Waiting For Godot Essay Research Paper The free essay sample

Waiting For Godot Essay, Research Paper The Play about Nothing Waiting for Godot has been a topic of my ideas for approximately two hebdomads now. While sing the work, its writer, and the remarks I have found about the drama, I have come up with three hypotheses as to the significance and overall subject. Either it is about Humanity waiting for a savior that does be to return ; or it could be about the hopelessness of Humanity waiting for a Jesus that doesn # 8217 ; t be, and hence will neer come ; or, the easiest of possibilities, that Waiting truly has no subject at all. This last theory is the 1 that I most readily accept, and the reply that Samuel Beckett, the writer of the drama, put forth when questioned about the significance of his unusual small piece. Many critics put the first theory Forth as the true significance of Waiting, and there are many facets of it by which they can do their point. We will write a custom essay sample on Waiting For Godot Essay Research Paper The or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The most obvious is the rubric character, Godot, because the root word of the name is God. The many mentions to Christianity besides create a close connexion between the plot line and many of import narratives from the Bible. From the really get downing Vladimir and Estragon ponder their redemption, see decease, and pull a parallel between themselves and the two stealers that were crucified along with Jesus, harmonizing to the Gospels. Vladimir: # 8230 ; One of the stealers was saved. It # 8217 ; s a sensible per centum. Gogo. Tarragon: What? Vladimir: Suppose we repented. Tarragon: Repented what? Vladimir: Oh # 8230 ; we wouldn # 8217 ; Ts have to travel into the inside informations. Tarragon: Our being born? ( Beckett, p.8 ) The general attitude expressed throughout is the hopelessness, or perchance the meaningless-ness of life. Humanity # 8217 ; s aim is merely to wait out its being until the Second Coming. Everything we do, state, experience, experience, etc. , is merely go throughing the clip unt il our lives come to an terminal. Vladimir: That passed the clip. Tarragon: It would hold passed in any instance. Vladimir: Yes, but non so quickly. ( Beckett, p.31 ) Let us presume that Godot does typify God. He is person who will come to do a great alteration in the Vladimir and Estragon # 8217 ; s lives, a great alteration for the better. But Godot, and whatever that alteration may be, does non come throughout the length of the drama. They mistake Pozzo for Godot, and they mistake the courier for Godot, because they do non cognize what Godot looks like or what mode of individual he may be. Likewise, through our lives we mistake people and happenings for Christ. And that helps us to go through the clip until we die. The fact that Godot neer comes besides helps to turn out the 2nd theory about the significance of Waiting. What if God and the hereafter do non be? What so? We spend our full lives waiting, staying our clip in expectancy of our great wages. But when our lives end, that # 8217 ; s it. All the readying, all our good purposes, are useless and meaningless because there was no significance in the first topographic point. Beckett may hold used the drama to exemplify how hapless Humanity seems as it strives toward a nonexistent end. He besides made great merriment of all those philosophers that ponder on the significance of our being utilizing the character of Lucky. When Lucky makes his drawn-out oration of bunk, it is exemplifying what bunk everything that all the great minds have said on the significance of life. For if life has no significance, so it is all gibberish, and Lucky makes merely every bit much sense as Voltaire. The 3rd and concluding theory about the significance of Waiting for Godot is that it has no significance. When questioned repeatedly on the affair, Beckett was quoted in the New York Times as stating, # 8220 ; I know no more of this drama than anyone who manages to read it attentively, # 8221 ; and, # 8221 ; I do non cognize who Godot is. I do non even cognize if he exists. # 8221 ;

New Author Profiles on the Reedsy Network

New Author Profiles on the Reedsy Network New: Author Profiles on the Reedsy Network A few months ago, we gave editors and designers the tools to create a beautiful profile on Reedsy. Today, we’re proud to be unveiling author profiles! Log in to your Reedsy account here and get started on yours now for free!Bestselling author C.J. Lyons, Scifi author Chele Cooke and  YA author Sara Raasch have already created their Reedsy profiles. We look forward to seeing yours, share it with us over on @ReedsyHQ!And if you want to help us spread the word among the author community about this awesome opportunity, here’s a simple pre-made tweet

Religion Experience Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion Experience - Research Paper Example The aim of the festive is tom prepare Christians through prayers, repentance and may be fasting before the actual celebrations of the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This work is about Lent and all it entails to the Christian community. Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and died on Good Friday, He was buried but on the third day, Easter Sunday, he resurrected. The festive is commemorated in different ways by different Christians. Majority engage in self-denial like fasting and abolishing the luxurious life as away of humbleness before the actual Easter. This usually lasts for about forty days (Catholic University of America, 2003). Other Christians walk around their religious institutions carrying the cross to feel or rather appreciate the pain and suffering the Christ went through for the sake of mankind. Some remove costly decorations from the synagogue and replace them with pinkish religious status to represent the general pain Christ underwent. Some also restrict themselves and families from meat; this is because meat is considered a luxurious meal. Some churches also mobilizes their members to attend some sessions is about seven churches located in Jerusalem, specifically in Mount Calvary. This is to acknowledge the life of Jesus Christ when H e was on earth. Some Christians commemorate the festive as the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying. Fasting is a very important aspect in a Christian life, it is meant to weaken the flesh and strengthen the Spirit and this can be indicated when Jesus refused to turn the stones into bread as the Satan commanded, this was because he was weak in the flesh but great in the Sprit. The modern Christians set side this festive season to separate themselves from their busy career schedule and live as Christ commanded. The main themes observed during the festive are fasting and abstinence from certain worldly meals and luxuries. The forty days are marked wi th mix up reactions depending on what a particular religion group believes in. Some abstained from animal products like meat, milk or even blood but instead depended on fish, chicken or eggs. Some survives entirely on bread that is prepared without yeast. This is because this kind of bread is treated as pure, yeast symbolizes impunity or sin. Most Christians serves only during the mid night during the festive. Religious researches indicate the distractions attributed by nutritious food like eggs, meat, milk, butter and other dairy products. These foods are rich in protein which in turn boosts the reproductive systems in human. Too much consumption of such food activates sex drive in the body system and this is distractive to prayers and fasting among other Christian values and believes. However, this is greatly opposed by religious groups who depend solely on such dairy products like milk and butter. Rouen Cathedral is known for its butter production and it would make no sense if th eir butter would go to waste in the name of celebrating lent. There are several considerations put in place to determine the duration of the festive by different religious groups. It is recorded in prophetic books written by Moses that Jesus would was in the tomb for three days, approximately forty days. Different groups of Christians have different interpretation with respect to this duration. The Romans initially fasted for three weeks but later lengthened this period for about 6 weeks. This difference in the way of celebrating the season is a subject of free will in the interpretations of the Bible. In other words, different groups of Christians interpret the Biblical contents differently and there is no offence in this. Some Christians baptized their followers or believers during the

