The wall Essay Example

The wall Essay The short story, The Wall, by Jean- Paul Sartre, is a story told infirst person stream of consciousness. The main character in the story , is a political prisoner. The characters name is Pablo, and he is being held, along with three other prisoners, during the Spanish Civil War. The prisoners are imprisoned in a hospital that is being used by the Spanish Fascists.The story is a refection of, Jean- Paul Sartres philosophical beliefs in existentialism. Evidence ofSartres, beliefs can be found in his use of: setting, character, theme, literary devices. Sartre was an exponent of atheistic existentialism: Existence is prior to essence. Man is nothing at birth and throughout his life he is no more than the sum of hispast commitments. To believe in anything outside his own will is to be guilty of bad Faith. Existentialist despair and anguish is the acknowledgment that man is condemned to freedom. There is no God, so man must rely upon his own fallible will and moral insight. He ca nnot escape choosing. The setting in the story is a prison cell containing two other men, Tom and Juan. The cell is a dark cold place. As a matter of fact, our cell was one of the hospital cellars. It was terrifically cold there because of the drafts. We shivered all night and it wasnt much better during the day;There was a bench in the cellar and four mats. When they took us back we sat and waited Page 2 in silence.;The setting is significant to the existentialist view, because Sartre believed that humans were ;condemned to freedom;, and by using a cell, Sartre could be representing the world, in which he, believes is reality . The idea of prison is often linked to being a place of confinement, and to be imprisoned is to be locked away from freedom. Based o

Learning the Mandarin Chinese Tone System

Learning the Mandarin Chinese Tone System The Mandarin language has a fundamental difference from Western languages: it is tonal. Tones are one of the biggest challenges for Mandarin learners, but their mastery is essential. Incorrect tones can make your spoken Mandarin difficult or impossible to understand, but using the correct tones will allow you to express yourself clearly. Mandarin tones are especially difficult for speakers of Western languages. English, for example, uses tones for inflection, but this is a very different usage from Mandarin. Rising tones in English often imply a question or sarcasm. Falling tones may be used for emphasis. Changing the tones of a Mandarin sentence, though, could completely change the meaning. Let’s take an example. Suppose you are reading a book and your brother (or sister or child) keeps on interrupting you. You are likely to become exasperated and say â€Å"I’m trying to read a book!† In English, this would be said with an emphatic falling tone at the end. But if you use a falling tone in Mandarin, the meaning completely changes. WÇ’ yo kn shÃ… « I want to read a book.WÇ’ yo kÇŽn shà ¹ I want to cut trees! The second version of this sentence would have your listeners scratching their heads. So practice your tones! They are essential for speaking and understanding Mandarin.

(Social classes of Aztec Civilization) Research Paper

(Social classes of Aztec Civilization) - Research Paper Example As a people, the Aztecs have a dynamic social system and these social classes shall now be discussed in this paper. This paper will describe and discuss the social classes of the Aztec civilization in order to arrive at a more academic and specific understanding of the Aztecs and in order to further comprehend the social workings of ancient civilizations. In general, the Aztec civilization was classified into different social groupings. The emperor was at the very top of these classes and beneath him were the nobles and the priests (Lambert, n.d). After the nobles and priests were the merchants, craftsmen, and the peasants, at the very bottom of these social groupings were the slaves (Lambert, n.d). In this society, the merchants were considered to have a class of their own and they were known to inhabit their own areas in the cities where their children often ended up marrying the children of fellow merchants (Lambert, n.d). Merchants who had to travel long distances to trade their wares were called pochteca. The slaves in Aztec society were those who committed crimes and were later sentenced to slavery; and others were poor people who were forced to sell themselves into slavery (Lambert, n.d). These slaves still had some inherent rights – they could marry or buy their own property and their children were considered free men (Lambert, n.d). The foundation of most societies is the family. This is also the same for the Aztecs where the family unit is considered a very important part of their society. Such family unit consists of the parents and their unmarried children (Oracle, n.d). The members of the family support each other and each member is nurtured and is taught basic survival functions. In many cases, these families often grow to extended proportions to include the married children and their children. These extended families are often called upon to

Atheism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Atheism - Essay Example The paper mainly intends to focus on the nature of the universe and the relation between the supernatural and the scientific world. Despite of belonging to different religions, the four authors mentioned in the article, that the existence of God is merely a subject of just talking. It shows that they believe God does not exist in this world of science. On further note with respect to the article, it was revealed that, some think God is a creature like human beings while the other thinks God to be fictional. On contrary, few believe that, the existence of God would have been abolished, if did not have invented verbal language. Furthermore, the article reflects about history, which tends to reveal about theists and the atheists endures executed atrocities. Correspondingly, this article has provided valuable information with regard to the existence of God. In accordance with the article, existence of God is viewed as a system of symbol and purpose among others. Furthermore, this particu lar article has revealed, that view of the authors remain the same despite of their belonging to differentiated religion. THESIS STATEMENT Thesis Statement has intended to show the motive or the objectives of the article. The article has reviewed about the varying views of people regarding the organized religion and the existence of God. ... In the article the two of the authors i.e., Anthony Lowenstein and Jane Caro are atheists and are providing their views with regard to the existence of God. This particular assignment intends to study the utilities of Atheism in certain areas and how it can be used to relate with this assignment. A detailed study about the utilities of atheism has been revealed in this paper. There always exist some atheists in every religion as seen in the given article. They oppose the views of the theists in the community. These subjects have been tried to elaborated and described in the discussion related to this assignment. Various aspects about the belief in God and the religion have been the major objective of this assignment. DISCUSSION The prime important topic of the article is the debate on the organized religion and the existence of God. It has given various ideologies regarding the topic. In the given article it has been observed that some people believe, in the existence of God, while s ome people believe that God is an entity like human beings and some said that God is a fiction in any form. The participants of the debate gave a similar ideology of non- existence of God despite of belonging to different religion. The targeted audiences in the debate were the people who had visited the debate program. With reference to the given article, two of the authors believe that God does not exist as they consider themselves as atheists. While the others; Simon Smart, who is a Christian and Rachel Woodlock a Muslim, believes that there is existence of God. In this stand, they were termed as theists. Atheism is the lack of belief in God. In the article the two atheist authors have tried to compare God with many things as man like entity, a fiction or certain

Philosophy Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosophy Ethics - Essay Example Hence, ethics stands for the behavioral traits and code of conduct, breaking of which does not come under the definition of the breaking of law or religious belief, though it earns censure and condemnation at the hands of others. For instance, legal ethics discourage the lawyers to display any prejudiced behavior towards any specific faction of society on the basis of his racial, ethnic, religious or political background or sexual orientation etc while dealing with the clients, co-workers and other members of society. Morals or morality is defined to be the conduct that is judged and estimated to be right or wrong on the principles of religious belief and cultural values prevailing within a society. Morals aptly maintain direct or indirect association with religion, and hence violation of moral laws is regarded as sinful act in the eyes of dogmatism and religious circle. For instance, looking after the patients is professional obligation of the doctors and nurses, while taking all their needs and requirements into consideration for providing them with unabated comforts come under the definition of moral obligations. Reaching at one’s duty on time and paying due heed to one’s assignments and tasks also come under moral obligation. Moreover, a teacher is supposed to be coaching the students within the classroom. However, providing assistance to them regarding the matters related to their studies are the part of moral duty the teacher is ethically bound to provide even outside the clas sroom and beyond he premises of the educational institution. Additionally, morals also represent something related to goodness, charity and virtue. For instance, drinking, gambling, adultery, homicide and others are vehemently turned down by the morality at universal level in all human societies without discrimination. Synonymous with

