What is Philosophy Philosophical Conceptions Of Life Essay

What is Philosophy Philosophical Conceptions Of Life - Essay Example It was believed that the gods were volatile and unpredictable and thus man was at their mercy because they controlled everything. Philosophers introduced a very different line of thought, divergent from the first assumption. They are referred to as thinkers, implying that they ushered in an era where man started to come to conclusions about the issues of life through reason and observation. Philosophy has grown over the years and has been subject to religious and ethical; considerations. This is because religion and ethical standards determine how people act and philosophy tries to explain why things happen and how people act in certain ways. Philosophical history started to appear in ancient Greece in the 6th century B.C.in the city of Miletus (Russell 3). This early group of philosophers is known as the Milesian philosophers because of the city they came from.These early philosophers may have had findings that would seem odd today, such as some claims made by one of the Philosophers, Thales, that everything was made of water and everything is full of gods, but all the same, it was the gods that triggered man to shift from his earlier position and to examine other ways to explore why things happened the way they did and why man also behaved the way he did. Man started to observe life from a completely new perspective due to the influence of philosophers. Ancient Greece went on to produce some of the greatest philosophers in the western world, and this revolutionized the whole world in its way of thinking as man started to thirst for and seek wisdom (Kenny, 19). Philosophy has been referred to by some people as the love o f wisdom. Philosophy is important to man because it looks at basic issues through reason and observation, and thus enables us to choose the way to do things and also how to live with one another in harmony in any given situation and grouping. It enables man to come to conclusion about issues from a point of knowledge. Today, philosophy has developed over the years and covers mainly for different areas which are logic, epistemology, metaphysics and axiology. Logic involves the obtaining of knowledge by looking at the evidence and listening to the arguments brought forth and analyzing them philosophically (Brown). People may say what they do not mean but a philosopher can bring out the truth through philosophical reasoning. Epistemology, which is a branch of philosophy, is the ability to support what we believe with facts about it. It looks at what conditions must be satisfied so as to assert that what we say is true about something. As man makes statements about issues, epistemology is very important. Metaphysics is the study of what things exist, their nature and the reasons why they function the way they do. It also deals with examining why people behave the way they do. It examines whether it is through their free will or as a result of other factors. This is an important shift from the pre philosophy period where all was attributed to the gods and other personalities. It enables man to know his world better and even integrate better. Axiology is the study of different types of values, and these are beauty and art, social and political aspects and ethics (Brown). Political philosophy has facilitated the setting up of good political systems while ethical behavior is important as people live with one another in the world because it examines right and wrong and good and evil.

Analysis of No Exit and Existentialism Essay Example for Free

Analysis of No Exit and Existentialism Essay No Exits central themes of freedom and responsibility come from Sartres doctrine that existence precedes essence. Sartre believed that a being-for-itself differed from inanimate objects, or a being-in-itself, since humans have the ability to choose and define their individual characteristics. But with this freedom of choice comes the absolute responsibility for ones action. The fear and anxiety of this responsibility leads many people to ignore both their freedom and their responsibility by letting other people make their choices for them, resulting in bad faith. This bad faith is what causes Garcin to be unable to leave the room when the door opens. He cant handle the responsibility of confronting his decision to flee his country, and thus leaves it up to Inez to judge him and define his essence. Similarly, Estelle does not think that she exists unless she looks in a mirror, seeing herself as others do. When Inez pretends to be her mirror and says Estelle has a pimple on her face, Estelles bad faith causes her to accept someone else literally creating her essence. Both Estelle and Garcin are not only condemned to be free, but are willing to condemn themselves in order to avoid being free. This emphasis on bad faith establishes Sartres underlying argument of the play: Hell is other people. Using only three people and an empty room, Sartre evokes scenes of utter torture and despair. Garcin and Estelle refuse to let go of their pasts, each looking at their friends and loved ones back on earth. They attempt to justify their existence by only thinking about their past experiences: as Garcin explains, his fate is the evaluation of his past actions by other people. Inez however, sees her past as meaningless and inaccessible, choosing to exist in the present instead. Inez is the only character in the play intent on confronting both her responsibility and her suffering.

Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest Essay -- Ken Kesey Flew Cu

Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The theme of this story â€Å"One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest† according to Daniel Woods is â€Å"Power is the predominant theme of Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest': who holds power, who doesn't, who wants it, who loses it, how it is used to intimidate and manipulate and for what purposes, and, most especially, how it is disrupted and subverted, challenged, denied and assumed† (http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/cuckoosnest/essays/essay1.html). No, it is not McMurphy who flew over the Cuckoo’s nest, or Harding, or Taber. It wasn’t Martini or Cheswick, or Bibbit, Chief Bromden or Bancini. The journey of crazies that flew over the Cuckoo’s nest was in the asylum, but they were not patients. The mad people in this scenario were paid to be mad. Nurse Ratched, Dr. John Spivey and other staff, like Washington, were salaried each day to come into the asylum and impose dreadful doses of mental (and sometimes physical) hurt on the so-called "nuts" whose lives consisted of white hallways and white floors. McMurphy lost his life because he saw the reality in the asylum, the Cuckoo’s nest. He lost his life because he had not yet been in long enough to grow resistant to the brutal treatment that he received. He lost his life because he figured out who the real nuts were and, unlike the other inmates, McMurphy still knew enough of fairness to comprehend and want to remove the dreadful unfairness being done to the powerless patients inside the asylum. Randall McMurphy is ushered through the hospital doors by two attendants dressed in white. Among the white walls and floors, McMurphy, wearing scuffed blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a black tight cap, represents a figurative interference of the exterior world entering this sterilized, bitter hospital. Upon entering the ward that is too become his final resting place, he jokes with the current patients, wears a deceitful smile and a deck of cards is rolled up in his sleeve. Immediately he questions the rule of the institution to require all the patients to take medicinal pills, regardless of their sickness or disease. In just these opening scenes of the movie, director Milos Forman has foreshadowed Randall McMurphy’s future: McMurphy enters the asylum wearing black, the color of death, and right away he shows disobedience against authority by questioni... ...o. Nurse Ratched can be easily recognized as a bad character and McMurphy as the gallant rogue that challenges her authority. The movie was so successful that â€Å"In February 1976, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest was rewarded by the academy with nine Oscar nominations†. (Entertainment Weekly). When McMurphy returns from getting his second dose of electroshock therapy and a lobotomy, as punishment for his attempt to strangle Nurse Ratched to death, he is barely human. Two doctors tuck him into bed because he is too weak to do it himself. The arrangement has beaten Randall McMurphy at the game of life. He lies like a vegetable in bed, unaware to the outside world. He is not able to rebel against the doctors. He cannot lead the patients in a rebellion. Chief Bromden sees that McMurphy’s future has been stolen, along with his manhood, and suffocates him to death with a pillow. McMurphy lies dead in bed. In dying this way, his recollection is sealed among his fellow patients. He can die as a sort of martyr for the men in the little microcosm of a world inside the hospital walls. In one sense, McMurphy was crazy. It was optimistic and crazy to think that he could change such a system.

Critical Analysis of The Awakening Essay -- Kate Chopin The Awakening

Critical Analysis of The Awakening The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as mother and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the ultimate cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursuit of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses many images to clarify the relationship between Robert and Edna and to show that Robert is the cause of both her freedom and her destruction. Birds are a sizable image in The Awakening. Edna feels like a caged bird, and wishes to be freed. When Madame Ratignolle plays the piano, Edna often creates pictures in her head that represent the music. Edna's picture of a musical peice called "Solitude" is "the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore" (71). "His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him" (71). Edna feels like this man, as though she is trapped and cannot spread her wings and fly. This is a danger, however. Caged birds, although they are not free, are safe. They do not know of the dangers that can come with freedom. Once Edna tastes freedom, she does not want to go back to the safety of a caged life. She does not know of all the possible dangers, and being naive, she is very s...

