Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The French Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

The French Revolution - Essay Example The primary roots of the French Revolution were the political and economic interests of various influential leaders, and the widespread social injustice in France and the colonies due to the monarchy’s and nobility’s abuse of the masses which led to economic hardships and the absence of civil rights and liberties for all. Scholars and other individuals underscored the political motivation behind the French Revolution. Thomas Ott underscored the political aspects of the revolution in St. Domingue. He noted that during the early eighteenth century, â€Å"tensions gathered in St. Domingue between bureaucrat and grand blanc, grand blanc and petit blanc, white and mulatto, mulatto and black, black and white† (188). He is saying that racial divisions promoted divided political interests where political leadership had become more and more important for each racial group. John P. McKay and other scholars agreed that political motivation affected the revolution in St. Domingue. Slaves wanted to be free, mulattoes wanted to be elevated to white status, while the white elite saw the French Revolution as a way of increasing control over their local affairs (596). At the same time, some of the members of the National Assembly were considered as wanting power for their own and riding on the movement as a wa y of gaining political power, which Toussaint LOuverture noted when he addressed the French Directory in 1797. He said that he wanted to enlighten the Directory â€Å"to prevent the enemies of the present system from spreading themselves on our unfortunate shores to sully it with new crimes† (534). He is saying that he wants to prevent the government from being invaded by people who want to apply slavery once more. It can be argued that he wanted to protect the interests of the people from those who wish to use the Revolution to advance their political and economic interests because St. Domingue is the

Monday, October 28, 2019

Of Mice And Men Characters Essay Example for Free

Of Mice And Men Characters Essay In Of Mice And Men, all the characters have different problems, whether they are physical, mental or personal. Although the two characters who I feel have the most problems are Crooks and George. Crooks, the black stable buck is forever being pick on by the other men at the ranch, mostly because of his colour. In the time in which the book was set, black people in America were thought of as lower than white people. At the ranch, Crooks cannot live in the bunk-house with all the other men, but he has to sleep in the harness room, at the back of the barn. In this room he is surrounded by all the unused horse tack, and therefore has hardly any space for his personal belongings. Crooks is given no privacy, and gets quite cross because he is not allowed to enter the bunk-house but the other men can just walk into his room. In the book he says to Lennie, Youve no right to come into my room, nobody got any right in here but me. After he has talked to Lennie for a while, he starts to enjoy having someone to talk to, because when he is in his room by himself, there is no one he can talk with. I think that he likes talking to Lennie because he realized that Lennie is slow, so Crooks can say what he wants and Lennie will not remember anything. To get the other men back for teasing him, he becomes very sour when they enter his room, and as he passes the other men he ignores them, as a pay back for the names they call him. Although I do feel that Crooks gets extremely lonely. All day long he is on his own, he cannot work because he has a crooked back, from once being kicked by a horse, so he has to stay behind at the ranch and generally look after the place. When he was abused by Curley, he cannot answer back, because Curley is the Boss son, and he knows that if he gets fired, he will probably not get another job because of his disability. The other man who I think has a lot of problems is George. He has to take Lennie with him everywhere, although, Lennie often gets into trouble and this gets George into trouble too. Without Lennie around him George could have such a good life, God almighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job and work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come, I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. This shows that without Lennie with him, causing trouble, he could keep a good job, and spend his time in the way he wants to, without having to think about anyone else. Although I do think that George likes Lennie, as he is always there to talk to and to share dreams with, they are obviously very close, but George does get annoyed with him, especially because Lennie finds it hard to remember things, such as where they are traveling to. Although he does seem to remember every bad word George says about him. When George talks of the little place theyre going to get, his face lights up and he really enjoys seeing Lennie happy and even though George is stuck with Lennie, he still likes having him there. When George is talking to Slim, in the book, he tries to cover up for Lennies mistakes in Weed, as he knows that Lennie would never hurt anyone on purpose. At the end of the book when George shoots Lennie he knew that he had to kill him. I think that partly the reason for this is because George knows that Lennie will be shot any way, but if he did it, it would be out of love and protection, and not revenge and hatred. George also knows that he cannot go on with Lennie, always running away from some kind of trouble that Lennie has caused, and the incident at the ranch was probably the last straw. Out of the two men described, I think that the person with the most problems is George. In the first part of the book, he always had Lennie with him, making things very difficult for him to have any privacy or time for himself. Lennie prevented him from ever keeping a job, and this often got him into trouble. At the end of the book, when George shot Lennie, he felt awful, because he was killing his best, and probably only friend. George would always live with the memory of Lennie, and the memory of how he shot him. All throughout the book George was telling Lennie that the other guys on these ranches move from place to place, having nobody. Now George would be like these other guys, but before he and Lennie. I think that George has more problems than Crooks, because in America in those times, all black people were treated lower than whites. Crooks cannot help this problem, because wherever he goes, he would receive the same kind of abuse. Another disadvantage Crooks has, is his crooked back, but again, he cannot help this so he did not create the problem. I feel very sorry for George, as he and Lennie have been through so much together, at some times, he wished that he never had to stay with Lennie, but now everything it over for him and he wants Lennie back.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Events that Led to the Civil War Essay -- American History Papers

Events that Led to the Civil War There were several issues that contributed to the split between the northern and southern states. Among these were the deep social, economic and political differences. The split could be traced as far back as the early 1800’s, just as the industrial revolution was beginning. It’s effects on the north and the south caused the economic split. As the north was becoming more industrialized; the south began to rely heavily on slave labor. This was one of the main reasons, as the southern view on slavery differed greatly from the North. These views were based on drastically different interpretations of the constitution. In the north, machines, interchangeable parts, and mass production were fast becoming a way of life. Northerners began building factories for mass production. These first factories were used for making textiles and later evolved to manufacturing a wide variety of goods. This created several opportunities for jobs. And with immigrants flooding in from Europe, finding employment was no problem. The factory system was efficient and inexpensive for the north to employ a large work force. In the south, cotton was becoming a huge success for the southern farmer. Cotton, being a very laborious crop, required the ownership of many slaves per plantation. Unlike the immigrants of the north, slaves were property. Slaves were also much less of a profit. When a slave became ill he could not simply be replaced, he needed to be cared for, after all, this was the plantation owners property. On the other hand in the north if a worker became to ill to work, there were several immigrants waiting for the job. In 1818, the balance of power in congress was equal... ...was not ratified by the necessary number of states. The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict of the north and south. Other problems existed that led to this succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery, but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the south running. When the south seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that â€Å" a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.† Because slavery formed two opposing societies and slavery could never be abolished, the civil war was inevitable. These were all the reasons why the south seceded from the union, this succession was eminent and there was no plausible way to avoid it. Bibliography: The Civil War by Jack Williams Events that Led to the Civil War Essay -- American History Papers Events that Led to the Civil War There were several issues that contributed to the split between the northern and southern states. Among these were the deep social, economic and political differences. The split could be traced as far back as the early 1800’s, just as the industrial revolution was beginning. It’s effects on the north and the south caused the economic split. As the north was becoming more industrialized; the south began to rely heavily on slave labor. This was one of the main reasons, as the southern view on slavery differed greatly from the North. These views were based on drastically different interpretations of the constitution. In the north, machines, interchangeable parts, and mass production were fast becoming a way of life. Northerners began building factories for mass production. These first factories were used for making textiles and later evolved to manufacturing a wide variety of goods. This created several opportunities for jobs. And with immigrants flooding in from Europe, finding employment was no problem. The factory system was efficient and inexpensive for the north to employ a large work force. In the south, cotton was becoming a huge success for the southern farmer. Cotton, being a very laborious crop, required the ownership of many slaves per plantation. Unlike the immigrants of the north, slaves were property. Slaves were also much less of a profit. When a slave became ill he could not simply be replaced, he needed to be cared for, after all, this was the plantation owners property. On the other hand in the north if a worker became to ill to work, there were several immigrants waiting for the job. In 1818, the balance of power in congress was equal... ...was not ratified by the necessary number of states. The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict of the north and south. Other problems existed that led to this succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery, but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the south running. When the south seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that â€Å" a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.† Because slavery formed two opposing societies and slavery could never be abolished, the civil war was inevitable. These were all the reasons why the south seceded from the union, this succession was eminent and there was no plausible way to avoid it. Bibliography: The Civil War by Jack Williams

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Reflective Report on Group Work

