Human Nature and the Goodness of a Person in Plato’s Republic I Essay

Hailed as Plato’s greatest masterpiece, the Republic is considered one of the best guides of ethics and politics not only in a5th century Greece but in modern and contemporary times. Just like in the Dialogues, throughout all the sections or books of the Republic, the main character is Plato’s mentor, Socrates, whose conversations with prominent Greek personalities on the subjects of ethics and politics the former documents. Book One is particularly important as it opens the series of dialogues that discusses ideas relevant to human nature and the definition of a good man. This paper seeks to present the views of Plato on the subjects of wealth, friendship and justice as it relates to the idea of what a good man should be. The Important Points of Republic I on Human Nature The ideas on human nature and goodness in Book One of the Republic are hinged upon the important points in the conversations among Socrates, Cephalus, Polemarchus and Thrasymachus. On Wealth. Socrates talks to Cephalus in the first part of the first book of the Republic. Socrates is curious about Cephalus’ mild demeanor when it comes to his wealth. First of all, Socrates states that in order for one to value money, he has to make it himself. He speaks of this important concept in the following statement of his to Cephalus: â€Å"Men who have made money take this money seriously as their own creation and they also value it for its uses as other people do† (Plato, Republic I, 330c). Socrates points out further that â€Å"those who have themselves acquired [their money] have a double reason in comparison with other men for loving it† (330c) and â€Å"so [the men who have made money] are hard to talk to since they are unwilling to commend anything except wealth† (330c). In short, Cephalus states that â€Å"the best thing about wealth is that it can save us from being unjust and thus smooth the way for an agreeable afterlife† (Brown). This is clearly one of the best insights on human nature related to wealth. This line implies that a good man is supposed to make his own money in order for him to appreciate it much and to value it. Wasteful men who do not value their money may have been those who did not make their own money and have acquired it only through inheritance. The second important point regarding how wealth relates to human nature is that a good man should know that the importance of money is for him not to cheat his fellowman. Socrates asks Cephalus â€Å"What do you regard as the greatest benefit you have enjoyed from the possession of property? † (330d). And after a long explanation, Cephalus answers, â€Å"I affirm that the possession of wealth is of most value not to cheat any man [and] not remaining in debt to a god for some sacrifice or to a man for money [and] it has also many other uses† (331a-331b). It is clear from a Cephalus’ statement that the purpose of money is not to do harm to one’s fellowman even though this harm is unintentional. He therefore presumes that a man who does not have enough money has a natural tendency to wrong his fellowman. It is therefore imperative that people should make money for such a purpose. On Friendship. From the subject of wealth as it relates to human nature, Socrates concludes that the purpose of acquiring wealth is somehow based on the idea of doing justice to one’s fellowman. And this idea of justice extends to friendship. In the conversations between Socrates and Polemarchus, one of the conclusions they have arrived at is that it is but just for one to do good to his friends and not to do evil. This is explicitly stated by Polemarchus as: â€Å"Friends owe it to friends to do them some good and no evil† (332a). This is based on the saying according to Polemarchus that â€Å"according to Simonides, it is just to give to each what is owed [or due] to him† (Humphrey), which means that because your friends do good to you and not bad, then it is but just to return the favor. Polemarchus also says that in order to do justice to one’s enemies, one should do to him â€Å"what also is proper for him [and] some evil† (332b). This means that since one’s enemies do bad things then one should give them a taste of their own medicine through doing bad things too. On Justice. Both the aforementioned subjects of wealth and friendship as they relate to human nature can be reduced to the idea of justice. The ideas on how justice relates to human nature are somehow lifted from the dialogue between Socrates and Thrasymachus. A just man first of all should not try to take advantage of another man. Socrates asks Thrasymachus, â€Å"Do you think the just man would want to overreach or exceed another just man? † (349b) and he answers, â€Å"By no means† (349b). This means that a just man recognizes the fact that since the other person has not wronged him, he has no right to wrong him either. However, Thrasymachus states that a just man would deem it proper and just to overreach an unjust man, although â€Å"[the just man] wouldn’t be able to† (349b). This means that if someone wrongs a just man, he would think it is but just to retaliate, only that out of kindness he might not be able to do it. However, it is implied here by Thrasymachus that a just man may rejoice when the unjust are punished for the former thinks just punishment is well-deserved. However, it is believed that this provides â€Å"a contrast to the preciseness of Socrates’ claims† (Kanak). Nevertheless the just man is still better than the unjust man, for â€Å"the just man does not seek to take advantage of his like but of his unlike, but the unjust man of both. (349c-349d) From the aforementioned statements, it has been concluded that â€Å"the just man is like the wise and good, and the unjust is like the bad and the ignoramus† (350c). The â€Å"wise and good† man, or the â€Å"just† man, according to the Republic, is not really someone who accepts all ridicule and unjust treatment without question. He is rather someone who treats in a good way those who do good to him and may choose to treat in a similar way those who do bad things to him. This is basically the idea of a just and good man based on the first book of the Republic. Conclusion The good man according to Book One of the Republic is the man who is just. Specifically, he is a firstly a man who makes his own wealth in order that he may appreciate it. He is also one who â€Å"recognizes that the importance of money is for one to be able to treat his fellowman justly and to avoid causing any unjust treatment† (Kozlovic). Moreover, a good man is one who gives to his friend what is due him and to his enemy some evil that he rightfully deserves. Lastly and most importantly, a good man is a man who does to others what others do to him, whether this is good or bad, although out of kindness he may choose not to do something bad. Nevertheless, a good man believes that a just punishment should serve its necessary purpose. We therefore learn so much from the words of Cephalus: â€Å"When a man lives out his days in justice and piety, sweet companion [is] with him, to cheer his heart and nurse his old age. † (331a)

Market Concept Essay

Article from Karl Moore: Karl Moore is PHd associate professor in the Faculty of Management at McGill University was responsible for writing the article â€Å"The Marketing Concept- RIP† which was published July 17th, 2006. He discusses the decline and the increasing irrelevance of the marketing concept idea and how firms are adapting this strategy in today’s market. Moore emphasis on the following points: 1. Importance of market research before launching a product 2. The need to focus on the product’s usage by the end users 3. The difficulty firms face to implement the marketing concept strategy in today’s market place. The author uses the example of the high-tech sector and explains why he feels the marketing concept applied in this way is no longer relevant, then goes into detail about how it is not just limited to the high-tech sector. To understand Moore’s article you need to understand what marketing and the marketing concept it first. Marketing consists of individual and organizational activities that facilitate and expedite satisfying exchange relationships in a dynamic environment through the creation, distribution, promotion and pricing of goods, services and ideas. The main principles of marketing are to satisfy customers, target the â€Å"right’ customer, facilitate exchange relationships, stay ahead of competitors and enhance profitability (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 7). The ultimate goal is to satisfy targeted customers, seeking their loyalty and consumption. The marketing concept can be defined as the philosophy that firms should analyze the needs of their customers and then make decisions to satisfy those needs, better than the competition (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 17). In his opening paragraph Moore mentions that the marketing concept is â€Å"coming to a close† and heading towards a â€Å"semi-retirement†. I strongly disagree with this statement. Why? Since the marketing concept era many companies are now transitioning to the market orientation era (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 17). The focus of the market orientation era is mainly on continuously collecting information about customer needs and competitors’ capabilities and to use this information to create value, ensure customer satisfaction and develop customer relationships (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 7). Let us look at how Netflix took the Marketing concept in stride. Netflix involved the identification of the unmet or underserved customer needs. Reed Hastings, founder and creator of Netflix started off as a video rental customer himself, tired of paying late fees and having to run to the video store when he wanted to watch a movie, he decid ed to create something simpler and more convenient for customers (Dean. 2010). He was able to draw upon personal experience to help establish the opportunity nucleus and survey what other customers wanted out of a video store. The movie rental industry had already established methods surrounding video rental, late return policies, and membership rules. Hastings believed that without competition, these brick-and-mortar movie rental companies would never have a reason to change (Dean. 2010). Reed Hastings, decided to disrupt the traditional video rental business by introducing a new twist on the home movie service (Dean. 2010). A perfect example of advances in technology, adaptation of DVD media over VHS, and an unmet consumer demand is responsible for the successful launch of Hastings’ vision of Netflix. Not unlike other innovative start-up companies, Netflix has undergone several strategy shifts (Dean. 2010). Each change in focus or direction has assured that the company remains dominate in the movie rental industry. It appears that Hastings has followed the Marketing Concept to a tee, he started off with collection information from customer needs’ (his own) and the competitors capabilities (video rental companies were not in a position to change their rules and regulations) and he completed the circle by using customer knowledge to create customer satisfaction as Netflix still remains more popular than Blockbuster or Rogers Video. Moore goes into more detail about the high tech industry, giving the example of the Sony walkman and how the product was developed. He also explains that if Sony followed the Marketing concept theory in creating the walkman, it would have failed. He follows this explanation of the Sony walkman with the comment â€Å"with many high tech products you cannot get a very reliable data from current customers about the potential uses of your future products. † This statement is by far the most ludicrous statement thru out the entire article and makes absolutely no sense. The vast majority of high tech industries rely solely on how customers perceive new and future products. Look at the Apple IPods. Apple made sure they always stayed ahead of the game by releasing new hardware, software, or better and newer applications for the iPod (Taber. 2007). People love new and flashy products so this was a great way to sell a product. The iPod has become a fashion accessory and a must have. People salivate if there hear a new and more updated version of the iPod is coming out, they want a product that can hold more music and data. Why would they want a â€Å"dinosaur† iPod that only holds 1000 songs when they can get an iPod that holds 2000, takes videos, and has downloadable apps? In this sense, the iPod marketing concept strategy made sense because it consistently advanced Apple’s emerging goal of making the Mac the hub of a digital lifestyle (Taber. 2007). It also aligned with the company’s strategic goal of frequently releasing innovative new products in an effort to stay ahead of a curve of consumers who quickly get tired of old gadgets. As usual, it was a strategy that leveraged the benefits of existing technology, and it made sense from the point of view that it was consistent with what historically drove the company, is bringing products to people that were stylish and easy to use. So if Apple didn’t use the marketing concept strategy, it would have failed. The one paragraph in Moore’s article that I do agree with is when he mentions that a great deal of high tech industries do spend more time launching a new product then developing the product. Models of new product development prescribe critical stages that organizations should go through to have a successful product launch (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 262-271). Regardless of the model, critical phases include: product idea generation, idea screening, concept testing, and business analysis, marketing mix development, test marketing and commercialization (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 262-271). In theory, going through these stages systematically helps organizations weed out the potential failures. Customer focus is an integral component of the product development process that is often ignored. The need to incorporate the voice of the customer (adopt the marketing concept) at every phase is imbedded in these models of new product development, each phase contributing additional knowledge as to what customers want (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 263-264). Yet concept testing and test marketing are most often overlooked y new product development teams as they rush to get their product to market before the competition (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 259-260). Unfortunately, this can lead to fatal errors when customer expectations are extremely high – or when dealing with a sophisticated customer – as is the case for high tech products. An example of this was the Apple Newton; Apple pre-announced the Newton before it was ready. In terms of the product offering, it was neither a complete product nor a fully functional product (Hormby. 006). In the hurry to get to the market, Apple had not fully developed the handwriting recognition software, one of the featured attributes (Hormby. 2006). While innovators and early adopters are willing to take risks on new products, they do expect a minimal level of performance which the Apple Newton could not deliver. Moore also makes a valid statement in his end paragraph with respect for non-tech marketers have to know who their key customers will be and how the marketers should focus their research efforts. Customer focus, a core element of the marketing concept, is certainly a widely adopted buzzword today, one which is stressed in all introductory marketing texts. While the marketing concept applies to all industries, it is particularly important in technologically driven industries that have been among the first to introduce quality techniques, many of which begin with capturing the â€Å"voice of the customer†. (Crane, Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2008, p. 259). Look at how Apple launched its iPod back in 2001 to appeal to customers. When you watch the iPod commercials on television – what did you see? You see a bunch of people dancing on a colored background. There are women and men, but you don’t know anything else about them. This advertisement is ingenious for many reasons. For one, you don’t know where these people are. They could be anywhere in the world. Secondly, you don’t know who they are or what they do for a living. They can be anyone. All you know is that they are enjoying the music and rocking out. This is what makes that commercial so great and such an excellent idea. It allows anyone in the world to be that person. In conclusion, Moore is correct in his assumption that many high tech industries are in a rush to release their product before actually developing their product. However, it is very unrealistic of him to state that if companies follow the marketing concept they would be doomed to fail, he needs to look at many of the successes of the high tech market such as the Apple iPod or Netflix and how many non-tech industries can learn from Apple’s/Netflix marketing strategy. Although this article was written back in 2006, many advances of technology have taken place and it’s foolish to think that the marketing concept had nothing to do with this advancement. Refernces Crane, F. G. , Kerin, R. A. , Hartley, S. W. & Rudelius W. (2008). Marketing. (7th Canadian ed. ). Toronto, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Taber, David. (17 Sept. 2007 ). â€Å"The Taber Report on IPod Marketing. † The Taber Report. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from http://www. taberconsulting. com/download/dtr-35. htm. Weisbein, Jeff. 1 March. 2008). â€Å"The iPod Success: Thank the Marketing Department†. Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://www. besttechie. net/2008/03/01/the-ipod-success-thank-the-marketing-department/. Hormby, Tom. (7 Feb. 2006). â€Å"The Story Behind Apple’s Newton†. Retrieved April 25th, 2011 from http://lowendmac. com/orchard/06/john-sculley-newton-origin. html. Dean, Gregory. (10 Nov. 2010). â€Å"Netflix: An Online Business Beyond Geniusà ¢â‚¬ . Retrieved May 15, 2011 from http://marketography. com/2010/11/10/online-business-beyond-genius/.