Re John Grant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Re John Grant - Essay Example ents to the effect that he was probably rushing and a bit careless at times, despite client’s assurances that such a viewpoint is completely unfounded and unwarranted. 2. Claimant Mr. Grant is employed as a General Labourer by Rattle Engineering Ltd. to carry out repairs to general machinery. Most of the work is done at the factory premises of other companies. In August of 2003, said employer was hired by McFarlane Contracts Ltd to carry out work at its factory premises at Stone Road, Sizewall Industrial Estate, Liverport. Rattle was engaged to perform repair work on machineries which made steel sleepers. Claimant was tasked to be a part of a group of four to perform the project, under the supervision of Mr. Joseph Ashford, (JA) the foreman who had a mobile office at the site. 3. When Claimant arrived at the factory, he saw that lorries were delivering the equipment and parts that Rattle needed. JA told the men to park the lorries at the parking depot while he asked Jim Smith (JS), the factory manager employed by McFarlane Contracts to show where the materials were to be unloaded. JS instructed that the materials be unloaded at the forecourt. The next job was to move the materials from the forecourt to the back of the premises through a conveyor belt. Claimant’s job was to carry the steel nuggets to the conveyor belt. Another person was tasked to take the nuggets out of the conveyor belt upon reaching the back of the premises. 4. Around 12:20 pm. Claimant was still doing the job assigned to him. As he bent down to lift another steel nugget, he lost his balance and his foot slipped on the oil. His legs went from under him and he landed on the ground, on his bottom. His right forearm was crushed between the concrete forecourt and the nugget, with the weight of the latter bending his hand backwards. The right side of his head hit the concrete surface. He was taken to St. Mark’s Hospital Ottershaw thereafter and was diagnosed as having a head injury, a

Discussion #4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion #4 - Assignment Example Rather, many fugitives using the underground railroad had to travel by foot from one safe house to the another until they reached a free states. The fugitives faced great dangers from the slave catchers and their masters. If they were caught using the underground railroad, they would have been subjected to the worst punishment including being killed. Also the fugitives often had to travel without food. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 also posed problems for these fugitives since they could forced to return to their master even if they were living in a free state. Despite this, slaves continued to use the underground railroad to escape. This lessened the control and power the slave masters had over their slaves. Also many of the slaves who were again to gain freedom returned to the become the voice of the oppressed. They actively protested against slavery and pressed for the abolition of slavery. These slavery were able to gain the sympathy of many white Americans who joined in with the protest to give more weight to the cause. The Underground Railroad eventually freed enough slaves to begin a civil unrest movement in the United States. It was the white Americans, seeing the conditions of the slaves, who pushed the civil war in the country. The Underground Railroad also helped in the abolition of slavery because it allowed the protestors to come together and work as a group. This group, over the course of time, became more optimistic towards the cause. By helping free thousands of slaves each year, this group was able to gain strength and fight more actively for the abolition of slavery. Also the underground railroad was responsible for the establishment of many anti-slavery organizations including the American Anti-Slavery Society. These society kept the spirit of anti-slavery active amongst its members through different publications including essays, poems and even illustrations. Many of the slaves who gained freedom also actively began their