Male vs Female Crime Rates Essay

Statistics indicate that men are more likely to commit crime than women. For example, in 2002 80% of known offenders (481,000+) were men. As there are a number of problems with the reliability and validity of statistics, an alternative to information are self-report studies. These are anonymous and some believe because they all but guarantee anonymity they encourage respondents to be more truthful than if they were involved in an interview. In the past, sociologists tended to pay attention to only males committing crimes and ignored gender differences. This began to change in the 1970’s when feminists such as Carol Smart looked into woman and crime and began to ask questions such as: †¢ Why do woman commit fewer crimes than men? †¢ Why are woman more likely to commit to social norms compared to men? †¢ Is there anything distinctive about a woman’s experience as an offenders and as victims of crime? †¢ Are woman treated differently than men in the justice system? There is now an agreement within sociology that when studying crime and deviance we must take into account gender. This means we must also ask questions about men. What is the relationship between crime and masculinity? Sex role theory: this theory argues that boys and girls are socialized differently, therefore resulting in boys becoming more delinquent. There are different versions of this theory. Edwin Sutherland (1949) stated that there are clear gender differences when it comes to socialization. Firstly, girls are more supervised and more strictly controlled. Secondly, boys are encouraged to take risks and to be tough and aggressive. Therefore, boys have more of an opportunity and an inclination to commit crime. Talcott Parsons (1995) believes that there are clear and obvious gender roles within the nuclear family. The father performs roles which show him to be more of the leader and provider, whilst the mother performs the expressive role of giving emotional support and socializing children. These roles are rooted from the birth of their children as mothers have to give birth and nurse children. Girls have a readily available female role model at home (their mother) whereas boys have less access to their male role model as traditionally the father was out at work for most of the time. Boys will be socialized largely by their mother and will tend to reject behavior that is seen as feminine as they compulsively pursue masculinity. Because of the emphasis on toughness and aggression this encourages anti-social behavior and delinquency. Albert Cohen (1955) believed that if boys don’t have that readily available role model, socialization can be a difficult process. Boys can experience anxiety about their identity as a young man and a solution for this is all male peer groups or street gangs. In these social contexts, aspects of masculinity can be expressed and rewarded. The idea of being tough and breaking rules can help to conform to the idea of masculinity. The feminist perspectives on who is involved in crime starts from the view that society is patriarchal and woman can only be understood under male dominance. Pat Carlen (1990) stated that a woman’s crimes can be known as ‘the crimes of the powerless’ as many woman who commit crimes are powerless in some way. For example, they live in poverty with little power to change the situation; as children they may have been badly treated and looked after, perhaps being abused by fathers. As adults they have often lived under the dominance of male partners who asserted control – perhaps in the form of violence. After interviews with 39 woman aged 15 to 46 convicted of various offences, Carlen drew on the control theory – saying that woman turn to crime when the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. It appeared that the interviewed women turned to crime as a rational choice. Low paid work and unemployment had not led to the standard of living they hoped for, and living an unhappy life as children and as adults was very unfulfilling. Unrewarded by family and the workplace and with little power to change the situation, crime was a rational alternative. However, critics of Carlen claim that her sample of woman was too small to make generalized statements. Her research also suggests that conformity to social norms tends to break down when the rewards for doing so are absent. Conformity and control: According to Frances Heidensohn the striking thing about woman’s behaviour is their conformity to social norms. Taking in mind the control theory, women have more to lose than men if they deviate from social norms. And looking from a feminist view, she argues that in a male-dominated society the control of woman by men discourages deviance from norms. In the home and family, women still have the primary responsibility for raising children and taking on the domestic work. Their commitment to this also means they are committing to the conformity of the traditional mother-housewife role and socializing their children in terms of society’s norms and values. Women have been socialized to conform. Girls are more strictly supervised and given less freedom, they are expected to perform household duties. These expectations and control have been carried on into adult life. As adults, women are not only controlled by their childhood socialization but also by their male partners. Woman who challenge these traditional roles are often brought into line by men’s financial and physical power. According to Heidensohn, wife battering is an assertion of patriarchal authority. Women’s socialization, domestic responsibilities plus the control imposed on them by men discourage the deviance from social norms. Their lives are centered on the home so they have less freedom to go out. As a result they have less inclination, less time and fewer opportunities to commit crime. Beyond the home a woman’s freedom to deviate from social norms is also limited in a number of ways; for example, some women do not want to go out after dark as they are in fear of getting attacked or raped by men. A young woman’s fear of being attacked by a stranger is five times greater than a young male’s. They are also less likely to deviate from norms of respectability for fear of being labeled promiscuous. In a working environment men are more likely than women to be in control, in positions such as supervisory or managerial roles, and surveys indicate that sexual harassment is common in the workplace and it is a further indication of male power and control which is often experienced as intimidating by women. Both inside and outside the home, there is pressure for woman to conform- and this is reinforced by male power. Crime and masculinities: Research into gender over the last 25 years has mainly been concerned with woman and crime as it was seen as a new topic after decades of research into men and crime. Feminists would focus on woman and men would enter the equation in terms of the control men had over woman. Researchers now recognize that there is another side to gender and crime and start to ask questions such as: Why are men more likely to commit crime than woman? And is there a relationship between male crime and masculinity? Gender identity is a vital part of the individual’s sense of self – it is something that people accomplish. People are continuously trying to express and present their masculinity or femininity. And in relation to crime, you can say men commit crime as a means of constructing this masculinity to express to others and themselves. There are a number of different masculinities which are shaped by social class, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation. Men’s position in society provides them with different access to power and resources which leads to different constructions and expressions of masculinity – and this leads to different types of crime. The most dominant form of masculinity is known as hegemonic masculinity. It’s the most ideal form, which is defined through work in paid labour, the subordination of women, heterosexism and the uncontrollable sexuality of men. Most men wish to accomplish this. The alternative is subordinated masculinities. They include masculinities which develop in some ethnic minority and lower class groups and homosexual masculinity. Young middle-class white males are usually able to demonstrate some of the characteristics of hegemonic masculinity through success at school or college. But this comes at a price – subordination to teachers. Some assert their masculinity outside of school through vandalism, petty theft and heavy drinking. White working- class males are less likely to be successful in education. They sometimes resist school and construct their masculinity around physical aggression, anti-social behaviour, delinquency and some cases violence towards gays and members of ethnic minority groups. Lower working class men from ethnic minority groups with little expectation of educational success or secure employment sometimes assert their masculinity in street gangs. With little chance of accomplishing hegemonic masculinity by legitimate means, they are more likely to turn to robbery and serious property crime. Even middle class males who have the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity use crime to express masculinity. James Messerschmidt argues that white collar and corporate crime are not simply a means for profiting the individual or the organization. There are also a means of accomplishing hegemonic masculinity as a successful breadwinner and as an aggressive risk-taking male Working class crime in the workplace can also be seen as a means of accomplishing masculinity. Workers sometimes resist the authority of management by theft and industrial sabotage. Messerschmidt uses the example of African-Americans to illustrate a subordinated masculinity. Lower class African-Americans males often lack the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity. The pimp and hustler are long-established roles in African-American subculture and are often seen as an alternative to subordinated masculinity. The pimp looks after a number of prostitutes and lives of their earnings. With their expensive car, diamond rings and power over women, Messerschmidt argues that the pimp demonstrates a highly visible alternative masculinity to himself and others.

Stalwart

Stalwart Stalwart Stalwart By Maeve Maddox A reader asks for clarification regarding the word stalwart: I am confused about the meaning of â€Å"stalwart† in the following context: â€Å"One of the most influential companies in high technology right now may be a 135-year-old industrial stalwart.† According to OED, as a noun, stalwart means â€Å"loyalist, hard-working supporter.† Nonetheless, I fail to grasp the meaning of stalwart qualified by industrial as adjective. As a noun, stalwart has more than one meaning; â€Å"loyal supporter† is only one of them. Stalwart began as an adjective. The Old English adjective stalworth was applied to things like ships to mean â€Å"serviceable.† When applied to people and animals, it meant, â€Å"strongly and stoutly built.† The meaning extended to include brave, courageous, and valiant. In Scots dialect, the word became stalwart and was reintroduced into English thanks to the popularity of the novels of Sir Walter Scott. In modern usage, stalwart functions as both adjective and noun. Adjective As an adjective, stalwart means, resolute, unbending, and determined, as well as brave, courageous, and valiant. For example: The epic valor of the Greeks in driving back the Italian invaders together with Britain’s stalwart resistance to Hitler’s crushing blows, has given new meaning to human courage in war. Her stalwart defense of the environment in Maryland is embodied in her support for building a green jobs workforce, protecting the Chesapeake Bay, and for a clean energy economy. Noun â€Å"A stalwart† can be a person who has achieved wide recognition in some business or pursuit: Hollywood stalwart Ernest Borgnine dies at age 95 Josh H. Groce, a  noted stalwart  of the Texas trial bar Or it can refer to a company or institution that has been in operation for a long time. This is the sense in which stalwart is used in the sentence submitted by the reader. Here are some more examples of this use of stalwart to refer to a company: Sales for the New York-based pharmaceutical stalwart  were $13.56 billion against last years $13.89 billion. The remaining companies experiencing growth last year [included] electronics retailer HHGregg Inc. and pharmaceutical stalwart Eli Lilly and Co. And while many of its architects are well-known Silicon Valley companies, longtime Milwaukee industrial stalwart Rockwell Automation Inc. has positioned itself at the heart of the phenomenon, which some consider the next industrial revolution. Finally, in the context of politics, the noun stalwart means, â€Å"a sturdy uncompromising partisan†: AIPAC lauds re-election of pro-Israel stalwarts First deficit panel picks are Democratic stalwarts Utah is overall a conservative state much in line with the public policy principles of Republican stalwarts like Gov. Mitt Romney, Gov. Michael Leavitt and Gov. Jon Huntsman.   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Masters Degree or Master's Degree?44 Resume Writing TipsPersonification vs. Anthropomorphism

