Ted Bundy Research Paper

â€Å"Ask a psychopath what love is and he’ll go on and on, but he has never felt it himself†¦If you catch him lying, he’ll just shift gears and go on as though nothing had happened† (Goleman). Ted Bundy was one of the most famous psychopaths in the history of the country (Nordheimer). People say he was the perfect killer- handsome, intelligent, witty, and charming (Boynton 25). Bundy was the complete opposite of what people thought a serial killer looked like, so his victims did not fear him (â€Å"Ted Bundy†).Robert Keppel, an expert on serial killers, stated, â€Å"He taught us that a serial killer can appear to be absolutely normal, the guy next door (â€Å"Serial Killers and Mass Murderers†). At one point he was working for a suicide hotline; a friend once said, â€Å"Ted Bundy took lives, he also saved lives† (Thompson). Bundy not only thrived on the attention he received from the police and the media (Editors), but loved the thri ll of stalking his victims (U*X*L). Not one person Ted Bundy knew would have guessed he was able to do such horrid things.Theodore Robert Cowell was born in the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont on November 24, 1946. His mother, Louise Cowell, was pregnant with Theodore when she was only twenty-one years old. Louise grew up in a very strict Methodist backround. Because she was not married, having Theodore was an embarrassment to her parents, Sam and Eleanor Cowell. Sam Cowell was known for being ill-tempered and racist. He verbally and physically abused his wife. Because of this, Eleanor suffered from frequent bouts of depression and was always living in fear.Louise had greatly struggled to even tell her parents about her pregnancy on account of what they might do. After birth, Louise traveled back home to Philadelphia so her parents could decide whether they wanted to keep Theodore or put him up for adoption. When the Cowell family was debating, they left Theodore with strangers in Vermont. Two months later, Louise returned to Vermont and brought the baby back to Philadelphia. As soon as the two arrived back home, the Cowell’s told the town that they had adopted Theodore and that Louise was his older sister to save themselves from the gossip of their neighbors.Even when Ted was young, there were incidents that showed how he was different than other children. â€Å"When his Aunt Julie was fifteen years old, she awoke on more than on morning to find her nephew stealthily lifting her blanket and slipping butcher knives into the bed beside her. He just stood there and grinned. † These occurrences were happening when Ted was just three years old (Serial Killers 10). In 1950, Louise and Theodore moved to Tacoma, Washington where they lived with welcoming relatives. To save herself from a bad reputation, Louise changed her last name to Nelson and told the town that she was a widow.She soon found a job as a secretary and start ed to attend a local Methodist church (Serial Killers 10). Louise met John Culpepper Bundy, a hospital cook. The two married on May 19, 1951 and Ted changed his name for the third time at only five years old (11). Once four more children were added to the Bundy household, Theodore became even more isolated, keeping mostly to himself (â€Å"Ted Bundy Biography†). As Theodore grew older and started to attend school, his mother received concerned notes from his teachers telling her that she needed to control his violent temper. When provoked, Ted would get very angry and his teachers were worried.All throughout high school, Ted knew he was different than all the others. He could not feel or understand natural human emotions like normal teenagers so in order for him to appear normal, he was forced to mimic them. Bundy was not able to be caring or compassionate and failed to develop a conscience. He felt that he was living in a world of objects- things to be used or discarded (Ser ial Killers 15). Ted’s high school years were when he began his life of crime. He started stealing expensive clothes and ski equipment and he was sneaking out and peeking through women’s windows to watch them undress.He disabled a woman’s car to make her less mobile and more vulnerable, which satisfied his sexual fantasies. The people who knew Ted would never guess for a second that he was living the life of this sex-obsessed criminal. He received good grades, he regularly attended church, and he was active in Boy Scouts (11). Ted Bundy appeared as an average teenager. He graduated from high school in 1965 and won a scholarship to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, but later transferred to the University of Washington, where he met the girl of his dreams.Stephanie Brooks had everything, but he loved her for all the wrong reasons: her looks, her money, and her status. Ted tried to do everything he could to make sure she was pleased with him. He followed her to Stanford University in 1967, but she broke up with him soon after. He left Stanford and returned to the University of Washington with a broken heart. His grades suffered tremendously so he had no choice but to drop out (Serial Killers 15). Throughout the year 1968, Ted became obsessed with winning Stephanie back.He changed his whole outer appearance and was more determined than ever to impress her. Transforming himself into a totally different man, he was becoming someone who Brooks would want. Bundy chose politics as his chosen road towards status; he was active in the Washington State Republican party (Serial Killers 15). Toward the end of 1968, he was unemployed after the Republican candidate he was working for lost an election. The following year Ted attended Temple University for a few months (16). Theodore was becoming the ideal citizen (Serial Killers 15).He wrote a rape prevention pamphlet for women (Boynton 25), won a commendation from the Seattle Police Department for running down a purse snatcher, saved a drowning toddler from a lake (Serial Killers 15), and was an assistant director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Committee (Boynton 25). Ted reenrolled in the University of Washington in 1971 (Serial Killers 15). To earn a little pocket change, Bundy volunteered at Seattle’s Crisis Clinic where he met Ann Rule. Sharing secrets and sorrows, Bundy and Rule became very close- Ann almost acted as Bundy’s replacement mother.Rule says, â€Å"Bundy was considered one of the most skilled counselors, adroit at persuading desperate voices that the night would pass and dawn would come† (Thompson). Ted finally graduated from the University of Washington in 1972 (Serial Killers 16) with a degree in psychology (Boynton 25). After graduation, he applied to law schools, but was rejected on account of his low entrance test scores. A year later, in 1973, he applied to the law school of the University of Utah and was accepted, but did not enroll until the fall of 1974.During the summer of 1973, Bundy felt confident enough to reunite with Stephanie Brooks again, now being twenty six years old. While on a business trip to California, he took Brooks out to an expensive dinner and won her over. She loved the man Bundy had become and the two got engaged soon after (Serial Killers 16). Brooks thought they were going to get married, but Bundy abruptly cut off all ways of contact with her. This was his revenge for what she did to him years ago (â€Å"Ted Bundy Biography†), and Bundy later said, â€Å"I just wanted to prove to myself that I could have married her† (Serial Killers 16).However, this revenge brought Bundy little comfort and began a series of attacks on innocent women (â€Å"Ted Bundy Biography†). All his victims were slender, white, and wore their hair parted down the middle and all disappeared in the late afternoon or evening (Boynton 25). Bundy’s prey oddly resembled Stephanie Brooks. Bundy’s first of many attacks was on January 4, 1974 in Seattle near the University of Washington campus. Joni Lentz, eighteen years old, was viciously attacked while sleeping in the house she shared with her roommates (Boynton 25). That morning Lentz did not show up for breakfast like she normally did.Her roommates did not think anything out of the ordinary; they assumed she slept in late. But by noon, they were starting to worry. Knocking on the door, the roommates heard no response, so they pushed the door upon. To their disbelief, Joni was laying on her bed with her hair and face covered with dried blood. They noticed a metal rod was missing from her bed, and when they lifted the covers, the soon found out what had happened with the rod. The object was harshly shoved in her vagina. Lentz spent several months after the attack in a coma and fortunately, Joni survived and did not recall the incident at all (Serial Killers 16).Twenty-seven days later on a Thursday nig ht, twenty-one year old Lynda Ann Healy was abducted from her bedroom in the Seattle’s University District. Healy was a law student at the University of Washington and part-time weather reporter (Boynton 25). Her work as a weather reporter required her to wake up at 5:30 a. m. each morning and each night she went to bed early. Oddly, she did not show up to work and did not attend her classes later that day. Friday night Healy’s parents called the police hoping they were worrying for no reason- that their daughter was safe.Detectives Wayne Dorman and Ted Fonis arrived on the scene and discovered Lynda no where to be found. Dried blood covered the pillow and soaked through the sheets, onto the mattress. The pillowcase was missing and never has been recovered. As the detectives were searching through her room for clues, they opened the closet and found Healy’s nightgown stuffed in the back with a neckline covered in dried blood (Serial Killers 16). Six weeks after Healy disappeared, Donna Manson, a nineteen year old student at Evergreen State College, left her dormitory to attend a jazz concert. Manson never arrived.Susan Rancourt, a freshman at Central Washington State College disappeared a month after Manson. Rancourt was on her way to a campus movie and was never seen alive again (Serial Killers 17). After students became aware of what happened to Rancourt, they came forward and told of incidents similar to Rancourt’s. They told of encounters with a tall, handsome man with an arm in a sling. The mysterious man asked for their help to bring his books or packages to his car. Kathy Parks disappeared from Oregon State University and Brenda Ball was last seen in the parking lot of a tavern in Burier, Washington.She was seen talking to a handsome, brown-haired man who had one arm in a sling. Georgeann Hawkins disappeared from her sorority house just north of the University of Washington (Boynton 28). She was last seen leaving the Beta fra ternity house. Witnesses reported seeing a tall, good looking man on crutches near where Hawkins was last seen (29). Ball, Parks, and Hawkins disappeared in a matter of two months. Police had no leads on who this psychopath could be- Bundy covered his tracks perfectly. Janice Ott and Denise Naslund were kidnapped on July 14, 1974 at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, Washington (Boynton 25).Janice Ott, twenty three, was a probation-office worker. On July 14th, Ott was laying on her blanket at around noon trying to catch a tan. Witnesses say they saw her and a man named Ted, who had his arm in sling, chat for a little bit. After chatting, Ott left with the mysterious man- this was the last time anyone has seen her alive. Denise Naslund was a tad younger at only eighteen years old. She worked as a secretary while studying to become a computer programmer. At 4:30 in the afternoon on the 14th, Naslund had just woken up from a nap. She went to the bathroom and never returned (Serial Killers 19).The abductions from Lake Sammamish were under the control of the King County Major Crimes Unit, where Detective Robert Keppe worked. He was the first to connect the two abductions of Ott and Naslund to the attacks on Lentz and Healy. During this time, Bundy was working at the Washington State Department of Emergency Services in Olympia. His fellow coworkers told him he creepily resembled the â€Å"Ted† in the police sketches and Bundy just smiled and shrugged it off. His own girlfriend, Beth Archer, and four other people called the police and suggested him as a suspect. Beth debated on calling in for days.No matter how much she wanted to deny her love being a killer, there were coincidences that could not be ignored. Bundy was always interested in the newspaper’s descriptions of the suspect and the car the police described was oddly similar to Ted’s. Her lover was safe for now though on account of there being no concrete evidence of murder; the victi m’s bodies had not been found (Serial Killers 20). The policemen’s prayers had been answered on September 7, 1974. Elzie Hammons, a hunter, set up four miles from Lake Sammamish. While walking on a rugged, dirt path, he saw a skeleton. Nearby he discovered a human skull.The search was led by Detective Bob Keppel of the King County police. By the end of the search, the men found a total of one skull, a lower jaw, a rib cage, a spinal column, five thigh bones, assorted smaller bones, and eight locks of hair. The remains were positively identified as Janice Ott and Denise Naslund. The third victim is said to be Georgann Hawkins, but that is not for certain (Serial Killers 20). After discovering these findings, the killings seemed to have stopped. However, this was not the case. Bundy began attending the University of Utah in 1974 and with him also came his destruction.Soon enough, the disappearances started to happen again. On October 2, 1974, Nancy Wilcox vanished from h er neighborhood south of Salt Lake City. The sixteen year old was last seen in a light color Volkswagon bug (Serial Killers 21). Just sixteen days later, Melissa Smith, a seventeen year old, disappeared from a local pizza parlor. Seventeen year old Laura Aime vanished after a Halloween party thirteen days after Smith was kidnapped. About a month after Melissa was taken police found her body in a canyon in the Wasatch Range, east of Salt Lake City.A month after this finding, police located Aime’s body by a trail in the same mountains as Smith. Both of the victims’ skulls were crushed by being hit viciously in the head. Strangled and raped, Smith and Aime’s bodies were found nude and beaten (Serial Killers 21). On November 8, 1974 Bundy attempted to kidnap Carol DaRonch. While shopping at the mall, DaRonch was approached by a policeman asking her to go to the parking lot with him (Nordheimer). The officer called himself Officer Roseland and told Carol that