Interpersonal Relationship and Paragraph Order

A paragraph by analogy compares two different things on the basis of their similarities in certain aspects. This kind of paragraph development premises its explanation on the familiar or known, so that the logical order (from the familiar to the unfamiliar) is presumed to be the best paragraph order. Falling in love is like skydiving. Skydiving is a risk because you are never 100% certain that you will survive the fall. Likewise, falling in love is also a risk because you never know if your love will survive. As you fall out of an airplane, your adrenalin is pumping, your stomach is in knots and your heart is pounding in your chest. In love you also feel this sense of euphoria and excitement. But like in skydiving, love does not come without its challenges. You must learn to lose control and rely on your partner for help and personal growth. In skydiving you are dependent on the parachute; without it you will dye. In love you are dependent on your partner and must take your partner’s needs into consideration. In skydiving, your first experience determines your love or loathing for the sport. After the first jump, a person is enticed by the sport or else fearful and hesitant to try another jump. So we can argue that in love, a person’s first experience in love can also determine how they approach future relationships. If a person has a warm first love experience, they will be open and willing to engage in other relationships. If, however, the person is badly hurt and burnt so greatly by their first relationship, they will be very hesitant to enter in a subsequent relationship. What are Analogies? An expression of similarity between two unlikethings. They are most commonly used to explainsomething unknown in terms of somethingknownAn analogy is also a comparison which showsthat if two things are alike in one way, they canbe alike in others. Writing Paragraphs withAnalogies? When explaining difficult concepts, usesomething with which the reader is likely to befamiliar and compare it to the concept inquestion. ? Be sure you know enough about both to be ableto carry the comparison out. ? There must be some similarity between the tworelationships. ? Do not try to stretch an analogy too far.

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8

Ethics - Essay Example This level of ethical expectation extends to a great litany of different areas and portends a high level of expectation for the individual educator. As such, the article that will be analyzed â€Å"teaching to the test† reveals the way in which rigid state and federal standards have encouraged many struggling school districts, and individual teachers, to attempt the unethical approach of teaching to the test as a means of passing whatever requirement might exist at the given time. Naturally, this practice in and of itself is troublesome; however, when one considers it from both the standpoint of the utility that the student gains and the ethical ramifications for how the educational process takes shape, a nuanced understanding of the impact of such an approach is able to be understood. The core ethical issue that must be understood is the fact that the educators themselves are encouraging a level of unethical behavior that is both unfair to the educational process as well as u nfair to the end student. In order to understand this unethical behavior, it is necessary to delve in to the motivating factors that encourage it take place initially. Ultimately, the educational system, as it exists today, as both state and federal standards that must be met at multiple times throughout any given school year. As such, teachers are not only required to transmit the information that they are responsible for providing to the students, they must also take a sizable chunk of their time to instruct and prepare the students for taking standardized tests that will not only rank the student as compared to the rest of the students within the state, school system, or nation, they also have a profound impact upon the overall level of school ranking and funding levels that are received in subsequent periods. As such, the overall importance of these standardized tests cannot be understated. Unfortunately, even thus far in my own professional and student development, I have seen this take place. The first time that it was evidenced to me was with regards to taking the PSATs in high school. Rather than using this opportunity to fill in the gaps of any education that the students might have missed out on, the teacher merely hurried to provide a way of what can only be described as â€Å"educated guessing†. The second time this practice was noted it was in an 8th grade classroom that I was observing. The teacher, although highly qualified spent the bulk of her time going through a standardized test and pointing out how to delineate the correct answer; rather than teaching the material and explaining what the rationale behind it was. The third time that this took place was in my final year of high school as state standards of educational attainment from K-12 were being measured. Although the senior year of high school is normally at a slower pace than the other years, the educators cut short much of the information that would otherwise have been presente d as a means of focusing on the standardized test that was of more importance to the local district and the funding levels that the educators would have to divvy up than it was to the individual students. Accordingly, as the article notes, a highly unethical practice has emerged within many of the more troubled school districts throughout the nation. In addition to not spending enough time on the subject at hand, educators throughout the system have been teaching to the test instead of

Business Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business Management - Assignment Example Leadership involves establishment of a clear vision, sharing and conveying the vision with the associates so that they can follow it enthusiastically, providing knowledge, information as well as describing the methods by which the vision can be realized, balancing the conflicts and coordinating with the stakeholders and other associated members. In this tumultuous business environment, the importance and necessity of efficient leadership cannot be denied. The complex and dynamic nature of business has further augmented the need of leadership in an organization. As a result of this, it has been observed that companies nowadays have started to instigate several leadership development trainings and programs which clearly points out that although off late, originations have been able to understand the extent to which efficient leadership adds to the efficiency and competence of an origination (Agard, 2010). Leadership is a vast area and its application is be found in different facets of an organization. However, there are huge differences between management and leadership styles. Moreover, the role played by leadership is different from that of the role of managing. Although the major role of leadership is to ensure people in n organization are working towards a common goal, but is not constrained or limited to only a single area. Leadership also plays several other roles and is crucial to an organization’s day to day activity. Some of the most crucial roles played by leadership in an organization are describe below. Management of the Workforce: - Leadership is extremely important in organizations to ensure proper management of the people. Leadership not only provides assistance in initiating actions within organizations, but also plays actives roles in motivating the workforce, providing them with guidance, building confidence, improving the morale, creating a healthy working environment and also coordinating with the employees for better outcome. Strategy Implementation: - The notion of leadership is also vital in the strategy implementation process of an organization. The implementation of stagey in organizations is equally important like that of strategy formulation. A strategy is generally formulated by the upper management but the implementation is in the hands of the leaders. They are the one who are accountable to implement and communicate the strategy to the entire organization. Hence, the role of leadership in strategy implementation is imperative. In the meantime, it has been also observed that, employees often resist the implementation of a new strategy thinking that this may dislocate their current state. In this context also leadership plays a crucial role in managing the resistance to the change offered by the employees thereby implementing the strategy successfully. The above discussion has made it evident that leadership practices are indeed significant for an organization. Therefore, it is also necessary to shed light on the different types of leadership. The type of leadership practices differ from one organization to the other. The leadership style or the type of leadership is greatly dependent upon the objectives of the organization and also the intentions of the organization. A number of authors in this context argue that the leadership style of an organization also depends upon the organizational culture. Echoing these thoughts, several other scholars have mentioned that the national culture of a country also

