the $2 million investment risk (pg.13). Lastly, the Land Rover Centre concepts requires that the dealer network would have to be significantly increased, which would deteriorate the many benefits that they have by having exclusivity in the marketplace (pg. 13).

Monday, September 16, 2019

Review of Psychology and Christianity 5 Views

Assessment 1 Assessment 1 What does psychology have to do with the Christian faith? In Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, by Myers, Jones, Roberts, Watson, Coe, Hall, and Powlison (2010) is an introductory textbook for Christian psychology that provides sound arguments for an array of positions on psychology and faith. Each author contributed an essay and in return the other essayist respond by either agreeing or disagreeing by pointing out faults and explaining why. The first position by David G.Myers titled, â€Å"A-Levels-of-Explanation View,† who is a psychological scientist who supports that Christian theology and psychology are two very distinct disciplines, but they do share similar goals. Myers defines psychology as, â€Å"the science of behavior and mental processes† (2010, pg. 49) and that over time different variations of this definition have agreed that psychology is a science. By having curiosity and humility we should seek out to test each other†™s ideas. He has high regards towards empirical psychological research that it can reveal about a person’s personality, behavior, attitudes, relationships and more.He also confirms that psychology can affirm aspects of Christian faith, for example psychological science supports family values, and that at time psychological science might cause us to change our view on Christian theology and interpretations of scripture. Myers admits that he has changed his stance on homosexuals, as there is more research on psychological findings and genetic research. He concludes that, â€Å"sexual orientation is a natural disposition, not a voluntary moral choice† (2010, pg. 72). Secondly, Stanton L.Jones writes about, â€Å"An Integration View,† where psychology and Christianity should be intertwined with each other. He believes that science is a tool that God uses as an instrument of revelation. Although Jones upholds that scripture determines the foundational beliefs and u nderstanding of Christians, it does not provide us with the full knowledge of understanding humans. Throughout Jones view, he emphasizes the importance of â€Å"a thoughtful Christian appreciation for science† (144) and as Christians we should be able to engage with secular psychology, but he also acknowledges this engagement has its limits.Furthermore, Jones uses homosexuality, like Myers, as a test case, but is very clear on what scripture says about this behavior and does not let data change his mind on this topic since the Authority of Scripture cannot be mistaken. The Christian Psychology view by Roberts and Watson, have a more historical and philosophical approach. They do not deny modern psychology, but argue that psychology has been around for the past 2500 years. For example, he brings up issues relevant today with the Sermon on the Mount instead of the science offered by todays establish psychologist.Roberts and Watson also claim that Christian psychologist should a pproach psychology with the bases of the Christian tradition. â€Å"Christians must approach the subject matter of humanity embracing what God has told us about what it mean to be fully human first; that then is our framework for engaging psychology as a social science† (p. 183). Roberts and Watson purpose a two-stage method: â€Å"to first appropriate the resources of the rich, Christian psychological tradition, and then to employ it in the advance of empirical science and applied science† (p. 184).This is how a Christian understanding of the person can come to hypotheses that can be tested, therefore advancing our comprehension on humans. Lastly, the Biblical Counseling Model, by Powlison opens up his view with, â€Å"Christian faith is a psychology† and that â€Å"Christian ministry is a psychotherapy† (p. 245). He uses these terms differently when compared to modern psychologist.. He further illustrates that psychology can be categorized into six line s (Psych-1 to Psych-6): the raw experiences of life, organized knowledge, interpretive and explanatory models, psychotherapy, institutional and professional arrangements and the ethos of culture.He goes on and uses these terms with numerous biblical themes by providing a test case. Powlison is more interested in assisting the individual using biblical insights to better understand. I found that Stanton L. Jones, An Integration View, was the most persuasive for me. He emphasizes that if we Christians believe that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord of all and that there is no life outside of the scope of his sovereignty. An integrationist view believes the Christian psychologist should draw on the resource of God’s answers to these ultimate questions as the foundation both for how we engage the science of psychology