someone had broken into her car (Serial Killers 9).Once they walked out to the parking lot, Officer Roseland showed DaRonch his identification and asked her to go to the police station with him. She got in his Volkswagon and as soon as they sped off, the â€Å"officer† put handcuffs on her wrists. Carol kicked him in the crotch and managed to open the car door. As soon as she jumped out, she stopped an oncoming car for help (Nordheimer). Thankfully, nothing serious had happened to her- she was extremely lucky to be alive. That same night, Bundy drove to Viewmont high school in Bountiful, Utah looking for a new victim to satisfy his appetite since he let his first escape.On that evening, Viewmont was having a school play. The teacher that was in charge was asked by Bundy to go out to the parking lot and help him identify a car. Thankfully, the teacher declined the handsome man’s offer. However, seventeen year old Debra Kent was not so fortunate. Debra left the play early to pi ck up her younger brother (Serial Killers 21). Soon after she left, resident from an apartment complex across the street heard two ear piercing screams. Kent’s body would never be found (22). After the attempted kidnapping of DaRonch and the successful abduction of Kent, Bundy stopped killing for about four months.He then resumed in Colorado where he murdered four more women (26). March 1, 1975 was a comforting day for the families of Brenda Ball, Susan Rancourt, Kathy Parks, and Lynda Healy. Ten miles east of Issaquah, a couple of students that were hiking found a skull near Taylor Mountain. Detective Keppel led a search team of two hundred officers and volunteers. The men and women recovered all of these remains in a matter of eight days (Serial Killers 20). Throughout the year of 1975 Ted Bundy had two dozen police agencies from the states of Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado on alert.These agencies had no idea that they were all after the same man (22). At two a. m. on August 16, 1975, Sergeant Robert Hayward was on his way home from his shift. When he reached his neighborhood he cruised past a suspicious gray Volkswagon. Hayward put on his brights so he could take a look at the license plate. As soon as he turned his brights on, the driver of the Volkswagon turned off his lights and sped away feverishly. After a pursuit, the Volkswagon pulled in to a beaten down gas station. The driver’s license read Theodore Robert Bundy. Ted said he was lost and that he had just seen a movie at the local theatre.Just to be cautious, Hayward called for some back up. When detective Daryle Ondrak arrived he asked Bundy if he could look in his car. Oddly, Ted had removed the passenger seat and sitting next to where the seat should be, was a crowbar. The detectives found this strange so they investigated the trunk. There they found an ice pick, ski mask, a mask made out of panty house, pieces of rope, and a pair of handcuffs. Ondrak arrested Bundy right aw ay but he was soon freed (Serial Killers 22). Later on that week, Ondrak attended the usual meeting with the detectives in the area.As the meeting was coming to a close, Ondrak mentioned Bundy and what had happened a few nights ago. Homicide Detective Jerry Thompson of the Salt lake County Sheriff’s Office pieced all the information together. Thompson had been investigating the murder of Melissa Smith for over a year. He remembered the attempted kidnapping of Carol DaRonch and how she was handcuffed in a Volkswagon. So many pieces were falling together in his mind and he knew that Bundy was the killer. Thompson worked tremendously hard to link Bundy to the DaRonch case (Serial Killers 22).To make sure this happened, on October 2, 1975, Thompson assembled a police lineup. He brought in Carol DaRonch, the Viewmont drama teacher, and a Viewmont student who also talked to the mysterious stranger on the night of the play. All three women picked Bundy out of the lineup. Bundy was c harged with the kidnapping and attempted murder of Carol DaRonch. His bail was set at one hundred thousand dollars and he was being held at the Salt Lake County Jail. After just seven weeks, Bundy’s bail was reduced to fifteen thousand dollars. Johnnie and Louise Bundy scrambled up enough money and on November 26th, Bundy returned to Seattle.Bundy’s trial on the assault of Carol DaRonch was held on February 23, 1976 in the Salt Lake City Courthouse. The trial dragged on for several days, with DaRonch’s testimony being the crucial factor. Four days later Theodore was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping and was ordered to undergo psychiatric examination before his sentencing (Serial Killers 24). A few months later on June 30th, Ted Bundy was sentenced to one to fifteen years in the Utah State Prison. He boasted that he was a popular inmate and that the conviction, which he called just a minor setback, would be overturned in the near future (Serial Killers 24).In January of 1977, Bundy was transferred to Colorado for the trial of the Caryn Cambell murder. For two months, he was held in the small Pitkin County Jail located in Aspen. There, Ted took pleasure in unlimited telephone privileges and made friends with ease. Throughout the trial, he did not get along with his team of lawyers so he fired them and coordinated his own defense. Bundy knew what he was doing- prisoners who are their own lawyer are permitted freedom of movement. He was allowed access to law books and such which are held in the library (25). Bundy took matters into his own hands; On June 7, 1977 Ted escaped.Because Ted was in the courtroom, his handcuffs and leg irons were removed. The deputy in charge of him was guarding the courtroom door, so all Bundy had to do was slip out the back of the attached library. From that point, he jumped out the window, which was on second story, twenty five feet below. He left a four-inch imprint in the ground beneath him. A woman outside the courthouse saw Bundy jump, ran inside the courthouse, and asked an officer if people normally jumped out of windows here. The officer ran outside, but the fugitive was long gone. The police knew that Bundy was a psychopath and that they had to catch him soon (Boynton 27).Police advised Aspen residents to lock their doors, put their cars in the garage, and hide their children. Bundy’s own mother, Louise Bundy, appeared on a news broadcast in Tacoma, Washington begging for Ted to turn himself in (Serial Killers 27). Ted never did turn himself in because he was captured eight days after he fled from jail (Boynton 27). When he returned to jail, he was forced to handcuffs and leg irons each time he left his cell (Serial Killers 27) and was moved to the Garfield County Jail because the police wanted him to be in a jail that had more security (25).The murder trial moved from Aspen to Colorado Springs on December 23, 1977. In Colorado Springs the death penalty is handed out more freely than in Aspen. Prosecutors and police knew that the Caryn Cambell murder was weak. Bundy, however, thought that the verdict was not going to lean his way and did not want to end up prison for the rest of his life. His second escape occurred on December 30th. Bundy starved himself so he would be skinny enough to squeeze out through a hole in the ceiling of his cell. He crept through a crawl space and climbed down into the closet of his jailer’s apartment.After waiting patiently, he walked on the front door of the jail and no suspected anything. No one realized he had escaped until fifteen hours later. Bundy traveled to Ann Harbor, Michigan, and then Chicago. His last stop was Florida (Boynton 27). After Bundy’s second escape, in January 1978, he rented an apartment close to Florida State University. Ted grew a beard and went by the name â€Å"Chris Hagen†, but for the most part he was the same Ted Bundy, just a little altered. While in Florida, he killed t hree women.On January 14th, he attacked Margaret Bowman, Lisa Levy, Karen Chandler, and Kathy Kleiner who were members of the Chi Omega Sorority at Florida State University. Chandler and Kleiner were the lucky ones- they survived. Bowman and Levy were, however, strangled to death by Bundy (Boynton 26). These killings proved that Ted no longer showed the finesse like he used to in he past. He slaughtered as fast and as furious as possible (Serial Killers 34). The day after the Chi Omega killings, Bundy was visiting the Oaks, which is a lodge for snow boarders.Boarders who were also staying there were discussing what had happened the day before and a man named Chris Hagen informed them that the murderer was smart for beating the victims with a log because that does not show DNA. He told his new buddies that he could easily get away with murder because he knew how to find the way around the law. Bundy no longer could appear normal- his impulses were taking over (35). Bundy’s fin al victim was twelve year old Kimberly Leach. Leach left her purse when she went from her homeroom to her gym class. As she was walking back to retrieve it, rain began to pour. She never had the chance to grab her purse.Two months later the police found her body with her clothes folded in a neat stack right beside her (Serial Killers 35). The trial for the Chi Omega attacks was the most complicated and bizarre trial in legal history. At one point during the trial, Bundy was doing three roles at once: defendant, defense attorney, and witness for the defense (Serial Killers 37). During the proceedings Ted even had a fan group of girls who called themselves â€Å"Ted’s Groupies†. The Bundy lovers packed the courthouse to support their favorite serial killer. Throughout the trial, he would occasionally turn and flash them that million dollar smile (39).Another reason why this trial was one of the strangest in history was because while Bundy’s girlfriend, Carole Ann Boone, was getting questioned by him Ted asked her to marry him (42). One day in court, he brought in an envelop that included his confessions to the Chi Omega and Kimberly Leach killings. There was an agreement that said he would have to face life in prison, but not the death penalty. Instead of just accepting the deal nonchalantly, Bundy made a big corruption in the courthouse. He attacked his own lawyer, Mike Minerva, by telling the judge that he was inept and defeatist.While this was happening, the prosecutors silently told the defense table that the bargain deal was off. â€Å"The prosecutors didn’t want to take a chance that Bundy’s confessions would be invalidated on appeal over the issue of his appointed attorney’s competence† (Serial Killers 39). After only six hours of deliberation, Bundy was convicted on two counts of first degree murder of the Chi Omega Killings. He was sentenced to death by electrocution. He received an additional death sente nce for Leach’s murder (42). In the beginning of his imprisonment, Carol Ann visited him often and actually became pregnant with his daughter.Bundy’s daughter was born in October 1982 and met her father multiple times. Four years later, Carol and their daughter left the state to take care of a sick relative. Carol never returned to see Bundy again (Serial Killers 43). While in jail he switched to Hinduism. He started to become very afraid of dying and he was doing everything he could to prolong his life. Bundy told the details of his victim’s death. The victim’s families were given the choice to say a good word about Bundy in exchange for the truth on what happened to their daughters.Not one single person agreed to say or do anything that would help Bundy live any longer (Serial Killers 44). One of his confessions he stated was that on the day he kidnapped Janice Ott and Denise Naslund from Lake Sammamish, he kept both women alive for a while, meaning one had to watch the one die (Serial Killers 43). He also confessed to eleven murders in Washington, eight in Utah, three in Colorado, three in Florida, two in Oregon, two in Idaho, and one in California. Off the record he indicated of two killings in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but this confession was not official (46).Ted Bundy was executed on January 4, 1989 in the Florida State Prison (Editors 89) at 7:16 a. m. When Bundy died, Carol DaRonch was thirty three years old. After the execution DaRonch stated, â€Å"If they’d have asked me, I probably would have pulled that switch myself† (Serial Killers 46). The death of Ted Bundy was comforting news to the families of the victims. Ted Bundy was one of the most interesting serial killers the legal system has ever seen. He charmed and manipulated not only his victims, but also police offers, investigators, and anyone involved legally. Bundy enjoyed the thrill of taunting the police and baiting the media.He was obsessed with the attention he received (Editors 91). Throughout his criminal life, the way he abducted and killed changed tremendously. In the beginning he was very organized and killed with finesse, but his last few murders were brutal and sloppy. In an interview with Bundy the day before he died, Ted stated that the reason he killed the way he did was because of the porn he watched when he was younger. Ted Bundy is a psychopath and destructed the lives of so many families. He once said, â€Å"What’s one less person on the face of the earth any way? † (Serial Killers 43).Ted Bundy was a malicious man who never felt sorry for what he did to those poor women. â€Å"The only death he ever wept for was his own† (10). Works Cited Boyton, Gary. â€Å"Ted Bundy: The Serial Killer Next Door. † Crimes and Trials of the Century. Volume Two. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2007. Print. The Editors of Salem Press. â€Å"Ted Bundy. † American Villains. Volume one. Pasadena: Sal em Press, Inc. , 2008. Print. Goleman, Daniel. â€Å"Brain Defect Tied to Utter Amorality of the Psychopath. † New York Times, 7 July 1987: C1. ProQuest. Web. 25 Aug. 2011. Nordheimer, Jon. â€Å"All-American Boy on Trial. † New York Times. 10 Dec. 1978: SM24.ProQuest. Web. 24 Aug. 2011. â€Å"Serial Killers and Mass Murderers (1980s). † American Decades 2003: n. p. Student Resource Center Gold. Web. 31 Aug. 2011. Serial Killers. Richmond: Time-Life Books, 1992. Print. â€Å"Serial Killers. † U*X*L Encyclopedia of U. S. History 2009: n. p. Student Resource Center Gold. Web. 31 Aug. 2011. â€Å"Ted Bundy. † Crimemuseum. org. National Museum of Crime and Punishment, 2008. Web. 4 Sep. 2011. â€Å"Ted Bundy Biography. † Thebiographychannel. co. uk. Bio. , n. d. Web. 5 Sep. 2011. Thompson, Thomas. â€Å"The Women Disappeared. † DISCovering Authors 2003: n. p. Student Resource Center Gold. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.