Psychological Perspectives in the Workplace

Psychological Perspectives in the Workplace It has been said the goal of psychology is to predict and influence behavior. Though very broad, this definition seems to somehow hold despite the far reaches of psychological inquiries which ranges from the diagnosing and treating various pathologies in people to training animals to perform complex tasks to improving relationships between people to seeking to facilitate the answers to life’s questions. It is in regards to these last two that the realm of organizational psychology is concerned about as its aims are to advance both people and profits through the application of psychological principles. Organizations as People The methods of applying the principles of psychology to organizations are, in large measure, the same as applications involving individuals. The reasoning for this is two-fold: firstly, an organization is comprised of and achieves results through people; secondly, in many respects, an organization is a person. By that, it is not meant to say that there is a heart or brain but that the body politique is recognized by law as a separate bodily, aka â€Å"corporate†, entity that is culpable for its actions and to some extent, possesses the cumulative psyche and will of the people that employed by its objectives. This being the case, many of the same rules as apply to individuals should be considered for en masse application to the firm as one is merely contending with a group of individuals. Though the case may be well made for the appropriateness of a psychological perspective in the workplace, as a field of study, psychology is not without its competing factions, each of which asserts either â€Å"truth† or some portion of it. Three such perspectives that figuratively represent the three corners of an equilateral triangle are cognitive, behavioral and humanist (Purcell 1967, p. 231). Each of these, in its pure form, offers a distinct approach, sometimes to the extent to which other approaches are ignored. Despite this, each makes a significant contribution to issues and actors in the workplace. It is with this idea in mind that each will be sequentially examined for the specific contributions and applications while seeking for reconciliation in reality. The Cognitive Approach The cognitive approach is currently a clinically dominant perspective for good reason. It is logical and rational and has many applications. This perspective is grounded on the idea that man is a very clever creature and will seek to make sense of the world around them. As the world presents an vast, literally incalculable amount of information, people are at least somewhat constrained by the concept of bounded rationality which simply acknowledges this state of affairs and the fact that we fail to process (or process correctly) all of this information. As a result, people employ active and passive strategies to reduce the amount of information that they feel needs to be processed by adopting such courses of action as forming pre-conceived notions, assigning stereotypes or labels to people or actions, and adopting patterns of reasoning that are based only on some self-selected information. These simplified constructs or beliefs are then employed as actions to achieve some relief from this processing burden (Hodgkinson 2003, p. 3). This approach is perhaps especially relevant as today’s workplace is widely characterized by information processing and analysis. The information that is captured in the workplace easily exceeds the capacity of the brain so additional tools are utilized such as computers and information management systems. Even so, given the nature of the work and its scale and scope, people often experience anxiety and difficulty at work due to the failure of the person to adapt or implement cognitive information-reducing strategies successfully. Consider the example of the following workplace scenario: Your supervisor assigns a project in which you must demonstrate your ability to manage others efforts against a timeline. One employee is carrying their load. You brief your supervisor on this and, as a result, the employee works late and completes the assignment (Daniels, Harris Briner, 2004, p. 344). In this situation, you likely weighed the potential signal of an inability to manage others by consulting your supervisor against the possibility of failure and the fact that failure would give assurance that you did not have this ability. This example is one in which there is partial information in a situation in which full information would be highly advantageous. It is the cognitive interpretations which lead one conclude the potential of unpleasant personal outcomes that trigger an â€Å"unpleasant affect of work† often manifested as some degree of anxiety (Daniels, Harris, Briner 2004, p. 345). The Behavioral Perspective Prior to elaboration of the behaviorist perspective, it merits noting that psychology, as an endeavor, while interesting, compelling and even useful at times, has perennially been dogged by the issue that it is not a verifiable, quantifiable subject of inquiry (Kimble 2000, p. 208). This is likely due to an overexposure to Freud’s answer to all issues, sexual conflict, as well as simply to the fact psychology is not something that always lends itself to a classical scientific laboratory. This bias against psychology has been overcome by two key factors: statistical rigor and behaviorism. In short, behaviorism posits that all behavior is the consequence of an observable stimulus for which an organism is predisposed to or conditioned to respond. These stimuli can be used to shape and mold behavior and belong to one of four categories below: Reward the application of a positive stimulus to increase response rates Punishment – the application of a negative stimulus to decrease response rates Time Out – the removal of a positive stimulus to decrease response rates Other Reinforcer – the removal of a negative stimulus to increase response rates (Bolles 1979, pp. 121-122). In this paradigm, behaviorism assert that people are rational animals that, for the most part, seek pleasure and avoid pain though, in doing so, frequently consider time horizons in the case that short term pleasures are forsaken. Additionally, beyond the simplified â€Å"stimulus-response† (S-R) paradigm, there exists a scheme of behaviorism labeled â€Å"response-response† (R-R) learning in which the anticipated response is predicted from an early response to a different stimulus (Kimble 2000, p. 208). To illustrate an example of behaviorism in the workplace, consider the following example: You have been with a new department or company for a few months with your previous two positions with a supervisor whose chosen method of performance coaching to belittle someone in department-wide meetings by yelling and other demeaning actions. A department meeting is coming up and you are behind on a project. As the staff meeting approaches you begin to dread it and get a headache and have feelings of worthlessness and incompetence despite being knowing that you can meet or exceeds the projects specifications (Daniels, Harris Briner 2004, p. 344). In this example, it would seem as though you have been conditioned to feel this way. In much that same way that Pavlov’s dogs came to salivate at just the dinner bell as a consequence of learning by the pairing of stimulus and response, your feelings, symptoms and eventual behavior is a result of the anticipation of a punishment-type reinforcer (Bolles 1979, pp. 24-26). The Humanist Paradigm In the way that humanism accepts individual differences, it resembles cognitive theory; in the way that if focuses almost solely on subjective experiences, it is the arch-enemy of behaviorism (Kimble 2000, p. 9). Within the realm of what might be labeled a â€Å"humanist† approach are those perspectives advocated by Freud, Erikson, Adler, Maslow, Frankl and others. Each of these theorists focuses on either the resolution of conflict or the achievement of meaning. Going so far as be labeled â€Å"industrial theology† with regards to the application of this perspective to the work environment, they seek to understand how a person perceives themselves within the situations that work presents. These conflicts often center on values or self-actualization and meaning. As there are several distinct approaches within the broader notion of a humanistic approach, reviewing at least a few major angles is likely to be useful. One such theorist, Erikson, a student of Freud, postulated that individuals develop and progress through various lifestages, each one ideally characterized by the successful resolution of inner conflict of that age. Examples would be the middle-age conflict of â€Å"growth vs. stagnation† and a key childhood stage of â€Å"trust vs. mistrust† (Kets de Vries 1995, p. 9; Gleitman 1986, p. 562). In the same way that a parent is an authority figure, so to is the â€Å"corporation† or its representative and it is reasonable to assume that some of these conflict issues will be need to be reworked as they resurface in the work family. Adler is another theorist in the humanist vein whose work emphasizes the social context of the human condition. In a manner analogous to Erikson’s lifestages, Adler proposed eight levels of social interest ranging from the â€Å"mother-child† relationship to â€Å"God† with the levels of one’s â€Å"community† and â€Å"society† in the middle (Hale 1999, pp. 68-76). By using this methodology, Adler seeks to emphasize that one cannot emphasize the self at the expense of the world and vice-versa, that acceptance and success in life is a achieved by a balance of ego and society and a reconciliation of one’s strength’s and one’s weaknesses (Page 2003, pp. 88, 92). As an example of this, consider the study, though somewhat dated, that a majority of people find their work meaningless (Purcell 1967, p. 232). If it is indeed the cases that what they do is meaningless then, perhaps one can find redeeming value in why they do it: to provide for their family, to â€Å"get ahead† or some other deferment of pleasure or perhaps the acceptance of an imposed position in life. As a segue way from the meaningless of work is the perspective of the humanism are the ideas of theorists such as Maslow and Frankl which both seek to address the issue of values and meaningfulness in work and life. Maslow’s ubiquitous hierarchy of needs positions self-actualization as the highest type of need to be satisfied, being given attention only after lower needs such as food and security are considered (Coles 2001; Hansen 2000, p. 22). In similar vein, Frankl, a concentration camp survivor, indicates that people seek meaning through hardship and that purpose validates the self and your activities (Frankl 1946). Also related to this is Herzberg’s theory of motivation in which he postulate many choices are comprised of two-factors. One category of factor is labeled as â€Å"satisfiers† and are factors that drive positive feelings and beliefs while the other category is labeled â€Å"hygiene† factors in that they are necessary but not sufficient (Pur cell 1967, p. 238). As an example, consider that salary is a satisfier yet â€Å"travel less than 25%† may be a hygiene factor for a certain individual. By this, it is meant that virtually any reasonable sum of money would not be enough to motivate this individual if they must travel approximately 50% of the time. Similarly, by not traveling at all, this person could be not â€Å"dissatisfied† but their low wage prevents real satisfaction also. All together, these provide a rich view of the aims of the humanist perspective and are very salient to understanding behavior and motive in the workplace as in life. Corporate Therapy and Organizational Interventions One of the initial metaphors utilized earlier is that in some ways, an organization is a person. Complimentary if not a substitute line of reasoning is that organizations are of people. If at first psychology was not relevant, it is now. In consideration of the application of each of these approaches, there are number of areas such as selection and hiring practices and performance consulting in which each approach is distinct and unique yet still appropriate. Selection Processes Cognitive – Cognitive ability and intelligence is among the most reliable and validated predictors of job performance (Hodgkinson 2003, p. 10; Dreher Dougherty 2002, pp. 109-110). Behavioral – One method that takes advantage of the R-R learning method the use of behavioral interview techniques that focus on achievement or the ability to do the current job based on the belief of a correlation of past demonstrated ability to the task at