Reflection on group work Project Content |Page | |Content |2 | |Introduction |3 | |The Group |3 | |My role in the Group |4 | |Difficult encountered during the group work |5 | |The Presentation |7 | |Conclusion |8 | |References |9 | Introduction When effective group management and high organisation skills are applied, group work can bring students a wide range of skills and abilities related to people and problem solving. Group work demonstrates student’s capacity to communicate effectively, share and consider opinions, establish trust, analyse the group process, resolve conflicts and also develop their creativity. However, the constructive learning and beneficial results does not always come as a result of group work. For instance, if the students can not perceive the objective of the group work in order to achieve a common goal, or to lay back or believe that the work load can be relied on other members of the group making the individual work less and still get an equal grade, the educational benefits can result in frustration and arguments as well as leading the whole group to a state of stress and anxiety. This essay reflects on my own participation towards ‘Lush Project’ as a project director, also how I contributed in interpreting  and  researching  the  Lush  Brief,  as  well  as my participation with the  final  presentation. It also discusses the difficulties that emerged throughout the group work; things that went well regards to the preparation and the areas that could have been improved upon. The Group A group can be defined in various ways, for instance; Charles Handy (1993, p. 150) identified a group as â€Å"any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group† in order to interact with one another. The group then is likely to go through a number of structures which cover forming the group, the group passing from an undeveloped concept to a mature conception then going through a â€Å"variety of stages from mutual acceptance and membership to control and organisation† (Culliname, J. , 2007, p. 628)). My group went though the ‘Tuckman’ structure which is defined as ‘forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning’. Forming – initially the group was formed of seven students from the same class. There was no deliberation as to who would be in what group. There were only seven in the class and we were given the assignment to research the company ‘Lush’ and from our findings we were to stage and run a successful and unique event on behalf of the company. In this stage, the individuals start to know the other members of the group and the group is uncertain of the prospective tasks and there are no rules for the group work leading to a lack of focus and interest. At the norming stage a clearer guideline was given, individuals had the chance to choose the roles in the group and procedures were taken from there. The group consisted of a Project Director, two Logistics Managers, an Account Director, a Finance director and two Creative Directors where all had to come across to an agreement of a name for the group ‘Essence Events’ and where each individual group member would pitch an idea to the rest of the group. At this stage emotion was shown and excitement expressed towards the work we had to do. A timetable for regular meetings was given to each individual of the group by the project director and at each meeting’s ‘minutes’ were taken by one member of the group in order to keep track of the work that had been done. Then comes the performing where the team knew each other and structure and guideline were clear and cohesive. The team now focused on a common goal of developing the ideas for the ‘Lush’ event. At the beginning of this stage, all members of the group were getting together regularly and were constructing and expanding ideas for the project as well as for the presentation. However, unfortunately the group did not stay this way for very long. Distraction and lack of interest emerged bringing the whole group down to anxiety and disagreement. I as group leader was rather unsuccessful in putting the team together and in demanding more of a serious commitment from them. At this stage, the group should have been able to have delivered a successful project in the form of a presentation. Instead, all the hard work that had been done was diverted into a lack of interest and commitment resulting in a negative consequence. The final stage is the adjourning, where ‘Essence Events’ group disbanded. The idea should be that the group dispersing should get together again and reflect on the group work and see what went well and what did not go well and what should we have done differently. In this case, each member of the group was asked to reflect on the group work on their own which might bring more benefit as an individual. My Role in the Group According to Culliname, J. (2007, p. 566), a leader â€Å"aim to influence and guide others into pursuing particular objectives or visions of the future and to stimulate them into waiting to follow†. A project director has the same principle of leader in the sense of being able to conduct tasks successfully, maintaining teamwork and have a democratic participation leadership on the project. At the outset, as the project director I felt that I would fit into the role easily and would be able to distribute different roles to each member of the group. However, I was on a steep learning curve where I would find out that as group leader not only are you expected to have your own ideas to pitch to the group, but you are expected to salvage the group when an idea goes horribly wrong and the group then turns to you for guidance and a solution of how to rectify such problems. Not only was the actual academic side of the group a shock, but the outside organisation of the group proved to be tough as well. Trying to pin down each member of the group to turn up at a particular time at a particular place was a whole other project in itself as of course each member had other work pieces to deal with at the same time, which needed the same amount of due care and attention as the ‘Lush’ event presentation required. When separating responsibilities and separate individual projects to each member of the group I was well aware that not only did the writing and research need to be done but we needed to go to ‘Lush’ stores themselves in order to gather further research information to then take back to the group and compile our findings together to make a firm research file from which we could then discuss and sort what was considered to be primary information and what was secondary information. What we did was with each visit to the ‘Lush’ stores we would divide up the responsibilities and each person was responsible for gathering the respective information. The branches of research were mainly creativity, marketing, pricing, PH, promotion and target market. For instance, the marketing section one observation that the group made is that the door to the shop was always open. This was so that the smell of the products would reach the public outside and therefore attract their attention and ultimately attract consumers into the store to purchase the ‘Lush’ products. When we pitched our ideas to the group, one of the group members suggested that we should run the ‘Lush’ event based on the four seasons (winter, summer, autumn and spring). Each section included the right smell of the particular season, the right colour, such as darker heavier colours for the winter seasons and brighter colours for spring and summer. We emphasised the fact that ‘Lush’ does not carry out any tests on animals and that all their products are environmentally friendly and are also all natural products. Difficult encountered during the group work As with any group or team project it is inevitable that at some point throughout the time together there will be a minor or a major hurdle. This being that either one of the group members does not agree with a particular pitch or strongly disagrees with another person’s idea(s). They may even simply not get along with another member of the group. In the ‘Lush’ situation all group members seemed to get along at the beginning, however, soon disagreement and arguments started to emerge on the event’s topic and meetings. As a general rule the ideas for the project were usually chosen by the majority vote of the group. The problems that we as a group faced were ones that we would generally expect to encounter. We as a group suffered from people not attending meetings. This could be down to lack of organisation, however, it is unlikely that this was the case as all members of the group were aware of the time, date and location of the meeting. Some members simply did not turn up and failed to let the rest of the group who had turned up know that they would not be coming. This ultimately could be said down to the group leader, however, the leader can only do so much as the leader cannot be expected to force other members to turn up. As leader I could only send messages, emails and give phone calls and state the importance of the meeting but, could not make the individual turn up. Another problem we faced was as mentioned earlier; there was a lack of interest from certain members, and this pushed its way through the group and affected others as they began to become irritated with the members of the group who, when they would turn up, not doing any work. This issue I addressed as I took the respective group members aside and both explained the situation that they were putting the group in and asked what it was in particular they were not interested in. It became apparent that it was not the idea that they were not interested in, more the fact they simply did not want to share the workload, as they would not turn up to the meetings and hence cause the other members who did turn up to take on their work that they had not done as well as their own part of the project. Being anxious of not being able to complete the project in time for the presentation a few of the group members decided to starting putting the project together even though it seemed to be a lot of work to do for just a few members of the team. Just three days before the presentation all group members seemed to be interested about the work again and a vast improvement was made and the members who previously had failed to turn up, turned up to what was supposed to be the last meeting and the work was again shared â€Å"equally† and finished . This although seemingly positive in the short term for the group project, was relatively short lived as it had come too late and there was a lot of ground to cover in order to deliver our presentation. This created the problem that there was not as much time as we had hoped for. The Presentation The last minute work reflected in our final presentation because as a result there was a distinct lack of practice for the final presentation. The problems during the actual presentation were that due to the lack of practice there was no real deliverance of each member’s part as they had not pre-read their material beforehand and in effect, the actual presentation was more of a reading practice than of the finished article. Our first main practice was about a few hours before the final presentation was due and this was where I as group leader had to explain that I had told the members that this was the situation that we would be in if we carried on the way we were going three weeks prior to the presentation date. This led to a select few of us being able to deliver our part in a professional way, however, rendering the remainder of the project unfinished. We started late as one member who was responsible for the budgeting aspect of our project had failed to complete final checks on their display and as a result during the presentation their part failed to initialise causing a major delay whilst they left and went to go and print off their part to present. Upon reflection, the above situations were somewhat out of my control as group leader as I could not force the members of the group to turn up and do their part, also being unable to reach the other members due to them not answering my messages or simply not answering phone calls left the rest of the group in a hard situation as we were unaware as to whether they were doing their part of the project. These issues as aforementioned were out of my control somewhat, however, I feel that my role as project director was not fully satisfied as I did not quite deliberate responsibilities as much as I might possibly have wanted to if given the same opportunity again. There were many ideas from the group at the outset of the project, however, there was no real development of these ideas and this may have been what caused the lack of guidance from the project leader. Also as group leader it is a challenging situation to be in as it is easy to be forceful and blunt at the beginning of the project, however, I chose perhaps too soft an approach for too long a period and this is what perhaps led to some of the group members failing to keep up to date. Upon reflection, we as a group did deliver our presentation; however, it was not as good as what we originally thought when compiling our ideas. There was a lot of potential for the group and the idea of the ‘Four Seasons’ was something that we felt as a group would enable us to succeed in our endeavours as a group. However, if I am to perform my role correctly, must shoulder the responsibility as it was up to me to have directed the ideas much more thoroughly, and if given the opportunity again, I would most definitely do so, as good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. For the final presentation, I gave the idea and it was accepted by the group that we should use a flip chart as this mirrored the fact that ‘Lush’ also used natural products. We used a lot of visual representation as we felt that this would be a much more observer friendly method of communicating our ideas across. The pictures that we used were all from magazine cut-outs. At the presentation, we did not have just one sole speaker, each member of the group spoke on their respective areas of responsibility. Myself and another member of the group gave the main introduction to the presentation and a small introduction to each speaker. Due to the lack of practice I was very anxious and tense resulting in a bad opening and followed by the other member of the group. The timing was very accurate and the presentation ended with a simple but effective conclusion followed by answering all direct questions made by the panel. In order to have delivered a better presentation the group should have had better commitment to what the original aim of the group was at the outset of the project. Critically, the leader should have relayed a better understanding of what was expected in order to complete our presentation to a high professional standard. Conclusion According to J. F. Benson (1987, p. 1) Group work in practice â€Å" refers to the conscious, disciplined, and systematic use of knowledge about the processes of collective human interaction, in order to intervene in an informed way, or promote some desired objective in a group setting. † In our group’s presentation, the idea of disciplined knowledge was what we as a group failed to achieve as we were unable to have the entire group in one place every time we arranged a time to meet. Although groups generally elect a leader, there are as always exceptions to the general rule. A group is a team, a democracy, not a dictatorship. A group needs to have its own ideas and aims, so that a high level of morale is maintained throughout the group. If there is one person who decides upon everything with no concept of what it is like to function as a team, the team will fail, due to a lack of interest and commitment. A team needs to work together, else it will fall short of what a group is all about, and a team has more than one person within it. References Benson, J. F. (1987), Working more Creatively with Groups, Routledge. Brandler, S. and Roman, P. C. (1999), Group Work: Skills and Strategies for Effective Interventions, 2sd Edition, The Haworth Press Inc. Culliname, J. (2007), Working in Organisations: A Compilation of Resources for the University of Greenwich, 2sd Edition, A Person Custom Publication. Handy, C. (1993), Understanding Organisations, Harmondsworth, Penguin Book.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Coca Cola Company Industry and Competitive Analysis