Preventative methods of animal cruelty Essay

Purpose By the end of this speech the audience will be able to know the proper preventative methods of animal cruelty, I also want my audience to know that animal cruelty is wrong and it shouldn’t be tolerated in any form. Introduction How many of you have pets? And how many of you would do anything for them? As seen in a recent study (according to animalcrueltyfacts.net in the year of 2011) 13% of intentional animal abuse cases involve domestic violence, also between 25% and 40% of battered women are unable to escape abusive situations because they worry about what will happen to their pets or livestock if they leave. In saying this animal abuse goes hand in hand with domestic abuse. Animal abuse is similar to domestic abuse because they both have the ability for the batterers to show the power and control that they have over their victims. (animalcruelty.net) Previous research indicates that batterers often threaten or harm pets in order to intimidate and control their female partners. Transition/first point: different types of abuse whether Animal abuse can be either passive or active. (animalcrueltyfact.org) When a person omits responsibility towards an animal is an example of passive abuse, while active abuse requires inflicting pain such as choking. This can be brought back to the comparison of animal abuse and domestic abuse, an example of passive abuse in regards to domestic abuse can be name calling swearing or making the victim feel little or like they don’t exist. An example of active abuse is physical violence such as hitting a spouse. Transition/ Second point: Animals have personalities and feelings like humans Darwin once stated â€Å"emotions exist in non-human animals, and his evolutionary theory suggests that behavioral traits, including personality, can evolve in just the same way as fins, wings and arms,† he said. â€Å"We should realize that studying the personality of animals could help us understand a lot about human personality.† (utexas.edu) Although many people don’t believe it animals have feelings just like humans. They can feel pain and go through emotional distress. When an animal is mistreated and being abused they feel the same pain a person would if they were in the same situation. Transition/ Third point: Laws that can be passed or that are passed already Laws are passed in all 50 states that prevent abuse towards both animals and humans. Anti-cruelty laws exist in all U.S states and territories to prohibit unnecessary killing, mutilating, torturing, beating, neglecting the abandonment of animals or depriving them of proper food, water or shelter. (americanhumane.org) But these laws will never be enough. If you are in a situation in which you are confronted with animal or domestic abuse call your local police department or anyone that can help your specific situation. Conclusion I will conclude my speech by saying that animal abuse, domestic abuse, or that any kind of abuse is wrong. Animals are innocent creatures that do not have a voice of their own so why should they be mistreated? They are suffering in silence because they don’t have a voice. People need to come to the realization that animals need and deserve as much respect as any other creature, and until people start speaking up about cruelty towards animals or humans they will never be free of the cruel acts that are imprisoning them. Works cited * Jennifer , Robbins. â€Å"domestic violence and animal abuse .† Texas journal of women and law . 2006: 129-146. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. . * www.animalcruelty.net * emily , suthertin. â€Å"Animal cruelty:facts,prevention,statistics,and action .† now public. N.p., 2012. Web. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. . * Faver, Catherine A, and alonzo

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INCA EMPIRE - Essay Example This made Pizarro have a better and more experienced knowledge to draw and to set out from Panama in 1530 to conquer the Incans. This also made the Spanish victorious in the war (Christine, 2004). Seasoned conquistadors who joined the fight on the side of the Spaniards made Pizarro and his troops outwit the Incans. The seasoned conquistadors were Hernando De Soto, who had earlier explored Florida and his brother. This expedition conquered and recruited allies as they entered deeper in the Inca Empire. Spaniards introduced in the war while the Incas were already in war, and this was a great advantage to Pizarro and his expedition. It slowed communication among the Incas and made the Spaniards recruit more allies who conquered mercilessly towards the central government (Christine, 2004). The capture of Atahualpa Emperor was also a significant boost for the Spaniards in conquering the Incas as it increased confusion among the Incas, which reduced the response of the Incas as they attacked the Incan empire. The capture of the Emperor was because of the Spaniards using more advanced firearms, cannons and horses as compared to the Incas who used spears and slings that were of no match with the Spaniards weapons (Christine, 2004). Other disasters also affected the Incas and made them unable to fight effectively with the Spaniards. Some of the disasters were inferior technology and diseases as it was claimed that diseases alone killed 90% of the Incas. The Spaniards momentum and beliefs made them conquer the Incas, as they believed it was their mandate to dismantle and change the Incas and anyone they came across to Christianity (Christine, 2004). The approach of Pizarro and his allies to the Incan emperor was a surprise, and that made them attach the Incas fast before the Incas could realize and attack back. Sending Indians first to sweep