and how we structure our practice in the profession of psychology† (p. 101). I also strongly agree with him that our human experiences should be based on scriptu re, but he also acknowledges that Scripture alone could provide every aspect for understanding people as well as their problems and solutions. He also argues that the Christian faith â€Å"can and should relate to science in general and psychological science in particular† (p. 06). He emphasizes that if Christian psychologist focus more on the Bible and Christian theology, it will help shape their work because they will embrace biblical truth and theological principals. Jones also argues not just for the Christian faith in psychology, but for the science as well. â€Å"Because by his sovereign choice, God’s acting and speech are limited. Further, he has created humans as rational beings capable of knowing more and more about reality around them through the exercise of their reason and curiosity† (p. 10). Therefore we should integrate the discipline of psychology with one’s commitment to Scripture to shape their work. Although I agreed with most of what My ers argued for, I strongly disagreed with his view on sexual orientation. He professes that he is a Christian who reads the word, spends time with the Lord daily, but also confesses that over time data has swayed him to change his mind and now believes that â€Å"sexual orientation (most clearly for males) is a natural disposition, not a voluntary moral choice† (p. 73).I believe that Scripture has clearly stated what is right and wrong in our sexual lives. Myers also states that, â€Å"our assumptions and beliefs always shape our approaches to science† (p. 81). Since Myers is heavily influenced by science, this has led him to change his moral views on sexual orientation, therefore, ignoring the moral aspect that biblical teaching that the act of homosexuality is immoral and is a disorientation of what God meant for human life. I thoroughly enjoyed learning and reading the four out five views in this book.It has made me acknowledge that I need to spend more time in theo logy and in the word in order to better grasp the understanding of people. By doing so I hope to become not only more knowledgeable in the area of psychology, but a better servant for Christ. References Myers, D. G. , Jones, S. L. , Roberts, R. C. , Watson, P. J. , Coe, J. H. , Hall, T. W. , Powlison, D. (2010). Psychology and Christianity five views. E. L. Johnson (2nd ed. ). Downers, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The Host Chapter 27: Undecided

I felt my way back to my prison hole. It had been weeks and weeks since I'd been down this particular corridor; I hadn't been back since the morning after Jared had left and Jeb had set me free. It seemed to me that while I lived and Jared was in the caves, this must be where I belonged. There was no dim light to greet me now. I was fairly sure I was in the last leg-the turns and twists were still vaguely familiar. I let my left hand drag against the wall as low as I could reach, feeling for the opening as I crept forward. I wasn't decided on crawling back inside the cramped hole, but at least it would give me a reference point, letting me know that I was where I meant to be. As it happened, I didn't have the option of inhabiting my cell again. In the same moment that my fingers brushed the rough edge at the top of the hole, my foot hit an obstacle and I stumbled, falling to my knees. I threw my hands out to catch myself, and they landed with a crunch and a crackle, breaking through something that wasn't rock and didn't belong here. The sound startled me; the unexpected object frightened me. Perhaps I'd made a wrong turn and wasn't anywhere near my hole. Perhaps I was in someone's living space. I ran through the memory of my recent journey in my head, wondering how I could have gotten so turned about. Meanwhile, I listened for some reaction to my crashing fall, holding absolutely still in the darkness. There was nothing-no reaction, no sound. It was only dark and stuffy and humid, as it always was, and so silent that I knew I must be alone. Carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible, I took stock of my surroundings. My hands were stuck in something. I pulled them free, tracing the contours of what felt like a cardboard box-a cardboard box with a sheet of thin, crackly plastic on top that my hands had fallen through. I felt around inside the box and found a layer of more crackly plastic-small rectangles that made a lot of noise when I handled them. I retreated quickly, afraid of drawing attention to myself. I remembered that I'd thought I'd found the top of the hole. I searched to my left and found more stacks of cardboard squares on that side. I tried to find the top of the stack and had to stand in order to do so-it was as high as my head. I searched until I found the wall, and then the hole, exactly where I'd thought it was. I tried to climb in to ascertain if it really was the same place-one second on that bowed floor and I would know it for