Jan Bernadette Balingit’s Autobiography Hi! My name is Jan Bernadette Tolentino Balingit,I was born on December 08 1999. My favorite color is violet and my favorite cartoon character is Hello Kitty. I am the only one girl between my two brothers. And I live in Sisiman, Mariveles, Bataan. And I’m taking schooling at Bepz Multinational School. And I want to play all day but not always because I want to first my study. I’m 13 yrs. old now. When I grow up I want to be an Optometrist like my mother, because I want to be like her.To be an Optometrist, I will finish first my study because when I will not finish my study I will not be an Optometrist. I’m nearer and nearer to that stage because I’m Grade 6 now. And I will introduce to you my FAMILY members: Maria Victoria T. Balingit-Mother, Benny Balingit – Father, John Benedict T. Balingit – Older brother, John Vincent T. Balingit – Younger brother. My very memorable experience is when we go to Enchanted Kingdom with my family especially me.And after we eat there we make â€Å"Gala† then we decided to take a ride in the rides named â€Å"Space Shuttle† we fall in line there in about 25 minutes. Then when it’s our turn we sits at the middle seats. And when the rides start moving we all get nervous and when we go down from the rides we all get dizzy. And my dad searching for a nurse to get our blood pressure we need to take a rest first. And when the nurse is there to get our blood pressure my mother’s blood pressure is the highest blood pressure at all. Project In English Submitted To: Fatima Acuna Submitted By: Jan Bernadette T. Balingit

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Collective Bargaining Agreements Essays - Labour Relations, Labor

Collective Bargaining Agreements Essays - Labour Relations, Labor Collective Bargaining Agreements TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.Page 2 Management RightsPage 3 Union Security.Page 4 Wages and Benefits Page 5 Individual Security (Seniority) Rights..Page 6 Dispute Resolution..Page 7 Bibliography Page 10 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS A collective bargaining agreement collectively sets the terms on which an employer offers individual work contracts to each of its employees in the bargaining unit. A bargaining agreement, also herein referred to as a labor agreement, is a legally enforceable written commitment, which states the rights and duties of all parties involved. The labor agreement should be made in good faith and is intended to be observed and not violated. The National Labor Relations Act obligates employers and unions to bargain in good faith concerning terms and conditions of employment, including hours and wages. Like any normal contract, competent parties must enter into a labor agreement. However, a labor agreement is unique from other legal contracts in that there is no consideration involved and nothing tangible is exchanged. Many, but not all, unions require formal ratification of a new labor contract by a majority membership acceptance, which is determined through vote by the members. Until majority approval of those voting in a ratification election is received, the proposed labor contract is not final. While each labor agreement is unique to the needs of an organization and its employees, most agreements include five issues: (1) Management Rights, (2) Union Security, (3) Wages and Benefits, (4) Individual Security (Seniority) Rights, and (5) Dispute Resolution. Management Rights Management is the process of working with people and

Monday, October 21, 2019

Arsenic and Old Lace essays

Arsenic and Old Lace essays When people in town see Martha and Abby Brewster, they only see half of what is truly there. The people of Brooklyn, New York see two elderly sisters who give to charity and do good all around town. Little do these people know that these ladies are sinister sisters, they poison travelers and have their nephew, Teddy, bury them in the basement. The two women have two other nephews, Mortimer and Jonathon, one is engaged and the other is the black sheep of the family. Lots of laughs were thrown into this twisted play that some how keep the sisters lovable. Early in the play the sisters are chatting with the minister of their church about the war. Abby says at one point, It may not be very charitable of me, but Ive almost come to the conclusion that this Mr. Hitler isnt a Christian. (462) Now people may wonder how such sweet old ladies may turn to murder. The twist in the plot is that they do not see it as murder at all and do not hide the fact that they kill people and bury them in the basement. They see their act of murder as an act of charity. Their victims are always old Christian men who have no family and no friends. Weary travelers seek refuge at their house and never leave after one sip of the elderberry wine the twisted sisters mix up themselves. So exactly how do these sisters manage to do these horrible murders? It is simple really, their father was a doctor and had various medicines and powders stored in his laboratory and they borrowed a few of them. At this point in their lives both women are in their late sixties and their father has passed on so they have free access to the lab and its materials. Martha explained the recipe for the poisoned wine as this, Well, dear, for a gallon of elderberry wine I take one teaspoonful of arsenic, then add a half teaspoon of strychnine and then just a pinch of cyanide. (473) After the men were dead their nephew, Teddy who thought he was President ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Beelzebufo Devil Frog Facts and Figures

Beelzebufo Devil Frog Facts and Figures Name: Beelzebufo (Greek for devil frog); pronounced bee-ELL-zeh-BOO-foe Habitat: Woodlands of Madagascar Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (70 million years ago) Size and Weight: About a foot and a half long and 10 pounds Diet: Insects and small animals Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; unusually capacious mouth About Beelzebufo (Devil Frog) Slightly outweighing its contemporary descendant, the seven-pound Goliath Frog of Equatorial Guinea, Beelzebufo was the largest frog that ever lived, weighing about 10 pounds and measuring nearly a foot and a half from head to tail. Unlike contemporary frogs, which are mostly content to snack on insects, Beelzebufo (at least by the evidence of its unusually wide and capacious mouth) must have chowed down on the smaller animals of the late Cretaceous period, perhaps including baby dinosaurs and full-grown dino-birds in its diet. Reprising a common theme, this prehistoric amphibian evolved to its giant size on the relatively isolated Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, where it didnt have to deal with the large, predatory, theropod dinosaurs that ruled the earth elsewhere. Recently, researchers investigating a second fossil specimen of Beelzebufo made an amazing discovery: as big as it was, this frog may also have sported sharp spikes and a semi-hard, turtle-like shell along its head and back (presumably, these adaptations evolved to keep the Devil Frog from being swallowed whole by predators, though they may also have been sexually selected characteristics, the more heavily armored males being more attractive to females during Devil Frog mating season). This same team also determined that Beelzebufo was similar in appearance to, and perhaps related to, horned frogs, genus name Ceratophrys, which today live in South America - which may hint at the exact time of the breakup of the Gondwanan supercontinent toward the end of the Mesozoic Era.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Systematic review and metaanalysis Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Systematic review and metaanalysis - Thesis Example Uman (2011) further goes on to appreciate the fact that systematic review and meta-analysis have the same stages and outlines the eight steps that are similar in nature when employing the two methods in reviewing any given studies. Uman (2011) concurs with O’Rourke (2007) that the distinction between the two terms is ambiguous in a way. However, both point the description and definition of the two terms based on the historical background upon which they were founded. They go on to acknowledge the similarity in the steps as well as the fact that meta-analysis is a step in systematic review. It is critical for scholars to understand the historical, premises, and pitfalls of systematic reviews and meta-analysis in addition to the methods of conducting meta-analysis. O’Rourke (2007) traces systematic reviews and meta-analysis back to the 17th Century when a French Mathematician named Blaise Pascal came up with methods of dealing with the games of chances that were involved in gambling. He further asserts that this was the time when the quantitative approaches were applied in the field of science acknowledging the various observations that started to emerge. As he points out, the mathematical approaches now allowed the astronomers to compare and merge various observations. O’Rourke (2007) goes on to point the contributions of Laplace and Gauss in the development of the systematic reviews and meta-analysis. This could then be the turning point in the 20th Century when statisticians merged the idea in addressing the questions of similar caliber that arose from clinical results. He appreciates the role played by British statistician Karl Pearson who was able to combine various observations from different clinical trials. Pearson did th is by regrouping study observations into larger groups while considering the small groups too (ORourke, 2007). Additionally, the author states that the reasoning Pearson had was not very clear