Hampton

Hampton Introduction The Hampton-Newport Community Services Board (HNNCSB) offers a broad range of mental well-being and drug abuse services and care for people with mental and developmental disorders (Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, 2013).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These services are available to people of all ages in Hampton and Newport News. The agency’s vision is to create a community in which individuals can find their own purpose and be self-determining (Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, 2013). The HNNCSB’s mission is to offer an inclusive range of services and supports by encouraging avoidance, recovery, and independence for people impacted by mental disorder, drug use, and intellectual and developmental disabilities, and encouraging health of societies it serves (Hampton-Newport News Communi ty Services Board, 2013). In order to achieve these goals, the agency has adopted critical core values, which include collaboration, continuous improvement, cultural competency, development, dignity and respect, professionalism, quality, and stewardship and accountability. The agency believes that these core values have enabled it to offer effective services. Services provided by the agency and any associated costs The agency offers a number of services to its clients. These services are mainly case management and supports. Case management involves the provision of services to people with serious mental disabilities to allow them to live productively in society. The agency has divided its services into several different areas in order to provide critical care by monitoring individual’s specific needs and engaging the required agency in the provision of care. The agency has case managers, who are mainly â€Å"mental health therapists, nurses, or social workers† (Hampton -Newport News Community Services Board, 2013). Case managers work with clients or their families in order to develop personalized plans, which are based on strengthens and preferences of clients in order to manage their disabilities effectively. Case management for adults Intellectual development disability services (IDDS) is a case management service for adults with mental problems and developmental challenges (Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, 2013). The agency offers services to allow such adults to live independently. Case managers work with the client and the family of the client to develop interventions for specific needs.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Case managers also ensure that clients get other services, arrange for these services and transportation. They also support clients from hospitals and home care facilities to start new life in society, a s well as counseling and psychosocial support to overcome normal challenges in life. There is also IDDS for day services. This service allows adults with mental retardation to be independent and find meaning in life. These services involve support, training, and other initiatives, which can facilitate improved life at homes, workplaces, and in societies. The final service for adults is IDDS, which entails diagnosis, evaluation, and psychological assessment. The agency conducts a thorough evaluation of all individuals who require its services with the aim of determining the most effective services for such persons. Evaluations involve psychological assessment in situations where clients require them. The agency works together with certified psychoanalysts and psychologists (Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, 2013) in the provision of these services to its clients. Case management for Children and Adolescents The HNNCSB offers services for children and adolescents. The IDD S focuses on providing service after school and summer holidays. Children who suffer from mental disorders and other disabilities get effective services from HNNCSB after school. They get high quality services and school bus transportation to the program. The agency provides services for children and adolescents with hearing problems, deaf, blind, and deafblind or deaf children. The HNNCSB offers gender-related substance abuse interventions. These services are available through other clinics in the vicinity such as, â€Å"Hampton Roads Clinic, Partners in Recovery, Project LINK, Men’s Substance Abuse Case Management, and South-Eastern Family Project† (Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, 2013).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Common characteristics of clients served The Hampton-Newport Community Services Board ser ves children, adolescents, and adults, i.e., it caters for people of all ages. The agency’s clients are mainly people with the following disorders or challenges: Mental retardation problems Drug and substance abuse Blindness Deaf Deafblind Hearing problems The presence of a social worker in the agency, if any The agency has social workers, who it refers to as case managers. However, case managers could be any specialist in the agency. Article Summary Gwinner, Knox, and Brough (2013) observed that there were developing interests in research evidence in mental illnesses in order to provide evidence-based practices in providing care in health facilities and social work fields (Gwinner, Knox Brough, 2013). The article explored recovery and illness among eight people. Researchers used a Participatory Action Research approach to conduct the study. The researchers acted subjectively as clients with mental illness, who were also artists. The study noted a specific issue of concern during recovery by using a clinical term in order to achieve prior standards set by health workers for their clients in recovery. The researchers concluded that individualized interventions and values for mental illness and recovery patients were related to several dynamics and complicated perceptions, which patients acquired from their life experiences and objects in their environments. References Gwinner, K., Knox, M., and Brough, M. (2013). Making Sense of Mental Illness as a Full Human Experience: Perspective of Illness and Recovery Held by People With a Mental Illness Living in the Community. Social Work in Mental Health, 11(2), 99- 117. DOI: 10.1080/15332985.2012.717063.Advertising Looking for report on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board. (2013). Who We Are. Retrieved from hnncsb.org/who-we-are.html

Dorothea lange essays

Dorothea lange essays Dorothea Lange was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 26th 1895. Her full name at birth was Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn. She was the first child of Joan and Henry Nutzhorn, which were second-generation German immigrants. Dorothea decided to drop her middle name and use her mothers maiden name after her father left her family. Dorothea finally developed inner strength and decided to pursue an education for her self. From 1914 to 1917, Dorothea attended public schools in New York City. She went on to study photography at Colombia University and also worked in a New York Portrait studio. In 1918, she began to travel until she ended up in San Francisco where she furthered her studies. After San Francisco she met her husband, Maynard Dixon, a painter. She traveled to the southwest with him photographing Native Americans. Dorothea Lange was a photographer that captured many memories of the Great Depression. She believed that the camera could teach people how to see without a camera. While Dorotheas career was flourishing she and her husband divorced. She met Paul Schuster Taylor; they decided to marry in 1935. She then went to work for the California and Federal Resettlement Administration to record the Dust Bowl. During this time, she created her most familiar image, Migrant Mother. This image is now found in the Library of Congress collection. She always said, The good photograph is not the object, the consequences of the photograph are the objects. Three months after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the relocation of Japanese-Americans into armed camps in the West. After the War, a Relocation Authority hired Lange to photograph Japanese neighborhoods, processing centers, and camp facilities. This was a start to a new chapter in Dorotheas life. During World War II Dorothea documented the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans in camps. She ...

Assignment 6 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment 6 - Research Paper Example In this regard, Data works have extreme support towards the successive evaluation of various school counselling programs. There are huge numbers of schools whose data records are to be kept appropriately for the easy evaluation of these counselling programs. School counsellors with support of other members of the school build paper works regarding the learning, participation in various programs, undisciplined behaviour and absenteeism of the students. In addition, school counsellor delivers information to the principal of the schools so that they must structure an overall data of the students in an excel sheet and other data storing software to have a better track record of the actions of students. Moreover, l counsellors should organize meetings with parents, teachers and students to reveal the effectiveness of the counselling programs towards the educational, social along with future career development of the students. They should deliver motivational thoughts with practical exampl es so that it encourages the students. They should also share the survey status wherein illiteracy along with the poverty rates has arised due to lack of proper education and career programs. These actions of the counsellors would motivate and create a positive environment for the students to have a bright future (1American School Counselor Association 1-4; Young and Kaffenberger 1-31). Furthermore, professional school counsellors play a crucial role towards efficient implementation of â€Å"School Counselling Programs†. School counsellors have various responsibilities for assessing and evaluating appropriate and successful counselling programs. Therefore, they have to plan the academic program of the students and organize aptitude, cognitive and achievement tests from the students. They also need to organize counselling programs for the absentees, undisciplined students as well as to address the

Causes of Water Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes of Water Pollution - Essay Example It disrupts the balance of an ecosystem. Water pollution is caused when pollutants are indirectly or directly discharged into water bodies. As a result of the impairment by anthropogenic contaminants, polluted water does not support human use (Hester 115). It also does not support constituent biotic communities. Plants and animals are immensely affected by water pollution. Though natural events such as algae blooms, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and storms can cause water pollution, human activities are the major causes of pollution. Â  The contaminants that lead to water pollution are covered in a wide spectrum of pathogens and chemicals, in addition to sensory and physical changes that are occasioned by discoloration and changes in temperature. Chemical substances that cause water pollution are usually toxic, while the pathogens produce waterborne diseases (Hester 139). Alterations in the physical chemistry of water include the electrical conductivity and acidity of water. Â  Water pollution can be caused by pathogens, which are disease-causing micro-organisms. Most of the bacteria found in water are beneficial or harmless. However, a few pathogens have the potentials to cause infectious diseases. The best indicator for pathogens in water is the Coliform bacteria, which is used as a bacterial indicator in case of water pollution. There are a number of harmful microorganisms that are found on the surface of the water. The pollutant microorganisms include Burkholderia pseudomallei, Cryptosporidium param, Giardia lamblia, Salmonella, parasitic worms and Novo virus (Hester 166). High levels of pathogens may be caused by the discharge of inadequately treated sewage into freshwater systems. Additionally, some cities may have aged infrastructure, which may leak pathogens into the water system. Â  

Civil War - Historiography project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Civil War - Historiography project - Essay Example rovided encouragement for the South to ratify the 13th Amendment", and was able to secure political fortune when the Congress sustained his arguments against the Freedmans Bureau Act, and then suddenly he plunged in the shadow of darkness. As per McPherson, Andrew Johnson was "untouchable because of his great power, nothing, in their perception, can toss him from their lofty eminence; except for pride, which affects the brain; it gives one a false sense of invincibility; it leads one even to think one is more than human". It is therefore suspected that Johnson was confident about his total victory, and ignored the "recipes for a thundering fall" (Walter, 1907). McPherson has mentioned that in the political era of Andrew Johnson "crowds of supporters would march to the home of their leaders and call them to the window for an impromptu address" (Matthew, 2007). Johnson has delivered such addresses on different occasions, such as when the Congress approved resolutions which supported the plan for reconstruction proposed by Johnson. Andrew forwarded the proposal for relaxation of terms for admission of Southern to the Union. The President forwarded the theory of the Union, which highlighted that the greatness of this country existed in its unity and oneness. McPherson confirmed that George Washington, Lincoln and Andrew Jackson supported the existence and rights of Union. It was Johnson who forwarded the concept of "lenient return to political standing for the South" (Richard, 1990). McPherson has agreed that "historiography of Andrew Johnson has not been kind to him; this was because most of it was written by Northerners, sympathizers with th e more Radical Republicans". McPherson has revealed interesting observation with reference to the speeches of Johnson, "Johnsons language began in a rather conciliatory vein, and quickly turned to spite and vitriol". Anderson appreciated the sincerity and support of the Congress, the proposals forwarded by the President for the

Marketing research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing research - Assignment Example ... This corporate combination has become popular because it enhances competition, limiting of trade barriers and free flow of resources across countries. Acquisition or takeover even enhances the globalization of business also. Takeover or acquisition is a strategic decision taken by the think tanks of the company, for optimizing the growth of the company, enhancing its production and marketing operations. When the acquisition is forced or unwilling in the sense of the term, then it is called take over. Acquisition: Acquisition means taking control of the target firm by another firm. This corporate action is now a part of company strategy. The control is accessed by buying the most of ownership stakes of the targeted company. Acquisition is also called takeover, which is a â€Å"process through which one company takes over the controlling interest of another company. Acquisition includes obtaining supplies or services by contract or purchase order with appropriated or non-appropriated funds, for the use of federal agencies through purchase or lease† (Venture Capital Glossary: Definition of Acquisition 2001). Friendly Acquisition: In some cases, the board of directors approves a buyout offer from an acquiring firm. The stakeholders of the company may vote,  to pass the decision  as well.  The most important matter is whether the buyout will happen at the price offered per share. The acquiring company (The company which offers the buyout) will recommend a premium to the existing market price, but  the amount of this  premium  will be settled on the overall support for the buyout, from the shareholders within the target  company. In friendly acquisition, the managers of both companies hold a meeting in order to take decisions. â€Å"The acquisition of