Writer's choose Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Writer's choose - Research Paper Example Many archaeologists, towards the end of the 1980s, explained that the political organization of the city was structured in a "multepal" system where political ruling was through the council made up of members of ruling lineages. In terms of economy, Chichen Itza was a major player; this is because it was a major regional capital controlling trade in Yucatan in the period AD 900 and AD 1050, with Isla Cerritos as a major trading port. The city also participated in the circum-peninsular trade via its Isla Cerritos port; thus it obtained resources from distant lands; for example, obsidian was obtained from Central Mexico, and gold was obtained from the Southern Central America (Schele and David 13). The initial site core layout of the Chichen Itza developed during the period 750 AD and 900 AD; final layout was implemented after the year 900 AD, and in the 10th Century the city became a regional trade capital, controlling trade area between the North coast and Central Yucatan and its trade power spreading to the peninsula east and west coasts. Chichen Itza prominence rose at around 600 AD; however the site became a regional power at the later stages of the Late Classic period, and initial stages of Terminal Classic period. The site controlled and dominated socio-political and economic aspects in Maya lowlands in the North (Castaà ±eda 298). The rise of Chichen Itza relates with the decline of major centers in the lowlands of Southern Maya. Archaeological data shows that Chichen Itza influence reduced considerably as from 1250 CE; Mayan chronicles indicate that in the 13th century, ruler of Mayapan (Hunac Ceel) conquered the city, Chichen Itza. In the year 1526, a charter was gr anted by the King of Spain to Francisco de Montejo so as conquer Yucatan.Montejo led alarge Indo-Spanish army which concoured the Yucatan Peninsula. The Spanish King thereafter gave a land grant and by 1588,

Leadership and Nursing Systems Management Essay - 1

Leadership and Nursing Systems Management - Essay Example Patient care managers form the next level, and these oversee patient care directly. Finally, the service providers are at the lowest level and include nurses and physical therapists. Meeting the Mission Highland Hospital recognizes that everyone has value and is guided by their commitment to leadership and excellence. The Hospital demonstrates this through provision of emotional and physical care for patients and their families, balancing continued commitment to needy patients with highly specialized care for its broader community, creating a working environment that values everyone and offers them the opportunity for professional and personal growth, and fosters a culture of innovation and health science research. Values in Action The four core values at Highland Hospital are service, dignity, justice, and excellence, which guide the actions of its staff. Everyone on the staff is committed to the values indicated and work towards ensuring they are present in their relationship with one another and the patients and their families. Each interaction acts as an opportunity for the staff to serve patients, their families, and one another. Excellence is acted out in their professional development, innovation, accountability, and quality commitment. With regards to dignity, every member of the staff and the patients are valuable members of the community. Finally, with regards to justice, the hospital advocates for structures and systems attuned to the requirements of needy and vulnerable patients. Proposed Change Description and Rationale The shift handover is an essential part of the process of communication among nurses that occurs twice within the gynecological unit nurses’ day at... This paper approves that empirical rational strategy was also utilized in ensuring that the nurses were convinced of the change’s veracity through references to documentary evidence on bedside reporting’s positive outcome, such as improvement of patient satisfaction. Informal leaders empowered by transformational leadership were also encouraged to own part of the change by entrusting to them various responsibilities as role models. This strategy is successful as it encourages nurses to participate in the creation of behavioral and attitude change. This essay makes a conclusion that one major difficulty that faces any change in nursing units, including the gynecology unit, is rallying all nurses behind the change. Re-education, therefore, will have to be used to aid nurses in valuing the change and new knowledge they will gain, as well as readying them to learn. Different tasks, therefore, are identified for future use, such as how to deal with confidentiality issues and patients who may take up too much time in discussing their problems that could drag the handover shift longer, are allocated to nursing team members with regards to their area of expertise. This will prepare them to deal with any issues in the future that could threaten the use of bedside reporting. In dealing with various conflicts that could arise, a humanistic and flexible approach is adopted, while the resistance of some nurses should never be overlooked. Effort is made to ensure that a good relationship between nurses is maintained, while also highlighting safety needs and factors of motivation.

Power politics and the interaction among states Essay

Power politics and the interaction among states - Essay Example E-government has become a reality in most leading economies around the world including the USA, UK and most of the members of the European Union. Realism Realism is the school of thought that favors power politics and came up in the aftermath of World War II. Foreign policy makers and scholars rely on realism to provide a platform for analyzing and understanding the political climate of the world. The role of power in world politics came to the forefront after the conquest of the world by Nazism. The Second World War was believed to have been caused by various premises of idealism including ideas of collective security. Idealism may have had a great hand in world politics, especially in formation of the UN, but it was superseded by realism. Countries of the world held the idea that the only way to attain peace was through military action and war. Realism is based on several basic assumptions. These include that states are primary and most important entities in politics of the world. The other assumption is that states are unitary rational factors in world politics. The last assumption is that states seek power as their primary means and end. The assumptions are important in settling various international relations problems in the world. Some schools of thoughts hold that politics is a non-violent struggle for power. According to them, all policies enacted by politicians seek to gain, retain or increase power. Naturally, states are at the most advantageous position to exercise power and therefore, they are the most important entities in power. Military capability of a country is one of the most important measures of power. Analysts and realists hold the principles that since states are the most important entities in international relations, their power can be exercised through interstate relations. States act through their governments which act in a rational manner pursing national interests in an environment characterized by anarchy. Governments have a set of p rinciples and goals that they strive to achieve through various policies. In the ‘70s, various scholars challenged the concept of realism. Multinational corporations are non-state actors in international relations and during this era, they emerged as strong influences on international policies of various states. International organized groups such as the UN came up during this period. The scholars found that states cannot be held as the central most important players in politics. MNC have a great influence on politics. There were important changes in the structure of international systems in the second half of the twentieth century. Changes in technology used in transport and communication had an important impact on global politics. Increased independence of states led to a greater level of interstate relations. New issues emerged in the economic, social and political arenas of most countries. The state-centric assumption of realism came under criticism in the 1971 essay by Ro bert Keohane and Joseph Nye. Their essay recognized the importance of transnational interaction. According to them, nongovernmental actors have a great role to play in interactions between states. Their conclusion invalidated the claim that the state was the single most important player in politics. They suggested further research into various actors in politics (Keohane & Nye, 1971). Richard Mansbach and John Vasquez also advanced the theory of non-state actors. Their study concentrated on

Samsung Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Samsung - Case Study Example The company underwent a huge transition to a high-end technological manufacturer whose focus was on the B2C market from the B2B market. Most technology consumers had come to associate Samsung with poor quality products. In order to alter the perception with regards to its products, Samsung came up with a restructuring process through a careful study that saw them alter their marketing strategy to meet these challenges. Samsung Electronics altered its strategy from technological segmentation to lifestyle segmenting. They started by carrying out extensive market research aimed at manufactured products, which were reflective of the customers’ lifestyle rather than those with technological features that were specific. By using segmentation by lifestyle, Samsung segmented their market followed by product positions. Samsung focused, on the quality of their products in their marketing, to change the image that consumers in the market had in their products. Samsung implemented quality initiatives like six sigma and various initiatives of manufacturing, like assembly manufacturing, to enhance their output via optimal resource utilization. Samsung also developed new products that were technologically superior and innovative. They developed products that were high end and fun for the phone sector to appeal to the preferences of customers in the market. Samsung integrated features like access dictionaries and the religious texts to appeal to local consumers. In addition, their 50-gram phone was introduced that while it did not significantly increase sales volumes, aided Samsung in projecting its image as a high-tech company. Samsung also associated their company with sport events, for example, by becoming the official sponsor of the Seoul Olympics that boosted its visibility worldwide. Q#2: Compared to established rivals like Sony, Matsushita, and Nokia, Samsung was a late entrant in the global consumer electronics market. Comment on Samsung’s brand building initiatives in the global consumer electronics market. Samsung, beginning in 1993, sought to create a global brand and acquire a new corporate identity. To start with, Samsung altered their logo, writing their full name in white against a blue background, which sought to represent warmth, reliability, and stability. Samsung was also looking to the global market, which informed their decision to change their brand name to English for the consumers worldwide to remember easily. It is also said that the design of their logo, which has the letters S and G partially breaking into the exterior of the oval was representative of Samsung’s will to appeal to the consumer’s wish to be connected to a company and their innovations. They also needed to improve their brand image in the market and they did this by offering technologically advanced and innovative products, as well as the initiation of worldwide marketing activities. These steps were taken with the view of increasing th eir brand visibility across the world. Samsung also sought to attach the name of their brand to quality and this saw them change their focus to high-end market products from those in the low end. Their new product designs won the IDE awards, which increased their brand awareness. This led to Samsung, by the early part of the century, to emerge as one of the world’s biggest brand in the cell phone sector. Their high prices were qualified by their high technology, coupled to additional features that they added to their products in comparison to their