Are we too dependent on technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Are we too dependent on technology - Essay Example viduals who believe that it has taken over our daily routines, those who think that it only stands to benefit the world lives and some who have mixed views about technology’s effects. These arguments beget the seeds of controversy on this compelling argument. According to the Google search, Voltaire said it initially: â€Å"With great power comes more responsibility†. Normally one hears this quote from a title fighter, a Jedi, or a team that has successively won the Stanley Cup. I this papers the same quote may be aimed right at those who have themselves more dependent on technology. Many have been lost to technology and have lost the urge of an even developing societal skill as before. Most teenagers these days even lack the know how to use a dictionary since "Google fixes it all" so many of these teenagers dont see it as a required skill. Traditionally, children were supposed to take care of their parents at old age and through the advices they obtain better their lives. These are contrary to the modern teenage life. The modern teenager is those who sometimes 7 to 10 hours a day on the internet and other technological gadgets. They rarely find time even build their social life. This can be arguably be attributed to the dependenc y on technology. To further see how technology has to reap the world its treasures ,look around at the number of individuals who are engrossed in their personal computers, those with phones walking down the street, or while driving. No one can deny the fact that most accidents today are caused by individuals using or over-relying on various forms of technological devices such as their phones while driving, whether it is for GPS, to get on Tweeter, Facebook or anything else. Its insane and erroneous for individuals to fathom how anyone ever stays without texting, Google and GPS. In reality, Technology is a big assistance and a big problem. So how does one know when too much is too much? It can be clearly be traced to our daily routine

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Opponents of the Euthanasia and a Major Essentials of Human Life Research Paper

The Opponents of the Euthanasia and a Major Essentials of Human Life - Research Paper Example Euthanasia stands justified on several grounds of morality. The arguments favouring the voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide is justifiable on the ethical grounds of individual sovereignty and the professed responsibility of the health professionals for respecting the patient’s informed preferences. It is justified on the ground of individual autonomy, when one chooses to live the life he or she wants to, the individual should have the authority and the individuality for choosing the kind of death he or she wants to witness. The right to choose his or her death should be respected. The advocates of voluntary euthanasia argue that an adult has every right to refuse any kind of treatment which might involve a life saving one. The concepts of ethical issues have been considered to support voluntary euthanasia. It is being argued that if an individual has the authority to make informed choices about medical treatment then the right of informed medical assistance to death gets naturally extended to her. (Sanders and Chaloner, 2007, pp. 41-42) Individual autonomy also necessarily stands against slavery, while it can be argued that slavery is not justifiable. The reason for not allowing slavery in a free country is the fact that handing over the control of one’s own life is the most unwise things to do, hence man takes all the decision in his life by his own. Similarly while deciding on whether to die or not the man himself has every right and authority to take the decision. To save her husband from the legal consequences she appealed to the court to grant her petition of euthanasia.

Zhou Dynasty (1045 BC-256 BC) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Zhou Dynasty (1045 BC-256 BC) - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that the Zhou were the first of a series of ruling dynasties of nomadic origins that came from China’s borderlands† to the west of the country. The Zhou kings established their rule after conquering the Shang. The great victory took place in 1122 B.C., with only 50,000 Zhou troops defeating an army of Shang troops over ten times that size, because the Shang ruler was corrupt and depraved. The Zhou Dynasty ruled for around eight hundred years and extended China’s borders significantly. The Zhou worshipped sun gods, especially Tian. The first Zhou kings were powerful monarchs who relied on their swords. However, with the passage of centuries, power slipped from the ruler’s hands and increasing military and administrative duties were delegated to local aristocrats who acquired new territory. Consequently, China expanded, but at the same time, the control of the government weakened. The long period of the Zhou Dynasty in Chinese history is usually divided into the Western Zhou 1045-771 B.C., with its capital in the Wei River Valley, and the Eastern Zhou 771-256 B.C. which shifted eastwards, after defeating in battle.The idea of the Mandate of Heaven and moral accountability that rulers are sanctioned by Heaven as long as they rule virtuously for the benefit of the people was used originally to justify Zhou conquest of the Shang. However, it increased in strength as a potent idea of moral thought and continues to be used in the present time.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Porter s 5 forces analysis for luxury good industry Assignment

Porter s 5 forces analysis for luxury good industry - Assignment Example They usually have brand loyalty and may not want to switch because the brand defines them. However, their preferences can shift very often, making it hard for the firm to meet their needs continually. As a result, firms in this industry have to work harder to be able to continually impress the customers with the latest innovations. This costs the firm very much, but they can get their investment back because the customers are willing to pay more dollars for the products, as long as they are happy with the product. The threat of substitutes is high for this sector because they are readily available. Furthermore, the luxury goods are not a necessity and so the buyers can easily survive without them. As a result, when the economy is not doing well, the luxury market is likely to suffer first and the most. In such a case, the buyers can easily switch to substitutes because the switching cost is very low, or no switching cost at all. This makes it hard for the firms in this sector to have a strategic advantage over its customers. Firms in this industry are therefore hard pressed to make sure that the customer will not have the need to switch to an alternative because if they do not do that, they will easily lose their customers. One of the factors identified by Porter (1998) with regard to the strategic position of a business is the supplier bargaining power. For the luxury products sector, the suppliers do not have much bargaining power. This is because they can easily switch to other suppliers in an easy and efficient way without any significant cost. This means that the bargaining of suppliers is moderate, or even very weak in some instances. The firms can easily get the items being supplied by one supplier from almost any other supplier in the market. If the firm is able to buy in bulk, they even have an even bigger advantage. Usually, the number of suppliers is very high ad this gives more bargaining power to the buyers and less power to the suppliers.

The Social group to which people belong can influence their health and Essay

The Social group to which people belong can influence their health and their quality of care - Essay Example eals that ethnic minority groups are increasing quickly in number, (this may be attributes to some immigration and to differences in fertility rates) and account for 73 per cent of Britain’s overall population growth. The trend among minority ethnic groups is to concentrate in urban areas, in particular London. The table below, as available from the Office for National Statistics, will help us understand the distribution of the population of UK into different ethnic groups. Research has shown that minority groups suffer from worse health and have also a lower level of health consciousness. The social class to which a person belongs seems to be the overriding factor in determining the level of health he enjoys and the healthcare he receives. Studies underline the differences that exist in the incidence of ill health depending on the social class. It has been noticed that there are higher incidences of infective and parasitic diseases (like pneumonia), violence and poisonings among lower social classes where the victims often even include children. Adults in these classes are more likely to suffer from cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease than Whites belonging to a more affluent class. a. There are a higher proportion of smokers among minority ethnic groups. Due to their social disadvantage there is more likelihood that they have grown up in a household with exposure to tobacco smoke and they become smokers at a very young age. This happens when the brain is still developing and causes irreversible developmental changes. Awareness to the negative effects of nicotine is very low among these groups. b. Health care inequality has been found to be based on ethnicity differences rather on the disparities in religion. The areas in which the study was carried out had a high percentage of Muslim population (53%) mostly of African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. There is clear evidence of higher smoking rates among men in this population and higher

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Porter s 5 forces analysis for luxury good industry Assignment

Porter s 5 forces analysis for luxury good industry - Assignment Example They usually have brand loyalty and may not want to switch because the brand defines them. However, their preferences can shift very often, making it hard for the firm to meet their needs continually. As a result, firms in this industry have to work harder to be able to continually impress the customers with the latest innovations. This costs the firm very much, but they can get their investment back because the customers are willing to pay more dollars for the products, as long as they are happy with the product. The threat of substitutes is high for this sector because they are readily available. Furthermore, the luxury goods are not a necessity and so the buyers can easily survive without them. As a result, when the economy is not doing well, the luxury market is likely to suffer first and the most. In such a case, the buyers can easily switch to substitutes because the switching cost is very low, or no switching cost at all. This makes it hard for the firms in this sector to have a strategic advantage over its customers. Firms in this industry are therefore hard pressed to make sure that the customer will not have the need to switch to an alternative because if they do not do that, they will easily lose their customers. One of the factors identified by Porter (1998) with regard to the strategic position of a business is the supplier bargaining power. For the luxury products sector, the suppliers do not have much bargaining power. This is because they can easily switch to other suppliers in an easy and efficient way without any significant cost. This means that the bargaining of suppliers is moderate, or even very weak in some instances. The firms can easily get the items being supplied by one supplier from almost any other supplier in the market. If the firm is able to buy in bulk, they even have an even bigger advantage. Usually, the number of suppliers is very high ad this gives more bargaining power to the buyers and less power to the suppliers.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The Socratic Theory of Recollection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Socratic Theory of Recollection - Essay Example What is education Are there any general objectives for it Are there any universal methods in it Is there such a thing as the typical child upon whom they may be practiced Traditionally, philosophical methods have consisted of analysis and clarification of concepts, arguments, theories, and language. Philosophers, as philosophers, have not usually created theories of education (or teaching, learning, and the like); instead, they have analyzed theories and arguments--sometimes enhancing previous arguments, sometimes raising powerful objections that lead to the revision or abandonment of theories and lines of arguments. (Leon Bailey, 205)However, there are many exceptions to this view of philosophy as analysis and clarification. The classical Greek philosophers, for example, construed philosophy much more broadly and explored a host of questions that later philosophers--more narrowly analytic in their outlook--rejected as outside the scope of philosophy. Indeed, for the Greeks, "philosophy" meant "love of wisdom," and today we think of their discussions as part of an "immortal conversation." Many of us believe that philosophy went too far in rejecting t he eternal questions, and there are signs that philosophers may once again invite their students to join in the immortal conversation. Socrates was one of the philosophers who grounded independent education, stating that both teacher and pupil had equal roles in the process of education. Further we will discuss Socrates' theory of recollection in the view of saying: " "There is no such thing as teaching, and no such thing as learning".Socrates' attitude to knowledge and education was clearly announced in Apology: a life of the former kind is not worth living. Once one recognizes one's ignorance, one must recognize that a life in such a state is not worth living. One must make it one's chief concern to seek out "wisdom, truth, and the best possible state of one's soul." Nevertheless, in the early dialogues, Socrates puts forth no substantive view about how such knowledge is to be acquired, either because he failed to recognize the problem or because he had no solution to it. (Charles J. Brauner, 353-355) His contribution is limited to seeking out those who profess to care about these things, questioning them, examining them, and testing them, learning from them if they know (unfortunately no one he meets does), and persuading them of their ignorance if and when they do not. Socrates had the support of the Delphic oracle (and perhaps even his daimonion) to sustain his faith that this was enough.The teacher, according to Socrates, is the leader of civilization. He must pursue truth even when his contemporaries oppose him. Integrity, above all, is demanded from the schoolmaster. The function of the teacher, according to Socrates, is to awaken the average man. The majority, he felt, is guided by irrational thoughts and lethargy, and lives in a cave of half-truths and illusions. Once the student is stirred, and once he becomes aware, he sees a new meaning in life. He probes and he questions. He is guided by curiosity and takes pleasure in