The Difference Between Men And Women

The Difference Between Men And Women Understanding The Difference Between Men And Women For centuries, the differences between men and women were socially defined and distorted through a lens of sexism in which men assumed superiority over women and maintained it through domination. As the goal of equality between men and women now grows closer we are also losing our awareness of important differences. In some circles of society, politically correct thinking is obliterating important discussion as well as our awareness of the similarities and differences between men and women. The vision of equality between the sexes has narrowed the possibilities for discovery of what truly exists within a man and within a woman. The world is less interesting when everything is same. It is my position that men and women are equal but different. When I say equal, I mean that men and women have a right to equal opportunity and protection under the law. The fact that people in this country are assured these rights does not negate my observation that men and women are at least as different psychologically as they are physically. None of us would argue the fact that men and women are physically different. The physical differences are rather obvious and most of these can be seen and easily measured. Weight, shape, size and anatomy are not political opinions but rather tangible and easily measured. The physical differences between men and women provide functional advantages and have survival value. Men usually have greater upper body strength, build muscle easily, have thicker skin, bruise less easily and have a lower threshold of awareness of injuries to their extremities. Men are essentially built for physical confrontation and the use of force. Their joints are well suited for throwing objects. A man’s skull is almost always thicker and stronger than a women’s. The stereotype that men are more thick-headed than women is not far fetched. A man’s thick headedness, and other anatomical differences have been associated with a uniquely male attraction to high speed activities and reckless beh avior that usually involve collisions with other males or automobiles. Men invented the game chicken, not women. Men, and a number of other male species of animal seem to charge and crash into each other a great deal in their spare time. Women on the other hand have four times as many brain cells (neurons) connecting the right and left side of their brain. This latter finding provides physical evidence that supports the observation that men rely easily and more heavily on their left brain to solve one problem one step at a time. Women have more efficient access to both sides of their brain and therefore greater use of their right brain. Women can focus on more than one problem at one time and frequently prefer to solve problems through multiple activities at a time. Nearly every parent has observed how young girls find the conversations of young boys boring. Young boys express confusion and would rather play sports than participate actively in a conversation between 5 girls who are discussing as many as three subjects at once! The psychological differences between man and women are less obvious. They can be difficult to describe. Yet these differences can profoundly influence how we form and maintain relationships that can range from work and friendships to marriage and parenting. Recognizing, understanding, discussing as well as acting skillfully in light of the differences between men and women can be difficult. Our failure to recognize and appreciate these differences can become a life long source of disappointment, frustration, tension and eventually our downfall in a relationship. Not only can these differences destroy a promising relationship, but most people will grudgingly accept or learn to live with the consequences. Eventually they find some compromise or way to cope. Few people ever work past these difficulties. People tend to accept what they don’t understand when they feel powerless to change it. Relationships between men and women are not impossible or necessarily difficult. Problems simply arise when we expect or assume the opposite sex should think, feel or act the way we do. It’s not that men and women live in completely different realities. Rather, our lack of knowledge and mutual experience gives rise to our difficulties. Despite great strides in this country toward equality, modern society hasn’t made relationships between men and women any easier. Today’s society has taught us and has imposed on us the expectation that men and women should live together continuously, in communion, and in harmony. These expectations are not only unrealistic but ultimately they leave people feeling unloved, inadequate, cynical, apathetic or ashamed. The challenge facing men and women is to become aware of their identities, to accept their differences, and to live their lives fully and as skillfully as possible. To do this we must first understand in what ways we are different. We must avoid trying to change others to suit our needs. The following illustrates some important differences between men and women. These differences are not absolute. They describe how men and women are in most situations most of the time. Problems Men and women approach problems with similar goals but with different considerations. While men and women can solve problems equally well, their approach and their process are often quit different. For most women, sharing and discussing a problem presents an opportunity to explore, deepen or strengthen the relationship with the person they are talking with. Woman are usually more concerned about how problems are solved than merely solving the problem itself. For women, solving a problem can profoundly impact whether they feel closer and less alone or whether they feel distant and less connected. The process of solving a problem can strengthen or weaken a relationship. Most men are less concerned and do not feel the same as women when solving a problem. Men approach problems in a very different manner than women. For most men, solving a problem presents an opportunity to demonstrate their competence, their strength of resolve, and their commitment to a relationship. How the problem is solved is not nearly as important as solving it effectively and in the best possible manner. Men have a tendency to dominate and to assume authority in a problem solving process. They set aside their feelings provided the dominance hierarchy was agreed upon in advance and respected. They are often distracted and do not attend well to the quality of the relationship while solving problems. Some of the more important differences can be illustrated by observing groups of young teenage boys and groups of young teenage girls when they attempt to find their way out of a maze. A group of boys generally establish a hierarchy or chain of command with a leader who emerges on his own or through demonstrations of ability and power. Boys explore the maze using scouts while remaining in distant proximity to each other. Groups of girls tend to explore the maze together as a group without establishing a clear or dominant leader. Relationships tends to be co-equal. Girls tend to elicit discussion a nd employ collective intelligence to the task of discovering a way out. Girls tend to work their way through the maze as a group. Boys tend to search and explore using structured links and a chain of command. Thinking While men and women can reach similar conclusions and make similar decisions, the process they use can be quit different and in some cases can lead to entirely different outcomes. In general, men and women consider and process information differently. Women tend to be intuitive global thinkers. They consider multiple sources of information within a process that can be described as simultaneous, global in perspective and will view elements in the task in terms of their interconnectedness. Women come to understand and consider problems all at once. They take a broad or collective perspective, and they view elements in a task as interconnected and interdependent. Women are prone to become overwhelmed with complexities that exist, or may exist, and may have difficulty separating their personal experience from problems. Men tend to focus on one problem at a time or a limited number of problems at a time. They have an enhanced ability to separate themselves from problems and minimize the c omplexity that may exist. Men come to understand and consider problems one piece at a time. They take a linear or sequential perspective, and view elements in a task as less interconnected and more independent. Men are prone to minimize and fail to appreciate subtleties that can be crucial to successful solutions. A male may work through a problem repeatedly, talking about the same thing over and over, rather than trying to address the the problem all at once. While there are differences in the ways that men and women think, it must be emphasized that they can and do solve problems in a similar manner. There are no absolutes, only tendencies. Memory Women have an enhanced ability to recall memories that have strong emotional components. They can also recall events or experiences that have similar emotions in common. Women are very adept at recalling information, events or experiences in which there is a common emotional theme. Men tend to recall events using strategies that rely on reconstructing the experience in terms of elements, tasks or activities that took place. Profound experiences that are associated with competition or physical activities are more easily recalled. There appears to be a structural and chemical basis for observed memory differences. For instance, the hippocampus, the area in the brain primarily responsible for memory, reacts differently to testosterone in men and it reacts differently to changing levels of estrogen and progesterone in women. Women tend to remember or be reminded of different emotional memories and content to some extent as part of their menstrual cycle. Sensitivity There is evidence to suggest that a great deal of the sensitivity that exists within men and women has a physiological basis. It has been observed that is many cases, women have an enhanced physical alarm response to danger or threat. Their autonomic and sympathetic systems have a lower threshold of arousal and greater reactivity than men. In both men and women, higher levels of testosterone directly affect the aggressive response and behavior centers of the brain. Increasing estrogen and progesterone in men has a