certain-but I could not get any farther than the opening. It, too, was crammed full of boxes. Stymied, I explored with my hands, moving back out into the hall. I found I could go no deeper down the passageway; it was entirely filled with the mysterious cardboard squares. As I hunted along the floor, trying to understand, I found something different from the crowd of boxes. It was rough fabric, like burlap, a sack full of something heavy that shifted with a quiet hissing sound when I nudged it. I kneaded the sack with my hands, less alarmed by the low hiss than by the plastic crackle-it seemed unlikely that this sound would alert anyone to my presence. Suddenly, it all came clear. It was the smell that did it. As I played with the sand-like material inside the bag, I got an unexpected whiff of a familiar scent. It took me back to my bare kitchen in San Diego, to the low cupboard on the left side of the sink. In my head I could see so clearly the bag of uncooked rice, the plastic measuring cup I used to dole it out, the rows of canned food behind it†¦ Once I realized that I was touching a bag of rice, I understood. I was in the right place after all. Hadn't Jeb said they used this place for storage? And hadn't Jared just returned from a long raid? Now everything the raiders had stolen in the weeks they'd been gone was dumped in this out-of-the-way place until it could be used. Many thoughts ran through my head at once. First, I realized that I was surrounded by food. Not just rough bread and weak onion soup, but food. Somewhere in this stack, there could be peanut butter. Chocolate chip cookies. Potato chips. Cheetos. Even as I imagined finding these things, tasting them again, being full for the first time since I'd left civilization, I felt guilty for thinking of it. Jared hadn't risked his life and spent weeks hiding and stealing to feed me. This food was for others. I also worried that perhaps this wasn't the entire haul. What if they had more boxes to stow? Would Jared and Kyle be the ones to bring them? It didn't take any imagination at all to picture the scene that would result if they found me here. But wasn't that why I was here? Wasn't that exactly what I'd needed to be alone to think about? I slouched against the wall. The rice bag made a decent pillow. I closed my eyes-unnecessary in the inky darkness-and settled in for a consultation. Okay, Mel. What now? I was glad to find that she was still awake and alert. Opposition brought out her strength. It was only when things were going well that she drifted away. Priorities, she decided. What's most important to us? Staying alive? Or Jamie? She knew the answer. Jamie, I affirmed, sighing out loud. The sound of my breath whispered back from the black walls. Agreed. We could probably last awhile if we let Jeb and Ian protect us. Will that help him? Maybe. Would he be more hurt if we just gave up? Or if we let this drag on, only to have it end badly, which seems inevitable? She didn't like that. I could feel her scrambling around, searching for alternatives. Try to escape? I suggested. Unlikely, she decided. Besides, what would we do out there? What would we tell them? We imagined it together-how would I explain my months of absence? I could lie, make up some alternative story, or say I didn't remember. But I thought of the Seeker's skeptical face, her bulging eyes bright with suspicion, and knew my inept attempts at subterfuge would fail. They'd think I took over, Melanie agreed. Then they'd take you out and put her in. I squirmed, as if a new position on the rock floor would take me further away from the idea, and shuddered. Then I followed the thought to its conclusion. She'd tell them about this place, and the Seekers would come. The horror washed through us. Right, I continued. So escape is out. Right, she whispered, emotion making her thought unstable. So the decision is†¦ quick or slow. Which hurts him less? It seemed that as long as I focused on practicalities I could keep at least my side of the discussion numbly businesslike. Melanie tried to mimic my effort. I'm not sure. On the one hand, logically, the longer the three of us are together, the harder our†¦ separation would be for him. Then again, if we didn't fight, if we just gave up†¦ he wouldn't like that. He'd feel betrayed by us. I looked at both sides she'd presented, trying to be rational about it. So†¦ quick, but we have to do our best not to die? Go down fighting, she affirmed grimly. Fighting. Fabulous. I tried to imagine that-meeting violence with violence. Raising my hand to strike someone. I could form the words but not the mental picture. You can do it, she encouraged. I'll help you. Thanks, but no thanks. There has to be some other way. I don't get you, Wanda. You've given up on your species entirely, you're ready to die for my brother, you're in love with the man I love who is going to kill us, and yet you won't let go of customs that are entirely impractical here. I am who I am, Mel. I can't change that, though everything else may change. You hold on to yourself; allow me