Energy Efficient Food System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Energy Efficient Food System - Essay Example Form this explanation; it is very clear that any food system is affected not only by environmental factors but by also social, political and economic factors play a major role. (Michael Webber, Scientific American: â€Å"How to Make Food System More Energy Efficient† Jan 2012) expresses this point by looking at: 1. How food-energy relationships are changing. 2. What ways of food production are over utilizing the available energy, how they do it? 3. Ways of improving the food-energy ratio. According to the article, there has been an increase in the demand for energy especially fossil fuels and diverse countries are trying to fight this demand but are overlooking the food system as a major user of energy. There are certain farming methods which eventually lead to more energy being used to utilize food than that which we get from that same food. Evidence shows that there is a 10.1 ratio of energy input to food output and more energy is used to preserve and prepare food due to the use of more machinery like tractors. The author expresses optimism in improving this ratio, for example, he suggests stopping using corn kernels for starch-based ethanol as this seems like a process of interfering with nature. Conversion of agricultural waste like manure into products of power is another way to curb entering into the energy-danger zone. This can also provide vital nutrients to livestock and make more food available to us, for instance feeding of livestock by algal biomass will enable there to be more corn as food for humans thus less energy used for food production. Drip irrigation are among other pilot methods that have been used successfully not to mention improving our behavior like reducing food wastage and dietary options of eating lesser portions of food will go a long way in improving the 10.1 ratio. The high population increase in the world means a greater demand for food and thus higher demand for energy to produce this food. Some areas which were seen as non-agricultural areas for instance great deserts, were improved so as to be agricultural but there is still high energy consumption through transportation and irrigation and this does not solve this problem. Such a situation is described in instances where more energy is used to make food than that given out by the same food. There are instances where plants only convert less than 2% of solar energy into stored energy which is consumed by animals which are then consumed by humans and is again stored as glycogen instead of being given out. After thorough review of past experiments done by experts, the author believes that there is still hope in improving the 10.1 ratio. From studying researches done, it is clear that if the Americans stop using corn kernels for starch-based ethanol, they will be able to produce up to 15 gallons of corn-based feed-stocks which can be used as feed for both livestock and humans. Other ways of doing this are through; Use of cellulose sources for energy instead of food-based sources Conversion of agricultural waste into power using anaerobic digesters Using carbon-dioxide from smokestacks at coal plants to grow algae for food. Implementing agricultural techniques which have been perfected in pilot diagrams will also reduce the 10.1 ratio. For example drip irrigation creates less water wastage than sprinkle irrigation, in states like Iowa, researchers say

Marketing research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing research - Assignment Example ... This corporate combination has become popular because it enhances competition, limiting of trade barriers and free flow of resources across countries. Acquisition or takeover even enhances the globalization of business also. Takeover or acquisition is a strategic decision taken by the think tanks of the company, for optimizing the growth of the company, enhancing its production and marketing operations. When the acquisition is forced or unwilling in the sense of the term, then it is called take over. Acquisition: Acquisition means taking control of the target firm by another firm. This corporate action is now a part of company strategy. The control is accessed by buying the most of ownership stakes of the targeted company. Acquisition is also called takeover, which is a â€Å"process through which one company takes over the controlling interest of another company. Acquisition includes obtaining supplies or services by contract or purchase order with appropriated or non-appropriated funds, for the use of federal agencies through purchase or lease† (Venture Capital Glossary: Definition of Acquisition 2001). Friendly Acquisition: In some cases, the board of directors approves a buyout offer from an acquiring firm. The stakeholders of the company may vote,  to pass the decision  as well.  The most important matter is whether the buyout will happen at the price offered per share. The acquiring company (The company which offers the buyout) will recommend a premium to the existing market price, but  the amount of this  premium  will be settled on the overall support for the buyout, from the shareholders within the target  company. In friendly acquisition, the managers of both companies hold a meeting in order to take decisions. â€Å"The acquisition of

Letter to school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter to school - Essay Example A calm and serene environment promotes and stimulates the inquisitive mind of a student. The company of knowledgeable and learned colleagues is an invigorating factor which encourages a student to learn by discussion and sharing. Staying in the main campus also saves a lot of time spent in commuting to and fro, which can be devoted to studious pursuits. Access to the campus library is another factor, where one can find all the pertinent books, journals, newspapers and articles for quick reference. All relevant departments are also within a stone’s throw and one can seek help of the faculty as and when required. I have adequate experience as a student as I come from a family with educational background. My father obtained his Ph.D. from the United States. Although I am of Korean descent, I was born in America and am well versed with the American way of life. My experience after serving in the army has matured me beyond my years and I understand the sanctity of a healthy educational pursuit. Although I don’t have the necessary credit, I am sure I will fulfill any deficiencies within a short period if I am given the opportunity to shift to the main campus. I have already established my residence nearby and there is no problem in sustaining myself in a congenial manner at the

Memoir of American Sniper Essay Example for Free

Memoir of American Sniper Essay Growing up in a small southern town, Kyle always loved the thrill of hunting, the adrenaline of a rodeo and the adventures of cowboys. Little did he know that his career would include each of these elements. Through his four tours of duty, Kyle served in many major battles of the Iraqi war and ranked over 160 confirmed kills. His first kill came in late March 2003. His Seal Team was tasked to assist the marines as they marched toward Baghdad. Set up on the roof of a run down building, he observed through his scope a woman yank a Chinese grenade from beneath her clothes. As ordered to, he opened fire and consequently saved several Americans’ lives. Over time he increased his accuracy and lethality. One day, he spotted a group of three insurgents 1,600 yards away. Though they believed they were a safe distance away, Kyle incredibly dialed up his own solution, and killed one of them; that shot resulted in his longest confirmed kill in Iraq. I liked this memoir because Kyle demonstrates his patriotism and his selflessness through his perilous adventures. Kyle enlisted in the Seals to honor America, and to protect her people. Chris â€Å"risked [his] life for [his] buddies, to protect [his] friends and fellow countrymen† (267). Furthermore, even though he had a newborn baby, he sacrificed his responsibility as a father in order to serve his country. His extreme patriotism and selflessness allowed him to become a legend.