feminizing effect. Sexually aggressive males become less focused on sexual aggressive behavior and content when they are given female hormones. On the other hand, changing estrogen and progesterone levels in women during menstrual cycles can produce a flood of memories as well as strong emotions. Increasing or high levels of testosterone can produce an emotional insensitivity, empathic block and increased indifference to the distress others. At the heart of sensitivity is o ur capacity to form, appreciate and maintain relationships that are rewarding. Even here there are important differences. For men, what demonstrates a solid relationship is quite different from that of most women. Men feel closer and validated through shared activities. Such activities include sports, competition, outdoor activities or sexual activities that are decidedly active and physical. While both men and women can appreciate and engage in these activities they often have preferential differences. Women, on the other hand, feel closer and validated through communication, dialogue and intimate sharing of experience, emotional content and personal perspectives. Many men tend to find such sharing and involvement uncomfortable, if not, overwhelming. The Task Of Relationship Facing Men and Women The task that faces men and women is to learn to accept their differences, avoid taking their differences as personal attempts to frustrate each other, and to compromise whenever possible. The idea that one gender can think and feel like the other if they truly loved each is rather absurd. Sure, a man or women could act in consideration of the other’s needs, but this would not necessarily be rewarding and honest. Holding the benefit of another above our own is rewarding. But from time to time, and more often for most of us, it is important to be our self and to be accepted, and not to be the source of distress and disappointment in the lives of people we love. The Role Of Counseling and Therapy Counseling and therapy can help a couple understand and appreciate each other, and even benefit from their differences. Understanding these differences intellectually is not enough. A counselor or therapist can help point out these differences, as they surface, and guide a couple to a greater level of relationship. Understanding that differences are not intentional and that misunderstandings are merely the result of expectations that are not realistic can make a huge difference in a relationship. The differences that can be sensed between a man and women can deepen their relationship. More importantly, when men seek to understand and appreciate that which is feminine, they come to a deeper understanding of their self. And when a women seeks to understand that which is masculine in men, they come to appreciate and understand more about their own masculinity. THE SOCIAL ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN In all societies the obvious biological difference between men and women is used as a justification for forcing them into different social roles which limit and shape their attitudes and behavior. That is to say, no society is content with the natural difference of sex, but each insists on adding to it a cultural difference of gender. The simple physical facts therefore always become associated with complex psychological qualities. It is not enough for a man to be male; he also has to appear masculine. A woman, in addition to being female, must also be feminine. However, once the contrast between men and women has been increased and accentuated in this fashion, it is usually taken as a further manifestation of biological differences which confirm the need for different social roles. Or, to put it another way, sex differences are used to create gender differences which are then explained as sex differences which, in turn, require gender differences, and so on. This may be no more than circular reasoning, but it is socially very effective. For example, in our own patriarchal society males enjoy a socially dominant position. Thus, from an early age, boys are helped to acquire a masculinity that allows them to assume and maintain that position. By the same token, girls are taught to cultivate a submissive femininity. The resulting difference in the male and female character is then described as inborn and used to defend the existing power arrangement. Only those who accept it are normal, and only they can expect to succeed. The male social role is designed to reward masculine men, while the female social role offers its relative advantages only to feminine women. (The aggressive man will run the bigger business; the pretty, agreeable woman will find the richer husband.) In other words, masculinity and femininity are gender qualities which are developed in response to social discrimination. However, once they have been developed, they justify and cement it. The masculine and feminine gender roles mutually reinforce each other and thereby perpetuate the inequality on which they are based. Obviously, this psychological mechanism can operate only as long as the behavior of men and women does not transgress the generally accepted limits. Every society tries therefore to prevent such transgressions by calling the socially defined gender roles natural, eternal, and unchangeable. Any person who refuses to accept them is persecuted as a deviant and punished as an offender not only against society, but against nature itself. An hist orical example of such deviance is the case of Joan of Arc who, as a young girl, not only led the French army to victory over the English, but also wore male clothing. In her later trial she was promptly accused of having thus violated the laws of nature. Over the centuries, many people have, of course, wondered why allegedly natural roles should need such rigorous social enforcement. After all, if they were truly natural, they would come naturally to both men and women. However, it is noteworthy that the advocates of the so-called natural inequality of the sexes resent nothing more than letting nature take its course. Yet, if their arguments were true, there would be no need to deny women equal opportunities, since they would be unable to compete with men. If women were naturally inferior, men would have nothing to fear. Therefore, the fact that many men do fear such competition raises sufficient doubt as to the validity of their claim. The truth is that human desires and capacities have a tendency to go beyond the narrow limits of our traditional gender roles. Indeed, it takes a constant combined effort by all social authorities to keep this tendency under control. Such social control appears not only externally, in the form of parental guidance, peer-group pressure, and law enforcement, but also internally in the form of concepts and values which determine the self-image of every individual, and it is in the individual mind where the confusion of sex and gender can create the most serious problems. For instance, men and women who feel that they do not fit the masculine and feminine stereotypes, or who resent them as too restrictive, may also develop ambiguous feelings about their biological sex. They may begin to wish for different bodies which would allow them to play a role more to their liking. Or, to take another example, since men have been told that women are socially and sexually passive, they are usually gravely disturbed by encountering a woman who is socially aggressive and who takes the initiative in sexual intercourse. Confronted with this lack of femininity in a woman, a man may feel tempted to dispute her womanhood. If this contention does not hold up in face of the evidence, he may instead begin to doubt his own masculinity and become sexually dysfunctional. Conversely, a handsome, gentle, and passive male may invite ridicule and may be denounced as a pervert or queer. Real women may regard him as less than a real man and therefore reject him as a sexual partner. However, the confusion goes still further. The notion that in every sexual encounter there has to be one active (masculine) and one passive (feminine) partner is so persistent that it not only ruins many heterosexual relationships, but also influences the behavior of certain homosexuals who feel compelled to model themselves after these stereotypes. By doing so, they give support to the curious belief that even in sexual relationships between members of the same sex, there always has to be one to play the man, while the other must assume the role of the woman. There is, in fact a general impression that every homosexual couple (whether male or female) consists of one active, masculine and one passive, feminine partner. People who hold this belief are, of course, at a total loss to explain phenomena like the famous homosexual elite troops of ancient Greece, which consisted entirely of male lovers. All of these views are based on a wrong conclusion drawn from a false assumption. The false assumption states that women are naturally passive, while men are naturally active. The wrong conclusion asserts that every passive person is playing a feminine role and that every active person is playing a masculine role. However, in actual fact neither sex nor gender need be characterized in this fashion. After all, in some human societies the role assignment for men and women is the reverse of our own. In short, there is nothing natural or definite about our sexual stereotypes. By the same token, full human equality will not be achieved until it becomes conceivable to both sexes that active and passive attitudes can be appropriate for either of them, and that even two active or two passive partners can have a rewarding relationship. This does not mean that, in an ideal future, all human differences will disappear. Indeed, once the old stereotypes have been discarded, the differences between individuals within each sex are likely to increase. Furthermore, under conditions of social equality, these individuals may also happily continue to play different gender roles. There should be no need to point out that there is nothing wrong with gender differences as such. They can greatly enrich our lives, as long as we understand that, in human beings, different does not have to mean superior or inferior. In other words, those who demand equal rights for men and women are not asking for drab uniformity, but for a social climate in which variety can flourish without being exploited. The following pages first elaborate further on the basic concepts of sex and gender and then offer a brief discussion of the different moral standards for men and women. Male Logic