to do the same. But if we're going to – She would have continued to argue with me, but we were interrupted. A scuffing sound, shoe against rock, echoed from somewhere back down the corridor. I froze-every function of my body arrested but my heart, and even that faltered jaggedly-and listened. I didn't have long to hope that I'd just imagined the sound. Within seconds, I could hear more quiet footsteps coming this way. Melanie kept her cool, whereas I was lost to panic. Get on your feet, she ordered. Why? You won't fight, but you can run. You have to try something-for Jamie. I started breathing again, keeping it quiet and shallow. Slowly, I rolled forward till I was on the balls of my feet. Adrenaline coursed through my muscles, making them tingle and flex. I would be faster than most who would try to catch me, but where would I run to? â€Å"Wanda?† someone whispered quietly. â€Å"Wanda? Are you here? It's me.† His voice broke, and I knew him. â€Å"Jamie!† I rasped. â€Å"What are you doing? I told you I needed to be alone.† Relief was plain in his voice, which he now raised from the whisper. â€Å"Everybody is looking for you. Well, you know, Trudy and Lily and Wes-that everybody. Only we're not supposed to let anyone know that's what we're doing. No one is supposed to guess that you're missing. Jeb's got his gun again. Ian's with Doc. When Doc's free, he'll talk to Jared and Kyle. Everybody listens to Doc. So you don't have to hide. Everybody's busy, and you're probably tired†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As Jamie explained, he continued forward until his fingers found my arm, and then my hand. â€Å"I'm not really hiding, Jamie. I told you I had to think.† â€Å"You could think with Jeb there, right?† â€Å"Where do you want me to go? Back to Jared's room? This is where I'm supposed to be.† â€Å"Not anymore.† The familiar stubborn edge entered his voice. â€Å"Why is everyone so busy?† I asked to distract him. â€Å"What's Doc doing?† My attempt was unsuccessful; he didn't answer. After a minute of silence, I touched his cheek. â€Å"Look, you should be with Jeb. Tell the others to stop looking for me. I'll just hang out here for a while.† â€Å"You can't sleep here.† â€Å"I have before.† I felt his head shake in my hand. â€Å"I'll go get mats and pillows, at least.† â€Å"I don't need more than one.† â€Å"I'm not staying with Jared while he's being such a jerk.† I groaned internally. â€Å"Then you stay with Jeb and his snores. You belong with them, not with me.† â€Å"I belong wherever I want to be.† The threat of Kyle finding me here was heavy on my mind. But that argument would only make Jamie feel responsible for protecting me. â€Å"Fine, but you have to get Jeb's permission.† â€Å"Later. I'm not going to bug Jeb tonight.† â€Å"What is Jeb doing?† Jamie didn't answer. It was only at that point I realized he had deliberately not answered my question the first time. There was something he didn't want to tell me. Maybe the others were busy trying to find me, too. Maybe Jared's homecoming had returned them to their original opinion about me. It had seemed that way in the kitchen, when they'd hung their heads and eyed me with furtive guilt. â€Å"What's going on, Jamie?† I pressed. â€Å"I'm not supposed to tell you,† he muttered. â€Å"And I'm not going to.† His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, and his face pressed against my shoulder. â€Å"Everything is going to be all right,† he promised me, his voice thick. I patted his back and ran my fingers through his tangled mane. â€Å"Okay,† I said, agreeing to accept his silence. After all, I had my secrets, too, didn't I? â€Å"Don't be upset, Jamie. Whatever it is, it will all work out for the best. You're going to be fine.† As I said the words, I willed them to be true. â€Å"I don't know what to hope for,† he whispered. As I stared into the dark at nothing in particular, trying to understand what he wouldn't say, a faint glow caught my eye at the far end of the hallway-dim but conspicuous in the black cave. â€Å"Shhh,† I breathed. â€Å"Someone is coming. Quick, hide behind the boxes.† Jamie's head snapped up, toward the yellow light that was getting brighter by the second. I listened for the accompanying footsteps but heard nothing. â€Å"I'm not going to hide,† he breathed. â€Å"Get behind me, Wanda.† â€Å"No!† â€Å"Jamie!† Jared shouted. â€Å"I know you're back here!† My legs felt hollow, numb. Did it have to be Jared? It would be so much easier for Jamie if Kyle were the one to kill me. â€Å"Go away!† Jamie shouted back. The yellow light sped up and turned into a circle on the far wall. Jared stalked around the corner, the flashlight in his hand sweeping back and forth across the rock floor. He was clean again, wearing a faded red shirt I recognized-it had hung in the room where I'd lived for weeks and so was a familiar sight. His face was also familiar-it wore exactly the same expression it had since the first moment I'd shown up here. The beam of the flashlight hit my face and blinded me; I knew the light reflected brilliantly off the silver behind my eyes, because I felt Jamie jump-just a little start, and then he set himself more firmly than before. â€Å"Get away from it!