Monday, October 14, 2019

Society and Culture Essay Example for Free

Society and Culture Essay It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting there just like all of you listening to the same sort of speeches from the year 12’s last year, thinking, what are these people talking about? PIP’s? Major works? Hello! I just started year 11; I don’t need to be thinking about this now, its ages away. Let me tell you this, standing here with only about 5 months to go until my PIP, my major work for society and culture is due, that ages away creeps up on you very quickly. You’re probably thinking, â€Å"5 months, what is this girl going on about, 5 months is almost half a year! Are you serious! That’s more than enough time to do an assignment. You could easily do it a week before it’s due. What is she stressing about?† If you learn only one thing from my speech make sure it’s this- That 5 months in â€Å"PIP† time is not ages away. With 5 months to go you should have already chosen your topic, have formulated your focus question and be starting to implement the methodologies you have chosen, or at least be starting to think about the methodologies you want to use. You should definitely not think that you could start writing your PIP with only a week to go. As you probably already know PIP stands for Personal Interest Project. So it would make sense to choose a topic that you’re personally interested in. You’ve got to think that ideally, you’re going to be researching the same topic for a little under a year so it’s got to be something that’s going to maintain your interest as well as relating to Society and Culture in some way. The topic I chose for my PIP is Mental Illness, and my Focus question is â€Å"Is the mental illness Bipolar, attributable to the influences of nature or nurture?† Specifically I’m focusing my research on 4 adults and seeing if I can come to some conclusion about what Bipolar disorder is attributed to generally. Many different things inspired me to choose this topic, but probably the most major influence was the fact that my mum had Bipolar disorder, my Nan has bipolar and so does my Great Grandma. Bipolar used to be something that really scared me; partly because of the stigma society generally places on mental illness, and also because of the fact that there is such a strong genetic history of bipolar in females in my family, so there is an increased chance that I may get Bipolar at some point in my life. I decided to focus on this topic, as I knew it would be something that would maintain my interest for the duration of the project, and I also thought that it would be a very good experience for me, as instead of being afraid of mental illness it would empower me with information. I believe it will also help me to determine if I am at such a great risk of developing a Bipolar due to the genetic â€Å"nature† factors, or if developing Bipolar is more attributable to â€Å"nurture† factors, in relation to the way someone has grown up and what environments they have been subject to. Another attribution for my choice of topic was that I felt I had excellent links and access to information relating to this topic, within my micro world. My Aunt works for Pioneer Clubhouse, a rehabilitation centre for people with mental illness, and one of our family friends used to work in the public sector and has friends with Bipolar, that advise the health minister on issues relating to mental illness. Because of these links it is much easier to obtain information and implement my methodologies. I assume by this stage of year 11 you all know what a methodology is, but in simple terms, methodologies are ways of finding out information. Creating a successful PIP and choosing an appropriate methodology or methodologies go hand in hand. Methodologies play a major role in your PIP but it is really important that you understand, in relation to your PIP in general, you need to allow for flexibility. Sometimes the methodologies or the topic you choose wont work out, and you may need to choose new ones or modify your original choice. The PIP is supposed to be a major learning experience, designed to move you closer towards social and cultural literacy, so naturally there will be learning from mistakes and changes made along the way. It’s important that you’re aware of this. I have decided to use interview as the primary methodology for my PIP. Specifically I intend to undertake an extensive interview process with the 4 individuals I am focusing my research on. I also wish to interview several people that interact regularly with the selected four. I feel that using interviews, as my primary research methodolog y will prove to be highly successful for my PIP. As finding out weather Bipolar is attributable to nature or nurture involves more than just getting a one-word or short answer, which is usually what would be normally obtained from Quantitative research methodologies, such as questionnaires or statistical analysis. It is highly suggested that you include secondary research within your PIP to support the primary research you’ve collected. This finding and interpreting of secondary research is also classified as a methodology, it’s called Content Analysis, and this is also one of the methodologies that I will be using. I have already looked at many books, websites and pamphlets and obtained some very useful information from them. I also intend to watch some videos on Bipolar and I aim to collect some more information from websites and books. I’ve decided to use this methodology not only because it is highly suggested that you use it, but also because I believe that it is really important to get other people’s opinions that have researched the same topic, in order to support and explain to a greater extent the research that you have gathered. Another methodology I intend to use is Participant Observation. I will do this by spending the day at Pioneer Clubhouse, the rehabilitation centre for people with mental illness that I was talking about before. Through doing this I hope to observe my participants interacting in certain daily situations, and I hope to be able to comment on whether there are any differences to reactions of those not suffering with Bipolar disorder, which could give insight into the ‘nurture’ influence of the disorder. Use of this method will also allow a different perspective to interview, as I will be able to see behaviours first hand, which I think will be very valuable to my research. The type of methodologies you will choose will highly relate to the type of research you are doing. My research is definitely far more Qualitative than Quantitative due to the fact that I am focusing my research on people’s experiences. In simple terms Qualitative research relies upon open-ended questions, and types of methodologies that usually require interpretation of people’s personal opinions. Quantitative research is more straightforward research that can easily be compared to other data, as it does not require interpretation of people’s personal opinions. It involves interpretation of statistics and numbers and clear opinions of usually a large number of people. It is estimated that 10% of Australians have Bipolar, which is a very high percentage when you think that over 20 million people live here. That’s about 2 million people who have either had or have Bipolar Disorder. Yet it is generally seen by most within our society as such a taboo subject. This is part of the reason why I didn’t choose Quantitative methodologies such as questionnaires, surveys, or statistical analysis, because I felt that many people wouldn’t give true, unbiased opinions. So far the research I have conducted has proved quite successful. I am continually conducting content analysis and have been since late last year. I have collected quite a lot of information and visited many libraries’ including the Macquarie University library, the State library of Queensland and the University of New South Wales Library. I know it’s starting to sound like you have to turn into a major nerd once you hit year 12 Society and Culture, but it’s really not like that. You start doing all these nerdaliscious things because you’re interested in the topic you’re researching. It’s your PERSONAL Interest Project, an assignment on something that you want to do, so you actually want to put an effort in and want to do well. I have also given a speech at Pioneer Clubhouse’s weekly staff and members meeting, introducing my PIP and myself, and proposing their involvement. I also spoke at the meeting about the possibility of conducting interviews with several of them. I received a very positive response from them all and also obtained several members consent to interview them. I intend to conduct these interviews in the upcoming school holidays along with my participant observation. I have also written a rough draft of questions I intend to ask during the interviews, and I aim to have a final copy of questions finished by the start of the holidays. My topic is an extremely sensitive one and it is vitally important that I treat the participants of my research with the upmost respect and not just as research tools. My aim is to discuss my finalized interview questions with a mental health professional in order to ensure that I am asking appropriate questions and conducting ethical research, which is a very important part of social research. Furthermore I have also begun writing a letter to the Health Minister, consulting him about his opinions on my topic. I have also written several emails to various organizations supporting people with Mental Illness, consulting them about my topic and requesting any information they would be able to forward. This has proved extremely helpful, as I have received some fantastic information from these organizations. It is extremely important to try and remain as unbiased as possible whilst conducting your research, in order to produce a reliable and proper report at the end of your research. Although it is definitely good to formulate an opinion about your topic and express how passionate you are about it, it is also essential that you try not to impose this opinion on those you are collecting information from. I expect to find that the causes of Bipolar will be attributable to both nature and nurture influences, and I feel that my research will support this hypothesis. My reasoning behind expecting to come to this conclusion stems from the fact that if someone has a predisposition to a certain disease or disorder therefore nature factors. It does not necessarily mean that they will acquire that disease or disorder; unless they subject themselves to particular environments hence nurture factors. Take heart disease for example. A person may have a predisposition to heart disease but if they eat healthily and exercise then they have a chance of not acquiring the condition. They do however; have a higher risk of acquiring the disease than someone who doesn’t have a predisposition to heart disease. I believe the same principle applies to Bipolar Disorder, and hypothesise that my findings will support this way of thinking. The PIP gives you a lot of freedom to choose a topic on something that your interested in, but there is one vital piece of criteria that you need to factor in when choosing your topic, and that is that it needs to relate to Society and Culture through the concepts. My topic relates to Society and Culture through several concepts, including, the concept of Time – as both nature and nurture factors are highly influenced by time. It also refers to the concept of Socialization. This refers to the ways you learn to become an accepted member of society via agents such as peers, family, community groups and the media. These things relate greatly to the nurture side of the argument, hence relate to my topic. My topic also relates to the following concepts for the same reasons – Media, Values, Tradition, Influence, and Institutions. Other concepts my topic relates to include: Environment – as the person’s environment and the experiences they are subject to highly relate to the nurture component of my PIP. Family is also another concept that relates to my PIP for the same reasons. Gender is also a concept that relates to my PIP in respect to the nature part of my focus question. So right now your probably all thinking â€Å"blah blah, what is this stupid girl doing, why am I sitting here listening to these stupid speeches, wasting my time, again, I’m only in year 11, is this really necessary?† Well the aim of my speech today wasn’t to bore you. My aim today was to inspire you guys, get you all to start thinking about your PIP’s, because it’s really not that far away. Year 11 goes so fast and before you know it your half way through year 12 giving this same speech, thinking â€Å"I really should get a move on with my PIP.† The PIP is a major part of your work in year 12; it’s worth 30% of your external mark for Society and Culture, which means that your HSC exam is only worth 70% so you need to put a lot of effort into your PIP. The last but probably most important piece of information I will give you today, is that you need to successfully manage your time whilst researching your PIP, because it really does slip away so quickly. My advice to you is, in term 4, your first term of year 12, when you first receive information on the PIP, make up a realistic timeline of how you want to conduct your research and complete your PIP. Set a date for when you want to have your topic chosen by, a date for when you’re first going to think about your methodologies, and a date for when you intend to implement them. It’s also a good idea to factor in some time every week that you solely devote to your PIP. You really need to use your time wisely, because you think â€Å"oh yeah, no worries I have a whole year to do this, I’m not going to start now† but then time slips away so fast and you wish you had that extra time back. By no means am I going to lie to you, the PIP is a lot of hard work. But it definitely gives a sense of satisfaction when you’re actually out there researching something independently; using all the skills you’ve learnt. It makes you feel as though school is actually useful and the things your learning can actually be implemented into real life situations. You get to research and report on something that you’re personally interested in, something that actually matters to you, which absolutely makes it worthwhile putting in all the effort and time the PIP demands. Although it’s a lot of work, it’s definitely something to look forward to. It’s school work, but surprisingly its fun. So start thinking now because it’s just around the corner!