Gender and Pornography

Gender and Pornography Introduction Throughout history women have been portrayed as subordinates of men or the weaker gender. This essay explores the portrayal of femininity as the weaker gender through the discourse on pornography and femininity portrayed in popular culture. Its purpose is to broaden the understanding of femininity- gender discourse from the perspectives of pornography and femininity portrayed in popular culture. In order words, how does the perception of pornography and the portrayal of femininity in popular culture emphasise the weaker gender perception of femininity? Therefore, the purpose of this essay is clear but the lingering question is how it can be achieved. In this regard, the essay advances four propositions. The first section provides a conceptual understanding of gender and femininity for analytical discourse. The second section critically explores the femininity- gender discourse within a legal structure and questions like is femininity the weaker gender? How and why femininity is portr ayed in this regard come up for discussion. This will also be discussed in relation to how femininity gendered roles disadvantages women. The section that follows critically analyses the law on pornography and femininity nexus. The third section critically explores how femininity is depicted in the media. The last is the summary and the conclusion. What is Gender? Gender can be defined in many ways. Sociologists contend that gender is a consequence of nature resulting from the effect of hormones, brains or genes of two different sexes.[1] However, this essay will explain Butlers perspective and views on gender. According to Butler, gender is defined as a social construct formed through constant cultural reinforcement and rigorous regulatory practices.[2] Hence, gender is associated with how an individual takes part in certain manners of conduct. In order words, through everyday practices or actions, laws, dress codes, taboos, pornography and advertisement the conception of essential masculinity and femininity is developed. Butler asserts that gender operates from the cultural associations and values that the sexed body takes on.[3] This creates the concept of essentialism. Essentialism is defined as the characteristics of persons or groups which are largely similar in all human cultures and historical periods, since they are significantly infl uenced by biological factors.[4] Through the course of essentialism, gender roles are created in the society and are related to an individuals sex. Gender essentialism often creates stereotypes in relation to the behavioural pattern that should be exhibited by men and women. The problem with this is that the perceptions of gender is not fixed and changes from culture to culture, society to society as well as generation to generation and within these confines changes and evolves. Therefore, the rationale behind social constructs of masculinity and femininity being associated with a particular biological sex is void. Butler asserts that taken into its logical limits, the sex-gender distinction suggests a radical discontinuity between sexed bodies and culturally constructed genders.[5]  For Butler, there is no need for a doer behind the deed but the doer be constructed through the deed.[6] In terms of understanding identity, the distinction between gender and sex must be established. Hence, the concept of gender and sex has been used interrelatedly. While sex involves the biological aspects thus distinct and unchangeable, gender is a social construct formulated by the culture in which an individual lives in.[7] Therefore the labels man and woman are biologically and socially different.[8] The importance posited on this distinction is that the biological fact of sex is merely a fact of interest as a result of the cultural importance attached to it.[9] This categorisation usually begins from childbirth and parents are required by the law to specify whether the sex is male or female. The traditional ideology concerning gender and sexuality involves the notion of heteronormativity which relates to the idea of heterosexuality as the natural and normal behaviour in the society.[10] However, sexuality is natural and normative if it if it fits into the context of heterosexuali ty. Femininity Shea describes femininity as the classified set of attributes, behaviours, mannerism, interests, expectations, roles and appearances that are associated with being female.[11] Under Butlers view of repeated acts appropriate gender-specific roles are formed. Simone Beauvoir contends that one is not born, but rather becomes a woman.[12] She further asserts that the concept of femininity is actualised by consistently creating gender through interacting with individuals in a specific social context.[13] Women can be different things; they can be wives, mothers, lesbians, heterosexuals and criminals.[14] However, Butler does not allude that the individual can choose which gender he or she wants to enact but the script is invariably already determined within a regulatory framework and the individual is given a limited number of costumes in which he or she is obliged to make a particular choice of gender style.[15] Butler describes this act as girling the girl[16] it is important to note th at though essential femininity relates to women, men can also exhibit essential feminine traits likewise women exhibiting essential masculine traits.[17] This alteration of societys binary gender roles is described as gender nonconformity. Therefore, if a woman does not fit into this premeditated identity formulated by law and society her essence could be invisible. [18] Gender Performance According to Butler, gender is performative. She defines performativity by stating; gender is in no way a stable identity of locus of agency from which various acts proceed; rather, it is an identity tenuously constituted in time [. . .] an identity instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self.[19] She argues that gender and gender roles are social acts that an individual performs in daily life, the hegemonic versions of which underlay prevalent concepts of male as masculine and female as feminine.[20] Zimmerman further contends that a persons gender is categorised based on how they perform it.[21] Therefore, the way society reacts to gender performances forms gender identification. Men and women in the society are required to comply with specific gender roles according to the sex in which they are categorized. Oa kley states that gender roles have an important impact on human lives as numerous reports suggests that gender are culturally rather than biologically produced[22] Conclusively, individuals are taught on how they are expected to behave within the society. Traditional stereotypes associated with men described them as protectors, providers, openminded and aggressive whereas women were perceived to be weak, passive and emotional.[23] These stereotypes have shaped the way masculinity is seen as the stronger gender and femininity as the weaker gender. Hence, this essay argues that feminine norms regularly relegates women to subordinate or secondary roles and performing such gendered roles disadvantages women in the society. This aspect of the essay focuses on gendered objectification of women. Objectification described as the act of objectifying an individual is often significantly gendered (mostly towards females) and, vital towards the process of gendering a person and rendering them a s lesser human beings.[24] In western society, the pressure on females to perform an ideal expression of femininity is so extreme that it is impossible for a woman to be adequately skinny, beautiful, submissive, sexy and conventional so as to be seen as a good woman.[25] Women tend to be dehumanised even in situations where they perform their gender roles according to hegemonic norms.[26] Ironically, they are being dehumanised for performing their gendered roles. Objectification acts as one basis against which the gender binary criticises womens gender performance irrespective of appropriate performance of gender norms. They are constantly ridiculed as merely weak tools for emotional and sexual satisfaction of other people.[27] Performing gender tends to objectify women and this objectification goes beyond sexual objectification. Arguably, when a woman performs the role of motherhood, she is required to prioritise the needs of her child over that of herself thereby treating herself as an object through which the physical and emotional desires of the child are sustained. This can be regarded as an extremely gendered experience as society does not require fathers to give the same level of care and treatment a woman gives to a child. This can be considered as demanding because it requires placing a childs needs ahead of the mothers. Although, these occasions themselves are episodic, their repetition and reiteration in addition to the background discourse of the good selfless mother[28] provides a structure to legitimise the treatment of women as objects that nurture children into adulthood.[29] This can be partially attributed to social customs which dictate that good mothers take care of their wards and their failure to perform motherhood brings about punishments ranging from social alienation to government intervention and loss of parental privileges.[30] Conclusively, feminist theories of objectification have classified it as a universal problem that mainly affects women. However, they mostly define it based on the constant repetition and reiteration of episodic experiences rather than why it occurs. Wilson contendsthat By using Butlers theory of gender performativity to analyse the structure of gender it seems that we can redefine objectification as a systemic occurrence that is significantly gendered and also important to the very process of constituting gendered categories.[31] Pornography Several definitions of pornography exist from debates surrounding it. Joel Feinberg gives a broad definition of pornography as sexually explicit writing and pictures designed entirely and plausibly to induce sexual excitement in the reader.[32] Dworkin and MacKinnon state that The bigotry and contempt pornography promotes, with the acts of aggression it fosters, diminish opportunities for equality of rights in employment, education, property, public accommodations and public services.[33] This critique states that pornography is more than just a sexual fantasy but rather recognised discriminatory acts against women with damaging effects.[34] Williams asserts that pornography as a genre proves to be more about gender than sex.[35] Under UK law, there exist no definition of pornography instead it relies on the concept of obscenity.[36] Hence, pornography is regulated under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and 1964 and Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 which establishes the cri minality of pornography on appropriate pornography and appropriate sexual expression.[37] Section 1 of the OPA 1959 states an article shall be deemed obscene if its effect or the effect of any one of its items is, if taken as a whole, tends to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.[38] Therefore, the threshold test drawn from the case R v Hicklin[39] is whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall.[40] In regards to this, section 63 of the CJIA 2008 outlaws the possession of an extreme pornographic image. It states that an image is pornographic if it is of such a nature that it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal.[41] Justice Stewart in the case Jacobellis v O hio[42] commented on obscenity, stating that I know it when I see it.[43] Hence, what this depicts is that what may be perceived as obscene to a group may be normal to another. The deductions that can be made from the above Acts, shows that, Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 will permit any action that does not violate the law against obscenity. This is rendered problematic as the messages pornography relays should not be protected under free speech, neither should the effect it ultimately has on gendered roles especially on femininity.[44] Hence, this essay contends that any form of pornography is harmful in the society as they send negative messages about gender roles. Scoular opines that pornography is a political statement of womens inequality rather than a sexual imagery for pleasure.[45] However, Dworkin argues that the way pornography is seen to be sexual depictions and representations about sex indisputably emphasizes how the society views femininity.[46] For the purposes of this essay, four elements of subordination of femininity will be discussed. These are; hierarchy, the dynamic of dominance and submission, violence and objectification. Foucaults concept of texts of pornography and society can be used in explaining the concept of hierarchy.[47] Men tend to define feminine sexuality through images and writings.[48] Fiedler states that pornography is produced mainly by men for men, using womens bodies as objects for male pleasure.[49] Men through pornography tend to portray the female gender role as inferior and how it should be performed. Such characterisation has an adverse effect on feminine roles in the society as traditional social norms usually associates masculinity with certain traits (dominance, power, superiority) while femininity with (submissiveness, weakness, inferiority).[50] According to Dworkin Pornography is the material means of sexualizing inequality and that is why pornography is a central practice in the subordi nation of women.[51] Pornography is initially presented as a sexual imagery for erotic satisfaction, but in-depth assessment depicts that it is rather a political statement portraying feminine inequality. Scoular supports by asserting that, pornography is a powerful depiction of feminine subordination and inequality, societal degradation and emphasising the phallocentric hierarchical power of men over women.[52] Inequality is sexualized; the relationship between masculinity and femininity is that of dominance and submission, which is constantly played out during sexual intercourse, which defines sex as a man being possessive or domineering and a woman submitting to a man.[53] MacKinnon believes that pornography is an ideal representation which displays masculine dominance and feminine submission, and describes it as a political campaign by the strong against the weak (males against females) that legitimizes, sexualizes and permits abuse against women.[54] Masculine dominance and feminine submission also exist in soft-core pornography for example Vogue Magazine or Calvin Klein commercials where women are depicted as being desperate to be taken and used by men.[55] It is noteworthy that the dominant and submissive representation is not limited to only heterosexual pornography but also lesbian pornography. Arguably, some women prefer to play the submissive role, however, this is due to the ment ality instilled by the sexist power structures that they are meant to enjoy these acts[56]. Deckha contends that females who claim to enjoy performing a submissive role do so because they have been brainwashed into believing that it is required of them to do so.[57] The argument as regards to lesbian pornography is that, even with the absence of men, this still represents the patriarchal power structure through the representation of the butch lesbian controlling the femme lesbian.[58] As explained earlier, there is a possibility that without the influence of the sexist power structure, these individuals might have different opinions as to what they actually prefer. Therefore, the constant repetition and reiteration of these constructed identities of masculine dominance and feminine submission tends to be classified as the norm in the society. According to Dworkin, not only does pornography cause violence against women, it is violence.[59] Violence towards women either in physical or psychological form tends to be the norm in modern society. Men believe that they can commit these acts, either as a means of enjoyment or an assertion of masculine dominance. Feminists believe that images of women being bound, tortured, raped, degraded or murdered for sexual stimulation and satisfaction creates a psychological link between sexuality and violence, and teaches men that women are easy targets, masochistic, hypersexual, and a sexual plaything, who derive pleasure from being pushed around, and that violence in itself is a sexual turn-on. Such portrayal teaches women to feel passive and helpless and to assent to victimization.[60] Reports from a research conducted in America on the commonness of verbal or physical aggression in pornographic contents show that of the 304 scenes studied, 88.2% included physical aggression and 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression with the perpetrators usually the male and the female being the victims.[61] Because of the way femininity is portrayed, people tend not to be interested in the fact that women are actually hurt even in violent pornography. Cole compares this by stating that just as behind a faà §ade of marital bliss there could be a battered wife, likewise, behind the appearance of consent and pleasure in pornography, there could be rape and violation.[62] Furthermore, numerous debates have emanated concerning if there is any correlation between pornography and sexual violence. In the case of Coutts[63], Jane Longhurst died during asphyxial sex with a man that had a tendency for extreme pornography involving rape, necrophilia and asphyxiation. After this incident, the CJIA 2008 was implemented to ban the possession of extreme pornographic materials.[64] From this, it can be perceived that this act was created because pornographic contents could influence people to commit sexual abuse. Barry emphasises that pornography can significantly influence human behaviour and numerous behavioural scientists support this position as witnessed in their dealing with sex offenders.[65] MacKinnon also opines by stating that the subscribers of violent pornography are also interested in practicing it.[66] Andrei Chikatilo, who was a Russian killer, responsible for the murder of over 53 women and children blamed pornography to be the cause of his suicida l behaviour[67]. The evidence above depicts that, there is a strong link between violence and men who watch pornography. Fredrickson and Roberts define objectification as being treated as a body (or collection of body parts) valued predominantly for its use to (or consumption by) others.[68] MacKinnon asserts that pornography tends to objectify women, exploit their sexuality for mens pleasure, and portrays sex roles in which women are inferior, violated or subject to physical abuse.[69] Dworkin describes sexual objectification as occurring when a human being, through social means, is made less than human, turned into a thing or commodity, bought and sold.[70] Women tend to be inhumanely objectified and displayed as objects for the sexual satisfaction of men. For example, both men and women magazines are based around eroticised images of women viewing them as sexual objects basically used to satisfy or provoke the desires and attention of readers. The editor of a UK magazine Esquire stated in an article that women were objectified in various publications (both male and female) stating that we provide pi ctures of girls in the same way we provide pictures of cool cars. It is ornamental.[71] By using pictures of women primed for sexual pleasure amongst advertisement of fine cars and good scotch portrays women as commodities that can be easily bought. Arguably, a reason why people fail to link acts associated with pornography is because such acts are seen as ordinary in the society. Society tends to define the images portrayed by pornography as normal and ordinary, therefore, if pornography is seen as the ordinary, it cannot be harmful to women. In recent times, concerns have been raised about the objectification of women in society. Clare Short a former Labour M.P introduced a piece of draft legislation advocating for the ban of Page 3 of The Sun newspaper which Caroline Lucas had criticised for normalising the notion that womens primary function is to titillate men.[72]Therefore, this raises awareness of the backward, damaging and hypocritical media treatment of female bodies and th e society becoming more sympathetic of the plight of womens objectification.[73] Gender essentialism also exists in objectification. Collins believes that black femininity is differently represented from white femininity.[74] Black women are mostly presented to be breeders, raped for pleasure and profit of their owners in interracial pornography which is a recreation of the colonial slavery a period when black women were used as sex objects for the pleasure of white men.[75] This also reflects the hierarchical system of race as Walker states, that where white women are depicted in pornography as objects, black women as depicted as animals.[76] The portrayal of black women as animals reiterates their lesser status in the society. Therefore, whilst white women face gender objectification as gendered oppression, black women deal with both racial and gendered oppression. A critique against obscenity laws in the UK, is the inability to protect women from the violence and objectification which pornography portrays but rather focuses on what is regarded as prurient inte rests.[77] Conclusively, the way masculinity is portrayed in pornography influences male attitudes towards the treatment of women as the weaker gender. Jensen highlights that the sexual violence and cruelty that characterizes much pornography, and to the evident pleasure that men take in viewing this material, evidence that there are serious problems with our understandings of what it is to be a man today.[78] Additionally, the similarity between the portrayal of masculinity in reality and in pornography is that to be classified as a real man, one is supposed to be aggressive, dominating and controlling. Green asserts that in gay pornography, where there is a female absence, there is a contention that one of the men performs the role which patriarchal sexuality assigns to women; the role of receptivity, passivity, subordination. This confirms that, we can have women without having any females.[79] The portrayal of masculinity in pornography has an influence on how men view women in society. Hence, it can be concluded that pornography certainly plays an important role in the construction of femininity as weak. Popular Culture James Rosenau defines media as a label that is presently in vogue to account for peoples, activities, norms ideas, goods, services, and currencies that are decreasingly confined to a particular geographic space and its local and established practices.[80] The mass media is one of the most universal and powerful vices influencing how men and women are viewed in the society. Intertwined through our everyday lives, the media integrates messages into human consciousness at every opportunity. Different forms of media convey images of the sexes, which disseminates biased, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions.[81] Hence, this essay argues that all forms of media sends negative subliminal and stereotypical messages about female gender roles in the society and the portrayal of an ideal woman as shown in the media is harmful. In recent years, the representation of femininity in the media has constantly exploited women merely portraying them as trophies to be won or objects to be shown off. It has also established a standard of beauty that women are compared to either by men or by the women themselves. Swami asserts that In patriarchal societies, the roles and privileges accorded to women are inferior to those assigned to men, and as such, sexism plays a central role in the continuing oppression of women.[82] Reiterating the beauty ideals are oppressive (BIO) hypothesis, the existent patriarchal structures and attitudes influences the relationship that exists between sexist attitudes and the endorsement of beauty ideals and practices.[83] Craft asserts that physical features such as attractiveness and thinness are the requirements for women in news media rather than intellectual capabilities expected from their male counterparts. (Craft, 1988; Sanders Rock, 1988). The media creates an imagery of two that of women that exist namely the good women and the bad women. A good woman is supposed to be respectful and mainly focused on taking care of her home. Subordinate to the male gender, they are usually represented in films as victims, supportive wives and helpers. Though, women who defy the traditional roles are represented positively, this is done either by making their alienating career lives like Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show, whose career engagement in family matters was well portrayed while her career as an attorney was alienated. or feminizing careerwomen so as to align them with the traditional aspect of femininity. The producer of the show Cagney and Lacey Barney Rosenzweig complained, These women arent soft enough. These women arent feminine enough regarding the characters of the actresses thereby illustrating the medias bias towards favouring traditional femininity. Faludi asserts that for female gender to be considered as successfu l, it is necessary to portray the traditional stereotypes of femininity and maintain an identity dependent on the male gender who