and Womens Intuition The split in our thinking between masculine and feminine is probably as old as language itself. Human beings seem to have a natural tendency to divide things into pairs: good/bad, light/dark, subject/object and so on. It is not surprising, then, that the male/female or masculine/feminine dichotomy is used to classify things other than men and women. Many languages actually classify all nouns as masculine or feminine (although not very consistently: for example, the Spanish masculine noun pollo means hen, while the feminine polla is slang for penis). This is perfectly natural; it is part of the way categorisation works in language. This does not, however, mean that it is right. It is probably unimportant whether a table or a chair is thought of as masculine or feminine. It may not even be very important these days whether we think of the sun as male and the moon as female (like the ancient Greeks) or vice versa (like most of the German tribes). However, when we start associating abstr act concepts like Reason or Nature with men and women, we run into serious difficulties. The association of Reason with men and Nature with women is well-known, and has been widely criticised. Aristotle defined Man as a rational animal, and by that he really meant men, not human beings. Unlike Plato, he saw women as less able to reason, hence less human and more animal. In Europe, well into the twentieth century, women were generally seen as somehow intellectually deficient. An English woman recently became Oxfords oldest graduate because although she had completed her degree course in the 1920s, at that time the university did not award degrees to female students. Presumably it would have decreased the status of the university to award degrees to an intellectually inferior sex! Nearly all societies, from hunting and gathering tribes to post-industrial nations, offer some kind of compensation to those who lose out in the status game. For example, among the practically matriarchal Zuni Indians of New Mexico, the economically powerless men were credited with the ability to make rain. Black slaves in the American South were thought to be naturally stronger (which they generally were), better at music and dancing (which they may have been) and more cheerful (highly unlikely for slaves, but a good justification for treating them badly). In the same way, women are compensated for their supposed inability to think rationally by a mysterious womens intuition. Attempts were made to justify this in biological terms; women were seen as naturally more emotional and/or in touch with Nature because of their strange biology (menstruation, hormones, vapours or whatever). This was about as scientific as the Zuni Indians theory that men could make rain. Men and women are, of course, biologically different. There are even significant differences in male and female brains; women, for example, have a thicker corpus callosum (the thing that connects the two halves of the brain). However, it is a giant leap from observing that there are neurological differences between the sexes to assuming that these differences correspond to the classic Reason/Nature or logic/emotion dichotomies. In fact, some of these differences may even indicate the opposite. The left hemisphere of the brain generally deals with linear processing, as found in language and some types of mathematics, and this hemisphere develops faster in girls than in boys. The old 11 plus test of verbal reasoning used in British schools was actually adjusted to bring boys scores up to the level of girls! Whatever the case, it is a mistake to look at peoples brains and then decide that they must think in a certain way; it would be far better to try and find out how people actually th ink, and then to see if this corresponds to brain structure. When we talk about the way men and women think, we are actually dealing with not one, but at least three separate things: how men and women usually think, how men and women can think, and how we think men and women think. Usually when we think we are looking at the first or second subjects, we are actually only describing the third. Since our main guide to how people think is their language, the fact that in most cultures men and women talk in different ways, and about different things, may lead us to false conclusions about the way they think in general. Womens conversation tends to emphasise feelings more, which may also mean that they think about feelings more. It does not, however, mean that woman are more emotional. It is perfectly possible that men are just as emotional, but for social reasons they talk (and think) about their feelings less. Similarly, the fact that in most cultures men argue more about abstract things does not mean that men are naturally more logical, it just means that the things men prefer to talk about require logical argument more than they require expression of feelings. Obviously the more you argue, the better you get at it, hence the prejudice that men are somehow biologically more logical. This would be like assuming that I am biologically better at speaking English (my first language) than Turkish (my second). Problems also arise with the actual words we use: logic, reason, intuition and emotion. Logic is simply a set of principles for getting from something we already knew, to something we didnt. If we know that all cows eat grass, and we know that Daisy is a cow, we can use very simple logic to say that Daisy eats grass, even if we have never seen her eat anything. The more complex logic that we use in constructing philosophical arguments or designing computers is really only doing the same kind of thing. The word rational is a little more problematic, since it involves an assessment of aims and actions. If our aims are consistent with each other and our actions achieve our aims, then we can fairly say that we are behaving rationally. If we act in a way that prevents us from realising our aims, then we are behaving irrationally, or in other words, stupidly. For example, if I know that I will have a better relationship with my wife if I dont shout at her, but I still shout at her because I am in a bad mood, my problem is not that I am being emotional, it is that I am being stupid. The opposite of rational is not, then, emotional but irrational. If we set up a pair of opposites, rational/emotional, we are likely to make the assumption that women are more emotional and therefore irrational, which is a polite way of saying that women are stupid. While having strong emotions can sometimes interfere with your thought processes, this is not automatically the case. For example, I often get quite excited when I am working on a new theory or project, but this usually makes my thinking better, not worse. Strong negative emotions such as rage, jealousy or depression are usually the result of irrational thinking as much as a cause of it, and men are just as vulnerable to this type of stupidity as women. Intuition is an even trickier concept. We usually say that we arrive at an idea or solution to a problem intuitively when we know something without knowing how we came to know it. A scientist may arrive at a new theory because the idea just pops into his or her head, or even turns up in a dream. You may get an intuitive feeling that a person is dishonest without actually having heard them say something you know to be untrue. In both these cases, what seems to be happening is that the mind stores and sorts information unconsciously, providing us only with the end result of this process. There is no guarantee, of course, that this conclusion will be true; a scientist would still have to perform experiments to prove their intuitive theory, and you would probably want some hard evidence to prove that the person you feel is dishonest really does tell lies. There is therefore nothing particularly strange or mystical about intuition; it is something we do all the time. Why, then, do we talk about womens intuition, as though men never arrive at a conclusion without consciously following all the stages that were necessary to reach it? Again, the answer is probably linguistic. As we have seen, traditionally womens conversation is less formal, less argumentative, and more concerned with feelings than mens conversation. Intuitive conclusions are therefore more acceptable in an all-female group. Men, on the other hand, are expected to argue more, and to argue more logically, presenting evidence in a systematic way to back up their conclusions. It is less socially acceptable in an all-male conversation (or a conversation where the men are doing most of the talking) to say Well guys, I dont know why, but I just get this kind of feeling that e=mc2. We can see, then, that these pairs of opposites, logic/intuition and rational/emotional, are not only false, but also damaging, particularly to women. It therefore surprising that some feminists actually support a version of this patriarchal nonsense. Particularly at the more spiritual end of the Radical Feminist community, there is a tendency to glorify womens intuition and closeness to Nature, and to avoid logic as somehow male, as though it were a psychological problem resulting from too much testosterone. The fact that men often use logic, or at least logical-sounding arguments, to put women in their place is not a fault of logic, it is the fault of those mens sexism and lack of social skills. More innocently, men are often accused of being too cold and logical, not because there is anything wrong with their ideas, but because they do not understand the unspoken rules of female conversation, in the same way that women are often accused of being illogical or emotional because they do not argue using the same language as men. If women reject logic and rely solely on feelings, they are left in the weak position of having to argue with feelings. Feeling that something is true does not make it true, and it will not convince anyone else that it is true either. You can say, I feel X, but the person you are arguing with can just as well reply, Well I dont. The result is that the argument usually goes nowhere. This is particularly damaging in arguments between men and women, since both sides are likely to go away with their prejudices strengthened; the men think women are subjective, emotional and illogical, and the women think men are impersonal, cold and over-intellectual. To justify their feelings of hurt at being beaten in an argument, the women concerned may go further and dismiss the whole thing as male logic, as though there were two types of logic, on for men and anoth