Turkish Foreign Policy since the Ottoman Empire Essay

Turkish Foreign Policy since the Ottoman Empire - Essay Example Since time immemorial,Turkey had been a predominantly a Muslim country that was controlled by the Sultanates of the Ottoman Empire.However,through a nationalist movement led by Musataf Kemal,Turkey was able to establish itself as a prosperous secular state that could assert itself as a force in the Central African region. To establish itself to be the modern day Turkey, it had to employ numerous strategies as the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of the Sultanates was greatly opposed to an independent Turkish state with a distinct language, dress code and run through secular laws. The early leadership of Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) that laid claim that the Ottoman Sultan was the universal leader of the Muslims used propaganda and counter-propaganda. However, he did not anticipate that opposition could come from an Islamic perspective. This Sunni idea was largely opposed by the Shiite Iran who did not recognize the Ottoman Empire as it occupied what was traditionally land owned by the Arabs, due to endless persecution, the As Shiites and the Sunnis waged an endless war depending on which side they supported.1 As a method to re-engineer the state towards attaining legitimacy, the Ottoman Empire bought about education through the imposition of uniform religious values through primary and secondary education. This has however been proved to have been the Ottoman Empire’s way of propaganda to educate the ills of the Shiites to the Iraqi population which was perceived to be a moral duty. Finally, it was proved that the attempts of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire fell flat on its face but formed the basis of the republican Turkish nation building, which has been a success. This historical heritage of past concepts and conflicts explains the current geopolitical occurrences in the Middle East and Central Asia.2 As at the imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the sultanate became only limited to the plateau at Anatolia. The implementation of the Treaty of Ser ves weakened the empire as it lost its geopolitical positioning that deprived it of its most important resources. This led to the formation of nationalist movements under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, which culminated in the National Pact of Ankara of January 1920 that resolved to claim those parts of the empire occupied by Turkish populations that laid the basis for the Kemal foreign policy that focused on national unity buttressed by economic and political independence. Through nationalist uprisings and rebellions, the forces led by Kemal were able to crush the Armenian Republic as well as defeating the Greeks. In the process, it was able to negotiate itself into occupying Asia Minor and East Thrace. The Lausanne Treaty set the stage for the Kemalist foreign relation policy especially Greek-Turkish relations marked with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of Turkey under Kemal. This marked the proclamation of Turkey as a republic after the Sultan had been driven aw ay and recognition of Turkey as a secular state.3 Thereafter the Kemal regime focused on pursuing a foreign policy of maintaining peace as Turkey had been involved in a conflict for almost a decade. To achieve this, even when there was the First World War and the upheavals in South Eastern Europe, Turkey adopted a neutral stand. For example, Turkey signed a treaty with Russia known as the Turco-Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Non-Agression that emphasized its neutrality and no acts of aggression in whatever circumstances. What was integral to Turkey then was the securing of its borders through emphasis on territorial integrity as well as the independence of Turkey as republic.4 Later Turkey forged a common foreign policy with Russia to the extent of refusing to be members of the League of Nations due to the suspicion of the Western powers, Turkey was also apprehensive of some articles in the treaty forming the League of Nations. After the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Unio n

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

Final - Essay Example It impacts the reserves held by banks and other institutions to lend money to corporations and households. On a larger scale, it affects the supply of reserves in the banking system, and thus the interest rates and overall growth in the economy. a) If central bank sells government bond, it takes money in exchange for the bonds. This reduces the reserves of private sector banks, and their capacity to make loans to households and corporations and thus cause money growth to decline through money multiplier mechanism. The central bank usually targets a certain level of bank reserves or a particular interest rate for these reserves. OMO allows Fed to affect the supply of reserve balances in the banking system and therefore influence short term interest rates. Given that Fed sold 1 million dollars’ worth of government securities, and that the money multiplier is 5. The reserves of banks and lending institutions to go down by $1 million, this money could have been used to give out lo ans worth $5 million (Amount X Multiplier). This is part of Fed’s tightened the monetary policy. The graph below shows how a change in the supply of money influences interest rates. The supply curve of money shows the quantity of money supplied, with all other things remaining constant. As the quantity of reserves is determined by the Fed’s monetary policy, the supply curve of money is assumed to be vertical line. ... The components of GDP include: Consumption (C) Investment (I) Government Expenditure (G) Net exports (X - M) These components are easily influenced by changes in interest rates. When interest rates are high, people do not want to borrow money through loans as it is more expensive to repay. This reduces the demand for most of the products such as cars, new houses or house renovation, large appliances, luxury goods etc. which causes the overall consumption in the economy to fall. Businesses also avoid raising money for expansion or start up through loans because the interest rates are higher. Similar is the case for government borrowing. As interest rates increase, the foreign investment will tend to rise because foreigners will get a large return on their investment. This drives up the demand for dollar and causes exchange rate to rise. As exchange rates surge, our imports will become cheaper and their demand will rise; exports will be more expensive for foreigners, so their demand wi ll fall. The graph below depicts how a change in the aggregate demand will impact price level and real GDP of the economy. The graph above shows a shift in aggregate demand curve from AD to AD’, it shows the impact on price level as prices have reduced from P to P’; the real GDP in the economy has fallen from Y to Y’. As we know that the demand for labor is a derived demand, that is, it is required only when a higher quantity of other goods is required. If the aggregate demand for goods and services in the economy goes down, a lower quantity of labor will be required to produce these goods. People who are willing and able to work will not find jobs,

Race and Ethnicity Essay Example for Free

Race and Ethnicity Essay Stereotypes have existed in a very long time, and almost everyone has stereotyped a person or has been considered as belonging to a particular group of stereotypes. But what is a stereotype actually? Stereotyping is a way to group races or individuals together and make a judgment about them, without even knowing them. It’s a belief about a certain social group or type of individuals. Stereotypes can be positive, however stereotypes are most often associated with negativity. Stereotypes often exist about cultures and countries as a whole, and it makes it easier to define a country or race, if you put them in specific groups. Almost every country or race has a stereotype. There exist infinitely many different stereotypes. As said before, they exist based groups and race, but also on gender and age. There are common stereotypes, which is about and between the cultures. Some common stereotype examples are, that all Asians have high IQs or black people are always connected to crime and violence. It’s grouping the race together saying that every Asian person is smart and every black person is criminal. Another type of stereotyping is the individual, which is about skaters, emos, gangsters and so on. Emos are stereotyped as being depressed people, who listen to sad music and cut themselves. Individual stereotypes are most between teenagers and in the schools, because younger people want to make one group or person superior and above another group or person. Stereotypes are not just about different races and backgrounds however. Gender and ago stereotypes also exist in our society. For example, if you say that men are better than women, you’re stereotyping all men and all women. The invention of stereotypes has come naturally though time. When we see persons we don’t know, we automatically begin to put them in different groups in our head. It makes us believe we actually know them better or know what type of persons they are. An example can be a person from the Middle East, because many people often connect them with only troubles and thefts. In that way we personally feel more safety, because then we might say to ourselves that we have to take care and be more careful about what to say so there won’t be any problems. On the other hand our thoughts about stereotypes aren’t always negative. We say that Italian are great cooks and make delicious food, which is a positive stereotype about Italy. ThereforeIda Jessen og Rikke Hemmingsen HH1C Silkeborg Handelsgymnasiet aren’t stereotypes the same as prejudices. Stereotypes are often exaggerated and funny and prejudices are only negative opinions about people and things. Stereotypes always appear negative in the medias. Again we’re comparing with the people from the Middle East. When there has been a crime and they’re talking about it in the medias, it has always been told loud and clear if it’s immigrates who had make a crime. On the other hand when it’s a local person, it has never been told. Therefore we actually compare stereotypes with only bad things, because that’s how it has been appeared in the medias and it affects us, but stereotypes are often fun.