Patent System :: Texas Law Review, John M. Golden

Can innovators in our society prosper with our current unruly system? One cannot simply eradicate our current patent system and have freeloaders use ideas without compensating the original person who held the idea. One also cannot enforced a strong law against patent infringers because it dissolves any person or entity moral in producing new innovation. John M. Golden (2010) in his article in Texas Law Review suggests the antidiscrimination approach to limit favoring one party over another in regards to patent remedies. He suggests to limiting the term of patent's enforceability. This doesn't necessary give anyone the opportunity to take advantage of pre-existing patents but to tone done the enforcement from patent trollers or from major corporations against small businesses or inventors. Golden (2010) also suggests that the government agency, PTO, should be given more major power over what constitutes as patentable and providing private parties to challenge the validity of new paten ts to the PTO. However, one could argue with the current PTO having difficulties reviewing and validating infringments, giving them more power will not be beneficial because the agency receives thousands of patent suits in a year (Golden, 2010). The name behind this concept is called "devolution", which according to Golden, "places discretion in the hands of private parties and government" when dealing with cases (Golden, 2010). In resolving limitations of patent holders, Golden (2010) briefly mentions that patents should be novel and nonobvious in regards to pointing out the distinct subject matter to the patent product or service among other previous patents. Golden (2010) also wants to restrict remedies for patent infringement by not giving patent holders the right to damages but instead leave the relief to the courts to decide the amount of loss. Michelle Armond (2003) of the California Law Review proposes that the courts recognize the "affirmative defense of independent invention" to preliminary injunction litigations. The idea is to focus on the defendants rather than the plantiffs, the patent holder, conduct by analyzing the infringing companies honest research and development procedures (Armond, 2003). This provides small businesses an opportunity to protect themselves against patent trolls or threatening patent holders. Armond also support that the idea that patent infringement cases should settle remedies after the case and that the courts should accurately analyze the claims brought by the patent holder on whether permanent injunction should be appriopriate (Armond, 2003). In addition, Armond (2003) suggests that the courts should reach a conclusion before any remedy is given to the patent holder.

Leadership :: essays research papers

Webster's Dictionary defines leadership as the position or guidance of a person or thing that leads, directing, commanding, or guiding head, as of a group or activity. However Leadership has not one single definition, but many. Leadership is often an intangible factor that makes one group more effective than another. It exists at different levels within organizations and should be woven throughout the entire organization. Different organizations use different ways in effectively teaching or molding their employees how to be an effective leader. One such company is the R.E. Brown Company and Associates, who have developed a yearlong program that is strictly used as a program to teach their employees how to become a more effective leader. They use what they believe as the Nine Behaviors of leaders. This program doesn't directly start off with the introduction of the nine behaviors, but of little tasks given to the participants. They are broken into small groups where they interact with each other, summarize common threads, and then present their findings to the larger group. Then once this has taken place they develop specific action plans to take back to their groups and from there on they work coherently together as a team. This develops a bond, and creates a model of team leadership, sharing, and reflection. Once this has happened then the teams are introduced to the nine behaviors of leadership where they discuss each one and try to use the information that they have gathered to take back to their own jobs were they can become even more successful then they have ever been before. The Nine Behaviors that develop exception leaders are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motivating others through adaptive leadership, who knows when to direct, coach, facilitate, or delegate, depending on the task and person. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Empowering others, which is a sort of delegation that will help you as a leader to control the situation with the help of others. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Encouraging teamwork, which is balancing results, process, and relationships. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Preparing people for change allowing you to understand their psychological responses and helping them to create a positive change with force-field analysis. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vision/Mission, which establishes guidelines for accomplishing a specific goal. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using multiple options by allowing you to see different strategic possibilities and being open to more day-to-day options. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Taking intelligent risks, relating decision-making to risks and getting consensus. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stretching personal creativity that renews personal resources. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Showing passion for work by demonstrating presence, inspiration, and energy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each company has their own way of developing programs that center on ones ability to become an effective leader; this was just one aspect that I was able to find.