Short Easay 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short Easay 3 - Essay Example HITDA – High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area is a criminal justice organization which works because of regular inputs from local, state and federal agencies. For a smooth functioning of HITDA it is very necessary that these different agencies cooperate with each other and that there is no conflict. The seeds of latent conflict are removed by formulation of a clear operational strategy by an executive board where each government agency has an equal representation. This reduces the instances of conflict as the director of HITDA focus on conflict management and resolution. Despite massive efforts in the field of conflict management, experts believe that conflict in criminal justice organization is a normal process and eliminating it is both unrealistic and counterproductive to the long term health of the organization. This is because a conflict can be a healing process where many issues are raised and solved where as in a no conflict scenario there can be a blind surrender to rules which can harm the human side of the organization. Most of the organizations want conformity over a long-tem period for this purpose they use different kinds of power. But none of these methods is the best when dealing with organizations. The appropriateness of the type of power depends upon the situation. For example, employing coercive method compliance among rank-and-file officers usually through strict rules and regulations is not satisfactory because the officers are averse to such strategies. Similarly legitimate, expert and charismatic power can lead to a situation of greater employee acceptance. While, coercive and reward base may lead to a dysfunctional effect. Hence, there is no one particular type of power that is

There are several reasons older students have a difficult time Essay

There are several reasons older students have a difficult time adjusting to online classes - Essay Example I luckily found another job recently that pays me more than the last one and additionally, the duty hours are reduced. I shall be free three hours earlier than when I used to be in the last job. Therefore, I would be able to dedicate more time to my studies. Also, I have recently undergone an eye operation and my eye-sight is improved to the extent that I do not find it difficult to concentrate upon something for long periods of time. Besides, I am so moved by my last disqualification that I am determined to do better this time. I would like to avail this opportunity to convey to the Dean that continuous three hour lecture causes a lot of hindrance in the maintenance of interest necessary for the studies. However, it becomes far more difficult for students with a weak eye-sight to concentrate upon the screen for such a long period of time continuously. Hence, there is a need to increase the number of lectures while shortening the duration of individual lectures. In addition to that, assignments should be more technical and less comprehensive because lengthy assignments are difficult to adjust in the busy schedule of working

Henry Polic Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Henry Polic - Research Paper Example Furthermore, Henry taught acting before the camera at Emerson College and held classes in performing and acting at the Dramatic arts Academy of America of which were both in Los Angeles. Born in 1945, in Pittsburgh, Henry Polic went to Florida State University and attained his masters degree in acting. After graduation, he was enlisted and stationed at Kansas Fort Riley, and later connected with the Tent Theatre of Missouri, and Miami’s Player’s Theatre, to mention but a few (Barnes 1). The early 1970s saw Henry Polic move to Los Angeles where he made his debut in TV as the Nottingham Sheriff in 1975 and also in the When Things Were Rotten comedy, which featured Richard Gautier. Henry Polic was a well-known game-show player, featuring frequently on the Pyramid of $25,000 and its eventual manifestation, the Pyramid of $100,000, of which Polic together with Dick Clark hosted. Furthermore, Henry was a host of a game-show as well and also running the 1986 ABC’s Double Talk. Apart from being a popular game show host, Henry Polic acted as Dracula briefly in NBCs 1970s series Monster Squad and featured as a guest in numerous shows, including Mork & Mindy, Alice, Eight Is Enough, Sheena, Murder, She Wrote, as well as Saved by the Bell (Barnes 1). Besides Polic’s work on Batman, he gave his voice to the Smurfs series and other various series. On Webster, Henry Polic acted as Jerry Silver, a confidant as well as the secretary to Katherine (Susan Clark), which had 54 episodes of the entire series, and ran from 1983-1989 on ABC as well as in syndicate. In the 1980s, Henry Polic II was frequently viewed as a popular guest player on numerous game shows. His most regular guest slots were on the several manifestations of Pyramids, as he featured many times on the Pyramid of the $25,000 and the Dick Clark as well as the John Davidson-hosted versions of the Pyramid of the $100,000 for producer Bob Stewart. Henry Polic also did

Discuss the history, human rigths and Ethics of the Individual Mandate Essay

Discuss the history, human rigths and Ethics of the Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care Act- Obamacare - Essay Example al intestinal disease, whereby the first outbreak was experienced on October 1831-1833, and the disease caused deaths of twenty-two thousand people (McVeigh, 1). After the revolution in 1848, there was legislation concerning the public health issue from the government, and there were laws passed and implemented for due to the purpose of protecting people from the epidemic disease (TRIPOD, 1). During the twentieth century, the public health was attributed to decreased rates to tuberculosis cases, and the central-line related to the infections of the bloodstream. Moreover, there was earlier diagnosis of diseases such as HIV/AIDS through screening of blood in order to prevent potential transmission though transfusions (Chan, 1). There was a decrease in the number of hospitalization and death from diseases that could be prevented through vaccination, and the influence of pneumococcal conjugate, while the rotavirus vaccines became outstanding. There was smoke-free law, whereby the taxes on cigarettes were increased while FDA commenced to apply the regulatory authority over products like tobacco, thereby banning flavored cigarettes (McMichael, 101). In addition, there were restrictions on the accessibility of the youth to drugs, and there were proposals of graphic warnings on cigarette packets. The Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148), which is also known as ACA, and it was signed on 23 March 2010, through the federal health reforms. There were provisions entailed in the ACA aimed at expanding the accessibility to insurance, increasing consumer protections, emphasizing on prevention, improving the quality and system performance, expansion of the health workforce and curbing health care expenses (Pound, 1). It also focuses on expanding the health insurance to insuring approximately thirty two million in private and public sector. The ACA focuses on addressing the workforce problems through provision, which entail reforms in the graduate medical education training in

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Reflection - Essay Example I was intrigued by the concept of "professing". However I am not so sure how it applies to the internal aspect of learning. Perhaps it is through professing that which we already know that acts as a springboard to inviting new knowledge in. Teachers should be careful however because their way of teaching is not the only one that exists and is not necessarily the one that all students will respond to. I don't think that professing is appropriately placed in this article. As the article notes, professing is a form of lecture and no matter how enthusiastic the professor may be about the subject matter, there is a fine line between professing and drilling. I believe it is a line that young students would have a hard time deciphering. I think that all members of the teaching profession take learning seriously. The question is how to convey this to students. I found that he social learning atmosphere suggestion to be a positive one. I do know a grade school teacher who teaches in an all-boys catholic school in New York. Her students are in sixth grade. Rather than turn literature into a demand to memorize, she turns the classroom into a lounge. She and her students then discuss not only the piece of writing that they were reading but also the author and his own background. In so doing, students experience reflective learning and I think that they actually gain a bett

Social Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Behavior - Essay Example 1 Age can affect the social behaviors of an individual. People of the same age group interact more freely than people of different age groups. Mostly they are found in the same social places such as school and social halls. They are also likely to behave in a similar way. This is because they have similar experiences at particular times and they have little to be ashamed of. In contrast, in a situation whereby a person is placed in the midst of people of a different age group, He/she may be unsociable and very uncomfortable as they may be having different interests and not much in common. It becomes very hard for such individuals to cope socially in an environment that does not favor them. Different people are of different economic status. This also determines an individual's social behavior. The various social classes will include the rich, the poor and the middle class, research has proved that on average individuals feel more comfortable and therefore more sociable while in put on the same environment with people of their social economic level. People of similar economic status have similar social behaviors. Usually, they attend the same social places such as schools. In this way, they are able to interact freely as there is no economic gap between them. Social economic status affect the level and quality of education People with high social economic power have a prestigious way of living and have high self-esteems and those with low social economic power have low self-esteems due to their poor way of living. This causes a gap between these two classes of people and hence makes it difficult for them to socialize. (Klemke, Hollinger and Kline, 1980) Different educational levels affect people's social behaviors. They reinforce social classes in the society. People of the same educational backgrounds are likely to interact freely. This is because they are usually found in the same social places including schools. They are also able to communicate effectively with each other. On the contrary, people of different educational levels may not be in positions to interact freely. There may be communication barriers. (Berger and Luckmann, 1966) Moreover, individuals of low Educational levels lack social acceptance and may face rejection in a society where most people are of high educational level. This may affect their self-esteems rendering it difficult for them to socialize.People's social behaviors are affected while in different ethnic groups and races. When they are in their own ethnic groups or races most people are very sociable. This is mainly enabled by their similarity in language, culture and customs. They are able to communicate freely with each other. On the other hand, if one is placed in an ethnic group that he/she does not belong to, one is likely to encounter problems and may not be in a position to socialize freely. Barriers such as language, tribalism or even racism are likely to be encountered. However, in due time an individual's behavior is likely to be assimilated, and he/she may end up aping a new style of living and may even end up with learning new languages. When a group of people abides to a particular religion, they are able to relate freely with ea

Analysis on the Studio System of Hollywood in the Golden Era Essay Example for Free