hand. This type of interview can be an oral interview, work samples or practices in order to stimulate a response (Dreher Dougherty 2002, pp. 105-107). Humanistic – The use of personality profiles to help assess the fit of the person to the team or company is a frequently utilized humanistic technique (Wasylyshyn 2001, pp. 12, 14-15). Performance Management Cognitive – The distribution, through training, of successful heuristics for handling certain complex tasks can be a means by which new employees are oriented to â€Å"best† methods (Hodgkinson 2003, p. 11). In addition, the use of the Expectancy Theory approach understanding and influencing motivation can be very applicable to creating systems that incentivize performance while Equity theory concerns the rationalization of worker inputs and corresponding outputs. (Dreher Dougherty 2002, pp. 34-35, 42). Behavioral – Behavioral theory, if anything, is straightforward with regards to motivation stating only that one need find the correct reinforcement schedule to achieve the desired results. Humanistic – Programs such as job coaching and consulting as well as job enrichment can both motivate and address performance concerns (Page 2003; Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright 2000, p. 367). Three into One: Towards an Integrated Approach In consideration of each of these approaches, one approach may clearly be the best paradigm to utilize in any specific situation. Despite this, the diversity of experiences to be found in the workplace in conjunction with the diversity of the individuals calls for an approach with a â€Å"back-up† plan if not an outright approach in which all three schools are actively utilized. As an example of a complex workplace situation in which many elements are present in such quantities so as to be readily observable, consider the following adapted and condensed version of real-life organizational drama at B.F. Goodrich (Vandivier 1972): When presented with the opportunity to get the bid on a project to build a aircraft brake assemblies as part of a government contract for a company for which Goodrich has utterly failed with a decade earlier, Goodrich bid to win, hoping to restore trust and capture the profits ‘on the back end’ through subsequent orders and miscellaneous complimentary parts. After winning the bid, the job was assigned to Warren, an experienced brake assembly engineer and graduate of a top engineering program who was notably difficult to approach with anything remotely resembling criticism. Under Warren was Lawson, a young engineer with much less of a pedigree and only one year of work experience. Despite this, he quickly saw the design for this particular project possessed critical flaws that would not only fail to function but in doing so could potentially or perhaps even likely be considered a threat to those in the plane and on the ground. Knowing a flaw to be present and seeking to save the company time and money later though unwilling to approach Warren without more data, Lawson began testing the components at the earliest possible opportunity. These tests confirmed his suspicions and, though Warren began to become aware of the issues, he insisted that the problem lay in the material selection rather that the design. Finding Warrne unwilling to consider the root cause, Lawson took his case to Sink, â€Å"a short, chubby, bald man†, who had worked his was up to a position supervising all engineers from a â€Å"lowly† draftsman position. As such, he was not an engineer yet supervised engineers and despite not being formally so trained, as Lawson presented his case, the truth was likely quite obvious. Also obvious was that if Lawson was correct, then by default, Warren was wrong. If this were the case, then this meant that Sink made an error in trusting Warren and allowing this to occur. Sink’s response was to â€Å"keep testing†¦ it’ll work just fine†. With less than seventy days to flight testing, the mandatory certification of the assembly began to loom. Vandivier, a instrumentation engineer, analyst and technical writer, was called to perform final qualification testing and then to issue the recommendation for certification. Upon noting many â€Å"irregularities† Vanivier consulted Gretzinger, the lab supervisor, who indicated that he had been directed to miscalibrate testing instruments by Lawson who reported that Sink had directed him to do so. Vandivier soon spoke with Lawson who informed him that he would â€Å"soon figure it out† that it went even higher than Sink who had been directed by his supervisor, Van Horn, Manager of Design Engineering. Van Horn had indicated, â€Å"regardless†¦ it will be qualified†. Eventually, it was â€Å"qualified† and failed miserably in flight tests. This began the chain of events that could be termed the â€Å"beginning of the end† in which the final outcome was a major loss of corporate reputation, the redesign of the assembly, a formal inquiry, court proceedings and other predictable consequences. As one considers this tale, though we may not all design aircraft brake assemblies, be engineers or employees of a huge corporation or have millions of dollars or lives riding on our decisions, most of the elements are likely quite familiar. This familiarity comes from the fact that, even though we may not even be employed, the chords that were struck in this tale echo in our lives. Issues such as trust vs. mistrust, conditioned responses and fear of reprisals (aka punishment) and the questioning of what is the meaning of life and what ethics and values are represented in your head, heart and behaviors. The issues that play in our private lives go with us to work†¦ the problem is us, work and home are merely the contexts in which the drama unfolds. In tale of B.F. Goodrich, the issues and conflicts named by each of the three distinct approaches are evident. Cognitive – Sink had the opportunity to stop the issue cold by simply going to Warren and directing him to redesign to the part. A frequent initial intervention in cognitive therapy is to being to question one’s assumptions (Henry 2002, p. 39). Key to this are Sink’s assumptions in which he felt that his discovery and action would reflect poorly on him. Objectively, this is faulty reasoning yet such as strategy was adopted by Sink in an effort to reduce the cognitive demands placed on him. Behavioral – Consider the actions of Gretzinger to miscalibrate the testing instruments in which he is faced with the lesser of two punishments: one certain and immediate, the other deferred and potentially avoidable. Perhaps he had witnessed such a â€Å"test† on others and learned by association. In doing so, Gretzinger’s survival instincts were likely triggered and he simply behaved accordingly. Humanistic – This case is ripe with issues of subjective values and ethics interpretations. In addition, from a psychodynamic perspective, it is certainly implied that Sink perhaps had a bit of an inferiority complex which was reinforced by the overall situation and he had adopted the anecdotal strategy of â€Å"one must go along to get along†. While it seems clear, consider the insight achieved by integrated model that adds richness and understanding as to the how and why events occurred as they did. For example, in the Gretzinger’s instinctual survival behavior, it is quite likely that he also had psychodynamic issues such as inferiority complex in which he felt irrational guilt were he to disobey his corporate â€Å"parent’s† (Gleitman 1986, p. 420-421). Also, consider Sink’s cognitive assumptions and that his behavior could also be understood in the context of behaviorism’s â€Å"learned helplessness† or social learning theory’s deferment of responsibility, aptly illustrated by Milgram’s classis experiments in which â€Å"ordinary† people carried out what they thought were hurtful experiments on another human under the direction of external authority figure (Gleitman 1986, pp. 114-115, 398-401). By the simultaneous consideration of each theoretical perspective, events can be understood with greater clarity but, most importantly, future behavior can be shaped for the benefit of all involved. In this way, processes and policies can be enacted that reduce the psychological conflict in the choices that people feel compelled to make. For example, as the case clearly involved ethical issues, one system that is common is today’s post-Enron society is the establishment of reprisal-free ethics violations hotlines (Behr 2002). Additionally, from a behaviorist perspective, increasing the severity of punishment for ethical violations likely forces the cognitive questioning of one’s â€Å"payoff matrix†. The implementation of modern business process methods ranging from zero-based budgeting to activity-based costing and six-sigma methodology creates a forum in which assumptions are questioned and possible outcomes quantified. Such efforts get at the some of the fruit s of cognitive theory intervention strategies as more information is actively considered, roles and processes are clarified and desired outcomes explicitly stated. Thus, the workplace occurs as a factory, an office, a car, a crowded city of a wide open field. People occur in all varieties, each shaped by both unique and common elements. With the merger of these diversities, psychological perspectives cannot be applied in isolation. Rather, each must be considered and weighed in light of the situational and temporal context of the moment. Thus, in reality, it is not truly unified theory that is desired but an integrated or multidimensional perspective. Without this, the situation is akin the slightly exaggerated anecdote of the person who went to a psychiatrist only to find out that he has mental issues, a visit to a chiropractor to be informed that therapy was recommended and finally a visit to the dentist only to find that he has dental issues as well. The point is that one often is compelled to find what one is looking for and that unless a multidimensional approach is utilized, the potential outcomes are at least partially mitigated by the f ailure to consider life in situ. Works Consulted Behr, P. and A. Witt. (2002, July 28). [Enron]. Accessed online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/specials/energy/enron/. Bolles, R. (1979). Learning Theory, 2nd edition. Harcout Brace Jovanovich College Publishers: Fort Worth, TX. Coles, S. ( 2001, October). â€Å"Satisfying Basic Needs†. Employee Benefits, 4p. Daniels, K., C. Harris, and R. Briner. (2004). â€Å"Linking Work Conditions to Unpleasant Affect: Cognition, Categorization, and Goals†. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (77), pp. 343-363. Dreher, G. and T. Dougherty. (2002). Human Resource Strategy: A Behavioral Reference for the General Manager. McGraw-Hill Irwin: New York, New York. Frankl, V. (1946). Mans Search for Meaning. Washington Square Press: New York, New York. Gleitman, H.(1986). Psychology, 2nd Edition. W.W. Norton Company: New York, New York.Hale, C. (1999, Fall). â€Å"Eight Levels of Social Interest: Adult Development From an Adlerian Paradigm†. AdultSpan Journal (1), 2, pp. 66-78. Hansen, J. (2000, Winter). â€Å"Psychoanalysis and Humanism: A Review and Critical Examination of Integrationist Effort With Some Proposed Resolutions†. Journal of Consulting Development(78), pp. 21-28. Henry, J. (2002). â€Å"Cognitive Science and Individual Development† in in Pearn, M., ed. (2002). Individual Differences and Development in Organizations. John Wiley Sons: West Sussex, UK. Hodgkinson, G. (2003). â€Å"The Interface of Cognitive and Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology†. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (76), pp. 1-25. Kets de Vries, M. (1995). Organizational Paradoxes: Clinical Approaches to Management, 2nd edition. Routledge: London, UK. Kimble, G. (2000, November December). â€Å"Behaviorism and Unity in Psychology†. Current Directions in Psychological Science (9), 6, pp. 208-212. Noe, R., J. Hollenbeck, B. Gerhart, and P. Wright. (2000). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill Irwin: Boston, Massachusetts. Page, L. (2003, Spring). â€Å"Adler and the Profession of Coaching†. The Journal of Individual Psychology (59), 1, pp. 86-93. Purcell, T. (1967). â€Å"Work Psychology and Business Values: A Triad Theory of Work Motivation†. Personnel Psychology (20), 3, , pp. 231-257. Vandivier, K. (1972). â€Å"Why Should My Conscience Bother Me?† in Moss Kanter, R. B. Stein, eds. (1978). Life in Organizations: Workplaces as People Experience Them. Basic Publishers: New York, NY. Wasylyshyn, K. (2001). â€Å"On the Full Actualization of Psychology in Business†. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research (53), 1, pp. 10-21.