Analysis of Bao-yu’s dream in Cao Xueqin’s ‘Story of the Stone’ Essay

The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin is an animated, lively account of life in a large Chinese household in the mid-18th century Qing dynasty. It remains a fascinating novel for modern readers with its vivid and detailed descriptions of the minutiae of daily life – from clothing, food and interior design to education, marriage and death. For all its realism however, The Story of the Stone is not set entirely in reality. The very premise of the whole tale, that of a single rock left out of the goddess Nu-wa’s repairing of the sky, is one based on a magico-religious dream world. The rock is found by a Buddhist and a Taoist who take it down to the mortal world where it lives out a human life, that of Jia Bao-yu, before attaining Nirvana. Once a rock again, a Taoist copies the inscription on its surface †from beginning to end and took it back with him to look for a publisher†. Cao Xueqin’s emphasis on dreams can be seen in the alternative titles for his m asterpiece. A Dream of Red Mansions is the title by which the book is perhaps most commonly known. Twelve Young Ladies of Jinling is also a title suggested in chapter one. Both of these titles refer to the same dream. As David Hawkes explains, ‘hong lou’, red mansion, has the more specialised meaning of the residences of the daughters of rich men and thus, the young ladies themselves. The dream alluded to in these appellations occurs in the fifth chapter of volume one, The Golden Days. Cousin Zhen’s wife, You-shi, has invited the women of the Rong-guo house, accompanied by Bao-yu, round for a flower viewing party. Needless to say, Bao-yu soon tires and asks to take a nap. Rather than going back to the Rong mansion, the wife of his nephew, Jia Rong, leads him to her chamber to sleep. Bao-yu immediately drops off into a vivid dream world. He meets the fairy of Disenchantment who shows him to the Land of Illusion and into the Department of the Ill-Fated Fair. Within this department is housed the ‘Jinling, Twelve Beauties of, Main Register’, a record of the twelve most notable females in Bau-yu’s own province of Jinling. The fairy of Disenchantment allows Bao-yu to read the fates of the twelve girls as recorded in the form of four-line verses. Bao-yu can make little sense of what he reads. Later, the quatrains are expanded into a series of twelve songs entitled A Dream of Golden Days. While the words are sung by a troupe of entertainers, Bao- yu reads along with the manuscript. He still does not understand. Indeed, both the verses in the register and in the song-cycle contain allusions and metaphors not immediately obvious and not easily deciphered. Yet at a most basic level, they provide an outline of the fate of twelve principle female characters in The Story of the Stone. Their fate unfolds throughout the course of the five volume novel. The Golden Days therefore, is only the beginning. But, by the end of the first volume, to what extent have the women already prepared the way for their future course? The first verse in the Main Register is a joint record of Lin Dai-yu and Xue Bao-chai. These two young girls share the affection of Bao-yu and Grandmother Jia. In their own individual ways, they are both paragons. It seems odd therefore that they share only one verse between them. Hawkes puts forward the argument that Dai-yu and Bao-chai †represent two complementary aspects of a single ideal woman†. Evidence for this interpretation lies in the first two lines of their quatrain: One was a pattern of female virtue, One a wit who made other wits seem slow. The combination of wit, or intelligence, and virtue were ideal traits in a Qing woman of the upper class. Arguably it was Dai-yu who held the upper hand in wit while Bao-chai, with her †generous and accommodating disposition†, was the more virtuous. Although in the song-cycle there are two songs for Dai-yu and Bao-chai, it is not the case that one is dedicated to Dai-yu and one to Bao-chai. Albeit the second so ng is solely about Dai-yu, but there are references to both characters in the first song. The character ‘lin’ in Lin Dai-yu is made up of two tree radicals and has the meaning ‘forest’. ‘Xue’ in Xue Bao-chai sounds the same as the Chinese word for ‘snow’ while ‘bao chai’ can be translated as ‘precious’ or ‘gold hairpin’. Thus, the references come in the form of gold, flowers, snow and trees. Bao-yu is alluded to using jade or stone as he was born with a jade stone in his mouth. The first song, The Mistaken Marriage, refers to †the marriage rites of gold and jade†. This foreshadows the marriage of Bao-chai (gold) and Bao-yu (jade). The speaker however, still remembers the relationship between ‘stone and flower’. There is indeed, a special bond between Bao-yu and Dai-yu. Although Bao-yu, †a child†¦whom nature had endowed with the eccentric obtuseness of a simpleton†, fails to recognise it, Dai-yu is an intensely jealous character and resents any time he spends with Bao-chai and not her. Bao-yu struggles to understand the cause of Dai-yu’s mainly irrational sulks, yet always attempts to comfort her: Take kinship first: you are my cousin on Father’s side; cousin Bao is only a mother-cousin. That makes you much the closer kin. And as for length of acquaintance: it was you who came here first. You and I have practicaly grown up together†¦Why should I ever be any less close to you because of her? There is a profound love between Bao-yu and Dai-yu that seems to grow with the progression of the first volume. They share an understanding †so intense that it was almost as if they had grown into a single person.† The speaker suggests however, that later on Dai-yu (†that fairy wood†) dies. Thus, even a wife †so courteous and so kind† as Bao-chai is no substitute for the wife that Dai-yu could have been. Their marriage, even though †others all commend it†, is a mistake. This is succeeded by Hope Betrayed which deals specifically with the close relationship between Dai-yu (†a flower from paradise†) and Bao-yu (†a pure jade without spot or stain†). They are clearly meant for each other but the poem augurs future disaster. The pain heartache that stems from such an ardent love will all be in vain. In one sense these two poems pose an insurrmountable contradiction. Fate, the belief in which provides the premise for this entire dream scene, will have them be together but they are not. They are meant to be but cannot and this inability is portrayed as some kind of mistake, a going against the natural order. Is there then, even such a thing as fate? This question aside, it can be seen that, in the case of Dai-yu and Bao-chai, their journey has barely begun by the end of The Golden Days. Their relationship with Bao-yu is entirely platonic (physically at least) and, although it is perhaps assumed that one of them, most likely Dai-yu, will be be Bao-yu’s future bride, this is only hinted at in jest among the maids and is a source of great embarassement to Dai-yu. The second quatrain and the third poem can be interpretted as Yuan-chun’s fate. Yuan-chun, daughter of Lady Wang and Jia Zheng, is Bao-yu’s elder sister. The first two lines describe her, age twenty, leaving her family to live in the emperor’s palace as a royal concubine. As can be seen by the subsequent effort put into a lavish garden compund in honour fo her visit, this was a posi tion held in great esteem. Although out of modesty, Yuan-chun later changes the name, the setting for her reunion with her family within Prospect Garden initially bears the inscription ‘Precinct of the Celsetial Visitant’. Hence perhaps, the use of the phrase †pomegranate-time†. Hawkes stresses the †redness’ of the original Chinese text, the colour red being a symbol of good-fortune and prosperity. Although much of this sense has inevitably been lost in translation, the red skin of the pomegranate could perhaps be taken as emphasising the great advantages such a position could bestow on both concubine and family. The second half of the quatrain however, does not bode so well for the future. Although Yuan-chun is superior if not in beauty and intelligence then in success to her half-sister Tan-chun and her cousins, Ying-chun and Xi-chun (the †three springs†), her charmed life will come to an end †when hare meets tiger†. Hare and tiger refer to Chinese years. Thus, this prophecy specifies that the date of Yuan-chun’s death will fall at the end of a tiger year and at the beginning of a rabbit year. The third song, Mutability, again prophesises Yuan-chun’s departure from the Rong-guo household to the emperor’s palace. It goes on to describe her appearing before her parents in a dream to pay her †final duty†, forewarning again of her death. By the end of The Golden Days Yuan-chun has indeed left home to become a royal concubine. Although the location of the Jia clan in The Story of the Stone is questionable, it is clear that Yuan-chun and he r family feel cut off from each other in spirit if not by physical distance. Their reunion in chapter eighteen is an emotional one and although the emperor allows visits in the palace once a month, special permission must be granted for a once-yearly return to the family home. It is for this reason, †so far the road back home did seem†, that Yuan-chun will be forced to pay her final filial duties in a dream. (Hawkes points out that this dream sequence never in fact took place. He suggests that Xueqin used the material for this episode in chapter thirteen instead, when Qin-shi appears before Xi-feng in a dream.) Tan-chun, half-sister to Yuan-chun, one of the †three springs† referred to above and daughter of Jia Zheng and a concubine, is the subject of the fourth quatraine in the Main Register. She is †by far the most gifted of the three springs† as well as possessing a kind, generous nature. The first line, †Blessed with a shrewd mind and a noble heart†, is countered however, by the second, †Yet born in time of twilight and decay†. Although The golden Days is essentially a story set in the happy, carefree years of childhood, the bigger picture reveals a time of political and social upheaval, a sense of which permeates many aspects of the novel. Tan-chun’s prophesised marriage in the final two lines will thus perhaps be related to economic considerations. The marriage will clearly not be a happy one. The very title of the fourth song, From Dear Ones Parted, suggests the insuperable distance between Tan-chun and her home and her intense homsickness. The song has Tan-chun referring to †our rising, falling†, meaning the rise and fall of the Jia family. As a result of this, †each in another land must be, each for himself must fend as best he may†, again suggesting that the marriage will be one of economic convenience. Apa rt from allusions to her wit and good character, we learn little about Tan-chun in the first volume of The Story of the Stone. There are however, hints to be found as to her fate. In chapter 22, she attends Grandmother Jia’s riddle party. Asked to compose a riddle, the answer to Tan-chun’s is ‘a kite’. This image of a kite as associated with Tan-chun symbolizes her departure †a thousand miles† away, her flight from the nest. Her riddle also foreshadows her unhappiness once in the marriage: My strength all goes when once the bond is parted, And on the wind I drift off broken hearted. This description of drifting off in the wind ties in with the suggestion in the song that she will be taken to her new husband by boat †through rain and wind†. Like Tan-chun, relatively little reference is made to Shi Xiang-yun, the subject of the fourth quatrain and fifth song. She is the daughter of Grandmother Jia’s brother’s son. Orphaned as a young girl, she first lived with Grandmother Jia before moving in with her uncle, Shi Ding, and his wife. It seems from both the register and the song, that Xiang-yun is destined to find the man of her dreams, †a perfect, gentle husband†. But happiness will be fleeting: Soon you must mourn your bright sunâ€⠄¢s early setting. The Xiang flows and the Chu clouds sail away. The Xiang was a river flowing through the ancient kingdom of Chu. This was believed to be home to a goddess of lovers. But soon †the clouds of Gao-tang faded, the waters of the Xiang ran dry.