Analysis on the Studio System of Hollywood in the Golden Era Essay The Fall of Monopoly ‘As far as the filmmaking process is concerned, stars are essentially worthless and absolutely essential. ’ -William Goldman It started with Florence Lawrence as the ‘Biograph Girl’ in the early 1900’s, and bred into the formation of the Universal Studios by one smart producer by the name of Carl Laemmle. The birth of Hollywood had never experienced a joyful transition for editors and actors, who back in the day were treated like hired help by directors. The silent film era was not the commercial enterprise it is today; it was a mere impression of Vaudeville, and studios generated cheap and generic content, while actors remained anonymous and low paid. Florence was one of the popular actresses of the time who helped create a celebrity culture that was infact a farce used by Studios to promote their cinematographic content. And this farce became known in history as the Golden Age of Hollywood. The celebrity culture that is idolized today was in actuality a ploy used to attract an audience following. Stars were created, not born. The Studio System comprised of The Big Five (MGM, Paramount, Warner Brothers, RKO and Fox), who are credited for creating some of the most legendary stars of the time, thus leading to the term ‘star system’. Studios invested a great deal of time and money into grooming and publicizing an actor, and owning him in the process, simply by signing him to a contract. When an actor had inscribed his name on the formidable piece of paper, he had no future of his own. Depending on his talent and the response his image got from the audience, he was either crucial or dispensable to the Studio he had been employed by. The industry was relentless when it came to the treatment of actors. Fame, in all its shallow glory, was a high price to pay for the compensation of no personal life and no personal choice. Actors were required to play the roles they were assigned to without question or argument, made to indulge in publicity stints, and traded off or loaned to another Studio on mutually agreed upon arrangements without their consent. Performers were very similar to the posters their faces were displayed on because they had absolutely no control over their careers, just as a poster has no control over how it is used or interpreted. An example of the extent to which a Studio went to glamourize its artists is Rita Hayworth, who was coerced into changing her name from Margarita Casino and made to get plastic surgery performed (hairline electrolysis) to make her more marketable. However, that is not to say that actors were treated with any respect when the silent era fell off its crippling platform. The past was not a happy place for an actor before the term ‘celebrity’ came into being. The release of ‘The Jazz Singer’ is known to be the pedestal on which the studio era was founded upon because it was the first motion picture with a few minutes of synchronized sound. When sound entered the frame, Vaudeville rapidly depleted into obscurity, and former Vaudeville actors were faced with the bitter reality of unemployment, forcing them to migrate into the film industry. This immigration created a domino effect for the entertainers already present in the enterprise. They had never been exposed to the element of voice being incorporated into a motion picture, and could not adjust to the inclusion of sound. Various hurdles included bad voices, thick accents and the inability to remember dialogues. Moreover, the Big Five circulated their own theatre chains, and adopted specific genre as labels for their reputation and glory. In this process, actors were never given much flexibility to explore or expand their potential, but were in a constant state of repeating the same theme over and over again in each new production. On a more positive note, this repetition led to the recognition of some very creative artists, who explored a theme with such unabashed inquisition that no two films were ever shown in a tiresome cycle of alliteration. ‘One well-known actor in this situation was Gene Kelly. Gene Kelly was associated with musical films such as  An American in Paris,  Les Girls,  Brigadoon, and  Singin’ in the Rain. In virtually all of his movies, Kelly would sing and go through intricate dance numbers. MGM, the studio Kelly was contracted with, knew people expected this from Kelly, so the studio made sure to put Kelly in musical films. The few movies Kelly was in that weren’t musicals did not do nearly as well as the ones he sang and danced in. When people saw a trailer for a movie with Gene Kelly in it, they expected to see a musical; this expectation kept people coming back to see more of Kelly’s movies, which brought MGM more and more revenue. ’ The Studio System did not only control the lives of its performers within the confines of its sets or production houses. An employee had no concept of privacy or freedom of indulging in the luxuries offered outside the bubble of the world of film. Due to the incredulous amount of acclamation an actor received, he could not ruin his public image, even by making the mistakes a common citizen could afford to overlook. Studios had contracts drawn with ‘morality clauses’ that forbade an employee from engaging in the utility of drug abuse, divorce and adultery as these would lead to the consequence of a foiled public image, thus resulting in loss of annuity. However, even though such social control was oppressive, it retained a modest reputation and acted as a form of deterrence for the artists. However, the violation of these clauses led to no direct effect on the perpetrators, because the Studio they were assigned to would pay off the witnesses or offer exclusive stories to tabloids in exchange for not reporting on the truth of the matter. In this sense, actors were provided with free reign to do as they pleased. ‘Cinema is the culmination of the obsessive, mechanistic male drive in western culture. The movie projector is an Apollonian straight-shooter, demonstrating the link between aggression and art. Every pictorial framing is a ritual limitation, a barred precinct. -Camille Paglia Was it the male drive in western culture -if the term western culture can be deemed as appropriate- that led to the birth of explicit content in Hollywood, or the market demand for it? Censorship created a massive propaganda in the late 1920’s. It was one of the major reasons why The Motion Picture Commission was established in 1921, the strongest form of government that induced censorship on films for the next 44 years. It began with ‘The Kiss’ in 1896, in which a man and a woman shared a kiss that barely lasted half a minute, leading on to ‘Know Thy Husband’ (1919), in hich the protagonist contracted a horrible disease after indulging in his primal desires in the city, evolving further into ‘Outside the Law’ (1921), a crime film with the same connotations. Hollywood was never subtle with its aesthetic imagination, and actors, as a result, developed a notorious reputation. Infact, Hollywood itself was renowned to be a place infested with scandal and immoral behavior. This splintered imagery of the sensational mirror that reflected the flaws of Hollywood was not for the righteous offence of the general public alone. Celebrities suffered directly from the environment they presided in- literally in the fatal sense. For instance, one of the most tragic deaths a star faced was Thelma Todd, a young actress who had costarred in a number of classic comedies with the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton (Monkey Business’ ‘Horse Feathers’). She died at the age of 30, in 1935, believed to have committed an accidental suicide when she was found dead in her car, although the general opinion suggested suspicions of cold blooded murder. Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls. -Ingmar Bergman The Studio System gave rise to legendary personalities, faces of people that are remembered as icons of inspiration and unadulterated talent. It gave rise to films like ‘Casablanca’, ‘Gone with the Wind’, ’The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘Singin’ in the Rain’. It gave us Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire, and countless other idols to look up to and admire. However, with the emergence of Sound and Studio, even when Hollywood acquired so much recognition and wealth, it lost the sense of morality and the image of an honest corporation by degrading its own reputation, and that of its main components, the actors. Cinema is now associated with superficial glamour, it is a world that is infested with deceit and facade. A false pretense of joy through fame, a bubble of happiness that does not seem to exist in the first place. Ironically, the fall of the Studio System began with the reason for its accession. War brought people to theatres, and war became its undoing. After World War II legal, technological and social developments converged on the Hollywood film industry, undermining the economic foundation of the studio system. The antitrust suit against Paramount in 1948, combined with the increasing strength of unions, encouraged the growing practice of freelancing’. This decision not only outlawed the practice of block booking, it also forced the studios to sell their theater chains, and reduce the number of productions. What was once a monopoly of the ‘Big Five’ turned out to be a doorway for minor studios and independent filmmakers to thrive in. As far as the actors were concerned, they found the opportunity to become more genre savvy, and demand the right to refuse a contract, or opt to go to a free agency instead. They found the leeway to become more selective and demanding in their preferences regarding their professional services. The star system crumbled, but the stars found liberation. References: http://www.hollywoodmoviememories.com/articles/hollywood-history/hollywood-studio-system-golden.php http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/apex/ http://www.filmsite.org/30sintro2.html http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood?from=Main.GoldenAgeOfHollywood http://www.ritahayworth.com/ http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/09/the-rise-and-fall-of-hollywood-studio-system.html http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem?from=Main.FallOfTheStudioSystem