Self Reflective Of Teamwork Experience Nursing Essay

Self Reflective Of Teamwork Experience Nursing Essay Good teamwork plays a crucial role in implementing and fulfilling common goal quicker and better in a team project. Every team member plays his or her particular role and takes on different responsibilities which combined together can make the team function well and achieve common goal. In different stages of teamwork, conflicts or arguments may occur as members have different standpoints which need be harmonized within the team. The key to effective teamwork is to exploit each team roles unique abilities to motivate them play up strengths and avoid their weaknesses with a proper balance. Through teamwork, I clearly recognize my role characteristics, learn to develop my strong points and circumvent weaknesses in the team, and draw lessons and reflections on how to deal with emergencies happened in teamwork. Every member in a team will have his or her role different from others. According to the Team Role Theory that Dr Meredit identified and developed, different individuals act different team roles to varying degrees which he grouped into nine general kinds (Belbin D.M., 2007). By identifying characteristics of different kind of roles, we can ensure to make the most of every member and manage weaknesses to avoid them. There are four roles in my team. Student A is a shaper; Student B and student C are team-workers; Student D is an implementer; and I am a completer finisher. Completer finishers, just as its name implies, are painstaking, conscientious and used most effectively at the end of a task worked as quality controller, to search out errors and omissions, modify and polish them, and finally make sure the task delivers on time (Belbin D.M., 2007). But on the other side, completer finishers are inclined to worry unduly because of their perfectionism and have difficulty letting go and delegating work (West M, 1994). My role is important to teamwork guaranteeing task finished as scheduled and improving team performance to high quality. As completer finishers are always perfectionists with conscientious and disciplined characteristics, I have the capacity for follow-through and attention to detail, to spot errors and gaps and modify them for better. I do not allow any delay in task completing and think highly of punctuality. Owning to my role characteristics, I always keep an eye on the team members work process to recognize if task is undertaken as scheduled timetable and finished per our completion requirements. This works effectively and efficiently to make our team goal accomplished and standardized. But I also need admit that I am easily irritable and worried unduly, which might bring unnecessary air of tension to the team members and will affect their personal emotions and somewhat derail the work efficiency. For instance, when student A did not finish the scheduled task on time, I will thin k it was quite an irresponsible act and get quite fussed. During the teamwork experience, I felt teamwork is not an easy job. In the evolve of team building, Tuckmans teamwork theory of Four Stages of Group Development can help me better understand and manage various problems or unexpected circumstances that might happen at different stages of team development (Miller DL, 2003). According to Tuchman, there are four phrases in team evolve: forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman, online). During my experience from this teamwork, in the four different stages of group development, both positive and negative circumstances happened and need be taken care of. The initial stage of team development is forming. In this stage, individuals are not united quite well yet and it will be difficult to reach agreement. Each member is eager to find their place and hardly can feel a sense of belonging within the team (Scott D. J., 2000). As members are nearly strangers, they do not know clearly about their purpose and strongly need a leaders guidance to tell them why they are together. To overcome the problems caused for the forming stage and prepare for the following team task, our team opened some meetings in the library to build trust within each other. But some unexpected thing happened in our first meeting. Student A did not show up when everybody else were waiting for his appearance. He was not in Preston and went outing at that time. He did not check email while the notice of meeting was spread within the team by email only as we usually use email for connection and not thought for the accident somebody might not check email sometimes. This was an unhappy accident and we learnt to recheck for some unconfirmed uncertainties to avoid such accidents happening again. Through meetings, my leader illustrated the team task and general agenda and regulations for task completion. Tasks were divided and allotted to each person concerned. This stage is important as it paves the way to next team stages smooth development. Each members strengths and weaknesses need be identified and thus can make sure each one play up strength and be arranged to finish the most appropriate part. If we can allocate different tasks to the right person, efficiency of teamwork will be elevated greatly which will do better to individual motivation and avoid less conflicts or complaints within the team. When the forming stage finished, individuals began to see themselves as part of the team and will sense a belonging and motivated to work together. The storming stage is coming as clash of views and collision of all sorts of train of thought slowly gather together which is enough to make a storm for both brains and teamwork (Tuckman, 1977). In this stage, team members can easily challenge each other due to individuals held different points of view towards the same thing. Using Tuchmans word to say, conflict and contradiction typify this stage as differences surface. Actually this happens many times in our team discussion. Each individual had different attitudes towards same question, and all would appreciate others to accept and think the way as has suggested. For example, when we were discussing in one of the meetings, student D expressed his opinions with his standpoints which student B and me thought good and gave support. But student A and student C had quite different ideas. The refore conflict is unavoidable. If we vote to decide which idea will be adopted, student A and student C will feel unsatisfied and reduce teamwork initiative. I figured out that student A and student Cs standpoints had some plus points if melted into student Ds ideas, so I tried to convince both sides to modify their ideas and harmonize a generally accepted scheme. For many times we felt the storming stage was wasting lots of time for endless arguing and loss of focus on the completion of common task. But through our efforts to polish each other based on mutual respects, we finally learnt the further meaning of teamwork and realized in a team the collective interests and team performance is above all. This is a stage for team members to harmonize their ideas and team leader played important role to coordinate and help for decision making to the method of how to get the task done. Besides, each team member should not only learn independent thinking, but also to appreciate and respect others ideas and opinions, thus to figure out some balance within the team and finish the team goal in a peaceful and beneficial way. When experiencing a smooth transition of the storming stage, the stage of norming seems to be overcome more naturally and easily. The norming stage is a stage where team members start to trust more on each other and unite together to process the task with more teamwork with a growing sense of togetherness (Gersick, 1988). With the forming and storming stages development, our team gradually grew more mature and teamwork was achieved more effectively and efficiently. Team members now would follow team principles and behave for the best of the team. The stage of performing is the final stage which focused on task refreshing, implementing and completing. All teamwork combined to provide synergy for performance is delivered through people working effectively together (Tuckman, online). In this stage our team had many modifications towards task structure and manifestation. Thus team members can be allotted for new tasks or complete for others tasks as well. We had an accident in this stage which was finally settled imminent but no threatening to final team performance. Task of conclusion was assigned to complete by Student A which I emphasized many times in our discussion. He did not spell any disagreement before but didnt finish for this part until the deadline for task completion. Despite his irresponsibility, I also made a mistake that silence did not mean agreement. But it was urgent and no time to look into who was to be blamed, finally team leader took on the responsibility to finish this part by himself. Despite this little accident, process executions of our teamwork were quite smooth and efficient. Team members finished their tasks as scheduled and we worked together to point out each others mistakes and improve team performance in final presentation. Through the four stages of group development, I learnt that good communications and discipline are very important to make a team work more efficient and unity together more tightly. Besides, mutual respects, trusts and understanding are essential to achieve common goal. When people learn to appreciated and support each others efforts, individual is highly motivated and inspired to improve work efficiency. That is the charm of teamwork which I enjoy for the most. From this teamwork experience, I strongly feel the importance of teamwork and the amazement it may bring for quality task completion and goal achievement. It teaches me to coordinate with others and as an individual to put group interest in the first place. Maximizing individual strengths and minimizing weaknesses to achieve a teams common goal and harmonizing team members standpoints to some balance is the charm only teamwork can bring and make each individual have better play. Reference: Belbin.D.M, 2007. Belbin Team Role Theory. Online available at: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8 Belbin.D.M, 2007. Belbins Team Roles:How understanding team roles can improve team performance. Online available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm Gersick CJG, 1988. Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development. Academy of management journal. Miller D.L., 2003. The Stages of Group Development: A Retrospective Study of Dynamic Team Processes. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 121-134. Scott D. Johnson et al, 2000. Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams. College of Education, University of Illinois. Tuckman BW, 1977. Stages of small group development revisited. Group and organizational studies. Tcukman, 2001. FAMOUS MODELS, Stages of Group Development. Online available at: http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/tuckman.htm Tuckman Theory, Tuckmans Team Development Model, online available at: www.e3smallschools.org/download/TuckmansTeamDevelopmentModel.pdf West M, 1994. Effective Teamwork. The British Psychology Society.

Contemplating the End in Shaving and There Will Come Soft Rains Essay

Contemplating the End in Shaving and There Will Come Soft Rains  Ã‚   What happens at the end? "Shaving" and "There Will Come Soft Rains" both address that issue, the first referring to the end of a man's life, the second to the end of humanity. Both ends come about through illness, whether that of a dying man or of a society that drives itself to suicide. The microcosm, the macrocosm- both show in their own way that man is mortal, that this too shall pass. The authors seem to have irreconcilable messages about humanity, which are in fact merely two faces of the same coin. "There Will Come Soft Rains" says that, yes, we can build magnificent machines: beautiful houses to cater to our every need, a thousand servants at our beck and call- yet what benefit will they be at the end? When we fry ourselves into radioactive smithereens because we can sooner built houses fit for gods then learn to live in peace with our fellow mortals, what good will our machines be to us then? The loyal family dog searched futilely for his masters, the house tried in vain to save itself from the fires, but their efforts to save their masters were ludicrous, for the master race had exterminated itself and left the servants all alone, impotent. Not one of man's creations could stand at the day of reckoning and save him from extinction- nor would many mourn his passage. This is a humbling thought, that our planet would survive quite well without us were we to rid it of our presence- and that in just a short while, it would almost be as if we had never existed at all. Times have changed since the writing of "There Will Come Soft Rains", when the threat of nuclear extermination seemed more real than it is now. But should we read it only as a chill... ...y chose to perform a small favor for his terminally ill father, to reach out to another human being and to work for a while for another's gain at his expense- and by doing so he gained more than the hapless family had ever known. "Really, of what benefit is it if a man gains the whole world, but loses his soul?" demands the Bible. The pursuit of all the latest and greatest things, be they beautiful clothes or flashy cars or gorgeous homes or staggering bank-balances or prestigious degrees or considerable political power, is not important. We can deceive ourselves into believing otherwise at the risk of creating the future as seen in "There Will Come Soft Rains", or we pursue the more important things, as hinted at in "Shaving", so that when the end does come- and both stories reflect that inevitability- we will know that we have not spent our lives in vain.   

Beware of Lifes Illusions Essay -- Personal Essays

"I've looked at life from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all" -- From the song, Both Sides, Now, by Joni Mitchell "Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless1...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind2." The words struck me like a slap to the face. Their truth, cold as ice, was suddenly clear to me. All the things I had been striving for, success, fame, fortune, even the very human desire to be popular with my peers, they are all but chasing after the wind. They can never be caught. The moment you think you have them they go twirling off in some new direction. We had been invited to a fall get together at a friend's house. As we drove to the party, there was a deer, newly dead lying alongside the road. It's once graceful form, now lay in a crumpled heap, seemingly cast aside, like an unwanted rag doll. The flies were already striving to commit it's body t...

Progress, No Peace :: essays research papers

JERUSALEM -- As Secretary of State Colin L. Powell prepared to head home today without a formal cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians, he said five days of talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat brought some progress. Powell's ambitious effort to halt the bloody conflict between Israelis and Palestinians was scheduled to conclude today with a final meeting with Arafat. But few analysts expected a hard promise by Arafat to rein in armed militants and suicide bombers or a firm pledge from Israel to withdraw its troops quickly from recently occupied areas of the West Bank. As Powell pressed for progress toward a cease-fire, fast-moving Israeli armored columns swooped into several cities and villages on the West Bank in what appeared to be short-term operations Tuesday. In Tulkarem, troops arrested four Palestinians whom they accused of plotting a suicide bomb attack targeting today's Israel Independence Day celebrations. Officials offered no details. Tanks also rolled into three Palestinian suburbs of Jerusalem, with troops declaring a curfew and forcing thousands of residents to remain in their homes while searches were conducted for militants and suspected terrorists. The military confirmed the action, describing it as part of a high security alert surrounding the celebration of the Jewish state's 54th year. Palestinians called the latest raids a sign of arrogance. "These incursions are taking place even as Secretary Powell is in the country seeking solutions," said Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian Parliament. "There must be an end to these incursions and a complete withdrawal from Palestinian villages and cities before there can be discussions of peace." The Israeli military, meanwhile, called its massive military campaign in the West Bank a success despite international condemnation of its aggressive charge into Palestinian-ruled territories, which has devastated several cities as well as the Jenin refugee camp. "The terrorist infrastructure has been dealt a severe blow," said Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi, director of military intelligence, describing Monday's capture of Arafat lieutenant Marwan Barghouti in the West Bank city of Ramallah as a major coup. "They can still make terror. But we have hit them hard. And the longer we have, the more we can hit them." Powell, who met with Sharon for the third time Tuesday night, was scheduled to make another passage to the besieged headquarters of Arafat in Ramallah today in one last bid to persuade the Palestinian leader to call for a suspension of the bloody 18-month uprising.