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Psychological Profiling In Criminal Investigation Criminology Essay

Psychological Profiling In Criminal Investigation Criminology Essay The human being is intertwined with emotions and thoughts which is manifested in the form of behaviour. He judges the situation in a contextual frame of mind. Therefore every individual will have a unique way to respond to the situation. As a human tendency every individual has an intention to know as to what does other person thinks of him and vice- versa. When we meet one person, based on the reference to situation and context we try to form an opinion of the individual. Profiling is delving interference upon the available information, witness and evidences. Profiling is done by each and every individual and in each and every situation but with different perspective. Profiling is a technique which is used in our everyday life. Profiling is an advanced investigative tool while its effectiveness is still under a lot of scientific scrutiny. An Indian would shake his head from left to right in an affirmative gesture or expression, while a Caucasian by doing so would indicate a denial gesture or expression; while an owl in the Middle East is looked upon as a bad omen, while in the west it symbolizes wisdom, and so onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It is accepted that the evolution of human racial and physical features generate from their inherited behaviour due to a specific environment and way of adaptation. Lets take for instance an African negroid thick lips evolved due to an adapting process to help preserve moisture, an aborigine of Australia or Papua New Guinea developed thick eye browse to protect his eyes from sun rays, a Bedouin desert folk did so with a larger or longer nose to help him breath better in desert climate, and women living in hot and humid terrains tend to have a larger buttocks to preserve body fat etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Profiling for the law enforcement and criminal justice systems invoves psychological assessment of the offender. The assessment contains socio-demographic information viz. age, gender, marital status, education, occupation and the social and psychological attributes of the offender. It is one of the important technique through which a forensic expert can help the investigator to find the root cause of the crime. The forensic expert through his psychological acumen examines the crime scene, police record, statements of witness, medical records and corroborates them with the subjects psychological test findings and other procedure (such as ANS and DNS based procedures) to prepare a forensic profile. The definition of profiling is : Profiling is a method of identifying the perpetrator of a crime based on an analysis of the nature of the offense and the manner in which it was committed. Various aspects of the criminals personality makeup are determined from his or her choice of actions before, during, and after the crime. This information is combined with other pertinent details and physical evidence, and then compared with the characteristics of known personality types and mental abnormalities to develop a practical working description of the offender. -FBIs Howard Teten (who has been called the grandfather of profiling) It provides specific information about the offender to the investigating agency regarding the crime and his involvement in the crime. In early days although profiling was done informally; with the invasion of different test and techniques, profiling has become more scientific and precise. Profiling goes back in history to the middle ages, and Scotland Yard took it a step further, while Sherlock Holmes character made it even more popular, then there is the CSI series of late filling the rest of the empty cup of the thirsty TV shows viewers. Freudian theory of profiling: Freuds psychoanalysis has emphasized on the humans basic instinct: sex and aggression and how does it influence an individuals mental state. Freud has also doctrine faulty upbringing of the child leads to mental illness / neurotic personality. Research studies says that the children who have unhealthy childhood are more prone to crime. Dr. Thomas Bond, a police surgeon was invited by the investigating agencies to study the case of the killer,Jack- The Ripper, who had claimed to kill five prostitutes in Whitechapel, London 1888. He applied the Freudian principles to the given case. Based on the limited information and evidence, Thomas Bond believed that the offender must be of physical strength, great coolness and daring. The offender was a middle aged, inoffensive and quiet man. He must be neatly and respectably dressed. The offender must be in habit of wearing cloak or overcoat or he could hardly have escaped notice in the streets if the blood on his hands or clothes are visible. Th is attempt of profiling made a noteworthy contribution in the field of forensic science. Thereafter, John Douglas has done 12 pages of profiling of this case but it has not resulted into identification of the criminal. The profiling done by John Douglas was based on available medical reports, crime scene photographs and police investigative reports, which probably does not give the detail evidences compared to todays investigative style. ( Mailonline, Sadie, white locks, 20/4/2011) This effort placed profiling on the center stage of investigation. Walter Langer, an American psychoanalyst did the profiling of Hitler on the request of Gen. William J.Donovan. Walter has not personally interviewed Hitler but he had interviewed the associates of Hitler and Investigating agencies. He analysis inferred that Hitlers personality was an evidence of mixed and divided psyche. He said that the Hitler was probably a neurotic psychopath bordering on schizophrenia in to two at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) divided Hitlers profiling into five general sections:- How the Hitler viewed himself How German people viewed him Hos his associates viewed him Psychoanalysis and reconstruction His likely future behavior Langers profile indicated that mostly Hitler will commit suicide. Being Psychiatrist, Dr. James Brussel, heavily relied upon the psychoanalytical theory. Prior to this case, Dr. Brussel during his army service has cured many patients . He was given the case wherein the bomber was placing the series of explosive packages. Within 16 years he had planted bombs in main cinemas and telephone boxes. On the basis of the letter written to Con Edison (the electricity company in New York) he profiled the offender as unmarried, foreign, self educated, in his 50s, living in Connecticut, paranoid. Based on this profiling, the police was able to arrest George Metesky in January 1957, a foreign born Roman Catholic. Late Brussel was asked to do profiling of the case of 13 sexual homicides between 1962 to 1964., to which he opined that all the 13 crimes are done by one offender. After several months; Albert DeSalvo was arrested who later confessed about the crime, although it was not proved. Brussel applied his Freudian analysis on the case and he portrayed the pic ture of the probable culprit. The Profile Profile Basis of profiling Bomber is a male With few exceptions, bombers have been always male Letter mentioning Con Edison The bomber had a grudge against Con Edison and was likely a former employee Bomber was a textbook paranoid. The bomber believed that Con Edison and the public at large conspired against him. Bomber was middle-aged probably around 50 Paranoia generally peaks around age 35 and the bomber had been active for 16 years. Paranoids tend to set high standards for themselves so as not open themselves to unwanted criticism. Bomber was neat, meticulous and skilled at his work ,carefully constructed bombs, neat lettering, careful planning of the bombs indicated his neatness Foreign or spent the majority of his time with foreign people Bomber wrote in stilted, formal language bereft of any contemporary slang. He utilized phrases like dastardly deeds that sounded as if out of Victorian fiction The bomber had at least a high school education but probably no college. The stilted language of the letters and skilled construction of the bombs spoke of self-education. The excellent handwriting indicated at least some formal schooling. The bomber was a Slav and probably Roman Catholic Culturally speaking, Eastern and Central Europeans most often employ bombs as weapons. Most Slavs are Catholic. The bomber lived in Connecticut The letters had been mailed from Westchester Country (a location in between Connecticut and New York) and Connecticut was home to large communities of Eastern and Central Europeans. The bomber suffered from an Oedipal Complex The phallic construction of the bombs; the strange (and breast-like) Ws in the bombers otherwise perfect handwriting and the strange slashing and penetration of the movie theatres seats. IP ( Interpersonal) Approach to Profiling: Prof. David Canter, psychologist, London, UK was invited by Scotland Yard to solve the case of Railway Rapist. According to David Canter, the offender was of late twenties, small stature, reserved, married but no children and lives in the small down of Northwest London, which matched. Based on his profiling, the police was able to nab John Duffy in 1988. He was found guilty. Although David has observed that the investigating agencies are often reluctant to change and opt for newer techniques to catch the criminals. He has extensively used IP methodology for profiling. According to him, psychology has a direct relationship with crime, as it is perceived as interpersonal transaction between the criminals action, social context and personality trait. He has postulated five approaches for profiling. Interpersonal Coherence: A criminal chooses his victim based on his special characteristics. For eg: there is some anecdotal evidence that serial killers only attack those of the same ethnicity as themselves in United states (Canter, 1989). The profiler will be able to establish the relationship between the victim and the offender and the probable conversation at the time of the crime. Significance of time and place: The offender generally picks up the victim from the place which is more familiar to him. He would possibly select the victim from his nearby location as he will feel completely in control of the environment and the victim. Criminal Characteristics: By observing and analysing the crime scene, the offender will be able to give the picture about the characteristics of the offender namely, his physical qualities,his appearance, his apparel, mental make up, mood and psychopathology, if any. Douglas Olshaker (1995) have stated that We set about to organise and classify serious crimes by their behavioural characteristics and explain them like mentioned in Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) of Psychiatry. The serial offenders will tend to operate within an area where they feel comfortable (e.g., close to their own homes) and has many similarities to the independently developed field of geographical profiling (Holmes Holmes, 1996). Criminal Career: The offender although cautious of his move in the next crime, his particular style of killing will not be different. The peculiarity of committing the crime will vary from offender although not always the type of crime. Although he might do more refined crime but his methodology of crime will not have bigger change. His style of killing will help in trapping the offender. Forensic awareness: Often the serial killer is aware of clearing the evidence from the place of the offence. The rapist is much likely to clean the undergarments of the victim or force her to comb her pubic hair so that the evidence is not available. This type of steps clearly gives an indication of the offender being aware of the police/ forensic investigation. Vi-CAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program): Robert Ressler served in US Army and thereafter joined FBI, Behavioural Science Unit (BSU) in 1970 and retired in 1990. In his span of twenty years he has given his significant contribution in psychological profiling of violent offenders. He has drawn the psychological profiles of violent offenders who typically select victims at random, such as rapist and serial killer. He has interviewed 36 serial killers to study the background and motive of serial killer. He has set up Vi-CAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) which collects the data base of the suspects of unsolved crimes. He has written books on Serial murder like I have lived in the Monster: Inside the mind of the worlds most notorious serial killer, Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crime,. He has done psychological profiling of Jeffery Dahmer and Richard Chase. Robert Ressler et.al (1988) has given six steps for profiling: Profiling Inputs: The physical documents like investigation documents, crime scene details, photographs, autopsy report, post mortem report are studied as a part of the first step toward profiling. These