Linguistic Features Of Advertising Language English Language Essay

Linguistic Features Of Advertising Language English Language Essay In the present world of mass media, people are confronted with advertisements all the time. When we watch TV in the comfort of our living rooms, we are bombarded with ads; when we read a newspaper or magazine, somehow our attention is distracted by one form of an ad or another. On our way to school or office, we come across ads in various shapes or colors. Indeed, advertising, whether print, broadcast, or any other type, is part of our everyday lives. It is inevitable for us to neglect the importance of advertising. Goddard (2002) suggested that Although advertisements are ephemeral in that each one is short-lived, their effects are longstanding and cumulative (p.3). There was a TV commercial in which a young male stripped down to his underwear so as to wash his Levi 501s jeans in a launderette. This commercial has stimulated an eight-time growth of the sales of that brand. It happened in 1985 and advertisements at that time were not as popular as nowadays. From this perspective we can know more the importance of advertisements. They can impose great impact on the behavior of the consumers. This is the reason why many and many scholars are working on advertisements. Simpson (2001) acknowledges that there has been an enormous upsurge of interest in the linguistic and discoursal characteristics of advertising (p. 589), adding that the studies conducted have been anchored on different traditions and perspectives, such as cognitive, cultural and anthropological, genre and register analysis, critical discourse analysis, and linguistic pragmatics (Simpson, 2001, p. 590). In recent years, research has focused on reader effects of poetic and rhetorical elements in ads from a relevance-theoretic perspective. For instance, van Mulken, van Enschot-van Dijk, and Hoeken (2005) aimed to find out whether slogans in ads are appreciated more than slogans without a pun, and whether puns containing two relevant interpretations are appreciated more than puns containing only one relevant interpretation (p. 707). Lagerwerf (2007), on the other hand, examined the effects on audiences of irony in ads and of sarcasm in public information announcements. Working within th e pragmatic construct of metadiscourse, Fuertes-Olivera, et al. (2001) analyzed the metadiscourse devices typically used by ad copywriters to construct their slogans and/or headlines. The researchers analysis proceeded from the assumption that advertising English should be represented as a continuum of text functions fluctuating between informing and manipulating in accordance with the idea that advertising is an example of covert communication. By studying advertisements and its language, we can acquire more information of this special form of language and also of register. Sometimes, the language use in advertisements can even reflect the different values in a society. In this study, the main focus is on the linguistic perspectives of advertising language. A lot of studies have been done to find out the common and distinctive features of advertising language in Western society. The English advertisements in Asian society have rarely been studied. In this research, some advertiseme nts in a magazine published in Hong Kong will be studied. The research questions are as followed: What are the general lexical grammatical features of advertising languages? And what are the general lexical grammatical features of advertising language in Hong Kong Magazine? Do the general features found in the advertisements in HK Magazine match with the findings of general features shown in literature review? If so, what are the reasons for the seller to use a similar approach? If not, why do they use different approach? The answer of the first part of the research will be answered in Literature Review. While for the others, they will be answered through a textual analysis on the advertisements of Hong Kong Magazine. Literature Review 1. Advertising 1.1 Definition and Development The word advertise originated from Latin advertere, which means to attract peoples attention. The basic characteristic of advertising is to arouse consumers attention and interest towards a product so that consumers would take action to buy the product (Cao, 2008). The American Marketing Association provided a more detailed definition of advertising, namely, a paid, non personal communication laying emphasis on promotion and visual as well as oral presentation of the sales message (Tyagi Kumar 2004:3). Aside from considering advertising as a paid communication and a marketing tool, Ulanoff(1977) further stated that advertising openly identifies the advertiser and his relationship to the sale effort. The patterns or styles of advertising change. There are different manners to advertise in different times. Three different periods in advertising were elaborated as follows (Myers, 1994:19-28): The 1890s: making brands and getting attention. Ads were created using rhymes, repetition, parallelism, and scientific and literary language. The advertisers were just getting a major foothold in newspapers and magazines. The 1920s: creating an image for consumption. Ads often contained embedded narratives and mock conversations, associative language, and metaphorical substitutions of one thing for another. Ads used the new media, such as radio and comics. The 1960s to the present: addressing the jaded consumer. Ads are made using ironies, parodies, puns, ads on ads, and juxtaposition of competing discourse in the text and the images. There is an extension to new media- not only television, but sponsorship of sports and the arts. 1.2 Categorization Cook (1992:9) proposed four ways of categorizing ads, namely, by medium, product, technique, and consumership. First, in terms if medium, Fuertes-Olivera, et al. (2001) mentioned that the text type of advertisements can be further subdivided into digital advertisement, broadcast advertisement, print advertisement and outdoor advertisements. As for this study, the data of analysis are print advertisements. Second, based on products, luxury item ads require distinct techniques from ads on household necessities (Cook, 1992:9). Mueller (1992) brought forward two terms: high consumer involvement and low consumer involvement. The former refers to the goods which generally tend to be higher in price and are purchased relatively scarcely; the latter refers to the goods which tend to be lower in price and are brought very often. Ebert Griffin (2005:305) provided a more detailed categorization, namely, convenience goods, shopping goods, and specialty goods. The first one is similar to low con sumer involvement while high consumer involvement products are subdivided into shopping goods and specialty goods. Specialty goods are extremely important and more expensive than shopping goods, such as wedding gowns. The data analysis in this study comprise of all three kinds of goods. Third, concerning techniques, there is a distinction between reason advertising and tickle advertising. Reason advertising is direct and simple while tickle advertising in indirect and required an audience to exert more efforts to comprehend them (Bernstein, 1974). Fourth, with respect to consumership, advertisements can be categorized by consumers lifestyle, socio-economic class, gender, age, and so on (Cook, 1992:11). Moreover, advertisements can be classified based on their location in the magazines or newspapers. First, display ads, like those investigated in this study, are placed in conspicuous places amongst the editorial material so as to draw the attention of readers whose main purpose of reading the publication is not to read a particular advertisement. Second, classified ads are placed in special sections and ordered in accordance with the subject as their target reader belongs to a particular group (Vestergaard Schroder, 1985:3). Advertising language The relationship between text and image There is general disagreement on the relationship between text and image. Barthes (1984) claimed that all images are polysemous with a floating chain of signifier. Language can be used to fix this floating chain and to anchor the image (1984:39). However, Kress and van Leeuwen (1996:17) argued that text and image are not mutually dependent and that the visual component of a text is an independently organized and structured message- I. Lexical features of advertisements in English newspapers and magazines 1. Coinage Coinage, according to Longman Dictionary, means a word or a phrase that has been recently invented. Advertisements are full of coined words to be lively and eye-catching. For example: Give a Timex to all, to all a good time. (Timex, a brand name of watch) Timex, being a coined noun, is formed originally from the two words time and excellent. The new word is short and easy to remember. (2) TWOGETHER The Ultimate All Inclusive One Price Sunkissed Holiday (a seashore holiday hotel advertisement) Twogether is obviously derived from the word together, which will create the fresh effect and leave a strong memory in the readers mind. Beside, the particular image of two persons being together is formed without great effort, which make us feel warm and longing for that holiday hotel. 2. Comparative and Superlative adjectives In order to convince the readers that the product advertised is second to none, comparative and superlative adjectives are frequently and commonly used in the advertisements. (3) More connections to Europe. DHL has the worlds biggest logistics network. In this example, DHL, the logistics company, highlight its advantage of being more accessible and more easily to reach with the word more and biggest. Those who read this advertisement will have the impression that DHL is right choice for them because it has more locations to reach than other companies. 3. Compound word Compound words are colloquial in form, which will gives the readers a sense of closeness. Compound words also allow more possibilities to create humorous effect. (4) better-than-leather-miracle-covering look at the oh-so-comfortable size give that oh-so-good-to-be alive feeling This advertisement is quite interesting by combining many words together, which sounds like someone who is exclaiming his extol. Without doubt, it is impressive because of its creativity of compound word and humorous effect. III. Syntactic features of advertisements in English newspapers and magazines 1. Simple sentence Generally speaking, simple sentences are quick and direct in conveying information, while complex sentences will create some suspense dragging the readers understanding behind. Please compare: (5) Buy one and get one free. (5`) If you buy one, you will get one free. (6) Time to listen. Capacity to act (Mess Pierson, Consulting Company) (6`) Its time to listen and our capacity to act. Obviously, sentence (4) and (5) are both vivid in rhythm and easy for the readers to get the information. Sentence (4`) and (5`) however, are comparatively redundant in conveying the meaning, though they are grammatically correct. Readers tend to remember to (4) and (5) structure, because of their simplicities. One everlasting example is Nike shoes slogan: Just Do It! rather than Lets just do it now! 2. Imperative sentence Imperative sentences are often persuasive in that it arises the reads impulse to buy the product. Imperative sentences, beginning with the verbs, are forceful and tempting, which coincide with the purpose of the advertisements. (7) Get fast downloads with no wires attached. (SmarTone, Hong Kong Telecom Company) (8) Stop in at any Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealer. (Ford, Car Company) Readers are advocated and persuaded to do the action, waiting no time. By telling or requesting readers to perform in a certain way, imperative sentences are effective in exerting a subtle impression to do as they are told. 3. Disjunctive Clause Disjunctive Clause is the exclusive syntactic features of advertisements in English newspaper and magazines. Disjunctive Clause usually chops the sentences into several parts with the cohesive device of full stop, dash, hyphen, semi-colon etc. By doing so, the advertisement is more condensed, which will save the money for taking up too much space of the newspapers or magazines. (9) We strive to send you a vacation faster. Caring more about you. (SkyTeam, Flight Company) In this advertisement, we can see that Caring more about you is split from the former. Normally, we would say: We strive to send you a vacation faster and care more about you. The effect here is to highlight the part Caring more about you to leave a strong impression on the readers. So, when the ads want to emphasis something, they will tend to put them in a Disjunctive Clause to catch the readers attention. Cook (1992) stated that Advertising is a prominent discourse type in virtually all contemporary societies (p.5). The term discourse means text and context together and they interact in a way which participants perceived as unified and meaningful. Text means linguistic forms, which is artificially and temporarily detached from context so as to carry out analysis. Context includes substance, music and pictures, paralanguage, situation, co-text, intertext, participants and function. Four categories of advertisement are found. They are medium, product, technique and consumer (Cook, 1992, p.9). Another scholar Goddard (2002) suggested that attention-seeking devices are presented in the language of advertising, along with the category of writer, readers and texts. Moreover, cultural variations, user friendliness, stereotyping and presupposition are also features of the advertising language. Research Questions Methodology A qualitative approach will be adopted in this research. A total of twenty advertisements will be collected randomly from the magazine Times. The volume in 2012 will be used. Times magazine has 54 issues a year. The issues on January, April, July and October will be used. From each issue, one piece of advertisement will be analyzed. There should be a total of 20 issues and thus 20 pieces of advertisement. Times magazine is chosen because of its popularity and the readiness to find in the market. The types of products must not re-occur in the 20 pieces being analyzed. It means that every piece of advertisement should be promoting different products. From the 20 pieces of advertisements, they will be analyzed accordingly in several directions. The first direction is the theory they has used in advertising. The second direction is identifying the features of advertising language. The results will be presented in tables and summary will be drawn according to the findings.