The Sun Rising by John Donne :: Poetry

The Sun Rising by John Donne "The Sun Rising" by John Donne uses figurative, rhetorical and hyperbole techniques to demonstrate the displacement of the outside world in favor of two lovers' inner world and how the sun fulfils its duties by revolving around their bedroom. Donne uses figurative language throughout the poem. The first stanza compares the sun to a "Busy old fool" (1) and "Through windows, and through curtains call on us?" (3) is figurative language for eyes. A wink allows the sun to come into the lovers' inner world. The reader knows the lovers' bedroom is not the center of the world and the sun does not "contract[ed]" around their bed. Donne's displacement of the outside world, in favor of the lovers' inside world, uses a rhetorical technique to attempt to prove by reason the durability and power of a couples love. When Donne asks why the sun "calls on us?" (3), "Why shouldst thou think?" (12) and "Must to [the sun's] motions lovers' seasons run?" Donne expects you to already know the answers. He uses this language to help you pass beyond the limits of the material world by disregarding external influences and coercing the sun to rotate around the lovers instead. Figurative language and rhetorical technique are combined with hyperbole to change the outside world to revolve around the lovers' inner world. Dunne pushes the sun away telling it to "go chide" (5) and in stanza twenty-nine "Shine here to us, and thou are everywhere" (29). These are exaggerations for the sake of emphasis putting the lovers at the center of the world. Figurative,