MIT Oxygen, Network Technologies :: Essays Papers

MIT Oxygen, Network Technologies The more advanced our civilization becomes the more stress we endure. The Oxygen project at MIT is attempting to make our lives easier by taking out the little things to give us more time for the more important jobs in life. A small but significant part of the Oxygen project is WIND wireless networks of devices project. With the ability to have everything in your life networked through automatic wireless technology will make our devices in our world interact quickly with no setup time. The WIND project is developing middleware and protocols that will enable applications networks of devices, sensors, and computers to communicate with each other with minimal manual or a priori configuration. With the main goal is to provide the system infrastructure for a large class of pervasive computing applications for a world in which communication is everywhere and computation extends to even the most specialized of devices to make them connected to the network. The WIND software addresses several inter-related areas such as configuration and message routing, the task of automatically creating topologies and adapting them to mobility, making sure that messages are routed even in the face of dynamism, taking bandwidth, latency, and energy consumption into account. Resource discovery, the task of automatically discovering and using networked resources, without manual configuration or administration. The last goal is to be able to adjust to changing network conditions, including congestion, wireless errors, latency variations, and route changes. They have been working on developing location-dependent applications that use automatic location discovery and active map dissemination techniques to navigate new geographic environments and discover resources and people there. WIND uses the late binding technique provided by international naming system. Which integrates name resolution and message routing to track mobility and change, and uses intentional names to describe what its applications want or provide, rather than simply where in the network they might be found? WIND also uses self-configuring application-level overlay networks to achieve flexibility and deployment with minimal prior configuration. Ensuring secure and authenticated access to devices and maintaining device and user privacy is the most important factor in the WIND project.