The Church And Apartheid In South Africa Religion Essay

The Church And Apartheid In South Africa Religion Essay What started as an antecedent social forms grounded in colonial history resulted with the outcome of Apartheid which in turn affected the South African Church and its history. Apartheid is the state which jeopardize the social edifice of the Church as it brought much segregation, which led to many critics of apartheid blaming the Church for its existence, they have claimed that racial oppression in South Africa is the fruit of Christianity according to Hexham in his work journal: The Journal of Theology for Southern Africa This subject although has for a very long time been seen as ethical challenge to Christian theology, one cannot ignore it but can be used a case study which will ventures us to reflect what it mean to be one in Jesus Christ within our South African Christian Theology context. It is for this reason that in this assignment I endeavour to highlight some of the s Beginning of National Party Acceding to power in 1948, the National Party has kept a tight grip on the reins of government ever since till the reign was taken by ANC in 1994. According to Dr Verkuyl, the National Party had desired to develop a racial caste system in which each non-white is granted limited freedom of movement but only on the basis of a white monopoly of power and subordinated to the interests of the whites. It was in this period that race relations remained the key issue, there was increase in various measure of racial segregation and it was in this time that black consciousness and active protest became a starker reality. Therefore it was through this Party that the ideology of apartheid became the blueprint for South African society. World Council of Churches It was an amazement that the creation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1948 at Amsterdam led to new phase in the ecumenical relations not only in South Africa but also globally. This raised high hope that any divisions in the Church of Christ would be healed and there would be restoration in relations of the church. South African churches welcome this phase and most of churches in South Africa joined WCC and were spontaneous and cordial in their participation. These churches included the Anglicans; Presbyterians; Methodists; the NG Churches of Cape Town and the Transvaal, and the Nederduits Hervomde Kerk in Afrika. South African delegates were sent to WCC Amsterdam in 1948 and again in 1954 to Evanston. Alan Paton of Anglican Church and Ben Marais of NG Church served in the fourteen-man commission on Church and race. These men had to conduct a study and submit a report at Evanston Conference. Marais, being one of the selected speakers in the session to represent the submission of this major report at the conference. Several South African church leaders like CB Brink, Bishop Ambrose Reeves and WA Landman play crucial roles and were actively involved in the activities of WCC. CB Brink also served in the Central committee of WCC along with other South African church leaders. The ecumenical contact built on these years had a great effects in South African and various conferences and talks between local church leaders were arranged to discuss matters of mutual concern. Many South African students received bursaries from WCC to study in America and Europe. However, it was after the discussion of race relations and decision taken at the Evanston that uncertainties grew especially from the Afrikaans member churches. Cottesloe Consultation In 1960 the Church engaged itself in Cottesloe talks. It was through Cottesloe consultation that delegates were brought together from the World Council of Churches member churches in South Africa and outside the country and ecumenical institution as start of start of the partners fighting the church struggle in South Africa. In these talks, the race issue and Churchs role were put under the spotlight. After many days of these talks, decisions were taken which all member churches agreed to, except the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika which stood in disagreement with these decisions. The Cottesloe findings brought so much tension and emotions since the churches were now thrust into the midst of political stresses of the country and media had these talks as their headlines zooming more on the churches reactions. This led in some churches resigning from WCC, especially the Afrikaans Reformed churches, while the English speaking churches retained the membership in support of freedom fighters. Churches which resigned from the WCC opened Christian Institute in August 1963 in order to continue their dialogue with churches oversees. This institute provided a useful channel for communication involving people from different race and denominations. However this institute became a victim of political target and thereby lost most of its supporters. Publication: Message to the people of South Africa This publication was formulated in 1968. It focused on South African Council of Churches as spotlight and was the result of significant conference of the WCC held in Geneva in 1966 on the subject: Church and Society. Theological committee was appointed so they can consider what obedience to God requires of the Church in her witness to her unity in Christ in South Africa. This committee had to issue the message to the Country. The purpose of the document was to demonstrate the basic incompatibility of apartheid with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This document also appealed to Christians in South Africa to give their obedience and their loyalty to Jesus Christ. The document was sent to every minister in the country of which 600 showed the positive response and support and all the member churches of SACC subscribed to it. This led SACC being a target for attacks from different sides. SPROCAS The Study Project on Christianity in Apartheid Society (SPRO-CAS) was established in mid-1969 by the South African Council of Churches and the Christian Institute of Southern Africa. This document was founded after the chasm between the South African Council of Churches and Afrikaans-speaking churches grew wider, the South African Council of churches being attacked on every side. Included in this document were the six commissions and a diverse set of over 140 commissioners and consultants, which had its focused on the need for change in South Africa, examining economics, education, law, politics, sociology and the Church. The project not only played a critical role in thinking within the South African churches about how to overcome apartheid but also marks a critical stage in the birth of the Black Consciousness Movement. The projects publications had to be submitted to South Africas Publication Control Board for censorship. Plans had to be adjusted when several of the writers, including Biko, Desmond, and Turner, were issued with banning orders prohibiting them from being quoted in any publication. Despite such difficulties the project had significant impact on political developments leading up to the Soweto student uprising in 1976. Soweto Uprising The stained situation acquire a fresh dimension with Soweto riots in 1976, when the black youth stood their ground against states educational policy and the existence of certain laws which had broken up homes, families and the ordinary life. The youth were dissatisfied, and they were no willing to accept these situations which they found themselves in. It was through this stand that Soweto gradually became the national symbol of a new generation of nationally and politically black people awareness in our country. Black Churches Each of these departures from Christianity, the Ethiopian and the Zionist, dates from the beginning of previous century. The foundation of Ethiopian churches was the less drastic, as they content to break the shackles of white dominance while retaining the form of organization, mode of worship and denominational identity of the parent body, for example African Methodist and African Congregational. Nonetheless, it stemmed directly from the practice of an undeclared apartheid where it was least expected, from an insistence on segregation and white superiority on the part of missionaries. These churches were African replicas of Christian denominations and were an explicit response to racial inequality. Reformation Day Witness In 1980 October 31, the Reformation Day Witness was published. It consisted eight eminent NG theologians. This publication dealt with , according to Pillay Hoymeyer(1994:296) the Churchs inabilities to fulfil the mission of reconciliation and to prevent polarisation and to provide the authorities with an unambiguous witness. The witness was publish during the period of rapid changes in South Africa where transition led to new social and political dispensation. The witness contributed in bringing the greater willingness and openness towards the continuing dialogue and it rose the prophetic voice of NG Church so loud and clear. In the same year in November, the appeared collections of essays entitled Stomkompas, which was composed by NG theologians which had their views. This Stomkompas had dominating the widely accepted traditional Afrikaner view on relations between people, which was biblically justified since the forties. Broederiking was also another group emerged from NG church. It was a group of young NG churches. They aimed at working towards greater unity among the NG churches at a local level, to render younger churches less financial dependency on the mother church and to give moral support to these churches. In 1982, Belhar announced a status of confessions on apartheid condemning it as a heresy.This was regarded as a protest by the church against a political dispensation as it proclaimed the threat brought by apartheid to the churchs creed. It during this time that the Churh in SA were arranged by committe of every theological society in SA. Tension rose between the government and certain churches in the 80s Kairos Document The Kairos Document (KD) is a statement within the background of theology issued in 1985 by a group of black South African theologians based predominantly in the black community of Soweto. The statement challenged the churches response to what the authors saw as the vicious policies of the Apartheid state under the state of emergency declared on 21 July 1985. In July 1985 the iron fist of the first state of emergency came down hard upon the people of South Africas townships. Many were killed, injured, maimed for life or locked up in detention. The KD evoked strong reactions and furious debates not only in South Africa, but world-wide. The KD was compiled in five chapters: The Moment of Truth; Critique of State Theology; Critique of Church Theology Towards a Prophetic Theology; Challenge to Action; and a short conclusion. The document was addressed to the divided churches; divided, that is, due to the roles that Christians within the churches play in the conflict between the racist minority government and the black majority population. The KD document contended against apartheid system using the comparison from the book of Romans, Revelation and even Acts; it presented this system as unjustly ad not lawful. In time where discord was in place, this document really served as a challenge to many ministers and church members of different churches to reflect once again where they stand. The period of 1990 onwards Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela has been in prison for over a quarter of a century since August 5, 1962 for leadership of his people in the struggle against racist oppression and for a non-racial democratic society. Prison bars could not prevent him from continuing to inspire his people to struggle and sacrifice for their liberation. Public opinion polls have again and again shown that he is the most popular leader in the country. He has, indeed, grown in stature. As the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group observed in 1986, he has become a living legend, galvanising the resistance in the country. The London Times described him as the colossus of African nationalism in South Africa. It was in after the 1990 that there seem to be a break of segregation, and thank to all the church who participated in the struggle of this liberation. In 1994 was the beginning of new things for the nation of South Africa. Conclusion The story of the Christian Churches in South Africa, like the story of South African society in general is the story of many tribes, whose histories are on the one hand interwoven and interconnected and helps us not make the same mistake as the church of segregation, it help us to strive to a bridge gap to any discord, instead of being a wall standing in the gap for God to move in our country. With such richful history, we are collaped to higher height, even teaching the future theologian of way forward because eventually we had conquered APARTHED.

Where Abortion Goes Wrong Essay -- Pregnancy Birth Papers

Where Abortion Goes Wrong Abortion is wrong. This is a bold statement for a twenty-one-year-old, white male raised in a middle class home, and one that I am not at all comfortable making. It is not just that the debate over abortion is so heated, or that I fear being labeled a Bible-beating fanatic. I am uncomfortable because the issue of abortion is mired in uncertainty. We all know that child abuse and rape are wrong. Under no condition can rape be justified. This is simply a fact that we all accept. The problem of abortion, on the other hand, is not nearly as straightforward. As pointed out by Frederick Turner in Abortion Can be a Moral Sacrifice, pro-life people can be sure that late-term abortions are murder. However, the same surety is not there when they consider two-day old embryos. A similar confusion can be seen by those in the pro-choice camp (Turner, 1992). Here lies the central question: With so much uncertainty surrounding abortion, can and should it ever be legislated? To answer this question, we must first understand the basis for both sides' positions. Misunderstandings have long been the major block to meaningful discussions. The pro-life camp's position is often thought to stem from a hidden agenda to suppress women, whereas the pro-choice position is often linked to loose morals and little emphasis on responsibility. These ideals or traits may be held by a limited number in each group, but they are not indicative of the majority. Most pro-life and pro-choice advocates sincerely believe in their convictions and have legitimate arguments to back up their beliefs. Actually, the arguments of both sides are rooted in the same key principles. The first is an understanding of the worth of the fetus, and, based... ...orn. New York: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence. Thomson, J.J. (1971). A defense of abortion. In R.M. Baird & S.E. Rosenbaum (Eds.), The ethics of abortion: pro-life vs. pro-choice (pp. 29-44). New York: Prometheus Books. Tooley, M. (1972). Abortion and infanticide. In R.M. Baird & S.E. Rosenbaum (Eds.), The ethics of abortion: pro-life vs. pro-choice (pp. 45-59). New York: Prometheus Books. Turner, F. (1992). Abortion can be a moral sacrifice. In L. Bruno (Ed.), The abortion controversy. (pp. 55-58). Warren, M.A. (1973). On the moral and legal status of abortion. In R.M. Baird & S.E. Rosenbaum (Eds.), The ethics of abortion: pro-life vs. pro-choice (pp. 75- 82). New York: Prometheus Books. Zindler, F.R. (1985). Human life does not begin at conception. In C.P. Cozic (Ed.), Abortion: opposing viewpoints (pp. 17-22). San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

The High Price of In Vitro Fertilization :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The High Price of In Vitro Fertilization MAKE A DREAM COME TRUE. GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE! BE AN EGG DONOR. $6,500 STIPEND AND EXPENSES PAID. When twenty-year-old Maria Slone first saw the ad in her college newspaper, she remembers thinking, â€Å"Damn, that’s a lot of money!† She called up immediately, envisioning an egg-plucking process that would be as quick and effortless as sperm donation. Disappointingly, the receptionist at Woman to Woman Fertility Clinic didn’t give her the time of day, mostly because that was last spring and Maria wasn’t twenty-one yet, but also because she seemed a tad too money-hungry for the well-to-do clinic. Looking back, Maria smiles a little sheepishly. Now, one year later, and halfway through the process of donating her eggs to an infertile couple, she knows what she’s in for, both emotionally and physically. Already, she’s wrestled with the idea of selling her genetic material to strangers—she’s taking the unusual step of meeting with the couple who chose her genes from a stack of manila folders. And now she’s overcoming a lifelong abhorrence of needles by playing doctor—she’s injecting a syringe full of milk into a grapefruit, mentally bracing herself for the ovary-stimulating hormones she’ll inject into her own thighs and buttocks for ten days next month. But Maria’s taking both the emotional and physical sacrifices in stride because at the end of August—after ten or more of her eggs are retrieved from her ovaries—the Woman to Woman Fertility Clinic will cut her a $4,000 check. The payment promises a soothing aloe to Maria’s staggering list of financial woes: crushing legal fees, spiraling credit card debt, student loan payments, and a hankering for a liposuction procedure that could cost up to $4,000. Already, she spends long, hot Saturdays babysitting for a hyper five-year-old boy, and on weekdays leads troops of rowdy teenagers on tours through the State Capitol. Both jobs barely subsidize rent, groceries, and the weekend recreational pleasures that 21-year-old college students indulge in. That’s why, after being rebuffed once, Maria called again four months ago. The information packet came in the mail only three days after Maria dialed the 1-800 number. From the vital statistics she provided over the phone—blond hair, blue eyes—she was an instant hit. The receptionist at the fertility clinic made her voice buttery sweet, over-eager to please.