† This suggests another calamity, perhaps the sudden death of her husband. There is no intimation of Xiang-yun’s fate in The Golden Days. The main scene involving her is one of comic relief as Dai-yu teases her about her lisp and Xiang-yun responds good-humouredly. The impression created is of a happy-go-lucky, lively young girl, quite a contrast from the rather intense and moody Dai-yu. This is best illustrated in Xueqin’s description of them asleep: Dai-yu was tightly cocooned in a quilt of apricot-coloured damask, the picture of tranquil repose. Xiang-yun, by contrast, lay with her hank of jet black hair tumbled untidily beside the pillow, a white arm with its two gold bracelets thown carelessly outside the bedding and two white shoulders exposed above the peach-pink coverlet, which barely reached her armpits. ‘A tomboy, even in her sleep!’ Bao-yu muttered†¦ The sixth woman included in the register is the only one of the twelve who is not a member of the Jia family. Adamantina nevertheless lives among them in Prospect Garden after Yuan-chun issues an edict stating that the garden is not to be closed up. She is a nun and this is reflected in the descriptions of her †otherworldliness† and her †grace and wit to match the gods† that set her †with the rest at odds. Nauseous to [her] the world’s rank diet.â⠂¬  Her final destination however, is clearly one of disrepute. In both the quatrain and the song, she ends up in the mud, impure and shameful. The fact that down here, †only wealthy rakes might bless their luck† suggests that Adamantina will end her days as perhaps a prostitute. By the end of The Golden Days however, she is still a nun who †looks down on common flesh and blood† The seventh of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling is Ying-chun, the eldest of the three springs. She is Jia She’s daughter by a concubine. With the arrival of Dai-yu and Bao-chai, the three springs are relugated to a secondary position in Grandmother Jia’s affections. Ying-chun is thus a rather underdeveloped character in The Golden Days. The sixth entry in the register and the seventh poem both suggest that she will be married off to a violent, unfaithful and cruel bully. There is no hint of this fate in the first volume of the novel. The Golden Days gives away equally little about the subject of the next quatrain and song, Xi-chun. Sister of Cousin Zhen and the youngest of the three springs, seems destined to seek release †from youth’s extravagance† and †to win chaste quietness and heavenly peace† by becoming a Buddhist nun. Wang Xi-feng on the other hand, wife of Jia Lian and cousin to Bao-yu, plays a far more prominent role in The Golden Days. She is a very strong character, a feminist role-model. She has all the qualities of the ideal wife with her managerial prowess and defere nce to her elders, and yet she always manages to be on top. This combination of cunning and virtue can best be seen in the chapters dealing with Qin-shi’s funeral. Having been relegated posthumously to the status of a Noble Dame, the funeral is a grand affair. The sheer cost and man-power involved is staggering and Xi-feng is put in charge of it all. Nevertheless, she manages it with †the decisiveness of a little general†. On the night of the wake, her maturity and superior social skills are further demonstrated when it is left entirely to her to do the honours. Xi-feng’s vivacious charm and social assurance stood out in striking contrast†¦She was in her element, and if she took any notice of her humbler sisters it was only to throw out an occassional order or to bend them in some other way to her imperious will. This can be juxtaposed with the episode in the next chapter when, after the funeral, Xi-feng, Bao-yu and Qin-zhong spend the night in the Water-moon Priory. The prioress Euergesia, catching Xi-feng alone, tells her the story of a benefactor of the priory called Zhang. He is desperate to call off his daughter’s engagement to the son of a captain in the Chang-an garrison. The captain however, is being thoroughly unreasonable and refusing to take back the betrothal-gifts. Euergesia beseeches Xi-feng to use her unfluence to get Jia Zheng to write a letter to General Yun asking h im to †have a word with† the captain because †It is hardly likely that he would refuse to obey his commading officer.† Xi-feng coyly turns her down until Euergesia questions Xi-feng’s ability. Xi-feng ‘relents’ and agrees to take part for the the not so small sum of three thousand taels of silver. Xi-feng is clearly fiscally-minded and savvy, never one to let an opportunity for profit slip by. The hush-hush manner in which this matter of the captain is broached also suggests that it is rather shady business. Yet, any qualms Xi-feng feigns to have about getting involved seem to be easily forgotten. Xi-feng is indeed, as the ninth song states, †too shrewd by half†. She is too focused on self-advancement but with the fall of the Jia family later in The Story of the Stone, Xi-feng’s plotting and manouevering will all come to nothing: Like a great building’s tottering crash, Like flickering lampwick burned to ash†¦ Although the exact nature of Xi-feng’s future is not specified, it is clear that it is not a bright one. She will, as the title of the ninth song says, be †caught by her own cunning†. Although we see none of her decline in The Golden Days, there are hints of a fall to come. When Qin-shi appears to her in a dream, she warn s Xi-feng of the future fall of the Jai family as a whole. She quotes a proverb: †The higher the climb, the harder the fall.† Could this be referring equally to Xi-feng as to the family? Is there a reason why Qin-shi appears before Xi-feng specifically? The tenth Beautiy of Jinling, interestingly enough, does not even appear in the first volume. Qiao-jie, daughter of Xi-feng, nevertheless has some sort of trouble ahead of her. It seems that no one will be spared pain and grief as the Jia family declines. The penultimate Beauty included on the Main Register is Li Wan, mother of Jia Lan. Li Wan was married to Jia Zhu, brother of Bao-yu. Jia Zhu died before the start of the novel as implied by the third line in the eleventh song, †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the pleasures of the bridal bed† soon fled. The quatrain suggests that their son, Jia Lan, †her Orchid†, will be successful. The song goes further to describe the †awesome sight† of †the head with cap and bands of office on, and gleaming bright upon his breast the gold insignia†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jia Lan will later pass the civil service exam and become a high official. It is perhaps slightly far-fetched but one of the few mentions of Jia Lan comes in chapter nine, set in the Jia clan school house. As for Li Wan, there is no hint that †the black night of death’s dark frontier lay close at hand.† It would seem that she tragically dies after her son’s appointment. Finally, there is Qin-shi, the twelfth Beauty of Jinling. She is the young wife of Jia Rong but dies of a mysterious unidentified disease half way through The Gol den Days. Of all the women, Qin-shi is the only one whose whole fate is played out in the course of the first volume. It does not, however, run according to plan. Both the quatrain and the song, The Good Things Have an End, explicitly express that she will hang herself. The most likely reason for her suicide is the family’s discovery of her incestuous affair with her father-in-law, cousin Zhen: Say not our troubles all from Rong’s side came; For their beginning Ning must take the blame. Indeed, there are indications of such intrigue. A drunken servant lets slip, in a fit of rage, †Father-in-law pokes in the ashes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The reader is clearly meant to take note of this comment, as Bao-yu subsequently questions Xi-feng as to it’s meaning. Xi-feng is quick in quashing any ideas Bao-yu may have on the subject and †terrified by her vehemence, Bao-yu implored her forgiveness.† There is obviously something to hide. Cousin Zhen’s hysterical reaction after her death is also a sign that their relationship was not as it seemed. He is inconsolable, proclaiming: †Now that she has been taken from us it’s plain to see that this senior branch of the family is doomed to extinction!† The poem accordingly, states that her death, †the ruin of a mighty house protended.† Qin-shi’s suicide does not however, take place and she instead dies of natural causes. A reason for this discrepancy is put foward by Hawkes. While Xueqin did originally have Qin-shi hanging herself †from painted beams†, a notation by one of the commentators on the original manuscript states that her †ordered† Xueqin to remove the scene. Xueqin reluctantly did so but, unenthusiastic about the change, failed to make the necessary alterations to the rest of the text. Having examined the fates of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling as expressed in the Main Register of the Department of the Ill Fated Fair and in the fairy of Disenchantment’s song cycle, it becomes immediately obvious that tradgedy lies ahead. With the decline of the Jia family will come a decline in the fortunes of each of the women. It is also clear that by the end of the first volume of The Story of the Stone the story has, in fact, barely begun. The Jia household is still powerful and rich, the child heros are still young and and insouciant, these are still the golden days.