Development Stages

Child development studies is an interdisciplinary field, which studies the development of a child from conception to childhood through adolescence and emerging adulthood. Child development is divided into three broad domains – physical, cognitive, and emotional and social. Some experts state that child development is a continuous process while others argue that it follows discontinuous stages.Recent theories on child development include information processing, which views the mind as a complex computer; ethology, which emphasizes the evolutionary origins and adaptive behavior; Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory that focuses on understanding cultural influences; ecological systems theory where environment is believed to play a role in development; and dynamic systems perspective according to which changes in physical or social systems account for a child’s behavior (Chapter 1). The characteristics of each individual depend on their genotypes and environment.Chromosom es, which contain genes determine our hereditary characteristics. The child inherits two genes on each chromosome from its parents. The dominant gene is responsible for inherited characteristics. Chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome, occur due to errors at the time of meiosis. Genetic counseling helps parents avoid the risk of giving birth to children with genetic defects. The child’s family, economic status, neighborhood, school, and favorable public policies play an important influence in shaping his or her personality (Chapter 2).More couples are choosing to remain childless, using birth control measures, and delaying their birth ages today compared to previous times. Children with low birth weight are more prone to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes in adulthood and high birth weight are more prone to breast cancer in adulthood. Factors such as teratogens; usage of certain prescription drugs, such as thalidomide; illegal drugs; tobacco; alcohol; exposure to r adiation; environmental pollution, infectious diseases; nutrition; emotional stress; and maternal age shape prenatal development (Chapter 3).The Apgar score determines a newborn child’s physical condition at birth. Natural childbirth involves preparing an expectant mother about childbirth. Various medical interventions, such as fetal monitors, forceps, and cesarean delivery assist during childbirth complications. Complications at birth might cause conditions like cerebral palsy in a newborn. Brazelton's Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale is used to assess the behavior of the newborn (Chapter 4). References Chapter 1: History, Theory, and Research Strategies, pp. 1-76. Chapter 2: Biological and Environmental Foundations, pp. 1-67 Chapter 3: Prenatal Development, pp. 1-39. Chapter 4: Birth and the Newborn Baby, pp. 1-48.

Make a Glow in the Dark Pumpkin

Make a Glow in the Dark Pumpkin You can make a glow in the dark pumpkin with a jack-o-lantern face using a common non-toxic chemical. The jack-o-lantern doesnt require carving or fire, shines in rain or wind, and lasts as long as your pumpkin. Plus, the glowing pumpkin looks really spooky! Glow in the Dark Pumpkin Materials Its very easy to make a glow in the dark pumpkin and it doesnt require many materials: Pumpkin (real, carved, or artificial)Glow in the dark paintPaintbrush (optional)Masking tape to form a jack-o-lantern face (optional) Make the Pumpkin Glow Basically, ​all you need to do is coat a pumpkin with glow in the dark paint. The glow in the dark paint can be obtained from any arts and crafts store. You can use glow in the dark acrylic paint for making models, glowing tempera paint, or glow in the dark fabric paint. I used glowing fabric paint, which dries clear and is waterproof. Paint your pumpkin.Shine a bright light on the pumpkin, then turn out the lights. If the pumpkin does not glow as brightly as you would like, apply one or more coats of glow in the dark paint. Creating a Jack-o-Lantern Face For this project, the jack-o-lantern face is the part that does not glow. If you are using a carved jack-o-lantern, youve already got a face. If you just want a glowing pumpkin, you simply coat the pumpkin with glow in the dark paint, and youre finished. If you want a face on an intact pumpkin you have a few different options for creating it: Trace a face on the pumpkin and paint around the face.Tape a face on the pumpkin, paint the entire pumpkin  and remove the tape when the paint is dry. How Long Will the Glowing Pumpkin Glow? How long your pumpkin glows depends on the chemical used to make it glow and the light you used to charge your pumpkin. Zinc sulfide is a phosphorescent non-toxic chemical used in most glow in the dark paints. If you shine a bright light on it, you can expect it to glow for several minutes up to an hour. If you shine an ultraviolet lamp or black light onto the pumpkin, it will glow more brightly, but probably not any longer. Newer phosphorescent paints are based on rare earth elements. These pigments glow very brightly, usually in green or blue, and can last a full day. If you use tritium-based paint, you will not need to apply light in order to make your pumpkin glow, plus the pumpkin will glow pretty much until the end of time (at least 20 years). How Long Will the Glowing Pumpkin Last? The type of pumpkin you use will determine how long your glowing pumpkin will last. If you paint a carved jack-o-lantern, expect the pumpkin to last a few days to a week. An uncarved pumpkin may last a few months. An artificial pumpkin can be used year after year.