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 5-7

5 AUGUSTUS BRINE He was an old man who fished off the beaches of Pine Cove and he had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. This, however, was of little consequence because he owned the general store and made a comfortable enough living to indulge his passions, which were fishing and drinking California wines. Augustus Brine was old, but he was still strong and vital and a dangerous man in a fight – although he had had little cause to prove it in over thirty years (except for the few occasions when he picked up a teenage boy by the scruff of the neck and dragged him, terrified, to the stockroom, where he lectured him alternately on the merits of hard work and the folly of shoplifting from Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines). And while a weariness had come upon him with age, his mind was still sharp and agile. On any evening one might find him stretched out before his fireplace in a leather chair, toasting his bare feet on the hearth, reading Aristotle, or Lao-tzu, or Joyce. He lived on a hillside overlooking the Pacific, in a small wooden house he had designed and built himself, so that he might live there alone without having his surroundings seem lonely. During the day, windows and skylights filled the house with light, and even on the most dismal, foggy day, every corner was illuminated. In the evening three stone fireplaces, which took up whole walls in the living room, bedroom, and study, warmed the house. They offered a soft, orange comfort to the old man, who burned cord after cord of red oak and eucalyptus, which he cut and split himself. When he considered his own mortality, which was seldom, Augustus Brine knew he would die in this house. He had built it on one floor with wide halls and doorways so that if he were ever confined to a wheelchair he might remain self-sufficient until the day when he would take the black pill sent to him by the Hemlock Society. He kept the house neat and orderly. Not so much because he desired order, for Brine believed chaos to be the way of the world, but because he did not wish to make life difficult for his cleaning lady, who came in once a week to dust and shovel ashes from the fireplaces. He also wished to avoid acquiring the reputation of being a slob, for he knew people's propensity for judging a man on one aspect of his character, and even Augustus Brine was not above some degree of vanity. Despite his belief that the pursuit of order in a chaotic universe was futile, Brine lived a very ordered life, and this paradox, upon reflection, amused him. He rose each day at five, indulged himself in a half-hour-long shower, dressed, and ate the same breakfast of six eggs and half a loaf of sourdough toast, heavily buttered. (Cholesterol seemed too silent and sneaky to be dangerous, and Brine had decided long ago that until cholesterol gathered its forces and charged him headlong across the plate with Light Brigade abandon, he would ignore it.) After breakfast, Brine lit his meerschaum pipe for the first time of the day, crawled onto his truck, and drove downtown to open his store. For the first two hours he puffed around the store like a great white-bearded locomotive, making coffee, selling pastries, trading idle banter with the old men who greeted him each morning, and preparing the store to run under full steam until midnight, under the supervision of a handful of clerks. At eight o'clock the first of Brine's employees arrived to man the register while Brine busied himself ordering what he called Epicurean necessities: pastries, imported cheeses and beers, pipe tobacco and cigarettes, homemade pasta and sauces, freshly baked bread, gourmet coffees, and California wines. Brine believed, like Epicurus, that a good life was one dedicated to the pursuit of simple pleasures, tempered with justice and prudence. Years ago, while working as a bouncer in a whorehouse, Brine had repeatedly seen depressed, angry men turned to gentleness and gaiety by a few moments of pleasure. He had vowed then to someday open a brothel, but when the ramshackle general store with its two gas pumps had been put up for sale, Brine had compromised his dream by buying it and bringing pleasure of a different sort to the public. From time to time, however, a needling suspicion arose in his mind that he had missed his true calling as a madam. Each day when the orders were finished, Brine selected a bottle of red wine from his shelves, packed it in a basket with some bread, cheese, and bait, and took off for the beach. He passed the rest of the day sitting on the beach in a canvas director's chair sipping wine and smoking his pipe, waiting for the long surf-casting rod to bend with a strike. On most days Brine let his mind go as clear as water. Without worry or thought he became one with everything around him, neither conscious nor unconscious: the state of Zen mushin, or no-mind. He had come to Zen after the fact, recognizing in the writings of Suzuki and Watts an attitude he had come to without discipline, by simply sitting on the beach staring into an empty sky and becoming just as empty. Zen was his religion, and it brought him peace and humor. On this particular morning Brine was having a difficult time clearing his mind. The visit of the little Arab man to the store vexed him. Brine did not speak Arabic, yet he had understood every word the little man had said. He had seen the air cut with swirling blue curses, and he had seen the Arab's eyes glow white with anger. He smoked his pipe, the meerschaum mermaid carved so that Brine's index finger fell across her breasts, and tried to apply some meaning to a situation that was outside the context of his reality. He knew that if he were to accept the fluid of this experience, the cup of his mind had to be empty. But right now he had a better chance of buying bread with moonlight than reaching a Zen calm. It vexed him. â€Å"It is a mystery, is it not?† someone said. Startled, Brine looked around. The little Arab man stood about three feet from Brine's side, drinking from a large styrofoam cup. His red stocking cap was glistening, damp with the morning spray. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Brine said. â€Å"I didn't see you come up.† â€Å"It is a mystery, is it not? How this dashing figure seems to appear out of nowhere? You must be awestruck. Paralyzed with fear perhaps?† Brine looked at the withered little man in the rumpled flannel suit and silly red hat. â€Å"Very close to paralyzed,† he said. â€Å"I am Augustus Brine.† He extended his hand to the little man. â€Å"Are you not afraid that by touching me you will burst into flames?† â€Å"Is that a danger?† â€Å"No, but you know how superstitious fishermen are. Perhaps you believe that you will be transformed into a toad. You hide your fear well, Augustus Brine.† Brine smiled. He was baffled and amused; it didn't occur to him to be afraid. The Arab drained his cup and dipped it into the surf to refill it. â€Å"Please call me Gus,† Brine said, his hand still extended. â€Å"And you are?† The Arab drained his cup again, then took Brine's hand. His skin had the feel of parchment. â€Å"I am Gian Hen Gian, King of the Djinn, Ruler of the Netherworld. Do not tremble, I wish you no harm.† â€Å"I am not trembling,† Brine said. â€Å"You might go easy on that seawater – it works hell on your blood pressure.† â€Å"Do not fall to your knees; there is no need to prostrate yourself before my greatness. I am here in your service.† â€Å"Thank you. I am honored,† Brine said. Despite the strange happenings in the store, he was having a hard time taking this pompous little man seriously. The Arab was obviously a nuthouse Napoleon. He'd seen hundreds of them, living in cardboard castles and feasting from dumpsters all over America. But this one had some credentials: he could curse in blue swirls. â€Å"It is good that you are not afraid, Augustus Brine. Terrible evil is at hand. You will have to call upon your courage. It is a good sign that you have kept your wits in the presence of the great Gian Hen Gian. The grandeur is sometimes too much for weaker men.† â€Å"May I offer you some wine?† Brine extended the bottle of cabernet he had brought from the store. â€Å"No, I have a great thirst for this.† He sloshed the cup of seawater. â€Å"From a time when it was all I could drink.† â€Å"As you wish.† Brine sipped from the bottle. â€Å"There is little time, Augustus Brine, and what I am to tell you may overwhelm your tiny mind. Please prepare yourself.† â€Å"My tiny mind is steeled for anything, O King. But first, tell me, did I see you curse blue swirls this morning?† â€Å"A minor loss of temper. Nothing really. Would you have had me turn the clumsy dolt into a snake who forever gnaws his own tail?† â€Å"No, the cursing was fine. Although in Vance's case the snake might be an improvement. Your curses were in Arabic, though, right?† â€Å"A language I prefer for its music.† â€Å"But I don't speak Arabic. Yet I understood you. You did say, ‘May the IRS find that you deduct your pet sheep as an entertainment expense,' didn't you?† â€Å"I can be most colorful and inventive when I am angry.† The Arab flashed a bright grin of pride. His teeth were pointed and saw-edged like a shark's. â€Å"You have been chosen, Augustus Brine.† â€Å"Why me?† Somehow Brine had suspended his disbelief and denied the absurdity of the situation. If there was no order in the universe, then why should it be out of order to be sitting on the beach talking to an Arab dwarf who claimed to be king of the Djinn, whatever the hell that was? Strangely enough, Brine took comfort in the fact that this experience was invalidating every assumption he had ever made about the nature of the world. He had tapped into the Zen of ignorance, the enlightenment of absurdity. Gian Hen Gian laughed. â€Å"I have chosen you because you are a fisherman who catches no fish. I have had an affinity for such men since I was fished from the sea a thousand years ago and released from Solomon's jar. One gets ever so cramped passing the centuries inside a jar.† â€Å"And ever so wrinkled, it would seem,† Brine said. Gian Hen Gian ignored Brine's comment. â€Å"I found you here, Augustus Brine, listening to the noise of the universe, holding in your heart a spark of hope, like all fishermen, but resolved to be disappointed. You have no love, no faith, and no purpose. You shall be my instrument, and in return, you shall gain the things you lack.† Brine wanted to protest the Arab's judgment, but he realized that it was true. He'd been enlightened for exactly thirty seconds and already he was back on the path of desire and karma. Postenlightenment depression, he thought. 6 THE DJINN'S STORY Brine said, â€Å"Excuse me, O King, but what exactly is a Djinn?† Gian Hen Gian spit into the surf and cursed, but this time Brine did not understand the language and no blue swirls cut the air. â€Å"I am Djinn. The Djinn were the first people. This was our world long before the first human. Have you not read the tales of Scheherazade?† â€Å"I thought those were just stories.† â€Å"By Aladdin's lamplit scrotum, man! Everything is a story. What is there but stories? Stories are the only truth. The Djinn knew this. We had power over our own stories. We shaped our world as we wished it to be. It was our glory. We were created by Jehovah as a race of creators, and he became jealous of us. â€Å"He sent Satan and an army of angels against us. We were banished to the netherworld, where we could not make our stories. Then he created a race who could not create and so would stand in awe of the Creator.† â€Å"Man?† Brine asked. The Djinn nodded. â€Å"When Satan drove us into the netherworld, he saw our power. He saw that he was no more than a servant, while Jehovah had given the Djinn the power of gods. He returned to Jehovah demanding the same power. He proclaimed that he and his army would not serve until they were given the power to create. â€Å"Jehovah was sorely angered. He banished Satan to hell, where the angel might have the power he wished, but only over his own army of rebels. To further humiliate Satan, Jehovah created a new race of beings and gave them control over their own destinies, made them masters of their own world. And he made Satan watch it all from hell. â€Å"These beings were parodies of the angels, resembling them physically, but with none of the angels' grace or intelligence. And because he had made two mistakes before, Jehovah made these creatures mortal to keep them humble.† â€Å"Are you saying,† Brine interrupted, â€Å"that the human race was created to irritate Satan?† â€Å"That is correct. Jehovah is infinite in his snottiness.† Brine reflected on this for a moment and regretted that he had not become a criminal at an early age. â€Å"And what happened to the Djinn?† â€Å"We were left without form, purpose, or power. The netherworld is timeless and unchanging, and boring – much like a doctor's waiting room.