† Jared roared. â€Å"Shut up!† Jamie yelled back. â€Å"You don't know her! Leave her alone!† He clung to me while I tried to unlock his hands. Jared came on like a charging bull. He grabbed the back of Jamie's shirt with one hand and yanked him away from me. He held on to his handful of fabric, shaking the boy while he yelled. â€Å"You're being an idiot! Can't you see how it's using you?† Instinctively, I shoved myself into the tight space between them. As I'd intended, my advance made him drop Jamie. I didn't want or need what else happened-the way his familiar smell assaulted my senses, the way the contours of his chest felt under my hands. â€Å"Leave Jamie alone,† I said, wishing for once that I could be more like Melanie wanted me to be-that my hands could be hard now, that my voice could be strong. He snatched my wrists in one hand and used this leverage to hurl me away from him, into the wall. The impact caught me by surprise, knocked the breath out of me. I rebounded off the stone wall to the floor, landing in the boxes again, making another crinkly crash as I shredded through more cellophane. The pulse thudded in my head as I lay awkwardly bent over the boxes, and for a moment, I saw strange lights pass in front of my eyes. â€Å"Coward!† Jamie screamed at Jared. â€Å"She wouldn't hurt you to save her own life! Why can't you leave her alone?† I heard the boxes shifting and felt Jamie's hands on my arm. â€Å"Wanda? Are you okay, Wanda?† â€Å"Fine,† I huffed, ignoring the throbbing in my head. I could see his anxious face hovering over me in the glow of the flashlight, which Jared must have dropped. â€Å"You should go now, Jamie,† I whispered. â€Å"Run.† Jamie shook his head fiercely. â€Å"Stay away from it!† Jared bellowed. I watched as Jared grabbed Jamie's shoulders and yanked the boy up from his crouch. The boxes this displaced fell on me like a small avalanche. I rolled away, covering my head with my arms. A heavy one caught me right between the shoulder blades, and I cried out in pain. â€Å"Stop hurting her!† Jamie howled. There was a sharp crack, and someone gasped. I struggled to pull myself out from under the heavy carton, rising up on my elbows dizzily. Jared had one hand over his nose, and something dark was oozing down over his lips. His eyes were wide with surprise. Jamie stood in front of him with both hands clenched into fists, a furious scowl on his face. Jamie's scowl melted slowly while Jared stared at him in shock. Hurt took its place-hurt and a betrayal so deep that it rivaled Jared's expression in the kitchen. â€Å"You aren't the man I thought you were,† Jamie whispered. He looked at Jared as though Jared were very far away, as if there were a wall between them and Jamie was utterly isolated on his side. Jamie's eyes started to swim, and he turned his head, ashamed of showing weakness in front of Jared. He walked away with quick, jerky movements. We tried, Melanie thought sadly. Her heart ached after the child, even as she longed for me to return my eyes to the man. I gave her what she wanted. Jared wasn't looking at me. He was staring at the blackness into which Jamie had disappeared, his hand still covering his nose. â€Å"Aw, damn it!† he suddenly shouted. â€Å"Jamie! Get back here!† There was no answer. Jared threw one bleak glance in my direction-I cringed away, though his fury seemed to have faded-then scooped up the flashlight and stomped after Jamie, kicking a box out of his way. â€Å"I'm sorry, okay? Don't cry, kid!† He called out more angry apologies as he turned the corner and left me lying in the darkness. For a long moment, it was all I could do to breathe. I concentrated on the air flowing in, then out, then in. After I felt I had that part mastered, I worked on getting up off the floor. It took a few seconds to remember how to move my legs, and even then they were shaky and threatened to collapse under me, so I sat against the wall again, sliding over till I found my rice-filled pillow. I slumped there and took stock of my condition. Nothing was broken-except maybe Jared's nose. I shook my head slowly. Jamie and Jared should not be fighting. I was causing them so much turmoil and unhappiness. I sighed and went back to my assessment. There was a vast sore spot in the center of my back, and the side of my face felt raw and moist where it had hit the wall. It stung when I touched it and left warm fluid on my fingers. That was the worst of it, though. The other bruises and scrapes were mild. As I realized that, I was unexpectedly overwhelmed by relief. I was alive. Jared had had his chance to kill me and he had not used it. He'd gone after Jamie instead, to make things right between them. So whatever damage I was doing to their relationship, it was probably not irreparable. It had been a long day-the day had already been long even before Jared and the others had shown up, and that seemed like eons ago. I closed my eyes where I was and fell asleep on the rice.