are the basic and preliminary requirements to sketch the criminal. Decision Process Model: In this stage, the offenders intention, motive, risk factor of the victim/ offender is assessed and evaluated. The offender has done planning or it is just a spree killing. How much time the offender has taken to commit the crime as well as the offenders selection for committing a crime says a lot about the criminal. The analysis will also give the clue whether the crime was homicide or not. Profiling process: This is the heart of the profiling. The profiler steps into the shoes of the victim as well as the offender and thereby reconstructs the crime scene. It determines whether the crime was an organised or disorganised. By reconstructing, the overall impression about the crime i.e how did the offender behaved, what could have happened between the victim and offender, how the victim was selected and so on. Common characteristics like type of wound, position of the body observed at the crime scene helps in determining the type of offender Criminal Profile: Depending upon the inputs available , the profiler based on his experience and knowledge constructs the profile. Profiler will include the general appearance, probable age, gender, religion, interpersonal history, his relation with the victim, socio-economic background, educational and occupational history, his motive behind selection of the victim and his reason for the M.O used for the crime. The profiler also proposes the strategies to catch the offender and also the interrogation methods. Investigation: Based on the submission of the profile given, the investigating agency starts to look out for the criminal. In due course of investigation, if officer finds more information, he forwards to the profiler for a more relevant data. The profiling is said to be successful only when the criminal is caught and confesses about the crime. Apprehension: When the criminal is caught is the profile and profiling process are evaluated so that a more acumen profile in other crimes. John Douglas worked in FBI from 1970 to 1995. He started his career as sniper and then became hostage negotiator. He taught hostage negotiation and applied criminal psychology at FBI academy. He has extensively worked with the most notable violent criminals and sex offenders. His skill was to examine their habits and thereby predict their moves. He has been instrumental in identifying famously known The Green Killer. He gave some of the most interesting insight about the motive, mind and operation of the killer. He has done high profile cases like Case of Jon Bonet, Ramsay murder, The West Mermphis three. He has Mindhunter: Inside the FBIs Elite Serial Crime Unit and more.. Roy Hazelwood is the pioneer in profiling of sexual predators. He joined FBI in 1971. He has done lot of sex crime cases related to sexual sadist, their victims and their mode of offence. According to his theory, there is no cure for pedophilia or sexual sadist. Presently, he is consultant to FBI agents and law enforcement agencies to trap the sexually oriented murderers. He felt fantasy is a fascinating area which is extremely relevant and gives better understanding about offender.His first case Harvay Glatman the Lonely Heart Killer inspired him to work in the area of profiling. Thereafter, he was worked on Gerard John Screefar who was involved in autoerotic practices and had done 29 murders. In 1980, Roy and John Douglas wrote an article which distinguished crime in two broad categories i.e Organised and Disorganised crime. CSA (Crime Scene Approach): Earlier FBI was the agency who has used psychological profiling in investigation and has gained popularity. The renowned profiler like John Douglas and Robert Ressesler also wrote several books on profiling and their professional experience in the field of investigation. According to Holmes Holmes (1996) provided Crime Scene Approach (CSA) which was broadly based on crime scene and crime. IT focused more on the physical evidence available at the place of the offence and its relation to the crime. The two types of offenders involved in the crime are The disorganised asocial offender The organised Nonsocial offender The Disorganised offender: The disorganized offender is depicted as someone who is below average intelligence, manifesting some kind of psychiatric illness, not having the capacity to maintain interpersonal relationship apart from his immediate family members, sexually incompetent. He would act more impulsive and usually act with whatever available weapon and thereby leave it at the crime scene. He will be more authoritative with the victim. He overpowers victim is killed with brutality (FBI, blitz attack, Douglas Olshaker, 1995) The offender dehumanize the victim and sexually assaulted, mutilatied the face, genitals and breast is commonly observed. The dead body is left at the crime scene rather than disposing anywhere else. (Holmes Holmes 1996, Ressler, Burgess Douglas 1988, Ressler Shachtman, 1992) While the organized offender although well educated but is under achiever and failure in occupational life. He is socially well settled, will probably have family life but oftenly manifest antsocial or psychopathic personality. The crime scene will depict the ability to depict the ability to organize and execute the plan. The offender often has his own weapon and carries with him after committing the crime. The victim targeted is mostly female who is raped by threat/restraints. The killing performance is done as per the offenders fantasies, usually in slow, painful manner. The body of the victim is carefully disposed off. Inductive and Deductive Profiling Brent Turvey has done his grauduation in Forensic psychology and has given his contribution in the area of forensic science, criminal profiling, victimology and crime reconstruction. He is a court qualified profiler. He has given the theory of Inductive and Deductive profiling and Behavioural Evidence Analysis Inductive Profiling: It assesses and evaluates the similar characteristics of the crime committed by different criminal. It studies the common personality trait of the criminals involved in a similar kind of crime. The inductive profiling is based on the theoretical and experiemental study of the criminal behavior. It identifies the signs and symptoms of criminal behavior and puts together as a comprehensive profile. The inductive profile is the product of statistical or comparative analysis and results in education generalization, hence the use of the term of inductive.( Criminal profiling: An introduction to Behaviural Evidence Analysis, Brent Turvey,2006, pg 26). The characteristics of the criminal is reasoned, correlated and thereby statistical inferred. The profile focus on the psychological trait, the modus operandi, victimology and other crime scene characteristics which an evenly seen in the crime. The inductive profiling does not need specialized forensic knowledge, education or training in the study of criminal behavior. Thus profiling is based upon the information delved from past history, media and sometimes from the criminals. It does need the formal knowledge of psychology, sociology, criminology and psychiatry. Inductive profiling is effective only and only when there is some similarities between the crime. Deductive Profiling: The knowledge and application of psychology, sociology, criminology and psychiatry plays a vital role in deductive profiling. The profiler has to construct the mental picture based on the crime scene and the available physical evidence, as physical evidence also sometimes the gives the clue for non-physical evidence. (love, hate, jealousy..) The deductive profiling is process oriented wherein the investigator will review the crime scene, analytical thinking and logistics to come to behavior analysis evidence. (BEA) More emphasis is given on the study and analysis of post mortem report, forensic report and victomology. This profiling is time consuming because it has to look at the various factors in one particular crime and thereby give profile of a criminal and the mentality/ psycho pathology of the unknown killer. It analysis the behavior manifested at the time of the crime, the physical and behavioural evidence pattern related to the crime. Compared to inductive, deductive profiling is time consuming as it evaluates the unknown criminal from different angles, although the combination of inductive and deductive profiling will give an accurate profile of the criminal. The deductive criminal profile includes the following : .( Criminal profiling: An introduction to Behaviural Evidence Analysis, Brent Turvey,2006, pg 41). Behavioural Evidence Analysis (BEA) Equivocal Forensic Analysis: It includes detail understanding of crime scene, post-mortem report, interview with accused/witness/ victim/suspects and other related in the crime, and the background of the victim Victomology: It studies as to why a particular victim is chosen for the crime, how was he related to the crime and when did the crime happened. A lot of it depend upon the selection of victim by the offender. Crimes Scene characteristics : The scene of offence implies about the relation between the offender and the victim. It gives the clue whether any interaction took place, what were the circumstances under which the crime has occurred Offender Characteristics: What was the personality of the offender. It determines the offenddrss physical characteristics and marital status at the time of committing a crime. It helps in deciding the personality traits like physical built-up. Geographical Profiling: This technique is given by Criminologist; Kim Rossno, which evaluates the location of connected serial crimes to determine the most probable area of offenders residence. It is most effective when a series of crime is committed. It determines the most likely location of a criminals residence based upon the geographic location of crime sites by mapping crime and analyzing patterns at crime scene. Geographical profiling is generally useful in the serial crimes (Murder, rape, arson, bombing), predatory crime (child abduction, sexual homicide) and Multiple location crimes (credit card usage, property crimes) Geographical profiling is based on RAT (Routine Activity Theory) which studies what makes criminal motivated to do a crime at a particular place. It addresses the geographical importance at the time of committing a crime. RAT is based upon three components: 1) Motivated offender 2) Suitable victim and 3) the absence of capable guardian. Canter (2003) used Dragnet a computerized system which gives the probability of the location of crime where the criminal is likely to commit the crime. Canter and Larkin (1993) gave circle theory of enviornmetal range which states that the criminals are likely to live in the vicinity of the victim as the victim is easily and quickly approachable. A circle is drawn that encompasses all the linked crime which will establish the criminals location. Rossomo (2000) suggested that the criminals are often in the neighborhood of the victim. According to a study (2005) Snook et al, in 63% of the cases the killer lived within the radius of 6 miles from the plac e of offence. It further found that the young offenders tend to travel less while the people with higher I.Qs travelled farther. Limitation: Profiling although an impressive investigative tool has not resulted any criminal in an actual arrest (V. Gerberth, personal communication, Feb 6, 1995) It does not solve the crime but it provides better understanding of the case. Profiling requires understanding of human behavior, background of extensive criminal investigative experience together with proper academic and forensic training. It is important to know that not all the crimes are suitable for profiling. Crimes which needs psychological, social, cultural and psychopathological assessment are appropriate for profiling viz. serial killer, serial rapist, serial arsons, child molestation (Hazelwood Burgess, 1995) Cases involving destruction of property, assault/ murder during the robbery are generally not suitable for profiling. Drug induced crime does not reveal the true personality of the criminal, hence the profiling is not suitable. Conclusion: Though profiling is considered as an ineffective tool for drawing conclusions, it has been used in every field. It is an effort to evaluate and understand the human behavior on different occasions and in given situations. When we review the literature on profiling, the ineffective tool of profiling has been used time and again all over the world in different situations and efforts are made to draw conclusions. Over a period of time, it has evolved as an art when blend with scientific principles can prove to be an effective tool for investigating and understanding human behavior on different occasions. Here the author has made an attempt to review the literature with reference to crime investigation. Acknowledgments: We are grateful for the support and guidance of Dr.J.M.Vyas, Director General, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar .

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Poetry, History, and Dialectic :: Philosophy Argumentative Argument Papers

Poetry, History, and Dialectic Twice in the Poetics, Aristotle contrasts poetry with history. Whatever its didactic value, the contrast has not seemed to readers of special philosophical interest. The aim of this paper is to show that this contrast is philosophically significant not just for our understanding of tragedy but also for the light it sheds on Aristotle’s overall methodology. I shall show how he uses the method sketched in the Topics to define tragedy and explain why the same method will not define history. In particular, tragedy admits of definition because its parts constitute a unity, and much of the Poetics aims to show how, despite being defined through six distinct parts, tragedy can be one. In contrast, history, though a proper preliminary to poetics and concerned also with human action, does not admit of scientific treatment because it contains no essential unities. Aristotle’s understanding of ‘science’ is used here to explain why any attempt to create a scientific hi story would turn history into poetry. I Aristotle claims that the art of dialectic sketched in the Topics contributes to philosophical knowledge because it can be used to find indemonstrable first principles from common opinions: "for, being capable of examining, dialectic has a path to the principles of all disciplines" (à µB ¤  £Ã…“Å ¸Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ¤) (I.2.101b3-4). Scientific knowledge of a subject consists of grasping its principles and demonstrating its essential attributes from them. How does one come to know the first principles? Obviously, they cannot be demonstrated from prior principles; they are first principles. As such, they are somehow determined by dialectic. Thus, dialectic transforms what we can call, for lack of a better term, a "subject matter" into a science. What is the state of this subject matter before dialectic discovers its principles? It is clear from our Topics text that this examination will look for common opinions, and it is well recognized that Aristotle's actual inquiries often begin from common opinions.(1) So the pre-scientific subject matter must contain common opinions about its facts. Aristotle has a name for such a setting out of facts: in the Prior Analytics, he speaks of deriving the principles of each field from experience and he refers to the account of the phenomena of a field as a "history" (Èà ³Ãƒ µÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ ²Ãƒ ¥Ã‹Å") (46a17-27). Evidently, "history" precedes "science," and transition is effected by dialectic. Aristotle has much to say about how knowledge is derived from sensation and experience, but he never explains how (or whether!) his many remarks fit together into a single process.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Alibr Essay

Belonging Essay: â€Å"Sometimes it is hard to balance belonging to a group with keeping one’s own individual identity. † How has your study of the prescribed test and two texts of your own choosing either supported or conflicted with this idea? An essential element of belonging is one’s identity as it provides an understanding of the group to which one belongs. However, it is often difficult to retain one’s individuality while belonging to a particular community.This difficulty is evident in Sara Gavron’s film â€Å"Brick Lane† and Shaun Tan’s â€Å"Stick Figures† (Tales From Outer Suburbia), where both composer’s highlight the loss of individuality as a result of group conformation. In contrast, William Shakespeare’s play â€Å"As You Like It† demonstrates the converse as it highlights that it is possible to balance belonging to group while keeping one’s unique identity. As a result, by comparing th e exploration of all three composers, a responder can enhance their understanding of the influences that affect one’s sense of belonging and identity.As one becomes part of a group an understanding of their own unique identity can often be enriched. This is evident in William Shakespeare’s play â€Å"As You like It† through Orlando, whose development of a sense of familial belonging empowers his own self-understanding. This is evident through the contrast between Orlando’s initial dejected state and final sense of status. This is evident through Orlando’s early despondence in the play in â€Å"in this world I fill up a place, which may be better supplied when I have made it empty. The impersonal tone associated with ‘a place’ alludes to Orlando’s own feeling of alienation and isolation as a result of a lack of connection with others. This is reinforced through the hollow connotations of ‘empty’ which accentuate Orl ando’s lack of understanding of himself. However, this is contrasted with the conclusion of the play, as Orlando develops his sense of familial belonging with his brother Oliver. This sense of empowerment is evident in â€Å"you have my consent† where Orlando’s dominance is evidence through his approval of his brother’s wishes.This emphasises his enhanced status and identity, solely a result of his sense of belonging. As a result it can be seen that it is Orlando’s belonging to a group that nourishes his sense of identity. Antithetically, when a responder considers Sara Gavron’s film â€Å"Brick Lane† the converse of Shakespeare’s exploration becomes prominent. This evident when considering the character of Karim, a London-born Pakistani man.As a result of Karim’s cultural and religious heritage, he experiences a sense of alienation from the wider community as evident in â€Å"Go home Paki! † The derogatory term o f ‘Paki’ compounded with the incensed tone created through the exclamation, Gavron demonstrates Karim’s social alienation. It is this isolation that yields his identity as evident in â€Å"this is my home. † The blunt nature of Karim’s statement highlights his resoluteness and confidence with his own unique multicultural self.Despite this, Karim’s identity begins to waver as he becomes part of a Muslim group that fights for understanding. This is evident through the contrast in costuming used by Gavron. Initially, she characterises Karim in a combination of western and Pakistani clothes, but as he joins the group, these western elements begin to disappear. This results in Karim conforming to the dress code of the other group members, implying the loss of his own unique identity as a result of his belonging.Hence, Gavron, unlike Shakespeare emphasises that one’s sense of identity can be lost through their connection with a group. In cer tain situations it is often difficult to retain a sense of unique identity while being part of a group. This is elucidated in Shaun Tan’s â€Å"Stick Figures† where the Stick Figures are shown to be alienated from their homeland due to industrialization. Tan emphasises that by belonging to this group of isolated individuals, a person can lose their sense of identity in â€Å"faceless clod. † The