† â€Å"But you're here, you're not in the netherworld.† â€Å"Be patient, Augustus Brine. I will tell you how I came here. You see, many years passed on Earth and we remained undisturbed. Then was born Solomon the thief.† â€Å"You mean King Solomon? Son of David?† â€Å"The thief!† The Djinn spat. â€Å"He asked for wisdom from Jehovah that he might build a great temple. To assist him, Jehovah gave him a great silver seal, which he carried in a scepter, and the power to call the Djinn from the netherworld to act as slaves. Solomon was given power over the Djinn on Earth that by all rights belonged to me. And as if that was not enough, the seal also gave him the power to call up the deposed angels from hell. Satan was furious that such power be given to a mortal, which, of course, was Jehovah's plan. â€Å"Solomon called first upon me to help him build his temple. He spread the temple plans before me and I laughed in his face. It was little more than a shack of stone. His imagination was as limited as his intelligence. Nevertheless, I began work on his temple, building it stone by stone as he instructed. I could have built it in an instant had he commanded it, but the thief could only imagine a temple being built as it might be built by men. â€Å"I worked slowly, for even under the reign of the thief, my time on Earth was better than the emptiness of the netherworld. After some time I convinced Solomon that I needed help, and I was given slaves to assist me in the construction. Work slowed even more, for while some of them worked, most stood by and chatted about their dreams of freedom. I have seen that such methods are used today in building your highways.† â€Å"It's standard,† Brine said. â€Å"Solomon grew impatient with my progress and called from hell one of the deposed angels, a warrior Seraph named Catch. Thus did his troubles begin. â€Å"Catch had once been a tall and beautiful angel, but his time in hell, steeping in his own bitterness, had changed him. When he appeared before Solomon, he was a squat monster, no bigger than a dwarf. His skin was like that of a snake, his eyes like those of a cat. He was so hideous that Solomon would not allow him to be seen by the people of Jerusalem, so he made the demon invisible to all but himself. â€Å"Catch carried in his heart a loathing for humans as deep as Satan himself. I had no quarrel with the race of man. Catch, however, wanted revenge. Fortunately, he did not have the powers of a Djinn. â€Å"Solomon told the slaves who worked on the temple that they were being given divine assistance and that they should behave as if nothing was out of the ordinary, so the people of Jerusalem might not notice the demon's presence. The demon threw himself into the construction, honing huge blocks of stone and hauling them into place. â€Å"Solomon was pleased with the demon's work and told him so. Catch said that the work would go faster if he didn't have to work with a Djinn, so I stood by and watched as the temple rose. From time to time great stones dropped from the walls, crushing the slaves below. While the blood ran, I could hear Catch laughing and shouting ‘Whoops' from the top of the wall. â€Å"Solomon believed these killings to be accidents, but I knew them to be murder. It was then that I realized that Solomon's control over the demon was not absolute, and therefore, his control over me must have its limits as well. My first impulse was to try to escape, but if I were wrong, I knew that I would be sent back to the netherworld and all would be lost. Perhaps I could persuade Solomon to set me free by offering him something he could attain only through my power to create. â€Å"Solomon's appetite for women was infamous. I offered to bring him the most beautiful woman he had ever seen if he would allow me to remain on Earth. He agreed. â€Å"I retreated to my quarters and contemplated what sort of woman might most please the idiot king. I had seen his thousand wives and found no common thread among their charms that revealed Solomon's preferences. In the end I was left to my own creativity. â€Å"I gave her fair hair and blue eyes and skin as white and smooth as marble. She was all things that men wish of women in body and mind. She was a virgin with a courtesan's knowledge in the ways of pleasure. She was kind, intelligent, forgiving, and warm with humor. â€Å"Solomon fell in love with the woman as soon as I presented her to him. ‘She shines like a jewel', he said. ‘Jewel shall be her name.' He spent an hour or more just staring at her, captivated with her beauty. When finally his senses returned, he said, ‘We will talk later of your reward, Gian Hen Gian.' Then he took Jewel by the hand and led her to his bedchamber. â€Å"I felt a strength return to me the moment I presented Jewel to the king. I was not free to escape, but for the first time I was able to leave the city without being compelled by some invisible bond to return to Solomon. I went into the desert and spent the night enjoying the freedom I had gained. It was not until I returned the next morning that I realized that Solomon's control over me and the demon depended upon the concentration of his will, as well as the invocations and the seal given to him by Jehovah. The woman, Jewel, had broken his will. â€Å"I found Solomon in his palace weeping one moment, then screaming with rage the next. While I had been away Catch had come to Solomon's bedchamber, not in the form that Solomon recognized, but in the form of a huge monster, taller than two men and as wide as a team of horses, and the slaves could see him as well. While Solomon watched in horror, the demon snatched Jewel from the bed with a single, talonlike hand and bit her head off. Then the monster swallowed the girl's body and reached for Solomon. But some force protected the king, and Solomon commanded the demon to return to his smaller form. Catch laughed in his face and skulked off to the wives' quarters. â€Å"Through the night the palace was filled with the screams of terrified women. Solomon ordered his guards to attack the demon. Catch swatted them away as if they were flies. By dawn the palace was littered with the crushed bodies of the guards. Of Solomon's thousand wives only two hundred remained alive. Catch was gone. â€Å"During the attack Solomon had called upon the power of the seal and prayed to Jehovah to stop the demon. But the king's will was broken, and so it did no good. â€Å"I sensed then that I might escape Solomon's control altogether, and live free, but even the idiot king would eventually make the connection and my fate would lie in the netherworld. â€Å"I bade Solomon allow me to bring Catch to justice. I knew my power to be much greater than the demon's. But Solomon had only the building of the temple by which to judge my powers, and in that example the demon appeared superior. ‘Do what you can,' he said. ‘If you capture the demon, you may remain on Earth.' â€Å"I found Catch in the great desert, wantonly slaughtering tribes of nomads. When I bound him with my magic, he protested that he had planned to return, for he was enslaved to Solomon by the invocation and could never really escape. He was only having a little sport with the humans, he said. To quiet him, I filled his mouth with sand for the journey back to Jerusalem. â€Å"When I brought Catch to Solomon, the king commanded me to devise a punishment to torment the demon, so that the people of Jerusalem might watch him suffer. I chained Catch to a giant stone outside the palace, then I created a huge bird of prey that swooped on the demon and tore at his liver, which grew back at once, for like the Djinn, the demon was immortal. â€Å"Solomon was pleased with my work. During my absence he had regained his senses somewhat, and thereby his will. I stood before the king awaiting my reward, feeling my powers wane as Solomon's will returned. â€Å"‘I have promised that you shall never be returned to the netherworld, and you shall not,' he said. ‘But this demon has put me off of immortals more than somewhat, and I do not wish that you be allowed to roam free. You shall be imprisoned in a jar and cast into the sea. Should the time come when you are set free to walk the Earth again, you shall have no power over the realm of man except as is commanded by my will, which shall be from now to the end of time the goodwill of all men. By this you shall be bound.' â€Å"He had a jar fashioned from lead and marked it on all sides with a silver seal. Before he imprisoned me, Solomon promised that Catch would remain chained to the rock until his screams burned into the king's soul – so that Solomon might never lose his will or his wisdom again. He said he would then send the demon back to hell and destroy the tablets with the invocations, as well as the great seal. He swore these things to me, as if he believed the fate of the demon meant something to me. I didn't give a camel's fart about Catch. Then he gave me a last command and sealed the jar. His soldiers cast the jar into the Red Sea. â€Å"For two thousand years I languished inside the jar, my only comfort a trickle of seawater that seeped in, which I drank with relish, for it tasted of freedom. â€Å"When the jar was finally pulled from the sea by a fisherman, and I was released, I cared nothing about Solomon or Catch, only about my freedom. I have lived as a man would live these last thousand years, bound by Solomon's will. Of this Solomon spoke truly, but about the demon, he lied.† The little man paused and refilled his cup in the ocean. Augustus Brine was at a loss. It couldn't possibly be true. There was nothing to corroborate the story. â€Å"Begging your pardon, Gian Hen Gian, but why is none of this told in the Bible?† â€Å"Editing,† the Djinn said. â€Å"But aren't you confusing Greek myth with Christian myth? The birds eating the demon's liver sounds an awful lot like the story of Prometheus.† â€Å"It was my idea. The Greeks were thieves, no better than Solomon.† Brine considered this for a moment. He was seeing evidence of the supernatural, wasn't he? Wasn't this little Arab drinking seawater as he watched, with no apparent ill effects? And even if some of it could be explained by hallucination, he was pretty sure that he hadn't been the only one to see the strange blue swirls in the store this morning. What if for a moment – just a moment – he took the Arab's outrageous story for the truth?†¦ â€Å"If this is true, then how do you know, after all this time, that Solomon lied to you? And why tell me about it?† â€Å"Because, Augustus Brine, I knew you would believe. And I know Solomon lied because I can feel the presence of the demon, Catch. And I'm sure that he has come to Pine Cove.† â€Å"Swell,† Brine said. 7 ARRIVAL Virgil Long backed out from under the hood of the Impala, wiped his hands on his coveralls, and scratched at his four-day growth of beard. He reminded Travis of a fat weasel with the mange. â€Å"So you're thinking it's the radiator?† Virgil asked. â€Å"It's the radiator,† Travis said. â€Å"It might be the whole engine is gone. You were running pretty quiet when you drove in. Not a good sign. Do you have a charge card?† Virgil was unprecedented in his inability to diagnose specific engine problems. When he was dealing with tourists, his strategy was usually to start replacing things and keep replacing them until he solved the problem or reached the limit on the customer's credit card, whichever came first. â€Å"It wasn't running at all when I came in,† Travis protested. â€Å"And I don't have a credit card. It's the radiator, I promise.† â€Å"Now, son,† Virgil drawled, â€Å"I know you think you know what you're talking about, but I got a certificate from the Ford factory there on the wall that says I'm a master mechanic.† Virgil pointed a fat finger toward the service station's office. One wall was covered with framed certificates along with a poster of a nude woman sitting on the hood of a Corvette buffing her private parts with a scarf in order to sell motor oil. Virgil had purchased the Master Mechanic certificates from an outfit in New Hampshire: two for five dollars, six for ten dollars, fifteen for twenty. He had gone for the twenty-dollar package. Those who took the time to read the certificates were somewhat surprised to find out that Pine Cove's only service station and car wash had its own factory-certified snowmobile mechanic. It had never snowed in Pine Cove. â€Å"This is a Chevy,† Travis said. â€Å"Got a certificate for those, too. You probably need new rings. The radiator's just a symptom, like these broken headlights. You treat the symptom, the disease just gets worse.† Virgil had heard that on a doctor show once and liked the sound of it. â€Å"What will it cost to just fix the radiator?† Virgil stared deep into the grease spots on the garage floor, as if by reading their patterns and by some mystic mode of divination, petrolmancy perhaps, he would arrive at a price that would not alienate the dark young man but would still assure him an exorbitant hourly rate for his labor. â€Å"Hundred bucks.