Coke Vs. Pepsi Case Study Essays - Patent Medicines, Marketing

Coke Vs. Pepsi Case Study Essays - Patent Medicines, Marketing Coke Vs. Pepsi Case Study Control of market share is the key issue in this case study. The situation is both Coke and Pepsi are trying to gain market share in this beverage market, which is valued at over $30 billion a year (98). Just how is this done in such a competitive market is the underlying issue. The facts are that each company is coming up with new products and ideas in order to increase their market share. The creativity and effectiveness of each company's marketing strategy will ultimately determine the winner with respect to sales, profits, and customer loyalty (98). Not only are these two companies constructing new ways to sell Coke and Pepsi, but they are also thinking of ways in which to increase market share in other beverage categories. Although the goal of both companies are exactly the same, the two companies rely on somewhat different marketing strategies (98). Pepsi has always taken the lead in developing new products, but Coke soon learned their lesson and started to do the same. Coke hired marketing executives with good track records (98). Coke also implemented cross training of managers so it would be more difficult for cliques to form within the company (98). On the other hand, Pepsi has always taken more risks, acted rapidly, and was always developing new ad vertising ideas. Both companies have also relied on finding new markets, especially in foreign countries. In the foreign markets, Coke has been more successful than Pepsi. For example, in Eastern Europe, Pepsi has relied on a barter system that proved to fail. However, in certain countries that allow direct comparison, Pepsi has beat Coke. In foreign markets, both companies have followed the marketing concept by offering products that meet consumer needs (99) in order to gain market share. For instance, in certain countries, consumers wanted a soft drink that was low in sugar, yet did not have a diet taste or image (99). Pepsi responded by developing Pepsi Max. These companies in trying to capture market share have relied on the development of new products. In some cases the products have been successful. However, at other times the new products have failed. For Coke, changing their original formula and introducing it as New Coke was a major failure. The new formula hurt Coke as consumers requested Classic Cokes return. Pepsi has also had its share of failures. Some of their failures included: Pepsi Light, Pepsi Free, Pepsi AM, and Crystal Pepsi. One solution to increasing market share is to carefully follow consumer wants in each country. The next step is to take fast action to develop a product that meets the requirements for that particular region. Both companies cannot just sell one product; if they do they will not succeed. They have to always be creating and updating their marketing plans and products. The companies must be willing to accommodate their target markets. Gaining market share occurs when a company stays one-step ahead of the competition by knowing what the consumer wants. My recommendation is to make sure the company is always doing market research. This way they are able to get as much feedback as possible from consumers. Next, analyze this data as fast as possible, and then develop the new product based upon this data. Once the product is developed, get it to the marketplace quickly. Time is a very critical factor. In my opinion, with all of these factors taken into consideration any company should give any company a good jump on market share.

Organizations and behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Organizations and behavior - Essay Example For this purpose they focused on the hierarchical structure of the organization. The hierarchical structure followed by the company exhibits a Tall structure. The number of personnel reporting to each manager tends to be lesser in case of Tall structures. This results in better opportunities for the superiors to monitor and supervise the activities of the subordinates (courses.jonesinternational.edu, n.d., p.185). The employees of the organization played no role in designing and running the production lines. Also the organization followed the Taylorist style of production which refers to the mass production system. The Taylorist production approach was established by F.W.Taylor, who gave birth to Scientific Management. His school of thoughts is termed as Taylorism. Taylorism believed that any job can be learnt and taught. This theory treats the humans like machines and proposed that for the achieving higher production the management must eliminate inefficiency from its functioning. H owever, this theory completely neglects the usual complications that happen within a normal human being (Boyd, n.d). Taylorist production style supports the assembly line system where each worker performs the same task repetitively. Here the concept of division of labor was given significance and people started getting experienced in a certain domain while the rest of the production system remained unknown to them. A strict supervision policy was maintained within the organization which created distance between the management and the employees. The repetition of same task created frustration among the workers. The quality of work started to decline which affected the management adversely. In turn the employees were threatened and scolded which ultimately resulted in more and more employee turnover. The theories which were employed to channelize the changes within the organization made the Hawk Car Company to eliminate the tall hierarchical structure and instead of that, they introdu ced Adhocracy. The adhocracy structure is characterized by dynamic and organic units which have limited standardization and formalization, and is inclined toward decentralized decision making. These units are associated with least routine task and lower vertical differentiation which encourage greater responsiveness and flexibility among the employees (Robbins and Mathew, 2009, pp 199- 200). The management also took vital steps towards training the employees in such a manner so that they can gain knowledge about the entire production system. The workers were provided with the opportunity to grow in their position by better performance. The new management style took great care of the employee’s personal lives too and helped them in solving those to the possible extent. The aim of this remodeling decision was making the workforce competent and motivated about studying the process of manufacturing of the whole car and not just learning some specialized functions. These changes m ade the jobs entirely interesting and the employees felt free to approach their seniors in any case of complexity. The managers also took care of the issues arising regarding the work and paid full attention toward its solution. Team work and motivation played an important role in rectifying the conventional organizational structure that the company had been following for the past years. Question 2 McGregor suggested two management styles according to which managers regarded the work potential of their employees.

Navigation app for iOS Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Navigation app for iOS - Literature review Example This framework is designed to work with the newly introduced M7 coprocessor that is dedicated to handle motion sensors without reducing the battery performance of the device. It gives the developers accurate data about the users, which they can later make use of in their applications. For example, a developer can find out whether the device is currently with an individual who is in the act of walking, or with someone who is travelling in an automobile etc, without actually processing the accelerometer’s data. Core Motion Framework provides answers to such questions through constants defined by the classes of framework. â€Å"Now Core Motion has been around since iOS 4.0, but the iOS 7 includes the new classes needed to access data from the M7. The two main classes used here are CM Motion Activity Manager and CM Motion Activity. These two classes work hand in hand to make work the motion activity updates† (Graves 2014: 1). Most iPhones contain an accelerometer and 3 axes Gyroscope built into them, which provide the device with 6 operational axes when used together. This axis data and motion data populated by the M7 co processor could be used along with Map kit or any other third party Map API to create great navigation apps. The gyroscope data as well as gravity sensor data are also used for building motion sensitive gaming-applications. Various class references of Core Motion framework include â€Å"CMAttitude, CMAccelerometerData, CMDeviceMotion, CMGyroData, CMLogItem, CMMagnetometerData, and CMMotionManager† (Aguinaga 2013: 9). The Map Kit framework is used for embedding custom maps into iOS application windows. The 5.1 version and the previous ones basically made use of Google Maps API for displaying the maps through the MapKit framework. â€Å"This framework also provides support for annotating the map, adding overlays, and performing reverse-geocoding lookups to determine placemark information for a given map