Cultural hyrbidity Essay

The fusion of cultural and ethnic identities refers to hybridisation. Most people acknowledge that they can be affiliated with an individual culture. Banton (2000) notes that â€Å"in the contemporary UK ethnicity is becoming increasingly recognised as something everyone has†. 1 Common interests or shared values help form and develop cultural attachment’s (culture, descent, ancestry, religion, languages, food and traditional values) which in turn develops and forges ethnic identities. Migration of ethnic minorities has stirred some of the UK’s population into feeling the British national identity is under threat. Hybrid identity can be attributed to the exchange of culture through globalisation. Sheila Patterson (1965) studied first generation migrants in Brixton, London during the 1950’s. Her study involved interviews, observation and participant observation with 250 whites and 150 Afro-Caribbean’s. Patterson (1965) believes the relationship between hosts and immigrants as not fixed but evolving all the time; â€Å"Whilst adaption through socialisation and acculturation was difficult for immigrants, the host’s experience was a more passive form of acceptance. â€Å"2 Eriksen (2002) points out that â€Å"no serious scholar today believes that hereditary characteristics explain cultural variations. â€Å"3 Patterson (1965) also states â€Å"the incoming group as a whole †¦ adapts itself to permanent membership of the receiving society in certain major spheres notably economic and civil life. â€Å"4 Patterson’s final stage of adaption is assimilation, where migrants or minority groups achieve complete acceptance in society. Patterson observed that physical amalgamation may lead to distinctive features of migrant groups and that of their hosts to be lost. Patterson found the progress of the West Indian migrants in Britain was limited, â€Å"there was still opposition to the employment of West Indians by white workers. â€Å"5 Nick names and jocular references resulted in conflict. A rise in the number of West Indian landlords and the acceptance of West Indian tenants did however help alleviate housing problems. Racism existed with some shops refusing the custom of ethnic minorities due to the colour of their skin. Social relationships between migrants and hosts existed but only on a casual contact basis. Patterson (1965) noted that some of the West Indians had adopted the British way of life however, there were few inter-racial marriages. Paterson concluded â€Å"over the next decades in Britain the West Indian migrants and their children will follow in the steps of the Irish and achieve almost complete assimilation into British Society. â€Å"

Anand Mahindra Profile

Anand Mahindra * Passionate innovator * I call myself a â€Å"right brained person. † * The whole feeling in this company has been one of trusteeship. * Innovators are non-conformists. Innovators and entrepreneurs are those who have immense confidence in their capabilities. * If educated properly, Indians are second to none in the world. * I worry when times are good. * It’s never only about the money, it can’t be. Otherwise I don’t think you can get outstanding results. Timeline 1955: Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra 981: Returned to India and joined Mahindra Ugine Steel Company (MUSCO) as an Executive Assistant to the Finance Director 1989: Became the President of this leading group 1991: Became the Deputy Managing Director of the Mahindra & Mahindra Group 1997: Became the Managing Director of the Mahindra & Mahindra Group 2003:Became the Vice-Chairman of the Mahindra & Mahindra Group 2004: Knight of the Order of Merit by the President of the Fren ch Republic. 2005: Person of the Year from Auto Monitor and Leadership Award from the American India Foundation. 006: Received the CNBC Asia Business Leader Award and Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Ludhiana Management Association. 2007: Received the Inspiring Corporate Leader of the Year Award from NDTV Profit. Background (From films to business) Anand Mahindra, 50, was schooled at the Lawrence school in Lovedale. He completed his graduate studies at Harvard College in Arts, following it up with an MBA from Harvard Business School. His paternal uncle, Keshub Mahindra, is the current chairman of the company.He is married to Anuradha Mahindra, who is the famous editor of the magazines ‘Verve' and ‘Man's World' and is the Editor-in-Chief of Rolling Stone India. The couple together has two daughters. A communist in his college days You don’t find a Harvard graduate who earned a summa cum laude (Latin for â€Å"with highest honour†) in film, heading one o f India’s largest auto businesses. A self-confessed ‘right-brained person, Anand Mahindra believes this honour from Harvard was a cathartic experience and marked the end of his rebellion.It also proved to sceptics that he could establish himself in a field where his family was not present, rather than walking the easier path of joining and running an inherited family business. Anand, also a Communist party member in his college days, firmly believes that innovation and creativity are mindsets and one needs to constantly question one’s direction in life – something he says he doesn’t see in today’s youth, who he believes are focused and know what they want from day one.Anand began his career in a group company – Mahindra Ugine Steel (MUSCO) – taking it through the stormy early-eighties negotiating with labour unions in the steel business, a period he calls a â€Å"trial by fire†. Anand eventually joined M;amp;M in 1991, an d became the Managing Director in 1997. He has a strong sense of pride in the work he does, and believes given the right education Indians are second to none in the world. The Scorpio success factor Not surprisingly, the Scorpio remains Anand’s biggest achievement.Or, as he puts it, â€Å"The scale of risk we took is our biggest achievement†. The Scorpio, interestingly enough was born, not as a specific SUV project, but as an idea from a 26-year-old engineer who was part of a team building a 13-seater Utility Vehicle. The imposing Rs6bn budget for developing the Scorpio was a huge risk to take and a hurdle to cross. Anand took the bet, convincing the Board that it was the way forward. The rest, of course is history. Real estate – changing the way people liveAnand cites driving innovation across M;amp;M and the entire Mahindra Group as another key achievement. His idea of setting up unique world class complexes (â€Å"World Cities†) that holistically integ rate the needs of work and family is a case in point. Despite opposition from the board (â€Å"For five years people thought I was mad†), Anand held his stance that â€Å"We’re changing the way people live in these townships. † Sure enough, Mahindra Gesco (the holding company) currently has orders worth Rs15bn and takers like Infosys for it’s Mahindra World City, Chennai project. The bluechip criteria† The fact that the Mahindra Group consists of a myriad of companies seems to question the entire concept of focus. However, Anand believes that he already â€Å"chopped the deadwood† in 1994 (exiting businesses like nuclear engineering, oil drilling, etc) and set six areas as key focus businesses for the group. Each of these groups has to meet â€Å"the bluechip criteria,† which means the business must: (a) be a leader in its industry; (b) have innovation as a key model; (c) have global potential; and (d) deliver on demanding financial go als.Six focus areas for the group With Anand removing himself from active management (â€Å"kicking myself upstairs†), all the businesses were given dedicated presidents to provide managerial focus. He believes giving managerial and financial independence to these businesses is what sets them apart from the conventional conglomerate structure that tends to focus on top-management control. Anand is now moving forward to list each of these businesses, which are as diverse as Mahindra-British Telecom (IT), Club Mahindra (time-share holidays) and M;amp;M Financial Services. All of these will be IPOed and will therefore become independent. † The five cylinder engine in autos At the same time, Anand also resisted pressure to carve out M;amp;M’s auto business into a separate company. â€Å"If we do it right, I have a better chance of turning Mahindra as a globally recognised cult brand, than I do, trying to turn it into General Motors. † Anand sees M;amp;M as a t hree-cylinder engine, consisting of UVs, tractors and components. He is focusing on building M;amp;M as an â€Å"auto competency group† by creating verticals sharing the same platforms such as logistics, procurement and ngineering. His philosophy for M;amp;M is â€Å"When you build more verticals you simulate the scale and get a larger company without losing the niche focus. † With the recent tie-ups with Renault and International Trucks, Anand believes he has now created a â€Å"five-cylinder engine†. Benefits for M;amp;M’s core auto business are already flowing in – for example M;amp;M is now tapping into Renault’s global procurement systems. Clear targets for each businesses Anand has clear targets for each of M;amp;M’s three cylinders.UVs – to be a globally recognised brand, tractors – to be a dominant player, and auto components – to be the largest automotive component conglomerate in India (â€Å"We’ d like to be a Dana, Spicer or a Lear. †). Similarly, for the group Anand doesn’t believe in one single goal. He chooses, instead to focus on leadership, innovation, a global presence and delivering on the financials. Everything else, including size, which he believes doesn’t matter, will then follow. What he does with his free time Anand spends as much time as he can with his family and those near and dear.A friend once told him that life is like a bunch of rubber and glass balls that you have to juggle all the time. You have to know, which are the glass balls, and you never drop those. The rubber ones keep bouncing and you can pick them up along the way. A voracious reader by his own admission Anand does not read business books since they become obsolete. He prefers business magazines such as Harvard Business Review, BusinessWeek and Fortune. In fiction, Anand is a big fan of the Booker Prize winning author, Ian McEwan.

Brose Case Study Essay

What is the Brose Groups business and what are the critical success factors (CSF’s) in a business like Brose’s? [lists] * International automobile industry and delivery mechatronic system and electric drives to automotive manufacturers and suppliers * Brose standardize their operation, and uses ERP application. * Well-established Information technology management * Hire professional consultants to train employees * to better use ERP application system 2. What operational, management and control, and corporate learning/innovation challenges were faced by Brose during its rapid expansion over the last two decades? table] Operational | Management and control| The implementation of ERP system may cause a significant number of change within an organization | Lower total costs of information management information technology investment | The potential lake of in house skills and users’ resistance | 5. What steps did they take to minimize the risks associated with this kind of deployment? [list] * Reengineer business process, develop a detailed requirements specification, conduct system prior to the system implementation and closely monitor the system’s performance * Formulation of he steering committee, appointment of project sponsor, and internal audit’s involvement * Train project team, the establishment of a close working relationship between consultant and project team * Management support, user’s involvement.