† It had a nice round ring to it. â€Å"Fine,† Travis said, â€Å"Fix it. When can I have it back?† Virgil consulted the grease spots again, then emerged with a good-ol'-boy smile. â€Å"How's noon sound?† â€Å"Fine,† Travis said. â€Å"Is there a pool hall around here – and someplace I can get some breakfast?† â€Å"No pool hall. The Head of the Slug is open down the street. They got a couple of tables.† â€Å"And breakfast?† â€Å"Only thing open this end of town is H.P.'s, a block off Cypress, down from the Slug. But it's a local's joint.† â€Å"Is there a problem getting served?† â€Å"No. The menu might throw you for a bit. It – well, you'll see.† Travis thanked the mechanic and started off in the direction of H.P.'s, the demon skulking along behind him. As they passed the self-serve car-wash stalls, Travis noticed a tall man of about thirty unloading plastic laundry baskets full of dirty dishes from the bed of an old Ford pickup. He seemed to be having trouble getting quarters to go into the coin box. Looking at him, Travis said: â€Å"You know, Catch, I'll bet there's a lot of incest in this town.† â€Å"Probably the only entertainment,† the demon agreed. The man in the car wash had activated the high-pressure nozzle and was sweeping it back and forth across the baskets of dishes. With each sweep he repeated, â€Å"Nobody lives like this. Nobody.† Some of the overspray caught on the wind and settled over Travis and Catch. For a moment the demon became visible in the spray. â€Å"I'm melt-ing,† Catch whined in perfect Wicked Witch of the West pitch. â€Å"Let's go,† Travis said, moving quickly to avoid more spray. â€Å"We need a hundred bucks before noon.† JENNY In the two hours since Jenny Masterson had arrived at the cafe she had managed to drop a tray full of glasses, mix up the orders on three tables, fill the saltshakers with sugar and the sugar dispensers with salt, and pour hot coffee on the hands of two customers who had covered their cups to indicate that they'd had enough – a patently stupid gesture on their part, she thought. The worst of it was not that she normally performed her duties flawlessly, which she did. The worst of it was that everyone was so damned understanding about it. â€Å"You're going through a rough time, honey, it's okay.† â€Å"Divorce is always hard.† Their consolations ranged from â€Å"too bad you couldn't work it out† to â€Å"he was a worthless drunk anyway, you're better off without him.† She'd been separated from Robert exactly four days and everybody in Pine Cove knew about it. And they couldn't just let it lie. Why didn't they let her go through the process without running this cloying gauntlet of sympathy? It was as if she had a big red D sewed to her clothing, a signal to the townsfolk to close around her like a hungry amoeba. When the second tray of glasses hit the floor, she stood amid the shards trying to catch her breath and could not. She had to do something – scream, cry, pass out – but she just stood there, paralyzed, while the busboy cleaned up the glass. Two bony hands closed on her shoulders. She heard a voice in her ear that seemed to come from very far away. â€Å"You are having an anxiety attack, dear. It shall pass. Relax and breathe deeply.† She felt the hands gently leading her through the kitchen door to the office in the back. â€Å"Sit down and put your head between your knees.† She let herself be guided into a chair. Her mind went white, and her breath caught in her throat. A bony hand rubbed her back. â€Å"Breathe, Jennifer. I'll not have you shuffling off this mortal coil in the middle of the breakfast shift.† In a moment her head cleared and she looked up to see Howard Phillips, the owner of H.P.'s, standing over her. He was a tall, skeletal man, who always wore a black suit and button shoes that had been fashionable a hundred years ago. Except for the dark depressions on his cheeks, Howard's skin was as white as a carrion worm. Robert had once said that H.P. looked like the master of ceremonies at a chemotherapy funfest. Howard had been born and raised in Maine, yet when he spoke, he affected the accent of an erudite Londoner. â€Å"The prospect of change is a many-fanged beast, my dear. It is not, however, appropriate to pay fearful obeisance to that beast by cowering in the ruins of my stemware while you have orders up.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Howard. Robert called this morning. He sounded so helpless, pathetic.† â€Å"A tragedy, to be sure. Yet as we sit, ensconced in our grief, two perfectly healthy daily specials languish under the heat lamps metamorphosing into gelatinous invitations to botulism.† Jenny was relieved that in his own, cryptically charming way, Howard was not giving her sympathy but telling her to get off her ass and live her life. â€Å"I think I'm okay now. Thanks, Howard.† Jenny stood and wiped her eyes with a paper napkin she took from her apron. Then she went off to deliver her orders. Howard, having exhausted his compassion for the day, closed the door of his office and began working on the books. When Jenny returned to the floor, she found that the restaurant had cleared except for a few regular customers and a dark young man she didn't recognize, who was standing by the PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED sign. At least he wouldn't ask about Robert, thank God. It was a welcome relief. Not many tourists found H.P.'s. It was tucked in a tree-lined cul-de-sac off Cypress Street in a remodeled Victorian bungalow. The sign outside, small and tasteful, simply read, CAFE. Howard did not believe in advertising, and though he was an Anglophile at heart – loving all things British and feeling that they were somehow superior to their American counterparts – his restaurant displayed none of the ersatz British decor that might draw in the tourists. The cafe served simple food at fair prices. If the menu exhibited Howard Phillips's eccentricity in style, it did not discourage the locals from eating at his place. Next to Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines, H.P.'s Cafe had the most loyal clientele in Pine Cove. â€Å"Smoking or nonsmoking?† Jenny asked the young man. He was very good-looking, but Jenny noticed this only in passing. She was conditioned by years of monogamy not to dwell on such things. â€Å"Nonsmoking,† he said. Jenny led him to a table in the back. Before he sat down, he pulled out the chair across from him, as if he were going to put his feet up. â€Å"Will someone be joining you?† Jenny asked, handing him a menu. He looked up at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. He stared into her eyes without saying a word. Embarrassed, Jenny looked down. â€Å"Today's special is Eggs-Sothoth – a fiendishly toothsome amalgamation of scrumptious ingredients so delicious that the mere description of the palatable gestalt could drive one mad,† she said. â€Å"You're joking?† â€Å"No. The owner insists that we memorize the daily specials verbatim.† The dark man kept staring at her. â€Å"What does all that mean?† he asked. â€Å"Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a side of toast.† â€Å"Why didn't you just say that?† â€Å"The owner is a little eccentric. He believes that his daily specials may be the only thing keeping the Old Ones at bay.† â€Å"The Old Ones?† Jenny sighed. The nice thing about regular customers is she didn't have to keep explaining Howard's weird menu to them. This guy was obviously from out of town. But why did he have to keep staring at her like that? â€Å"It's his religion or something. He believes that the world was once populated by another race. He calls them the Old Ones. For some reason they were banished from Earth, but he believes that they are trying to return and take over.† â€Å"You're joking?† â€Å"Stop saying that. I'm not joking.† â€Å"I'm sorry.† He looked at the menu. â€Å"Okay, give me an Eggs-Sothoth with a side order of The Spuds of Madness.† â€Å"Would you like coffee?† â€Å"That would be great.† Jenny wrote out the ticket and turned to put the order in at the kitchen window. â€Å"Excuse me,† the man said. Jenny turned in midstep. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"You have incredible eyes.† â€Å"Thanks.† She felt herself blush as she headed off to get his coffee. She wasn't ready for this. She needed some sort of break between being married and being divorced. Divorce leave? They had pregnancy leave, didn't they? When she returned with his coffee, she looked at him for the first time as a single woman might. He was handsome, in a sharp, dark sort of way. He looked younger than she was, twenty-three, maybe twenty-four. She was studying his clothes and trying to get a feel for what he did for a living when she ran into the chair he had pushed out from the table and spilled most of the coffee into the saucer. â€Å"God, I'm sorry.† â€Å"It's okay,† he said. â€Å"Are you having a bad day?† â€Å"Getting worse by the minute. I'll get you another cup.† â€Å"No,† he raised a hand in protest. â€Å"Its fine.† He took the cup and saucer from her, separated them, and poured the coffee back into the cup. â€Å"See, good as new. I don't want to add to your bad day.† He was staring again. â€Å"No, you're fine. I mean, I'm fine. Thanks.† She felt like a geek. She cursed Robert for causing all this. If he hadn't†¦ No, it wasn't Robert's fault. She'd made the decision to end the marriage. â€Å"I'm Travis.† The man extended his hand. She took it, tentatively. â€Å"Jennifer-† She was about to tell him that she was married and that he was nice and all. â€Å"I'm not married,† she said. She immediately wanted to disappear into the kitchen and never come back. â€Å"Me either,† Travis said. â€Å"I'm new in town.† He didn't seem to notice how awkward she was. â€Å"Look, Jennifer, I'm looking for an address and I wonder if you could tell me how to find it? Do you know how to get to Cheshire Street?† Jenny was relieved to be talking about anything but herself. She rattled off a series of streets and turns, landmarks and signs, that would lead Travis to Cheshire Street. When she finished, he just looked at her quizzically. â€Å"I'll draw you a map,† she said. She took a pen from her apron, bent over the table, and began drawing on a napkin. Their faces were inches apart. â€Å"You're very beautiful,† he said. She looked at him. She didn't know whether to smile or scream. Not yet, she thought. I'm not ready. He didn't wait for her to respond. â€Å"You remind me of someone I used to know.† â€Å"Thank you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She tried to remember his name. â€Å"†¦Travis.† â€Å"Have dinner with me tonight?† She searched for an excuse. None came. She couldn't use the one she had used for a decade – it wasn't true anymore. And she hadn't been alone long enough to brush up on some new lies. In fact, she felt that she was somehow being unfaithful to Robert just by talking to this guy. But she was a single woman. Finally she wrote her phone number under the map on the napkin and handed it to him. â€Å"My number's on the bottom. Why don't you call me tonight, around five, and we'll take it from there, okay?† Travis folded the napkin and put it in his shirt pocket. â€Å"Until tonight,† he said. â€Å"Oh, spare me!† a gravely voice said. Jenny turned toward the voice, but there was only the empty chair. To Travis she said, â€Å"Did you hear that?† â€Å"Hear what?† Travis glared at the empty chair. â€Å"Nothing,† Jenny said, â€Å"I'm starting to go over the edge, I think.† â€Å"Relax,† Travis said. â€Å"I won't bite you.† He shot a glance at the chair. â€Å"Your order is up. I'll be right back.† She retrieved the food from the window and delivered it to Travis. While he ate, she stood behind the counter separating coffee filters for the lunch shift, occasionally looking up and smiling at the dark, young man, who paused between bites and smiled back. She was fine, just fine. She was a single woman and could do any damned thing she wanted to. She could go out with anyone she wanted to. She was young and attractive and she had just made her first date in ten years – sort of. Over all of her affirmations her fears flew up and perched like a murder of crows. It occurred to her that she didn't have the slightest idea what she was going to wear. The freedom of single life had suddenly become a burden, a mixed blessing, herpes on the pope's ring. Maybe she wouldn't answer the phone when he called. Travis finished eating and paid his bill, leaving her far too large a tip. â€Å"See you tonight,† he said. â€Å"You bet.† She smiled. She watched him walk across the parking lot. He seemed to be talking to someone as he walked. Probably just singing. Guys did that right after they made a date, didn't they? Maybe he was just a whacko? For the hundredth time that morning she resisted the urge to call Robert and tell him to come home.