Of Mice and Men The End Analysis Essay

â€Å"What happens at the end of this novel shows that Steinbeck’s view of life is a pessimistic and negative one.† By the end of the novel tragedy struck the hopeful couple Lenny and George, as once again Lenny have â€Å"done a real bad thing.† He accidentally killed his little puppy, not knowing that it would â€Å"get killed that easily†. It really wasn’t his fault, for it â€Å"ain’t little as mice†, though it â€Å"wasn’t big enough† of a puppy either to be kept outside its mother’s reach. And if that wasn’t bad enough, on that same day he viciously killed Curley’s wife. In the barn she was consoling her loneliness by talking to Lenny in a â€Å"passion of communication†. With pleasure she talks of her dreams and of her life, about how her life would be if she â€Å"made somethin’ of herself†. How she was said to be a â€Å"natural† in movies and how her â€Å"ol’ lady stole† letters from a guy she knew that â€Å"was in pitchers†. Her dream dies as with her body as Lenny tries to shut her up. Not knowing his own strength he breaks her neck after she struggles to break free, and â€Å"her body flopped like a fish†, as Curley did when he tried to let go of his hand from Lennie’s strong grasp. As soon as Candy and George discovers the unlawful act that Lenny has done, they try to reason with his actions and find the best action that should be taken against him. Pessimistically George wants to â€Å"get ‘im an’ lock ‘im up†, for his own good so he won’t â€Å"starve† to death. In the end George decided to kill Lenny, for he thinks that if anyone should lynch Lenny, it should him that would kill Lenny, mercifully. I agree with the statement that Steinbeck’s opinion on life by the end of the novel is a pessimistic and negative point of view. By pessimistic I mean that he has a tendency to stress the adverse aspects of a situation, in this case expecting the worst possible outcome in life. Negative, meaning he expresses denial, refusal, prohibition, bad, or evil things in general. The ending of this novel in my opinion is very tragic, having three deaths occur in one day which not only does it represents physical death, but also emotional death. I see death as the negative side to life, but then again death can be seen as something positive, as religion tells us of something called heaven, which for Lenny might be â€Å"tending rabbits† and â€Å"live off the fatta the land.† On page 112 where George describes the perfect life: â€Å"Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ’em†, it is all positive things. But the fact that Lenny had to imagine it means that he can’t see it with the naked eye, therefore it does not exist in reality, leaving reality with the opposite of that imagination of the perfect life which is the negative things. I believe the puppy represents the death of trust and responsibility in the companionship between Lenny and George. George trusted Lenny to take care of his puppy, but once again Lenny acted irresponsible, not listening to Slim’s and George’s advice to not take away the pup from its mother. This is why Lenny was very nervous after the dog gets killed. He was afraid â€Å"maybe George ain’t gonna let me (Lenny) tend no rabbits†, that George would lose his trust on Lenny. He was afraid that George would pass a negative judgement on Lenny. The death of Curley’s wife I say would mean the death of the innocent. I thought she was caught in the middle of life in the 1930’s where her gender was discriminated against, and as a wife she should stay at home â€Å"where she belongs†. I feel pity for her living on a ranch where there aren’t many other women around. As her husband prohibits her to talk to other men, people might find her as â€Å"trouble†, â€Å"jail-bait†, one that â€Å"conceals nothing†. Lennie’s death, the climax of the novel situated at the end of the novel is very important. His death expresses the death of true friendship between George and Lenny, unlike the other migrant workers relations. The death of Candy’s dream of having a place he can call his own, the death of Crook’s hope to be treated as equal, as a human being and also as a friend. The relationship between George and Lenny are different from other guys. â€Å"We got each other†, not like other guys who â€Å"ain’t got nobody in the worl’ that gives a hoot in hell about ’em†. Lenny and George get a sense of security out of this. This may be considered a luxury for any other migrant workers. Candy who is old and weak also yearns for security. â€Å"Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk – houses they’ll put me on the county†, shows how he is afraid of his future, how if he’s unemployed with no permanent residence and what would happen if he would be left out in the streets. He was deeply stricken with sadness, as â€Å"his eyes were blinded with tears† and how he just â€Å"lay down in the hay and covered his eyes with his arm†. Crooks who tries to â€Å"conceal his pleasure with anger† as Candy and Lenny both were guests at his bunk, is a man who lost all his pride and dignity because of racism. People degrade him in a level so low that he has no more self-confidence or even self-respect. With the coming of Candy and Lenny he gained them piece by piece. For a moment he felt to be part of something in Lennie’s â€Å"dream†, how he hoped to live a better life where people would treat him with the respect that he deserves. All is but a memory once Lenny is killed, no chance the dream would come true. I’d think everybody would just go their separate ways, living their lives in a straight line, hardly ever cross. Steinbeck’s style of writing noticed in the description of nature on chapter 6 is far more violent than described in the beginning of the novel. â€Å"A silent head and beak lanced don and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically. But one could argue that his negative view on life already started from the beginning of the novel. The title â€Å"Of Mice and Men† which is taken from a poem by Robert Burns says that no matter how you plan something, something always goes wrong. George expected the worst possible outcome, being pessimistic of Lennie, by foreshadowing him to get in trouble. If you look in the positive way, the end can also mean a new beginning.

Rizal in Hong Kong

Rizal in Hong Kong 19 November 1891 In the evening Rizal arrived at Hong Kong. 26 November 1891 From Hong Kong Rizal sent to Manuel Camus in Singapore 20 copies of the Fili, 6of the Morga and 4 of the  Noli. He gave Camus 25 percent commission for thebooks sold. 1 December 1891 He asked permission from his parents to join  them in Manila in their sacrifices andat the same time, encouraged them to have a little  endurance. He said: † I havelearned of the exile of four townmates to  Jolo and of the return of my brother toManila.I  have also learned  that mother, Pangoy and  Trining, have beensummoned again by the civil government. I am burning with desire to embraceyou. Patience, a little patience! Courage! † 6 December 1891 Francisco Mercado, Paciano and his brother-in-law, Silvestre Ubaldo,  escapedfrom the Philippines to avoid persecution, and  arrived at Hong Kong to join him. 12 December 1891 In a letter sent to Maria, one of his sisters in the Philip pines, Rizal broached hisplan of establishing a  Filipino colony in North British Borneo. 17 December 1891On this day Governor General Despujol, offering his services and  cooperation forthe common good. He wanted to point to the latter the ills of country in order tohelp cure the wounds of mal-administration. 27 December 1891 An article was published in the La Epoca carrying false news about Rizal’s stay inthe Philippines and his influence among the natives. This article carries noauthor’s name and was believed to have been inspired  by a Dominican  friar. December 1891 Rizal was visited by an Augustinian friar in his house. The friar pulled his ears andwanted to attack him.But Rizal stopped the intruder by twisting  the latter’s hand. 25 January 1892 The duplicate of his diploma in Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery was issued bythe Ministry of Development in Madrid. 30 January 1892 In a letter, Juan Luna  favorably endorsed Rizal’s plan ofà ‚  establishing a Filipinocolony in North Borneo. He wished Rizal luck and success in this project. January 1892 Everyday, after his medical practices in his clinic, he continued writing his thirdnovel. It treated exclusively  about the Tagalog customs, usages,  virtuesanddefects.Meanwhile, his  brother Paciano translated the Noli into Tagalog. 1 February 1892 Rizal paid thirty-five pesos (P35. 00)  to D. Mallunko for the rent on the premisesof A-2 Rednaxela from January 1st to 31st. 6 February 1892 Rizal wrote a letter addressed  to â€Å"My beloved friend† and signed it with  the nameCabisa. 15 February 1892 The Hong Kong Telegraph published the letter  of Rizal  signed Philippines in  whichhe denounced the vandalistic actions of the friar  manager of the Dominicans indestroying the houses of those who refused to pay the  exorbitant rentalsdemanded of them in Calamba. 23 February 1892Rizal wrote a letter to Blumentritt  in which he informed the latte r of  his plan of  emigrating to Borneo where he could establish another Calamba free from theabuses of the friars and the civil guards. 2 March 1892 He visited Victoria  Gaol in Hong Kong. Dr. Lorenzo Pereira Marquez who  was thephysician of the state prison accompanied him. People met:  josemariabasa, balbinomauricioImpression:Hong Kong is a small but very clean  commercial city. Many Portuguese, Hindus,English, Chinese, and Jews live in it. There are also some Filipinos, the majority of  whom being those who had been exiled to the Mariana Islands in 1872.They arepoor, gentle, and  timid. Formerly they were  rich merchants, industrialists,  andfinanciers. Only one is a republican and progressive; very suspicious. They willnot return to Manila; they fear the   phantoms . One is very sick and will die soon. He was a rich financier, not very well educated, but  very rich, who married adissolute woman. It was his fault. Now he is poor, very poor. He left the co untry passing Hong Kong and was welcomed by  Filipino residents,among them, Jose Maria Basa, Balbino  Mauricio, and Manuel Yriarte, the son of  the mayor of Laguna.

Characteristics of Women That Attract Men Essay

2.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Sample We were searching for a characteristics of woman that attract men. After all, we distributed the questionnaire among Labuan Matriculation Colleges’ student (LMC) 2012/13 to get the specific answer. The questions are universal which can be answer by both gender, male and female. All the respondent are majority from Sabah and Sarawak, while some are from Peninsular Malaysia who studying in LMC. In this research, we were only focusing on teenagers, from age 19 to 20 as we believed, most individu starts to get serious in searching a life partner around this age circle. 2.2 Research Instrument Categorical and multiple-choices style of questions had been used in this questionnaire. Categorical style are most commonly use to determine the respondent’s life background, while, in order to prove the objectives, multiple-choices answer are given to help the respondents to answer bunch of questions. 2.3 Research Procedure After finished discussing the research’s topic, we combined all the ideas from the four heads of us to one paper. We justified the questions to be more specific and most important is , the questions must be interesting and easy to be answer. This is because, based on our own experienced, people will easily get bore when answering a question that sounds boring and difficult to answer, especially those question which you have to state a reason for some answer. So, in order to make sure the surveys is in the bag, we try to make it simple and easy as we can. Afterwards, we submitted the softcopy to our subject’s lecturer and wait for her approval. Next, we distributed the questionnaires to all the respondent in LMC during rest hour at cafeteria. There were 90 copies of questionnaire. 45 answered by male students age 19-20 while the rest answered by the opposite sex. It only took about 3minutes for each person to answer. Since both male and female can answer all the questions, we can see, there are a lot of different opinion between these two genders. Finally, making analysis is the hardest step to do when we have to check the answers one-by-one. However, it become easier when each of us showed cooperativity and helping each other.