Discuss Shakespeares Essay

The women of Shakespearean literature have been known to have a strong emotional complexity, where each of them find themselves subject to adversities based around the powerful men who influence them. From Lady Anne’s striking romantic confusion in Richard III, to Viola’s challenges in morality throughout Twelfth Night, such a Shakespearean signature in portraying women persists in Hamlet; through Gertrude, a Queen dealing with her questionable actions and Ophelia, who struggles with the pressures of male authority. It should come as no surprise that although being a 16th century play, the exploration of female issues of tradition, misogyny, romance and mortality allows Hamlet’s treatment of women to maintain a highly significant relevance in today’s modern world. Elizabethan women held very little social rights and power, with strict roles in child bearing and household duties allowing them to have very little say even within their own lives. Despite clearly being set in Denmark, Shakespeare who was writing during this time, extended this traditional roles to Ophelia and Gertrude. Ophelia in particular displays the role more strongly, with critic David Leverenz noting â€Å"[Ophelia] has no choice but to say ‘I shall obey, my lord'†. In this example of Ophelia’s compliant nature, after her father, Polonius’ orders her to not â€Å"give words or talk with Lord Hamlet- (I. 3)†, the reader is able to view the customary relationship between a woman and the male figures in her life. Though Gertrude does not give any particularly submissive dialogue, even she as Queen reinforces this relationship in her minimal speech in scenes for which she is not only present, but concerned. It is important for modern critics like Leverenz as well as critical feminist readers to recognize that Ophelia and Gertrude are not necessarily weak and passive in personal character, but instead they are reflection of women (especially royal women) who were oppressed of empowering traits by the socially acceptable customs. Readers should instead appreciate this traditional treatment of women, in not only allowing the men in positions of power to be focused on for the sake of theatrical entertainment and drama, but for also extensively juxtaposing with motifs of insanity, revenge, sin, and violence associated with the powerful male leads; King Claudius, the Ghost of King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet. Though Shakespeare has been regarded as a feminist due to his relatively respectful treatments of women, the existence of this respect in Hamlet has been debated ever since the plays inception. As previously stated, the traditional portrayal of obedient women cannot be taken out of context, however as the play increases in intensity, as does it’s treatment of women. In his very first soliloquy for which he reveals his anger towards his mother’s marriage to his uncle â€Å"two months† after his fathers’ death, Hamlet makes the striking universal comment â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman (I. 2)†. In an example of Shakespeare’s unparalleled literary craftsmanship, he supports this quote through their actions, how upon her husband’s death, Gertrude immediately marries his brother and how after her relationship with Hamlet is doomed, Ophelia begins to go mad herself. The quote is also infamously regarded as the establishment of the play’s theme of misogyny, the quote indicates how Gertrude’s traditionally â€Å"incestuous† marriage to her late husbands brother has ruined his faith in women and love all together. In an almost Freudian pattern, Ophelia then becomes victim to his misogyny with Hamlet’s refusal to continue their relationship. More analytical readers would then go beyond this basic evaluation and then find possible interpretations of Hamlet’s treatment, or as it seems, mistreatment of women. Those sympathetic to Hamlet’s negative attitude to Ophelia would perceive it as a defense mechanism, where between his grief of his father and desire to please his father through revenge, he must then resort to such discrimination to avoid further pain. In contrast to this sympathetic reception, quotes such as â€Å"Frailty thy name is woman† and â€Å"[tis brief, my lord].. as a woman’s love (III. 3)† may be seen as to defy fictional character and be the manifestation of Shakespeare’s own personal opinion, though evidence for this in his marriage with Anne Hathaway is not very strong. Through either interpretation, it is undeniable that so far in the play the women have yet to find themselves in a state of happiness. Another significant aspect of Hamlet’s treatment of women, is how the currently negative treatment is extended to how Shakespeare portrays their sexuality. For instance, after Ophelia is warned to not â€Å"lose your heart, or [her] chaste treasure open† by her brother Laertes, she gives her virginity to Hamlet. When Hamlet discards marriage, she says with in a particularly distressed tone â€Å"Quoth she, before you tumbled me, /You promised me to wed. /So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun, /An thou hadst not come to my bed -(IV. 5)†. During Act 3, Scene 2 when the ‘mouse-trap’ play is taking place, Ophelia must also be subjected to Hamlet’s sexual innuendo’s such as â€Å"That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs. † for which she cannot reply in order to remain as a respectable lady. Again, Shakespeare indicates another aspect of Elizabethan women, with how female sexuality was highly conservative and their virginity very strictly only being lost with marriage with those not doing so being thought of as a disgrace. The reader’s sympathy for Ophelia is therefore increased substantially, where, who then later tells her to â€Å"get the to the nunnery – (III. 1)† which shows her as an exploited figure. Gertrude’s sexual behaviour, more specifically her decision to marry Claudius, has come under immense scrutiny not only by Hamlet who defeminised her by saying â€Å"A beast†¦ would have mourned longer†¦ â€Å", but also by critics viewing her as sinful and in blunt Elizabethan terms, a whore. Critic Rebecca Smith commented on how this view is commonly translated to stage productions where she is â€Å"often played as a sensual and deceitful woman†. For a balanced view on Gertrude, it is imperative to note how she too is attempting to deal with her grief and there is a great possibility she is doing this for reasons of maintaining her families power. As for being deceitful, Carolyn Heilbrun’s 1957 essay â€Å"Hamlet’s Mother† defends Gertrude, arguing that the text never hints that Gertrude knew of Claudius poisoning King Hamlet. . As Hamlet progresses towards its conclusion, instead of the female characters developments becoming positive, the plot continues to prove devastating for them. Ophelia, upon the death of Laertes and Polonius, as well as Hamlet’s mistreatment seems to drive herself into madness and her death by drowning. Although truly saddening, the way in which Shakespeare presents her death reveals the beauty which has been overshadowed by tragedy. In expected Shakespearean style, the poetic announcement given by Gertrude uses beautiful naturalistic imagery to testament to Ophelia’s femininity, with â€Å"When down her weedy trophies and herself/Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;/And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up: /Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;(IV. 7)†. From that point on she is referred to as â€Å"beautiful† and â€Å"sweet† by Hamlet and Gertrude respectively, further emphasizing her graceful nature. To directly juxtapose with this, is the death of Gertrude, who poisoned by her son makes her last words with grace, â€Å"No, no, the drink, the drink! -O my dear Hamlet! /The drink, the drink! I am poisoned. (V. 2)†. Her elegant demise in the midst of the â€Å"blood† and violence could be seen as her true nature also obscured by the play’s tragic events like Ophelia, where Shakespeare perhaps reveals the real personalities of the women upon their death. However Gertrude sympathetics, may acknowledge that the murder and negative perception of Gertrude by Hamlet whose state of mind is generally perceived as mad and insane, calling her a â€Å"wretched queen† may in fact be incorrect because of this – therefore proving her relative innocence. Shakespeare in both their developments and deaths, shows a treatment of women where through the violence of their deaths they still maintain a pleasant feminine quality that is given a focus that was previously absent in the play. No matter the perceptive of the reader on the play’s treatment of women, they should be able to appreciate Shakespeare’s realistic portrayal, where although he took creative liberties in some circumstances, he gave true Elizabethan indications of female traditional roles and sexual attitudes on women. It was through writing with conviction (not only through staying true to the context but in showing Ophelia’s and Gertrude’s emotion and complexity) that the play attains it’s status of one of the best of his classics. The two women are thought to be superficial, but considering the devices such as tone, juxtaposition and imagery as well as analysing their character intentions and behaviour it should be extremely apparent that this is not true and that they obviously do display depth. Secondly, I feel that in the question of whether Shakespeare was a feminist or even a misogynist that the answer cannot be found in Hamlet – where his treatment of women in Hamlet is actually neutral. The female characters were designed not for the reader to be focused on who they were, but for what they brought out in other characters. More specifically, Ophelia and Gertrude were therefore created to see how romance, affection and love can truly drive a man insane.

Stress of unmarried motherhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stress of unmarried motherhood - Essay Example If stress is left untreated, this may lead to life altering health complications that may also affect the child, thus coping with the challenges of single-parenthood and social support are of core importance. To start with, it shall be emphasized that single mothers, in this study, refers to those women who were separated, divorced, widowed, or never been married living with at least one child (minor age). The number of single-parent families, majority of which is headed by women, grew substantially since the 1960’s as a result of increasing rates of divorce and separation (Avison, Aneshensel, Scheiman, and Wheaton 73). In the most recent census in the U.S., about 84% of 13.7 million single parents are single mothers (Grall 1; Wolf n. pag.); 45% are currently divorce or separated; 34.2% have never been married; 19% are married (usually remarried); and 1.7% are widowed (Wolf). Wolf added that 79% of single mothers are employed and those who work in full-time basis are much grea ter (71.7%) compared to part-time basis workers (18.4%). In relation to poverty, 27% of single mothers live in poverty and in terms of public assistance or support, 22% receive Medicaid, 23.5% receive food stamps, 12% receive public housing or rent subsidy, and 5% receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Wolf n. pag.). In connection to stress, it is important to understand what stress is all about. According to Dr. Stoppler (1), stress, in general, is related to external (physical environment, job, relationships with others, and all situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations occurring everyday) and internal (body’s ability to respond) factors. When a stressor comes in, our body’s rapid and automatic defense would be a â€Å"fight-or-flight--a reaction called the stress response (Smith, Segal, R., and Segal, J. n. pag.). The three components of the body involved in response to stress are: (1) the brain that immediately responds to release epinephrin e and norepinephrine, (2) the hypothalamus and pituitary gland transmitting signal to the adrenal cortex to release cortisol and other hormones, and (3) the many neural (nerve) circuits involved in the behavioral response (Stoppler 4). Though a certain level of stress can motivate an individual to perform well under pressure (Smith, et al n. pag.), however, a stress-out lifestyle is more likely an unhealthy one because it can affect the person’s eating habit that may result either to weight loss (due to lack of time to prepare healthy foods) or weight gain (to fill an emotional need and partly due to the effect of high level of cortisol during stress that stimulates fat, carbohydrate, and insulin) (Stoppler 1). Focusing on stress among single mothers, Scott (n. pag.) said that most mothers, generally, feel stress in the following areas: (1) time demands, (2) finances, (3) relationship demands, (4) protective instincts, (5) self doubt, and (6) time alone. A single mother carri es all stress in these areas with no male partner to share with, thus parenting is more burdensome to them compared to two-parent family. Studies consistently found out that single mothers have high levels of psychological distress and high rates of major depression than married mothers (Avison, et al 73). More specifically, separated or divorced mothers have higher rates of depression, dysthymia (a mood disorder),