The Invisible Hand

The Invisible Hand Introduction Economics is a social science, which is concerned with the distribution of scarce resources amongst limited, competing and insatiable wants of consumers. The invisible hand principle was coined by Adam Smith; a classical economist, to elucidate how the market regulates itself in a capitalistic setting (McConnell and Brue 1).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Invisible Hand specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The aforementioned resources are usually employed in the production of goods, and provision of services to the myriad types of markets; where producers and consumers interact. Incidentally, due to competition in these markets; there is always friction between producers and consumers which is occasioned by the need of producers to exercise their desire of profit maximization, and the consumer’s need to attain maximum utility per commodity purchased. This is tantamount to the consumer, b eing on the highest possible indifference curve; as indicted by a rational consumer yearning to be on indifference curve I1 in the graph below. Graph One In the preference map above, a consumer operating on indifference curve I1 is a utility maximizing agent; choosing to be where there is optimum combination of commodity X and Y.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Producers on the flipside, gravitate towards maximizing their profits by minimizing their production costs. The invisible hand therefore, is natural equilibrating component of the market, which provides a middle ground between producers and consumers with regard to their welfare. The Circular Flow of Income Seemingly, the primary constituents of the economy in a macroeconomic perspective are the household and the firm. In a circular flow of income mechanism, there is always exchange of services, pr oducts and income between these two agents. The invisible hand principle assumes that; there is no government intervention in the market where these agents interact, to counter market imperfections. Diagram: Showing Economic Exchange between Households and Firms. The Price Mechanism Ordinarily, the basic microeconomic principle with regard to equilibrium between demand and supply, is the price mechanism; where demand and supply automatically self- correct to attain a price and quantity that is ideal to both producers and consumers. In situations where demand exceeds supply, there is shortage and where supply exceeds demand there is a surplus. The invisible hand is mandated with the task of equilibrating demand and supply in the market. Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Invisible Hand specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Graph Two The Free Market, Command and Mixed Economies Much as we may acknowledge the ex istence of free market economies, in reality there is no way that an economy can function smoothly with the reliance on the invisible hand exclusively; without the government’s input (Suntum 10). In practice most economies that purport to be free market economies, are typically mixed economies where both the invisible hand and the state play dual roles; in ensuring that, consumers are cushioned from high prices set by producers. Additionally, producers are able to produce in a fair and conducive environment. Therefore, a mixed economy is an amalgamation of the command economy’s government intervention, and the free market economy’s invisible hand. Conclusion The invisible hand plays a very pivotal role in the free market economy, in the regulation of demand, supply and price in the market. Much as we would love the market to regulate itself, there always seems to be some market imperfections that are usually not anticipated. The invisible hand cannot address all the market imperfections; therefore, some intervention by the state in the economy, ensures that there is a level playing field for all producers, and that the consumer is cushioned from exorbitant prices, that might be charged by unscrupulous producers. McConnell, R., Campbell, and Brue, L., Stanley. Economics: Principles, Problems and Policies. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Suntum, V., Ulrich. The Invisible Hand: Economic Thought Yesterday and Today. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Cooperative learning

Cooperative learning Introduction Cooperative learning is a grouping strategy that is designed to increase student participation by capitalizing on the social aspects of learning. In mathematics, students cooperate while working together on a geometry puzzle, measuring the playground, or reviewing for a test (Good, Reys, Grouws, Mulryan, 1990).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Cooperative learning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Spencer Kagan (1994) identified basic principles for implementing cooperative learning successfully: constructive interdependence, individual responsibility, equal involvement, and concurrent communication. Cooperative learning in mathematics Incorporating cooperative learning in teaching 2nd- 4th graders requires organizing the students in groups, or teams that are heterogeneous so that students with different skill levels can understand the basic concepts of mathematics (Evans, 1994). In cooperative l earning, the use of wooden sticks or plastic disks, geometry puzzle, measuring the playground, or reviewing for a test enable the students to easily solve mathematical problems and conceptualize each mathematical task. Another approach includes providing real world examples instead of conforming strictly to written materials. Discussions such as buying things at a shop or sharing candy with friends can help in integrating real life situations into teaching and enable relevancy with day-to-day life. Providing practice techniques will enable the learners to retain the information gained. Activities Practicing addition and subtraction for 2nd and 4th graders The activities and procedures Draw on the board three parallel lines and two intersecting line. Place + and – signs next to the parallel line. This will create a network of blank boxes. Have the students copy this onto their writing materials.Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can he lp you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More While the grouped students are writing playing such games and writing the numbers on their writing materials, the teacher is also playing by filling out the squares on the board (the grouped students will attempt to beat the teacher). After filling out the boxes ask the pupils if anyone beat your answer, write the best answer on the board and any group with the correct answer gets a point. Develop smaller grids to adapt to the learners level. Implementing this group learning, help the students understand simple mathematical problems (Chiu, 2000). Another procedure is grouping the students into two or more parts, while taking part in geometry puzzle by working out mathematical problem. The main objective of the kind of geometry puzzle is to make the students understand basic geometric equations. This technique applies to both Second and Fourth graders Practicing multiplication and subtraction for 2nd and 4th graders This could be more complicated as compared to the addition and subtraction module. Activities and proceduresAdvertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Cooperative learning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Provide the students with multiplication tables to practice on their own in preparation for a random quiz in class. In every math lesson, begin by a 10 minute random quiz by asking randomly multiplication questions, note that for second and fourth graders, it is advisable to start with single digit multiplication so that the pupils acquire the basics of multiplication that will enable them solve other multiple digit multiplication. Students that answers the quiz correctly earns points, these will motivate other learners to practice multiplication tables in preparation for the math lesson. For division problems, the use of circular disks will aid in introducing division to second graders. Cut the circle into halves and quarters to explain the concept of fractions which will form the basic concepts in division. For fourth graders the pupils should have the basics of division and therefore introducing multiple digit division is appropriate. Useful Sources or URL theteachersguide.com/ https://www.grandviewc4.net/ sedl.org/pubs/classroom-compass/cc_v1n2.pdfAdvertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reference List Chiu, M. M. (2000). Group problem solving processes: Social interactions and individual actions. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 30, 1, 27-50.600-631. Evans, L. (1994). EASY ADDITION. Lesson Plan. Web. Good, T. L., Reys, B. J., Grouws, D. A., Mulryan, C. M. (1990). Using work groups in mathematics instruction. Educational leadership, 47, 56-60. Kagan, S. (1994). Kagan cooperative learning. 2nd ed. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

Research paper for modern philosophy, The Fable of the Bees by Bernard Essay

Research paper for modern philosophy, The Fable of the Bees by Bernard Mandeville - Essay Example What was also of great import was the style in which the whole work was written. Mandeville’s easy flow of verse sounded both rhetorical as well as downright practical at the same time. Just when the reader was getting used to his signature style, they were trying to find their bearings in a sea of ethical turmoil that Mandeville had cast them into. The kind of speculation that he forced upon his readers is what has made his work not just remembered, but also the subject of many philosophical and ethical discussions. Very often, the reader is left wondering whether they really grasped the meaning of the poem; hence reading and re-reading the poem continues to be a common occurrence. Mandeville’s work forced readers from all walks of life to look at the relativity of life rather than trying to find exhaustive answers to many problems. It became a tool to kindle the thought process of those who had come to accept the words of those in power – political, religious or otherwise. He seemed to enjoy turning upside down the very precepts by which people had lived for a very long time, paying no heed whatsoever to the discord that he had created not just between various groups of people, but within these groups as well. This essay endeavors to present a picture visualized by Mandeville, with special emphasis on the economic angle. Though religion, social and political perspectives are intertwined in this discussion, there is a concerted effort on the part of this writer to present the economics of a world portrayed by Mandeville. Before going into the economic aspects of Mandeville’s work it is essential to get into his mind and ascertain the exact (or near-exact) nature of the picture he tried to paint. A close look at how Mandeville viewed human psyche reveals a few surprising facts: the central element in his scrutiny of the human mind was his unshakeable belief that there was a basal irrationality demonstrated by humans that lead them to behave

Development and Evaluation of Participant-centered Biofeedback Essay

Development and Evaluation of Participant-centered Biofeedback Artworks - Essay Example Research Question: Is there biofeedback that is associated with rap and hip-hop visual art and which depicts different experiences and reactions among individuals? If there is or isn’t a reaction, how does it relate to the mind – body experience? ABSTRACT (your descriptive summary of what the research article is about – write last – and write as if this paragraph was to be included as part of a literature review for a research paper) The concept of physiopsychology is one which is now being approached in society as an essential component of experiences in art work. Specifically, it states that there is an association with art and everyday life, as well as how this relates to both the mind and the body, as well as associations with experience and how this changes specific influences (Khut 2006: 24). Examining the mind – body influence in different pieces of art work also creates a different understanding of the importance of art while questioning wha t types of effects it has on individuals and society. This paper examines the mind – body effect and experiences in rap and hip – hop visual art as a genre as well as how this affects the individual experiences, interactions and reactions within society. This examination will help to further designate the way in which this genre is associated with behaviors, characteristics and concepts that are associated with the physiopsychology of hip hop visual arts. OVERVIEW Detailed Content Summary Purpose The purpose of this study is to show how the mind and the body link together in the creation of artwork. It also shows how specific aesthetical techniques link to the mind – body relationships and create a sense of reflecting experiences through the use of aesthetics. This will be done specifically with the mind – body link to hip hop and African – American visual arts as a genre, specifically because it carries a specific type of interactions and messages to society that might work positively or negatively with the mind – body experience. References The references to be used will be based on others which have studied the mind – body relationship to various types of artwork. This will be combined with studies that have been given in relation to hip hop and rap visual art which have shown the mind – body relationship. There will also be references in terms of the overall ways in which the physiopsychology is linked to art work, specifically to define and show the relationship with art and everyday life, as well as how different components affect the mind and body. Theoretical Frameworks The first theory used will be based on biofeedback. This states that there is a direct relationship to the mind and body because of the aesthetics that are defined within a given art work (Khut, 2006: p. 18). There will also be reference to this same theory in terms of somaaesthetics, which states that there are influences within e xperiences and which shows that there are practical relationships which can be determined when interacting with various types of artwork (Khut, 2006: p. 29). Another set of theories will be based on the concepts of cultural identities. This forms the individual experiences, behaviors and attitudes which are created and also build a specific type o