Challenges Children Face in Divorced Families Essay

The death of a parent is less devastating to a child than a divorce. (Billota, 2012) There are long term and short effects that children face during and post divorce. There are six stations in which most couples face while going through these trials. About fifty percent of married couples will get a divorced before the children are of the age of 18. (Scott, 2010) Since divorce is so complex I will discuss some guidelines on how to ease the pain on children growing up or going through a household in which parents are getting a divorce. The death of a parent is less devastating to a child than a divorce. (Billota, 2012) After carefully analyzing this statistic I can say that I agree with the statistical fact. Speaking from personal experience, I feel like I am a creditable source and can relate to this topic of Challenges Children Faced in Divorced Families. Another statistic is that half of American children, under the age of eighteen will witness the actual break of their parents and half of those children will also witness the failure of the second marriage. The percentage of children being raised without their fathers in America is an astonishing forty percent. Children who experienced a divorce are more like to be at a higher risk for illness or injury such as asthma, headaches, and speech defects. (Billota, 2012) These are just a few of the statistical facts that children of divorce face. My name is Mayra and I am a statistic. I come from a divorced family; I witnessed the breakup of my parents and both of their second marriages. I am a divorcee, my son is a recipient of speech therapy and I was raised without a father. Divorce is a death of a commitment and a promise, but unlike a death of a parent, it isn’t someone we mourn and then slowly move forward from, it is a death that we have to deal with on a day to day basis. This is why the death of a parent is less devastating to a child than of a divorce. (Billota, 2012) â€Å"I, Mayra, take thee, Erick, to be my lawful wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward; for better or for worse; in sickness and in health; to love, to honor, obey, and cherish; from this day forward; till death do us part.† These are common broken vows. Why do people marry? According to our text, people marry for love and commitment as well to avoid the inevitable feeling of loneliness. (Scott, 2010) A steady companionship is ideal in society and although that isn’t the sole reason for marriage, it is one of the major reason people pursue marriage. Other reasons people get married besides personal fulfillment, can be for financial reasons, wealth, power and reproductive reasons. (Scott, 2010) In a perfect world everyone would live a fairytale marriage and live a happily ever after. In today’s society divorce is what happens when couples don’t work out. Some might refer to it as a trend; do to the simple fact that in the most recent years the numbers of divorce rates have increased to a little more than 1 million a year. (Scott, 2010) Factors that affect marital stability are, but not refined just to, age of first marriage, education of individuals, income, religion, parental divorce, cohabitation, and presence of children. (Scott, 2010) There are different stages in the process of divorce. Starting from when the conflict between the married couple begins and last a period of time; to the initiation of legal paperwork; to the spouses’ adaption to the dissolution of the troubled marriage. (Scott, 2010) As mentioned above some factors that affect marital stability include the presence of children. Marriages can last longer if children are indeed present do to the fact that parents don’t want their children to grow up in a broken home; it can be imposed values or the sense of guilt. In cases when the marriage cannot be salvaged and there are children involved in the dissolution; it is best that the parents take time to careful initiate the process while providing stability and structure. (Scott, 2010; Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) The six stations that married couples face as they divorce are: emotional, legal economic, coparental, community and psychic divorce. During the emotional station, either one or both partners begin to question their marriage based on the viability or quality. One or both partners may withdraw emotionally, withhold feelings and may withhold affection. Intentionally hurting one another may occur because of the frustration, anger or resentment that they might feel towards each other or one another. Separation during this stage is common and it is common to do so after an argument or fight. (Scott, 2010) It is crucial that from this stage parents recognize that in order to avoid their children from feeling the stress and the pain of a divorce, that they provide structure, love and reassurance to the children. One thing to remember is not to belittle one another or argue in front of the children. (Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) During my emotional station, we both detached from one another and intentionally hurt one another by verbally insulting each other. An argument that occurred while placing an order at a restaurant was all it took to know that the person that I married knew nothing about me after 6 years of marriage. I took into account that I had a son and I didn’t want him to grow up without both parents, but I figured it wasn’t a healthy marriage and I couldn’t hide my pain, it showed and affected my relationship with my son. I left within a couple of days of that argument. Second station: The legal divorce officially ends the matrimony and gives both parties the right to remarry or see other people as they please. This is a deliberating period of time and usually takes months before it’s finalized. Divorce can be expensive and result in either spousal support, alimony, and or child support, which leads’ us to our third station: economic divorce. Economic divorce involves the economical settlements of tangible items that may have been accrued during the marriage. It includes homes, cars, bank accounts, investments and any future earnings. This station is not applicable to every marriage being that not every marriage last as long and may or may have not accrued much. Stations two and three may also affect the challenges the children face during these periods. Children may face the challenge of not seeing either parent for long periods of time and have to incorporate a new schedule and routine. It is common for a father to become less involv ed with their children during this period because of their perceptions of possible sources of support. Fathers may feel that by providing child support they no longer have resume their ties to fatherly duties. During the economic station, children may also face economical changes. It is common for the mother to have custody and usually in household incomes the father has a higher income. If they live with the mother the child may not live the life as if both parents combined their income causing stress and emotional pain to a child. (Scott, 2010) Being involved with the children after divorce is a great way to reassure them that they have both parents’ regardless of the separation. And even through the economical changes, providing the children with a safe secure home, establishing a routine, and providing structure will ease the challenges the children face. (Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) Children react to divorce by having feeling of denial, anger, sadness, rejection, despair and grief and loneliness. Station 4 the coparental divorce involves the responsibilities the parents have to the children that include, custody, visitation, and financial and legal aspects of it. (Scott, 2010) Engaging in custody battle adds an abundant amount of stress to all parties, especially the children. Ensuring that the children don’t get caught in between battle is important. Parents should make sure they don’t have the children chose sides and always remember it should be in the best interest of the child. (Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) The community divorce, station five, involves the changes of the social relationships which includes relatives and friends that are associated with a former spouse. This can act as a loss to either family member. Having to detach from relatives, such as in-laws, mutual friends, family members of the former spouse, puts a toll on everyone because people are left to feel like they have to choose sides. Children face the challenges of losing friends and the luxury of having the sense of family. (Scott, 2010) In my personal situation, mutual friends were forced to take sides because my former spouse couldn’t handle the thought of sharing anything that had to do with me. Former family members feel like they can’t invite to family parties out of respect to my ex, but it affects my son because, he misses his father’s family. Situations like these are best handled by presenting as a united front. (Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) The psychic divorce, sixth station, has no time frame and involves defining yourself as single person rather than a couple. During this process, people mourn their failed marriage, use the time to discover their self, distance themselves from the divorce and accept the breakup. The station of difficulty and time varies from individual to individual. (Scott, 2010) Children absorb so much through divorce and being a strong parent, who reassures them that they are not at fault or cause for the divorce helps ease the grief caused by the divorce. Helping children express emotions and committing to listen to the children without getting defensive reassures the unconditional love that you have for them. Adjusting to new circumstances is difficult for children, they can look at divorce as a loss and by supporting their feelings helps create that trust that may have been lost with the divorce. (Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) Divorce on children has a short term and long term effect. The short term experiences that are most commonly shared among children whose parents divorced are: rejection, anger, denial, sadness, despair, and grief. Children tend to feel guilty and blame themselves for the divorce and fantasize about parents reuniting. The stresses of this may cause health problems, both physical and psychological. Health problems may be caused by the lack of health insurance following the divorce, which creates a health problematic for children. The stress of the divorce may lead to depression and leave the children feeling incompetent. This depends on the guidance of the parents and the adjustment process of the child. Long term effects may not be as clear and consistent. Long term effects are long-lasting and interfere with the process of social-emotional developmental. (Scott, 2010) Children of divorced families are four more times likely to have problems with their peers. It is also said that boys who come from divorced parents tend to be more aggressive toward their peers than those who don’t come from a broken home. (Billota, 2012) The adult children of divorced parents show much more anxiety and have a higher rate of having failing interpersonal relationships. The more common long term effect of children of divorced parents is low self-esteem, depression and school and behavior problems. These are the negative effects and challenges children face. (Scott, 2010) Support for marriage and families can be found online, within the community and schools. Some schools provide affordable counseling services. Parents who decide to divorce are encouraged to learn about the effects children face during divorce. It may help reduce risks children might face during and after the process. There is a high risk for fathers to be less involved with their children after divorce, so it is encouraged that families promote activities that involve parents and children so that it help them stay connected (Scott, 2010) Important guidelines to help children cope are, telling the truth, saying â€Å"I love you†, addressing the changes, avoid blaming anyone, listening and acknowledging feelings, having patience, providing reassurance, and providing a structured routine. When in doubt, it is encouraged to seek professional help. (Block, Kemp, & Smith, 2012) By providing all the above, helps give the children a sense a security and perhaps the hope that everything is for the better. It would be nice if children from divorced families could break the vicious cycle of divorce. I can say that for two yours I put a lot effort into making my marriage work. I encourage everyone to take premarital counseling and post-marital counseling. I believe to have a strong successful marriage there needs to be a solid foundation of communication, trust and respect. Love is an emotion and in most cases conditional, the only unconditional love that I ever known is for my son. I can’t say that for everyone. If I would have known that I was going to cause so much emotional pain getting a divorce, never in a million years would have given up after two years. The death of a parent is less devastating to a child than a divorce. (Billota, 2012) Works Cited Billota, L. (2012, March 23). 18 Shocking Statistics About Children and Divorce. Retrieved from Marriage Success Secrets website: http://www.marriage-success-secrets.com/statistics-about-children-and-divorce.html Block, J., Kemp, G., & Smith, M. (2012, March 21). Children and Divorce. Retrieved from Helpguide.org: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/children_divorce.htm Scott, M. A. (2010). Marriages and Families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.